Mark of Sin: Bound to the Cruel Alpha

I turned on my heel and headed upstairs, feeling Magnus’s heavy tread right behind me. On the surface, nothing had changed, but the air around us practically hummed with static tension. With every step down the corridor, the atmosphere grew thicker, more suffocating. A faint tremble cascaded over my skin, pooling tightly between my ribs.

The moment we crossed the threshold and the bedroom door clicked shut, I spun around to face him. Before I could even part my lips to speak, he crashed his mouth against mine in a fierce, demanding kiss.

Caught completely off guard, I couldn’t gasp out a single word. My shoulder blades hit the cool wall, a sudden wave of heat searing my chest.

He kissed me with a desperate, scorching intensity that made my knees give way. I thought I was about to collapse, but his large hands slid down to my waist, hoisting me up in one swift motion. Our faces were level now, my legs wrapped tightly around his torso. Not a single millimeter of space remained between us—not a breath of air to cleanse my mind of his intoxicating scent.

"My marks look so damn good on your neck," he growled against my skin.

His grip on my thighs tightened, his lips searing the sensitive spot just beneath my ear. A soft groan escaped my throat as I arched into his touch, overcome by wave after wave of shuddering pleasure.

"Magnus... Magnus, we need to talk! Mmm..."

"Yeah... talk..."

Instead of stopping, his mouth roamed over my throat even more ravenously, hot licks and deep nips devouring every inch of exposed skin, stripping away my ability to think straight.

"Magnus!" I gasped, catching my breath as his tongue stroked directly over the fresh mark. Sparks of electricity shot down my spine, pooling low in my belly.

"Yeah..." he growled, the deep guttural rumble vibrating against my chest.

I was melting, drowning in the feverish madness he spun around me. It was pleasure bordering on total sensory collapse. Every caress echoed with dangerous sweetness through my limbs, leaving me powerless to fight back.

"Magnus, we can’t do this here... my brother and his men are downstairs, they’ll hear us!"

"I don’t give a fuck about them."

His tone was absolute, but he finally halted his descent, pressing his forehead against mine. He winced, closing his eyes tightly as if forcing his feral instincts back into check, taking deep, ragged breaths. Cautiously, I slid my hands over his tense, iron-hard shoulders.

"Do you really want us to go with you?"

"Yes. I’m taking you both to my estate. My mate and my son will live under my roof. Under my protection."

"We’re safe here, too."

"No," he cut in coldly. "You belong with me."

I let out a heavy breath, scrambling to gather my scattered thoughts. If his mere presence triggered this kind of raw, overwhelming reaction in me, our entire relationship would devolve into pure physical instinct. That wasn’t a real conversation.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked, forcing my voice to stay steady. "Do you realize how much your life will change if we live together? Matthias is a child—that changes everything. And what about your women...?"

He opened his eyes, a flicker of genuine confusion crossing his features.

"What women?" he asked, a faint, bitter chuckle escaping him.

"The ones you’ve been seeing. The ones you’re probably seeing right now," I pressed, a sharp pang of envy searing my chest as I said it. It felt like dragging a blade across an open wound, but I knew the biological reality: an unbonded alpha wolf going through heats without a breeder was sheer madness.

"I only have one woman," he replied with absolute, quiet composure.

The sheer simplicity of his answer hit me so hard it almost hurt. A sudden urge to push him away and throw him out the door surged through me.

"Then what is all this for? Why play these games?" I asked, my voice cracking under the emotional strain.

"It’s you. It’s always been you. You are my woman, and no one else has ever been in my bed since you."

The agonizing tension coiled tight in my chest suddenly snapped. I stared directly into his eyes, searching his face, unable to fully process his words.

Could it really be true? In five long years, had there really been no one else? How was that even possible for an insatiable male like him...?

"What about the ones you spent... your heats with?"

"Jane, I marked you. And I was completely certain you were dead. I didn’t want anyone else but you. I settled everything in my own mind the very moment I sank my teeth into your neck. In my life, my heart, and my memory, there is room for only one mate—and that is you."

He dragged his nose gently across the faint trace of the claiming bite he had given me five years ago. That raw, primal caress sent a wave of electric heat crashing through my veins so intensely that my legs tightened around his waist, desperate to soothe the storm rising within me. My breeder instincts were melting under his words, ready to surrender to him this very second.

"I didn’t know," I whispered, my voice trembling. "I thought you had someone else."

"Only you. And I understand completely that my life is going to change. I am damn thrilled that it’s changing like this—that you and our son will be by my side."

A sharp sting pricked behind my eyes. Part of me still found it hard to believe that he truly wanted me, even though every action, every breath, every touch proved it. But there was still one lingering ghost I had to lay to rest before I could give him my answer.

"Answer one question for me. I need to know this before I decide whether to go with you."

"Ask me."

"When you came to my holding cell back then... during our final conversation. You told me you were taking me back as your sex toy. Were you truly planning to be that cruel to me?"