Chapter 199 199
Her eyes widened the instant the words left his mouth. For a fleeting moment her heart seemed to stop altogether before it resumed, pounding wildly in her chest. She stared at him, uncertain if she had truly heard him correctly.
Slowly, she shook her head, disbelief written across her face.
Damien’s jaw tightened as he advanced toward her. In two strides he was standing in front of her again, his fingers closing firmly around her chin and forcing her to look straight into his eyes.
“You’re mine, Jacq,” he said in a low, unyielding voice. “You became mine the moment you let me have you.”
The depth of his voice sent a shiver down her spine. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear the tears blurring her vision.
Silence stretched between them, thick and suffocating. Her mind went completely blank. She didn’t know what to think, what to feel, or how to respond.
She hadn’t expected this.
Not even in her wildest thoughts.
Damien studied her carefully as she stood there stiff and unmoving, like a statue carved from stone.
When he had read the letter she left behind, rage had consumed him. All he had seen was red. Fury had surged through him so violently that his wolf had nearly broken free, ready to tear the entire world apart just to drag her back to him.
It was in that moment he realized the truth.
She belonged to him.
The ache that hollowed out his chest after she left had been unbearable. His hands had itched to touch her again. His eyes had burned with the desperate need to see her just once, even if only for a moment.
He had tried to hold himself back, tried to suppress the storm of emotions building inside him. But when he finally admitted the truth to himself that he needed that bright, lively girl beside him the dam inside him shattered.
There was no turning back.
He couldn’t let her go.
Somehow she had built an entire kingdom inside his heart, and there was no chance he would ever release its queen.
Now she had to stay.
Whether she wanted to or not.
She was his.
“You assumed so damn much,” he continued harshly. “Not once did you bother asking me what I wanted. Did you really think I’d just let you walk away after the havoc you left inside me?”
His voice was hard, almost accusing.
Jacqueline could only swallow nervously.
She had no words.
Damien stepped forward again, the movement forcing her to retreat until her back collided with the door behind her. He towered over her, those intense eyes fixed firmly on her face.
His fingers tightened slightly around her chin, forcing her lips to press together.
“I’ll only say this once,” he rasped, leaning closer.
She forgot how to breathe.
“I didn’t sleep with you out of pity,” he said bluntly. “It wasn’t just sex to me.”
His voice deepened, rough and husky.
“I slept with you because I wanted you. I wanted to claim you. I needed to feel you, to touch you. I craved you more than anything. Your scent… those soft little sounds you make… I took you because I desired you.”
Jacqueline stared at him, her large brown eyes filled with stunned disbelief.
A sharp gasp escaped her when his hand suddenly slid down again, gripping her intimately with a possessive squeeze. He stepped closer, his nose brushing against her cheek as he leaned toward her ear.
“This belongs to me,” he murmured, the words dripping with raw possessiveness.
His hand slipped beneath the fabric of her panties once more.
His fingers brushed over her sensitive skin, slowly tracing the swollen softness there.
“I can smell how aroused you are,” he whispered roughly against her ear. “You’re wet for me, baby.”
His tongue flicked lightly against the edge of her ear, making her shudder. She instinctively tried to press her thighs together, but he forced his knee between her legs, pushing them farther apart.
A trembling breath left her lips when he slid a finger inside her.
He drew back slightly so he could see her face. His dark gaze moved slowly over her features, as though memorizing every line and imperfection.
“You want me to touch you, don’t you?” he murmured softly.
Almost unconsciously, she gave the faintest nod.
Her desire for him was overwhelming like someone intoxicated by a powerful drug.
His thumb brushed gently across her lips. They parted automatically, and he pushed the pad of his thumb into her mouth.
Their eyes remained locked.
Her breathing came in uneven bursts as his fingers moved slowly inside her. His thumb rested against her tongue.
“Suck,” he said quietly, a faint smirk tugging at his mouth.
Like a spellbound puppet, she obeyed. Her lips closed around his thumb as she began to suck on it.
His gaze darkened further as he felt her tongue move against his skin.
With a rough exhale he pulled his thumb free and pushed another finger inside her.
She gasped softly, her body tightening around his hand.
His free hand traced along her collarbone before drifting lower. His knuckles brushed over her hardened nipple through the fabric of her clothing.
She jerked when his large hand closed around her breast, squeezing firmly.
At the same time his fingers inside her began moving faster.
Jacqueline struggled to suppress the helpless sounds threatening to escape her lips.
“You want to come?” he asked quietly, pinching her nipple between his fingers.
She clung desperately to his bicep, her body trembling as she edged closer and closer to the breaking point.
She nodded weakly.
“Say my name,” he murmured.
Her eyes squeezed shut. She bit her lower lip hard before finally letting the word escape.
“Damien…”
His name left her mouth as a soft, aching moan.
For a brief moment he closed his eyes, trying to keep his wolf under control.
But the beast inside him only surged closer to the surface.
When he opened his eyes again, there was something feral glinting in them as he looked at her.
His fingers moved faster, deeper.
He could feel how close she was the rhythm of her heartbeat, the way her body clenched around him.
Her quiet moans only drove him harder.
His hand tightened roughly around her breast as his thumb pressed against the sensitive bundle of nerves between her thighs.
Jacqueline cried out
but the sound was instantly muffled when his hand clamped over her mouth.
His other hand never stopped moving.
Her entire body trembled violently as pleasure crashed through her in a powerful wave. Even as she shook against him, he continued moving his fingers, drawing the moment out and forcing the sensation to linger.
Slowly, her eyes fluttered open again.
Her breathing hitched when she looked up at him.
There were faint flecks of gold swirling within his eyes.