Page 209 of Rain of Shadows and Endings

And she did.

With one hand, just like she said.

She released the dress she was still managing to clutch to her chest. The fabric slid down her body like water, pooling at her feet so she was left standing before him in barely there underthings and six-inch heels.

“Tessa.” Her name was a growl as his fingers flexed around her throat again.

“Tell me again about that control, Theon,” she taunted with malice. “You can’t even control me, the one person in the entire realm you’re supposed to have complete dominion over.”

Everything in him was reaching for her— his magic, the bond, his entire being in a need to… He didn’t even know anymore. Claim her? Show her who was in control? Give her control?

His breathing was ragged as he drank in all the skin bared to him. Golden hair spilled over her shoulders, concealing her breasts, and without conscious thought, he was brushing it back.

He felt her tremble beneath his hand, could feel her pulse beneath his fingers still wrapped around her throat. He regained the space he’d put between them, his front brushing against her bare torso.

“You’re regretting that impulsiveness right now, aren’t you?” he whispered, the same derision she held dripping in his tone. Not at her, but because of just how right she was.

“My life is one big regret. Why would this be any different?” she tried to retort, but it was breathy without the bite.

They stared at each other. This stand off of wills that seemed as though it was never going to end.

Until it did.

He didn’t know who moved first. Maybe it was her pushing against his hold on her throat. Maybe it was him sliding his palm around her neck to drag her into him. But her soft lips were on his, and his tongue was in her mouth. There was no explanation for why she was wrapping her legs around his waist, her heels slipping from her feet, or why he was pressing her into the wall, his hips thrusting into her.

He was suddenly furious at the fact that he was still fully dressed while he had her like this. He wrenched away, his shadows twining around her wrists and bringing them above her head, holding her in place.

“Do not move,” he said, yanking at his tie while simultaneously trying to shuck off his suit jacket.

“Theon, I—”

But her words dissolved into a low moan as he let his shadows play, rolling over her peaked nipples, down her torso, her thighs, but never where she wanted them.

No, he’d told her she’d beg for that, and after everything she’d just said to him, she’d be doing exactly that.

He took a deep breath, getting himself back under the control she’d fleetingly stolen. He forced himself to undo each button of his shirt rather than just rip the fucking thing off. His darkness was still keeping her where he wanted her, thighs rubbing together, hands above her head. For once—for fucking once—they had nowhere to be when she was letting him touch her.

He kicked his shoes off as his shirt slid to the floor before he lost his belt and undid his pants. They were still hanging off his hips when he stepped forward, unable to wait any longer. He could feel her trembling beneath his power, but he needed to feel her beneath his fingers.

Tell me again about that control, Theon.

Her taunt echoed in his mind, and he choked down the growl that crawled up his throat.

He was in control.

Of this.

Of her.

Of himself.

He pulled his darkness back, all of it but the shadows keeping her wrists secured above her head. Heated eyes watched his every move, and he smirked at her unwittingly following his demand from the other night. She knew what she wanted and remembered how to get it.

But he wasn’t going to make it that easy. Not this time.

He brought the tip of his finger to the hollow of her throat, and she sucked in a sharp breath.

“Theon.”

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