I could taste his sweat and feel it gliding down my skin as our bodies joined together. I could feel the tautness of his ass in my hands as I squeezed it while drawing him deeper into me. His kiss, his taste, his possession of me was so palpable that reality and fantasy blurred for a minute.
With him inside me, I could forget about this awful place, Fiora, and the darkness. With him inside me, I would finally learn the ecstasy of being in the arms of my Chosen.
In the arms of your enemy.
That reminder returned me to reality. I retreated from the window and found the furthest corner of the room away from him. I slid down the wall to sit on the floor. Drawing my legs against my chest, I wrapped my arms around them and dug my fingers into my shins while I struggled to suppress the need building inside me.
I rested my head on my knees and refused to look at him anymore, but I could feel the swelling rush of his power building inside the room. I’d never ached so badly that it made breathing difficult before, but I did now.
He’s everything I’ve always fought against.
But if he was really my enemy, then why didn’t he let War destroy me?
Because if you die, he dies. It’s as simple as that.
But I suspected it wasn’t as simple as that for him. However, even if he would kill to protect me, he would also kill my king. And I could never allow that to happen.
* * *
Wrath
When I finishedwith the wraith, I released the pathetic creature and watched as it fell a few feet before making a feeble attempt to rise again. Then it plummeted to the ground and lay there. I felt no pity for the broken soul, it was getting what it deserved, but I did feel a rush of power.
Locked behind the seal, we’d fed on the scraps of wraiths that found their way into the lower bowels of Hell. We were starving millennia before the seals collapsed and still weren’t up to full power because of it.
I’d forgotten what it was like to feast on a wraith that offered so much power it caused my blood to rush as my muscles swelled with its strength. Now, every time I fed on a healthy wraith, I relished the strength it gave me. After years of deprivation, I fed more often than was necessary, but I would never forget what it was like to starve, and I wouldalwaysappreciate these healthy wraiths.
The scent of Bale’s heightened desire and distress drifted to me as my initial rush quieted. My body reacted to the need she radiated before I turned to find her sitting with her forehead on her knees. Her knuckles were white.
I froze as my dick hardened, my heart thundered, and saliva filled my mouth. I didn’t understand that rush of saliva until my canines lengthened. Despite their newness in my mouth, the fangs didn’t feel out of place. Instead, they felt as natural as my tongue.
Every part of me was desperate to claim my Chosen. My erection made walking difficult, but before I had any thought of moving, I was kneeling in front of her.
“Bale.”
She whimpered in response, and I barely suppressed a snarl. My Chosen was in need, and I could, andwould, take away her distress.
Brushing back the strands of her thick, fiery hair, I exposed more of her face, but she still wouldn’t lift her head to look at me. I stroked her cheeks and traced the contours of her ears. When my hands ran over her shoulders and down her sleeves, she shuddered, and her scent permeated the air.
I restrained myself from grabbing her legs, pulling them away from her, and laying her out before me. I could have her pants off and be inside her in less than thirty seconds. I could be claiming her and satisfying this insatiable hunger she’d awoken in me.
However, I couldn’t stop touching her. I’d never caressed someone like this before, and I couldn’t stop my exploration of her. I skimmed my hands down her calf and lifted the bottom of her pants to rub her silken skin.
She whimpered again and finally lifted her head. Behind her compressed lips, I saw the outline of her fangs, and mine extended further in response.
“I can ease you,” I said.
I gripped her neck and was leaning toward her when she whispered, “No.”
Unable to believe I heard her right, I froze. Her need was so intense I felt it in my bones. It enflamed my own to the point where I almost pushed her down and took what I wanted from her. She would fight me in the beginning, but she would eventually capitulate to her body’s demands and the rightness of our joining.
However, I was many things, and I’d committed many atrocious things over my lifetime, but rape was not one of them. There had always been so many willing women that it had never crossed my mind before. And now, the only woman who would ever matter was telling me no,again.
If I forced her into this, she would hate me. I didn’t know why that bothered me; I’d never cared what anyone thought of me before. I hoped they hated and feared me. I thrived on the demons who trembled when I entered a room.
But now, I was considering her feelings. Thatwas not who I was or who I wanted to be. I wasWrath. I was one of the horsemen. I was a demon who didn’t take any shit from anyone, and I was heeding the words of the woman who would deny us both what we craved.
My hand tightened on her nape as I dragged her closer. Her eyes held fire as well as passion when they met mine, but when I went to kiss her again, she turned her head away and planted her hands on my chest. She pushed against me as my lips found her cheek.
