Page 83 of Revenant

“Reed, he…”

“Naomi told us. Reed turned you over to the wolves. We should have been more careful. I’m just glad you’re safe,” he interrupts gently, but her name on his lips sparks a fresh wave of anger to flood my veins, and I realize I’m not done fighting. Not yet.

“Reed isn’t the only one who abandoned me to the wolves. Your little side piece was right there, throwing flames at me to aid in her own escape. And where do I find you? With her!” I know, with everything inside me, he feels nothing for her. Yet, I can’t stop the words from tumbling from my lips. “Just like at the bonfire. You had her pinned against a tree, taking whatever it was you wanted from her.”

His scent presses in around me as he corners me against the oak tree, arms bracing on either side, holding me still. I feel my chest twist at his proximity, every nerve in my body suddenly alive. I can’t look away—emerald irises flecked with captivating rings of amber pin me in place—I’ve been caught mid-flight, every instinct warring to either fight or surrender.

“The bonfire?” He growls, gripping my chin. “Oh, spawn…you really have no idea, do you? Guess it’s about time I refresh your memory.” His breath is hot as it fans over my face and I clamp my jaw, pretending I’m not shaking from the adrenaline, but the heat under my skin tells another story. “I seem to remember you wading into that creek bare that night, letting any twat ogle your pretty little cunt.”

“Don’t act like you—”

His fingers skim down my abdomen, halting my retort as I try to steady myself, but when he drops to his knees, it’s impossible. The memory of him—pinned to Naomi as she melted into his hold—crowds my mind until I’m exposed in ways I don’t like admitting. “Tsk. There’s no need to be jealous, spawn. You actually think I was…indulging myself?” His lips curl, and the danger in his tone makes it impossible to look away.

“Every moment I was with her that night, you were all I could see. Floating on your back, nipples straining…begging for me, but there was nothing I could do but imagine.” One hand snakes behind my left thigh, hoisting my leg over his shoulder and lifting my skirt. “This curse and its bloody property restrictions kept my hands off you before…but now?” His breath brushes against my pussy, and I stare up at the branches, fighting not to unravel too quickly.

Every fiber of me aches, pleading for his touch to take the edge off. The magic running through my veins is almost unbearable. “So…I fed on her,” he continues. “Wishing every bite that it was you under my hands, under my mouth. Every gasp, every twitch…it was you I was fucking thinking of, Alicent. Not her. God, I wanted you so bad already it hurt.”

In one fluid motion, he tears a specially placed hole in my already battered tights, cool air rushing to my newly exposed flesh as he slips in two fingers, dragging my panties aside. “Lacey’s lucky she got away that night at the bonfire. If it weren’t for her magic, I would have killed her that night for pulling that little stunt.” Bastian’s teeth graze my clit while his fingers push deeper, igniting a flash of fire inside me as his tongue skates out. “I’ve never wanted anything as badly as I wanted to be in that water with you. To drown in you, taste you, feel you pressed against me.”

A slap lands on the top of my pussy—forcing my eyes to return to his—and I yelp in surprise. “If you think for one second there’s anyone else I’d rather be tasting right now, you’re sorely mistaken.” With that, he leans in again, one slow, teasing motion of his tongue that makes my knees wobble. The next pass comes harder, more demanding, and my leg presses against him, nails digging into the bark behind me.

“O–oh fuck,” I gasp.

I’m not even sure the words leave my mouth, but his low grunt of approval tells me he’s heard them anyway. Knots coil through me, pulling me down against his shoulder for support while every touch ignites something untamed beneath my skin. His fingers don’t just move in unison—they anchor me as my magic thrums like a storm, the chaos of Naomi and the werewolves threatening to erupt.

I thread my fingers through his black hair and jerk his head back, tilting his throat until his Adam’s apple bobs. The slick heat of my arousal glistens against his lips, and that wicked, teeth baring grin spreads wide, as he knows exactly what I’m about to say.

“Then taste me.” I growl through an intoxicating wave of confidence. “I want you to fucking taste me, Bastian.”

In an instant, he tears my tights further, the rip widening until my left femoral artery is laid bare. Two fangs sink into the soft flesh, and every ounce of control I have over my limbs evaporates. Bastian’s hand clamps down around my ass as he lifts me, my back scraping against the coarse wood as I rely entirely on his support. My fingers brace the tree trunk above me, grounding myself as my other leg hooks over his shoulder without thinking. The sting of his puncture pulsates, each throb reverberating straight to my core—a feral rhythm that matches the gentle suction he draws from feeding.

“Look at me,” he goads, and I give in, forcing my eyes to stay open when all I want is to let them flutter closed. “Fuck Naomi, this is what you need to remember, spawn—me on my knees, choosing you.” My mind goes hazy, slipping out of reach as the heat builds, pulling me under. I can’t think past it. My insides coil so tight, I think I might burst.

My legs quiver uselessly as I struggle to stay upright. I fist his hair for balance as crimson streaks slip from my skin to his, staining him in its path. A flush rises up my throat, as the sounds of his feeding bleed into the surrounding trees.

Returning his fingers to my center, he dips in and out, moving against me in a way that leaves my nerves screaming. My hips snap forward, following their own rhythm, mindless to anything but him. “That’s my girl,” he breathes, pulling back slightly. “Exactly like that.”

My head slams into the trunk as he drives inside me again, electricity coiling up my spine as I squirm, desperate for release. A blaze of pleasure floods me, radiating in waves through my limbs as I pull his hair tighter, biting back a cry.

“Bastian,” I whimper, so wet at this point I can’t tell the difference between what’s dripping down my thigh, arousal or blood.

For a heartbeat, pure bliss consumes me, sparks of heat skittering up and down my limbs in ecstasy. And then—just as my climax tears through me—my magic flares, bursting out in a white-hot pulse. My release isn’t polite; it shreds through me with a feral cry that makes the air itself recoil. The trees shiver, a flock of birds startled by the pulse of power erupt skyward.

And then I realize—every leaf, every twig on the forest floor is currently suspended in the air and tethered to the rhythm of my breathing. My orgasm was the spark, my body the conduit, and the forest willingly responded. One, two, a thousand leaves surround us, all bending and rising, because I willed them to.

I’m tempted to close my eyes and sink into it—letting the surge consume me—reveling in the newfound ruthless control stirring beneath my skin. Instead, I slide my legs off Bastian’s shoulders and rise, letting my eyes pin him in place as he remains kneeled before me.

“Tell me, how did it make you feel when you saw the memory of me riding Elias, earlier?” I prod, an intoxicating grin spreading over my lips that tastes dangerously like triumph.

He chuckles low, tilting his head to the side. “Odd of you to presume it did anything but turn me on.”

I quirk a brow, my mouth popping open just slightly at his admission.

In an instant, Bastian shifts, pulling me down with purpose. My knees land on either side of him, pulling a gasp from me as he presses his hips against mine with urgency—leaving no room to think.

“Did it just turn you on? Or were you jealous?” I ask breathlessly.

His fingers brush a mud-streaked strand of hair behind my ear, holding me in place as his eyes burn into mine. “I was.” He growls, voice resonant and full of hunger. The metallic, earthy tang of blood clings to his breath, filling my senses and pulling something feral to the surface.