Overlord: A Dark Shifter Romance

by Delta James

  Securing the grappling hook to the interior ledge of the window opening, she tossed out the rope and began the long climb down, hoping that no one would see her.

  * * *

  Gareth left Sloan’s room in as foul a mood as he had ever been. How had he gone from thinking he would spend the rest of his days with a nice, sweet, compliant mate like Arielle to being fated to a nasty-tempered, stubborn, proud, undisciplined hellcat like Sloan? And to make matters worse, she was human! Did he turn her before he marked and claimed her? Did he turn her by marking her? Maybe it was better for them both if he turned his back on fate and claimed Arielle instead. Gareth gasped; he wasn’t expecting his entire being to clutch and contort at the prospect of not having his fated mate. Well, so much for that idea, he thought.

  Alaric was waiting for him, a bemused smile on his face. “I don’t ever want to hear from you again about what a dreadful, obnoxious little brother I have always been. My mate is in as nasty a temper as I have ever seen her, and you are to blame.”

  “Not true, Alaric. I wanted no part of this fated mate bullshit, but you insisted. Now see what you’ve gotten us into,” Gareth said, dropping heavily into the chair nearest him. “I tried to convince myself after leaving her that I should just say to hell with it...”

  “The pain nearly knocks you off your feet, doesn’t it?”

  Gareth smiled. “It does indeed. Maybe if I hadn’t kissed her...”

  “Wouldn’t have helped... once fate reveals your mate to you, it’s best to simply acknowledge your destiny and embrace it with both hands.”

  “I fear the only way to do that is with her face down over my knee in front of you, my beta, and your ranking members. And the sooner the better.”

  “You sound like a man resolved, but I sense something is troubling you.”

  “She’s human. Well, not so much that she is, but how do I relieve her of that burden?”

  “I believe the traditional way is to bite her, which you will be doing in any event when you mark her,” teased Alaric.

  “I’m so glad you’re enjoying yourself at my expense. It’s the timing. Do I turn her first and then mark and claim her? Do I let my marking her start the transition? I swear, brother, I burn for her. I’m about half mad with it.”

  “I’m well aware of the feeling,” laughed Alaric. “Rowan is furious that I will do nothing to save Sloan from you.”

  “Sloan does not need saving,” growled Gareth.

  “I’m aware of that as well. I had a feeling this was going to be the outcome of our discussion. Our men are waiting in the great hall. Let’s gather them up and get this done. The sooner we are settled between their legs to reason with them, the better.”

  “I’ll go back upstairs and see if I can’t quiet some of Sloan’s fears. Perhaps if she knows you’re all coming, she will acquiesce and agree to be reasonable.”

  “You’re not really expecting that with your mate, are you?” asked Alaric.

  “No, but I can hope. Didn’t it bother you for your men to see Rowan’s backside and the evidence of her arousal?”

  Alaric nodded. “More than I will ever admit to her, but it had to be done. Rowan needed to be humbled and taught in no uncertain terms that she would yield to me, as did they. And for the record, make sure all the windows are closed before you knot your mate for the first time.”

  “You didn’t,” exclaimed Gareth with amusement.

  “Not deliberately, but she threw it open in a fit of temper and I was far more interested in subduing and knotting her than I was with the fact that everyone and their brother in the castle could hear us.”

  “Some day when Sloan is angry with me, I’ll be sure to point out to her that at least I didn’t let that happen.”

  Alaric got up to leave. Gareth reached out to stay him. “Alaric, thank you for counseling me to wait for my fated mate. As problematic as it is going to be, I now know that nothing else would have been right.”

  Alaric patted Gareth on the shoulder as he exited the room. Gareth dragged himself up and out of the chair and went to try to reason with Sloan one last time.

  “Give you any trouble?” he asked the guard at her door.

  “No, Alpha. Your mate has been very quiet.”

  “She has?” asked Gareth suspiciously as he tried the door.

  Finding it barred, he enlisted the help of the guard to break in. The grappling hook caught his eye immediately. He rushed to the window and could see Sloan making steady, but precarious progress down the side of the castle wall.

  “Damn the girl,” he said, racing back into the hallway. “Get a couple of men and start trying to reel that rope back in through the window. Get enough of you that there is no chance it can be wrestled away from you. My mate is on the end of that line. Alaric!” he called, running down the stairs.

  “Gareth?”

  “What’s the fastest way to your seawall? Sloan has a rope and a grappling hook, she’s climbing down. I’ve got men who are going to try to reel her up, but I want to be at the bottom to either catch her or give chase as soon as possible.”

  “Come on, there’s a shortcut through the tunnels.”

  They returned to the council chamber, and Alaric activated the entrance from that room into the maze that would lead them to the opening in the sea cliff. They raced through the tunnels and just reached their destination in time to see the end of the rope and that Sloan was making good progress. The men above were reeling in the line, but she had more than enough to make good her escape.

  “I’ll wait for my mate here. Go and gather the witnesses and be ready when I bring her into your council chamber.”

  “We will be waiting for you,” Alaric said, heading back to gather the necessary men.

  Chapter Four

  Taking that first step out of the window had been petrifying, but after that the climb down was only relatively terrifying. The prospect of becoming Gareth’s mate was even more so. The winds off the water buffeted her around, but she had everything under control and was making good time. Then, she felt the rope beginning to draw her up and knew they had discovered her escape. Sloan increased her speed as she climbed down, hoping to get to the tunnel entrance or some kind of ledge before she ran out of time and rope.

  Her toes had just barely reached the lip of the ledge when she became aware of his presence. That knowledge was too late to save her from being grasped around the middle and hauled into the safety of the tunnel... well, safer than hanging off the wall of the castle.

  The anger rolling off of him would have been palpable even if they hadn’t been fated mates. Gareth was as furious as anyone she’d ever seen. He crushed her to him and kissed her with his emotions wide open—fear, lust, anger, need, and something more were all laid bare for her to feel. He rumbled at her while plundering her mouth. She resisted his call less this time than she had when he’d kissed her in her chambers.

  Sloan moaned into his mouth and Gareth responded by pressing her back against the wall of the tunnel and gathering up her skirt until he could run his hand underneath to her bare thigh, before sliding it upward. He continued to plunder her mouth as he moved his hand between her legs and found her engorged clit. Gareth pressed his thumb against it as his fingers explored the wet folds that lay beyond.

  “Gareth...” she sighed, not knowing if she meant to encourage or deter him.

  The sensual rumble she could feel permeating her body combined with his soul-stealing kisses was making it difficult for Sloan to have any coherent thoughts. All she could do was feel him—his touch, his emotions, everything blended with hers and created an incredible need to be one with him. She felt her wet response pooling just inside the opening of her core.

  Gareth pulled away from her, removing his hands and stepping back.

  “No,” she wailed as she opened her eyes to search his face.

  The evidence of his need for her was right before her both in physical form and in the sensory overload she was beginning to ac
cept as part of his call to her.

  “Yes,” he said as he reached up, taking the neckline of her gown and ripping it down the middle and away from her body.

  He quickly dispensed with her corset and undergarments so that she was completely naked before him. The predatory smile that crossed his face should have terrified her, but in fact, it had the opposite effect. It beckoned her to release her own inhibitions and reason and succumb to his mating call.

  Gareth lowered his head, taking her stiffened nipple into his mouth and sucking. Sloan felt her body ratchet up in awareness and arousal as his fingers parted her lower lips before plunging in and out of her sheath. His other hand splayed across her bottom as his finger ran down the crack between her cheeks to press against her bottom hole. The last rational part of her brain said she should protest but combined with his skillful fondling of her nipple and pussy, she could not form the words or actions needed to do so.

  “You are my mate, Sloan, mine,” he growled provocatively.

  “Gareth, I...”

  His head came up to capture her mouth with his as he kissed her possessively and brought both of his hands up to play with the full measure of her breasts before rolling and pinching her nipples. Sloan found she had no resistance or defense against the onslaught of his need and gave up any pretense that she did.

  Gareth released her only to spin her around to face the wall. He covered her hands with his as he placed them on the wet, irregular surface. When he removed his hands and she thought to do the same, he growled low, swatted her backside, and placed them back where he wanted them. This time when he released her hands, she left them in place.

  “Good mate,” he whispered in her ear as he nuzzled her neck and brought his hands to run down the length of her body, causing her to quiver in response.

  One hand went back to assuage the need her nipples had for his touch. The other skimmed down the front of her body to cup her mons and encourage her to step back away from the wall so that her ass was cradled by his pelvis. She could feel the enormous bulge that throbbed with his life’s blood.

  Gareth kicked her legs further apart and she felt his hand slip between them as he unfastened his breeches. The only fractured thought that raced through Sloan’s mind was that she should do something to stop him; something that would allow her to say he had forced her. But as much as she could feel his need, she needed him even more.

  He rubbed the head of his fully engorged staff between her ass cheeks before probing for and finding the entrance to the place where all of her feelings and senses seemed to have converged. Once he had her positioned and his cock lined up, he thrust forward powerfully, taking full possession of her.

  Sloan was surprised as she cried out in surrender and ecstasy. She hadn’t doubted Gareth’s ability to make her orgasm. It was the speed and force with which her pussy spasmed rhythmically that caught her unaware. Her nipples ached painfully as they continued to harden, and her legs trembled and felt as though they would not hold her upright. She had never responded this dramatically to being mounted before. Her breath caught in her chest and she felt as though she was going to pass out as her sheath shuddered all along the hard rod that now plundered it.

  She was quickly losing her ability to think coherently. Her world was rapidly collapsing to just raw physical sensations and emotions. She felt Gareth’s pelvis as it slammed into her buttocks, reminding her that she had been spanked twice in the past week. His thrusting made her body bump into and rub up against the cold, damp wall of the passageway.

  All the while his hands held her hips in a vise grip that prevented any escape, his fingers dug into her soft flesh as he repeatedly pounded her pussy. He grunted and groaned in her ear as he took possession of her body and soul.

  “You are mine,” he growled.

  Sloan was incapable of speech and nodded.

  “Say it,” he seethed. “Mine.”

  His stroking was rough, fast, and mesmerizing. Sloan could do nothing but respond in the same primal way in which he was claiming her... and she knew it to be just that.

  “Say it,” he growled again, this time striking her buttocks.

  Sloan yowled. “Yes, Gareth... yours.”

  “Good mate,” he purred in her ear as his stroking became more frenzied and powerful.

  She felt her body responding to his need and surprised herself with the force of her second climax and the ferocity and fever that seemed to be right behind it. Sloan barely had time to recover before her body sought again to achieve that ultimate release she knew he was capable of giving her. Her entire body responded to his; there was no part of her that remained untouched. Her nipples ached for the feel of his hands; her pussy demanded to feel his hard stroking that rasped along its interior walls.

  Sloan screamed as another powerful orgasm shook her to her very core. Her sheath pulsed in rhythm to the pounding of her blood. As she recovered enough to catch her breath and become more aware of her surroundings, Sloan realized he wasn’t moving within her. As deeply as he was lodged in her cunt, she could feel what she was sure was his knot pressed against her opening. Instinctively, she wiggled back against it, trying to draw him in. Her body longed to feel his ultimate possession.

  “Gareth, please...” she said breathlessly.

  He chuckled and rumbled at her simultaneously. The sounds collided and worked together like thunder and lightning over a storm-tossed sea. Gareth nuzzled her neck and moved his finger down her body with the lightest touch, leaving a trail of goosebumps and need in its wake.

  “Can you feel my knot, mate?” he asked provocatively.

  She nodded. “Please, Gareth, don’t do this to me... I need you.”

  “By my count, mate, you have come three times. Are you a greedy mate who needs her alpha’s release to see her well sated?”

  “Yes,” she cried. “Please, Gareth, I just... I just don’t feel complete.”

  “That is because, my beautiful mate, I have yet to find my own completion and send my seed deep into you. Only then will you find the full measure of your satisfaction.”

  He slowly withdrew his cock and she yowled in frustration. Gareth spun her back around and took possession of her mouth once more. His hands framed her hips and one slipped between her bottom and the damp wall.

  With the other, he lifted one of her legs, drawing it up and over his hip before moving back between her legs. This allowed him to rub her more intimately before penetrating her hot, wet core with two fingers as his lips trailed down her throat. Sloan had never experienced this feeling of complete rapture in the arms of any man before. There was nothing to do but respond to him. He continued to finger her until her body convulsed in another orgasm that still left her wanting.

  Gareth lifted her off her feet and then mounted her, driving deep within her sheath as he lowered her onto his staff. He plundered her mouth with his. So far gone in her need was Sloan that she came before he ever pulled back in a full stroke. Deeper, faster, and harder he plunged, grunting, growling, and groaning in complete and intense pleasure.

  Sloan felt Gareth cup her face with his hand and lift it up and away, baring her throat. Realization dawned of his imminent plan to mark her as his.

  “No, Gareth, you cannot do this to me without my consent.”

  He continued to pummel her pussy, ramming himself into her repeatedly.

  “And who is to stop me, Sloan? My brother? He knows you are my fated mate, he will not interfere. You are mine and you will bear evidence of that.”

  He lifted her chin up and out of the way and lowered his head. Sloan struggled with him, but he was far too strong and her body refused to deny him what it knew was true. She screamed as she climaxed again, feeling her response coat his cock as it ravaged her cunt. He nipped the delicate skin of her throat lightly as if to mark the precise spot he wanted. Sloan wailed as another powerful orgasm ripped through her system and his teeth bore down in a savage bite.

  Gareth held her in his teeth, thrusting
in her sheath over and over again until she felt him swelling in preparation to send his seed deep within. His cum burst forth as his cock exploded with the power of his release. This time, her orgasm was so intense as he pumped his essence into her that she screamed again in release and triumph and almost passed out.

  Gareth groaned as he continued to empty himself into her. He wrapped his arm around her, holding her close while his cock twitched and spurted the last remnants of what he had to give her. Holding the leg that was still wrapped around him, he lifted the other so that it too was secured around his waist. He pressed her back into the cold wall as he removed his shirt and somehow managed to wrangle it over her head and arms so that it covered her back, the tail of it falling past her buttocks.

  He stepped back, cradling his arms underneath her ass to support and hold her to him as he turned back toward the great hall with her impaled on his cock. Sloan knew he meant to display her as his claimed mate as he reentered the keep.

  “Gareth, no,” she pleaded.

  “You are mine, Sloan, and there will be none who will dispute that. I mean to take you to our chambers where I will have Alaric bring our beta as well his two ranked members and will ask you again to take your vow and accept my claim. Should you persist in this stubbornness, I will put you on your back and take you again until you are ready to submit in all ways to me.”

  No will remained with which to fight him. Sloan clung to him and buried her face in his neck. They entered the council chamber.

  “I see you found your mate, brother,” Alaric said. “I’m surprised her backside isn’t on better display to show the evidence of your displeasure.”

  “The evidence of my claiming lies between my mate’s thighs and at the hollow of her neck. You, my beta, and your ranked members are needed in my chambers to hear Sloan take her vow and accept my claim. Tell Ruari to send for Fallon. I would have the surgeon standing by when Sloan enters her transition and I will need to tend to her mark.”