“Braiden,” she gasps. I cut her off with another savage kiss, grinding my hips harder against her. My cock jerking, leaking with how badly I need to be inside her. I tear my mouth from hers and drag my lips down her throat, biting hard enough to mark. Her pulse hammers wildly beneath my teeth. She moans, arching into me, and the sound nearly unravels me.
“I’ll ruin you,” I growl into her neck, my hips grinding against her, “and you’ll beg me for more.”
Her thighs clamp tighter around me, pulling me closer. “Braiden, please,” her voice cracks in a pleading beg.
I grind my hips against her again, harder this time, swallowing her cries with my mouth.
“Braiden…” she whispers against my mouth, the sound desperate, and it shreds the last tether of restraint I have. With a guttural growl, I rip the last shred of fabric separating us, throwing her t-shirt to the floor. Then I press the head of my cock against her entrance, sliding it in just enough to coat myself in her wetness. She whimpers as her back arches off the stone wall.
Tá an t-ocras ársa istigh ionam ag borradh.(The ancient hunger inside me roars.)
With a savage thrust I slam into her, burying myself to the hilt. She screams my name, the sound vibrating against my lips as I swallow it whole. I slam into her again, harder, until her back cracks against the stone and her legs tremble around my waist. Her nails rake deeper into my flesh, tearing hot lines across my shoulders, feeding the beast inside me.
“Mine,” I snarl against her throat, biting down hard enough to bruise, to taste her skin as she cries out. The power surges through me, ancient and wild, making every thrust sharper, until I swear I’m splitting her apart.
Her cries echo off the walls, but she doesn’t push me away, she clings tighter, pulling me deeper, dragging my soul into hers with every pulse of her body. I grip her thighs, spreading her wider, driving into her with brutal precision. Her walls clench tighter, squeezing me so fucking perfectly I nearly lose it. The power burning in my vein's roars, urging me to take her harder. She screams again, her nails digging deeper and I slam into her again, until the sound of skin against skin fills the air, raw and filthy.
“Say it,” I growl against her lips, my breath hot, ragged. “Say you’re mine.”
“I’m yours,” she whimpers, the raw desperation in her voice making my pulse thrum like a war drum.
As if I’m a man possessed, I pound into her, chasing the high of her body gripping mine, dragging me under. When she shatters beneath me, screaming my name like a curse, I let go. Her body convulses, her muscles tightening around me like a vice,dragging me into the abyss. I slam a hand against the stone wall beside her head, holding myself up as my release tears through me, violent and unstoppable. I spill into her, every thrust a desperate claim, a vow I don’t even know how to put into words. The darkness inside me lashes out, seeping into her, marking her from the inside out.
When the last waves of ecstasy crash through us, I collapse forward, burying my face in her neck, breathing her in, as though she’s the only thing keeping me tethered to this world. My cock still pulses inside her, reluctant to let go, as if it knows better than I do that leaving her isn’t an option.
“You undo me,” I rasp against her skin, my voice broken and raw.
The sudden sound of footsteps snaps me from the haze of desire. They echo across the floor loudly, each one striking like a hammer against my skull. My pulse spikes, and every nerve in my body screams that something or someone is here.
“What do we have here?” The voice drips with menace, reverberating through the room as though ice is crawling over my skin. Every hair on my body stands on end.
That bitch Saoirse thought she could trap me. Fuck no. The second the shadows closed in; I tore them apart. The tomb groaned as if it was alive, as though it feared me… and it should. Payback’s going to be a bitch for her. I’ll make sure of it. I’m not just going to kill her… no, that would be mercy. I’ll strip her of every false power she thinks she owns, peel her lies from her skin, piece by fucking piece, until nothing remains except the trembling shell of what she used to be.
Determination boils in my veins, black and merciless, as I make my way back to the castle. Every step is thunder. Every thought a blade aimed at the one who dared cross me. But, a darker truth gnaws at me. I told my little banshee to stay put, to obey and not leave. If she ignored me… if she defied me… then she’s not just putting herself in danger, she’s putting herself up against me. She has no idea what kind of storm she’s messing with.
To my surprise, when I arrive at the castle Fionn is sprawledacross the stone floor outside the main door, a hulking shadow cut against the dim torchlight. His chest rises and falls in a steady rhythm. His coat looks darker now, carrying a sheen that wasn’t there before. I expected him to be a shattered mess for days, maybe weeks. The sight before me twists something cold in my gut. Fionn doesn’t just look healed. He looks… reborn. The jagged wounds that tore him apart are gone, and in their place is a beast forged sharper and meaner. His eyes burn hotter, deeper, like molten pits ready to swallow anything in their path.
I give him a quick pat on the head, though the tension rippling under his skin tells me he doesn’t need comfort. Leaving him sprawled on the floor, I stalk into the castle, my steps echoing off the stone walls.
Leath bealaigh síos an halla, reoim.(Halfway down the hallway, I freeze.)
The air shifts as a low murmur cuts through the silence. Not words exactly, but something raw, more primal. The hair on the back of my neck bristles. Someone’s here. My banshee… she's not alone.
My pulse hammers in my ears as I strain to catch the source of the sound. Shadows twist and flicker along the torchlit hallway, and the darkness feels alive, as if it's almost watching me back. I move a cautious step forward. The murmurs grow, like a chorus of whispered threats, scraping at my mind. Then, I smell it… I smell her. My banshee and something else. Something older.
Not trying to be quiet, I edge my way through the door frame, and there she is. My eyes widen as a slow, dangerous pulse hitsmy veins. She’s completely naked and exposed, pressed against the wall… not alone. There’s another male close to her. My curiosity mixes with something darker. Desire drips off her like smoke, daring me to reach for her. Heat flares along my spine, and every instinct inside me screams to move closer.
The tension in the room is palpable, as if the air itself is holding its breath. Every flicker of movement from her, every subtle shift of her body against the male, sends sparks through me, and my cock stiffens. The thrill of watching it claws at something deep inside me. I step forward and her scent hits me in waves, intoxicating. I can feel the pull of lust, like a fire that refuses to be tamed.
The male is lost in her and doesn’t register my presence. I don’t need his attention. All I feel is her, the heat radiating off her skin, the dangerous curve of her spine pressed against the wall. She’s untouchable in this moment. But, every inch of her calls to me, daring me to step closer, to stake my claim.
Pulsating with need, I take in everything as my cock begs to be released. The tilt of her head, the desperate arch of her back, the way her eyes flutter. Every instinct in me screams to close the distance, to claim her, to taste the fire she’s ignited even from across the room. My fingers itch to pull her close, to remind her whose presence bends the shadows.
My eyes never leave hers as I step closer. Her movements are a rhythm, a heartbeat I can feel in my chest. The tension in my pants is almost unbearable, my cock… it wants to taste her too. The other male is nothing, just background noise, irrelevant. Allthat matters is her. The way her pulse flares in her neck, and the arch of her back against the wall.
When I’m just a whisper away, I brush a claw against her arm. Not enough to stop her, not yet, just enough to let her feel me. Her body stiffens for a heartbeat. She knows I’m here. The fire that ignites in her eyes? It makes my need coil tighter, ready to explode. This isn’t just desire. It’s the dark pull of something she can’t deny.
“What do we have here?” I say, making my presence known.
