“Is this what you want, Zirah?” he growls, his voice low and seductive as his lips ghost over mine, a teasing caress that only fuels the fire burning within me. “Do you want me to take you? Or would you rather fight me for control?”
I hesitate as the storm of emotions threatens to consume me. However, as I look into Regan’s eyes, I see something unexpected: a challenge. He knows I’m angry, and he’s daring me to take it out on him. And maybe I want to.
In response, I push him off me and flip our positions, straddling him as I pin his wrists to the bed. “You’re right. You don’t control me,” I snarl, my voice filled with defiance. “Not anymore.”
A wicked grin spreads across his face, and he bucks his hips, causing me to gasp as his erection brushes against my core. “Prove it, little priestess,” he taunts, his voice dripping with lust.
Our eyes lock, and I see the raw desire in his gaze, a need that mirrors my own. With a growl, I lower myself onto him but hesitate, uncertain of what to do.
As I shift my weight above him, Regan’s hands grip my hips, his fingers digging into my flesh as he tries to regain control. “Tick Tock, Z, what’s it gonna be?” I growl at him, and his eyes flash back at me in warning.
He knows I’m a virgin, and now it almost seems like he is mocking me for it. I could burn this kingdom to the fucking ground around us, and yet he mocks me.
“Are you scared? Is that it?” he purrs, gripping my throat. My pulse bumps erratically against his hand before it glides down between the valley of my breasts. “You think you can handle me, Zirah?” he hisses, his voice strained with desire. “I’m not so easily tamed.”
I lean over him, my lips brushing against his ear as I whisper, “Neither am I.” I bite down on his earlobe. He gasps, and as his muscles tighten beneath me, I sink down on him with a hiss. A different sort of burning pain engulfs me, and I pause, forcing myself to take a breath. I think I prefer the flames of the stake.
As if seeing the doubt in my eyes, his arms lock around me. He sits up, clutching me to his chest while I hiss at the sudden pain. I didn’t expect this to be so intense.
“It will hurt, Zirah, but not for long,” he whispers, his voice soft but firm.
“Just do it then,” I snarl at him.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I don’t care. Do it,” I reply, my voice shaking as my legs tremble, pushing against his hands that are holding my hips in place.
He repositions me above him. “No, if you want it, take it, Z,” he growls while I grit my teeth and sink down, but once again, the pain causes me to freeze halfway as the burning stretch becomes too much. I try to climb back off him, but he holds my hips firmly, not allowing me to.
“Breathe, Z,” he urges, nipping at my neck.
I shake my head, the pain almost too much to bear. Regan tries to calm me down, yet when he fails, the fool decides it’s better to mock me.
“Did it hurt as much as when you were burned at the stake?” he taunts, making me growl in anger. “Or what about when Zeke whipped you?” he purrs, and my gums ache as my canines elongate at his words.
“What about when I turned my back on you and left you with Zeke?”
Fueled by the anger his words evoke, I sink all the way down on him, a menacing, unhinged growl escaping my lips.
Regan groans. “Seems I am your weakness after all, Z. But that’s okay because you’re also mine,” he purrs, then gently kisses me. When he pulls away, he grabs my face, brushing his thumbs across my canines. “There’s that fire. The woman who bows down to no man because she knows she’s above them.” His lips crash against mine, our teeth and tongues clashing when he pulls away. “Now show me who’s in charge.”
His eyes sparkle with the challenge I am more than eager to prove. Our bodies crash together like waves against the shore. With a growl, I sink lower onto him, my pelvis flush with his, taking him deep within me. Our bodies are joined, fueled by anger and passion, vying for both control and surrender that leaves us breathless and wanting more.
Our moans and growls of pleasure mix with the sound of the storm outside, the thunder and lightning mirroring the intensity of our passion. We fight for dominance, each trying to assert control over the other, our bodies a battleground of desire and rage.
As the pleasure mounts, it becomes impossible to tell where one of us ends and the other begins. Our bodies and souls entwine in a connection that transcends our anger and betrayal.
When my muscles tense and spasm, the world around me becomes lost to the rising sensation.
My walls flutter and clench around him, making him groan, and a primal urge overrides everything else as I finally reach the peak. It’s as if the world outside ceases to exist, leaving only the raw energy, and I sink my teeth into his neck.
His blood washes over my tongue, the coppery taste overwhelming my senses, and I sputter, trying to pull away, but he fists my hair, and tears burn my eyes at what I’ve done.
He groans, spilling himself inside me. “I’m yours now. I always was, but there is no one else I would rather belong to,” Regan tells me, his fingers skating over my nape gently. “Don’t reject it. Let go. Your mark won’t stick if you refuse it,” he tells me, and I realize he is telling me this so that the choice is ultimately mine.
I can still pull away and reject the mark I am giving him, yet some part of me doesn’t want to. Some part of me knows undoubtedly that he was always going to be mine.
With that thought in mind, I sink my teeth into him deeper, feeling his soul merge and tangle with mine, shackling him to me. The bond snaps into place, and I am flooded with his emotions, his sadness, longing, fear, but most of all, his love.