Page 75 of When Ashes Fall

Even when the beast pleased them, they still lashed me with those brutal thorns… the ones I’d had tattooed on me to always remind me of those monsters and my mission.

Often, I was the one who emerged to take the beating from the casters. It was my chance to give the beast a break from its torture.

Those thorns had sliced across my flesh, torn it open, and left me bleeding on the bed. But those beatings were nothing compared to what the beast endured when he took over with the casters.

And now he saw her as his reward for all he’d done by finally getting the chance to be with his mate. However, Briar didn’t want the beast, and I couldn’t have it touching her.

I kept my claws under control; my fangs lengthened and retracted, but he couldn’t have her. What he’d do to her should never be done to the woman who felt so right in my arms. Not to the one whose cunt fit perfectly around me and was as close to heaven as I’d ever get.

But then, she might be safer with the beast than the man. The man wanted to fuck her until I couldn’t think, pound into her until nothing separated us. I also hungered to dominate and make her understand she would forever bend to my will.

My hand closed around her throat as I put her on the bed and came down on top of her. Her eyes, still dazed with passion, widened on me.

When she tipped her chin up, her gaze was somehow defiant yet yielding. No one would ever control me or have that kind of power over me again… but Briar possessed the ability to rattle me completely.

She could undo me in ways no other could. Briar was my weakness and my strength, and most terrifying of all… she was the one who could ruin me.

She hadn’t done it on purpose, but I was broken without her. I could never let her back into my heart like that again, yet I couldn’t deny my incessant lust for this woman and the ecstasy her body provided.

I hated that a part of me resented her for things beyond her control. I was the one who brought her to Wildwood, I was the one who kissed her first tonight, and I was the one buried deep inside her as her heels dug into my ass, and her small breaths whispered across the perfect lips that could so artfully suck my dick.

Reining in the beast, I pulled slowly out before driving back into her. The lingering contractions from her previous orgasm eased, but her pussy remained tight around me.

It was as if she were designed for me; she fit perfectly around me, beneath me, and above me. Unlike a shifter, she was far smaller than me, though average height for a caster. Yet, despite our differences in size, her body melded to mine in all the right places.

With my hand still on her throat, I drove into her. I needed to touch the very core of her as my orgasm sought to break free, but, like the beast, I kept it restrained.

I didn’t want this to end. Once this ended, I’d have to part from her again.

The beast bellowed within me as it surged forward. My knuckles cracked as my hands shifted; when I slammed my palm on the bed, my claws tore into the blankets and mattress.

Deep inside Briar, my shaft swelled. My other hand remained on her throat; she shook her head as she rested her palm against my face.

“Not the beast,” she whispered. “I don’t want what they had. I only want the man.”

Unable to stop it, my head fell back as a roar tore from my throat. Enraged at being denied, the beast resisted being caged again, but the man continued to leave his mark upon her body.

Fear shimmered in Briar’s eyes as I released her throat, grasped her wrists, and jerked them above her head. Pinning her arms to the bed, I leaned over until my lips brushed hers.

“Then you shall have the man,” I snarled.

When I reclaimed her mouth, it was with a savagery I’d never unleashed on her before. Instead of shrinking from my ferocity, she arched beneath me, dug her heels into my ass, and drew blood when she bit my lip.

Our blood mingled, but I detected the sweeter, more honeyed taste of hers. My mind flashed back to the day I marked her as my mate—the taste of her blood and the rush of claiming her as mine.

When my bones cracked, Briar bit harder. “Not the beast,” she murmured as her tongue swirled over my lips, tasting my blood.

My hands constricted on her wrists, and she let out a little cry as she broke the kiss and her head fell back. My blood dripping onto her neck created scarlet rivulets that spilled onto her breasts and stained the bed.

I’d caused her to bleed the first time we were together, and the last time. And I bled for her now… but she was also bleeding for me as blood trailed from her lip.

I hurt her.

Despite knowing that, I couldn’t stop myself from driving into her, taking her, and bending her to me. Or was she bending me to her?

I didn’t know, and I didn’t care anymore as my body owned hers. I was aware of what the beast experienced in the harem. I’d tried to hide from it, but it was impossible to shield myself completely.

I didn’t have to hide anything now, and it had been years since I’d experienced this level of pure ecstasy.