15| Teaser

DOMINUS MARUTO

“This is unbelievable,” Cedar muttered, her voice thin with disbelief as she sank onto the bed. Her head drooped, one hand rising to her forehead where beads of sweat had begun to form.

I don’t have much time left.

Every moment that slips by is a step closer to the prophecy. A future I can't control, unless I seize power now. Unless I take control before everything I have worked hard for becomes in vain. I'm playing every card I have, at every opportunity. Nothing else matters. Not even Cedar.

Especially not Cedar. In fact, I have been very soft towards her and it's obviously not working, so making life a bit unbearable for her would probably work faster.

If it destroys her in the process, so be it. The result is all I care about.

Her powers are growing, and if I don’t claim them first, they’ll destroy me. That much I’m sure of. 

I’ve wielded the contract between us like a weapon, maybe too many times. I’ve seen her raw, weak, trembling in her own skin. There was a moment, brief, unwelcomed, where I almost felt something like jealousy. The idea of her loving another man? It should have enraged me. But it didn’t. 

Deklan. That bastard.

He’s been more careful than I ever gave him credit for. Once clumsy, reckless, and quick to anger. Or maybe that’s what he wanted everyone to believe. Because now he moves like a shadow, calculated, composed and unpredictable. The men Cena sent to track him down have disappeared without words. 

He's been slipping in and out of my house like a ghost. No one’s been able to catch him since I placed a bounty on his head. Even my guards, those trembling cowards, scatter at the whisper of his name. I'm not sure where their loyalty lies anymore when they obey him more than their master and alpha!

That was why he had entered Cedar's room without being noticed or at least stopped until that moment he had kissed her.

I saw it with my own eyes through the hidden camera I planted in Cedar’s room. The way he looked at her, like he couldn’t breathe without her. Like she was the only person who understood him. But he’s not a fool. He had to know that I am always watching her. With his abilities, he had to know.

So why would he let himself be that careless? Why would he get caught in her web?

Unless it was all part of the plan. I mean, he was the one person I was never able to read his mind and Cedar has shut me out of hers. But I could turn that card against him and hope he'd take the bait if my assumptions are right.

I leaned against the doorframe, watching her carefully. “Yes, the next thing you did after Deklan left, that was quite unbelievable, too.”

Her eyes snapped up to mine. I let my gaze fall to the hem of her flare gown, resting on her thighs. Her eyes followed my line of sight and she quickly clamped her legs shut, one hand flying to cover her mouth. Oh, such a modest little thing.

I crouched down beside the bed and reached for her leg before she could recoil, pushing it up to my shoulder. She froze. Her body responded to my touch no matter how much she tried to resist.

Deklan might have kissed her and put his hands all over her, but he underestimated the hunger he left behind. He gave her softness. I give her the truth.

“Even if we are contract mates,” I said, brushing my fingers against her cheek. “You can always come to me for pleasures such as that.”

Her eyes widened, lips trembling. “What… are… you…?”

She clenched her teeth to stop me from sliding my thumb into her mouth. That defiance, that fire, only made me more curious. 

With a slow, amused smile, I released her leg and shoved it open, spreading her thighs wide with my body. Before she could retreat, I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her down to the bed. The moment her back hit the plush Spanish royal quilt, she started to protest again, struggling beneath me.

My hand slid up under the long-sleeved top she put on top of the flare gown and caught her breast in a firm grasp.

She went still. Not from fear.

From fury. From confusion. From heat.

Breathless and defiant, she tore at the restraints of her own desire like a wolf caught in its own trap. Beautiful. Furious. Predictable.

“There,” I whispered, tugging her nipple just once before I pulled away. “We don’t have to like each other for me to make you feel that way.”

“You’re an animal!” she spat, yanking the bedsheet over her body, eyes blazing.

She hates me. Good.

But I know her better now. I’ve seen what she does when no one’s watching.

Her desire will always betray her.

I saw it, the way she sat in front of the mirror after Deklan left. How she stared at her reflection, confused by the ache in her body. She touched herself. Tentative, curious, ashamed and deeply aroused.

And when she had picked up her hairbrush and ran it through her hair. Something shifted in her eyes. Her cheeks flushed. Slowly, she peeled off her pants, sat on the floor, and opened her legs in front of the mirror. Biting her lower lip sensually, she rubbed the brush handle against her folds and then trailed it down to her anus.

She wanted to know. She wanted to understand. She wanted to feel.

What happened next, I can't tell because Cena called at that moment, interrupting me from continuing watching her. But that look on her face when she realized that I had been watching her told the rest of the story. Her cheeks were red with embarrassment. Knowing that I had seen her. Realizing that I had watched.

If I were a younger man, I might have lost control. Might have touched myself to the sight. But I’m no longer that boy. I’ve trained myself to master desire. I’ve had more than enough experience, with Sammy, with others, before my purpose changed.

Now? I’m focused.

“Remember,” I said before leaving her room, “the blood-binding ritual is the day after tomorrow. You're not allowed to leave this room until then.”

She shot up from the bed. “I hate you!”

Her voice echoed, shrill and shaking the walls as I closed the door behind me.

Yes. She hates me.

But she has always wanted me. Not when I still see the way her breath quickens when I’m near. Not when I know the feel of her breast in my hand and the way her body had trembled when I touched her.

I still have a hold on her. But for how long?

The guards said she defeated a whole rush of snarling wolves in the execution grounds without breaking a sweat.

If that’s true… then she's  beginning to shape her powers into a weapon.

I have to stop it before she learns what she truly is.

Before she becomes too powerful for me to control.

The ritual must work.

If luck is on my side, she’ll not escape me that day.