Page 16 of What Lies Beyond the Realms

I shake my head in disbelief. Aidan drugged me so that he’d have no trouble getting me to have sex. For my first time being with a man, I was tricked and used. Now nothing could ever change that. I hung my head a little, lost.

“I hate to say it, but we have to head back soon. I don’t want Aidan knowing we took you out today,” Luke says, pulling me from my thoughts.

“Whatever you do, Lyra, just be on your guard around him, and don’t eat anymore moon bread,” Rhett says, getting to his feet.

We gather up our things and get presentable, then start the hike back down to Aidan’s cabin. Halfway through the hike, Rhett bids us farewell, saying he’ll see us later tonight and something else about helping his mom before the festival. He shifts into his wolf form and takes off. Luke and I hike mostly in silence until we reached the cabin driveway.

We both freeze as we catch sight of Aidan sitting on the steps, watching us. His expression is tense, his body language is defensive, and I can tell that something is bothering him. It takes a tap on my back from Luke to get me moving again. I feel a wave of anxiety wash over me as I realize how angry Aidan looks. I’m afraid of what kind of trouble he’s going to unleash on Luke for breaking the rules.

“Aidan we—”

“Go get ready for tonight. I’ll deal with you later,” he says to Luke.

Luke gives me a look that reminds me of a puppy being scolded by its master. I give him a slight smile and nod to tell him it's fine, then he leaves us.

“Inside. Now.” Aidan’s tone is anything but joking. I hurry up the steps, and once inside I turn around to face him. He slams the door.

“I told you not to leave this goddamn cabin today, Lyra,” he yells, looking down at me.

I try to defuse the situation with Aidan. “We didn’t go into town. No one saw us. It’s over now, and I was safe the whole time. So please just calm down.” But I can feel the tension in my own voice as I respond to him. Despite my efforts to sound calm, my voice gets louder and more agitated in return.

“Bedroom. Now,” he growls.

I’m ready to protest, but he grabs my arm and drags me toward the bedroom.

“Take off your clothes,” he demands.

“Aidan, please.” My voice cracks, and a surge of panic washes over me.

“Take off your fucking clothes now.”

He grabs my tunic and rips it down the middle with both hands. My breasts break loose, and I use all my strength to push him away, but he just grabs my wrist and shoves me back on the bed, hard. Fear takes hold of me, and I frantically kick out, trying to distance myself from him. He clutches my ankles, seizing me. He gets a grip on my pants and pulls them down around my ankles. Dread creeps up my spine.

“Please don’t. Aidan, I’m sorry,” I plead, tears running down my cheeks.

“You want to act like a little bitch and disobey me, Cheeks, then I’m going to show you who the boss is right now.” His voice is low and menacing, and I can tell he isn’t trying to mask his dark side anymore. He pulls me to the edge of the bed. My ass hits against him and my legs go up in the air. I try to kick him away again, but he catches my legs and rips my boots off. He rips them off with claws. Sharp claws protrude from his fingertips. He pulls my leggings the rest of the way off, licking his lips and revealing that his teeth are now replaced with sharp canines. He pulls his pants down then grabs me by the throat. There’s a feral look in his eyes, and he thrusts into me. I cry out in pain. He’s holding my legs to his chest while slamming into me over and over again. It’s burning, and I’m crying harder now. My heart is racing, and my mind goes blank with disbelief as I struggle to grasp what is happening to me.

“Aidan, please. You don’t have to do this,” I mutter between sobs.

He grabs a pillow and puts it over my face, snarling. “Stop crying, Lyra. It’s time to grow up and respect the people in charge.”

I stare into the pillow, trying to think of anything else to get through this moment. He grabs my breast with his hand and squeezes hard.

“You like when I fuck you like this, don’t you?”

I don’t know how long this goes on because at some point I just black out while crying into the pillow. I wake up when Aidan removes the pillow from my face. With one hand he grabs me by the hair, pulling my face right to his cock. I try to turn away, but he takes his other hand and squeezes my jaw, forcing it open. He pushes his dick in my mouth and comes—salty, warm, and thick fluid in my throat.

“Swallow it,” he says, still holding my jaw open, pressing his claws in.

I gag and choke down what he released in my mouth. Then he pulls out and pushes me back on the bed.

“You’re lucky I took your mouth. Next time it’ll be your ass, and I don’t think you will enjoy it as much,” he says with an evil smile on his face.

I lie there tears streaming down my face, seized by shock. I hear him fill the bath with buckets of warm water.

“Go take a bath. You’re filthy. I want you to look good tonight. I’ll lay your clothes out on the bed. Now cheer up, Cheeks. You know you enjoyed that.”

Chapter Nine