Page 34 of Shattered & Returned

It never worked. I’d devoured every forbidden book I could hide from Mom, chasing the pleasure those pages promised. But my own touch brought only emptiness, a hollow ache that lingered like a curse. As if some vital part of me had been carvedout long ago, leaving behind only this hollow shell, destined to wither untouched.

Then hecame.

And suddenly, every nerve ending sparked to life.

His hands, mouth, scent, and voice—everything about him awakened something primal in me. But I’d be damned before admitting how much I craved him. Addicted to him.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “I could report you for this.”

“Please do.” His smile was all sharp edges.

I shoved against his chest, but it was like pushing against a massive rock. “Let. Me. Go.”

“Are you sure?” His thumb brushed the pulse in my jaw. “I won’t always be around. This might be your last chance to have real pleasure.”

“Go…go fuck yourself.”

I twisted free, lunging for the aisle. He moved faster, a flash of movement, then his hand locked around my throat. Not enough to hurt. Just enough toown.

I widened my eyes as a whiff of fear and icy realization hit me.

He could kill me here.

This wasn’t some mundane university where teachers feared scandals. I’d seen students hex each other bloody before breakfast. No one would question a professor silencing an inconvenient girl. My death would be a smudge erased from Forsaken Academy’s records before the blood dried.

His fingers tightened.

But instead of terror, something electric surged through me—a perversealivenessas his power seeped into my skin. His dominance didn’t crush me; itchargedme, like I was drinking down his strength. The wrongness of that revelation should’ve horrified me, or at least shamed me.

His eyes held mine, dark with possessiveness.

“Did you really think I’d let you go?” His thumb stroked my hammering pulse, enjoying this. “Twenty years I’ve searched for you.”

I wasn’t even twenty yet. Why would he look for me before I was born?

“Whoareyou?” The words scraped from my tight throat.

His smile held secrets. “You tell me.”

That dream flashed through my mind—his command, the darkness. But his eyes held no violence now, only hunger and something darker. Obsession.

“You’ve got the wrong girl,” I insisted. “I’m not who you think I am.”

His laugh curled around me like a caress. “You’reexactlywho I’ve waited for. Did you forget my words in Obsidian Wilds? When I summon, you come.”

“You don’townme.” I bared my teeth. “Let go, or I’ll scream loud enough to ruin you.”

A hollow threat. No one would believe me over him.

“Please do, darling,” he purred, amusement dancing in his eyes. “I’d enjoy an audience for what comes next.”

My breath hitched, my chest heaving up. “And what’s that?”

“Giving you what you ache for.” His palm slid lower. “Your body begs for me, little flower. Your pulse races. Your heart wants to jump out of your chest. And your body trembles for me.”

“Cocky, aren’t we?” I snorted, jerking back. “If I tremble, it’s fromrevulsion. Dangerous men like you? I’d rather walk through hell’s fire.”

“What do you know about hell’s fire, baby?” He crooned and sniffed. “You aren’t a good liar, and your scent says it all. You’re two seconds from begging for my cock. Even now you’re dripping wet, so ready to be fucked. Your panties are soaked.I dare you to lie to my face that you’re not. And if you aren’t weeping for me, I’ll leave you alone forever.”

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