She cried out, her body arching, and I groaned at the feel of her, her walls clamping down around me like a vice. Fuck, she felt incredible, her pussy hot and wet and so fucking tight, and I couldn’t stop myself from fucking her hard and fast, the sound of our bodies slapping together filling the room. I had both of her legs spread wide for me as I looked down at where we were joined. Her tiny body opening up to accept my dick was fascinating.
“Sir,” she moaned, her voice trembling, and I could feel her tightening around me, her body shaking with the force of her orgasm. “Sir! I can’t hold it!”
I slapped her clit. “Don’t you dare come little girl! Not yet. You’ll come when I bite you. Hold on.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Such a good, good girl for me.”
I could see how much my praise affected her. Her face was bliss at my words.
“You’re mine,” I growled, my voice low and rough. “Mine. And I’m so proud sweetheart.”
I continued to pound into her tight pussy until I was about to erupt, and I knew she couldn’t hold it another moment. I leaned over her body and kissed her one last time before I moved to her neck licking, sucking and tasting savoring everything about her. The lemon and floral scent filled my nose. My canine teeth elongated, and I sank my teeth into her neck, just above her collarbone, and she cried out, her body arching and trembling with her release. Her fingernails raked across my back. I could taste her blood on my tongue, hot and coppery, and I groaned, my cock pulsing inside her as I came, my knot swelling and locking us together.
She came again, her body shuddering, her pussy clenching around me, and I kissed her neck, licking the bite mark and soothing the sting. She was panting, her chest heaving, and I pulled back just enough to look into her eyes.
“Bite me,” I said, my voice rough with need. “Claim me.”
She hesitated for just a second, then she leaned up as her own canine teeth grew and sank her teeth into my shoulder, her bite sharp and sure. I groaned, my cock throbbing even more inside her as I felt the bond snap into place. Our bodies locked tight together until my knot solidified our mating.
When she finally pulled back, her teeth stained with my blood, she looked up at me, her eyes wide and dark with desire. “I feel you everywhere,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “It’s like you’re a part of me.” She was awed by the power of the bond.
I nodded, my chest heaving, and I kissed her again, hard and possessive. “That’s because wearea part of each other now. Our bond is forever, sweetheart. Goddess blessed.” I agreed.
We stayed like that for a long time, our bodies locked together, our hearts pounding in sync. And when my knot finally went down, I pulled out of her and gathered her in my arms, holding her close. I eventually went into the bathroom and dipped a washcloth in steaming hot water. I came back to her and cleaned her bite area and wiped between her legs,soothing her. I crawled into bed beside her, feeling a contentment I’d never felt before wash over me as we both drifted off to sleep, our bond sealed and our hearts finally whole.
Chapter 13
Brie
By the time Lysander and Inez were due to arrive, I’d circled the gallery space at least a hundred times. I checked the clock on my phone; the time blinking back at me like an accusation: 9:12 am. They weren’t due for another eighteen minutes, but the to-do list in my head was already whiplashing through possibilities. I’d run my thumb over every inch of exposed brick, flicked dust bunnies from the baseboards, and even tried to realign the potted snake plant by the front window for maximum Instagram appeal. The new polish on the wood floors was still curing, which meant I could smell the lemony bite of cleaning fluid everywhere I walked, a little dizzying in the best way.
The gallery wasn’t even open, but it already looked like the place had a life of its own: steel and glass, hardwood and hope. The ceiling soared, raw beams and black-painted ductwork overhead like the skeleton of some giant prehistoric bird. I’d hung the industrial pendant lights in a precise, alternating pattern, the bulbs soft enough not to scream “fluorescent middle school,” but bright enough for artwork. There were still ladders leaning against the north wall, blue tape Xs stuck at regular intervals for the future install. The back room, AKA my office, was stacked with paint cans, leftover tiles, and a curling extension cord that snaked across the threshold like a lazy python.
I paced, then retreated to the plate-glass windows, glancing up and down Main. A single FedEx van idled in front of the children’s clothing store across the street; otherwise, nothing but wind and shoppers. I told myself it was “peaceful,” but the silence just pressed on my ribcage, making me jump every time a car zipped by.
By 9:28 I heard the engine: a muted European purr, absolutely foreign to Dairyville’s normal decibel range of mufflers and tractors. It was a silver sedan with out-of-state plates and a rental sticker still peeling from the bumper. The doors opened with synchronized precision—first Lysander, then Inez, each one an argument for the world outside of Texas.
Lysander Hale looked exactly as I’d imagined from his Zoom call, but taller, with a kind of long-limbed angular grace you’d expect from a ballet dancer or a professional saboteur. He wore black jeans, a white shirt crisp enough to have its own social media presence, and a tan trench coat that would’ve been laughable anywhere south of Oklahoma, but here somehow made him look like the most important person within a fifty-mile radius. Inez was shorter, maybe my height, but with the kind of posture that made you stand up straighter just by looking at her. She had dark, sharp eyes and wore silky black hair pulled back and tied off with a long scarf. Her jacket was leather, probably vegan, and her boots looked more expensive than my last apartment rent.
They didn’t just enter—theyarrived. Lysander held the door, then swept in, his voice preempting anything I might have said: “You, my dear, are a goddess of transformation. Look at this!” He spun, arms open, like he was about to attempt a jeté across the concrete. “It’s stunning. I knew you had taste, Brie, but this is…”
He trailed off, letting his hand do a lazy circle around the room. Inez, meanwhile, stalked the perimeter, touching the bare walls like she was inspecting a crime scene.
I tried to channel confidence, but my palms were already sweating. “Welcome to Wildbrush. Or, the closest thing I have to it until the drywallers finish and I can afford a sign that doesn’t look like an Etsy fail.”
Lysander grinned and gave me a dramatic hug, almost spinning me off the ground. “This is so much better than I hoped. You look radiant, by the way. Love that lipstick!”
I rolled my eyes. “I ordered it from Macy’s just in case of emergencies.”
He gave me a withering look. “Darling, everything you do is an emergency,” and then turned to call over his shoulder: “Inez, thoughts?”
Inez ran a finger over the brick, leaving a faint line in the dust. “It’s authentic. And not too precious.” She flashed me the barest flicker of a smile. “Good bones.”
“Good bones,” Lysander repeated. “Did you hear that, Brie? Inez Chavez only says that about places she actually likes.” He dropped his voice to a faux whisper. “She once called a Chelsea gallery ‘an overpriced mausoleum’ to the owner’s face.”
Inez didn’t argue.
