Chapter 6

Fallon POV

"That's a dangerous promise, little wolf," Kane whispered hoarsely, his large fingers slowly folding the piece of paper.

I remained on my knees on the plush rug, my heart hammering a frantic rhythm against my ribs. The suffocating scent of cedar and winter frost wrapped around my throat, heavy and intoxicating.

Kane stepped closer until the tips of his expensive leather shoes touched my bare knees. He looked down at me, his stormy gray eyes entirely swallowed by the dark, predatory presence of his inner wolf, Ares.

"Unbuckle my belt," he ordered.

The low rumble of his voice carried the undeniable weight of an *Alpha's Command*. A violent shiver wrecked through my frame. Intimacy with Dan had always been a scheduled, predictable routine-a vanilla script I had blindly followed. But this? Kneeling before an apex predator who vibrated with raw, lethal power? It was terrifyingly intoxicating. I wanted this power to burn Dan's pathetic memory to ash.

My trembling fingers reached out, fumbling with the cold metal of his belt buckle. Just as I gripped the leather, Kane's large hand suddenly clamped over my wrists, halting my movement.

"If you undo this, Fallon, there is no going back," he rasped, his jaw clenching so hard a muscle ticked furiously beneath his skin. I could see the agonizing war raging in his eyes-the desperate struggle to keep Ares leashed. "I will not let you walk away after this."

"I don't want to walk away," I breathed, my voice surprisingly steady.

His grip loosened. I unbuckled the heavy leather, popped the metal button of his trousers, and slowly pulled down the zipper. The sound was deafening in the dead silent office.

Kane took a sharp breath and stepped back. "Go to the door. Lock it."

I scrambled to my feet. My legs felt like jelly, but I crossed the dimly lit room to the heavy oak doors and turned the deadbolt. The sharp *click* echoed like a gunshot, sealing us away from the rest of the world.

"Stay there," Kane commanded, his voice dropping an octave, vibrating straight through the floorboards into the soles of my feet. He leaned back against the edge of his massive mahogany desk, his gaze burning a hole right through me. "Spread your legs. Take off your panties."

My breath hitched. A flush of intense heat exploded across my chest and crept up my neck. I had never done anything like this in my life. The sheer vulnerability of the act should have paralyzed me with shame, but the dark, consuming possessiveness in his eyes stripped away my inhibitions.

I reached under my silk skirt, hooked my fingers into the delicate lace, and slid my panties down my legs, stepping out of them. I parted my thighs, pressing my back against the cool wood of the door for support.

"Touch yourself."

The command was absolute. My hand trembled as I slid my fingers beneath the hem of my skirt, finding my own slick, aching heat. The moment I touched myself, a soft gasp escaped my lips. The sensation was blinding, magnified a hundred times by the sheer weight of his predatory stare.

"Imagine it's me touching you, Fallon," Kane murmured, his voice a dark, velvet caress that stroked across my mind. "My scent. My hands. Feel how much I want you."

The image of his large, calloused hands claiming my skin sent a violent jolt of electricity straight to my core. I stroked myself faster, my head falling back against the door. The whiskey in my blood mixed with the intoxicating rush of the *Mate-bond*, pushing me higher and higher. I was spiraling, the tension coiling so tight in my belly that I was ready to shatter.

"Kane..." I whimpered, my hips bucking instinctively as I hovered right on the precipice of a devastating climax.

"*Stop. Now.*"

The *Alpha's Command* hit me like a physical wall. My body obeyed before my mind could even process it. My hand froze instantly. The climax was violently suspended, leaving me gasping, aching, and completely stranded on the agonizing edge of release.

I opened my eyes, my vision blurred with unshed tears of frustration and desperate need.

Kane was gripping the edge of his desk so hard the wood groaned in protest. The veins in his neck bulged, his chest heaving as he fought his own agonizing restraint. My gaze dropped to the opening of his unzipped trousers, where the heavy, thick strain of his erection pushed against the dark fabric, demanding to be freed.