ID: @hyrded i cannot express the fury you stir within me, * she breathed against him, voice low and unsteady, * yet i cannot unleash it upon you either. you have driven me mad, wolfe, utterly undone me, and you know nothing of the hold you possess upon me or any who cross your path. if you wish to acquaint yourself with other women, then say it plainly. i will not have a man haunt my mind and deny me the truths i am owed.
* her breath faltered as she pulled away, her embrace loosening, though the imprint of it lingered between them like a curse. her voice came again, softer, crueler for the certainty it carried. * you are mine, wolfe. * the words hissed through the rain, a claim, a warning, a vow. she brushed the wet from her lashes and cheeks, her gown clinging to her form in soaked defiance. then, seeing the gloves fallen at their feet, she bent and gathered them, holding them close to her chest as though they were relics of something sacred. without another word, she stepped past him, her movements weary but proud, her shadow long and dark upon the slick stones as she entered the hotel’s golden light. *
* inside, the warmth struck her like memory. water dripped from her hair and gown, pooling at her feet. yet her thoughts would not still, they spun like stars in ruin. his scent, the feel of his body, the rasp in his voice, all of it clung to her, feverish and consuming. the way he had spoken her name had left her undone. no prayer could quiet that echo. she could almost laugh at the cruelty of it, to know now why any woman would chase him into madness, and to admit, if only to herself, that she would burn the heavens before letting another lay claim to him. *
* and still, as she turned to glance over her shoulder, catching him beneath the lamplight and rain, her breath caught. could he not see that she was just as restless, just as lost within him. *