To Crown A Beast (Blackest Gold Book 4)

by R. Scarlett

  FIXING HER HOOD, Molly tiptoed down the silent hallways. She picked at the hem of the cloak, following in the prince’s footsteps, her heart in her throat.

  The last time she had seen Tensley was a week ago and he had been angry, out of control and left her in his bedchambers. She knew he was struggling, she knew he was fighting the heart within him. She wanted to push him, but she feared if she pushed him too far, too fast, he would end up suffering more.

  “I’ll be outside waiting,” the prince told her as they neared the double doors of Tensley’s bedchambers.

  Molly paused in front of the doors and shook her head. “I’m staying longer than usual.”

  The prince arched a brow. “Oh? And his lordship knows?”

  Molly rolled her eyes, then glared at him.

  The prince laughed, the sound sensual. “I’ll wait outside.”

  Molly ignored his remark and moved to open the door.

  What she found was complete darkness, besides the light from the moon streaming in-between the blowing curtains.

  The air was chilled and as she tiptoed inside, squinting into the darkness, she wondered if he was even there.

  Maybe he was avoiding her…

  She sucked in a deep breath, her shoulders slumping.

  “I didn’t think you’d return,” his rough voice sent a shiver of delight down her spine.

  She took a step forward, her eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness to make out his large frame leaning against the wall, his forearm resting there, his back bent slightly.

  “Of course I’d come back,” she whispered, frowning slightly.

  He grunted a response. “You should leave. Now.”

  She swallowed thickly. At the sound of his husky voice, so low, she felt the room heat. The energy around him was anger—pure anger and it was directed at her.

  “Tensley,” she said, about to ask what was going on with him and why he was so angry but when she moved forward, she finally saw what was happening.

  With this new angle, the moonlight that pooled from the window lit his figure enough that she could now see almost all of him.

  His large fist held his erection, his trousers unbuckled, exposing the dark hair, the deep lines leading back to that angry length.

  She stopped mid-step, her eyes widening, unable to look away from him.

  He grunted again and casted his dark eyes over her frame, his hand working slower now, sliding down his length then up to the swollen head.

  Neither of them moved, only his hand, and neither looked away.

  A blush took to her face and chest and she rolled her bottom lip between her teeth, biting down from gasping at the sight of Tensley pleasuring himself.

  Stupid hormones.

  Stupid emotions.

  “Do you like seeing what you do to me? I can’t look at another woman without wanting to kill someone. This,” he said, his hand becoming harder, rougher on himself. “This is what you do to me.”

  Tensley stared back at her, his dark eyes hooded in want and lust, his teeth clenched. Each time he grunted lowly, her own core burned.

  “I’m not stopping,” he said through gritted teeth and pumped faster. “So leave.”

  Molly carefully looked him up and down, his powerful stance, his powerful hand, his heavy balls underneath his cock.

  She swallowed and slowly glanced back up at him, meeting his heated glare.

  She took a step closer and his ruthless brows lowered in confusion. Then she took another and his hand slowed, his gaze traveling up and down as if she held a secret weapon.

  She breathed out softly as she stepped into his space, his own breaths fanning her forehead and her hand shakily pressed to his stomach.

  His stomach rippled at her touch and a sharp breath hit her skin.

  Her fingertips traced his sculpted abs, following his dark happy trail, moving lower and lower and lower—

  Tensley grunted lowly as her soft hand wrapped around his shaft.

  His hand let go and both hands touched her hips, capturing her so no escape was possible.

  As if she wanted to escape.

  She eyed the swollen crown of his length and gently stroked upward, her fingers sweeping over the glistening head.

  Again, he groaned and dropped his head so his cheek pressed to hers.

  “You sweet monster,” he hissed and she moaned back as his fingers dug into her hipbones, only bringing her flushed against him.

  His head turned, his hot breath hitting her exposed neck and earlobe.

  She stroked slowly, painfully slow, feeling every ridge of his hardening length.

  “You ran from me,” he said into her ear and she felt the hot anger, the lustful desire to punish her in his words. “I returned to the room and you were gone. Fucking gone.”

  She braved a look and met his dark eyes, breathless. “Did that anger you?”

  His eyes narrowed and his hands spread down her sides and dug into each ass cheek, rolling her against him. “It fucking infuriated me.”

  She gasped at his sudden strength—and realized it was from their intimacy.

  “Because?” she whispered back to him, her gaze unwavering from his.

  He growled in her face, kneading her flesh as her hand stroked him thoroughly.

  “Did you miss me?” she asked again, tilting her head to the side, a vicious, knowing smile on her lips.

  His jaw ticked and that dark gaze of his didn’t leave hers. “You’re destroying me with that damn curse,” he snapped and rolled his hips so his length moved faster in her hand. “I’m being fucking ruined by the wicked heart you cursed me with. It beats. It fucking beats when you’re near— and it hurts when you’re not. It beats when I think of you. And I fucking think of you all the time.”

  She swallowed thickly at that confession, her pulse quickening and her lips parting. His eyes noted the movement of her mouth and he stared, unblinking at them.

  “Those lips I worship in my nightmares,” he whispered, darkly. “How they’d taste between my teeth. How they’d swallow my cock.”

  She heated at his words and she knew he could feel her excitement, feel her tender nipples harden against his chest.

  He leaned forward, his nose tracing down her neck, over the collar and he paused at her sensitive mark. Even as his breath simply blew across it, she moaned, rubbing against his thigh and he hiked her leg up onto his hip.

  A surge of desire shook through her body. It wasn’t enough, she needed more.

  She needed…

  She…

  His nostrils flared and she knew he could smell her arousal. That he could smell what he was doing to her body, to her mind, to her.

  When his head came down to the crook of her neck again, Molly almost fell apart. With her hair pinned up in a ponytail, he had complete access to the skin there. Ever so slowly, he licked her throat, her collar, from the front, all the way to the back.

  Molly’s vision blurred completely, and she saw black dots dancing around as a cry of pleasure escaped her lips. Her body was shaking violently, her only support was the wall next to them and the powerful steel thigh he still held firmly tucked between hers. Her lower half moved on its own, rubbing shamelessly against him.

  The sensation was too much.

  The need was too much.

  She couldn’t think straight, she couldn’t breathe.

  “Is it nice to feel the burn of the fire but not know how to extinguish it, Molly? Is it nice to crave something you can’t have because as soon as you get your claws on it, it runs away from you? Do you think it’s nice to never be fully satisfied?” he asked darkly, his voice barely above a sinful whisper.

  And she felt it. Oh, how she felt it. The burn. The craving. The unsatisfied need.

  It felt like heaven and it felt like hell. Like the two were colliding within her, and it was about to destroy her.

  And in that moment, she wanted it to. She wanted it to burn her, to destroy her, to break her.

  Te
nsley laughed darkly, mockingly. “Be rough, dolcezza,” he breathed out and his teeth nipped at her earlobe, sending another shiver through her so she curled into him, tightening her grip. “Make the beast kneel.”

  Slow licks caressed her neck and shoulder, rubbing over the collar and she couldn’t stop gasping, couldn’t stop rubbing against him like a cat in heat.

  He wasn’t even fully touching her. All he used was his tongue against her neck but somehow it made her drunk on pleasure. Drunk on him.

  “Tame me, dolcezza,” he hissed.

  She bent her neck to rest against his shoulder and licked.

  The way he had done to her.

  As if he too had been collared by her.

  And in a way, he had.

  But her ownership was in the form of a sliver of vicious, wildly pumping heart, hiding deep within his powerful chest.

  And she wouldn’t have it any other way.

  Her teeth dug into his shoulder and he jolted against her, his length quivering as his warmth splattered onto his chest and her hand.

  “Fuck!” His fingers bit into her skin, not allowing her to move, not allowing her to even rub against him.

  His length stopped pulsing and his heaving chest slowed.

  She lifted her head, only to see he was watching her.

  Watching her so closely, and if the glint in his eyes was any hint, the beast already wanted more.

  He took her hand in his, bringing her fingers to her slightly parted mouth. Then, with eyes as dark as the night, he applied them roughly to her plump lips, rubbing his warm pleasure into her soft skin.

  Marking them as his.

  With deliberate slowness, he pushed her ring finger through her parted lips. Her lips closed around it out of reflex, and he growled, and a frown appeared between his brows.

  And just like that, he took her hand away and let it drop to her side.

  His gaze was hungry but cold.

  Her eyes darted to his parted mouth of sin and she leaned forward—

  The doors swung open and they both tensed, Tensley pulling her back against him.

  “Fucking hell,” he hissed at the intruder.

  “I apologize, your majesty,” Seto’s voice echoed in the dark room and he turned away.

  “Seto?” Molly asked and tried to pull away, but Tensley dug his fingers into her hip and growled lowly. She glared up at him and after a moment, he let go.

  “What is it Seto?” He snapped, his back turned to them as he fixed his trousers and swiftly cleaned himself in the darkness of the room. When he was done, he turned, stepping beside Molly.

  “I need Molly’s help,” Seto said, carefully and when he turned back toward them, his eyes were dark with worry. “It’s Prim, she… I think she’s having a panic attack. I— I don’t know what to do. She’s confused,” he said, then frowned. “Terrified, actually. Of me,” he whispered, and Molly could see his hand shake violently. He was terrified for her that much was evident.

  Molly’s heart dropped in her chest. “Is she still at the cottage?”

  Seto nodded. “I wouldn’t leave her alone like this but there was no one and I didn’t know—I didn’t know what to do. She won’t let me near, she won’t talk to me. I just thought you could…We need to hurry,” he stopped, head shaking. He seemed so lost, so troubled.

  “It’s okay. Take me to her, I’ll try to calm her. She’ll be okay, Seto. I promise,” Molly said, nodding reassuringly as she went to move, but Tensley caught her arm.

  “You’re not going,” he hissed.

  Molly frowned. “Prim needs me. She needs help.” His glare didn’t falter. Frowning up at him, she tried a different tactic. “If I needed help and you couldn’t help me, wouldn’t you want someone to?”

  He worked his jaw and his gaze flickered over her head to Seto. “Fine,” he bit out. “But I’m coming with you. I’m not letting you out of my sight. You already escaped one too many times.”

  IN THE DARKNESS, Seto guided them through the woods. Tensley stayed by her side, his hand every so often skimming Molly’s body. A reminder he was there. Minutes before, they had shared such an intimate moment and even though she knew the beast still thrived inside of him, she felt her man was fighting his way back to her.

  “Here,” Seto said and lifted the lantern, the only light guiding them. Molly eyed the slanted cottage and noted some tiny repairs had been made. Not much, but enough she knew Seto was trying to make a better life for Prim.

  Her heart warmed at that.

  He would do anything for her.

  She understood that need inside of her, too and glanced at Tensley.

  He scowled at the cottage. “The place where you cursed me.”

  She stayed quiet and moved forward.

  “She’s been having nightmares. She wakes up screaming and kicking. She keeps repeating ‘You’re one of them, you’re one them’ over and over… and she’s… she’s shaking like a leaf and I… I think she thinks I’m… I’m one of them, one of the men who…” Seto’s eyes turned black, hands turning into tight fists. “One of the men who tried selling her. I don’t know what they did to her, she won’t say. But…” his voice was tight with anger, his fury and self-hatred over what had happened to Prim evident in the tone.

  “The… the lashes… from the whip,” he said and his voice choked on a sob. He breathed in shakily, and swallowed with difficulty. Molly’s heart broke for the man who clearly couldn’t forgive or forget what he had been forced to do to the woman he loved. “They… they didn’t heal properly. I think it might be infected, but she won’t let me close enough to touch her. Help her. And now she woke up screaming again and I just…” he stopped abruptly, and pushed the door open for Molly.

  When Tensley made to enter with her, Seto’s arm shot out and blocked his path, growling at his king. A harsh contrast with the sorrow he had been feeling mere seconds before. Molly could almost taste his possessiveness over Prim on her tongue.

  “I think it’s best for Molly to go alone,” he said, teeth snapping, gaze dark as Tensley flashed his teeth in return. His body breathing aggression.

  Molly stayed unmoving, unsure of what she should do.

  “Get your arm out of my way, or I’ll rip it off myself,” Tensley snapped.

  Seto’s aggressive expression fell. “ Please,” he said, the word full of emotion. Emotions that were rarely heard coming from a demon. “She’s… she’s clearly frightened of males. I… please.”

  Molly glanced back at Tensley and touched his fisted hand. “I’ll be fine. Wait for me outside.”

  His jaw ticked and he simply grunted back. His fisted hand relaxed and his fingers skimmed her palm, and her pulse quickened.

  Her eyes snapped up to his stormy gray ones.

  “I’ll be fine,” she said again to calm him.

  Finally, he let her go and Molly stepped inside, letting her hood roll off her head. She tiptoed further inside and heard a faint whimper.

  She followed the scrapping noise and peeked into the small cabin’s closed room.

  Prim sat in the dark corner, her fingers scratching at the walls.

  Like a caged animal.

  Molly’s heart twisted painfully in her chest at the sight.

  Sweet, gentle Prim. What had happened to her when she was with those disgusting men. What had happened to her…

  “Prim,” Molly whispered, afraid that if she spoke any louder, she might frighten the girl further. Prim stopped mid-scratch, nails broken and bleeding from scratching so much. Her small body started shaking heavily and Molly was positive she could hear teeth rattling. Prim’s head bowed, her bloody-crusted hands going to cover her ears as she dropped her head between her knees.

  She looked like a ball of trembling bones and bloody skin. Molly’s stomach turned when she saw the girl’s back… or what was left of it anyway.

  Her back was nothing but shreds of twisted skin, infected scars and dried blood.

  No one had taken care of it, desp
ite the fact that the owner had intended to sell her for what Molly was sure had been a good price. She used to be so full of life, bubbly even. Now she was…

  But even through her scars, Prim was still a beautiful woman. Delicate but courageous. Her selfless had been her strength.

  She tried being selfish once, she tried listening to her heart, letting her heart beat freely, and it nearly cost her her life. Molly had no doubts it would take a long time before Prim ever allowed herself to live and love freely again. To be selfish and take what she wants. What she desires. And that made Molly’s blood boil with rage. Prim hadn’t deserved any of this. She had deserved the moon and the stars and Seto loved her enough to try and bring them to her. But Fallen had to ruin it for them, to make them pay for their love. Lilith had to make them pay for their offense. And Seto had to be the one inflicting the punishment.

  And the lord knew what the things her friend could have gone through after that. They all had thought her dead. What had happened to her? What had happened to generate such fear in her. Seto hadn’t been lying, she was well and truly terrified.

  Molly moved slowly, lowering herself so she wasn’t towering over Prim. She tried making herself as small as possible.

  “Hi,” Molly said hesitantly with a soft voice. “I’m Molly, do you remember me?” she asked, inching a bit closer to the trembling girl. “We were friends.”

  Through Prim’s dark glossy locks, her eyes scanned Molly carefully. As if debating whether she was a threat.

  “Friends?” Prim’s soft voice cracked with the word and she sounded sick.

  Molly nodded frantically. “Yes, we were good friends.”

  Molly waited, for what, she didn’t really know. She licked at her lips nervously, as Prim continued examining her from behind the shield of her long, dark hair.

  After what seemed like hours, Prim’s eyes changed. They stopped being fearful, careful, and recognition flashed through them. Molly smiled softly at the girl, and scooted closer, hoping not to startle her.

  Prim didn’t flinch at her movements, but kept watching closely.

  “What’s wrong, Prim? What are you afraid of? You can tell me. I’m not here to hurt you, I’m here to be your friend. To help you,” Molly said, pressing a hand to her chest.