Mark of Sin: Bound to the Cruel Alpha

"Why are you undressing?" I asked, feeling my heart begin to hammer against my ribs.

"Because I’m sleeping here," he stated simply.

I hated the sound of that. The last thing I wanted was to spend the night sharing a room with him. But what he said next made me realize that trying to kick him out was a lost cause anyway.

"Turn off the light. Get in."

He stepped over to my bed, tossed the throw blanket onto the chair, and stretched out across the mattress as if it were his birthright.

I clicked the light switch, plunging the room into darkness, and made a break for Annie’s empty bed. Before I could take three steps, his hand lashed out, grabbing my wrist and yanking me backward. I collapsed right on top of him, the radiant, sweltering heat of his body washing over me even through the thin fabric of the blanket.

"I am not sleeping with you! Let me go!" I thridded against his grip. "If you’re staying in this room, fine, but—"

"We’re sleeping together."

"No, we’re not!"

He didn’t budge. Holding me fast with zero effort, he left me with only one pathetic defense. I snatched the extra pillow from the headboard and wedged it firmly between us like a fortress wall.

"If we’re sharing a bed, you don’t touch me. Got it?" I growled, ripping my wrist free from his slackened grip and pressing myself as far toward the outer edge as humanly possible, my knees practically dangling over the floor. "You stay on your side, I stay on mine."

My bed sat right against the windowsill, which usually let in a miserable, freezing draft. But tonight, the sheer thermal heat radiating off Magnus felt so intense it was almost suffocating, despite how easily I usually froze at night.

I was convinced I wouldn’t sleep a wink with him lying right beside me. My nerves were shot. He didn’t listen to a word I said; he gave me zero choices, and arguing with him felt like trying to reason with a brick wall. I was so completely drained, hollowed out by the sheer weight of the night, that I didn’t have a single drop of fight left in me.

I figured I’d lie awake until dawn.

Instead, the moment I pulled the blanket up and tucked my arm beneath my head, the world went black. I dropped off into a deep, dreamless abyss before my head even fully hit the mattress.

Waking up was surprisingly effortless.

Warm sunlight washed over my face, giving me the distinct sensation of lying belly-down on sun-baked sand at the peak of midsummer. Or rather, not sand—hard, scorching rock. Which made no sense, considering I had fallen asleep in my own bed.

I shifted slightly, only to feel myself starting to slide. A sudden tremor of alarm shot through me, but before I could slip, a massive, solid hand dropped onto my lower back, pinning me securely in place.

"And where did your pillow barrier end up?"

A deep, rumbling voice sounded directly above my head.

I snapped my eyes open, and reality hit me like a splash of ice water. I had somehow crawled entirely on top of Magnus during the night, sprawled out comfortably across his bare chest.

He, on the other hand, didn’t look the least bit sleepy. He looked as though he had been awake for hours—alert, composed, his dark eyes tracking my every movement. His face was inches from mine, his warm breath fanning across the tip of my nose.

And just like that, the breath caught in my throat, and everything inside me went still.

I scrambled off him faster than my brain could process the movement, untangling my limbs and landing heavily on the floorboards beside the bed. The delayed realization that I had spent the night draped across his bare chest—clinging to him like he was my anchor—hit me like a branding iron. Heat surged up my neck, scorching my cheeks in a wave of absolute humiliation.

Magnus rolled casually onto his side, propping his head up on one hand. He looked infuriatingly relaxed, entirely comfortable in my tiny dorm room, wearing an expression that made me want to erase the smirk right off his face.

"Running off so soon?" His voice rolled out with a lazy, mocking edge, taking far too much pleasure in my complete disarray.

"You need to leave," I spat out, attempting to coat my voice in steel, even as my stomach twisted into a tight knot of anger and sheer embarrassment.

Magnus arched an eyebrow and casually kicked off the blanket. My eyes darted around the room, frantically searching for my clothes, but my panicked mind refused to focus. The absolute priority was not to look at him. If I met his gaze now, I would completely lose whatever fragile self-control I had left.

"Is this how you kick out every man who sleeps with you?"

The words hit me like a physical blow, paralyzing me for a split second before a violent wave of fury erupted in my chest. It burned through my veins, hot and scorching, consuming every trace of shock. His insinuation was so filthy, so deeply insulting, that I wanted to shove him out the door in nothing but his underwear.

Not only had he made himself at home in my space, but now he was actively degrading me.

I didn’t know what kind of females Magnus was used to dealing with, but I wasn’t one of them—and I certainly wasn’t whatever pathetic fantasy his twisted mind had cooked up. He had no right to treat me like a piece of property, like some disposable toy to be used and tossed into a corner when he grew bored.

I spun around to face him, planting my hands firmly on my hips, ready to unleash every ounce of rage and disgust I had been holding back. Living through this humiliation was no longer an option.

"I don’t bring men into my room! How dare you—" I started, but the words died in my throat.

He was standing right in front of me, in just his boxer briefs. He was so suffocatingly close that I instinctively backed away until the edge of the desk dug into my thighs. His mere presence pulsed with an unyielding, dangerous threat.

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