Page 49

We drop our gazes simultaneously, both of us taking in the bead of precum that fucking rolls down my shaft. Horror punches through me at the sight.

Orion goes eerily still, those golden eyes dimming slightly. “Perhaps think of other things,” he grunts.

I bark out a laugh despite myself, but yelp when heat pools between my legs. A slick, clear substance floods my crease and leaks down the backs of my thighs. It shocks me so much that I shift onto my knees with a shout, which only makes it worse.

What is happening to me?

Another cramp rolls through my stomach hard enough to steal the breath from my lungs. I grit my teeth and wait for it to pass, only for the pain to sear through the rest of my body.

My skin feels too tight, too hot. Every breath comes quicker than the last, and the cave suddenly seems several sizes too small. A sweet, pungent scent fills the air. Orion's head jerks in my direction so violently it almost looks painful, and for one strange, disorienting second, neither of us moves.

Then his nostrils flare. Once, twice. His entire body goes rigid.

“Orion?” I whisper shakily through the pain.

His pupils expand. A low rumble vibrates through the cavern, deep enough that I feel it rather than hear it. Pebbles skitter across the stone floor beneath his feet as his claws flex at his sides.

“Hey… What's wrong?”

He takes one slow step toward me, then stops in his tracks. Every muscle in his body trembles. The rumble inside his chest grows louder, almost strained. His eyes stay fixed on me with an intensity that makes my skin prickle and my cock unbearably hard.

More slickness trickles down my legs, causing him to inhale sharply. A violent growl tears from his chest, and without warning, he spins away from me to slam a fist into the wall with a deafening crack.

I flinch so hard that another heated cramp makes my eyes water. “What the fuck?”

Stone splinters as dust rains down from above. The enormous beast just stands there with one hand braced against the rock, broad shoulders rising and falling with heavy breaths. When he finally speaks, his voice comes out rough enough to barely sound like words. “Do not come closer.”

All I can do is gape at his back, my own confusion momentarily eclipsing the fever burning through my skin. “Orion…”

His horned head bows. “I do not know what is happening.”

Well, that makes two of us, buddy. A visceral need slams through me to go to him, to run my fingers through his fur. “Maybe we should⁠—”

Another desperate rumble barrels out of him, his claws carving deep grooves through solid rock as his entire body shakes. “I said…” He sucks in a ragged breath. “Do. Not.”

A violent, almost pleasurable shudder wracks my body when his scent floods my senses, forcing me to curl in on myself. Some form of strangled moan escapes my throat before I can stop it, and Orion freezes. Every muscle in his body grows taut.

Slowly—painfully slowly—he turns his head. Those golden eyes find mine, catching my breath in their heated gaze. Something isn't right.

They're still Orion’s eyes, but whatever… softness that had lived behind them has been swallowed by something far older—feral. He inhales deeply, like he's drawing in my scent as well, and my heartbeat hammers in my ears when I once again take in the heavy cock swinging between his legs. “Holy shit.”

He takes one step toward me. Then another. Each movement is unnaturally deliberate, as though he's forcing himself to walk instead of run.

“I…” Orion presses a clawed fist against his own chest hard enough to draw blood. “Leave.”

“What?”

“Run.”

I blink rapidly, feet frozen in place. “But… I don’t know⁠—”

“RUN!”

His roar explodes through the cavern, rattling the earth beneath me.

Every survival instinct I possess takes over as I scramble to my feet, nearly collapsing when my injured leg buckles. Pain shoots through my thigh, but adrenaline drowns it out. With every ounce of strength I have, I dart for the tunnel.

Darkness swallows me whole. Within seconds, the faint glow from Orion's den disappears behind a bend in the tunnel, leaving me completely blind. Another bellow shakes the mountain as heavy footsteps thunder across the cavern floor.