Chapter 35: The Beast Within

The air between them was thick with heat and unspoken tension, heavy enough to suffocate. Caden didn't give her time to brace herself. His hands gripped her hips like iron, pulling her closer until every inch of her was pressed against him, every nerve on fire. The nightdress she wore was fragile against his roughness, a flimsy barrier that barely protected her from the storm he unleashed.

He didn't ask for permission. He didn't wait for her to adjust or consent. The first touch was demanding, brutal, unyielding. His lips found hers again, not gentle or sweet, but fierce and merciless. Amara's breath hitched, caught between shock and a reluctant thrill. Her body screamed to resist, but Caden's hands were everywhere, rough and possessive, as if staking a claim.

"You're mine," he growled, voice low and threatening. "No more running, no more hiding."

Amara's heart pounded wildly, a chaotic mix of fear, anger, and something else, something she was too scared to admit. She tried to pull away, but his grip tightened, holding her firm like a tether she couldn't break. The sharp edge in his touch cut through every protest, every plea.

At the start, it swallowed her whole, leaving no room to breathe or think. It was as if a storm had torn through her body, stripping away control and replacing it with raw sensation. Every nerve lit up, every thought drowned beneath the force of it. Her mind screamed for clarity, for space, but there was none only the sharp edge of every movement, the burning press of his body, and the frantic beat of her heart. She wasn't herself anymore, not in that moment. She was heat, chaos, resistance, and reluctant surrender caught in a battle between instinct and will, and already losing ground. But slowly painfully she began to adjust. Her body responded, even when her mind fought every inch of it.

Caden's hands roamed with a fierce intent, mapping her curves as if learning a territory for the first time, and yet with a claim that brooked no denial. His breath was hot on her skin, lips tracing fire along her collarbone, down to the swell of her breasts barely concealed by the nightdress.

"You don't have a choice anymore, Amara," he said between rough kisses, voice low and dark. "You're mine. And I'm not gentle."

Her breath hitched, chest tightening in protest, but beneath it all, a strange defiance flickered. If this was war, then she would fight; fight to claim what little control she could hold onto. She stiffened, pushing against him with trembling hands, but the fight only seemed to excite him more.

His grin was savage, teeth flashing in the dim light. "Good. You're not weak. You're stubborn. I like that."

The night wore on in a brutal dance of power and surrender, resistance and reluctant acceptance. Amara's body slowly remembered how to yield, how to bend without breaking. Pain mixed with pleasure in a tangled web that left her dizzy and raw. Each kiss, each touch, was a challenge Caden testing her limits, pushing boundaries she hadn't dared cross before.

Sometimes his hands were cruel, dragging her closer with sharp nails that bit into her skin. Other times, unexpectedly gentle, his fingers tracing lines of fire that made her shiver. He was a storm she couldn't escape, relentless and consuming.

She hated it. She hated the way her body betrayed her, the way heat spread beneath his touch despite her anger. She hated how his dark eyes seemed to see through every layer of resistance she tried to hold up. But even in the fury, there was a flicker of something else, something raw and primal that neither of them dared name aloud.

By the time dawn threatened the edges of the night, Amara's breath was ragged, skin flushed and slick with sweat. Her body ached in places she hadn't known could feel so much. But beneath the exhaustion, beneath the chaos of emotion, something had shifted. She wasn't breaking. She was adapting.

Caden pulled back slightly, a dark, victorious gleam in his eyes as he looked down at her. His hands rested on her hips, steady and possessive.

"So," he said, voice low and teasing, "what do you think of your husband's performance?"

Amara's eyes flashed with anger, exhaustion, and a simmering fire that refused to be extinguished. She pushed him away with what little strength she had left, standing unsteadily on trembling legs. "You're not human," she spat, voice sharp and broken. "You're a beast."

The words hit Caden like a slap; sharp, unexpected, and burning. His jaw clenched so tight it looked as if his teeth might shatter. His eyes darkened to an almost unnatural shade, flickering with a wild, dangerous fire that sent a chill through the room.

"You think that's an insult?" His voice dropped low, a guttural growl that vibrated with barely contained rage. "You think calling me a beast is enough to scare me? To push me back?"

His grip snapped around her wrists, iron-tight and unyielding, as if he was trying to crush her very soul with the strength of his hands. Amara struggled, but it was useless, he held her like she was both fragile and unbreakable at once.

"You want to see the beast, Amara?" His breath was hot against her face, voice thick with venom. "You think you know what I am? What I can be?"

His eyes burned, dark and wild, losing all the semblance of the man she thought she knew. The raw, primal force beneath his skin surfaced, unleashed in an instant, terrifying and magnetic.

"Now you're going to see the real beast," he hissed, each word like a strike, sharp and unforgiving.

Amara's breath hitched, heart pounding like a drum in her chest. Fear curled tight in her stomach, but beneath it, tangled and confusing, was something darker, something that fluttered dangerously close to desire.

"Caden… please," she whispered, voice trembling, trying to reach the man beneath the rage.

But he shook his head, eyes blazing with fury. "No more please," he snarled. "You pushed me, Amara. You want to fight fire with fire? Fine. Let me show you what fire really looks like."

His hands didn't loosen, didn't falter. Instead, they tightened, his knuckles whitening as his fury bled into every fiber of his being. The room seemed to shrink around them, the air thick with tension, electricity crackling in the silence between his heavy breaths.

"You think I'm just some man," he spat, "but I'm so much more. I'm every nightmare you've ever tried to hide from. And now… now I'm standing right in front of you."

Amara's eyes met his wide, trembling, unyielding despite the fear and for a heartbeat, the storm in Caden's gaze faltered, flickering with a shred of something raw and human.

But then the beast roared back, louder and fiercer, and his grip dug deeper.

"Say it again, Amara. Tell me I'm not human. Tell me I'm a beast."

Tears welled in her eyes, rage and pain twisting her voice as she spat back, "You're not a man anymore. You're a beast. And you're terrifying."

That was the spark.

Caden's breath hitched, nostrils flaring as the last slivers of restraint shattered. His entire being pulsed with uncontrollable fury, the beast unleashed, wild and relentless.

"Good," he hissed, voice raw and hungry. "Because now… you're going to see what happens when the beast takes over."