YENA

I lost myself in his kiss.

I didn’t expect it to be like this.

His hands were on me in a flash. One was holding me tightly around my waist. The other was behind my head.

He was kissing me like a madman.

I don’t know what had gotten into him. This was an extremely public moment.

And the wolf inside me wasn’t letting me resist. Like she had promised she would.

Nolan kissed me like this the night we made love.

That’s what it felt like in this moment.

Love.

Maybe Lily was right. Maybe there was something deeper to our chemistry.

Maybe it wasn’t just sex and pleasure. It was something else that made me and Nolan crave each other like this.

I felt like I was falling into an abyss.

Nolan felt me falling. He pulled back and moved his lips to my ear.

“Concentrate,” he whispered.

The bass of his voice vibrated against my neck.

“You can control it if you try,” he said. “Stay with me.”

I thought the kiss was over. I was coming back to myself.

But I met his eyes and saw his darkness rush through them.

And then he kissed me again. Harder.

He bit my lip.

I almost moaned. It took everything in me to keep quiet.

I was wet. And shuddering.

His tongue was in my mouth. Mine was in his.

I think somewhere outside of us, a crowd was cheering. It was an irrelevant blur.

The smell of pine and sandalwood filled my senses.

Like a forest after rain.

And then, just like that, it was over.

Nolan composed himself quickly and before I knew what was happening he was leading me down the aisle in a hurry. I was in a haze the whole way.

Gold confetti was everywhere, including my eyelashes.

Then I saw her.

Gina.

I had never met her before. I didn’t know what she looked like.

But I’d been hearing about her.

Gina was the only woman Nolan ever courted before me.

I smelled something as we passed by the last aisle. That’s why I turned to look. Then I saw her and just knew.

It was Nolan’s scent I picked up. It was lingering on her.

She watched us go by and looked at him with a forlorn kind of longing in her eyes.

She was just as beautiful as I’d been imagining.

And she was wearing a long white dress.

Bitch. That must have been a special touch meant to antagonize me.

Nolan had been with her today. That was the only way she would have his scent on her.

It all made sense now.

There was something going on between the two of them.

And he kissed me like that right in front of her.

Probably to make her jealous.

Finally, the tedious circus of the wedding ceremony was over, and it was our wedding night.

My belongings had been brought into Nolan’s room while we were at the wedding.

We were married now, and I was officially moved in.

I had a couple glasses of bubbly pink wine before we left the reception. The whole event was such a whirlwind. It felt like I blinked and it was four hours later, and I was tipsy and hungry and exhausted.

My new husband was more than tipsy. He was a drinker, I was coming to find.

I myself had never been drunk before. I didn’t exactly get invited to a lot of parties back in school. The two thin flutes of champagne I drank tonight was the most I’d ever had at once.

Nolan, on the other hand, might have been wasted by the time we made it to the bedroom.

He started stripping his clothes off while walking to the bathroom, leaving a trail of tuxedo pieces behind him.

The shower turned on and I heard him open the glass door and step inside.

I closed and locked our bedroom doors and sat down on the edge of the bed.

I’d never seen such a huge bed before. It was plush and fitted with black satin sheets.

I took off my jewelry and set it on the side table. Kicked off my shoes and started unbuttoning the delicate little clasps on the back of my dress.

The shower turned off pretty quickly. Steam billowed out of the open bathroom door.

I started mumbling to myself unconsciously. I was just nervous.

“Relax Yena,” I whispered. “You’ve had sex with him before.”

Then Nolan walked back into the bedroom, emerging from a cloud of steam like a god, naked and damp with steam still sizzling off his red-hot skin.

“What are you mumbling about?” he asked, pacing over to me.

I sat on the edge of the bed and said, “Nothing.”

I pulled out the clip that was holding my hair back, letting my blond curls fall forward.

Nolan stood for moment next to the bed. His chest was heaving. His eyes roved the full length of my body. Up and down and up again.

“You’re beautiful, fat girl,” he said.

His lips curled into a taunting smile.

“And you’re very bad, Prince Charming,” I replied.

He jumped on me, pushing me flat on the bed.

Somehow he shoved every pillow off to the floor in a single swipe of his hand. He pinned my arms above my head, holding both my wrists together in one big hand.

He held my body down with his and ran his mouth all over my neck.

His breath was heavy with the smell of wine and sugar.

Between sloppy kisses, I felt the sharp edges of his teeth grazing my skin.

He was breathing heavy. Panting.

He was trying not to bite me.

Suddenly he sat back, pulled at the front of my dress, and ripped it straight down the middle.

It was a wedding gown, made of heavy, expensive fabric.

He pulled the torn gown out from under me and threw it aside.

And then he kissed me. It was like we were transported right back to where we left off at the wedding. It was all impulse and passion.

He ran a hand through my hair. Gently this time.

I shivered.

Then I reminded myself of what Nolan had told me at the wedding.

Concentrate.

You can control it.

I took a breath and focused. I was going to stay in my body this time.

No matter how good it felt. I was going to stay in control.

He ran a finger softly across my lips. I caught it in my mouth and bit down lightly.

He smiled and made a low, quiet growl.

When he kissed me again, it was slow and sweet. Then moved his lips to my neck again and kissed it tenderly.

He pressed his face to my skin and inhaled, breathing in my scent.

He was holding me tightly, like he was afraid I’d float away if he let go.

I closed my eyes and arched my back. I wasn’t in the mood to fight or tease him tonight. I just wanted him.

I just wanted to finally let go and give in.