Beast

Chapter Ten

Dante felt like the whole world had turned on its head. One minute he’d been perfectly happy having his cock attended to by his consort, and the next she’d been deep inside his head, invading with a sweet sense of intimacy that he’d never felt before. He was a man who had never felt alone once in his life, but when he’d touched Kaja’s mind with his own, he’d realized that he’d never really known what it meant to be together with someone. He’d understood Kaja in that one instant more than he’d ever known another being.

That had to stop.

When the hunger had come, Dante had been more than happy to give in to it.

“What is wrong?” Kaja asked.

He could sense her fear. There was just the smallest part of him that reveled in it. Kaja was powerful on her own. The fact that she was frightened spoke to the beast that obviously lived inside him. Dante had ignored this primal side of himself for far too long. Now, with a consort so close, Dante couldn’t ignore the part of him that needed blood—real blood.

Her blood.

“Nothing is wrong, consort.” His voice sounded odd to his own ears. It was deeper and more demanding than it had ever been before. The world looked different with his eyes fully opened, his senses on alert. Kaja glowed, the halo that surrounded her so fucking gorgeous to Dante’s eyes.

Her blood would be the best he’d ever tasted.

Dante felt his dick get hard again at the thought of having her in his arms. This time he would pull her close. He would get his fangs in her neck and drink his fill.

“Come to me, Kaja.”

Her beautiful, graceful form backed away, just a bit.

“Do not run from me, consort,” Dante warned. His fangs had popped out, filling his mouth and forcing him to speak around them. “I am only barely in control now. If you try to flee, I think I’ll lose it, and I’ll take you without any kindness. I don’t want that between us.”

Oh, but it was there. The desire to take her because she belonged to him was right there beneath the surface. His senses were filled with her. Her skin glowed, and he could smell the soft, musky scent of her desire. Her lips were full, swollen from the way he’d shoved his cock in between them. He’d shove his cock into her pussy, too. She was his. He’d bought her, fought for her. It was only right that he take her.

Kaja swallowed and got to her knees. “I do not want that between us, either.”

It was the gentle hitch in her voice that pulled him from the edge. She’d seen so much violence, known so little kindness. He’d closed that odd connection between them before he’d seen too much, but he’d caught the edge of Kaja’s reality. The last thing he wanted was to be just another person who used her.

But that’s what you’re doing. That voice in his head didn’t seem to care about his hunger. He wasn’t using her. He was saving her. If he hadn’t bought her, Beck would have been forced to kill her, or she would have spent a lifetime alone, wandering the forests. He’d done her a favor. And when she’d paid him back by convincing his father he had settled down, Dante would find her a nice home. She would have luxury like she’d never imagined.

“What should I do?” Kaja asked.

He could think of a million things she should do. She should run because he wasn’t worthy of her. He was a selfish bastard, and he always would be. He couldn’t commit. It was simply impossible. This raging passion he felt for her would fade. It was inevitable, so if he had a heart in his body, he would save her the pain.

“Come to me.” He held out his hand and indicated that she should sit on his lap.

Kaja got to her feet and stepped forward. She placed herself on his lap, the soft flesh of her ass kissing his thighs. The minute her skin touched his, he felt something ease deep inside him. That nagging beast that raged below the surface let up the tiniest bit.

“Put your arms around me.” Dante let his hands drift to her waist as he breathed her in. Her hair was mostly dry, and it bloomed around her delicate face like a halo of softness. He let his nose run through it. Kaja’s hands found their way around his neck, and he could hear the way her heart sped up. She might be frightened, but there was obviously a part of her that wanted, too. Kaja knew what Dante was going to do, and yet she wrapped her body around his, allowing him to fill his every sense with her.

Dante’s heart began to pound in time to the rhythm he heard. Kaja’s chest thudded as he ran his nose along the line of her neck. He could hear the blood running through her body like a river of life. His fangs scraped her skin, and she trembled.

“Don’t be afraid.” He couldn’t stand the thought now. Her arms were around him, circling him in her light. Her very touch had softened his predatory instincts and brought out a need to please her. A consort had her power, too.

“Will it hurt?” The words came out on a breathless whisper.

He kept his mouth close to her neck. He couldn’t seem to move it. It was far too tempting. But he soothed a hand down her back. “I don’t know, love. I don’t think so. Consorts seem to love the bite, and it’s always followed by some righteously nasty sex.”

He felt her chuckle, and something eased inside him. “You sound like Dante again.”

He felt more in control. Her very nearness allowed him to push the beast back. It was still there, simmering below the surface, but Dante felt more like himself.

And he was hungry. So fucking hungry.

It gnawed at his gut, but it was so much more than physical. He hungered for her. If someone had offered him a pill at that moment, he would have smacked them down. He didn’t need fucking nutrition. He needed her.

But there was a process. Every royal knew it. Every royal was forced to study it right along with an embarrassing course in sex education. Dante had laughed his way through it, from the talk on safe feeding to the teaching plastic model every student had been forced to “feed” from to prove he wouldn’t rip its throat out. Delicacy was given high marks. If he simply bit down, she would be in agony. Persuasion was the key.

“Look at me, Kaja.” Dante forced his head up. He looked into her eyes, not allowing himself a moment to blink.

“They’re so beautiful. So green. Like the forest in high summer before the winter takes everything away.” Kaja stared at his eyes, not fighting him at all. Her mouth was slightly open. This was what the class had talked about. Persuasion. It felt good to pull her in and know she was his for the taking. She wouldn’t feel the pain of his fangs penetrating that smooth, white neck. All she would feel would be pleasure with every drag he took from her.

“You’re the beautiful one, Kaj.” He smoothed back her hair. Her crystal-blue eyes were a little cloudy, but he couldn’t mistake the affection there. She was fully in the moment with him.

And this was more than a feed. Dante pulled her close, her nipples brushing against his chest. They were hard little points. He could feel her wet little pussy rubbing against his thigh. Kaja was ready for a long, hard fucking, and he would give it to her. After.

Instinct led him. He forgot about the class and everything he’d ever heard about this act. This was between him and Kaja, and no one else in all the planes of existence could know what it felt like. The world had narrowed down, and Kaja filled it. There was only the scent of her, and the pearly glow of her skin, and the sound of her heart.

Dante gently grabbed a handful of silky hair and pulled her head back, exposing the long line of her neck. A single vein seemed to pulse and tempt him. He licked from her collarbone to just below her earlobe, following that sweet river that would feed his hunger.

“Please, Dante.” She squirmed just a little.

Dante chuckled. There was no fear in her voice now. She wanted it. She was ready to beg for it. And Dante was done playing. His cock ached and every muscle in his body screamed to take her.

“Yes. Yes, it’s time.” It was time to join with her. The phrase stuck in his head like a song he couldn’t get rid of. Joining. Being. Kaja.

Dante struck. He didn’t question how he knew where to strike. He simply let that primal piece of himself take over, and his fangs pierced the vein with flawless accuracy. Not too deep. He felt the small hollow in his fangs fill for the first time with sweet, living blood. So warm and rich. He hadn’t realized how cold he’d been before, but as Kaja’s blood began to flow through his system, he knew he’d never look at a meal pill again. This was what it meant to be full and complete. Her blood invaded him like the sweetest drug he’d ever known. She was better than alcohol, better than anything.

Dante dragged blood into his body as Kaja moaned in his arms. She clung to him, her hands clutching as though she never wanted him to stop.

And that was the danger. She didn’t want to stop. He didn’t want to stop. He could drink until she was dry and still want more. Just another minute and he would stop.

Then there was something beneath the taste. Dante felt something skittering on the edge of his consciousness. It was a single vision.

The world was white and cold. All around him was snow. It coated the ground and filled the air. White flakes danced through the wind and played on his snout.

He had a snout. He had four feet and a strong body. He could feel the long line of his spine. He scented the air. It was like the layers of an onion. There were surface smells—his own body, the scent of pine trees, the clean smell of snow. But there was more. He breathed it in, peeling back the layers. There was dirt under the snow. It had a loamy smell. Just to his right, he scented blood and the smell of the pack. That was his pack. He turned toward them. They had a huge buck down, its tan hide opened, and the blood made a stark contrast against the snow.

His heart constricted. There was a reason he stood behind. His stomach gnawed in hunger. It felt like his stomach was trying to turn in on itself. He wanted that flesh. He needed it, but he wasn’t welcome. He would have to wait until the pack was done and hope that there was something left. He would munch on the bones and try to tear the bits of meat that would cling to the hide.

He stood apart and watched them.

He was Kaja. Dante’s eyes flew open, and he released the vein.

What the hell had happened?

Kaja slumped back in his arms. He tightened his hands on her so she didn’t fall. Had he taken too much? He forced the odd vision out of his brain as panic took over for a moment. He couldn’t have hurt her. He wouldn’t want to live if he’d hurt her.

Kaja’s eyes came open. A dreamy look crossed her face. She lifted a hand to his cheek. “That did not hurt.”

Relief swept over him. She didn’t look anything like a woman he’d abused. She looked like a woman who’d had a good time. She looked like a woman who was satisfied.

His eyes strayed to the twin marks on her neck, and he felt his cock swell again. Those small holes marked her as his. She belonged to him. More than any piece of paper or monetary exchange, the fact that her blood was in his body, sustaining him and making him warm and alive, was proof that he owned this woman. The worries fell away, and Dante began to hunger again.

He wasn’t going to hold back this time. She’d agreed to mate with him before. That would have to do.

He let his hands drift to her breasts. They were soft, so utterly unlike the feel of breasts on his plane. He would be able to sleep with his head pillowed on them. They molded to fit his hand. The nipples were already hard before he ever touched them. He rolled them between his thumb and forefinger while Kaja made that soft whimpering sound that always made his dick strain to get inside her.

“I want to fuck, Kaj.” He should warn her before he rammed his cock into her cunt.

She nodded and scrambled off his lap. Dante was just about to chase her down when she got to her knees in the soft sand and dropped to all fours. Her round ass was presented to him, and Dante couldn’t resist. He fell to his knees behind her feeling more powerful than he’d ever felt before. He wasn’t sure if it was her blood singing inside him or the fact that she was so submissive. He’d never wanted it before. He never wanted a female on her knees waiting for him to take his pleasure. It made him responsible for her, but he couldn’t resist Kaja. He traced the line of her spine with his hand, inspecting the bounty placed before him. Her ass cheeks were round and formed a sweet upside down heart.

“Spread your knees apart.” Dante wanted to see her asshole. His cock twitched against his abdomen. The fucking thing was standing straight up.

Kaja was obedient. She spread her legs further, giving him full access to all those holes Dante was thinking about fucking. He could see her pussy lips glistening with moisture and her little anus peeking from between her cheeks. It was a pale pink, almost a rosy brown, and it looked so tight.

“Did that lame-ass Second of yours ever fuck this pretty little asshole, love?” His fangs were back out. It wasn’t entirely about the sex that was about to happen. There was an edge of violence to his mood as well. He didn’t like to think about the fucker who had raped his wife. That was what it had been. This Second of hers had shown her no pleasure, no kindness. He’d held her down and tossed her aside. He’d taken something that belonged to Dante, and if Dante ever met up with him, there would be a reckoning.

Kaja’s sweet face turned, her eyes wide with obvious confusion. “No. Why would he do such a thing?”

Dante almost laughed. He was glad that asshole hadn’t taken hers. “I’ll do it because it’s mine. You should get used to me, Kaj. I’ll be on you all the time now. I’ll fuck any hole that’s big enough to fit my cock into because you’re my wife.”

A little smile curled her lips up, and it did odd things to his heart to see her smile. “I am glad my ears are small then, Dante.”

He laughed while he moved between her legs. “I think your ears are safe, love. But I assure you once we get home and I have you properly prepared, you will accept my cock in your ass.”

“Or you will spank me.” It was said with a breathless little sigh.

Fuck, she was so submissive when it came to sex. She might fight him elsewhere, but she submitted where it counted. He smacked that gorgeous ass and felt her tremble. “That’s right. Don’t forget it. I’ll spank you, Kaj, and that won’t be the worst of it. I’ll have you tied up and tied down, and you’ll be utterly at my mercy. But for now, I’ll settle for this.”

Dante lined his cock up and pushed his way in.

Heat and tight pleasure threatened to swamp him. He pushed his cock inside, gripping her hips and forcing himself into her cunt. A savage joy overtook him. That Second must have had a pencil dick, because Kaja was as tight as a virgin. She was so snug around him that Dante had to breathe to control himself. He wanted this to last. He pulled out and thrust back in, not missing the way her pussy sucked at him. He thrust until he was flush against her, his thighs pressed to the backs of her own. Her head had fallen forward in complete submission. Her body was his to do with as he pleased.

He dragged his cock out again and then set a brutal pace. He fucked her like a jackhammer, using her body with ruthless precision. He controlled the movement by tightening his hands on her hips and forcing her body to accept his dick.

He was just about to let out a roar and fill her with his cum when it happened again. It was a flash of Kaja. This was how the Second had taken her, though he’d had a friend hold her down by the neck while another had forced her legs apart. She’d gritted her teeth and endured as the Second had used her. It was all Kaja knew. It was why she’d gotten into this position. Kaja didn’t understand that there was more than one way to make love. She only knew how to be raped.

Dante fell back, tears coating his eyes and making the world seem like a watery mess. What was he doing? He was treating Kaja like a possession, not something precious and valuable. He was behaving as all the men who Kaja had known before had behaved. She was his wife. Her blood was in his body. She was worth more than this.

“Did I displease you?” Kaja asked. She was on her knees, her arms covering her breasts. She’d turned in on herself. He could see that now. Her face went blank when she retreated.

No. She hadn’t displeased him in the least, but he couldn’t say the same for himself. The urge to walk away was right there like a knot in his chest that wouldn’t let him breathe. He didn’t want to feel this way. He didn’t want to be responsible for her. He wanted to be the man he’d always been before—the good-time guy. He wanted to party and fuck pretty women and send them on their way. He didn’t want to have his heart ripped out every time Kaja turned those gorgeous eyes on him. He didn’t fucking want to care.

“I should leave then.” Kaja’s eyes turned down, but not before he caught the sheen of unshed tears. “I will find a place to sleep, but I won’t go far.”

She would curl up and cry and wonder how she’d failed him. Dante knew exactly what she would do. He could tell her it wasn’t her fault, but she wouldn’t believe it. She would only believe it if he showed her.

He couldn’t let her leave. “Kaja, I’m not done.”

She bit at her bottom lip. “But you pushed me away. Perhaps if you told me what I did wrong, I could learn how to please you.”

He reached out and pulled her close. Only when her arms went around him did he relax again. He’d fucked up, but he could fix it. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Kaj. I just didn’t want to make love that way. I want to see your pretty face when you come for me.”

“But the mating…” she began.

He shook his head and forced her to look him in the eyes. “No mating. Mating is for assholes who want to use you and give you nothing in return. Put that word out of your mind.” He let his hands roam as he eased her onto her back and got between her legs. He covered her body with his. Yes, this was what he’d missed. He was wrapped in her softness. “We’re going to make love, you and I. We’re going to fuck, but in the sweetest way possible. Do you understand?”

“No, but I already like it. I like being close to you.” Her legs moved against his hips. She was already accepting him in a way she hadn’t before. She hadn’t moved when he’d mounted her from behind. Now she was participating. Her hands ran down his back to the muscles of his ass.

“And I like your hands on me. Oh, touch me everywhere, Kaj. I want to feel you all around me.” He was right there again, with his cock at her pussy, but this time she was the one who pulled him inside. Her hands gripped his ass, and she spread her legs.

“I like this making love, Dante,” she said. “I like this so much more.”

So did he. She was with him this time. He took over, thrusting in gently and pulling out, simply enjoying the feel of being inside her. He let his head drift to her neck. He could hear the soothing sound of her heart racing and feel her warmth surrounding him. He fucked his wife for the longest time. She came over and over, her mouth opening and crying out his name as her legs tightened around him. Five times she shuddered and came beneath him before her arms fell away.

“Dante, I can’t.” Her head had fallen back, and though she begged for mercy, there was a smile on her face.

“One more, Kaj. I just want one more, and then we can be done. For now.” He didn’t want her to get it into her head that she would be allowed more than a night’s rest. He intended to be inside her again before she fully awoke the next morning. He intended to fuck her until she forgot there had ever been a man there before him.

“I can’t,” she whispered.

But she could. Dante pushed himself up and ground his pelvis against her clit as he fucked his cock as deeply into her as he could go, and she lit up around him.

Then it was finally his turn. He let go, and the pleasure made his body jerk as he came.

Another feeling flowed through him. Utter satisfaction. He was satisfied because he was complete in that moment. And then he realized the feeling wasn’t his. It was Kaja’s. Her heart, her sweet, brave, loyal heart was at peace for the first time as he came inside her. She held him, clinging to him. So much of her pleasure came from pleasing him.

Dante shuddered one last time and let himself fall on her. Her breath came out in a happy sigh, and she squeezed her arms around him.

He should roll off her. Some voice deep inside him told him to run, but it was a distant thing now. There was another voice that told him to revel in her. She was his, but this voice didn’t tell him to take her because she belonged to him. This voice urged him to take care of her, to cling to her as she was clinging to him, because they belonged to each other.

After the longest time, he rose to his feet. They needed to bed down for the night. Kaja didn’t protest when he lifted her into his arms and cradled her to his chest. Her arms drifted around his neck.

When he took her into the water this time, she didn’t flinch. She simply trusted him.

Dante knew he was in way, way over his head, and there might not be any way out.