Chapter Five
Light touched the horizon’s edge after a full day and night of riding. Dray lifted me from the horse to eat and piss, and even then only briefly. My legs cramped with each step, and a few moments of a soothing river I’d waded through didn’t bring any relief. Soft floral scents released from the flowers as the horses trampled them, adding a lovely element to the warm day, but I couldn’t enjoy them.
Instead, I noticed every motion of the Reaper’s body behind me. When he breathed too hard, my heart jumped into my throat. A lift of his hand made me tense. The constant rush of adrenaline at his every move had worn me to exhaustion.
My head lulled, and my eyes drifted shut. The top of the steed didn’t offer any place to rest my head. When I dozed, it fell forward, only to jerk me upright at the sudden discomfort. Then my eyelids lowered to begin the process again.
After a while, Dray’s deep laugh rattled behind me, thrusting me out of my half slumber with a panicked impulse.
“Your attempts to avoid me all day have finally drained you, then?” He dropped the reins, giving his horse a free head, but the animal seemed content to lazily meander the path of the Reapers before him. Dray circled one hand over my forehead and pressed my head into his shoulder. “You’ll not find rest here, I’m afraid.”
I feared the same. My stomach twisted, complaining of more than the meager ration of dried meat and nuts I’d consumed.
Dray ran his other hand beneath my shirt, skirting the edges of the belt he’d secured around my waist. He slipped his fingertips beneath the band. I caught his wrist with my bound hands, muscles screaming as I attempted to draw his touch from me.
He chuckled, releasing my head.
“Keep struggling, Elys.” A hardness grew more firm against my ass. “I rather enjoy it.”
Dray grabbed my wrists, and the metal bands softened at his desires. He pulled my arms behind me, not even noticing my attempts to tug them from his grasp. The chains solidified, trapping them tightly behind me.
He shifted on the seat and pressed my palm against his bulging cock.
“That’s better,” he whispered in my ear.
I straightened my spine. If he wanted any pleasure from my hands, he’d have to do it himself.
He laughed again and pulled my hair to one side, exposing my ear to his lips.
“You think me a monster,” he whispered, that warm breath hinting of flames and fire, twirling a stubborn part of me that enjoyed his touch to life. “I think you’ll find that life can make a monster out of anyone, whether or not they resist.” Dray went back to my belt and loosened the clasp, allowing the trousers to gape over my hips. “But the monster inside me has chosen you, Elys. And he’s never letting you go.”
He fluttered a light touch across my stomach and caressed the space beneath my breasts. The horse’s motion bounced them softly against his fingertips, and Dray pressed his touch harder into me.
I wished my body hated the feeling as much as my mind. And yet, I grew damp at even that contact.
Dray growled, low and hungry. “You want the monster, too.”
I shook my head. His stubbled chin brushed against my temple. Soft sensations tingled down my skin.
“I know you do.” He rubbed his cock against my hands. He moved to cup my breasts, trapping each budded nipped between his thumb and forefinger. “I’ll make sure I’m the only monster you’ll ever want, Elys.”
His touch drew away the aches and pains of my muscles. An unbeckoned moan wanted to slip through my lips, silenced by the curse cast over me. As Dray teased me more and more, I found my hips rocking to his rhythm, grinding me tighter against him.
My head fell back unwillingly. The exhaustion and building crests of pleasure created a struggle between wants and needs. I wasn’t sure which was which anymore, as the Reaper’s firm grip on my breasts bordered firm and painful.
His cape fell over his shoulder, and my hair caught in the strands of the clasps along his satchel. At the sharp tug against my scalp, a few tendrils of logic escaped between Dray’s relentless kneading.
He’d stuffed the orb into his satchel.
I twisted again, trying to ignore each caress that drew more heat from my core. I leaned into the man, soliciting another throaty noise from him, playing my part for a moment.
The hard, round outline of the orb poked into my back.
My heart thumped louder, turning white noise through my ears. Perhaps if I could draw the satchel away from the man, I’d have a moment to claim – and break – the cursed orb. Plans wound through my mind. Several things existed that could easily persuade men to remove their clothes. Dray seemed particularly fond of one – me.
He stopped pinching my nipples and slipped one hand between my breasts, circling my throat with a tighter grip. The filaments of my plans dissipated as he tightened his fingers into my neck.
“Are you thinking of something else, Elys?” Dray brushed his lips over my jaw. His other hand dipped below the breeches and sought my clit. He caressed the length of my sensitive bud and tightened his hand on my throat.
