Prey, his animal mind said.
Tenebrys landed on the trunk of the tree, making Delphi scream before he pounced on her, pinning her to the ground.
"Oh, gods, Tenebrys. Fuck, they were trying to kill me," she panted.
"You were running away," he growled, and her eyes widened.
"I promise I wasn't going to leave the grounds! I was going back when they ambushed me, and I had no choice but to run into the woods."
Tenebrys couldn't form any more words, couldn't think straight. He was mad and relieved that he got to her in time. The fae could have taken her away from him forever. The full moon madness swept over him again.
Tenebrys smelled blood and started to pat her down.
"I'm not hurt," she whispered.
He lifted the skirt of her dress and stared at the red lines of broken skin from the thorns and from running through thewoods. Tenebrys made a distressed sound before leaning down and licking the blood on her calf.
Delphi whimpered. "T-Ten...you don't need to do that... I'm okay."
She tried to move her leg, but his fingers fastened around it in an iron grip. He growled low and deep in warning. She stopped trying to move.
"Okay. Okay," she whispered. "I won't move."
Clever prey. Tenebrys licked at her wounds again, the magic in her blood fizzing against his tongue.
Delphi didn't try to stop him from cleaning the blood off one leg up to her knee. He licked behind it, his eyes fixed on hers. She bit her lip, smothering a little moan.
Hurt?his beast mind asked.
No. She wasn't afraid of him. He would have been able to smell it. Curious, he brushed his tongue behind her knee again. Something sweet and mouthwatering filled his senses, and it took him a moment to realize what it was.Arousal.
Delphi was aroused by him licking her. Surprise had the beast in him pulling back for a moment, long enough for Tenebrys to look at her clearly. Her pupils were dilated, her lips open and panting softly. He carefully put her leg back down.
Delphi didn't move, didn't say stop as he held his palm out toward her, waiting. If she tried to move away or said no, he would respect that despite the desire burning in his blood and the moon fucking with his head.
Delphi stared at him, bit her full lip, and then lifted her other leg and placed it in his outstretched palm.
17
Delphi could taste her pulse and sour adrenaline in her mouth. Racing through the woods, fighting off the fae...she had thought she was dead.
They had her cornered, and she had been ready to go down fighting. She had been brought up in the streets and knew how to use a dagger, but she had never seen anything move as the fae did. How could anyone fight something that was so fast?
She was preparing for the worst when Tenebrys arrived. The normal Tenebrys she knew wasn't there as he slaughtered the fae. His anger was primal, all beast, no man, and utterly breathtaking.
Now, his rage was gone, and his eyes were gleaming with lust as he looked down at her and gently licked the blood from her legs with his slightly rough tongue.
Delphi didn't know what it said about her that she was letting him do it. Worse still, every warm lick of his slightly raspy tongue was setting her on fire. She didn't want him to stop. It felt too soothing after being so afraid.
Tenebrys was studying her reactions carefully. Even in beast mode, he was making sure she wanted what he was doing to her.
After the stress of the past week, of tiptoeing around the fact that he turned her on even as he fought with her, Delphi wanted him to keep touching her. She no longer cared if it was right or wrong, or if they were meant to hate each other.
Tenebrys's big paw of a hand lifted her ripped and bloody skirt higher. She tried not to feel self-conscious as she was exposed to the cool night air. Tenebrys brushed the side of her soft thigh with the back of one large finger, a questioning look in his eyes.
Delphi nodded and spread herself wider in invitation. It was beyond dangerous to fool around in the Mistwood with the king of beasts. She didn't want it to stop, and there was nothing in the woods that he wouldn't be able to fight off.
Tenebrys's claws retracted, and he gently touched her pussy with an awed kind of reverence.
