AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I carefully pop the buttons free on his shirt, exposing his muscular chest to my view. The hard planes of his body are beautiful as I run my fingers along each ridge. They leap and jump beneath my fingertips, eager for more than a lingering touch, but I explore every inch of his chest. When I’m done, I move around him, trailing my fingers along the muscles on his back. Every part of Weyland was made with strength, just as his wolf form is. He’s beautiful, the wildness in his soul leaking into the way he holds himself. Weyland’s body was made for study, as if he were some art piece on display.
When I circle him again, he opens his eyes, the brightness there reflecting the light coming from the cabin windows. They flash like those of a wild animal in the dark, a predator lying just beneath the surface.
“One day,” he rasps, his voice so thick with arousal, it makes my core clench. “One day, I’m going to explore you just the same,bacca. I’m going to caress every inch of you and follow with my lips until you’re writhing with desire.” He leans in, his breathbrushing across my neck. “I will only take you when you beg me, when you’re desperate for my cock.”
My face flushes at his words, my fingers clenching on his sides. I sway, and the urge to ask him what he’s waiting for lingers on the tip of my tongue. But tonight, I made progress with Kaito, and I don’t want to undo the healing I’ve done by forcing things too quickly.
I lean back and meet his eyes, my lips pulling into a smile. “One day,” I promise, lifting his hand to place a kiss against his palm. His eyes widen at the touch, at the intimacy of it. “One day, we’ll do such things without the darkness dancing at my heels.”
Weyland cups my jaw, the sweetness I know him for flickering in his eyes despite his words. I know he’ll never push me. I know he’ll never insist on things before I’m ready. He leans in and gently kisses my forehead.
His smile is sweetness and desire all wrapped into one. “One day, you’ll lead the darkness itself,bacca, and then it can never hold you hostage again.”
Because he believes I can, I believe it too.
Chapter
Thirty-Seven
KAI
Afew days later, when Dade asks if I’d like to go foraging with him, I jump at the chance. The dread unicorn is an interesting creature, but in his uniqueness, he’s also incredibly beautiful. If I hadn’t seen him in his unicorn form before, I would have a hard time believing the monster before me could turn into something equally as beautiful as he is in this form.
While I’ve been healing and learning to open up again, Dade has learned what it’s like to wear his human form again. No one would ever mistake him for a human in this form, though, and he’s had to adjust. It must be strange to have hands after having hooves for so long. I watched him fumble with a mug for a few seconds as he tried to remember how his fingers worked. I’ve also seen him drop item after item for the same reason, but it’s been months now and he no longer fumbles. He’s as smooth as the others, and one would never know he had to relearn these things.
Now, as we step out of the cabin and I put on the jacket Kaito made me, Dade looks at me with a grin.
“Would you like to walk, or would you like to ride?” he asks, his red eyes flickering with excitement.
I frown. “What would we ride?”
With a wink, he shifts, his body morphing into the warhorse I’d first seen him as. He shakes out his mane and prances in place.You ride me, he replies within my mind.
“I ride you?” I squeak, staring at him with wide eyes. “Won’t I fall off?”
Amusement flickers in the dread unicorn’s eyes.I would never let you fall.
I hesitate for a few seconds. Fear dances in my mind. There’s no saddle, and I’ve never had the opportunity to learn how to ride horses. In the Shadow Lands, horses were reserved for those who were higher rank or for the Gilded Lands. Common people weren’t allowed to ride the beasts for whatever reason. Once I was in the Gilded Lands, I wasn’t allowed to leave the castle, let alone learn to ride a horse. Even if I had that experience, Dade is much larger than any horse I’ve ever seen. I don’t even know how I’m going to climb upon him.
Do not worry, he purrs in my mind. Carefully, the giant dread unicorn kneels before me and lowers himself to the ground. I watch in wonder as he settles, looking at me expectantly.Climb on.
Biting my lip, I look between his back and his eyes. “You’re sure?”
His eyes twinkle.I’ve never been more certain of something in my life, Kai. Besides,he says, snorting at me,it’s been too long since I ran in this form.
I touch my fingers to his smooth fur, the oil-slick colors dancing from the light of the cabin. His skin moves beneath my fingers, as if he wants nothing more than for me to touch him. I trace his large form, stroking his mane.
Use that to pull yourself up,he instructs.Throw one leg over once you’re high enough.
I assume it won’t hurt him if he’s telling me to use it, but I’m still gentle as I do as he says. I heft myself up onto his back, my fingers threading into his mane to steady myself against him.
Now hold on, he says as he starts to stand. It jostles me as he launches to his feet, but I hang on tightly. A fall from this height would hurt, and I have no desire to embarrass myself.Remember, I won’t let you fall.
“I trust you,” I tell him, and the words are as true as any others. I trust Dade just as I do them all. I’ve never been so trusting in all my life. The only other person I’ve trusted as much as my monsters is Cora.
Good.
One word and then Dade takes off into the trees. I squeak and lean down to get a good hold of him, afraid of falling after everything I said. I clamp my eyes shut when the trees whip by in a blur. Dade is so fast, I can’t make out anything we pass as we run, my human eyes too weak to follow. After a few minutes, I start to relax. We enter the plains where trees don’t grow and for the first time, I sit up fully on his back and take it all in. In the distance, I can see the castle. I realize we must be running fast, closing the distance quickly.
