⋆ Chapter 195

⋆ Chapter 195
The hearing had turned into a fucking nightmare.
I was still shaking when the car doors shut behind us, my breath short and uneven from those two wolves—Elders who had shifted and lunged at me, their jaws snapping inches from my throat.
Wanda sat beside me, watching the tremble in my hands. “I’m really sorry that happened to you, Luna.”
“It’s not your fault.”
But my body wouldn’t stop replaying it, the way two Elders lunged at me as if my blood could wipe away their crimes. I should’ve expected it. But there’s a difference between knowing people hate you and watching them try to kill you in front of a hundred witnesses.
I looked out the window. We were driving along a narrow road, lined with tall, skeletal trees. A sea peeked through the gaps between trunks, its surface gleaming dully beneath the gray-blue sky.
“Stop,” I said suddenly.
“What?”
“Here. Stop the car.”
Wanda looked uncertain but tapped on the partition. The driver slowed down, pulling over to a gravel strip. She turned to me just as I was reaching for the door.
“I’ll go with you.”
“No,” I said, already halfway out. “Just wait for me here.”
She didn’t argue, but I felt her eyes on my back as I crossed the empty road.
The trees swallowed the sound of the car behind me. I followed a narrow trail of smooth stones. The scent of salt grew stronger, and after a few more steps, the trees broke open to reveal the shoreline.
There was no one else around. Just the sea, the dimming sky, and me.
I stumbled, and my knees gave out as I hit the sand, and I just… collapsed. The sob hit before I even knew it was coming. And I couldn’t tell what hurt more—my chest, my head, or the silence that followed my own scream.
I removed my shoes, got up, and stripped down, pulling off the blouse and pants. I left them in a pile on the rocks, walked into the water in just my underwear, and let the cold pull me under.
The water swallowed my pain, my everything. Then I came back up and screamed into the open sky. I was fucking tired of pretending like I was okay with any of this.
Then… I floated. I let the sea carry me. My limbs went limp, eyes fixed on the growing darkness above. And for the first time in hours, the world stopped spinning.
That was when I saw him.
“Hello, Pet.”
Cillian’s face leaned over mine, blotting out the sky. Panic slammed back into my chest. I kicked, trying to push away, but his hand was already on my wrist before I could fully turn.
“How did you find me?” I said through gritted teeth. 
His eyes flickered to the bracelet on my wrist. “I’ll always find you, Matilda.”
“Then what were you doing when those two wolves tried to attack me?”
He moved closer like the water itself was no obstacle. “I ensured the other wolves stayed at bay,” he said.
My eyes caught on a deep, jagged cut across his neck, the skin unnaturally pale around it, no blood seeping from the wound.
He drew me closer, pulling my body against his until I felt the solid planes of him. Soon, the fear, the grief, and the adrenaline—it all twisted into a hunger again. Before I could think, I wrapped my legs around his waist, my thighs locking around him as I pressed my lips to his.
Cillian responded instantly, his lips stealing my breath as his tongue swept against mine. He pulled back just enough to speak. “You were magnificent up there, Matilda. I am… profoundly proud of you.”
His words surged through me, fueling the fire in my veins, making me crave him even more. So I reached for his trousers, my hand brushing against the firm, undeniable heat of his arousal.
A faint smile curved his lips, that arrogant tilt. He tightened his grip on me and swam forward, carrying me through the water with effortless strength, my body clinging to his as he moved toward a fallen tree half-submerged in the water.
The rough bark pressed against my back as he pinned me against the tree’s massive trunk, the water lapping around us. I slid out of my panties, letting them drift away. Then my hands found his waistband, fingers working quickly, tugging his trousers down beneath the surface.
“You’re so ready…” I said when I wrapped my fingers around his erection.
He let out a low groan. “Command me, Matilda,” he whispered in my ear.
“Fuck me, Cillian.” I guided him to my center, my legs tightening around him as he entered me. My head tipped back against the tree. The sensation was immediate and overwhelming.
But Cillian held back, not sinking fully into me. I wasn’t having it. I wanted all of him and needed it to fill the void inside me.
“Deeper, Cillian,” I whimpered. “I’m ready. Please…”
He paused, his gaze locking onto mine. “You’re certain?”
“I need you. All of you.”
With a low groan, he obeyed, thrusting deeper, and the sheer length and massiveness of his cock took my breath away. I felt every inch, the overwhelming fullness as he moved, the tip of his cock touching that perfect spot inside me.
“Oh, shit!”  I wailed, feeling pleasure so intense it bordered on unbearable.
“God, Tilly,” Cillian breathed. His hands tightened on my hips as he thrust again, deeper still, the size of him stretching me in a way that made my head spin. I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe—only feel the impossible girth of him.
“Don’t stop,” I commanded, my fingers tangling in his damp hair, tugging just enough to make him hiss. My thighs clamped tighter around him, urging him on.
I didn’t care who might hear us. Neither did Cillian, it seemed, as he continued to move inside me, each thrust from him a reminder of his power and his otherness.
My hands slid down his back, nails raking across his skin, and he responded by leaning in, his lips finding my throat, kissing and nipping with just enough pressure to remind me of his fangs, though he didn’t break the skin.
“I love losing myself in you, Matilda,” he murmured against my neck.
“Then bite me,” I gasped, my body trembling as he drove into me again.
He let out a low, guttural sound, then came the graze of his fangs at my neck—light at first, then pressing in as he began to draw from me, his mouth sealed to my skin while his hips drove forward. His movements were becoming more forceful.
I was stretched to the brink, completely filled. And my cries tore from my throat, not a trace of shame in them.
The fear, the pain, the grief—just like the last time we were this intimate, it all faded, burned away by the sweet pain and pleasure Cillian was giving me. And I let myself sink into it, commanding him to carry me further, to make it last.