Ciaran's POV
He stepped into the dreamworld she hadn't realized she was trapped in. He didn't bother softening the edges. No soothing mist, no romantic illusions. Just the truth: jagged shadows curling around her, matching the coiling fury behind his ribs.
And she looked up when she felt him.
Not afraid. Not surprised.
No — she smiled.
"You came," she whispered.
"You let him touch you," Ciaran growled, voice rough and low as obsidian. "You let him claim you."
Therrin sat up slowly, the flowers and vines curling around her like obedient things. The scent of nightshade and roses curled between them.
"I let him try," she said. "And I enjoyed it. Every second."
Her words were fire, and he let them burn. But behind the flames was something deeper — something ancient and possessive that would not let her go.
He moved without thought. A blink, and he was in front of her. One hand fisted into her hair, yanking her head back. The other slid possessively around her waist, dragging her body flush against his.
"You're mine," he snarled.
Her breath caught, but her eyes sparked with defiance. "So prove it."
"I am proving it," he hissed. "Every time you breathe my name in your sleep, every time your soul claws toward me like a starving thing. You think he satisfies you? He gives you flowers. I give you the dark."
She exhaled sharply when he ground his hips against hers, enough for her to feel the sharp promise of what he wasn't yet giving.
"And you love it," he whispered darkly. "Don't lie to me, Therrin. You ache for what I am. For what I do to you."
"I do," she breathed, almost reverent. "I want both. I want all of it. But he can't mark me. Not the way you can."
She raised her head, lips parted, her breath hot against his mouth. "You know where," she said. "You know how I want it. I want you to be the one who does it."
Ciaran's heart slammed against his ribs. The shadows pulsed beneath his skin, ready.
"Say it again," he demanded, his voice nothing but smoke and steel.
"I'm yours," she said, louder now, teeth flashing. "Not his. Yours. Mark me."
He lowered his head, kissing her with more hunger than finesse, dragging his tongue along the seam of her lips until she gasped for him. Then he pulled back, his eyes molten.
"I need a taste," he said lowly. "I need to taste what's mine before I brand it."
He began to lower her onto the bed of shadows and petals, his hands roaming—possessive, claiming, desperate to etch his name into every tremble of her skin.
He ripped the dress that she was wearing. A gasp escaping her lips. And then…another smile. That smile will be my undoing.
I urge the shadows to bind her. Around her throat and wrists. Her legs are mine. I massaged her breasts. Flicked her nipples. And then took one of them in my mouth. She moaned. What a beautiful sound.
I dragged my tongue down her stomach, and all the way down her core. She jolted at the feeling, but opened her legs further for me.
I feasted on her, relentlessly. I made sure every nerve received attention. Especially that little bud of hers. This belongs to me. She belongs to me. She reached her climax with a scream.
I inserted two of my fingers inside her, and one in her other hole. She started riding my fingers then. Driving herself to another orgasm. But I wasn't going to let her. I removed my hand from her, and lifted her hips higher into the air. Her legs straight up in the air, resting on my shoulders. I spread her cheeks apart, baring all of her to me. And I did what the shadows started not long ago, I licked a long line from the base of her ass to the front of her pussy.
Then I focused on the puckering little hole. Licking over and over again. Teasing with pressure at her entrance. And then, finally, I went deep. I fucked her ass with my mouth, my tongue. A feast I never wanted to give up now that I've had a taste. And I drove her to orgasm again and and again. I couldn't count how many she had. And when I felt I had been through, it was time.
I looked at her.
"I'm going to mark where you come apart for me," I growled. So every time you feel it, every time you ache, you'll remember who you belong to. That's mine. Forever". And I bit down hard. She screamed so loud that it could wake the dead, and at the same time, she gushed into my mouth. It was the sweetest taste. I released the shadows then. And I let her climb up to me.
Still in this position she begged, "Fuck me Ciaran. I want to feel you inside me. Forever".
So I did. And I didn't hold back. I used all of my power then. The shadows obeying my commands. Bringing her to new heights. And we went over and over again, her never getting enough. I'll keep her here in this dream forever if I have to. But I know I can't. But I'll be with her always from now on. And I know just how to keep her satiated, and full of me, all day, every day.