Chapter 157 Chapter 157
Violet
His jaw tightened, and his grip on my waist firmed, not painfully, but enough to remind me of the strength coiled in him. He leaned in close, his voice a mild warning, rough around the edges. "Don't say his name, Violet. Not here. Not when you're mine."
I couldn't help the small smile that tugged at my lips and quickly looked away, even as a thrill shot through me at the possessiveness in his tone.
“What?” He asked and the smile grew wider.
Teasing him came naturally, a way to lighten the moment while stoking that fire I saw in his eyes. "Nothing”
But his eyes narrowed and he placed his hand under my chin, forcing me to look at him again.
“Say it”
An edge of dominance had crept into his voice that made butterflies flutter in my belly.
“ It's kind of cute how worked up you get."
A low growl rumbled from his chest, vibrating against my skin, and before I could blink, he flipped us again, pinning me beneath him with effortless power.
His eyes burned into mine, that hunger now fully alight, but tempered with the sweetness that defined him.
"Cute?" he echoed, his voice husky. "Let me show you just how possessive I am."
He didn't wait for a response.
His mouth claimed mine in a kiss that was deeper, more urgent, his tongue sweeping in with a possessiveness that made my toes curl.
One hand tangled in my hair, tilting my head back to expose my throat, where he nipped lightly, sending sparks racing across my skin. His other hand slid down my side, gripping my hip as he shifted, his body aligning with mine once more.
I was still sensitive from before, my body humming with the quiet pleasure, but when he pressed into me again, it was with a firmer thrust, claiming rather than coaxing.
“You belong to me and only me.”
I gasped into his mouth, my nails digging into his shoulders as he set a rhythm that was steady but edged with fire, driving home his words without needing to speak them.
He was showing me, through every roll of his hips, every brush of his lips against my pulse, that I was his, and he was mine.
"And if anybody dared even think of coming between us, I would show them why they call me a monster," he growled against my neck, the word a breathy promise as he quickened his pace just enough to make me arch into him.
“Elijah!”
His free hand captured mine, lacing our fingers together above my head, holding me there in a restraint that felt like safety wrapped in intensity. The possessiveness fueled the heat between us, turning the sweetness into something fiercer, more alive.
“I alone will hear your soft cries and moans. I alone can tease you in a room full of people with a remote in my pockets”
“Yes” I breathed as he started thrusting inside me again.
I had never had more than one orgasm at a time but my body was yielding and responding so quickly, it surprised me.
Pleasure built again, sharper this time, coiling tight as his mouth found my breast, sucking gently before grazing his teeth over the peak. "Elijah," I whimpered, the sound lost in another kiss.
He released my hand to cup my face, his thumb tracing my lower lip as he watched me unravel beneath him.
“And you will come only for me, won't you, Violet?”
I nodded eagerly but he pinched my lips between his thumb and forefinger.
“Say it”
“I…I will come only for you”
“That’s my good girl”
He said with that same satisfied expression and then pulled out just to deliver a final thrust that rocked me.
When I shattered a second time, it was with a cry muffled against his shoulder, my body trembling in waves that pulled him over the edge with me.
He buried himself deep, groaning my name like a vow, his release filling me as his arms wrapped around us both, shielding me from the world.
We lay tangled afterward, breaths syncing in the quiet.
Elijah's fingers resumed their lazy trails along my spine, but now there was a satisfied glint in his eyes, the fire banked once more. "No one takes you from me," he murmured, pressing a soft kiss to my temple. "Not Nate, not the Moon Goddess, not anyone."
I smiled, tracing the line of his collarbone. "I know. And I'm not going anywhere."
As he wrapped me in his arms, the nightmares of the outside world returned again.
I shoved that thought away selfishly, not wanting it to affect the pure joy I felt in the moment.
This was real. This was us. And I was soon going to tell him the truth about his mother’s deal. I couldn’t let it come between us because I knew we would figure a way out of it together.
I was going to come clean to him. But not today. Right now, I just wanted to take whatever this man had to offer me.
His fingers were still idly tracing circles on my arm when he softly repeated, going back to the conversation we had started earlier.
"It's not adrenaline and it's definitely not drama. It's you. Just you."
"Elijah…" my voice sounded choked to my ears.
"I know you're scared. I know this situation is complicated and messy and probably going to get worse before it gets better. But I'm not going anywhere. I'm not letting my father intimidate me into leaving you. I'm not letting Nate's lies change how I feel. And I'm sure as hell not letting you push me away because you think you're protecting me."
"You don't understand…" The guilt was starting to grow painfully heavy in my chest now.
"Then help me understand." His hands tightened on my waist. "Talk to me, Violet. Tell me what's really going on. Because I know there's something you're not telling me. I can see it in your eyes every time my mother looks at you or my father threatens your pack. What is it? What are you hiding?"
My heart was hammering against my ribs. This was it, the moment where I could tell him the truth. Where I could explain about Aurelia's ultimatum, about the impossible choice she'd forced on me.
But the words wouldn't come. Because telling him would mean losing him anyway. He'd either hate me for manipulating him, or he'd do something reckless to protect me that would get him killed or cast out.
Either way, I'd lose him.
So I lied.
"I'm not hiding anything," I said, forcing my voice to stay steady. "I'm just scared of what happens when the wedding is over and we have to figure out what we are..."
He studied my face, and I could see the doubt in his eyes. He didn't quite believe me. But he also didn't push.
"We'll figure it out," he said finally. "Together. Okay? Whatever happens, whatever your pack needs, whatever my family threatens, we'll face it together."