The words hung in the air, heavy, unchangeable.
"I'm yours."
Her own voice echoed in her mind, over and over again, like a chain locking into place.
Dante's smirk had disappeared the moment she said it.
And now?
Now, he was looking at her like she had sealed her fate.
Like she was trapped.
Because she was.
Kavy's breath was shallow, her body still pinned against him.
She should have taken it back.
Should have fought harder.
But Dante had never given her a real choice.
And deep down, she had known it.
"Say it again."
His voice was low, controlled—too controlled.
Kavy swallowed.
She could feel her own pulse, rapid and frantic, beneath his touch.
His hands gripped her waist, steady, unyielding.
"Say it, Kavy."
She clenched her jaw, a flicker of rebellion igniting in her chest.
She didn't have to—
Dante's fingers slid higher, grazing her ribs, his heat burning into her skin.
Her breath hitched.
He felt it.
And he smirked.
"You're mine. Say it."
The demand curled around her like smoke, invading, suffocating.
Kavy squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head.
"No."
Dante's grip tightened.
His body pressed closer, and she felt it—the raw power in him, the absolute control.
"You already said it once, little one."
His lips brushed her jaw, featherlight, teasing.
"Now, you'll say it again."
Kavy's breath came in shallow, uneven gasps.
He was testing her.
Breaking her down.
And the worst part?
It was working.
Because when he touched her like this, when his voice dropped into that low, lethal growl—
Her mind stopped fighting.
Her body remembered.
And he knew it.
"I'm not asking, Kavy."
His hand slipped to the back of her neck, tilting her face up.
Their eyes locked—his wild, ruthless, inescapable.
She could lie.
She could push him away, claw at the last shred of her defiance.
But when she parted her lips—the truth slipped out.
"I'm yours."
Dante's smirk was slow, dark, dangerous.
And then—
His lips crashed against hers.
Hard.
Possessive.
Final.
Kavy's last breath of resistance shattered in his arms.
There was no more pretending.
No more fighting.
Because this was it.
The moment she stopped running.
The moment she truly, completely belonged to him.