Page 12 of His Temptation

The way her chest heaved, her breath unsteady, lips parted, pupils blown wide not just from the fight but from something deeper. Her hips shifted, her skin heated, and for one reckless second, he almost leaned in.

Damn it.

Daragh clenched his jaw, forcing himself to ignore the sudden pull, the ridiculous urge to taste the fight still lingering on her lips.

He wasn’t here for this. But now, standing this close, feeling the way her body vibrated beneath him, he couldn’t unsee what had just happened. He had pinned plenty of people in his time—men twice his size, enemies he had broken, people who had begged for mercy.

Siobhan? She wasn’t begging; she was daring him. Challenging him. And damn it, but some dark part of him likedit. He took a slow, measured breath, reigning in the heat licking at the edges of his control.

“This isn’t going to work,” he murmured, his voice dropping into something dangerously soft.

Siobhan’s breath hitched, but her glare didn’t waver. “Then let me go.”

Daragh let out a low chuckle, shifting just enough so she could feel the solid press of him against her.

“You think I’m stupid?” His fingers flexed around her wrists. “You’ve already tried running, fighting… what’s next?”

Siobhan’s chest rose and fell too fast, her lips parting, the fight in her warring with something else entirely. “You don’t know me,” she whispered.

Daragh tilted his head, studying her, his grip still unrelenting.

“Then give me a reason to.”

Her pupils dilated, her throat worked as she swallowed, and for one heartbeat, she wasn’t fighting anymore. And neither was he.

Damn it all to hell. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This was supposed to be a job. She was supposed to be just another problem to fix, another loose end to tie up.

But now? Now, he had a much bigger problem.

He wanted her. And not just in a fuck hard and fast before leaving her behind kind of way. No. This was the kind of forever way, and worse yet? She wanted him, too.

Daragh had controlled himself for years. His life wasn’t one of indulgence or chaos—not anymore. He took what he needed, when he needed it, and nothing more. He didn’t get attached,didn’t crave things he couldn’t have. But this woman—this feral, defiant, utterly captivating woman—was testing the limits of that control.

Every inch of his body hummed with the wrong kind of awareness, his instincts pulling toward something primal, something dark. The part of him that had always been logical, always in control, was screaming at him to let go.

Take her. Make her submit. Claim what was his. Fated mate.

Daragh nearly recoiled at the word. He didn’t believe in it. Didn’t want to believe in it. And yet, standing here, holding her like this, feeling her shaking beneath him with rage and something deeper, he knew.

His grip on her wrists tightened slightly before he forced himself to relax.

It didn’t matter. It couldn’t matter. Siobhan was a problem to fix, nothing more.

His body didn’t seem to agree. Neither did his instincts.

Her breath hitched, her pulse hammering against the delicate skin of her throat, her green eyes bright with challenge. She wasn’t afraid of him. That, more than anything, made his blood run hotter. She didn’t fear him. She fought him, and a part of him liked it.

He should end this. Now. He needed to make her understand how this was going to play out, make it clear she had no other choice but to come with him, whether or not she liked it.

Instead, he lingered. Siobhan’s pupils dilated, her chest rising and falling too quickly, her lips parting just enough for him to wonder what she would taste like. A warning growl rumbled in his chest. He forced his breathing even, pushed the thoughts away.

This wasn’t about desire. This wasn’t about fate. This was a job.

But Siobhan had other plans. Her body tensed beneath him, something fluctuating in the surrounding air. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

She wasn’t just fighting anymore. She was starting to shift. Daragh had expected it—anticipated the moment she’d stop playing by human rules, and he was ready for it.

The moment the swirling mist coiled at her feet, the air crackling with the unnatural electricity of her transition, Daragh moved.

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