Page 148 of Veil of Blood and Bone

“Wren?”

I break away to bury my face in the crook where neck meets shoulders and absorb her racing pulse against my lips. Soon enough she’ll claw for me. Now, in the in between, there’s nothing but pleasure, nothing but trust, and I know if I glide my hand lower, she’ll already be soaking.

“Helene.” Lust shreds my voice.

This is why I’ve never been able to let her go. In a world where my people play games, where love is nothing but currency, she stands alone as a solid singularity.

There will never be anyone else for me.

Dragging my teeth higher, I nip the corner of her jaw before claiming the kiss, swallowing the moment she comes awake. She sighs into my mouth as my shadows drag her closer. My cock juts between us. Her legs fall on either side of my hips with her core drenching my length.

This stolen encounter means everything.

Years of celibacy, of not having her taste coating every part of me, it does something to a man. To be parted from the one real thing⁠—

I trace patterns across her hips and the lush curve of her ass.

She arches, and her eyes flutter open to meet mine. “Wren.”

“I love the way you say my name,” I whisper.

Gently, I brush between her legs and dip a finger inside of her without warning. She tamps down on a cry, and her teeth saw her lower lip. Her head falls.

Breath catching, I push another knuckle beside the first, working her until her thighs twitch.

Forest moans in his sleep, turning on his side. Nicholas remains still. Resting, but never easy.

“Do you want me to fuck you?” I kiss her deeply, maintaining eye contact. “How much do you want me to fuck you while the others sleep so that they wake to the scent of your desire? Knowing I’m the one who filled you first?”

She shakes her head like it’s not fair for us to do any of it. Or maybe fair isn’t the right word.

I curl my fingers inside her pussy and stroke. “I think you secretly adore the way we make you feel. You love it when you beg me.”

Helene stares at me like she’s the one in control here even as she unravels. I push the base of my palm to her clit to increase the friction.

Shadows encircle the strands of hair corkscrewed into sweaty spirals.

“Beg me to get you off.”

I growl into her ear as she clenches tighter around my fingers, milking them, her pussy fluttering with want.

It’s never been about ownership. She knows, without words, she’s the one pulling our leashes tight.

“Come on, monster. Beg.”

She shakes her head. “No.”

I twist to brush against her G spot and she gasps inside my mouth. Her body knows what her mind refuses to accept. She grinds her cunt closer, forcing my fingers deeper, aching for what I offer.

Her eyes drift close as the orgasm shudders to the surface. I stop all movement, holding her still, my palm flat to her clit.

“Beg,” I repeat, darker.

Denying her the climax she wants when she’s silent, I withdraw my fingers.

“What are you doing?” she asks.

“Isn’t it obvious?” In the next beat, angle my cock to her cunt. “I’m punishing you.”