Page 61 of Forsaken Fate

“Let him mark you,” I said, my throat ragged. “Christ. That’s what you’re up to. You think if you let him mark you, then you’ll be able to read his mind. Brynna, that’s crazy. You’re strong but you’re human. Grayson’s going to overpower you.”

“No,” she said. “I know a way to protect myself. Grayson’s not the only one with borrowed magic.”

She rubbed her thumb across the palm of her other hand. She was small, delicate, and yet made of steel. The rational part of my brain told me she could be conning me now. Why wouldn’t she? Except my heart said something else. I’d seen Brynna when she was vulnerable, when she thought no one else was looking and the things I knew she saved only for me.

I think I loved her.

“What do you want from me?”

“It’s like I told you. Grayson was involved,” she said. “He as much as admitted it to me last night. And I can’t undo Diana’s spell without him. He has her blood running through his veins. I still need him. I still need to stay close to him and I need you to let me. I need you to trust me.”

Oh, God. She wanted to go through with it. She wanted me to stand by and watch while she took Grayson’s mark.

“I don’t have anything to give you in return and I understand that you don’t have any reason to trust me. I know what I’m asking you.”

“Brynna, don’t do this. I can help you find another way. Don’t let him mark you. Don’t let him touch you. Don’t let him think you’re his. Not for another second.”

Her eyes shone as she cocked her head and looked at me.

“There isn’t another way. Not when the stakes are this high. I promise you. He’s covered his tracks very carefully. But he’s slipping. Without Diana around to tell him what to do he’s going to break all the way. And I have to be there. I have to be brave enough and so do you.”

It was killing me. Sitting this close to her. Listening to her convince me why I should let her walk into another man’s arms and take his mark. It would kill me bit by bit and she knew it. And I had no answers for her. Dammit, I wished I did. Even from the grave, Diana still took things away. I couldn’t prove it, either; I had only Brynna’s word but in my heart, I knew she was right. If Diana used dark magic to send her father into another dimension, Grayson would be the key to setting him free. She was fucking right. And yet…

I pulled Brynna into my arms and kissed her. I couldn’t stand not touching her anymore. Her body responded. Her hands went up into my hair and she sank into the kiss. She tasted so sweet. I put my hand on her thigh and she parted them, just like I’d started training her to do. I wanted to tear that dress from her body, leaving her naked beneath me forever.

She moaned against me, and I slid a hand further up until I touched her silk panties. They were already soaked through. God, I couldn’t hold back. She could be lying. She could be nothing more than everyone said she was. I didn’t believe it, or I didn’t care. I just wanted.

“Theo.”

When she gasped my name, it undid me. I stood up and she came with me. I turned her and she bent over the bed. I put my hands on her thighs and slid her dress up over her hips. She held her ass high in the air as I pulled at her panties, dragging them down to her knees. Her sex was wet and swollen, already gaping for me as I fumbled with the zipper of my pants.

I was going to do it. I was going to fuck her and claim her, and I didn’t care what anyone else said or thought. It was only about her.

“Do you want me?” I leaned forward and whispered in her ear. This was the way. I could mark her right here and now and then she wouldn’t be able to take Grayson’s. She was mine, dammit. Mine! But she had to say it. She had to ask for it.

“Please,” she begged. “Fuck me.”

My cock sprang free, and I slid into her. She felt like heaven. She was wet and hot and all for me. She bucked against me as I thrust into her. Once. Twice. I came quickly, spilling my seed deep, filling her to the brim. When I was spent, I held my dick deep in her and slid my hand around her waist. I found her sensitive little bud with my fingers and stroked her. She shuddered and gasped, her walls clenching around me as she came quickly, too. She shoved the linen bedspread into her mouth to muffle her scream.

“Let me bite you,” I said. “You know it’s what you want. You know it’s what you were born for. It’s…fate.” Fucking fate.

I felt her burn for me. My need for her consumed me. I wanted. I could do it. I could take her. I could end this. Here. Now.

“Oh God. Theo…no. No!”

No!

The word thundered through my brain. My body. Simple. Powerful. Irreversible.

My fangs retracted. She was my mate. But it was Brynna’s choice.

Her words meant everything. Though my wolf raged, I knew I couldn’t claim her without her permission. I could fuck her with abandon. But my seed would not take root. I would not mark her. Could not.

Then it was over. We stood and Brynna slid her panties back up her thighs and adjusted her dress. A soft knock at the door startled her. I turned and zipped my pants, tucking my shirt back in place.

We heard throat clearing and then Mary’s voice. “It’s time,” she said. “Mr. Dorran. We need to get you down there.”

“Don’t do this,” I said. “There has to be another way.”

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