Even through the fabric of his uniform, I felt him lurch against me. Felt a length of blunt, steely flesh kick and fight for the freedom to ravage.
But I didn’t beg.
Didn’t cry or whimper.
I didn’t have to, for it was that moment my stomach yowled in protest. Days of neglect whining in shameless submission, pleading mercy for all the meals I’d missed in the chaos following my capture.
He laughed. Free hand falling to the hollow between my ribs, where my stomach bubbled, he grinned at me in the dark. “Hungry for something more than cock, pet?”
“You’re a pig,” I whispered, but my stomach snarled again, against his palm.
Forehead dipping, he sucked in a breath that trembled, paused long enough to gather himself, then untangled us. He left me there, all but naked, spread on tidy sheets. “Such a pretty picture,” he said, stuffing one hand down the front of his slacks, adjusting the length that promised to leave me in ruins. “Stay put,” he cooed, and let his influence surge to life one more. Keeping me still, even as he turned and disappeared from sight.
It wasn’t until he was gone that I took my turn to draw a ragged breath. Heart slowing in his absence, the exhaustion flooded in.
And, unable to scrub at the burning itch that made my eyes water, I simply squeezed them shut. Blocking everything out.
The hunger…
The slippery ache…
The storm of elite havoc rampaging through my blood.
All of it lost to the blackness behind my eyelids.
I was asleep before he returned.
My last thought not to wonder at what I might be, but a dreadful realization.
With my help, the Elorans had claimed their injured man from the field, but in doing so they’d left the shield in Caledonian hands…
8
Wrapped in a cocoon of warmth, I slept.
Entranced by swirling, murky blackness that yawned and hummed a drowsy song. A song of sedation and warmth and hypnotic beauty. And behind my ribs, the heat of dark flames licking and pulling.Burningin the pit of my stomach, where I ached to be indulged, my hunger relieved.
It only grew worse. Growling long and low in the silence stuffing my ears, begging for food. For things I couldn’t begin to name.
I rolled to ignore the hunger pains. Writhing in silken sheets, I burrowed deeper, thighs whispering over luxury I hadn’t known in… years. Skin bare and cool despite the heat pulsing through my veins.
Groaning, I curled around myself. Flexed my back and snuggled beneath the soothing weight. Blankets saturated in an intoxicating scent, one I drew deep into my lungs, face pressed into a feathered pillow.
Hands dipping between my thighs, I clasped my palms and squeezed my knees together. Warming my fingers. Seeking comfort in a place where such a thing was rare to the point of absurdity.
Instead, I found the ache of slick flesh.
The urge to press against everything that was hard and cruel.Possessive. Taking things I couldn’t give.
I gasped.
Cold sweat prickling my hairline, my eyes snapped open to stare at nothing. Sightless, until I blinked and sucked a breath between sagging jaws.
I was panting.
Hungry and confused.
Naked.
