Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five
SIXTEEN MONTHS AGO

By the time I pulled into the driveway, the sky had dipped into a velvet blue. The house lights were already on. I had sent Niklas the recording the moment I got into the car, and he had called almost instantly.

“I will see you at home,” he had said, voice tight, clipped, and unmistakably protective.

Now, walking through the door, I found him exactly where I expected him, standing by the staircase, jacket off, collar undone, sleeves rolled up. His eyes, those sharp blue eyes, were dark with something quiet and dangerous. He didn’t speak. He didn’t need to. He just stepped forward and wrapped me in his arms, his mouth claiming mine with a kiss that burned with fury and tenderness in equal measure.

When I pulled away to breathe, he rested his forehead against mine.

“I should have been there,” he growled softly. His wolf was at the surface.

“You were,” I said softly. “You always are.”

His arms tightened around me, and before I could say another word, he scooped me up into his arms. I gasped, fingers clutching at his shirt.

“You don’t have to carry me,” I murmured against his chest.

“Let me.”

He nudged open the bedroom door with his shoulder, carried me through, and brought me straight into the ensuite. The scent of fresh linen and bergamot lingered in the air. He set me down gently on the warm marble step beside the bathtub. Without a word, he moved around me, opening the tap and adjusting the water, his hands moving with practiced ease. He reached for the oils on the tray…lavender, as always, and another bottle I hadn’t seen before. A few drops fell into the water. The fragrance bloomed immediately, heady and thick. Rich sandalwood, ylang-ylang, and something darker, spiced, and unfamiliar.

“What is that?” I asked, the scent already sinking into my skin.

“Something the Indonesians swear by,” he said, eyes still on the rising steam. “Soothes nerves. Also apparently… heightens everything else.”

He turned back to me and crouched low, his hands sliding up the backs of my legs. His fingers curled over the tops of my stockings, peeling them down slowly. The reverence in the gesture made my pulse slow, even as heat began to pool low in my belly.

His voice broke the quiet. “Why didn’t you tell me you were adopted?” His fingers paused at the edge of my garter. His eyes met mine steady, not judging.

I took a breath. “I assumed you knew. It’s not exactly a secret. Just not something I lead with.”

“People might know,” he said gently. “But I never asked. And I should have. I should have known…. It is my job to protect you from all this.”

He leaned in and kissed me, slow and warm, his lips brushing mine as his hand glided higher, slipping the garter off completely. “I’m sorry she said that to you.”

I shook my head, but he lifted my chin with one fingertip, coaxing my gaze back to his.

“What do you want to do?”

I swallowed. “I don’t want to let it go.”

“Then we won’t.”

He kissed me again, deeper this time, coaxing my mouth open, tasting every ounce of my frustration, my humiliation, my defiance. When he pulled back, he stood and reached behind me, fingers unfastening the buttons of my blouse one by one. The fabric fell away from me in soft folds. Steam curled behind him. The candlelight flickered across the tiles, catching the silver of his watch, the gleam in his eyes. I rose and reached for him. He let me undo his belt. His hands stayed firm on my waist, unmoving, just watching with calm hunger. I unbuttoned his shirt slowly, revealing skin I knew by heart and still craved. When I unzipped his trousers, I dragged my fingertips deliberately, savoring the shiver that passed through him.

When we were both undressed, he helped me into the tub first, guiding me down into the warm water. The scents enveloped me, my body sinking into heat like silk. He stepped in behind me, settling with one arm around my waist and the other tracing lazy patterns across my collarbone. I leaned back against his chest, lips parted, eyes closed.

“I would burn the world down for you,” he whispered.

And I believed him. But the tension in him was rising again. I felt it in his grip. In the way his fingers curled possessively around my ribs. The rage that had simmered all day hadn’t faded, it had only sharpened. His hand moved between my thighs with purpose, parting me under the water. His mouth grazed the side of my neck, voice low and rough.

“She looked you in the eye and said you didn’t belong. That you weren’t good enough. That I’d eventually leave you.”

Two thick fingers slid inside me, deep and slow. I gasped, arching against him.

“She doesn’t get it,” he growled. “You’re not in this home because I gave you a place. You’re here because you own every inch of me.”

He bit down on my shoulder, just enough to leave heat in its wake. His other hand came up, cupping my breast, thumb brushing over the nipple until I moaned.

“I want your mouth on me later,” he whispered darkly. “Eyes wet. Throat full. You forget everything she said the second I’m inside you.”

“Then take me,” I breathed. “Now.”

He rose without a word and pulled me with him, lifting me effortlessly. Water slid down both our bodies as he carried me to the nearest wall. He braced me against the tiles, one hand gripping my ass, the other wrapping around my throat, not to choke, but to claim.

“You think you’re ready for how badly I need to fuck you right now?”

My legs wrapped around his hips, and he drove into me in a single, brutal thrust.

I cried out, my back hitting the cool tiles, nails digging into his shoulders. He didn’t slow. He didn’t ease up. He slammed into me again and again, hips relentless, his teeth gritted, his mouth at my neck.

“You feel that?” he snarled. “That’s mine. This body. This cunt. This fucking heartbeat.”

His hand moved between us, rubbing tight, desperate circles against my clit.

“I want you to come on me. Loud. I want you to scream my name and forget she ever existed.”

My body locked down, heat flooding every nerve. I clenched around him, my orgasm ripping through me so violently I saw stars. My head dropped forward, a strangled moan escaping my throat. He wasn’t far behind. With a low, broken sound, he thrust deep one last time and came hard, burying himself to the hilt. His breath was ragged against my skin, his grip still iron around my waist.

We stayed there, bodies pressed tight, hearts hammering, breaths tangled. Then he kissed me. Slower now. Fierce, but reverent. His hand cupped my face like I might shatter if he let go.

“Next time,” he said against my lips, “I’m going to fuck you in front of a mirror. So you can watch what I do to you when you’re mine.”

I smiled, dazed and ruined.

“You already did.”