Her skin was inflamed, sopping wet, and exposed. Aldora arched and cringed from the pain that stabbed at her from beneath her flesh and found only a weak sense of comfort when a new pain distracted her from the other. Nausea coiled in her belly and she rolled to her side and hacked. Nothing but raw air and spittle came forth.
Then, suddenly, the pressure eased and the burning liquid pooling over her flesh sank into her wounds and flooded her insides. In a matter of moments, she went from agony to high bliss. Her tears dried up and she dropped back onto the sodden ground.
Nothing. She felt nothing but a crystalline daze that lightened her head. Itwasbliss. Even the damp ground that threatened to suck her into the earth was soothing.
Calloused, rough hands probed and pulled at her skin and she opened her eyes to watch. He didn’t look at her, this beast, but concentrated on the places his hands touched. Although she knew he did something to her skin, and she could feel it being pinched and poked, it wasn’t painful. There was only the sensation of pressure.
He slowly made his way up her body, leaving nothing behind but her disturbed undergarments. Steamy exhales warmed her skin as his fingers trailed hurriedly upon her. Aldora blinked slowly as he raised her elbow and brought her wrist to his nose. The rent flesh had reopened under the boiling mixture and what had stiffened over with dried blood was now exposed and fresh.
A snarling hiss left his mouth, bringing her attention back to him. “This happened on the other side.” His tone was deep, threatening.
Her tongue felt heavy but she managed to speak. “When I ran...and was caught. It was a Las—Laslite patroller that discovered me. I should’ve run faster.”
“No.” He met her eyes. “If you had run faster you wouldn’t be here now. I’ve heard of these Laslites. Are they warriors?”
Aldora tugged her hand but he held strong, ignoring her attempt, and scooped up the extra mixture from the bowl, slathering her wrist with it. “Yes,” she said, upset, her world spinning. “F-fierce warriors, the best of Savadon, and they travel with the king’s warrant. They would destroy you.” She loathed the Laslites now as much as she distrusted him but she kept that to herself.
He dropped her wrist and picked up her other arm, showing her a massive bruise on her upper arm. “The same kind of men who would grip a soft female so hard to leave a mark such as this? Aldora, your Laslite did this intentionally,” he spat as his fingers softly trailed her mottled flesh.
“And you haven’t inflicted pain on me intentionally?” Aldora tried to sit up. On her third attempt, he hoisted her to a sitting position.
“I’m no Laslite man-scum,” he sneered.
“You’re no man at all!”
Aldora gripped the bone bowl and slowly tried to maneuver away, but was hauled roughly into a wall of muscle. She stiffened as the bowl slipped from her hand to spill over the top of her thighs. Her back was up against his naked chest and a thick arm banded hard around her belly, trapping both her arms to her sides.
A voice breezed into her ear. “What am I? Do you even know?”
She licked her lips and held still. Whatever answer she gave him, it wouldn’t be the right one. That much she knew. He. Thing. It.Horned heretical beast. She was in a dangerous position, deep within a dangerously forbidden place, breathing in poison and losing her sense of self. Her mother’s apples came to mind and how she would dig her nails deep into their skin until their juices burst to coat her fingertips, until nothing was left but sticky sweet mush.
Aldora focused on the image until she relaxed in his arms.
“I don’t know what you are.” She relaxed further.
His chest pressed into her, lungs expanding to move her body with each of his inhales. The rhythm and his heat accented the chilling voice in her ear. She wanted to hang onto the cold parts of him because his heat was consuming her.
Sex.
Aldora pressed her thighs together.
His hand moved up her belly and over her breast to capture her neck. A light squeeze and a tap to her chin brought his mouth to her cheek. It was wet and soft, malleable as it moved against her skin. His arms held her tight enough for her to know that even if she fought, it would be for nothing, and she had little fight left in her to begin with.
What did he give me?
He was a wall at her back and a shield of arms and legs, a being larger and stronger than she’d ever seen, with a voice that came out as a lullaby every time he spoke. His lips remained on her cheek and his hand on her neck. Aldora waited for the twisting and groping, the sudden shock of penetration as he shredded her last garment... but it never came.
Her legs shook and her core tightened with each inhalation she rode. His warmth continued to seep into her skin, followed only by more of the mixture that rearranged her world.
A muddled awareness overtook the numbing effects of it drying on her body. His hand shifted on her neck and dirty fingers swept across her lips.
“Human female flesh is soft,” he said, rubbing them. “This is why you make the best breeders.”
Aldora tensed but couldn’t move. “Breeders?” It was a term used for certain livestock on the farm, the ones that were used to procreate. Images of them in heat flashed in her mind. She was no innocent when it came to sex, but it had always been on her terms.
“Human females who are not yet fully tainted by the mist. If taken care of and kept well, protected from the other beasts that roam this world, they will produce fresh blood and halfbreeds. They will solidify a new generation for any pack or tribe and cleanse them with new lifeforce.” His hand moved back down to her neck, leaving her lips raw and pouted.
“So that’s the reason?” Her words slurred. “Why Savadon is forced to sacrifice hundreds of our kind each year...” Aldora shuddered but had never stopped bracing for pain, even after the numbness.
