Bound to the Beast

ir itself had solidified into a weight that pressed down on Rhe

tant reminder of the bond she couldn't escape. It was unbearable. Every inch of

the heat of his body-it

her hands trembling as they sh

open, and for a moment,

d in her throat, a release that felt just as good as it felt dangerous. She wa

atching her with an unreadable expression. His body didn't move an inch, and in that st

ded to get away. She needed space. She needed to brea

her back toward him with one swift movement. His lips were dangerously clo

d. "And whether you like it or n

face, but they didn't knock her out

to him, but it wasn't just that. It was the man himself. She hated it. H

e it might break her. She couldn't feel him anymore-he wasn't there to ease the ache, to

heets off her, her bare feet hitti

her every move, darkening with something t

th rage. "You killed him," she spat, her wo

n carrying ever since she first woke in Blackthorn

make her think that maybe, just maybe, she had hit a nerve. But

Xander said, his voic

lie to me. You destroyed everything he worked for. You tor

s silence was more damn

ook one step forward, then another, until she was standing in front of him. And in that mom

d stop herself. Her palm connecte

pounded, but there was a strange satisfaction in the action. She had slapped hi

he heat of the slap still in the air. But Xander... Xander just stared at her. Hi

k, he reached up to wipe the corner of his mout

voice quiet, controlled, but there was something b

at she didn't care. That Cassian was dead because of him. But Xander's presence-

stretched between them like a taut ro

tly, almost tenderly, his eyes never leavi

er to her heart, sharp and cutting. But they w

er. Whether she

She stumbled backward, her hand going to her chest as if

." She stuttered, unable

re was still that underlying certainty in his e

he said, his voice low and serious.

at her to pull closer to him, she could only think one thing: