Chapter 4: Fire and Shadows

His mouth was still on mine, hot and demanding, and I couldn’t stop. God, I didn’t want to. His kiss was fire and fury and hunger, everything I’d been running from and everything I suddenly craved.

Damian’s hands gripped my waist, pulling me closer until there was no space left, only heat. I moaned against his lips, the sound desperate, helpless, ripped from somewhere deep inside me. He answered with a growl that rumbled through his chest and into mine, vibrating in my bones.

It wasn’t human. That sound.

And still—it made me want him more.

The kiss grew frantic, urgent, like we were starving for each other. Teeth clashed, tongues tangled, and I clung to his shirt like I’d drown if I let go. His hand slid up my back, strong fingers pressing into my skin, branding me.

My mind screamed stop, but my body was already gone. Every nerve lit up, every breath stolen by him.

He broke away for a second, his forehead pressed to mine, his chest rising and falling in ragged pulls. His eyes—God, those golden eyes—burned brighter than before, glowing like something wild was clawing its way to the surface.

Inside him, his wolf snarled a single word. Mate.

I didn’t hear it, not the way he did, but I felt it. The sound shuddered through him, into me, like the earth itself had cracked open beneath us.

Damian clenched his fists, his jaw tight, his whole body trembling with restraint. “I shouldn’t…” he muttered, his voice shredded with need. “But I can’t…”

He kissed me again before he could finish, harder, hungrier, like he wanted to swallow me whole.

I gasped his name between kisses, “Damian—ah—” and the sound tore the last of his control to shreds.

He groaned, deep and rough, and his mouth trailed down my jaw to my throat. His lips were scorching, his teeth grazing sensitive skin until I shivered. He bit, just enough to bruise, and I whimpered his name again.

“Damian…”

The moan broke him.

He pressed me back against the cold brick wall, his body caging mine, heat radiating like fire through my clothes. His hands roamed, sliding over my hips, up my sides, everywhere at once. I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. I could only feel—his lips, his teeth, his growls vibrating against my throat.

Each moan that slipped out of me only seemed to push him further. His breath was ragged, his voice rough when he whispered against my skin. “You don’t know what you’re doing to me.”

But I did. God, I felt it. The bond between us was alive, fierce, pulling us together no matter how much sense I tried to find.

His teeth grazed my throat again, lingering, pressing just hard enough that I thought he might sink them in. My body arched, begging without words, my moan spilling into the night.

Damian tore his mouth away with a shuddering breath, his fists clenching tight at my hips, holding himself back by a thread. His golden eyes burned into mine, glowing with something primal.

“I should let you go.” His voice was broken, hoarse. His body said the opposite—pressed against me, trembling with need. “But I can’t. Not now. Not when you taste like this.”

And then I was kissing him again. Or maybe he was kissing me. I didn’t know. It didn’t matter. The fire between us roared, unstoppable. My moans echoed against his lips, his growls mingling with them, the night around us heavy with shadows and heat.

When his hand slid beneath the hem of my shirt, my breath caught. Skin on skin. Sparks exploded everywhere his fingers touched, trailing fire up my side, across my ribs. My knees buckled, and he caught me, holding me like I was made for his hands.

“Damian,” I gasped again, the word breaking, breathless.

That was it. That was the end of his restraint.

A sound ripped from his chest—half growl, half groan—and in one swift, powerful motion, he scooped me into his arms.

I gasped, clinging to his shoulders as the world tilted. His strength was effortless, terrifying. Shadows stretched around us as he strode into the night, carrying me like I weighed nothing, his grip unyielding, possessive.

My heart hammered. My breath came in shaky moans. His gaze stayed locked on me, burning, his lips curling into something dark and hungry.

Every step he took carried a promise.

I knew where this was going. I knew I should stop it. But when his mouth brushed mine again, I couldn’t. I didn’t want to.

He growled low, his lips grazing my ear as he whispered, “Mine.”

The word seared through me, final and absolute.

And then the city blurred past us, the night swallowing us whole.

The next thing I knew, the glowing lights of a towering building loomed ahead—his penthouse. Shadows and desire followed us, curling around like predators waiting for the moment he’d finally devour me.

I shivered, not from the cold, but from the fire building inside me, knowing there was no going back.

When the elevator doors slid open and he carried me inside, the last thing I heard before the night claimed

us was his wolf’s growl echoing in his chest—raw, primal, desperate.