Chapter 16 Chapter 16
Zane
I moved.
Not the most conscious decision. Not a choice weighed against consequences or the thousand reasons I should turn around and walk away.
Just a pure instinctive response to a question that had bypassed every defense I’d built.
Three strides and I was on her.
My hand cupped the back of her neck, fingers threading through her hair as I dragged her mouth to mine.
My mouth was on hers in no time, not carefully exploring but desperately rummaging through it. And shattering all of the restraints I had gathered in the past days.
She made a sound against my mouth—surprise, maybe, or relief—and then she was kissing me back with equal fervor. Her hands fisted in my shirt, pulling me closer even though there was no space left between us.
I’d imagined this. Late at night when the bond pulled at me and sleep wouldn’t come. I’d imagined what she’d taste like, how her body would feel pressed against mine.
The reality was so much better, making my chest throb even harder.
She tasted like the tea we’d just had at dinner, with an undercurrent of honey. Sweet and warm. And underneath that, a taste I could not exclusively dissect making my wolf rumble with satisfaction.
My hands moved of their own accord, mapping the curves of her body.
The dip of her waist. The flare of her hips. The softness of her skin that yielded under my touch in ways that made every possessive instinct I had roar to life.
She gasped when my palm skimmed up her ribcage, and I swallowed the sound. Claimed it the way I was claiming her mouth.
This. This was what I’d been denying myself and running from.
Her fingers found the buttons of my shirt, fumbling in her urgency. I broke the kiss long enough to yank the fabric over my head, not bothering with the remaining buttons. They scattered across the floor with small clicks that barely registered.
Then her hands were on my chest, her touch tentative and bold at the same time. Like she couldn’t quite believe she was allowed to touch me like this.
“Tiana,” I growled against her mouth.
She pulled back just enough to meet my eyes. Her brown pupils were blown wide and her lips swollen from my kiss. She looked thoroughly debauched and we hadn’t even—
“Don’t stop,” she whispered. “Please don’t stop this time.”
This time. Right. Because I had a habit of that. Starting things I couldn’t finish. Wanting her and then pulling away like a coward.
Not tonight.
I lifted her without warning. She wrapped her legs around my waist automatically, and the feel of her against me—nothing between us but my pants—nearly undid me right there.
I carried her to the bed, laying her down with more care than I’d shown since entering the room. She looked up at me, her dark hair spread across the pillows, her chest rising and falling with rapid breaths.
Mine. Every inch of her. Mine.
I followed her down, bracing myself on my forearms so I wouldn’t crush her. My mouth found her throat, the mark I’d put there. Tracing it with my tongue, I felt her shiver beneath me.
“Zane,” she breathed.
The way she said my name went straight through me.
My hand slid down her side, over the curve of her hip, to her thigh. She trembled under my touch, her breath hitching when my fingers moved higher.
“Tell me you want this,” I said against her skin.
“I want this.” She responded without a single trace of hesitation.
I raised my head to look at her, to see her face and know that this was real.
“I want you,” she clarified. “Not because of the bond or contract. Just… you.”
The words shouldn’t have affected me the way they did. This was still temporary and a mere transaction with an expiration date.
But in that moment, I let myself believe it anyway.
My mouth found hers again as my hand moved between her thighs. She was already wet, ready for me in a way that made my control slip another notch.
I touched her carefully at first, learning what made her gasp and arch and dig her nails into my shoulders. She was responsive in ways I hadn’t expected—unguarded, openly showing me exactly what she liked.
It was intoxicating.
I added another finger and she moaned, her head falling back. “Zane, I—”
“I know.” I could feel her getting close. Could read the tension in her body, the way her breathing changed.
I wanted to watch her come apart. Wanted to see her lose control the way she was making me lose mine.
But I also wanted to be inside her when it happened. Wanted that first time to be complete.
My hands moved to my belt, fingers working the buckle with less coordination than usual. She watched me through heavy-lidded eyes, her chest still heaving.
“Are you sure?” I asked, even though stopping now might actually kill me.
She nodded. “I’m sure.”
I finished removing my pants and settled between her thighs. The feel of her against me—skin to skin, made my vision blur at the edges.
I positioned myself at her entrance, moving slowly despite every instinct screaming at me to just take her.
“Zane?”
Something in her voice made me pause. I looked up.
Her expression had shifted. The open want was still there, but now there was uncertainty too. A question formed behind her eyes.
“What is it?” My voice came out rougher than intended.
She bit her lip. “Is this… is this because of what happened at dinner? Because Kaius gave me the necklace and you—”
Ice flooded my veins.
Just like that, the heat evaporated. The desperate need that had driven me across the room cooled into something else.
“What?” The word came out flat.
“I just…” She hesitated, clearly hearing the change in my tone. “I need to know this isn’t about him. That you’re not doing this because you’re jealous or trying to prove something.”
My hands stilled on her hips. “You think I’m here because of Kaius?”
“I don’t know!” Her voice rose slightly. “You barely look at me. You have made it clear what my purpose is here. And then tonight, after he gives me a gift and you two have your Alpha posturing moment, suddenly you can’t keep your hands off me?”
She wasn’t wrong. The timing was damning.
But she also wasn’t right.
I’d wanted her before tonight. Had wanted her in the treatment room when she’d been in pain. Even this morning against the wall. Every gods-damned day since marking her, I had wanted her and had been fighting it.
“So that’s what you think,” I said quietly, pulling back. Away from her. “That this is about him.”
“Isn’t it?” she challenged. “You saw him touch me and now you’re here, in my bed, finally willing to—”
“Stop talking.”
The command came out harsher than I’d intended, but I couldn’t listen to this. It was demeaning to hear her reduce what had just happened to some petty rivalry with my nephew.
Even if part of me knew she wasn’t entirely wrong.
I found my pants and pulled them on with jerky movements. The shirt was ruined so I left it.
“Where are you going?” Her voice was small now.
“Back to my chambers.” I didn’t look at her. “You should get enough rest. The treatments resume the day after the convergence ball”
“Zane—”
“Goodnight, Tiana,” I muttered, and I went through the connecting door back to my room.