Damien's POV
For a long heartbeat, neither of us moved.
The scent of her blood, sharp, metallic, alive, hung in the air between us.
I hadn't meant to taste it, yet when that faint smear reached my tongue, something ancient and buried tore loose inside me.
Orion snarled, the sound rippling through my skull.
Claim her, he urged, voice rough with hunger. Our mate.
I fought him. Fought myself. But her scent coiled through my lungs like smoke, sweet and dangerous, impossible to ignore.
Every breath tasted of her. Every heartbeat pulled me closer.
She moved first.
Or maybe I did.
The space between us vanished, too fragile to survive the pull.
One heartbeat, and the air burned.
Control had always been the easiest thing I owned.
Until her mouth brushed mine
