I didn’t wait for them to finish promising to obey. The need to get back to Nora was an itch beneath my skin. I’d pushed her to safety, but two bullets had been fired. If one of them had somehow hit her…

I wouldn’t fail her. I couldn’t. Not again.

Never again.

I would protect what was mine. Nora belonged to me, and I would slaughter anyone who threatened her.

I turned away from my men and stepped back into the dance studio. Nora was pressed against the wall, knees drawn up protectively to her chest and her arms braced over her head. I’d ordered her to get down, and she had. She’d stayed out of the way while I’d handled the fucking traitors who’d dared to try to take her to my worst enemy.

She looked up at me, eyes wide enough that her long lashes brushed her dark brows. Her gaze quickly roved over my body, assessing.

“You’re hurt!” she exclaimed, surging to her feet to grasp my forearm.

I glanced down and found her examining the angry red burn where Federico’s bullet had grazed my upper arm.

I didn’t feel any pain; despite my controlled mask, adrenaline churned through my system, the need for more violence setting my teeth on edge. I’d already destroyed the men who’d tried to take her from me. There was no one left to kill.

But my blood ran hot in my veins, and the concern for me that pinched her pretty, delicate features only fanned the flames. My beautiful wife had just been held at gunpoint, and instead of collapsing in tears, she was worried about me.

The icy mask I’d worn cracked, exploding as an inferno of emotion surged through me. All the rage I’d felt at seeing her threatened rose up in a searing wave, mingling with the fear for her life that’d twisted my insides. The fire morphed into a primal, possessive heat, and the need to stake my claim over her clamped my mind.

They’d tried to take my wife from me. But I wouldn’t let her go. Nora was mine.

I buried my bloody fingers in her silken hair and pulled her toward me, sealing her lips with a fierce kiss. I didn’t caress or cajole her this time, not like I’d been treating her so carefully since the night I’d taken her virginity. This was a fierce, animal dominance of my wife, my mate. I fully unleashed myself on her, taking everything that I wanted. She made a small sound of alarm at my sudden aggression, but I devoured it, my tongue surging into her mouth.

I stepped into her, forcing her to back up toward the mirrors. She still managed to maintain her gracefulness as I manhandled her, so breathtakingly beautiful that it incited a keen hunger I’d never known before.