Chapter 46: The Deal
Vivian Grey’s POV
"W-What are you doing?" I breathed out, my voice trembling as my pulse quickened.
Zaliver’s eyes gleamed with something dark and hungry. "I got the results," he murmured, stepping closer, that crooked smile curving his lips. "I can mark you now. But tonight, I’m leaving a different kind of mark."
His gaze flickered for just a second, something unreadable passing through his expression before the smug confidence returned. I didn’t miss it. I latched onto it, desperate for time.
"What did the results say? Is everything okay?" I asked, pretending to focus on anything but how close he was, on how my shoulder burned with anticipation.
He didn’t hesitate. "Perfect. Everything came back perfect."
I searched his face, trying to decipher if he was bluffing. I couldn’t tell. Not with him. "Really? Then can I—"
"Shhh." He hushed me gently, and before I could finish, his lips captured mine.
The kiss melted my thoughts into nothing. It wasn’t frantic or rough, but slow and purposeful, like he was savoring every second. Like I was something rare. Like he had six hundred years of patience and had chosen to spend a portion of it on this exact moment. I’d expected something more urgent from him, something matching the intensity of his possessiveness, but instead he kissed me the way someone kisses a thing they’re terrified of losing. Carefully. Deliberately. Like he was memorizing it.
That scared me more than the hunger would have.
When we finally parted, he didn’t stop. His lips trailed over my cheek and down to my throat, leaving a path of fire behind. I gasped when he sucked softly at the tender skin of my neck, and I could feel the smile against me when a moan slipped out.
My hands slid up into his thick, midnight hair, fingers tangling in the silk of it. His growl rumbled low in his chest and shook through me, vibrating straight down to my toes. He wrapped his arms around me tighter, and my leg instinctively lifted, curling around his waist. Without a word, he lifted me with ease, my other leg locking around him.
He never stopped. His mouth never left my skin, not even when he walked us across the room. His canines scraped against my throat again and again, a reminder of what he could do, what he might still do, and it made me feel completely unhinged in a way I was starting to think I didn’t mind.
When my back hit the bed, he hovered over me. The weight of his body, the warmth, the scent of him, it overwhelmed my senses. I could feel every shift between us, every hard edge of his body against mine. A strange kind of pride bloomed in me, knowing the effect I had on him. My wolf purred in satisfaction.
Zaliver’s mouth found mine again, urgent now, and I kissed him back like he was air. When we finally broke apart, both of us panting, his gaze held me in place. Lust simmered in his eyes, but something else too, something more possessive. Devouring.
Moon above.
He rolled off me, his body heat still lingering like a brand. With a smooth motion, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small key. I blinked as he unlocked the chains around my wrists, his face unreadable again.
I sat up slowly and slid the chains aside, letting them clatter softly to the floor. My neck tingled, heat blooming there, and I had no doubt I was covered in his marks. The thought made something primal stir in me, something that didn’t feel like shame. I pressed my fingers lightly to my neck without thinking about it, feeling the warmth his mouth had left behind, and decided I didn’t entirely mind wearing the evidence of tonight.
He stretched lazily beside me, then said with a smirk, "Well, that was fun. We should do it again sometime."
I scoffed and shot him a playful glare. "Only if it doesn’t involve chains and being locked in all day."
He chuckled, a rare, easy sound that caught me off guard. I’d never seen him like this before, so at ease, so human. It softened something in me.
"I’m going away for a business trip next week," he said after a moment, his tone suddenly careful.
My heart sank. I didn’t want him to go. Not now. Not when we were only just starting to find something that felt like solid ground between us, something that didn’t have to be fought for or negotiated or survived. Not when the chains were finally off and the room felt like a place rather than a cage.
"Can I come with you?"
His features softened slightly, but he shook his head. "Not yet. Maybe someday," he said gently. It wasn’t a no, and that counted for something. Still, I couldn’t help the pang of disappointment that settled in.
Trying to lighten the mood, he added, "I’ll bring you souvenirs. Lots of them."
That made me smile despite myself. "Fine. But they better be good."
He turned on his side, propping himself up to look at me. The lamp cast low light across the room, catching the blue of his eyes, and for a moment he just looked at me the way people look at things they’re still not sure they’re allowed to want.
"I want to get to know you," I whispered.
Something shifted in his expression, and he didn’t hide it fast enough. It was softer than anything I’d seen from him before.
"Me too," he said quietly.
"How long will you be gone?"
"A week." But before sadness could settle in properly, he leaned forward and added, "When I get back, we’ll spend real time together. No agendas. No tests. No more chains. Just us. Deal?"
A warmth spread through my chest.
"Deal," I said.
He held my gaze a moment longer, then lay back, quiet and still, and I stayed where I was, listening to the quiet between us, and thought that for the first time since my mother woke me in the dark and told me to run, something about my future didn’t frighten me.
It almost looked like something I wanted. Like something I might, eventually, even choose.
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