God of Monsters (Juniper Unraveling Book 4)

by Keri Lake

  He tips his head back, his stomach muscles flexing, chest rising and falling with panting breaths through his nose. His cock grows harder, stiffer in my mouth. He reaches down to palm the back of my head, and a sharp zap of pain streaks across my scalp, as he tangles my hair in his fist. Teeth clenched, jaw tight, he screws his eyes shut, thrusting his hips as if he’s fucking my mouth. I breathe hard through my nose, my throat tugging a gag, but I keep going. I’m desperate to see his face when he climaxes. I want to watch it.

  Warm fluids hit the back of my throat, and Titus lets out a curse as he tips his head back, mouth gaping. The cross between pleasure and pain written across his face is even more magnificent than I imagined.

  I did that.

  I brought him to this pinnacle.

  The victory swimming through my veins sends a rush of heat straight to my core, and I realize, I’m aroused by the sight of him.

  I wrap my hand around the base of him and give one hard suck, as if to consume every drop of fluid left inside. The salty flavor dances over my tongue before I swallow it back, and I lick whatever leaked out onto his shaft.

  Oddly enough, I still want more.

  I feel ravenous in a way that scares me a little.

  It’s not enough that I’ve tasted him, I need to feel him inside of me, his hard body moving against mine.

  He tugs my arms, dragging me up his body, and holds me captive for a kiss. “You’ve got magic in your lips, woman.” His voice carries a raspy texture that almost sounds like a growl, and when he smiles against my mouth, I want him all over again.

  I reach between us to take his only-mildly flaccid cock in hand, and his grip of my arms tightens.

  “Thalia, I can’t. I’m sorry.”

  The warmth of my cheeks signals the embarrassment I fear is written all over my face. My whole life, I’ve had to fight the unwanted advancements of men who clawed at my virginity like a pack of starving wolves, and here, this man, this sexually charged Alpha, is refusing it. A part of me respects him for that, wants him more, but the insecurity in me is pummeling at my conscience like turbulent waves. I feel like some horny, young girl throwing herself at a respectable man.

  “I’m sorry,” is all I can say while the humiliation gnaws at me, and I push myself off of him.

  With a hard jerk of my body, he yanks me to the side, and rolls over top of me, caging me beneath him.

  “Let me make this clear: I want you. I want you so fucking bad, it feels like blades in my gut. When I take you to Szolen, you’ll go back to your life, with men who can feel you in ways that I can only dream of. Do you have any idea how much that fucking kills me, Thalia? Do you have any idea how badly I want to tear this shit world apart for making me this way? I will never know how it feels to be inside of you, and that thought alone is torture for me.”

  With a sigh, I reach up to thumb away a small bit of dirt from his cheek. “You’re always protecting me, aren’t you? You never stop. Not even when I beg.”

  “As much as the sound of your begging thrills the shit out of me, no. I’ll never stop.”

  I lift my head to kiss him, and I’ll be damned if the butterflies in my stomach don’t feel twice as fluttery as before. “You’re a good man, Titus. Perhaps one of the few good men left in this world.” Cupping his cheek, I kiss him again and smile. “Now, teach me how to kick your ass, so I can burn off some of this frustration.”

  With a snort, he pushes off me, and yanks up his pants, hiding away half of his glorious body. When he reaches down to help me to my feet, he screws his eyes shut. It’s then, I realize, I’m still sprawled half naked in front of him. He shakes his head, keeping his gaze cast away. “I want to kick my own ass right now.” Once I’m standing, Titus pulls me into him for one more kiss, then backs himself a few steps away. “Make a fist.”

  Smiling, I swipe up my shorts, slipping them over my hips, and take my defensive stance. As patient as the day before, he shows me how to properly punch. How to duck a swing. How to stand my ground. Every time he touches me, my body burns with a craving to feel his lips against my skin. It’s a tormenting distraction. I notice his stares lingering far longer than before, as well. For every flirtatious glance I throw his way, he volleys back a look of interest, of starved lust, but he keeps on with the lesson, until the sun settles behind the mountains.

  Covered in a day’s worth of sweat, the two of us head back toward the cabin, hand in hand. Once inside the door, I turn around to kiss him, and smile at a patch of soil caked across his face. “You’re a dirty man.”

  He thumbs what must be muck on my neck as well. “And you’re a dirty woman. I want to wash you clean.”

  “Only if I get to wash you.” The guarded look in his eyes doesn’t fade when I push up to my tiptoes to kiss him. “You can’t expect me not to touch you, Titus. So long as we don’t go any further, I see no reason we can’t pleasure each other.”

  “And when that’s not enough? When we want more?”

  “I already want more. But that’s not an option. So, we’ll enjoy what we can.”

  Chapter 33

  Somehow another week passes in this little cabin. Every afternoon, we resume our fighting lessons from the day prior, and I’ve gotten quite skilled at evading his fists. So much so, he’s moved on to holding his blade in hand when he swings, seemingly comfortable with my defense. Every night, I read for a bit before we lie down in front of the fireplace, pleasuring each other for hours.

  I’ve learned a number of ways to make him climax, and he’s certainly stumbled upon a few of my darker desires, some I didn’t even realize myself. Such as, how much I enjoy being blindfolded by a pillow, while he does his thing between my thighs. Last night, he held my arms pinned above my head as he fingered me to orgasm, a thought that terrified me, initially, but I’ve come to trust Titus in ways I’ve not trusted men before him. He’s shown me his gentle nature time and again.

  I’ve also noticed his nightmares have lessened in the last week. Not once has he awakened in the middle of the night, bellowing, as he did before.

  The sexual frustration between us has grown thicker, though. To the extent that my thighs twitch every time he walks into the cabin, and a deep seated throb in my core keeps me awake at night, as I lay naked beside him. I’m beginning to think the yearning I feel is not so much of the body, but of the soul, seeking to form a deeper bond than flesh.

  Early morning creeps on the edge of the horizon, casting a dim light into the cabin, as I lay on my side, watching him sleep. His muscles bunch around me, as he holds me to his body, his delicious masculine scent toying with my senses. I palm one of his biceps, and lean forward to kiss his bare shoulder, which twitches beneath my lips, and I smile against his skin.

  “Do Alphas ever truly sleep?”

  “Not when there’s a beautiful, naked woman lying beside them.” He rolls into me, growling as he nips at my throat.

  The stubble of his beard tickles my skin, and I let out a squeal, kicking and squirming, as he digs his fingers into my ribs. “Titus! Please!”

  “Please, what?” Face tucked into the crook of my neck, his voice is mumbled.

  “Please … don’t!” Another wheeze of laughter squeezes my chest, and I jerk against his torment. “Stop!”

  “Don’t stop?”

  “No!” A scream flies out of me, my laughter at its height. “I’m going to pee!”

  “I pissed on you once. It’s only fair you piss on me.”

  “Please!”

  In a moment of mercy, he stops, and when I open my eyes, he’s staring down at me. Whatever thoughts are swirling in his head have twisted his expression into something more serious.

  “What is it?”

  “I dreamed last night that I was standing in the middle of a dark forest. I could hear your screams echo all around me, but I didn’t know from which direction they came. It was so loud, and I searched an eternity for you. I couldn’t find you.”

  “I’m right here. I’m no
t going anywhere. In fact …” I wrap my leg over his, drawing closer to him. “I’ve been thinking … why should we go back, at all?”

  “To Szolen? Your family is there.”

  “Yes. And I miss my brother more than anything, but I know he’s safe. I just thought … what if …. What if we stayed here?”

  “The two of us?”

  “Yes. I mean … if you’re bored of me, I underst--” My words are cut short by his lips seizing mine.

  His hand cups my jaw, holding my face to his, while he deepens the kiss with his tongue. “I would never tire of this. But is it enough for you? When you could have any man you choose. One who could give you a child someday.”

  “Some girls dream of children, yes. I was never one of them. But I can’t lie, Titus. The more I’m with you, the more I want.” I push him onto his back and straddle his body beneath me. Thick hands slide up the edges of my thighs, as I stir my hips, rubbing my bare sex over his stomach.

  A tortured sound escapes him, and he tips his head back, squeezing my flesh. “I’ve suffered unspeakable torment in my life, but this has to be the worst of it.”

  “Then, stop fighting me.” I reach down between us, taking hold of his hard shaft, and rub the tip up and down my seam. “I want to feel you inside of me. I want you to fill me.”

  “Fuck,” he groans, circling his hips. “You’ve no idea how many times I’ve dreamed of it. Pinning you against every wall in this place.” Stomach flexing beneath me, he takes hold of my wrists, eyes closed, as if imagining he’s doing just that. “Fucking you until your knees give out.”

  “Let’s make it real. One time.”

  “I can’t do that.”

  “You can,” I whisper, backing myself against his erection. The tip prods my entrance, and my thigh muscles tense with the pressure.

  “Thalia, please.”

  “Please, what?” I toy, just as he did while tickling me earlier.

  “Please … don’t.”

  “Don’t what?”

  He lifts his head from the floor, eyes blazing with furious lust, and the tic of his jaw is a measure of the conflict burning inside him.

  He wants this, too.

  “Don’t stop,” his voice is hoarse and strained, like he’s fighting to say it.

  Smiling in my victory, I lean forward and drag his bottom lip between my teeth.

  He growls and palms the back of my head, seizing my mouth with possession.

  All at once, he stills beneath me, kicking his head to the side. His muscles harden with tension, and he seems to be distracted by something.

  Lifting a finger to his lips in a signal to keep quiet, he nudges me off of him and sits up from the floor. Not a single floorboard creaks when he stalks on hands and knees toward the window. Shadows move about through the glass, and I nab the blanket to cover myself as I back around the edge of the chair toward the bookcase.

  The cabin door flies open on a thunderous crash, with the business end of a gun leading the way.

  Remus? Why didn’t Yuma bark?

  Muscles trembling, I stay tucked behind the chair, watching Titus prowl toward the unwary intruder.

  The gun’s barrel gives way to a muscled woman with ratted hair and dirt-caked skin. The second she steps into the cabin, her eyes dart toward my hiding spot.

  She aims her gun toward me, and that’s when Titus strikes.

  In seconds, she’s lying beneath him, her gun held against her chest like a cage, as he looms over her with his fist drawn back for a punch.

  Another woman enters the cabin, weapon aimed at Titus, and I jump from my hiding spot. “Wait!”

  Two more women file in behind her, all of them armed, dressed in worn clothes that make them look unkempt. They move slow and crouch like animals, as if it’s their instinct to walk on hands and feet.

  The second woman points her gun toward me.

  “Unless you want me to smash her skull in, I suggest you lower your weapon,” Titus grits, still holding the first woman captive.

  “Hard to do when your brains are spattered on the wall.” Yet another woman enters the cabin, this one wearing a leather vest over a dirty white T-shirt, with her hair pulled back from her face in a ponytail. So many females in one place is unheard of out here in the Deadlands.

  She trains two handheld guns on Titus, making a total of four weapons aimed at him.

  “What is it that you want?” I lift the blanket up higher, wrapping it tighter around my body. Whereas not wearing clothes doesn’t seem to bother Titus, at all, I feel entirely vulnerable standing before them.

  “Did you not see the carving on the wall? This place belongs to us.”

  That’s why Yuma didn’t bark. He’s familiar with them.

  Titus snorts a laugh, refusing to release the girl beneath him. “How long did you think a little picture was going to keep people away?”

  “Has for years. Most ‘round here recognize what it means.”

  “Why leave the food behind?” I can’t take my eyes off her guns, thinking how easily she could slip and shoot the back of his head.

  “Mother earth provides the nutrients we need. Not a fucking can.” Still holding her guns on Titus, the leather-vested woman tips her head. “You either release my sister, or I’ll waste every bit of lead on you and your girl.

  An intense pause follows, punctuated by the pulsing of blood hammering inside my ears. To my surprise, Titus does as she commands, pushing off the girl beneath him, and rises to his feet, towering over these women.

  Leather vest peers up at him and shakes her head, whistling. “Aren’t you an impressive beast …” She glances back to me, giving me a once-over, and to Titus again, her eyes falling toward his shamelessly exposed groin. “Seems like an awful big key for that tiny lock.”

  A burgeoning jealousy has me lurching forward, one hand balled to a fist. “We’ll leave, if that’s what you want.”

  “What I want is for you to shut your pretty little mouth, and go find some clothes for you and Captain Cockmonster here.” With a jerk of her head, she signals to one of her minions standing by, who crosses the room toward me with a gun strapped across her chest.

  I shoot a glance toward Titus, who stares back with an impassive expression on his face. One I can’t read. Leading the way, I make my way toward the back bedroom, watching the girl with the gun out of the corner of my eye, while I rifle through the drawers for some clothes for both Titus and me. When I return, Leather Vest has taken a more casual stance, biting her lip as she seems to study Titus’s manhood.

  Clearing my throat, I toss the clothes, which obstruct her view when he catches them.

  “Someone harbors a little jealousy.”

  “What is it that you want with us?” I don’t quite understand Titus’s passive reaction to all of this. Yes, the guns would pose a risk, but he could take out a few of these women before they even knew what hit them. I’ve seen him attack. It’s like a bolt of lightning out of nowhere.

  Once he’s dressed, the women usher the two of us toward the door, and the moment we step outside, my breath catches in my throat.

  At least two-dozen more women stand waiting, all strapped with guns. Amongst them stand two men, whose arms are tied in front of them. Each has what looks like a leash of rope attached to their necks, the other end held firmly in a woman’s grasp.

  A knock to my arm has me turning to see a woman loop a rope around Titus’s throat, and when I step toward her, another woman points a gun in my face.

  Titus growls, and she takes a step back, not bothering to lower her weapon until Leather Vest taps the barrel of it.

  “No need to threaten a sister. She is not our enemy.”

  Frowning, I glance toward Titus’s bound hands and back to Leather Vest. “And who is your enemy?”

  “Who is every woman’s enemy? The great almighty phallus.”

  “He’s not a danger to you.”

  “All men are a danger to women in this world.” One of her fema
le soldiers hands her the rope to Titus’s neck, and she gives a hard tug that constricts the band.

  “Stop that!” I reach for the rope, but she bats my hand away.

  “He belongs to me now.”

  “He belongs to no one.”

  Looking me up and down again, she steps toward me, lips stretching with a grin. “You weren’t born out here in the Deadlands, were you?”

  I don’t answer her, and instead study the placement of her hands and the guns that she’s slid back into their holsters at either side of her. How quickly could I nab one? How much of my training with Titus could be put to use? What kind of crunching sound would her nose make if I punched her right now?

  “Don’t even try it, girl,” she says, as if my thoughts were written across my face. “One bullet is all it takes. For you, anyway. Maybe not so much for this guy,” she says, hiking a thumb over her shoulder. “Now, c’mon. It’s a two-hour walk, and the sun is already fucking hot.”

  “Where are you taking us?”

  “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.” Leather vest guides Titus through the small group, taking the lead, while I follow behind like a lost puppy.

  “Promise me one thing.” One of the captured men leans into the woman who holds the rope beside him, seeming to talk to her, but his smile is directed at me, as I approach. His gaze lingers far too long on my breasts. “Whatever kinky shit you have planned, I get to shack up with the blonde.” He nods toward me and licks his lips. “Been a long time since I’ve buried my face in a rack that pretty.”

  Breaking his easy cadence, Titus twists toward the guy, yanking Leather Vest off balance, and hammers a fist to the man’s face that sends him flying backwards, tumbling onto his ass. Eyes wide with bewilderment, he stares up at the Alpha, rubbing his jaw.

  “I don’t share,” Titus growls, before falling back in line, and the ensuing laughter of the women leaves me frowning after him.

  Chapter 34

  I walk alongside Titus, who allows himself to be led like a dog by rope along a well-worn path I’ve not seen during my many explorations through the woods.