Ardena's POV
He
doesn't attempt to come closer to me, his piercing green eyes the most visible
thing in the dark. I watch as his throat bobs with each swallow, as his scent
stretches through my room. He sighs, his curly hair falling across his
forehead.
I
am suddenly filled with the compelling need to cross the space, to put my
fingers through his tresses just to confirm if they feel as soft as they
look.
Yet,
I press my hands to my sides, allowing the silence to steer us.
"Ardena."
His voice pierces through it, the deep-set tone striking a chord in me. A knot
works its way to my throat, and I push it down, desperate yet confused. "That
wasn't me."
"Why
should I believe you?" I blurt. "I barely know you. I have never met you until
today."
"You
know me," he whispers. "You know I won't hurt you or the people that are dear
to you."
"Taren…"
A
sad smile reaches his eyes. "You figured that out."
I
ignored his response because I still could wrap my head around it. It couldn't
have been my witch side exhibiting after all these years. But how else did I
catch his name in the wind?
"Rose
just told me that you started a fight in my faction."
"Your
faction…"
"I
am the Luna of the Obsidians, and it is my duty to protect it." My tone doesn't
hold the same strength as I wish for, and Taren picks that up. But he says
nothing, just angling his head, watching me.
Waiting.
"You
are protecting it by believing me," he murmurs.
"Who
says I believe you?"
"You
knew the minute I got in through the windows. You knew where I was, but you
never told your servant."
"I
wish I did."
"You
don't mean that," he drawls, his eyes going darker than I have ever seen them
as he takes a step forward. Taren halts when he reaches my bed, and a tinge of
disappointment registers in me.
I
hate it.
I
hate the fact that I want him to come close to me. That I want to damn the
consequences and the words of the moon goddess.
"I
know because I am your mate," Taren continues, soft and certain. "Because I can
feel your emotions even if we haven't performed a mating ceremony."
Mate.
The
word hits me again, as foreign as the strange feelings erupting within me. My
wolf struggles for domination again, and it leaves me with the feeling of
helplessness. I am expected to bond with her, to put her under my control.
But
how am I supposed to do that when I haven't even been given the time to meet
her?
So
many things have happened in the last two hours that I feel I am drowning in
the middle of it all.
"I
have a mate," I replied, pulling away from the door, unconsciously walking
towards him. "Alpha Draven…"
But
I never completed my speech as, suddenly, a gasp echoed through the room,
leaving his lips. His eyes fall on my shoulders, and I realize with a start
that I have been walking around this room with my dress loosened.
"Taren…"
The
warning in my tone sounds like a plea as he inches closer to me. I suck in a
sharp breath when his fingers graze the mark on my shoulder. He traces it with
the tip of a finger, his chest rising and falling in the dark as he completes
the mark.
I
find it hard to breathe. It feels like the temperature of the room has been
turned up a notch. Everywhere his finger touches, it burns through my skin,
like every inch of me has been set on fire.
My
eyes flutter close when he breathes slowly, when he begins a second journey
around the mark. "You have one too," he whispers, as if scared to disrupt the
charged silence looming around us.
This
is wrong. It doesn't matter that he is my fated mate. The words of the moon
goddess were clear five hundred years ago. Under no circumstances must both
factions be connected by mates. Yet, I don't fight it when his finger draws
closer to my neck, when they reach my nape, pulling my flush against his
chest.
I
gasp suddenly, warmth coursing through me and settling in the pit of my
stomach. I press myself shamelessly against him, sighing as he lowers his head
to mine.
I
meet him halfway, breathing into his mouth as our lips touch. He tastes of red
wine, the tinge of alcohol shooting through me and making me even headier.
Taren's hand presses against the back of my head, tugging at my bottom lip.
A
soft moan escapes my lips, and at that instance, I don't care if anyone else
hears. It doesn't even occur to me, as the only thing I can think about is
Taren, my mate, right in front of me.
My
wolf whines with need when he leaves the back of my hand, moving with me until
my back hits the wall on the side of the door. He breaks the kiss, and I look
into his eyes for a second. I recognize that stare. It is one of need and utter
abandon.
And
I mirror it too.
Taren
slides the rest of my dress off my body, and the silk hits the floor in a
whisper. It is a cold night, even when the windows shut, yet none of it gets to
me. When his hand slides down my lean stomach to the band of my panties, I
struggle to keep the sound down, to keep myself from pulling the buckle of his
pants.
Sweeping
my feet off the floor, Taren brings me with him to the bed, the feathers
sinking with our weights.
He
takes me fervently, worshiping every inch of me. It is the reason I get so lost
in him, in his scent and the intensity of his touch, that I don't notice the
door crack open.
Until
it is too late.