Fervid desperation made me want to be swallowed whole by him so I could think of nothing other than how our bodies combined. If he was inside of me, there wouldn’t be any room for this darkness. His pulse could teach mine how to beat normally again from within my core. I could purge all my rage, fear, and sadness safely through some primal ritual of passion. Myscreams had been choked in my throat since my first kill. He could draw them out.
I leaned forward to press my lips to his, but he pulled away suddenly.
“Wha—” A large palm cupped over my mouth before I could finish the question, his head cocking to the side attentively towards the woods.
I stilled.Voices.
Theo rose, standing over me. My confused yearnings only grew more complex as he peeled off his shirt and started to unzip his pants. He mouthed the word “inside” at me, a strong arm pointing commandingly at the cabin.
Was it wrong that I… didn’t want to go inside? I wanted to stay here, knowing that Theo was in control of the situation. Fleeing would only remind me of the terror I’d experienced when alone. Besides—some small, twisted part of me wanted to see him in action. Know this part of him. See his guardianship love language come to life. And if it was too much, I could always change my mind and run… right?
I knew one thing for certain—I would never hide in that fucking hole in the ground again. The warm starshine on my skin was a reminder that I wasn’t there trapped, alone, and terrified. It grounded me.
His expression was pleading as he pushed his denim down. Why was he stripping to his underwear? My strange, misplaced arousal didn’t mind the view. I was a little horrified by how I was reacting, but maybe I’d just unlocked a new tier of perversion as a souvenir of my trauma. Someone was about to try to kidnap me, and Theo was going to end them for it. And that turned me on… which was pretty fucked up. Thesecomplicated, twisted feelings had my heart ready to explode. And I was still looking to Theo as the solution.
“Fuck,” he growled as the voices grew closer. “Just… stay away, alright?” he begged.
And then, his body started changing. His tattoos darkened, their true black colors bleeding from beneath his skin. He blinked obsidian. The flesh surrounding his lips and eyes revealed their dark veins. Sharp points of fangs peeked under his parted lips. His entire body began togrow. Nothing like how I’d seen him bulk up before, but into something truly monstrous. The briefs that hung loose moments ago were skin-tight over his swelling muscles. He was stretching taller. Eight feet tall… nine feet tall! His muscular calves shifted forward, ankle joint moving up, further from his feet. His center of gravity shifted forward. He bent over, two hands supporting his weight on their knuckles. Like a bull ready to charge.
He was massive. Inhuman. Terrifying. And when those black eyes turned to look at me one last time, I knew the deadliest being in the forest would make sure our home was forever protected.
As the tops of heads became visible over the feathery wheat, he tore across the field on his hands and feet, rising to full height once reaching my prospective kidnappers.
“Holy shit!” and “Shoot!” were the only words I could make out before the first man was taken down in a single swipe of a hand. I sat at our picnic, wide-eyed as the problem was resolvedquickly.
There wasn't a fight, but a slaughter. My heart was thundering, and every misfired zap of terror was going straight between my thighs. There should bemanythings more arousingthan watching a man tear people limb from limb for my safety, but none came to mind.
It was over as quickly as it began. Against all logic, I walked towards Theo before the last man was fully dead. He was absolutely no threat to me.
Theo stood back to his full height and turned, his dark eyes widening at my approach. He stumbled a step back, shoulders caving in, his bulk deflating. The deadly titan before me lookedself-consciousabout his grandeur. He didn’t want me to see him like this. Fully feral. It was looked down upon in his culture, his natural form represented unhinged violence and rage.
“Stop,” I whispered, resting a palm on his black-striped arm. “Let me love this version of you too.”
Theo stared at me for a long moment. When he spoke his voice was familiar, but raw. Deep. A loud whisper that penetrated my bones like thunder quaking the ground. “You want me to stay like this?”
“Does that bother you?”
He blinked slowly. “No.”
“Are you hurt anywhere?” Healing him would always be my first priority. I glanced past him to thefourmen he’d just dispatched. A group of creatures was already gathering along the field border, waiting for their meal.
“I’m not hurt.” He was dampening his voice, it was restrained and somewhat tight. He’s probably never had a conversation in this form before.
I scanned the body of my god. A male suitably mated to his goddess. Ignoring the slight smears of red, I ran my palms up his rough skin. He tilted his head down to watch me. I traced myfingers upwards, finding his strong jaw—so capable of devouring me—and cupped it tenderly in my palms. He was beautiful.
“Everything is too much, Theo,” I explained, barely able to hear my own voice over my heart pounding in my ears. “Can you help me silence it?”
His brow furrowed between his horns. Confusion? It was hard to read his expression when it was this inhuman, but I knew he was thinking hard about the right thing to do. Doing the “correct” thing was always on his mind.
I reached for one of his hands. Their grooves were coarse, perfect for gripping and dismembering, as I’d just seen in action. I could barely hold it in both of mine. I slowly brought his palm to span over my breasts.
“Do you understand?” I asked.
“You want to… be touched? While I’m like this?”
“You’re a good male who takes care of his female.” I was intentional about using the terms that would mean the most to him. “And your mate loves every part of you. Will you break me to help me heal?”
I slipped my dress over my head as I spoke, dropping it to the ground. Fully bare to him in broad daylight and asking for pleasure as an outlet. A past version of myself would’ve crumbled, but Theo made me feel safe in every way. He helped me believe I was someone worthy of ravishing after returning from battle.
