Chapter 15: Mark Me With Fire
402 Words
The rain had started sometime after midnight.
It tapped on the cabin roof like a heartbeat, steady and slow. The fire had burned low. The whole world felt quiet — like the stars themselves were holding their breath.
Elara stood by the fireplace, barefoot in one of Kade’s shirts again. It swallowed her frame, but the heat beneath her skin made her feel bare.
Behind her, Kade watched.
Silent. Still.
Tension thick enough to taste.
He stepped closer — so close she could feel the warmth radiating from his body — but didn’t touch her.
“I’m not running,” she whispered.
He exhaled. “I know.”
“I’m not ready to be marked.”
“I won’t ask.”
She turned.
Their eyes met.
No fear.
No more running.
Just her and him.
Raw. Real. Reckless.
She reached for him.
And this time… he let go.
⸻
He kissed her like he was memorizing the taste of forever.
Hands gentle at first — sliding over her hips, ghosting under the hem of the shirt — until her fingers tangled in his hair and pulled him deeper.
Clothes hit the floor one by one, soft thuds punctuated by sharp breaths.
When she stood bare before him, Kade stepped back like he was seeing the moon for the first time.
“Say it,” she whispered.
“You’re beautiful,” he breathed. “Deadly. Divine.”
She pulled him to the bed.
And Kade worshipped her.
Mouth on her collarbone. Hands cradling her thighs. Kisses trailing down her stomach like promises he intended to keep.
He didn’t rush.
Didn’t dominate.
He honored.
Like she was something to be unwrapped slowly, delicately — and then devoured.
Elara arched beneath him, gasping as his tongue slid exactly where she needed it, one hand gripping her thigh, the other anchoring him to reality.
He murmured against her skin, “You have no idea what you do to me.”
“Then show me,” she moaned.
He did.
Again.
And again.
Until she was trembling, sweat-slicked, throat sore from saying his name like it was the only word that mattered.
⸻
After, she curled against him.
No mark.
But gods, she felt claimed.
And when he kissed the top of her head and whispered, “I’ll wait as long as it takes,” she believed him.
Because this?
This wasn’t just lust.
This was everything.
- Writer
