Beast (The Submissively Ever After Series Book 1) (12 page)

I want the beast.

His grunts turned into growls as I rode his cock, shuddering at the force and yet, still wanting more. I panted, rocking forward, trying to ease the strain as Lord Bête’s cock thickened, pushing my walls. I’d never felt anything so big. His hands, now rough, slid from my waist to drop beside me. The motion slowed, but didn’t stop, twisting the pain into a sweeter torture.

My hand slipped. I fumbled in the dark, searching for his hand, as I felt my body tighten. My fingers touched fur and I whimpered, coming hard as a howl, split the air. He came in a rush, filling me with warm seed and I dropped my weight to the floor as he slid out.

"Did I hurt you?"

I shook my head and wept into the crook of my arm, then realized that, in the dark, he couldn’t see my response. I sniffed, wiped my cheeks on my arm, and whispered. "No."

"Then why are you crying?"

The question seemed too simple. I turned to him, my fingers shaking, terrified of touching the coarse hair remembering those words he uttered upstairs in my dream.

If you want the man, then you best be prepared to face the beast.

I understood his warning now, the man and the beast were one and the same. To want one, meant I had to want the other. In a way, I’d already understood this. I remembered the beast’s sacrifice, how he’d forsaken his own happiness for the life of his friend. Honorable, loyal. All the qualities I’d been seeking. Here they were, ready for me to take, wrapped up in fangs and claws.

Could I do this? Could I fall in love with a beast?

I trapped the quiver inside my belly and turned to face him. His pale skin was my beacon in the dark. I reached for him, tenderly touching his chest, then moved lower. His hard muscles rippled under the feel of my hand. A hard growl stopped my hand from dropping further.

"They all want the man."

But never the beast.

Those words were whispered on a shudder. I crawled forward, knowing how vulnerable I was as he teetered between man and beast, yet bent to kiss his smooth chest, taking his nipple into my mouth. His hiss turned into a sigh. The silky bead pebbled under my tongue. I trailed the outline, then sucked.

Trapped by the pleasure of my mouth, his dangerous snarl trembled when my hand slid lower. Even as his seed slid from my body, he was ready again, growing  thick and strong as I curled my hand around his shaft. The crackle of energy from those golden eyes on the top of my bent head crackled down my spine. I worked his nipple against my tongue, thrilling when I triggered a shudder.

I tugged, feeling the foreskin wrinkle at the head of his cock before I began the downward slide. I thought I was ready for the shift as my lips brushed fur. The shock stilled my tongue, but I kept my hand moving, sliding that perfect line underneath his length against my palm to the hair over his balls.

This was the test. I felt the pressure in a way I couldn’t understand. The animal in him brought out the animal in me. I slid the tip of my tongue through the fur on his chest. His thighs shuddered, unable to hold the slow motion as I dropped lower.

I kissed his stomach, then dragged my lips along his cock as I knelt.

"Belle." He growled.

I winced at the sound. "Anna." I corrected, my breath tantalizing the tip of his member.

"Anna." The sound of my name seemed to unlock the chains which held the both of us. "Anna."

I opened my mouth, stretching the sides, taking in as much of him as I could. My throat worked, ramming him between the roof of my mouth and my tongue. I felt the shudder, but not a word was spoken.

None was needed.

All the magic of this desolate place spun in the air around us. The dank air hummed with electricity that danced across my skin, warming me to the bone. The sense of wrongness caught fire, as my beast caught fire and burned to nothingness. From the glowing coals, a tender love was born. 

I sucked and worked my way to the end, swallowing the salty taste of us. Lost in the trance of him inside my mouth, I missed the change back to the man. Rough hands gripped me, jerking me to my feet. I didn’t have the strength left to fight him, even if I wanted. All I could manage was a snarl of my own, weak, but strong enough to draw the line.

His grip on me eased, but there was too much power behind the flesh, too much need. My beast lifted me with one swift move, slamming my body and his chains against his chest.

The hard links pinched the underside of my breast as he gripped my thighs moving me against him. Sharp, hot pain ripped through my body as he sought my opening. I held onto sting as he slid into the warmth of my sex.

I gripped his shoulder, pulling myself closer. I couldn’t get enough of both the beast and the man, and those yellow eyes saw—they saw everything. I dipped my head finding his mouth with mine. My tongue touched something sharp. I jerked back. The sharp points of his fangs were still there, reminding me that, in some ways, the beast would always be there.

I tasted blood and felt the sting under my teeth.
Dangerous.
My pulse picked up speed as he lifted my ass and thrust. This man was deadly in more ways that one. I dropped my lips to his once more as his cock thickened. His grip on my hips tightened, stretching me wider, stealing my mind.

I hovered my tongue against his. My beast thrust his tongue into my mouth, entwining mine in a show of domination. Shocks wracked my body as he lifted me away from his hot skin, only to slam me against him again and again. I held onto whatever I could as the end rushed toward me.

He was all I could feel, all I could taste, and as I crashed through that brick wall into ecstasy. I dropped my head and moaned my pleasure into his mouth. I felt the ripple along my spine as he rammed his cock into me a final time. Holding himself in deep, he filled me once more.

The chains rattled. He sank to the floor, cradling me as we crumpled to the ground. The floor felt like ice underneath my body, but I couldn’t move. I didn’t want to move.

I felt the loss as he slipped free. His arms tightened around me. I almost wished for the fur to keep us warm while the question lingered—
what now?
His hand moved in soft strokes against my arm. I tried to find an ending that didn’t result with both of us dead, but there wasn’t one. Each caress seemed a reminder of what could’ve been, but never would be. The silence was almost too much to bear.

A boom rattled the floor above us. His hand stilled at sound. I felt him shift in the dark in an instant. The beast stepped in front, putting himself between me and the door.

The end was no longer coming. The end was here.

T
he muffled blast from upstairs came again, tearing through the air. A creak of a hinge was followed by a warning from my beast. My arms wobbled as I shoved myself from the floor, peering into the darkness. "Who’s there?"

I followed the rattle of chains as the wolf strode forward until the links that confined him snapped tight. He sniffed the air. My eyes found the tiny crack of light as I climbed to my feet. Was it Mark? Had he come to finish the job? My body was heavy, each step weighed down with the blissful, post-coital lethargy, but I forced myself to face the bastard.

The door rocked on its hinges. I hadn’t heard the snap of the lock. I hadn’t heard anything but that explosion upstairs. My wolf continued to sniff the air and whine. I inhaled deep, trying to find what he knew, but all I scented was cold earth.

I shivered and crept forward, with my beast, then inched closer to the opened door. A low whine tore from my lover’s lips. I understood every tone just as if he spoke.
Be careful.
I nodded, staring at that tiny sliver of dull light.
This could be trap. Mark could be out there, waiting for me to come to him.

And if it wasn’t? If this was our only way chance to escape and I was too scared to recognize it, what then? The chains snapped tight. The grind of metal on metal set my teeth on edge.

I reached out. My fingertips brushed the edge of the door. This was my chance to be strong for the both of us, if I could only find my courage.

My grip found the corner. I eased the door open an inch at a time. No one reached for me. Cold air lashed my bare skin as I stepped into the doorway, earning a sharp
woof.
I scanned the corridors and stepped back inside.

"He’s not there. I don’t know where he is."

Gold eyes implored me.

"Maybe he didn’t latch it when he left before? I can’t remember. Everything’s a blur."

The darkness shifted into silvered shadows, revealing the pale hue of his skin. He gripped my shoulders, then pressed his warm lips against my forehead before he spoke. "Run. Save yourself. Get to the forest if it’s light. If it’s still dark, the house can hide you. Hurry."

I shook my head. "Not without you."

The air buffeted my arm as he reached, to push me away, or draw me close, I wasn’t sure. "Don’t be stupid. This is your chance to run, Anna. Take it. Take. It."

Freedom lingered within arms reach, but it wasn’t though those doors. He didn’t get it. "I’ve been dead inside for so long, I’d forgotten what it felt like to be alive. Please don’t make me go back to that. I want the man and the beast. I want everything."

The choked hiss told me I’d found my target. "I’ve waited an eternity to hear someone say those words to me. I’d given up hoping."

"Well, here I am. I’m not going anywhere without you."

He lifted his head and that golden gaze drenched me in sunlight. "Then we’d better hurry. There has to be something we can use to cut this chain."

I glanced back to the door. "Okay, stay right there, all right?"

The chuff was almost a snarl. "Where else can I go?"

"Right." I set my sights on whatever tool I could use to cut those heavy links. A bench of some kind sat at the end of the corridor. I rushed forward, searching the wooden shelf and found a small file and a rusted set of pliers I couldn’t open.

There was nothing else on the bench, nothing but years’ worth of dust and filth. The dull room blurred. I mashed my lips together, muffling the sob building in the back of my throat.

"It’s okay, Anna. Don’t cry sweetheart. Don’t cry."

I threw the pliers across the room, not caring if the sound carried. The steel tinged, hitting steel before it fell to the ground. I wiped the tears from my eyes and swallowed the thickness in the back of my throat. There was nothing left to do, but to wait for Mark to come.

My steps felt as heavy as my heart as I returned to the open doorway. I glanced to the pliers, lying underneath a jumble of rust. Maybe I could work the handles. If I cold crack the seal I could work free the bolts that secured the chain to the wall?

I headed to the useless tool and bent, picking it up from the ground. My fingers hit a rusted mess. I squinted, trying to make sense of the coppery mass, realizing it was nothing more than a jumble of keys in all sizes splayed on a round keyring. I swept them aside, intent on finding a piece of sandpaper or a small can of oi—

Keys.

I glanced back to the doorway, then snatched them from the ground. My steps were a haze. My mind numb. I held the ring and lunged for the doorway. "Keys. Keys. Your lock."

The words didn’t make sense, but he understood all too well. His eyes widened. "Keys. Yes, the lock at my neck."

I fumbled through the mess. There were so many. I didn't know which one.

"That one, it doesn't have as much rust. Try it."

I snagged the silver tip and shoved the others clear.
Please don’t break. Please don’t break.

I grabbed the lock at his neck and stabbed the key toward the opening. My hands trembled so hard, I missed. I whimpered and tried again, gritting my teeth and steadying my hand. The tip slid inside the slot. I gently eased the metal the rest of the way and twisted.

The snap of the lock was like a shot of adrenaline to my heart. The steel body fell away. I jerked the ends of the chain free. They fell from around my lover’s neck to clatter to the floor.

My beast glanced to the open door and then to me. There was only one thing to do.

A growl echoed from his chest, sending shivers along my skin. He held out his hand and I took it. I could tell the first step for him was the hardest. How long he’d been down here, I didn’t know. I tightened my grip. He’d never be alone from this day on. Every battle, every triumph, every loss, we’d share together.

His steps were quiet, as though he walked on air, heading for the doorway. He sniffed, not giving the corridor a second glance. I followed no more than a step behind as he wound his way to the base of the long line of stairs.

"This was once my home. I wonder if it still recognizes me as its master."

The answer escaped my lips without a thought. "Yes, without a doubt."

He turned back to look at me, his hard gaze softening. "We shall see, won’t we?"

He let my hand go, surging forward. I couldn’t help but stare at his naked body as he mounted the stairs. His thighs rippled, all that power and it was mine.

That thought resonated as my chest burned with the force of keeping up to him. Mine. This man might be the beast, but there was one inside me as well, just as savage, just as caged, and it recognized its mate.