Ever since we had been left alone in this room, Arkan had been licking my neck from time to time and leaving small bites on my skin. With every touch, my breathing grew a little faster, and my body relaxed as if it were slowly melting. The burning pain that had stung at first had completely disappeared, replaced by a strange sense of ease that blurred my thoughts. I wanted to surrender to his arms and lean against him without resisting.
You should bite his neck as well.
Kongar's words echoed through my mind once more.
If this was the only way to get out of here, then I had to do it.
I wanted to trust Kongar. After all, my staying here would not benefit him in any way... would it?
Besides, this was the first time in my life I had ever been this close to a man, and I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to do in a situation like this.
I tried to pull my neck back slightly, attempting to move away from Arkan, but my movement only drew a low growl from his throat. He pulled my head back toward him and deepened the small bite he had left moments before.
The pressure was not strong enough to hurt, but the tingling it created spread throughout my entire body. It washed over me like a warm wave, reaching even the most intimate parts of me. An involuntary moan slipped from my lips.
He must have noticed my reaction. This time, Arkan began to soothe the spot where he had sunk his teeth with slow strokes of his tongue. With every movement, his body pressed a little closer to mine until there was almost no space left between us.
I had to do something before I lost myself to him completely.
"A-Arkan..." I called, but what came out sounded less like his name and more like a trembling moan.
"Kayra..." Arkan murmured, still occupied with my neck.
Each time his breath brushed against my skin, every muscle in my body tightened involuntarily, and instead of resisting his touch, I became even more sensitive to it.
I covered my neck with my hand, blocking his access to my skin. The moment he was denied, an angry roar rose from his throat. The sudden, powerful sound was so unexpected that I flinched and jumped slightly where I stood.
When Arkan's blue eyes met mine, I realized that the glow within them had not faded. On the contrary, it had become even more pronounced, as though they were drawing in the moonlight itself.
His wolf was still very close to the surface.
"Mine," he said, his voice a powerful rumble rising from deep within his chest.
That possessive attitude still unsettled me. I knew I should have been angry with him, but my body was responding in an entirely different way. His words sent a shockwave through me, making my lower body tighten involuntarily.
Was this normal?
Or was I reacting this way simply because I had never been this intimate with anyone before?
Whatever the reason, I needed to take control again.
"Yes," I said, unable to keep my voice from trembling. "I'm yours... and you're mine."
Taking his hand, I gently pulled him toward me onto the bed.
At my words, the glow in his eyes intensified. With deep, satisfied rumbles, he stretched out beside me. Moments later, the two of us were sitting side by side on the bed, our legs extended.
I straightened slightly and leaned toward his neck.
At first, he looked as though he did not understand what I was trying to do, but he did not pull away. He allowed me to touch him.
I pressed my lips to his skin, leaving a trail of soft kisses. With each touch, his body trembled faintly beneath my hands. The reaction brought an involuntary smile to my lips.
So I could affect him in the same way.
That realization gave me courage.
When I slowly traced the length of his neck with my tongue, his rumble deepened. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer. My balance faltered, but he guided me carefully until I was straddling him.
In this position, reaching him was much easier.
I slipped my fingers into his black hair and tugged gently. A low growl rose from his throat, but he did not stop me. On the contrary, the arms around my waist tightened even more.
I did not know why I had pulled his hair.
All I knew was that my teeth had begun to ache in a strange way, and I could not tear myself away from his smooth, pale neck.
The urge to bite him was growing stronger with every passing second.
Do it now, a voice inside me whispered.
But I did not want to rush and fail. If they interpreted this as an act of aggression, I might truly end up becoming their dinner.
"Arkan! You're back—"
The woman's voice filled the room, and I jerked away from Arkan's neck.
I had become so completely absorbed in him that I had not even noticed someone entering the room.
A blonde woman stood in the doorway.
Her beauty was striking enough to capture anyone's attention at first glance. She was tall, with a slender yet curvaceous figure that resembled a flawless sculpture. Her golden hair cascaded over her shoulders, and her features were so perfectly formed that they seemed almost unreal.
The moment my lips left his neck, Arkan let out a muffled whine and immediately turned to me. That intense glow was still burning in his eyes. But a few seconds later, his gaze slid away from my face and shifted to the woman standing in the doorway.
The instant his attention moved from me to her, an unexpected surge of jealousy rose inside me.
The feeling was so sudden and so powerful that it caught me completely off guard.
Who was this woman?
More importantly...
Arkan was mine.
The moment that thought formed in my mind, I buried my hands in his black hair once more. This time, I threaded my fingers through it with greater determination, pulled his head toward me, and without hesitation sank my teeth into his neck.
The instant my teeth pierced his skin, a muffled moan escaped from both of us at the same time. A powerful tingling sensation swept through my entire body, as though a current of warmth were coursing beneath my skin. The urge inside me still had not subsided. I did not know whether this would work, and I did not want to leave it to chance, so I pressed my teeth in a little deeper.
As I bit him, Arkan's arms wrapped around my waist once again. His strong hands pulled me against him until there was no space left between our bodies.
A few moments later, when I felt warmth spreading across my tongue, I slowly withdrew my teeth from his neck.
The marks my bite had left stood out clearly on his skin. Thin lines of blood seeped from them, but the sight lasted only a few seconds. Right before my eyes, the wounds began to close.
Just as I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, something even stranger happened.
A dark mark appeared at the exact spot where I had bitten him.
Blinking, I looked more closely.
It was identical to the mark on my own neck.
A crescent moon symbol.
There was one small difference.
While the crescent on my neck curved to the right, Arkan's faced the opposite direction. It looked as though, if the two were placed side by side, they would form a perfect full moon.
For a moment, my heart seemed to stop.
My hand rose to my own neck without conscious thought.
So this was not really a tattoo.
With that realization, every logical explanation I had been trying to construct shattered into pieces.
No... no.
None of this could be real.
"I'm schizophrenic," I murmured, my voice sounding almost unfamiliar even to my own ears. "Yes, I'm schizophrenic... and this is actually a very beautiful thing."
The moment the words left my mouth, I slipped off the bed.
"Did I come at a bad time?" the blonde woman asked.
Before I could answer, Arkan wrapped his arms around my waist once again and pulled me back against him.
"Mate," he said.
The word dissolved into a deep growl at the end. Then he lowered his nose to my neck and inhaled deeply, as if he could not resist taking in my scent.
"I'll leave you two alone," the woman said, turning toward the door.
"No! Don't go," I said at once.
At that very moment, Arkan was pressing small kisses to my neck, occasionally soothing my skin with his tongue. My heart was pounding so hard that it felt as if it might burst from my chest.
Arkan let out a low growl beside my ear.
"Let her go," he said.
His voice had taken on an almost entirely animalistic tone.
Before I had the chance to object, I heard the door close.
We were alone again.
But there was no need for that anymore.
I had bitten Arkan, just as Kongar had told me to do. It had to have worked.
He was supposed to listen to me now.
"Um... Arkan," I said softly.
"Hm?" he replied, continuing to leave intermittent kisses along my skin as his lips moved from my neck to the nape of it.
"Would you let me go?" I asked.
But instead of releasing me, he tightened his arms around my waist even more.
My brows drew together.
Wasn't he supposed to listen to me now?
"I need to use the bathroom," I said.
This time, although he let out a displeased rumble, he complied and slowly withdrew his arms from around my waist.
Before he could change his mind, I sprang off the bed and ran to the bathroom without even glancing back. The moment I stepped inside, I shut the door and turned the lock.
Had Kongar lied to me?
But why would he do that?
I moved to the mirror and studied the mark on my neck carefully. It was identical to the one on Arkan's neck; even the size seemed to be exactly the same. Yet on his long neck, the mark looked rather small, while on my shorter neck it appeared much larger and far more noticeable.
I supposed that was one of the disadvantages of being short.
I frowned.
What was I even thinking? Was I really fixating on the fact that the mark looked smaller on Arkan?
Taking a deep breath, I turned on the faucet. I splashed cold water onto my face several times. Maybe that would help me gather my thoughts.
Just as I was drying my face with a towel, a knock at the door made me jump.
"Kayra, are you all right?" Arkan asked. Even through the door, his voice sounded worried.
"Yes," I replied, hanging the towel back in its place.
A brief silence followed.
"Would you like me to come in?" he asked.
"No."
The answer came out so quickly that the word escaped my lips almost before I had time to think.
Taking a deep breath, I unlocked the door.
The moment I cracked the door open, I walked straight into Arkan's hard chest.
"Ah!"
Clutching my nose, I took a step back. He had been standing right outside the door.
What was he doing pressed up against it like that?
As I rubbed my aching nose, the worry on Arkan's face became even more pronounced.
"Are you all right?" he asked anxiously. Then, without waiting for an answer, he dropped to his knees. "Let me see."
He gently took my chin in his hand and tilted my head upward, looking at me from below.
For some reason, this side of him looked unexpectedly adorable.
"Luckily, it's only a little red," he said, letting out a deep breath. The slight relaxation in his shoulders made it obvious how relieved he was.
Just as he was about to remove his hand from my chin, I caught his fingers.
The instant our skin touched, that familiar tingling spread through my body once again.
Arkan lifted his curious blue eyes to my face. There was both surprise and a cautious expectation in his gaze.
I moved a little closer to him.
Sliding my fingers from his hand, I cupped his face between my palms. The warmth of his skin spread through my hands, and my heart began to race once more.
Arkan's blue eyes locked onto mine with anticipation.
But the moment I realized what I was doing, I was about to pull away.
At that exact moment, Arkan grasped the nape of my neck and drew me toward him.
And pressed his lips to mine.