"I don't need to be taught anything from you," I said, trying to inject as much disdain as I could in my tone.
"I beg to differ," Damon murmured in my ear. "You are in great need of a firm hand to teach you how things work here."
"What am I? A dog?" I exclaimed in outrage, but Damon only smirked.
"Are you calling yourself a bitch now?"
"You―" I never wanted to smack someone so bad in my life. Not even Aubrey managed to inspire this much violence in me, and she had tormented me the moment she arrived in my life.
But before I could curse him out, Damon grabbed my face and planted a deep kiss on my mouth. The moment our lips touched, sparks danced. My body felt as though it had been ignited, heat spreading quickly across my skin.
Prior to this, I had considered that maybe, just maybe, all that jazz about mates and the bonds between them were exaggerations. They sounded as though they had to be. After all, how could one look create romance? How could one touch set a soul alight?
Yet, once Damon's lips met mine, my mind went blank and I felt as though I was soaring. Never mind the burning in my lungs from the lack of oxygen, never mind the sear on my wrists from the silver cuffs. I could only feel his breath on mine, his hands roaming pleasurably across my skin, and the kisses that left me weak and panting.
All the previous anger and distrust had been flung clean out the window― I had lost myself in that kiss.
"Un…"
Once Damon was sure I was pliable and obedient, his hands slowly let go of my cheeks. They roamed down, his fingers toying with the fabric of my clothes before lifting them up. One sharp tug quickly revealed one breast and I gasped at the movement.
Even with a bra on, the lack of a shirt shielding me allowed cold hair to hit the surface of my skin. When Damon's hands roamed over the curves, I could feel goosebumps rising wherever he touched.
My back arched instinctively, wanting to feel his palms roam across the sensitive parts of my skin. However, he moved teasingly slowly, drawing circles and random patterns until I could feel myself slowly slipping into insanity. His hands trailed down my ribs and my waist, eventually resting at my hips.
His lips left mine all of a sudden, and a small whine slipped from my throat. However, they quickly evolved to sighs of pleasure when he began to land kisses on my cheek, jaw, and eventually, my neck. His teeth gently grazed the skin there, pressing down a little on the crook where my neck met my shoulder.
It would've been the right place to receive a mark. However, Damon didn't bite down. He pressed his canines in but not enough to puncture the skin, only enough to elicit a moan from my lips.
When he pulled back while wearing a victorious smirk, I had yet to emerge from my reverie. I was still intoxicated, my eyes half hooded over and lips slightly parted. They had to be swollen for sure from the intensity of that makeout.
"Nice and obedient," he said. "Just like how you should've been right from the start."
It was his words that snapped me out of that lustful daydream. The fog in my mind cleared and slowly, my senses began to return to me. Fury flushed my face even redder than the kiss had colored it. I struggled to sit up but was quickly pressed back down by Damon, his fingers gently weighing me down by my chest.
"Bastard, you tricked me!" I growled out, my chest heaving up and down with each erratic breath. Previously, it had done the same from lust. Now, there was only anger.
"I did nothing," Damon plainly said. "You seem to underestimate the bonds between mates, little rabbit."
"We are not mated," I reminded.
And if I had my way, we would never be mated. The mate bond was such a terrifying thing; in that brief moment when our lips touched, I had forgotten myself completely. It was as though I existed as nothing more than an extension of Damon, created for his pleasure.
"Yet," he said. "If I had a choice, I would've marked you right then and there in the ruins of Stormclaw."
"If you had a choice?" I echoed, confused by his words. But it didn't take another second longer before my eyes widened with understanding.
His grin widened. "You're a smart girl. I am sure you can think of the reasons why you're still unmarked even though you have met two mates."
Right. That elusive ceremony Blaise had mentioned.
"It is against the Moon Goddess's design to have two mates," I retorted.
"And yet, here we are," Damon replied. He gently tapped my cheek with the back of his hand, humor dancing across his eyes even though I shot him the nastiest glare I could muster. "My brother and I are both very excited to have you here."
I looked down automatically, my gaze falling on the bulge in his pants that was significantly larger than I recalled it to be. His eyes followed my line of sight, coldly laughing when he realized what I had been looking at.
"Pun unintended," he said. "But you seem very eager to please as well."
There was no need for him to look anywhere suggestively and I could already tell what he was talking about. Even without the enhanced sense of smell of a werewolf's nose, the scent of my arousal had already filled the room. I could feel it too― the wet, sticky feeling that coated my panties and even the inner area of my thighs.
If I could smell it, it was no wonder that Damon could as well. My cheeks flushed in embarrassment, even as my mind knew it was nothing more than a physiological reaction to stimuli.
It was all Damon's fault. I shouldn't be embarrassed!
"It's just the bond," I reminded him, "one that I am not willing to maintain."
"You have no choice in that matter, darling."
He pulled away, adjusting his clothes and swiping off the imaginary specks of dust.
"Rest well, little rabbit. You have a long night ahead of you."
He stood up, walked to the door, and right as he turned the doorknob, Damon turned back and smiled at me, who had just sat up in the bed.
"Ah, right." He grinned. "And welcome to Fangborne."