His kiss was not gentle.
It was a claiming. A conquest. His mouth moved against mine with a desperate, furious need that stole the air from my lungs. The last vestiges of my resistance shattered. The fight drained from my body, leaving behind a terrifying, thrilling weakness. My hands, which had been clenched into fists, unfurled and rose to clutch at the front of his jacket, not to push him away, but to anchor myself against the dizzying rush.
A low growl vibrated from his chest into mine, a sound of pure, primal satisfaction. One of his hands tangled in my hair, tilting my head back to deepen the kiss, while the other arm wrapped around my waist, pulling my body flush against his. I was surrounded, consumed. The clean, powerful scent of him ozone and sandalwood was all I could breathe, and it was like a drug, melting my bones.
This was wrong. It was dangerous. It was everything I had been taught to fear.
And yet, my body sang with a rightness that defied all logic. My Omega instincts, so long suppressed, roared to life, screaming that this was where I belonged. In the arms of this powerful, dangerous Alpha who saw through every one of my lies.
When he finally broke the kiss, we were both breathing raggedly. His forehead rested against mine, his eyes dark and blown wide with desire. The firelight danced across his face, highlighting the stark hunger there.
"See?" he rasped, his thumb stroking my cheekbone. "Was that so terrible?"
I couldn't form words. I could only stare up at him, my lips swollen and tingling, my mind awhirl with chaos. Shame warred with a deep, unsettling thrill.
He didn't wait for an answer. His gaze dropped to my neck, to the unmarked gland that held the very essence of what I was. His expression was one of fierce, possessive wonder.
"I've never felt anything like this," he admitted, his voice hushed, as if sharing a sacred secret. "This pull. It's like gravity. I couldn't escape it even if I wanted to."
His words echoed the terrifying truth in my own soul. I was caught in his orbit, and the thought of breaking free was suddenly, inexplicably, the most frightening prospect of all.
He leaned in again, but this time, his lips went to my throat. I stiffened, a jolt of pure panic shooting through me. "Zevran..."
"Shhh," he murmured against my skin, his breath a hot brand. "I'm not going to bite. Not yet." The promise—and the threat—in those words made my knees buckle. His arm around my waist was the only thing holding me up. "But I need to taste it. I need to know it's real."
His tongue, hot and wet, traced a slow, deliberate path over my scent gland.
It was like a lightning strike.
A broken cry tore from my throat as a wave of pleasure so intense it bordered on pain crashed over me. My fingers dug into his shoulders, my vision spotting. It was the most vulnerable, the most intimate thing I had ever experienced. He was tasting my truth, my soul, and his low, appreciative groan told me he liked it.
When he lifted his head, his eyes were blazing. "Starlight," he breathed, the word full of awe. "You taste like goddamn starlight."
He looked at me then, truly looked at me. Not at the Alpha mask, not at the rival, but at the trembling, exposed Omega in his arms. And for the first time, I saw something other than hunger or possession in his gaze. I saw a flicker of understanding. Of a shared madness.
"This changes everything," I whispered, my voice raw.
"Everything," he agreed, his tone grim but resolute. He cupped my face, his touch surprisingly gentle. "But nothing. The world outside this clearing doesn't know. The rules haven't changed for them. You are still in danger, Soren. More than ever now that I know."
The reality of our situation came crashing back. The Academy. The Ascendancy. His family's legacy. We were standing on the edge of a cliff, and we had just jumped.
"What do we do?" I asked, the question leaving me feeling more vulnerable than the kiss had.
For a moment, he looked every bit the ruthless Alpha heir he was born to be. "We survive. Together." His thumb brushed over my bottom lip. "The exercise ends tomorrow. Until then, you stay by my side. Every second. Do you understand?"
It was an order. But for the first time, it didn't feel like a threat. It felt like a promise of protection.
I gave a shaky nod. "I understand."
A slow, genuine smile touched his lips, transforming his face. It was a sight so rare and beautiful it stole my breath all over again.
"Good," he said softly. He pressed one last, chaste kiss to my forehead, a gesture so at odds with the ferocity of before that it made my chest ache. "Now, let's get you warm by the fire, little star. You're shivering."
He was right. I was. But it wasn't from the cold. It was from the terrifying, exhilarating realization that my life, my carefully constructed world, was over. And a new, dangerous, and utterly unpredictable one had just begun in the arms of the one man who was supposed to be my destroyer.