Chapter 206

Chapter 206:

He didn’t blink. His eyes were entirely black now, the irises swallowed by the beast within. Ragnar. His gaze raked over my bare shoulders, the curve of my collarbone, leaving a trail of heat wherever it landed.

“I couldn’t sleep,” he admitted, taking a step closer until I could feel the warmth radiating from his body. “Your scent is everywhere. It’s suffocating me, Adella p>

I backed up until my shoulders met the doorframe. “Dallas, please. You should go back to the sofa p>

“Is that what you want?” He placed a hand on the wall beside my head, boxing me in. “Do you want me to leave you alone p>

“Yes,” I lied.

My breath hitched as he leaned down, his nose grazing the sensitive skin of my neck. A shiver tore through my body.

“Liar,” he growled softly against my skin. He pulled back just enough to meet my eyes, and behind the hunger I saw a flash of raw, bleeding pain. “Why did you let me stay, Adella? Was it gratitude p>

I blinked. “What p>

“Gratitude,” he spat the word like a curse. “Because I pulled you from the water. Because I gave you this place. Is that all this is? A payment for a debt p>

His insecurity hit me like a physical blow. He thought I was tolerating him — paying him back for saving my life — while he was fighting a war against his own instincts just to be near me. He thought I still loved Braydon.

“No,” I said, my voice trembling. “It’s not gratitude p>

𝗪𝗁𝘢t 𝗲𝗏𝘦𝘳yoո𝖾 𝗶𝗌 𝗋𝘦𝗮𝖽𝘪ո𝗀 𝗼n

“Then what?” His hand moved from the wall to cup my jaw, his thumb tracing my lower lip — his touch demanding, desperate. “Tell me, Adella. Say it. Tell me what I am to you p>

I looked up at him — at the Alpha who had burned down a kingdom for me, the man who was trembling with the effort of holding himself back. The truth rose up inside me, undeniable and ancient.

“My Mate,” I whispered.

The words were the spark that ignited the powder keg.

Dallas let out a guttural groan — a sound of pure, possessive triumph. “Yes,” he snarled.

He crashed his lips onto mine.

It wasn’t a gentle kiss. It was a claiming. A storm making landfall. I wrapped my arms around his neck, the towel forgotten as it pooled silently on the floor between us. Skin met skin, electric and searing.

He broke the kiss only to sweep me up into his arms.

For a fraction of a second, his body went rigid. A sharp, almost imperceptible tremor ran through his frame, as if something had driven into his side. His breath caught in a silent hiss of pain.

“Dallas?” I pulled back slightly, concerned.

“I have you,” he gritted out, masking the wince with a dark, hungry look that made my toes curl. “I have you, and I am never letting you go p>

He carried me into the darkness of the bedroom and kicked the door shut behind us, sealing us inside his world.

Adella