A KISS THAT BURNS

Chapter 4

A Kiss That Burns

The wind howled against the penthouse windows, rattling the glass like a restless beast. I stood on the edge of Damien's domain, looking down at the city—a glittering prison I couldn't escape. My pulse throbbed, my skin burned, and the bond between us coiled tighter, a relentless thing that refused to let go.

I needed out.

Now.

Damien was asleep—if vampires even slept—and I wasn't going to waste the opportunity.

Barefoot, I moved through the hallway, every breath measured, every step silent against the cold marble. My fingers curled around the door handle. I twisted.

It wouldn't move.

My stomach dropped. I tried again, harder this time. A pulse of energy snapped through the air, throwing me back with invisible force. I gasped as I hit the floor, my pulse hammering.

The bond.

I clenched my fists, teeth grinding against the surge of frustration. Even now, I could feel him—his power, his hunger, his control wrapping around me like chains forged in fire.

Damn him.

I pushed to my feet, heart slamming against my ribs. There had to be a way to break this. There had to be—

A hand closed around my wrist.

"You're not leaving."

I whipped around. Damien stood there, shirtless, his dark eyes glinting with something dangerously close to amusement. His grip was firm, his body impossibly still, like a predator who'd been waiting.

"Let me go," I demanded.

He tilted his head. "You don't want me to let go."

Anger flared through me, scorching away the pull of the bond. "You don't control me."

His lips curled into something sharp. "Then why are you still here?"

I hated the way my body reacted to him. The way his touch burned through me. The way his scent, deep and dark as midnight, filled my lungs and made my knees weak.

No.

I would fight this.

I ripped my wrist free and stepped back. "One way or another, I will break this bond."

His jaw tensed. But before he could respond, the air shattered with the sound of breaking glass.

The window exploded.

A storm of figures flooded in, moving fast—too fast—fangs gleaming, eyes glowing with hunger.

Rogues.

I barely had time to scream before hands seized me, yanking me against a cold, unyielding chest.

"Found her," a voice growled.

Damien moved.

In a blur, he ripped through the first attacker, claws slashing through flesh like it was paper. The rogue's scream cut off as Damien tore his heart out. Blood splattered across the floor, hot and wet.

But there were too many.

Arms locked around me. I kicked, thrashed, fought, but the grip was iron.

Damien's roar shook the room. "If you take her, you die screaming."

Something cold pierced my neck.

A needle.

Pain.

Burning, searing—

Everything went black.

I woke to the stench of blood.

My wrists were bound. The air was damp, heavy with decay. Concrete pressed against my back, cold and unyielding.

Footsteps echoed.

A figure emerged from the darkness—a vampire, his grin wicked, his fangs sharp.

"Awake at last," he mused, crouching in front of me. "Do you know how much power your blood holds?"

I met his gaze, my pulse steady despite the ice curling in my gut. "Go to hell."

His laughter was a razor against my skin. "I intend to. But not before I drain you dry."

Fingers gripped my chin, tilting my head back. "Let's see if Damien comes for you before it's too late."

"He'll kill you," I spat.

The vampire smirked. "I hope so."

A blade flashed in his hand, the cold metal trailing down my throat.

Because when he does…

"When he does, he'll finally be vulnerable," the vampire murmured, eyes gleaming. "And then, he'll be next."

A chill slammed through me.

They didn't just want me.

They wanted him.

The blade pressed against my skin—

And then the walls exploded.

A storm of shadow and death tore through the room.

Damien.

He moved like a nightmare made flesh. No words. No hesitation. Just slaughter.

Fangs ripped through throats. Claws tore through bodies. Blood painted the walls in violent, gruesome arcs.

He was death.

And when he reached me—when his hands shattered the chains binding me—his rage was still a living, breathing thing.

"Damien—"

His mouth crashed onto mine.

It wasn't a kiss.

It was possession.

A claim. A punishment. A promise.

His hands tore at my bindings, his body pressing me against the cold stone. The bond between us burned, wildfire and destruction, unstoppable, consuming.

"Mine," he growled against my throat. "Say it."

His touch wrecked me. I gasped, fingers digging into his skin.

"Say it," he demanded, his voice sharp as a blade.

The fight inside me crumbled. I was his. I always had been.

"Yours," I whispered.

His growl sent a shiver down my spine.

And then he took me.

Hard. Fierce. Unrelenting.

Pleasure shattered through me, my body arching, his name a cry on my lips. The bond roared to life, locking us tighter, deeper. Irrevocable.

And as my world burned, I knew—

I would never escape him.

I would never want to.

The bodies of the rogues lay in ruins around us, but one, barely alive, choked out a final, bloodied whisper—

"He knows now… your brother…"

Damien froze.

A deadly silence filled the space, thick as smoke.

His grip tightened, his breath ragged. And then, in a voice I had never heard before—

Dread.

"Impossible."