459- The Kiss That Changed Everything
POV Thalyndra Moonclaw:
My wild half had claimed him, and there was nothing I could do to change that.
Another growl escaped me as I bared my teeth at him.
An overwhelming urge to bite him surged through me, so powerful that I had to clench my fists at my sides to keep myself under control.
I was so angry and so wild that I wanted to attack someone with my teeth?
What the fuck was wrong with me?
I couldn’t make sense of what I was feeling, but the need to sink my fangs into his neck and taste his blood ached deep within me, an absolute and overwhelming craving.
My gaze drifted to the vein pulsing along the side of his neck, and I swallowed hard.
Anton narrowed his eyes, studying every one of my reactions.
“Hmm... interesting,” he commented.
“What’s interesting?” I asked.
If he knew I was seconds away from biting his neck, he’d stay far away from me. I was out of control at best. At worst, I had completely lost the little sanity I still possessed.
“Just something I’m observing.”
I inhaled deeply, flaring my nostrils.
The girl’s scent lingered in my lungs.
I tried to focus, to calm down, but I heard her voice somewhere in the store, whispering to someone.
That was the final straw.
Like a trigger being pulled.
My pupils widened.
I locked eyes with Anton, changing the way I moved. Faster. More calculated. More precise.
Like a wolf preparing to strike.
“You don’t want this,” he murmured, completely unconcerned by the fact that I was moments away from tearing out his throat.
The need to have his blood on my tongue was overwhelming.
“You don’t know what I want,” I hissed.
The voice was mine, but it didn’t feel like it belonged to me.
He laughed, lifting a hand to run through his hair. He rolled his neck from side to side, preparing for the confrontation.
“I know absolutely everything about you, Little Beast,” he whispered, running his tongue across his lips.
Then I lunged.
In the blink of an eye, fast as a predator.
My fangs were elongated, ready to sink into his soft skin.
Anton caught me by the throat and slammed me against the fitting-room wall. He leaned in until our faces were aligned and stared into my eyes.
His eyes were mismatched now, altered just like mine.
Man and beast sharing the same body.
“That would change a lot of things, and we don’t need that right now,” he commented, brushing the tip of his nose against my cheek. “You don’t know what you’re doing. You’re being controlled by your wild instincts.” His fingers tightened slightly around my neck. It didn’t hurt, but it restricted my breathing. “Believe me, I want it too. But not like this.”
“Let me go!” I growled, struggling against him.
His face moved even closer, until the tip of my nose touched his.
Our breaths mingled, surrounding us in a bubble as though we were the only two people in the world.
“If I do, you’ll try to attack me again, and I’m not sure I’ll have enough strength to stop you.”
“Then don’t stop me.”
A dry laugh brushed against my parted lips.
“As I said, you have no idea what’s at stake.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “No idea at all...”
He was irritating me.
Keeping me from having what I wanted most.
The calloused, steady fingers around my neck sent a shiver through me.
A soft purr escaped my throat as I leaned forward and rubbed myself against him.
“Don’t provoke me, Thalyndra,” he cut in, his tone edged with warning.
I rubbed against him again, noticing the growing bulge between his legs.
I couldn’t suppress the closed-lip smile that formed, pleased by his body’s reaction to me.
“Then let me go,” I purred like a cat.
He opened his eyes and looked at me, his lips twisted into a grimace.
I rolled my hips against him and arched a suggestive eyebrow.
He placed a hand on my stomach and shoved me backward, pressing my back firmly against the wall. The muscle in his jaw ticked.
He didn’t blink.
He didn’t take his eyes off mine.
“Let me go,” I repeated. “You won’t regret it...” I breathed.
One second, he was staring at me from mere inches away.
The next, his lips were pressed against mine.
The impact startled me so much that my eyes flew open, shocked by the unexpected contact.
I gasped.
His lips were warm, soft, and sublime.
Anton let out a groan. I parted my lips, allowing his tongue inside. The minty taste of his breath made me sigh. The fingers around my neck loosened. I wrapped my arms around the back of his neck, pulling him even closer, pressing our bodies together.
Our heads moved in perfect sync while our tongues played against one another. His skin was firm beneath my fingers.
He gripped my waist, pulling me against him as if he could fuse us into one.
The scent, the contact, his mouth against mine... it was as though something had clicked into place, as though everything was finally right, as though this moment had always been destined to happen.
My heart raced, every hair on my body stood on end, and my skin burned with heat.
I was aroused, flushed, breathless, overwhelmed.
His mouth never left mine, not even to breathe. It was as if nothing else mattered besides the touch.
The world around us fell silent, as though it recognized the same moment we did. There was an energy surrounding us, making even the air feel heavier, charged with adrenaline.
He slid one hand into the hair at the nape of my neck, tangling his fingers in the strands. A sigh mixed with a moan escaped me without ever leaving his lips.
Anton swallowed every reaction my body gave him, every breath I exhaled. He took everything from me—everything I was, everything I had—as though it were a necessity, as though he were feeding on me.
He nibbled my lower lip, sucking on it before reclaiming the kiss with renewed hunger, making our teeth collide. His hands roamed over my body, tracing every curve as though he were studying each part of me, committing it all to memory.
I buried my fingers in his hair, feeling the softness of the strands exactly as I had imagined more than once. They slipped through my fingers like silk.
“Anton...” I whispered against his mouth, my eyes closed as countless sensations overwhelmed me.
A growl of approval rumbled from him at the sound of his name.
It was sublime. Overwhelming. The way our lips fit together was like a puzzle that had finally been completed.
But... I wanted more. I needed more.
As though he felt the same, Anton tilted his head, deepening the kiss even further.
I slid my hands down to the fabric of his shirt, bunching it in my fists and pulling him toward me.
His scent was intoxicating, addictive, just like his taste.
“Hello!”