I don’t even have time to brace before he starts fucking me ruthlessly, fist at my hip and one in my hair—the sweet bite of pain knotting with ratcheting pleasure. His thick cock drags out and shuttles back in, slamming harder each time. And I desperately want more of that delicious friction. Whimpering, I match him stroke for stroke, hips bearing back relentlessly,savagely,like we’re distilled down to the most basic versions of ourselves.
And by the maker, I want him fucking unhinged.
His shadows collar my throat and twine over my heavy breasts, pulling cruelly at my nipples before dragging both my wrists behind my back. I should hate being bound and used like this, but I love it. I love the feel of him, the crash of his thighs against my ass, his ragged breaths and desperate strokes as if he wants to burrow inside me forever. This isn’t lovemaking—it’s a brutal conquest of heat, light, fury, and shadow.
I’ve never been taken like this: all-consuming, raw, real, and everything I didn’t know I needed. It’s angry and primal, our magic spiraling and coiling, the bond between us snapping tight.
At times, I can almost feel whathe’sfeeling, along with the immense hold he has over his emotions. And although there’s a part of me that wants him to break and give himself over to me entirely, it will be at a cost that neither of us is prepared to pay.
“Dare, I need to come,” I whimper as he impossibly speeds up, the erotic slapping of skin and our feral grunts of pleasure the only sounds in the room.
“Good,” he snarls. “Give me all of you, Starbright.”
His shadows snake between us, reaching my clit and vibrating against it. The pleasure builds to a crescendo and I’m screaming as my soul shatters into a million pieces, every single rune on my body lighting up and blasting outward in a brilliant detonation of light. As I convulse mindlessly around him, the orgasm prolonged by his merciless vibrating shadow magic, Dare’s thrusts become erratic.
His palms slam down on the table on either side of me, razor-sharp claws sprouting from their tips and splintering through the wood. For a moment, his cock grows impossibly thicker inside of me before he withdraws—making me tumble into a second bone-shaking orgasm—and buries himself one final time before he comes with an unearthly roar. Pulse after pulse of his hot spend fills me, and I swear to the fucking stars, my orgasm goes on forever.
Darrius collapses over me, my body still quivering with violent aftershocks. But it isn’t long before he pushes up, taking me with him, his shadows turning me helpfully so that he can take my lips in a tender kiss that makes my toes curl.
“Gods,” he rasps eventually, lips ghosting over my jawline. “Are you well?”
Forming words takes actual effort. “Define ‘well.’”
“Did I hurt you?”
“Far from it,” I say, catching the tinge of worry in his tone. “Except for obliterating my brain, that is.”
He chuckles and kisses me again. When we part, his irises gleam with the gold of his manticore. I glance over my shoulder at the deep claw marks marring the table’s surface, and stroke his cheekbone with a fingertip.
“You didn’t change fully.”
“It was close,” he admits.
Elated, I grin at him. “Then I suppose we simply need more practice.” I feel our combined fluids drip out of me and my cheeks heat. “Stars, I need a bath.”
Eyes glowing brighter, he nuzzles my neck with a soft rumble and holds me tighter. “The manticore likes you like this. Dripping in our seed.”
At his words, a thought about contraception that I probably should have had much earlier occurs suddenly to me. I haven’t renewed my annual inoculation, which would have been due about eight months after I received Javed’s invitation. With everything that had happened, I hadn’t given it any thought. Until now.
“Dare, you came inside. I can’t... We can’t... Stars, will I...”
“Don’t worry,” he says. “You won’t.” When I stare quizzically at him, he smiles. “God power.”
I laugh, somewhat relieved, though also strangely disheartened, an emotion I have no desire to dissect. “That’s handy. I suppose you don’t want mini-baby-god despots running about.”
He rears back in mock affront, a playful, unguarded grin on his face that stops me in my tracks. Stars, seeing him like this should be illegal. His shadow magic swirls to hoist me up, banding my arms behind my back and winding my legs around his waist like I’m nothing but a toy for him to play with. I blush at the lewd position, feeling his length rub against me. “Darrius...”
“You think me a tyrant?” he says.
I moan. “No?”
“You sound unsure, pátni.” His shadows swipe through my soaked folds, spreading me wide. I gasp as they dip inside, the wicked tendrils scissoring like a pair of fingers. I’m sore, but it feels too good to stop. “Should I teach this pretty little cunt a lesson?”
By the maker, he’s so filthy. Pleasure ramping, I writhe shamelessly on him, moaning every time the crown of his cock hits my clit and his magic strokes a spot deep inside. “Still not your wife,” I say, unsure why I’m protesting the endearment, other than to be contrary and to provoke him.
The denial works. His eyes glitter with vengeful promise as he notches his tip at my bruised entrance. “I have your soul and your body. I will conquer what’s left until every part of you is irrevocably mine,” he vows possessively. Then he sinks into me, snatching whatever useless reply I was about to make from my lips.
I’ll make you forget him.The ferocious thought fades almost immediately, but I catch the jealous viciousness of it.
