Chapter 50 The Edge of Ruin
Kier's POV
The moment her mouth crashed against mine, the world ceased to exist.
I’d imagined it for years—dreams, torments, fantasies that haunted every waking moment—but nothing prepared me for the reality. Sable didn’t kiss like someone surrendering. She kissed like someone fighting, like every breath, every clash of teeth was a challenge thrown and caught.
And goddess, I wanted every piece of it.
Her hands fisted my shirt, dragging me closer, and my wolf roared in triumph. At last. At last. I cupped her face, then slid down to her jaw, her throat, the delicate curve that led into her collarbone. She shivered, and the sound she made—half growl, half whimper—nearly drove me to my knees.
I pressed her back against the glass wall of windows, devouring her lips, tasting the fire I’d been denied for five years. She was mine—always mine. Fate hadn’t lied. And no matter how much she resisted, her body told the truth.
My fingers traced the line of her waist, slipping beneath the fabric of her blouse. Warm skin met my palm, and her gasp only stoked the inferno.
“Say it,” I breathed against her mouth, dragging kisses down her throat. “Say you want me.”
Her heart thundered beneath my lips. She didn’t say the words, but she arched into me, and that was enough. My wolf surged forward, demanding more. My hands slid higher, pushing fabric out of my way, desperate to feel more of her.
For a heartbeat, she let me. Her lips returned to mine, wild, consuming. My fingers brushed the edge of lace, my pulse shattering. This was it—what I’d waited for, what the bond had promised.
Then, without warning, she tore away.
The crack of her palm against my cheek echoed like thunder.
I staggered back a step, my head snapping to the side. Heat flared across my jaw, sharper than any battle strike I’d ever taken. But it wasn’t the pain that stunned me—it was the rejection.
Her chest rose and fell like she’d run a marathon, eyes wide, lips swollen from my kiss. Fury, fear, and longing all warred in her gaze.
“No,” she spat, voice raw. “You don’t get to do this. You don’t get to take what I haven’t given.”
I froze, breath ragged, my wolf snarling in protest. She did give. Her mouth, her hands, her body—
But she was trembling, and the sight of it seared through me.
Her hand still stung against my skin, and gods help me, the sting only made my blood burn hotter. Rage and desire coiled together until I could barely stand upright.
“You kissed me,” I growled, voice thick, feral. “You pulled me into you. Don’t you dare pretend you didn’t want it.”
Her jaw clenched, eyes shining with something that cut deeper than her slap. “Wanting isn’t the same as choosing.”
My wolf slammed against the cage of my ribs, demanding I drag her back, claim her here and now, tear through every wall she’d built. She was mine. The mate bond screamed it, my body burned for it, and she knew it.
But Sable… she shoved me again, tears flashing in her eyes as she hissed, “This is why I ran. Because with you, I lose myself.”
The words gutted me.
I reached for her, fury and hunger twisting my voice. “You don’t lose yourself, Sable—you find it. With me. With us.”
Her breath hitched, her body trembling like she was caught between surrender and flight. For a split second, I thought she’d fall back into my arms. My wolf begged for it, claws raking my insides.
But then she spun, wrenched the door open, and bolted into the night.
The sudden emptiness where she’d stood was a wound, bleeding hot and fast. The bond thrashed inside me, wild and furious, screaming for me to follow. My wolf lunged, nearly tearing free, but I forced myself to stay rooted.
My hands curled into fists, nails biting deep into my palms. My jaw ached where she’d struck me, but it wasn’t enough to temper the fire.
I’d tasted her. I’d felt her tremble beneath my hands, heard her wolf answer mine. She could lie with words, run with her feet, but her body never lied.
And that truth would haunt me.
I turned back toward the glass wall of windows, chest heaving, rage and lust tangled so tight they were indistinguishable. Her scent still clung to me, maddening, intoxicating, unbearable.
She thought she could escape again. That one slap, one flight into the night, would sever what bound us.
But the kiss had changed everything.
I touched the place on my jaw where her palm had landed, the echo of her defiance burned into my skin. My wolf growled low, vicious, promising we’d have her yet.
“This isn’t over,” I whispered into the empty room, voice breaking with hunger.
And goddess help us both, I knew it was true.