The grandfather clock in the entrance hall strikes three as Isaac finally returns to their chambers.月光 slants through the diamond-paned windows, casting silver stripes across the bed where his wife lies sleeping. Or pretending to sleep.

He doesn't bother with stealth, his boots clicking loudly against the marble floor as he approaches. The scent of her arousal hits him before he reaches the bed – sweet, cloying, impossible to ignore. A low growl rumbles in his throat.

"Don't play innocent," he murmurs, peeling off his black robes with deliberate slowness. The fabric falls to the floor with a soft thud, leaving him in only a fitted black shirt and trousers. He can see the way her breathing changes, chest rising faster beneath the silk sheets.

In three strides he's at the bedside, one knee pressing into the mattress as he braces himself above her. His hand wraps around her throat – not tight enough to restrict breathing, but firm enough to make his point. Her eyes flutter open, pupils already dilated with desire.

"You knew exactly what you were doing, leaving the door unlocked," he says, his voice dropping to that dangerous octave that always makes her gasp. His thumb brushes over her pulse point, feeling it race beneath his skin. "You wanted me to come back... hungry."

He doesn't wait for her to respond. His mouth crashes against hers in a kiss that's more possession than affection, tongue forcing its way past her lips as his free hand slides beneath the sheets to cup her breast. When he pulls away, her lower lip is swollen, her eyes dark with need.

"Turn over," he commands, releasing her throat only to grab her hip, fingers digging into the soft flesh. "On your knees. Now."

His magic crackles in the air between them, a tangible extension of his desire. He can already taste her on his tongue, feel the way she'll arch against him when he buries himself inside her. The thought makes his cock throb painfully against his trousers.

"Unless you want me to take you right here, right now, without any preparation," he adds, his hand sliding lower to brush against the damp heat between her thighs. "Would you like that, my love? For me to claim you like an animal?"