The bond still thrummed between us, low and steady, curling through the air like a living thing. The sheets tangled around our legs, slick with sweat, clinging to skin still damp from the night before. But I wasn't thinking about the physical. Not really. I was thinking about her. Feeling her. Shaping her. Pulling her closer. The bond wasn't idle. It was a tether, every heartbeat stitching us tighter. Her pulse, her breath, the subtle twitch of her body as her mind clawed its way back from wherever I'd just dragged her. I didn't wait. I didn't let her drift. I reached again, not with hands, but with the bond itself.
A golden pulse beneath my skin, hot, inevitable, dragged her deeper into me. Into something she had never been allowed to want before. Addictive. Dangerous. My new favorite thing. She sighed softly, curling into my side without hesitation. Not trained. Not practiced. Just her. Real. My grin curved slow as I stared at the ceiling, fingers tracing lazy circles down her spine, testing the bond like a new toy, stretching it, pulling until it thrummed taut. My hand slipped lower, grazing her hipbone. The ripple that slammed into me was sharp, startled. Hers. I froze, savoring it, then grinned.
Well, well, well. Perfectly amusing.
Another stroke, slower this time, along the outside of her thigh. Another jolt. Lightning in my blood. Not just touch, not just sensation. Her reaction. Honest. Raw. She couldn't fake with me anymore. I could taste the truth of her on my tongue like wine. I dragged my hand higher, teasing the inside of her thigh, stopping just shy of where she was already wet. The bond flared hot, vulnerable. My grin sharpened.
"You're terrible at hiding from me now," I murmured.
She stirred, blinking blearily up at me, her voice rough with sleep. "Hiding what?"
Instead of answering, I let my fingertips skim her ribs again. There, another involuntary shiver, the kind she hadn't meant to give. The bond sang with it, golden and sharp. I caught her chin, tilted her face to mine. "No more pretending, darling. I can feel you now."
Her eyes narrowed. "You've always been able to feel me."
"Not like this."
I brushed my mouth against hers, feather-light."Not every gasp you try to swallow." A kiss below her jaw."Not every shiver you try to hide." My lips trailed fire down her throat."And not every time," I whispered, letting my hand slide deliberately between her thighs, pressing just enough for her to jolt, "you want to beg me for more but you're too proud to say it."
Her breath caught, sharp, and the bond flared raw, electric, undeniable. I laughed softly against her skin. "Oh yes. We're going to have so much fun with this."
Rolling her onto her back with a growl, I hovered above her, her hair spilling wild across the pillow, lips parted, chest rising fast. Gods, she was beautiful like this, unprepared, undone. Mine.
"Game on," I purred. Before she could rebuild even a fragment of her walls, I slid down her body, mouth catching every inch. Slow. Teasing. Methodical. Learning her like scripture. Writing my name into every shiver, every gasp. I braced on my elbows, pressing just enough weight to remind her she wasn't escaping. Her breath hitched, the bond sparking with every drag of my lips. Delicious.
"You're thinking too much," I murmured, trailing a finger down her throat, across her collarbone, then lower, circling her nipple until it pebbled under my touch. The bond thrummed sharp, pleasure, pride, defiance, want, all tangled. Messy. Beautiful.
"Stop that," she muttered, trying to glare, though her body betrayed her with a small arch beneath my hand.
I chuckled, pressing a kiss between her breasts. "I haven't even started yet, darling."
She opened her mouth, probably to argue, but it broke into a gasp when I pinched lightly, rolling the hardened peak between my fingers, then closed my mouth around it, sucking deep, slow, until her back arched. The bond snapped like a live wire between us.
"There," I purred against her skin. "That's what I want."
Her eyes squeezed shut, trying to gather composure. "Want what?" she managed, her voice shaking.
"You," I rasped, grinding my hips against her, letting her feel how hard I was. The head of my cock pressed against her slick heat, just enough for her breath to falter. My gaze raked her like she was the only truth worth memorizing. "The real you."
I kissed her again, deep, demanding, and pulled back just enough to whisper against her mouth, "One thing before we go further. Colors, darling. Red means stop, yellow means slow, green means go. Say it, think it, hell, just feel it through the bond and I'll know. You hear me?"
Her lips trembled against mine. "Green."
My smile curved wicked and reverent all at once. "Good girl."
I rocked my clothed hips against hers, slow enough to torture, hard enough to make her eyes flutter shut. The bond flared wild, pleasure, want, frustration, pouring straight into me until I was drunk on it. Addictive. More addictive than any power I'd ever wielded. Every flicker. Every gasp. Every broken sound she didn't mean to make. It was lightning in my veins, and I would never let it go. I kissed her shoulder, teeth grazing lightly, my voice a rumble against her damp skin. "Here's how the game works, darling." Another kiss, lower, tongue circling the curve of her collarbone. With a snap my own clothes were gone.
"You don't have to perform." My mouth slid lower, closing hot around the soft swell of her breast. Her nipple hardened instantly, pebbled against my tongue, and her back arched. The bond snapped with her real gasp, and I groaned into her flesh. "You don't have to impress me."
I ground against her, cock pressing against the slick heat between her thighs. She bit her lip, trying to smother the sound, but the jolt that ripped through her body slammed straight into me. "All you have to do," I whispered, dragging my teeth down the center of her chest, "is feel."
My mouth traced lower, over her ribs, nipping hard enough to leave marks. She gasped, raw and sharp, and the bond lit up like fire. "Fuck," I muttered, biting again, soothed with my tongue. "You're going to destroy me, aren't you?"
Her laugh came out broken, half-whimper, half-daring. Still clinging to the training that told her to hide. I grinned, savage. Good. I loved a challenge. I mapped her body with my mouth, my hands, sometimes soft, sometimes rough, sometimes nothing but a whisper of touch until she writhed, begging silently. And every honest reaction cracked through me like thunder. Every false one? Flat. Empty. I denied them. Ignored them. Punished her silence with nothing at all, until she finally broke, trembling, giving me something real. When I finally dragged my tongue along the inside of her thigh, slow and deliberate, she bucked, a startled cry ripping out of her before she could choke it back. The surge that slammed through the bond nearly dropped me. I groaned against her skin, gripping her thighs tighter.
"That's it," I murmured, dragging my mouth higher, closer. She was slick, swollen, her scent dizzying. "That's you."
I didn't give her what she expected. Not yet. I kissed everywhere else, thighs, hips, the hollow of her pelvis. Until she was trembling, hips rolling, chasing me. Every sound she made, every pulse of need, sparked through the bond and fed me like fire. When I finally licked her, flat and slow, her body bowed clean off the bed, a strangled moan tearing out of her throat. Gods, she was soaked. Sweet. Addictive. Her taste hit my tongue like sin, and I devoured her. Licking deep, sucking her clit, teasing with teeth until she shattered against my mouth. Her climax slammed through me like lightning, raw and violent, dragging me under with her until I forgot how to breathe. The bond roared, flooding me with every quake of her body, every sob of pleasure ripped from her chest.
By the time I crawled back up, she was wrecked. Flushed, wide-eyed, lips swollen. Glorious. I cupped her cheek, thumb brushing across her mouth, savoring the way she trembled. "Game's not over yet," I whispered, pressing a kiss to her damp forehead. "Not even close."
She lay boneless, chest heaving, thighs still twitching. And beneath all of it, I felt something new curling through the bond. Green. Raw. Untouched in the ways that mattered. Not her body. Her soul. No one had ever bothered to learn it. They'd used her. Expected her. Trained her. But this… this was mine. The thought twisted hot in my gut. Not rage. Not pity. Possession. Mine. I kissed the corner of her mouth, soft, then let my hand trail down her throat. Goosebumps shivered in their wake, the bond sparking sharp and sweet. She wasn't thinking now. Wasn't performing. She was feeling. And I wanted more.
"Look at you," I murmured, almost to myself.
She frowned, instincts bristling, walls trying to reform. I felt it. No. Not today. I rolled her onto her stomach before she could stop me. She gasped, one hand jerking defensive, but I caught her wrist, pinning it above her head, gentle, unyielding.
"Shhh, love," I said, velvet over steel. "Don't think. Just feel."
I pressed against her back, cock sliding between her slick thighs, kissing the nape of her neck while she arched into me, a broken sound spilling free. There. Another crack. My grin curved wicked against her skin as I kissed my way down her spine, deliberate, claiming. My hands mapped her hips, the trembling inside her thighs. Every honest whimper seared me alive. She whimpered, caught between wanting more and fearing how fast I was unraveling her. I grazed my teeth against her shoulder, just a hint of bite, and she broke. A sob, raw and desperate, ripped through her. The bond detonated, pleasure, fear, need, hope. All tangled in one wild surge that nearly tore me apart.
I swore softly, pulling back enough to see her face. Tears streaked her cheeks, silent, unwanted. She hated herself for them. I felt it. But gods, she was beautiful. More beautiful than anything I had ever wanted. I brushed my knuckles down her cheek, gentle where I could have been cruel.
"You don't have to be perfect," I whispered. "Not for me."
The bond hummed hot, dizzy, stunned. She blinked, cracked wide open, trying to rebuild her walls. I smiled, softer this time, and kissed her. Not hungry. Not teasing. Just a kiss. A promise. I see you. I'm not leaving.