Cosette saw the swirling night behind Davien’s eyes. She knew the beast was there, but he wasn’t going to pounce. Instead, it was as if he was watching from afar, granting them this moment together.
The weight of Davien’s body on hers was exciting. His hair-roughened skin against her smooth skin caused a delicious friction. His chest flattened her breasts but they didn’t hurt; they only ached with the desire for more. Always more from him.
When he pulled back enough for his tongue to find her nipple, Cosette arched upward and ran her hands up and down the crisp dark hairs on his chest. The sensation of his mouth upon her was so intense that she felt as if he were licking at other parts of her body. She suddenly wanted that above all else.
“As my lady commands,” Davien whispered in her ear, and for a moment she forgot that he could read her thoughts.
It wasn’t until he spread her legs and gave her what she wanted did she remember why she craved this. Craved him. In minutes she was splintering apart, fragments of her soul soaring to the heavens, the ecstasy from her orgasm piercing her with a shuddering quake that traveled all through her limbs. It was exquisite. It was all she ever wanted or needed. In this moment, Davien was her world.
When she felt the head of his cock nudging her opening, she let her legs fall even further apart to give him greater access. As he began to slide inside, she felt her lower regions stretching to accommodate the intrusion. Her entire body tensed, not in fear, but in anticipation of the moment they finally became as one.
Seconds passed, as he slowly moved—more, more, further, deeper—until, with a single thrust, he buried himself completely. Cosette gasped as her barrier was breeched, but the sensation of having Davien inside of her at long last was more breathtaking than any discomfort.
“You’re mine now, Cosette,” he growled.
She closed her eyes in surrender, for they were the sweetest words she’d ever heard.
He began a rhythm, slowly at first, but one that soon overtook them both. With every lunge and retreat, Cosette felt something building inside of her, something even more potent and forceful than anything she’d ever experienced before. She felt the very foundation of the earth crumbling beneath them, the walls cracking around them.
She could feel the essence of the locket flowing into her, surrounding her, absorbing into her blood.
She opened her eyes to find a red film covering her vision. It was almost as though she was looking outside at a raging fire, the flames silhouetted against the pane and casting a radiant gleam on Davien’s face. His eyes had taken on that unnatural glow of the aswang, but she wasn’t afraid. Her hips bucked to meet his every advance.
She stared right into those eyes when the moment of bliss finally struck her.
She erupted, clawing at Davien’s back, riding out the pleasure, taking it all until there was nothing left to give. With a shout of release, he poured himself into her, and she took it greedily.
After that, there was nothing except the sound of their sated, panting breaths.
Davien rolled off of Cosette, although he gathered her within the circle of his arms. He didn’t speak. She didn’t speak. Words weren’t necessary. Everything that needed to be portrayed had been told by their actions.
Cosette had returned to normal, the earlier haze having diminished, along with Davien’s inner beast. Right now they were simply a man and a woman who had shared an incredible experience. She was still drifting in the aftermath.
Blackburn touched the corner of her mouth. “I assume this smile means that I wasn’t too rough?”
That smile grew. “Not at all.” She glanced at his broad chest, lightly covered with crisp, dark hairs. She looked for his bullet wound from their attack in France, but found only a puckered scar in its place. He certainly hadn’t lied to her about healing quickly.
“Good.” He lightly touched his lips to hers.
It wasn’t until he turned to get up that Cosette gasped. “Your back.”
“What?” He glanced at her in confusion.
She swallowed, although she gestured to the looking glass on her dressing table.
Still naked, he walked over to see what had her so concerned. He paused, and she could only imagine that he was trying to figure out a way to contain his horror. Several welts crisscrossed his flesh in long, red streaks, as if he’d been beaten with a whip.
Or clawed.
Cosette covered her mouth with her hand, for there was surely no other explanation. That day at the cabin, after she’d gone out and committed such atrocities, Davien had told her that she was different, that the locket was growing more powerful. She’d almost scoffed at the idea, but now that the truth was staring her in the face, she had to admit the truth. “I don’t think your beast is the one we have to worry about.”
