“No, Seraphina. It cannot.” Deston was inches away from me, and God help me, I wanted him even closer. There had to be something wrong with me. There was definitely something wrong with this terrifying lust controlling my body.

I wanted to close the space between us, taste him, have him taste me. I want to consume every carnal inch of him in a blazing feast. Desire became a lush flood, saturating my body, so powerful I couldn’t contain it.

And then he touched me.

“Let me see, Seraphina.” Deston’s hands were impossibly gentle as he turned me, his fingers featherlight when he lifted my hair. The hiss that came out of his mouth made my heart race even faster. “The mating mark,” he murmured, a second before he pressed his lips to it. “It’s beautiful. You’re beautiful, mon amour, mon amour le plus précieux.”

His lips nibbled, fangs scraped while he murmured softly in French, and while I didn’t understand the words, I felt the emotion behind every single one of them.

Instantly, my body responded, my back arching, driving my ass into his groin, eliciting a heated growl. He pushed a knee between my legs, his hand clamped around the back of my neck, holding me to the wall.

Yes, yes, yes. My body sang, responding to his forbidden touch.

“Deston…” Then I couldn’t say another thing as he twisted my head around and kissed me.

He caught my tongue between his teeth, then devoured my lips, like he wanted to possess every angry piece of me and was running out of time. He tasted like darkness and betrayal, and I meant to break the kiss—I did—but instead, my traitorous mouth sucked his tongue in deeper, wanting the imprint of him somewhere inside me.

This utter insanity, this heedless hunger for him… this had to be the mating bond at work. Nobody had the right to want another person this badly.

I wanted to consume him.

I wanted him to consume me, and I didn’t care what was left of me when he was finished.

Heart pounding, lost in sensation, I pushed back against Deston, but he held me in place, releasing my mouth long enough to yank my jeans down, exposing my ass, before pinning me beneath him again. One knee pushed back between my legs, forcing them wider and wider, and delicious heat spiraled through me.

Then he bit me.

Right on the mating mark.