NI RAV

me in a predatory manner-piercing and stripping me bare before him.

st in myths only, had walked in and called me interesti

next was fas

the hall. The next he was gone from wher

met something solid and warm and I didn't need to see him to know who it was. The mark on my back already knew. It burned

ainst his hold, but it felt

ct sent heat straight through me.The mark burned hotte

om directly behind me, low and unhurried, like

er as he pulled at it. Cold air hit my back all at once at my exposed skin. The only thin

the mark of

azed the cresc

rk det

ath from my lungs all at once. I cried out before I could stop myself.

to the

shed toward me. I clutched the ruined fabric

sonant and laced with an authority that

ched, bones cracking audibly in the horrified silence, his form expanding into something that had no business

nd more monstr

wrathful that the world had clearly hoped was gone. The hall drowned in

arried two registers at once. O

ecy." The words moved through the walls. "But it see

across the tr

anded like a stone dropped from a great height. "Spread the word. Swear yo

sibly shook

yes came b

need to be loud. "She carries a prophecy that binds her fate to mine. You must ha

ped forward. "

ather hadn't spoken at all. "And when I do, there will be nothi

ingle moment, something shifted deep in my chest. S

as though he had never been solid at all, le

he Fevered Moon w

***

n't s

and his voice turning over and over in my head like something t

ender

come for

ly exhau

n't have

***

ch of my skin, merciless and intimate all at

are of myse

and thighs. The Fevered Moon hung in the sky above with a reddis

rest of i

oked

lessly to my waist, doing nothing to protect me from the cold or the exposure. My nipples hardened instantly against

tried t

tely. I was chained. My hands pulled above my head to iron spikes dri

er, but they

or anything, a face, a way out, and I found nothing excep

is voi

Moon doesn'

at had been watching long eno

t, litt

ques

looding my veins instantly. I knew that voice. One encounter was app

e remained out of my sight. Like a predator lurking in the sh

Fevered Moon had never affected me once. I had never felt arousal. But ever since he touched me back at the meeting, it felt as thou

ing of me. Haven't

l clanged uselessly against the stone. It made my breasts bounce slightly, drawing my awareness to every inch of my

ouldn't be. I didn't remember anything that could have led to t

a dream. Yet

e purity of your body. You've known no man's touch. Yet at this very moment,

ar had become soaked and slick and my core pulsed with a forbidden need. No m

evered Moon. Through every attempt with your betrothed. Through

bout Rowan? How d

said simply. "And I haven

o man or beast had ever managed. Yet he had done it with nothing but his presence and the sound of his voice. I was aroused.

oice was low and certain. "You belong to me now. You

ame out fierce yet they contradic

Quiet. Unbothere

se, it

was whispering just above my

ill burn and his people will drown in blood and screams. And I shall hun

eld more th

eld pr

ped open and I was met with my room's interior, sheets tangled around my s

been

urning beneath my sk