by Jenika Snow
They’d come back to the cave not that long ago, and after he’d cleaned off the blood and grime from the fight, he’d made sure his mate was fed. He’d also checked her for any wounds, even if he knew she’d been unscathed. What happened out there was rare given the time of day it was, but of course it had to happen when they’d been out and Audrey had been exploring. But he supposed he was glad it had happened that way, because maybe now she fully realized how dangerous it was. If he wasn’t capable, and didn’t know he could protect her at all costs, he wouldn’t have risked taking her out.
Styx couldn’t keep her caged in the cave, protected from the horrors and dangers of the outside environment. But he’d meant it when he’d said he’d be by her side whenever she ventured out. She was his mate, his equal, but he also would make sure she was never harmed.
They sat by the fire, him on one side, and her on the other, but the heat that filled the cave had nothing to do with the flames between them and everything to do with the arousal moving back and forth. He smelled Audrey’s desire, knew she was wet for him, primed. She was also at the peak of her fertility.
He couldn’t help that male side of him, the part that came from his species, the part of him that wanted to press her to the ground, mount her, and fill her with his cum. But this wasn’t just about putting his babies inside of her, but about showing her that he cared for her. This wasn’t just a biological need in him, but about Styx wanting to make sure Audrey felt good just as much as he would, and that she knew she was his equal and not his property.
“You’re different with me, I’ve noticed,” she finally said after long moments of comfortable silence. “Although I guess I wouldn’t know since I’ve never seen you interact with anything but these monstrous creatures. But compared to the men I’ve come in contact with recently … yeah, you’re different, and not in a bad way.”
He didn’t answer right away, but then ran his hand over his face, feeling the stubble along his cheeks. He was different with her, he knew it and saw it in himself. But he wanted her to know that when it came to anyone else he wouldn’t hesitate to slit throats and watch them bleed out.
“Make no mistake, my female, I am far from the gentle man you may be accustomed to.”
She glanced down at the ground, not speaking right away. “I’m not accustomed to men that would be called gentle.” She swallowed and lifted her head to stare at him, her nervousness saturating the air around them. “My family was killed. I was taken from my home and sold into sexual slavery. Maybe it was luck, or fate, or whatever, but I was able to escape. That’s how you found me.”
The very thought of someone touching her, a male thinking they could have her, had this blind rage filling him. Styx wanted to hunt out those males and kill them, make them see that taking what wasn’t theirs was the wrong fucking move.
“I would gladly kill them ten times over just to make them see that thinking they could have you was the worst mistake they ever made.” There was a moment of silence, but he wanted her to fully understand. The air heated, and he scented the shift in her, the fact her arousal grew the longer she stared at him. But Styx was in a constant state of lust where Audrey was concerned. She stepped toward him.
“I don’t want to fight you, Styx.” She looked at him with wide eyes, the sweet scent of her desire filling his head and making him intoxicated from it. “I don’t want to fight this.”
His cock jerked behind his leathers again, and he knew he had to sample this female, his mate. He rose and walked toward her, smelling her lust rise, and feeling his body become tighter, ready to finally claim his wife.
“When I first saw you, something in me awoke. You were hurt, but there for the taking. I wanted to protect you, to make you happy from that moment on, even though I hadn’t even spoken to you, or even seen the color of your eyes.” He inhaled deeply again, taking her scent, her essence into his body. “I knew you would be mine, would carry my young, and so I had to have you.”
He crouched in front of her, both of them only inches away now, breathing the same air, experiencing the same electricity and arousal.
“The moment I saw you I knew you were mine, Audrey.” He smoothed his finger over her bottom lip, and he felt her tremble. He stared right in her eyes and continued to speak. “There wasn’t anyone or anything that would stop me from what I wanted, and what I wanted was you. What I want until the end of time is you, Audrey.”
She didn’t speak.
“Are you still frightened of me?”
She shook her head.
“Does what I say frighten you, how I want you as mine?” He could scent her emotions, but he wanted her to verbally answer him. The truth was, before Audrey, Styx hadn’t cared about what a female felt. Maybe it was because he hadn’t found his mate, that one female that would forever shape him, change him.
But for the males of his kind, and even the females, that was the way they lived.
Audrey was so different from any other person he’d met.
“I want you to be mine willingly.
“I want that, too,” she said low, soft. She reached out, curled her hands around his biceps, and pulled him closer. For long seconds they just looked into each other’s eyes, and Styx had a hell of a time not taking her in the way of his people: hard, rough, fast.
He smelled her nervousness, her innocence, and he needed to take this slow with her, or as slow as he could make himself.
“I’ve never been with a—”
“I know,” he said before she could finish. “And that means you’ll only ever be mine, Audrey. No other male will have you.” He leaned back and looked down at the leathers she wore. “You’ll never know what it feels like to have any cock but mine. You’ll never know the feeling of a male’s hands on you but mine.” He looked into her eyes, knowing she could sense how serious he was. “You’ll never carry another male’s young but mine.” She breathed harder, faster, and he allowed his inner savageness to come forth, the beast that made his fangs come out, and his eyes change when he was aroused or in battle. “Now,” he said and heard the deepness, the distortion n his voice from his primal side. “Get undressed for me, mate.”
She swallowed, and after a moment passed she gripped the laces of her leather shirt and started loosening them.
He started breathing harder the longer he stared at her, watched her get nude for him alone. Styx wanted her, that was undeniable, and he didn’t hide the animal that always lurked beneath his flesh, buried deep down and waiting to emerge.
But it wasn’t buried now, and instead was right at the surface, making itself known.
She looked at his mouth and then back at his face. “I’m nervous.”
“Trust me to make things right and good with you.” Never had Styx felt so … compassionate toward another being.
But Audrey made him feel so alive, made him feel whole even. He had her up in his arms seconds later, turned, and walked them over to the pallet he slept on. It was bigger for both of them, and he wanted as much room to worship her as possible.
Once she was lying on her back, her leathers already removed, Styx took a step back and admired the view.
He stood there for long moments just staring at her, and then in his gruff voice said, “Open for me, mate. Let me see what I’ll be claiming, marking tonight.”
It took her a moment to comply, but he scented her arousal, so he knew she was right here with him.
When her thighs were open and her pussy was on clear display, a harsh groan left him. He was on his knees before her seconds later, the beast in him that demanded he claim, mate, and breed his female, rising up like an impatient bastard.
Styx smoothed his hands up her legs, over her thighs, and curled his fingers into her soft flesh. He pulled her thighs apart even farther. He leaned in until there was only an inch separating their mouths, and his cock, covered still in his leathers, was pressed against her inner thigh.
“Gods, Styx,” she whispered, her mouth brushing aga
inst his as she spoke. “I want this so badly I can taste it.”
He leaned back just an inch and lowered his gaze to her chest, saw her breasts rise and fall violently with her increased breathing, and felt his mouth water. “I crave your surrender, but also get harder because of your strength.”
A small noise of need left her.
“Do you want to give yourself to me right now?” He needed to hear her say it, to beg for it.
“Yes,” she whispered, and he looked at her face, gauging her reaction. “And I think that frightens me most of all, Styx.”
He loved it when she said his name.
“How wet are you for me, my female?”
She licked her lips and breathed out slowly. “So wet,” she said almost inaudibly.
“And it’s all for me?”
She nodded.
“Tell me.”
“It’s all for you. Only for you.”
He made a low, pleased sound in the back of his throat. Styx slipped his hand between her legs while still staring at her. But he didn’t touch her pussy right away, just kept his fingers poised right on her inner thigh, right by that crease where her leg met the tight, hot little part of her. Styx felt the heat from her cunt instantly and didn’t stop the animalistic sound that left him because of it.
Pulling her leg even farther out with his other hand, he didn’t deny either of them. He touched her pussy.
She opened her mouth and gasped.
He spread his fingers through her wet, soaked slit, and grunted in arousal.
“Yeah, you want this, mate.”
“Gods, Styx,” she whispered.
“Tell me, beg me, wife.”
She didn’t speak for long seconds, but finally licked her lips and nodded. “I want this, want you, Styx.”
He growled, because that’s all he needed to hear to finally claim his mate.
Chapter Nine
Am I really doing this?
Right now she was trying to only think about what they were doing, and not about if she should or shouldn’t be so submissive and willing.
But I want to be this way. I want this with him.
Styx tempted her darkest desires, made her question what she’d ever wanted out of life. Before him and this situation she’d never thought about what she wanted for a future. It had been about surviving, spending time with her mother and brother, and doing the same thing the next day.
Now isn’t the time to let that grief overtake you. They wouldn’t want your life to revolve around that.
It was hard to ignore, of course. They consumed her thoughts, the memories having her thinking about the happy times. Death wasn’t something her social status was unaccustomed to, but the way it had gone down, and the fact she’d never see them again, hurt her heart.
“Your thoughts are elsewhere, troubled,” Styx said, stopping right away, concern in his voice.
She swallowed, not wanting to think about the depressing stuff right now, because this wasn’t the time or place. She’d grieved for her family, for the loss, for what she’d never share with them again.
“I was thinking about my family.”
He lifted a brow. “At a time like this?” he asked, the seriousness and curiosity clear in his voice.
She shook her head. “I was thinking about my time back at the farm with my family. It just morphed from there.” She pushed all thoughts of her mother and brother out of her mind. “It wasn’t the most appropriate time, but I hadn’t been able to help myself, I guess. My grief just kind of rose up.”
He smoothed his hand on her knee, not sexual, but more comforting. “We don’t have to do anything, wife,” he said softly, his voice so deep and thick.
She looked at him, seeing that he was serious, that he’d stop this in a heartbeat if she wanted to, if her thoughts took her away. Audrey pushed away any remaining thoughts of her past, rose up slightly, and was the one to kiss him this time. She pulled back and looked in his dark eyes.
“Let’s focus on the here and now,” she whispered, meaning it.
Styx grabbed her behind the head, tangling his big hands in her hair, and claiming her mouth again. For long moments they kissed, their moans matching in intensity. He finally pulled back, and she sucked in a lungful of air.
“You’re sure?”
She nodded. “More than sure.”
He leaned back, that dark, aroused look covering his face and turning her on even more. He looked down the length of her body, just looking his fill and making her feel like there was no other woman in the world for him. “Just give yourself to me for all time, let me show you how good I can make you feel, how happy I can make you.” It was almost as if he spoke to himself.
“Take me, Styx.”
He lifted his gaze from between her thighs and stared into her eyes. “I’m going to make you feel so fucking good you can’t walk straight tomorrow, my female.” He spoke low.
A shiver worked its way up her spine. “I’m going to fill you up with my cum, put my baby inside of you.” He leaned closer so he had his mouth by her ear now. The dark, delicious words had her pussy clenching. “You’re primed for me,” he whispered. “You’re fertile to take my seed and have my child grow within you.”
She closed her eyes and exhaled. The fertility talk shouldn’t have been as arousing as it was, but she found herself moaning and thrusting her breasts against his hard, powerful chest.
Styx slid his other hand up her arm, over her bare shoulder, and wrapped his fingers around the column of her neck, adding just the smallest amount of pressure. He didn’t leave his hand there for that long before he smoothed it back down her chest and settled it right between her breasts.
His big body blocked out everything behind her. His species made humans look small and fragile in comparison.
Styx leaned in until she felt his lips along her jaw, loved the stubble from his cheek as it slightly abraded her flesh. Inhaling deeply, she took in his intoxicating scent, the aroma that made him all male. She closed her eyes and absorbed the pleasure moving through her. He moved his mouth along her neck, stroked her skin with his tongue, and gods, did it feel so good. She knew he could be so rough with her, just take what he wanted, but he made sure this was good for her, too.
He moved his mouth back to her ear and whispered, “Are you ready for me, female? Ready for me to take your virginity and fill you up with my seed?”
She shivered in response, unable to help herself. “I’m ready,” she actually managed to say.
His erection pressed against her inner thigh, so big and long, hard and massive. “Smelling you, feeling your warmth, your acceptance of this, of me, has me so on edge I’m barely hanging on.” They gazed at each other for a moment, neither speaking, but their breathing loud, identical.
He treated her as if she meant something to him, not like a piece of property.
Styx smoothed a finger along her cheek, his gaze on her mouth. Then his lips were on hers and his tongue speared between them. He tasted potent, powerful.
“Mine,” he groaned against her mouth, his voice deeper, more distorted. “You’ll own me just as much as I own you, my female.”
He moved his thumb along the pulse right below her ear. He gently bit her lip, and a gasp left her. She felt his fangs, and a fresh gush of moisture left her pussy.
Audrey had her hands on his chest, his muscles firm beneath her palms. Gods, he was so strong. He growled out, grabbed her wrists in a firm, but gentle hold, and brought her arms above her head. She was stretched out for him like an offering, but maybe that’s what he wanted?
The growl that came from him was gruff, so dangerous sounding, that she should have been afraid, not impossibly wetter. He leaned down and ran his tongue along the arch of her throat, which had Audrey moaning out for more, not even caring that she begged him.
With one little nip to her neck and the tip of his fangs pressed to her flesh, he had her turned around before she could even inhale. Now on her belly with he
r ass all but in the air, she felt him smooth his hand over the length of her spine. Her heart was beating in her throat. She heard it in her ears and felt perspiration cover her body.
Is that even possible?
Everything was happening so fast, but she didn’t dare stop it, not for how inflamed she was.
He ground his erection against her ass, and she closed her eyes and bit her lip. He was huge, and she wished he’d take off his leathers so she could feel all of him.
As if he read her mind he moved away from her only long enough to all but tear his pants off. She looked over her shoulder, felt her eyes widen, and knew Styx would stretch her oh so good.
His cock was long, thick, and massive. Her pussy clenched at the thought of him shoving all of that inside of her. He grabbed himself and started stroking his uncut dick, the foreskin being pulled back every time he ran his palm down his length.
“You like what you see, female?”
“Yes,” she said instantly.
“This is all for you.” He took a step closer. “This will only ever be for you.”
Her throat tightened and her mouth went dry.
Styx was back on top of her a second later, his bare erection now on her naked ass. A gasp left her at the heat that came from him, and at the feeling of his pre-cum smearing along her overheated flesh.
This felt good and he wasn’t even inside of her yet.
He placed his hands on either side of her outer thighs, and slowly moved them up. His hands were warm, big, and slightly calloused. They were warrior hands, ones that knew what it meant to work hard and kill to defend and protect.
He groaned. “I can smell you, female, smell your arousal, your need for me to give you this.” He pressed his dick in the crease of her ass. “You’re so ready for me, your body needing my cum.” His words were low and deep, and she bit her lip harder. “You are so wet for me.”
“I’ve never had sex,” she said on a breath.
He squeezed his fingers on her outer thighs. “I know, mate.” He sounded pleased with that. He growled low in his throat like some kind of feral animal. “I’ll make this good for you, gentle this first time.”