by C. D. Gorri
I squirmed in his arms, my breaths coming in short, harsh pants that echoed off the cave’s walls. “Don’t do this.”
“It’s already done.”
“Please. I’m begging.”
He kept walking, and he spoke without looking down. “You’ll beg more before we’re finished.”
The low words shot straight to my sex. More heat flooded me. The scent was overpowering, and I would have died of humiliation if I hadn’t been so focused on stopping him.
“You don’t even like me.” Not interested. Those were the words he’d used. Surely there was nothing worse than being tied to someone you didn’t want.
So why was he doing this?
He set me on my feet. My legs collapsed, and he caught me around the waist and stretched me flat on the ground. Immediately, my hips lifted. Fire blasted my core, more moisture seeping from my sex. The knives dug deeper.
Tears slipped down my temples into my hair. “It hurts,” I said on a sob.
“I know.” He made short work of my clothes, pulling off my shirt and snapping my bra with one quick twist. He yanked off my boots and stripped my sodden pants down my thighs. They caught on my ankles, and he ripped them free and tossed them aside. With every brush of his hands, I writhed and arched, desperate for something—anything—to ease the lust pummeling my body. My head thrashed, my hair flying into my face.
He pulled it away from my mouth. Then he stilled.
No! Protests welled in my throat, and I marshaled enough strength to look at him.
He sat on his knees, his gaze on my swollen breasts, which trembled as I gulped each breath. My nipples were a lurid red and hard as pebbles. They grew even harder under his gaze, the tips tight and painful.
A deep growl rumbled from his chest. He reached out and dragged his palm over the stiff peaks.
Immediately, damp gushed between my legs.
His nostrils flared, and he ran his gaze down my quivering belly to my drenched panties. I’d been wet for so long the fabric was plastered to my skin. Arousal smeared my thighs.
“Fuck,” he muttered, a muscle in his jaw jumping.
The knives twisted. I whimpered and lifted my hips.
In a blink, he was between my legs, his big hands pushing them wide. He bent and snagged my panties with his fangs. One jerk of his head and the fabric ripped from my body, leaving me totally bare.
His growl bounced off the stone and went straight to my clit. My hips lifted of their own accord, and I could feel how slippery and swollen I’d become. My vision blurred. Pain shot through my fingers, and I realized I clawed at the ground. Blackness gathered at the edges of my consciousness.
Rurik moved above me, stripping off his clothes and flinging them aside. Boots, T-shirt, and pants hit the dirt, followed by knives and other weapons I hadn’t noticed. They flashed in the cave’s weak light and pinged against the ground.
Then he was nude, his muscled body tan and marked here and there with scars. His cock jutted from his hips, the thick head purple and tipped with a bead of moisture.
He might not like me, but he was definitely interested.
I lay limp underneath him, my breasts rising and falling as I sucked in gasps of air. My body was splayed open, my sex seeping uncontrollably. My mouth watered at the sight of his cock. It was even larger than I remembered, with heavy balls that swung between his meaty thighs. Suddenly, it no longer mattered that he was feral or arrogant, or that sex with him had complicated, long-term consequences. I needed his cock inside me. Anything to stop the twisting, burning desire.
He gripped his shaft in one hand and squeezed until his knuckles turned white. Then he slid his fist up and down the thick length, pumping and gliding. All the while, his gaze never left mine.
“Your serum failed you,” he said, stroking up and down.
Yes. I tried to form the word, but my mouth wouldn’t work. My clit ached, and I knew without looking it stood up between my swollen lips, puffy and glistening. His dick was inches from my opening. I lifted my hips, desperate and dripping for his shaft.
“You’re in heat.”
The word flared across my skin, producing another gush of wet. My nipples were tight, itching points set to burst. I tried to speak, but it emerged as a gurgling cry.
He continued stroking himself. “The other males are dead, but more will come, lured by your scent. They would claim you against your will.”
Yes, I fucking knew that. So did he.
So what was he waiting for?
“You’re slick and ready,” he said. “Eager for a cock to fill you up.”
“Yes, yes,” I chanted. My gaze fastened on the fat head of his erection teasing at my entrance. I spread my thighs wider and rocked my hips up, pleas hovering in my throat.
His eyes glinted, and his voice dropped so low I had to strain to hear. “I am alpha. If I take you, I’ll be the last. You understand me, woman?”
The growls shot to my breasts and opened sex. I writhed naked in the dirt, almost incoherent with need. At the same moment, a different kind of heat built in my chest. It had fangs and claws, and it gave me the strength to lift my head and snap blunt teeth at the male crouched between my thighs.
“Do it,” I growled.
He gripped my hips and plunged inside me, seating himself to the hilt in one squelching stroke.
My orgasm ripped through me like a thunderclap, my back bowing as the universe exploded behind my eyes. Pleasure-pain frazzled along every nerve ending, burning through my veins like flame. I ceased to exist except as a conduit for sensation. My being contracted to a pinprick of pleasure and then spun outward in a million pieces.
Then I slammed back together, and Rurik was gripping my hips and pumping in and out of my sex. His shaft scraped my clit with each pass, sending sparks shooting across my skin. Immediately, another orgasm built in the wake of the first.
I moaned, pleasure and frustration suffusing me. “It’s not enough,” I gasped, rocking with his thrusts. “I need more.”
“Then you’ll get it,” he said through clenched teeth. He jerked his hips harder and faster, impaling me in swift, brutal jabs that inched my body across the dirt and made my tits bounce wildly. His cock stretched me wide open, and I knew he would have split me apart if I wasn’t so wet. Even so, his entry burned, each thrust plundering with bruising force.
Still, I wanted more. My sex gripped his shaft, squeezing him greedily as he pistoned in and out. Sweat sheened his chest, but he didn’t slow down. He was everywhere, his muscled body covering me like a cage. His harsh grunts filled my ears, along with the wet sounds of my sopping sex. His scent invaded my lungs. Droplets of his sweat hit my skin.
My cries echoed off the stone, rippling over and over and crashing on top of each other.
His fingers bit into my ass as he hiked my leg over his hip, changing the angle to let him thrust even deeper.
But now his cock missed my clit. I squirmed frantically, desperate to reclaim the friction I needed, but he held me fast.
He went down on one forearm, bringing our faces inches apart. “Beg me.”
I knew what he wanted, damn him. His hips jerked against mine, his heavy balls slapping my ass. My nipples brushed his chest, but it wasn’t good enough. The desire was greedy and unceasing, and it twisted up from my belly until I was groaning and shaking. Sweat soaked my hair. Tiny rocks dug into my back as he fucked me in the dirt.
I didn’t care about any of it. I just wanted his cock on my clit.
“Beg,” he said. “Beg me to let you come.”
I stared up at him, trembling and needing, his thrusts grinding me into the ground. My voice was weak and ragged. “Please.”
His eyes blazed, holding me prisoner more effectively than any shackles. They were the eyes of a predator—molten and unblinking. Still thrusting, he spoke in a dark voice that curled around my body like smoke, slipping under my skin to squeeze my heart and steal my breath. “Do better than that. Tell me you need my co
ck inside your pussy and you’ll do anything for it. Beg me to fuck you, to mark you. Beg me to spread you open and lick the juices you made for me. Because they are for me, Eden. That scent is mine now. I own your pussy, and I own you. Say it.”
Every word pulled moans from my lips. Consciousness dimmed, and I had only the vaguest sense of my body rocking as he mercilessly pumped my sex, stoking fires that threatened to consume me. Mindless. The word floated in my brain along with the others he put there.
Mine.
Own.
They pressed into my skin like a brand.
Fingers gripped my chin, dragging me from the haze. His hand was damp, and the scent of my arousal hit my nose. His predator’s eyes glowed so brightly they cast shadows on my face. “Say it, Eden. Tell your male who owns you.”
“You do,” I gasped. Tremors shook me. Release beckoned just out of reach. Frantic, I babbled between sobs. “Oh God. You own me. Now, please, please, Rurik, let me come!”
He gave me his full weight, shifting so his cock scraped my clit. “Giving you everything,” he growled, surging into me over and over, pumping my sex so hard our bodies inched across the dirt.
My sobs climbed higher.
He buried his face in my neck. “Come,” he said, and then his fangs sank deep.
I came on a scream, my body flying apart as pain seared my neck. He squeezed my hip and gave a final thrust, biting hard as he shot his scalding release deep inside me. It went on forever, pumping hot jets against my womb.
I flew into the stars, my body cartwheeling in a timeless void. As I came apart, the sting in my neck faded, replaced with heat that flashed through my body like wildfire.
Two options, I thought. Mated or dead.
The fangs slid from my skin. Something hot dripped down my neck.
The world went black.
Chapter Eight
I regained consciousness with a gasp. Sunlight poured through the cave’s entrance, which was mere feet away.
Everything hurt.
And I was sprawled nude on top of Rurik.
An aroused Rurik. His shaft was like a rod of iron under my belly.
He slid a big palm down my back and gave my ass cheek a firm squeeze. “Welcome back.”
At once, my sex dampened, and my inner muscles clenched in anticipation.
Alarm bolted through me. What have I done?
I scrambled off him, going to my knees in the dirt. More dirt streaked my skin, which was covered in sweat and traces of semen. I was sticky and sore between my thighs, and every inch of my body felt tattered and used. My hair streamed over my shoulders in matted clumps. Quickly, I pulled more forward to cover my breasts. As I did, my neck twinged.
Memories rushed back.
I reached up and felt gingerly around the side of my throat. The skin was sore and throbbing, and there were two puncture wounds crusted with blood.
Rurik sat up and rested an arm across one bent knee. His erect shaft lay thick against his thigh. Aside from a couple smudges of dirt, he looked no worse for wear.
Ass.
His gaze moved over me, his expression intense. “How do you feel?”
“You bit me.”
“Marked you. There’s a difference.”
I probed the oozing marks with my fingertips. “This could scar.”
“Probably.”
I cupped my hand over the throbbing wound. “Why do you look so smug about it? I might carry this mark for the rest of my life.”
Satisfaction flared in his eyes. “That’s the point. Any male seeing it will know you’re mated to an alpha. They won’t need to get close enough to catch my scent between your legs.”
Mated. Oh God, he’d claimed me with the sex and his bite. Worse, I let him. I begged him, exactly as he predicted. Even now, moisture gathered between my thighs.
My hand on my neck shook, and I lowered it to my lap. “Y-You can undo this, right? Unclaim me?”
The golden eyes narrowed. In a hard voice, he said, “Your heat is still upon you and will be for several days.”
“After it’s done, then.”
He stayed silent.
“You don’t want a mate.”
“I have a mate.”
Panic spiked, making my heart pound. I struggled to keep my voice from trembling. “You said you weren’t interested. That you didn’t—”
“I never said I didn’t want a mate, Eden. Females are a vulnerability, yes, as well as a distraction. I have enemies who would strike at anyone connected to me. But what’s done is done.”
A vulnerability? That was how he viewed women?
Anger surged in my veins, but I pushed it away. What did I care how he felt about me? His Neanderthal worldview gave me exactly what I wanted.
I licked my dry lips. “Then it’s settled. You can unclaim me once my heat passes.”
His eyes glowed. Slowly, he moved his hand to his cock and stroked the thick length.
My heart skipped a beat. What was he doing? Even as I thought it, my clit buzzed and heat seeped from my sex. My nipples tightened. Goosebumps lifted across my skin.
Oh no. No, no, no.
The incessant need seized me again, taking me in its claws and holding me tight.
His fist moved up and down.
I couldn’t look away. My gaze fixed on his luscious cock, the veined shaft hard and ready to satisfy the terrible ache building in my core. A low, plaintive sound filled my ears, and I realized it came from me. The whine vibrated my chest. I swayed forward, my breaths coming in pants. My thoughts grew muddled. Whatever we spoke about before no longer mattered.
The need mattered. I had to assuage it any way I could.
“Eden.”
The low voice made me look up.
He crooked a finger. “Come here.”
Without thinking, I crawled forward, my breasts swaying. I prowled to him on hands and knees and mounted his thighs, glorying in the feel of his rougher skin against my smoothness. He settled me on his lap, one big hand supporting my back. Lust sizzled hot in my veins, urging me to take him inside my body and ride until the pain stopped.
I spread my thighs wide over his, positioning my damp sex against his hardened shaft.
But he didn’t give it to me.
His gaze landed on my opening, and approval gleamed in the golden depths. He stroked a finger along my cleft, making me jerk and shudder.
“You’re bare here.” He made another pass, his wicked finger lingering on my swollen clit. “I heard this of norm women, but I didn’t believe it.”
“Tradition,” I gasped.
He lifted glowing eyes to mine, a question in his gaze even as his finger continued to tease.
My chest heaved, my nipples jutting. “W-We remove our body hair.” I panted a few more times, then added, “D-Distinguish ourselves from ferals.”
“Hmm.” He painted moisture down one slick labia, then the other. “Well, it’s hard to distinguish you from a feral now, considering you’re filled with one. I can see us mixed together in your pussy.” He slid two thick fingers into my sex and pumped. “You’re dripping what I gave you. Perhaps I should fill you up again.”
My head tipped back. Pleasure rolled through me, and I humped his hand, whipping my hips forward in quick jerks. The sound of my wetness echoed loudly. Somewhere in my mind, I knew this was wrong. That I should resist the urges compelling me to grip his shoulders and thrust against him. But his rhythmic pumps eased the pain.
His low growl vibrated my chest. “Look at me.”
I forced my head up.
He pulled his fingers from my body and lifted a cream-coated hand to my lips.
Open. He didn’t need to say the command.
I took his fingers into my mouth, tasting our mingled essences. His salty semen and my sweeter, headier arousal.
He watched with approval as I sucked his fingers clean. Then he said, “There will be no more talk of unmating.”
Out of nowhere, pain shot through my
skull. A blast of heat flashed through me. The headache I’d been battling roared back in full force, making me wince.
“Eden?” Rurik lifted me off his lap.
The movement made my head spin, and I doubled over in the dirt. The heat blasted me again, as if someone took a blowtorch to my internal organs. I cried out and pulled my knees to my chest.
Why was the need manifesting this way? This was nothing like lust.
“Because it’s not,” Rurik said, and I realized I’d spoken out loud. He put a palm on my forehead. “You’re burning up.”
The inferno licked at my bones. No, this wasn’t lust. It was the thing I’d avoided my whole life.
Rurik flipped me onto my back and loomed above me, his body blocking the light.
“You’ve gone feral,” he said. “Now, you either shift or you die.”
Chapter Nine
Terror clutched at me, but I was too weak to move. I stared at Rurik through bleary eyes as my heart raced and pressure built in my skull. Chills coursed through me, making my teeth chatter. My body was trying to cope with its hotter temperature, but it couldn’t keep up. I needed to cool down before I had a seizure.
I spoke to Rurik in a dry croak. “Get me…to…pool.”
He shook his head. “You need to shift.”
“I can’t.” I needed serum. But it was all gone, crushed when I fell. There was no way to stop the Lykos-D from rampaging through my body. I had to shift, but I didn’t know how. Even if I did, I was too sick to try.
This was how it ended. I was going to die in the dirt, naked and filthy.
Strong hands gripped my shoulders. Rurik loomed over me, his face haloed by sunlight. His expression was hard, but his lips were sensual.
He never kissed me. Even as he’d ridden me hard in the dirt, he never touched those gorgeous lips to mine.
Amusement flowed like a river through my head.
Except I wasn’t amused. So where was it coming from?
More amusement, followed by…tenderness.
Rurik’s eyes stared into mine. He kept his hands on my arms. The river flowed faster.
Then it became a giant wave. And another and another. A roaring, crashing sound filled my head.