Page 59 of Shattered & Returned

He cradled my jaw, his winter-green eyes reflecting the white moon. “Did I what, my flower?”

“Did you—” I tried again, and the accusation crumbled like ash on my tongue. Some unseen force seemed to stifle the question, as if speaking it would irrevocably shift fates and unravel a fundamental truth too terrible to face.

My throat closed until I forcibly redirected my thoughts.

I shook my head. “Nothing. Just…it’s a bad idea to come here.”

His thumb traced my lower lip. “Why is it a bad idea, flower?” he drawled.

I stared at him incredulously. “Have you forgotten that you’re a professor and I’m your student? It’s wrong and dangerous for us to keep doing this!”

“It’s not wrong, little flower, and we’ll keep doing this,” he said, his rich, silky voice caressing me. His fingers tilted my face up. “The Wilds answer to me. No one will know.”

I trembled. Perhaps just once. Perhaps this hunger would fade if fed.

A shadow, large and swift, darted at the edge of my vision. The hellhound? Was it prowling for Nero, keeping others away?

“We can’t fight this,” he said, his hand sliding over my breast through the thin fabric. My back arched at his touch, a quiet moan slipping out. His thumb circled my nipple, teasing it to a hard peak. “You feel it too. You want me just as much. This is fate.”

I didn’t argue. The pull between usdidfeel inevitable.

“It’s only sex,” I managed between moans of pleasure, more to convince myself than him. “The craving will fade. The madness will pass.” Maybe if I let it burn itself out, I could return to something normal, if normal even existed at Forsaken Academy.

He laughed, low and smooth. “Is that all it is?” His lips grazed my earlobe, sending a shiver of sensation through me. “Try to get me out of your system. If you ever succeed, I’ll let you go. But you won’t. Not now. Not tomorrow. Not in eternity.”

His hand slid between my thighs, pressing against the damp fabric of my panties. I sank into his touch, seeking more.

“So wet, so ripe,” he murmured, fingers tracing the proof of my desire. “So ready for me.”

Every stroke of his fingers sent a jolt through me, as if my body existed only to respond to him. He circled the aching spotwith slow, deliberate precision, stoking the heat coiling tight inside me. My head dropped back against his shoulder, throat bared to his mouth. His teeth skimmed my skin—a threat or a tease?

The night deepened around us, shadows thickening as if drawn to the heat between us. The air hung heavy with the scent of desire—mine, his—the forest itself pressing close.

I twisted my fingers into his thick hair, pulling him nearer as his scorching touch turned relentless. Above us, the stars smeared into streaks of light as pleasure coiled tighter inside me, a wave cresting.

“Let go.”His teeth scraped the pulse point at my throat, possessive.“I’ve got you, little flower.”

For a breathless moment, I feared I’d shatter into a thousand pieces in his arms. This craving was too sharp and too much. He kissed me deeply, swallowing my cry of pleasure.

When my knees steadied, he spun me to face him. His gaze burned, hunger undimmed.

“Sebastian is a viper,” he said, the sudden change of subject jarring me back to the present.

The shift was abrupt, but pleasure still hummed through me, emboldening me.“He said the same about you.”

Nero’s eyes darkened, searing with territorial rage.“You’re mine and no one else’s.”

I should have been afraid. Instead, his possessiveness sent a thrill through me, one I refused to acknowledge.“Bit early for that, isn’t it?”My voice stayed light, mocking.“I barely know you,Professor.”

And he was still my top suspect. The only thing that gave me pause was how obvious the evidence seemed. Nero could break me without effort. If he wanted me dead, I’d already be gone.

His smile was a dark promise.“Then I’ll fix that.”

My pulse stuttered.He’ll desire me until he doesn’t, then he’ll dispose of me like the others.The thought invaded my head, cold and merciless.

“Touch you, and I peel their skin inch by inch,” he growled, the low vibration traveling straight to my marrow. “Sebastian? I’ll snap each bone before finishing him.”

Sebastian’s warnings echoed in my skull—violent past, predator, killer. Yet staring into those glacial green eyes, feeling the promise of brutality in his touch, my heart only beat harder, my body hummed, and my blood heated.

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