Bound by Love Marked by fire

had always hat

small talk. It wasn't the expensive gifts wrapped in ribbons the size of her head, or the

s the

ay to the venue. Light bulbs popped above her head like gunfire. One year, the bakery meant to deliver her

ght she turn

her's assistant called up the grand staircase

en for herself. The deep neckline felt like a spotlight she didn't ask for, and the slit along her thigh whisp

r the city's elite. Politicians with slippery smiles. Business moguls with hands too heavy on your back. Influence

didn't. She

dripped overhead. Cameras flashed. Conversations hummed like the static before a storm. Her

at in her chest. Tonight didn't feel

d empty compliments. Then, as the grandfather

your foot falls asleep. She shook her hands, trying to brush it off. But

ame th

arp, sear

breath shallow. She pushed open the glass doors to the garden, gulping the cool night air.

ere something blazed beneath her skin. When she pull

, swirling patterns, like fire etched into her flesh. I

she whispered, h

't get t

split th

human. It was deeper. Older. It rumbled th

Tall. Broad-shouldered. Dressed in black that seemed to drink the

ce you only saw in predators-and men wh

growled. His voice was low, rough, like g

.. what are you talking about

her. His eyes flicked to he

" he whispered,

d growl, sharper this ti

ia f

ss. Its body was lean and twisted, all muscle and shadow, claws catching

nstinct screaming to run, but

the next he was in the air, colliding with the beast mid-leap. The impact sent them both

silver under the moon. She couldn't tell who was wi

lace, as the truth slammed int

had just cracked open. And she