His tongue laps at my core, electric currents dancing over my skin. Before I realise it, I'm falling amongst stars.
 
 He only grows more desperate, feverishly licking, sucking, dipping his tongue inside me alongside his fingers. Devouring everything that drips from me, he eats like a man denied food and love in equal measure.
 
 My orgasm builds higher than I thought possible. Cries growing louder, my voice echoes in the prison that now feels like a throne.
 
 He doesn't stop until he’s licked me clean, leaving me as nothing but shaking limbs.
 
 Sitting back on his heels, Myles sucks his fingers with a satisfied smile.
 
 “Mine,” he growls.
 
 I don’t know who I am in this moment. But it feels like Myles is right.
 
 …I think I’m his.
 
 Chapter 17
 
 Phoenix
 
 It’s time to shut this down. Should’ve already done it but I have the perfect opportunity now.
 
 Myles wouldn’t stop boasting about his recent visit to the cell.“Ivy came right up to the bars… And after, she looked at me like I was her goddamn hero… practically begged me to stay,”he’d laughed smugly.
 
 He’s gone to check the perimeter now, swagger in every step, grinning like a dog with a bone.
 
 Unfortunately, Zane overheard Myles gloating. It was obvious Zane was feeling guilty when he decided to spend the night hunting. He blames himself for pushing Ivy into Myles’s arms.
 
 When he’s spiralling, Zane disappears into the forest with his ghosts. Always comes back with blood on his hands, in a better mood, and with a decent haul of meat.
 
 But it leaves me alone, unable to stop thinking about her.It’sfucking pathetic. I can’t stop picturing her curled under that blanket. Fragile. So breakable.
 
 And if I’m honest—how beguiling she was, even half hidden beneath all those baggy clothes. Lips soft and plump. Freckles like a dusting of ash.
 
 What the hell is it about her?
 
 Is it the fragility? The illusion of innocence in a world that's rotted everything else away. Whatever it is, it’s bullshit.
 
 The two most hardened men I know are shaken over her.One girl.That’s all it takes?
 
 Ivy.
 
 Myles let that little piece of intel slip while he was showboating.
 
 Maybe Iwillgo see her again.
 
 I want to scare her. Let her meet the devil before she offers her soul again. Remind her who’s in charge. Maybe even end this whole problem before it spreads.
 
 The hallway feels different when I'm walking with intent, but her strategic deals whisper in the corners of my mind.
 
 Pushing the holding room door open, I lean against the frame, arms crossed, eyes sharp.
 
 She's awake this time, sitting cross-legged on the bed, swallowed in that oversized hoodie, the hem reaching mid-thigh on her bare legs.
 
 Her head turns before I speak, and our eyes meet.
 
 No flinching. No fear. Just... watchfulness.
 
 Huh.