I wriggled free, but he held me, gently but firmly, pulling me closer like he was afraid I’d disappear altogether. His face buried in my neck, he breathed me in.
“She means nothing to me,” he growled. “She’s wasting her time. She’ll never get through you. She’ll regret coming here.”
He pressed a kiss against the mark on my neck, then licked my earlobe, slow and deliberate.
Still, I didn’t respond.
He turned me around to face him and kissed me—desperate, full of pleading.
I tried to push him away, but he moved with me, and suddenly I was on the bed, my back hitting the mattress as he hovered above me, his arms caging me in.
“You are my life, Mara. My love. Don’t let her win,” he said, eyes searching mine. “Please.”
His voice echoed in my mind through our bond.
But I turned my head,
