The Beast In The Castle

by Daniella Wright

  “So what?” I ask, grinding my teeth to keep back the moan that wants to break free as he keeps kissing me. “Since you mated with me, without my consent, you can now read my mind?”

  “Yes, my mate.” Xanrun says, but not out loud, but somehow in my head. My eyes widen in fear, but he holds me tightly in his arms and my heartbeat instantly calms down. “See how I just calmed your fear, Angel? I can do that because our bodies and minds are becoming one. As we spend more time together, our bond will continue to grow stronger and we’ll be able to do many other things. For example, I’ll be able to know where you are, at all times, and when you’re in danger, I will know and be able to find you.” He turns my body until we’re facing each other and Xanrun strokes my left cheek lightly, affection shining through his eyes. “I know this scares you, Angel, because it scares me too. But I know me getting wounded wasn’t by chance. It was fate. My injuries brought me to you, my mate, and I would get injured all over again, knowing I had such a sexy doctor to take care of me.” He smirks and wiggles his eyebrows at me, making me laugh and relax in his arms.

  “How can this possibly work, Xanrun?” I ask, voicing my worries for the first time. I raise a hesitant hand up and cup his face, my heart soaring when he closes his eyes and leans against my hand before he places a sweet kiss on the inside of my hand. “Your people hate mine, and visa versa. We’re technically enemies. And yet,” I sigh and drop my hand from his face. “And yet, I can’t stop thinking about you, Xanrun. You consume all my thoughts and I’m beginning to trust you. Does that make me a fool? To trust someone who I barely know?”

  He shakes his head. “No, Angel. We’re bonded, so time does not exist for us. We have been destined to meet each other since before we were born.” He presses his forehead to mine and smiles. “Our hearts know each other, even if our minds and bodies do not yet.”

  “So…you want me as much as I want you?” I question, biting my lip nervously.

  He chuckles and his glowing blue eyes somehow become brighter. “Oh, Angel, I want you so much more than you want me. I’ve been having dreams of you lately and every time I see you, I want to make those dreams become a reality. And every time you do that.” He stops me biting my lip by grabbing my lip and pulling it gently away from my teeth. “I imagine how good my swollen shaft would feel in that pretty little mouth of yours.” I blanche at his words, but my core tightens with want. “I can’t wait any longer, Angel. I need to taste your lips on mine.” Xanrun doesn’t say another word and surprises me when he collides his lips against mine in a punishing and passionate kiss.

  At first, I’m scared to kiss him back, until his lips open my mouth up and his tongue comes into contact with mine. After that, I’m lost and kiss him back with just as much fire and urgency as he’s showing me.

  Xanrun grabs me into his arms and I wrap my legs around his waist, moaning when he presses his hardness against my warm core. Instead of going to the bed, like I assumed he would do, he slams me against the wall and attacks my mouth as he removes the tank top I’m wearing. We rip each other’s clothes apart until we’re both as naked as the day we were born and when Xanrun runs his swollen member up and down my wet lips, I bite his neck and he growls out his pleasure.

  “Fuck, I can’t wait to sink inside of you, Angel.” he hisses, still teasing my opening with his hardness. “I’m afraid this isn’t going to be slow and gentle, like I imagined it would be in my head. I need to take you hard, Angel. I need to show you who you belong to and how much I want you.” he thrusts hard up into my channels and I scream as my inner walls squeeze around his manhood. Xanrun doesn’t give me a chance to adjust and instead, he holds both of my wrists against the wall, as he shoves into me with reckless abandon. “You feel so fucking tight, Angel.”

  I groan at his words, loving how he doesn’t call me by my name and prefers to use his nickname for me. His shaft moves fast and brutal inside of me and my channels are tightening around him with pleasure. He feels so full inside of me and when he hits my sweet spot, I whimper into his neck.

  “You like that, Angel?” he asks me, thrusting up against that spot, again, and again, and again, until I’m a sweaty mess and I’m a breath away from coming apart around him. He pulls out, almost all the way, and leaves me quivering and begging him for release. He kisses my lips softly before he leans his head away and gives me a look of determination. “You’re going to come apart for me, Angel. And I’m going to keep pounding until you until you’re screaming my name and only when you break apart a second time, will I allow myself to come deep inside of you, marking you as mine for the first time.”

  He slams into me and I do as he said I would, I fall over the edge and my screams pierce the room, echoing around us. He doesn’t stop his movements and continues to slam into me until I’ve come down from the most powerful orgasm I have ever had. And even when I’ve come down, he continues his sweet torment on my body until I’m shaking and ready to fly over the edge again.

  “I’m going to come again.” I cry, my walls beginning to tighten around him, so close to coming.

  “Damn right, you are.” he growls out, picking up his pace. “And I’m going to fall over with you. Come for me, Angel. Now.” he shoves up into me one last time and I scream, my channels closing around his manhood and he comes inside of me in a roar. My core milks his release and I swear this orgasm lasts longer than my first one.

  Xanrun empties himself into me and we both pant heavily, still pressed against each other against the wall. When we’ve both come down completely, Xanrun kisses me on the lips and carries us to the bed. We both lie on the bed, wrapped in each other’s arms, and breathe in each other’s scent. When my eyes grow heavy with sleep, he kisses my forehead and tightens his hold on me, as if he’s afraid that I’ll disappear at any moment.

  “You’re mine, Angel.” Xanrun says, cupping one of my breasts into his hand. “I don’t care what our future holds, you are mine and I’m never letting you go. And if you try to run from this, I will chase after you and I will bring you back.” he bites my neck, like I did to him earlier, and smiles. “You. Are. Mine.” he repeats again.

  I nod my head sleepily. “And you’re mine, Xanrun.” I say telepathically, which causes Xanrun to tighten his arms around me and I know for a fact he’s grinning like a loon right now.

  I know, because my smile is mirroring his right now.

  For the first time since the invasion, I’m happy.

  I should’ve known it wouldn’t last long.

  Chapter Four

  (Xanrun)

  I’ve never thought that I’d be as happy as I am now. These last couple of months with my Angel have been magic. Our bond has grown closer, we completely trust each other now, and the future—although bleak—is finally looking up for me. And tonight, I plan on telling my Angel exactly how I feel about her.

  I’m going to tell her that I love her.

  But something is troubling my mate and I’m not sure what it can be. These last few days she has been strangely quiet and she seems to have something on her mind. I don’t think she’s upset with me, because she still lights up when she sees me like it’s the first day, but I know it does have something to do with me.

  “It’s not you, Xanrun.” Macie says as she climbs down the last few steps of the ladder and turns to face me. She made a quick trip upstairs to grab some more gauges for my wounds, since we’re running low on them in here, but I know the main reason she went upstairs was to think about whatever is bothering her. She blushes as she listens to my thoughts. I blocked her out of my head when I thought about telling her I love her, but after that thought, I opened my mind to her, having nothing to hide. “I have to talk to you about something…but I’m unsure about how you’re going to respond to what I have to say.”

  Sitting up from the bed, I stride towards her and wrap her small frame into my arms. She puts the medical supplies down and puts her arms around me, gripping me tightly, as if afraid I’d let go. “Stop worry
ing, Angel.” I say telepathically to her. “I’m here and I’m not going anywhere, no matter what you say or do. You’re stuck with me, Macie. Through thick and thin.”

  She pulls back away from me slightly and smiles. “You know I love when you call me Angel, but I wish you’d call me by my name sometimes.” She laughs and shakes her head in amusement. “You only call me by my real name when you talk to me telepathically. Why is that?”

  I shrug and smirk down at her. “I like pissing you off.”

  She rolls her eyes. “That’s it?” she smacks my arm and moves away from me, heading towards the bed. She sits and then lies down on the bed, a smile still on her perfect face. “You can be such a child sometimes, Xanrun.”

  “I know.” I reply back, jumping on the bed and caging her with my body. She squeals and chuckles when I start tickling her. “But you love me and my childish ways, Angel. It’s part of my charm.”

  She stops laughing and stares up at me—her eyes worried and her heart begins to beat rapidly. “I do.” She says, confusing me. Her face reddens, but her gaze does not avert from mine. “Love you, I mean.” She reaches up and cups my face with her left hand and I close my eyes, elated by her words. “I think I fell in love with you the day you stopped me from killing you with that stupid smirk on your face.” She laughs and I join along, loving the memory myself. “I knew then that I have met my match. I just didn’t realize that you’d end up being my perfect match.”

  I kiss the palm of her hand and roll us over, until Macie is lying on top of my body and I’m staring up into her hypnotizing emerald gaze. “I’ve loved you from the moment I saw you, Macie.” She smiles when I say her name. “I was terrified that I had imprinted on a human, my supposed enemy, but when my eyes met yours…I was lost and I honestly didn’t want to be found. And then you tried to kill me and I knew you were the one for me.” I chuckle at the memory. “Especially when you continued to try to kill me multiple times after our meeting. My particular favorite was when you dumped poison into my Mac and Cheese.”

  My Angel blushes at the memory and shrugs. “Who knew aliens immune systems were that amazing? You lived, right? No harm, no foul.”

  “Or when you tried to strangle me in my sleep, but ended up tickling my neck instead?” I reply back and she glares. “You have such tiny, little hands and yet, you still tried to choke me.” Now I’m laughing full out. “You knew you would be unsuccessful, and still you tried anyway. Why?” I lean down and brush a kiss against her lips. “Because you were a survivor and stubborn as hell. Who knew I found both those traits so damn irresistible?”

  She snorts at my comment. “You must have thought I was crazy and I honestly don’t know why you keep flirting with me after I tried to kill you all those times.”

  I brush a stray hair out of her face and grin. “Because, I knew you wouldn’t have really killed me, Macie. Our bond wouldn’t have allowed it. No matter how hard you tried to hate me and kill me, you couldn’t. Partly because I’m so much more stronger than you.” I kiss one of my biceps and she groans in exasperation. “And partly because, deep down, you didn’t want to see me dead.”

  “You’re right, of course.” She sighs and closes her eyes. “I don’t want to see you hurt, Xanrun, which is why your plan to go seek revenge is worrying me so much. I couldn’t think straight these last couple of days because you won’t stop talking about leaving the shelter to make my world safe for me again.” She opens her eyes and I see the tears in them. “Aren’t you happy, down here, with me? Aren’t I enough for you? Is revenge more important then us?”

  I shake my head and kiss her forehead. “Baby…that’s not it at all. I love you, very much, you know this, Angel. But I can’t ignore the fact that my people tore your world apart and will stop at nothing until they see your people, including you, dead.” I grind my teeth together and shake my head. “If I can convince my people to go after the guilty parties, and leave the rest of your people alone, then we have a chance at a better life, Angel. A life where we can live together in a house without fear of being killed for who we are.” I place a hand on her stomach and swallow hard. “To have a life where I can put my child into you, without fear of you or our child being killed in cold blood. I want a life where we can be a family, Angel. Don’t you want that?”

  She’s crying now, but nods her head. “I do want that, Xanrun, but we can have that down here. Don’t leave. Stay here with me and I can give you as many children as you want. We can live down here forever.”

  I smile sadly at her and shake my head. “You and I both know that is not true, Angel. We’re already running out of some medical supplies, and although our food supply is good, we’ll run out in the next couple of months if we don’t do something soon. This,” I gesture around us with sullen eyes. “This is not the proper or fair place to raise a child. I refuse to bring a child into this corrupt world. Not until it’s fixed and I’m assured you both will be safe.”

  Macie sits up and I lean back, giving her room to move away from me, and she begins to pace around in the room. She spins around and her eyes pierce me with a hard stare, not in anger, but in fear. “So that’s it? You still plan to leave at the end of the month? I have no say in this?”

  I close my eyes and nod my head. “I’m doing this for you, Angel. I’m doing this for us. We deserve a chance at a happy life. I want to give you the world and sitting down here, not fighting for us, is not the way to achieve that.”

  “So you’re willing to die, to never come back to me, to fight against your own race? A race that left you for dead once before?” She rushes over to me and drops down to her knees. “They will kill you, Xanrun. They don’t care about you and if you try to reason with them, they will execute you without a backwards look. Then what do I do? I cannot live without you, Xanrun.” She clenches my hands into hers and her eyes beg me to tell her what she wants to hear, that I’ll stay down here forever, that we can raise a family here without fear of my people…but I vowed a long time ago that I’d never lie to my mate, so I cannot lie to her now. Even if that lie will bring her comfort. She chokes out a cry, hearing my thoughts, and backs away from me. “Stay, Xanrun. Say you’ll stay.”

  I open my mouth, wanting to say the words, but I can’t. “I’m sorry, Angel, but you know I will not lie to you.” She begins to sob again and I pull her into my arms. She resists for a moment, but then relaxes in my arms. “I promise you, Macie, I will return to you. I will not let anything stand in my way of coming home to you. Just…please, baby, understand why I’m doing this. I do not wish to be away from you, but I have to do this in order to keep you safe.”

  She nods her head but pushes away from me, once again. She sniffs loudly and gestures to the ladder. “I’m going to go get some more blankets. I’ve been cold down here lately, so I think I’ll get another one to keep be warm.”

  “Macie…you know I don’t like you going above ground by yourself.” She gives me a pointed stare, telling me that I have no choice in the matter. I want to keep her down here, even if I have to hold her down, but she’s hurting right now and needs some space from me. I listen to see if there’s anyone in the clinic, and when I don’t hear anything, I nod my head. “Fine, Angel, but at any sign of trouble, I want you to telepathically call for me. Understood?”

  She smiles faintly and salutes me. “Aye, Aye Captain.”

  I roll my eyes at her and smack her ass as she climbs the ladder. “I mean it, smartass. At any sign of trouble, or if something doesn’t seem right, call me. And for God’s sake, don’t open the clinic’s doors, no matter what. In the meantime, I’ll start dinner for tonight. How does soup sound?”

  “Like something I’ve had a million times this month.”

  “Good! At least I know you’ll eat it!”

  She laughs and I know we’re going to be okay.

  (Macie)

  I should have let Xanrun come with me.

  I should have listened to him when he told me not to open the clinic doors
.

  I should have seen the man with the gun before he had it held against my head, his evil smile promising death if I dared to scream. I can’t believe I allowed him and his men into my clinic, but I couldn’t leave an innocent human outside, so I went against my instincts and what Xanrun told me and I opened the door for the man.

  And then he, the man holding the gun to my head, promptly shot the man in cold-blood. He and his men then ran inside the clinic, before I could close and lock the door, and the leader of the group grabbed me and placed the barrel of his gun to my left temple.

  I’m screwed, because I didn’t listen to Xanrun. God, why am I so stupid?

  “Where’s Xanrun, human?” the man with the gun hisses, grabbing my hair with his free hand and yanking my head backward until I scream out in pain. I feel Xanrun enter my mind and I know he’s feeling my fear because I can feel his concern. “Where is that coward hiding?”

  “Angel?” Xanrun’s voice echoes in my head and I begin to sob. “Angel! What’s going on? What’s happening?” When I don’t answer him fast enough, I feel him run and I can almost sense that’s he’s getting closer to me. “Baby, I know you’re scared, but show me what’s going on. Focus on your surroundings and show me what you see.”

  I swallow hard and nod my head, even though I know he can’t see me do so. I gaze around at the three men around the room. The scariest man, who’s bicep is three times the size of my head, smirks at me and licks his lips, sending a shiver of fear down my spine. I turn my attention on the lanky man at the entrance of the clinic, but he’s too busy looking through the clinic windows, looking for a threat I cannot see, to knowledge my existence.