He follows immediately, his rhythm faltering as he groans against my neck, his body tensing above mine. I feel the pulse of him inside me, marking me in the most intimate way possible.
After, we lie tangled together, sweat cooling on our skin.
He’s careful when he withdraws, immediately checking tomake sure he hasn’t hurt me. “Are you all right?” he asks, genuine concern in his voice as he gathers me against his chest.
I nod, too spent for words. He presses a kiss to my forehead, then rises to fetch a warm washcloth. The tender way he cleans me stands in stark contrast to the raw intensity of moments before.
When he returns to bed, he pulls me close, arranging my body against his with possessive precision.
“You were perfect,” he murmurs into my hair. “Even better than I imagined.”
I should be analyzing his words—better than he imagined when? How long has he been thinking about this?But exhaustion pulls at me, making such questions seem unimportant. At least for right now.
“Thank you,” I whisper instead, curling into his warmth.
“For what?” he asks, fingers tracing lazy patterns on my back.
“For knowing what I needed before I did.”
His arms tighten around me, and I feel his smile against my temple. “That’s my job, little poison. To know you better than you know yourself.”
As sleep claims me, a distant part of my mind wonders if I should find his words disturbing rather than comforting. But wrapped in his arms, thoroughly claimed and cared for, it’s easy to silence that voice.
For now, this is exactly where I want to be.
Where I belong.
In his web.
CHAPTER 58
IVY
A Few Days Later
The car comes to a stop, and the driver glances out the window, nervous. “We’ve arrived. Make it quick, bud.”
Soren opens the door, holding it as I step out onto the slightly damp asphalt. “Whatisthis place?” I ask as the car screeches away. “He was in a hurry,” I mutter, squinting at the disappearing backlights.
The first thing I notice is a steady thrum of bass. Even with a row of nightclubs, each with a different beat, it feels like this place has its own. Something primal pulsing from the earth.
The air is thicker here, too—almost oppressive. Not hot, exactly, but it envelops everything. It presses in, almost as if it’s shaping you.
“You wanted to come to the Anything Goes.” He gestures around. “You insisted. I still don’t know if you’re ready, but we’re going to find out. Here we are.”
I glance at the strip of clubs lining what appears to be the main street—names like Voyeur, Sin. All with red lights and anair of intrigue, none giving away the debauchery happening inside. And right in the thick of it all, Trance. It’s one I’d seen an ad for. The one that probably piqued my interest in this entire neighborhood even before I moved to Ravelle.
There’s a musk to the air that draws you in. I inhale deeply, enjoying the way the essence grounds me.
The rest of Ravelle harbors a certain grit—but this is something else. What strikes me is the way it feels like everything here has an extra layer to it, like dirt baked in too deep to be scoured off. It adds character, but also a hardness in its history. A sense that nothing that visits here will come out untouched.
I glance over at Soren. He’s seemed preoccupied all evening, but never more than now. He grabs my wrist, harder than usual. For a second I almost wrench it away.
“Listen to me, Ivy,” he says, his voice low. “This place isn’t safe. I brought you here because you insisted. But you have to follow every instruction I give you to the letter. No questions.” He pauses, reaching out with his free hand to tilt my chin up, my eyes meeting his. “Do you understand?”
I’m confused, but I nod. “Sure,” I say. “What? Are you scared I’ll get lost? Snatched by some mafia guy?”
He shakes his head. “Don’t fuck with me today, Ivy,” he says. “Trust me.”