by Sadie Moss
But I’d been getting better at resisting their commands, at tamping down the magic of the runes when they flared to life. Besides, they weren’t glowing at all now.
Figure out who’s behind this later. There’s no time right now!
I needed to find someplace protected from the sun soon, or I would die out here. There wasn’t enough time to run back to the shelter Jerrett had created. Desperately, I cast my gaze over my surroundings, searching for anything. Could I hide in the shade of a tall tree? Maybe. But it seemed incredibly risky. Even if I wasn’t exposed to direct sunlight, ambient light could likely do some damage too. And the shadows would keep moving as the sun moved. If I got ejected from a shadow, I’d be forced into direct sunlight.
The landscape of the forest had changed, becoming rockier and more hilly. A few large boulders stood at the base of a hill several yards away, and I pivoted toward them. Maybe I could find a spot between two of them that would provide enough shelter.
As I approached, I realized what I’d thought was a shadow between two of the large stones was actually an opening in the side of the hill.
My chest swelled with relief. A cave. Thank Fate.
I put on an extra burst of speed, reaching the cave’s entrance just as sharp rays of sun broke over the top of the hill. I slipped into the comforting darkness, taking several steps inside. My soft footsteps sounded loud in the large, cavernous space, the crunch of rock and gravel echoing off the hard stone walls.
The cave was bigger than I’d expected. I’d been prepared to wedge myself inside, but there was no need. The ceiling rose up ahead of me, several times my height, and the walls spread out on either side. I couldn’t tell how far back the cave went, and I squinted, peering into the darkness.
A flash of light in the darkness caught my attention. I took two more slow steps forward, my eyes slowly adjusting.
Then I froze.
I wasn’t alone in here.
My heart crashed against my ribs as a figure stepped forward out of the shadows. His eyes were hard, his expression even harder.
“Malcolm?”
7
Malcolm
The wildcat stared at me in shock.
Warm light from the mouth of the cave silhouetted her, picking up the small strands of hair that had escaped from her ponytail. She stood stock still, her hands balled into fists at her sides.
“Malcolm?” she repeated, her voice even less sure this time, as if she thought perhaps I was an illusion or a mirage.
I could hear her heart beating like a drum, and my heart raced along after it, determined not to be outdone.
How was she here? Was she an illusion? A vision brought on by my guilt and intense longing?
Goddamn it, I had missed her. Her sweet voice, her beautiful face, her fierce spirit.
I hadn’t realized until just this moment how deeply I had missed her, how much I needed her. I’d suppressed those feelings the way an injured body suppressed pain, so I could continue to function. But seeing her now caused such an acute agony in my chest I thought my heart might give out—as if all the anguish I’d held back before suddenly flooded my system.
Our gazes locked like two magnetic forces unable to pull away from each other. Her mouth opened again, but no more sound came out.
Then, swift as the wind, Willow rushed toward me. Her hands connected with my chest, driving me backward.
“Goddamn you!” She lashed out again, her hands moving in a flurry to match her words. “Goddamn you! Why would you just fucking leave like that? I was so worried about you! Why do you keep doing this? You make me care about you, you make me need you, and then you fucking abandon me!”
I slipped out of her reach, not to protect myself, but to protect her. We needed distance between us.
For a moment, it looked like she was going to launch herself at me again, maybe looking for blood this time. But she stopped herself, and the anger seemed to drain out of her body as suddenly as it had risen, as though someone had pulled the plug.
What stared back at me now was so much worse.
Hurt. Naked pain.
“I’m so sorry, Malcolm,” she whispered, tears glistening in her eyes. “I didn’t know about Ariana. I had no idea what you’d gone through, what your father did to you.”
Willow stepped forward slowly, approaching me like one might a wild animal. And like an animal, my muscles tensed, my nostrils flaring.
“But I’m not sorry I saved you.” Her voice was soft. “I’ll never be sorry for that. Ever. And I was right to trust you, Malcolm. Don’t you see that? Because I knew you could stop.”
She reached for me tentatively, and my arms shot out, my hands encircling her small wrists and forcing them away from me. The cherry-almond scent of her washed over me, mixed with the earthy scent of her fae blood, and just the feel of her soft skin beneath my fingertips made fire burn in my veins.
The beast inside me growled, rattling the bars of its flimsy cage.
“You’re wrong. Don’t you understand, wildcat?” My voice was low, threatening. “I almost didn’t stop. I didn’t want to stop. Not until I drank every last drop.”
A shudder passed through her, but she kept her gaze locked on mine. “It doesn’t matter.”
My lips curled back in a snarl. “It doesn’t matter? Are you insane?” Powerful emotions churned inside me, until it was impossible to distinguish the anger at myself from the anger at her. I stepped forward, invading her space, towering over her. “Is this what you wanted, wildcat? To drive me insane? Do you want to die? Because you will never be safe around me now. I’ve had a taste of you, and I’ll never be able to break the addiction.”
Even as I spoke, her scent called to me like a siren on the rocks, begging me to leap into the churning sea and drag Willow down with me. My fangs descended as the beast within me roared.
Gritting my teeth, I shoved Willow backward, trying with the last bit of sanity and strength left in me to protect her from the monster.
She stumbled slightly before catching her balance, righting herself and staring at me with those wide hazel eyes. I saw her swallow, saw the muscles in her jaw clench.
“No.”
The word was a whisper, but there was strength behind it.
“What?” I growled.
“I said no.” Her chest rose and fell as she straightened, jutting out her chin. “I don’t believe I’ll never be safe around you. That’s not fucking true, even if you want to think it is. You’re stronger than that, Malcolm. I know it.”
“You don’t know anything, little fae.”
My voice was rough, dangerous… and sounded so much like my father’s that I felt revulsion well up in me like a tidal wave. For hundreds of years, I had told myself I wasn’t like him, that I was a better man.
For hundreds of years, I’d lied to myself.
Willow’s eyelids flickered, and her body jerked slightly. But she didn’t back down.
“I’m not afraid of you.”
Shame and disgust mixed with the hunger raging inside me, and I shook my head, holding onto my self-control by a thread.
“Then you’re making a very big mistake, wildcat.”
“Why?”
“Because I am not the man you think I am. No matter what you think you know about me, there’s a monster inside me that wants nothing more than to devour you. To consume you. To ruin you.”
Willow’s body stopped trembling. She stared at me in the dim light, as if trying to see the beast that lived under my skin. Then, with a slow and deliberate motion, she tipped her head to the side, exposing the long, delicate curve of her neck.
“Then ruin me.”
My heart stopped.
For an agonizing moment, I stood transfixed, watching the flicker of movement as her pulse beat wildly in her veins.
Then I lunged forward.
I grabbed her arms roughly, but Willow didn’t even flinch. Challenge and acceptance, anger and love reflected in her beautiful eyes
as she stared up at me. Hauling her body toward me, I lowered my head—and crashed my lips into hers.
A small gasp escaped her, and I swallowed it greedily, working my mouth against hers in a bruising kiss. My fangs ached to pierce her skin, to bring forth the sweet blood that raged beneath the surface, but instead, I channelled every bit of my need into our kiss.
Her arms wrapped around my neck as her tongue moved against mine, matching my strokes in strength and ferocity. Her fingers wound through my hair, grabbing fistfuls of it as though she needed something to anchor her. Our teeth clashed, and our breath came in gasps every time our lips broke apart for a second. Grunts and moans echoed off the walls around us, the primal sounds driving me on.
I hadn’t been lying. I wanted to consume this woman. To possess her entire essence, to own her soul. Nothing was enough to quench my need. Every taste of her lips and tongue made me twice as desperate for the next.
Breaking our kiss, I traced a path down her neck with my tongue, licking and nipping the skin. My sharp fangs grazed her delicate flesh, leaving red marks in their wake as she moaned low in her throat.
My cock was rock hard, and Willow was crawling up my body, as lost to sensation as I was. She rocked against my swollen member, grinding against me desperately.
In a swift movement, I laid her down on the cave floor, shoving her shirt up and unclasping her bra to give me access to her perfect breasts and pearled nipples. I drew one into my mouth, sucking so hard she cried out in a mixture of pleasure and pain. With one hand, I twisted and squeezed her other nipple until she thrashed beneath me. My other hand slid down to unbutton her pants, and Willow moved in clumsy motions to help me, kicking off the offending garment along with her shoes.
When I sank two fingers into her wet heat, she gave a keening cry, clenching hard around me. I drove them inside of her, abandoning her flushed breasts to mirror the action with my tongue in her mouth as I kissed her hard again.
Her heart was pounding out of control, and each throbbing beat, each pulse through her veins, taunted me—begged me to end this torture and claim her blood.
But I wouldn’t.
I would claim her instead.
A feral grunt fell from my lips as I withdrew my fingers from Willow. I unzipped my pants and shoved them down only as far as was needed to pull my cock out, aligning myself with her entrance. And then, with no more warning or preamble, I surged forward, burying myself to the hilt inside her. She cried out, wrapping her arms and legs around me.
Home.
Peace.
For a brief moment, the bloodlust inside me died as a feeling of perfect rightness spread through me. As if Willow’s body were a haven, the one true place I was always meant to be.
Her eyes flew open in shock as she felt it too, and she stared up at me. Our faces were mere inches apart, our heated breaths filling the space between us as we gazed at one another in dazed wonder.
A new need rose within me, sweeter and stronger than the need for her blood. I drew back agonizingly slowly, withdrawing almost completely before slamming into her again.
Willow let out a grunt that seemed to come from the deepest part of her, and when she grimaced in tortured ecstasy, I saw that her fangs had dropped too.
“More, Malcolm. Please.”
Her body clenched as she said the words, her fingers digging into my arms, her inner walls gripping me so hard I groaned.
I was beyond answering her, beyond speech. But I didn’t need any more encouragement than that. She craved this as much as I did.
Grabbing onto her hips, I held her in a bruising grip as I pounded into her, using her body to chase the release I so desperately needed. Her perfect breasts bounced with each hard thrust, and her eyes rolled back, her mouth opening in a silent scream.
Then her back arched and she clamped down around me, sobbing in hiccuping gasps as the orgasm shook her body.
“Fuck, wildcat.”
I thrust against the contractions of her inner walls, letting her milk my cock as my balls drew up and a release built at the base of my spine. I slammed into her harder, my rhythm growing choppy and irregular until, with a few long, deep strokes, I emptied myself inside her.
We collapsed, breathing hard.
I tried to keep my weight from crushing her beneath me, but she wrapped her arms around me, pulling me down on top of her. Her breasts were crushed against my chest, her warm skin nearly fused to mine, and her fingers threaded through my hair as I rested my head on her shoulder.
The beast that lived inside me padded softly back into his cage, curled up, and slept.
8
Willow
Malcolm’s large body rested on top of mine, his softening cock still inside me.
I ran my fingers through his hair and down his back, loving the way his muscles seemed to melt under my touch. In all the time I’d known him, I’d never seen Malcolm not tense. Even when he was relaxed, there was always a stiffness to him, as if he was constantly holding himself in check.
But for the first time, that tension was gone.
As he breathed deeply, his chest moving against mine, I thought maybe I could stay like this forever. Never mind that his shirt was still on and I was pretty sure his pants weren’t even all the way off. Never mind that my own shirt was still bunched up over my boobs, and a small, sharp rock was digging into my right ass cheek. I didn’t fucking care. None of those little details mattered as much as the feel of Malcolm giving himself to me and taking what he needed in return.
A wave of emotion crashed over me, and I bit my lip as tears stung my eyes. They weren’t sad tears, though they weren’t exactly happy tears either. They were “holy shit” tears, the ones that leak out when the feelings inside you are just too much to contain.
Something had clicked into place as Malcolm had fucked me with everything he had. Like I was a puzzle that had finally been completed, and now the full picture was visible. Sol, Jerrett, and finally Malcolm had all claimed me, and that knowledge made me feel whole in a way I hadn’t since I became a vampire.
Or, hell, for my entire human life before that either.
This was who I was always meant to be, and these men were the ones I was always meant to be with. Whether it was Fate, God, the universe, or just my own amazing luck that had brought them to me, I felt completely certain they were my destiny.
I wriggled beneath Malcolm, rubbing my still-sensitive clit against his pelvic bone as I squeezed him tight, pulling a groan from his lips.
“You can do that instead of drinking my blood anytime you want.”
My voice was breathless and teasing. He chuckled softly, the sound muffled by my skin so that I felt it more than heard it.
“Then I’ll be doing it quite often.”
“Works for me.” I tugged lightly on his hair, and he lifted his head, gazing at me with eyes like warm pools of melted chocolate. “But I do want you to be able to drink from me. I wasn’t kidding; I know you can do it without hurting me. Without losing control. And I want you to know it too.”
The melted chocolate hardened. The tension flooded back into Malcolm’s body, and he pulled out of me, trying to move away. But I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist so he brought me with him when he sat up.
“I’m serious, Malcolm. You don’t have to do it now, but I’m not letting this go.”
“What does it matter, wildcat? You survived once. Why would you want to push your luck like that again?”
His jaw clenched, and he wouldn’t meet my eyes. I moved my head, catching his gaze and holding it. I ran my fingertips along the side of his face, feeling the rough stubble on his jaw.
“Because I want to know that if you’re ever hurt again, I can save you. I don’t want you to be afraid of hurting me. And…” I cupped his cheek, my breath hitching as my gaze dropped to his beautiful, full lips. “I want to be close to you. As close as physically possible, in every way possible. You told me once that in the right conte
xt, being fed from can be pleasurable. It was, when you fed from me back at the castle.” I grimaced slightly. “Until it wasn’t.”
Malcolm pressed his lips into a thin line, and I could feel him slipping back into his self-recrimination and guilt. I dipped my head, peppering soft kisses over his mouth until his lips softened again beneath mine.
“I want to do it the right way, Malcolm. So there’s only pleasure. No pain.” Then I grinned, drawing back a little. “Well, maybe a bit of pain. But the right kind. I believe with my entire heart that you can do that.”
His dark eyes were stormy, and he looked like he was about to argue more. But I didn’t want to fight about it now. I’d just wanted to plant the seed in his mind. To help him begin to see that whatever beast he thought lived inside him didn’t control his actions.
I also wanted to get his shirt off. I wouldn’t have changed a thing about what just happened between us, but now that we’d crossed that barrier, it was time for me to do a lot more exploring of his naked body. His broad shoulders and chest, defined abs, and lean waist didn’t deserve to be hidden away under clothes, no matter how well he wore them.
So instead of letting Malcolm launch into whatever argument he was about to make, I pulled his shirt over his head, biting my lip in satisfaction as I took in the sight of his bare chest. It was shadowed in the dim light, but when I dropped my head, tasting the warm skin of his shoulder and neck, it didn’t matter if I couldn’t see every detail. I could feel plenty.
He mumbled incoherent words of approval, turning his head to give me more access. Stealing a move from his playbook, I grazed my fangs over the tanned skin, leaving long red marks as I inhaled his scent of leather and musk. His harsh breaths, and the thickening of his cock, which was trapped between us, let me know he liked that move as much on the receiving end as the giving end.
As I continued to explore his body with my mouth, teeth, and tongue, I felt the tension drain from him again. When I looked up to meet his gaze, his eyes were soft and full of worship. He smiled at me, and the sight was so beautiful it made my heart clench.