Beastly Desires: Lords of Penumbra Syndicate 2, page 19
His head rested on one of his arms. His other hand was occupied with his erect cock, stroking up and down, leisurely. He watched me through heavily lidded eyes.
My mouth went dry. Was I already asleep and dreaming? I licked my lips. This was going to be a good dream.
“Hello, sweetness.” He continued touching himself and I couldn’t look away. I was mesmerized. “Take off your clothes and come here.”
The sensual command in his voice made me shiver. Suddenly, I was wide awake. My inner wolf perked up too. Mate. My gums ached where my teeth were attempting to elongate and sharpen. Okay...
I hadn’t exactly planned on telling him like this, but there was no way I’d be able to control myself once I got in that bed. I marveled at Lucas’s control. How had he resisted marking me for so long? I didn’t have that kind of power over my wolfish part.
I cleared my throat. “There’s something you need to know first.” Okay, here goes... “You’re one of my fated mates.”
His hand stilled. I swore his whole body tensed. Liquid silver orbs replaced the black pools of his eyes. “Fated mate?”
I nodded.
“When did you have this realization?”
“As soon as I saw you after my first shift. I just knew.”
“I see,” he said. “Come here.”
I stayed rooted in place. “But I want to mark you. I’ll bite you and seal the bond if we have sex.”
A smile lifted his luscious lips. “Then our plans for tonight are aligned. I’m going to bite you too. Then bind you to me when you drink my blood in return.”
“W-what?”
He lifted up on his elbows. “A blood bond, Emma. I want you to be mine forever.” He pursed his lips. “I had a nice long speech prepared to convince you to accept me, but if I’m fated to you, well then, you want this as much as I do. Don’t you?”
“Yes.”
He smirked. “That simple word has gotten so much easier for you to say, hasn’t it?”
“Yes.” I peeled off my sweater, followed by my shoes and jeans. The cute matching bra and panty set found their way to the floor, too.
I eased onto the bed, taking in the delicious man waiting for me. My inner wolf hummed at the thought of claiming him. Mine. I crawled up his legs, maintaining eye contact until I reached his thick, rigid cock. My gaze dipped for a moment to really look at his dick for the first time, then I trained my eyes on his once again.
Leaning down, I opened my mouth and gave his head a lick. He tasted salty and smelled sweet. His cock jumped as if asking for more. I obliged, taking him into my mouth. Zane’s Adam’s apple bobbed, his eyes flashed a brighter silver, and his lips drew back to reveal his fangs.
Having him at my mercy, me in control for once, was a thrill ride. This wasn’t our usual dynamic. I wanted to see where this would go. How far I could take this before he reasserted control.
I took him all the way to the back of my throat and moaned. He hissed, his fingers twining in my hair. Slowly, I withdrew to the tip and eased back down unhurriedly.
“Fuck, Emma, you’re killing me.”
I smiled around my mouthful of cock. He thought this was torture? He had no idea. The next time I reached the head of his dick, I swirled my tongue around it, earning myself another hissing groan followed by a curse. His grip tightened. I played with the underside of his dick, flicking my tongue against it before deep throating him again.
When I came up for air, he pulled me away. His cock left my lips with a pop.
He sat all the way up, his free hand caught my chin. “You’re wicked.”
I grinned and ran my tongue across my lips. “I wanted to taste you.”
He moaned. “And you will, I promise.” He took my waist and flipped us over so that I was beneath him. Reaching up, he slipped first one wrist and then the other into silky cuffs that were secured on either side of my headboard. Next, he placed a blindfold over my eyes.
My pulse skipped a beat. Anticipation consumed me. Bound and blinded, I relied on my other senses to figure out what he was up to.
He straddled my chest, his fingers threaded through my hair, and the soft tip of his cock poked against my lips. I opened and took him in. The creak of the headboard told me his other hand was braced against it. Keeping my head where he wanted it with my hair, he thrust into my mouth.
No more sensual, slow teasing. He fucked my mouth like he owned it and aimed to come right down my throat. The bed shook and my eyes watered as I tried to catch my breath through my nose.
Suddenly he stilled, his cock hitting the back of my throat. He rocked his hips. “Do you like this?” he asked. “Do you like taking my big dick in your mouth?”
I murmured in an affirmative.
“Will you swallow all of my cum?”
I mmhmed again. Between him practically gagging me and his dirty words, I was so damn turned on. My skin felt hot and tight. My low belly ached with need.
“Good girl,” Zane said. He started pumping again. His cock swelled, growing even larger, and then hot, saltiness exploded across my tongue. I gulped it down.
Once he was spent, he eased out of my mouth and slid down my body. His first stop was at my breasts. He drew a peaked nipple between his teeth and rolled it. My back arched off the bed. With a lick to soothe the mild ache, he repeated his torment on the other one. Then his body heat went away.
It returned a moment later. His breath caressed my neck. “Come for me,” he said. His fangs sank into the side of my throat and the sensation went straight to my pussy. The orgasm hit me like a bus. I screamed with the toe-curling pleasure.
He continued to suck, each draw making my body shudder again, prolonging the orgasm. My fingers curled around the silky restraints. In the back of my mind, I was surprised that I hadn’t torn free of them yet.
Zane let up only to reposition himself at my nipple and bite down. The mix of pleasure and pain had me arching into him and panting. Another orgasm racked my body.
Moving south, he licked my clit. I tensed, having guessed at what was coming. He pressed two fingers between my soaking wet folds and into my pussy. Zane stroked in and out, his tongue flicked over my sensitive nub, and I felt another release building.
I rocked my hips to match each of his strokes. My breathing grew ragged and thin. As I was about to go over the edge, he bit my clit, and I shrieked. The darkness behind my eyelids blasted bright with starbursts. My body hung in tensed suspension as wave after wave of pleasure seized me.
I must have passed out because when I opened my eyes the blindfold had been removed. Zane’s ethereally beautiful face filled my vision.
“Are you still with me?” he asked. “We’re not done yet.”
I gave a small nod. Somewhere I’d lost my voice.
“Good.” A knife appeared in his hand. I jerked back, hitting the headboard. The restrains held but the wood they were attached to groaned in protest. “Easy. This isn’t for you.”
He sliced the blade across his own wrist. A bead of crimson appeared, then it freely flowed down his arm. Dropping the blade onto the bedside table, he pinned me with his gaze. “Will you do me the honor of being my one true mate? Bound together for all eternity?”
My head cleared. That familiar purring hum vibrated in my chest. “I will.”
Zane brought his bleeding wrist to my lips. “Drink of me, my love.”
The warm liquid dripped onto my lips. I parted them and extended my tongue to catch his essence. He pressed his wound to my open mouth. I clasped my lips around it and sucked.
He shuddered, his face contorted in pain—or maybe pleasure. I took another long draw, his blood sweet on my wolfish tongue, and he tossed his head back. A low moan escaped his parted lips. My third pull was met with a hushed curse.
He eased his arm away and wrapped a length of gauze around his wrist. Then his full attention returned to me. He leaned down, his dreadlocks framing his face, and planted a lingering kiss on my lips.
“My love, my wife.” He spoke those words with reverence.
I squirmed under him, the need to claim him in my own way suddenly became urgent. With the taste of his blood in my mouth, his cinnamon vanilla scent teasing my nose, and the warm press of his body, I needed him. Now.
“Fuck me, Zane. Please. I need you inside me.”
He moved over top of me, and I opened my legs wide to invite him in. With a forceful thrust he filled me up, then he fucked me just like I’d asked. I met his punishing pace. My heels dug into his ass, urging him on. The ache in my gums lessened as my teeth sharpened.
He cradled my face between his forearms, our gazes locked together like our bodies. I was so warm, my every nerve ending sensitized from the euphoria inducing chemical in his saliva that raced through my veins.
I shattered, screaming my release. He followed me over the precipice with a low grunt, his head dipped toward mine. My sharp wolf teeth latched onto his shoulder. He jerked and hissed at the sudden, sharp pain. A trickle of blood landed on my tongue, and I released him.
Breathing hard, I stared at the mark I’d left. Just like with Lucas, the wound healed leaving behind the double crescents of my teeth marks and a golden metallic shimmer. My inner wolf sighed in contentment.
Zane unbound my hands and hauled me into his arms. He settled us under a thin throw blanket. Blood, sweat, and other fluids made our bodies slick. But right now, I didn’t care. I collapsed against him, and my eyes closed.
My mate. I was his and he was mine. Another piece of my heart calmed and settled. The feeling of rightness wedged deep.
How nice it felt to be held in his arms was my last thought before sleep claimed me.
32
Cade
No more than a few drops remained in the enchanted hourglass. Only a few more months until the enchantress would come to reap our souls. Our time was coming to a close and I couldn’t ignore all the signs in front of me any longer.
Lucas was mated to Emma. Zane would be binding himself to her through a blood bond soon if he wasn’t already doing that tonight.
She was the one. Emma could break our curse and set us free. Save the lives of everyone in the Penumbra household. The last piece they needed was me.
A weight settled over my shoulders. Responsibility thickened in my throat.
I slumped in the chair before the hourglass. Hunched over, head bowed, my skin tingled with nerves. The pit of my stomach twisted and turned threatening to expel my late dinner.
It wasn’t that I hated the woman. In fact, the little witch had grown on me over the couple of months she’d been with us. I might even like her.
I groaned. Of course, I fucking liked her. I couldn’t get her out of my head. Those two kisses had ignited a spark in me so deep I felt like the flame would consume me whole. I woke up every morning hard with lingering dreams of her on my mind. Sexual dreams. Beating off in the shower barely eased the tension in my body. The lust I felt for her was so overwhelming.
I wanted her, but I was terrified. I’d never had sex before. She was going to think I was clumsy, stupid, and realize that I wasn’t good enough for her. Who the fuck wanted to let an ugly, pathetic virgin into her bed? Surely, not Emma.
She was... experienced. Confident. She embraced her sexuality without any apologies.
Hell, the woman could wield magic with the best of them. She was at home in her wolf form. Fearless. Determined. Gorgeous. Everything about her I found attractive. And she was way the fuck out of my league. So far beyond it that I couldn’t believe she’d let me touch her to heal her, let alone kiss me.
Maybe I was putting her on a pedestal because she was the only woman who’d ever given me the time of day. I roughly shook my head. No, she’d earned her place up there.
I’d done everything in my power to scare her away. To prove to her that I was too damaged, that I wasn’t good for her, but she wouldn’t relent. She kept coming back, each time more determined than the last.
She was special, and I was terrified of breaking her. Almost as much as I was afraid to let anyone in close—especially a woman.
I craved Emma’s touch, yet I could barely tolerate it. Her gentle fingers stroking over my skin brought with them the ghost of my mother’s touch. No matter how hard I fought against it, I always tensed, ready for the pain that was sure to follow. With Emma it never did.
She meant every kind word she spoke—it wasn’t a trap. Her touch truly was gentle—no silver knife hid up her sleeve. But after eighteen years of conditioning and expectation, and another almost two decades of being shunned by females, I had a hard time readjusting.
Emma wasn’t my fucking mother. She wasn’t a monster.
She also wasn’t like any of the other women I’d met. Her gaze lingered on me the same as it did on Lucas and Zane. She didn’t recoil or sneer. It was like she was blind to my scars. Like she saw me instead of the wreckage my mother had left me with. Sometimes I even felt handsome in her presence.
Such a foolish notion.
I lifted my head and stared into the hourglass. The conversation the other night between Lucas and Zane gave me some hope. They had been unskilled with women in the beginning. They’d had to learn how to please them. I... could do this. Maybe. I could try.
If she would even have me.
My heart pounded. A cold sweat broke out across the back of my neck. In spite of all of that, my cock started to grow hard.
How could I give myself to her when I gritted my teeth at her touch? That wasn’t inviting. She would think it was her fault when it wasn’t. I supposed the only way to fix that was to... talk to her.
Ah, fuck. I rubbed my face with both hands, then swept my white-blond hair back.
This was going to be hard. My gut hadn’t clenched and heaved like this since I was a fucking teenager. Not since the first girl who’d turned me down, telling me I was a hideous monster, and driving the point home when she literally ran away.
I should have used compulsion on a woman to let me fuck her in the last two decades since then, but I hadn’t. I couldn’t stomach the thought of using magic to get myself off with a person who didn’t want me. I reserved my mind magic gifts for our enemies. Mostly. I’d used it on Emma, but at the time I thought she was our enemy.
A horrible thought occurred to me. What if I lost it and tried to kill her during the act? My fingers twitched. I swallowed hard. Hurting her a little, my palms around her delicate neck, turned me on. That’s how fucked up I was, and I didn’t know what to do about it.
Talk to her. I kept coming back to that answer. Fucking hell.
A loud wail pierced the quiet night. The house’s alarm. Someone had breached the wards.
Not again.
I lunged to my feet and hurried downstairs to the main level. I was going to miss Samuel for multiple reasons, among them was his skill with magic. His wards were stronger than three witches’ magic put together.
The front door was already open, and our night duty guards were fanning out around the property to find the intruders. Did 5th Circle think to attack us now? Or was this someone else?
Ash swept his hand toward the forest nearest to us and floating lights zoomed into the trees, then hovered, dispelling the dense shadows. I lent my own magic, doing the same, then squinted into the spaces between the trees.
We walked the perimeter, bringing light with us. No one was hiding from us—not tonight.
Behind me, the mansion came to life. Windows illuminated. Shouts and heavy footsteps reached my ears. We’d be ready to face whatever threat lay within the woods, creeping up on us, in a matter of minutes.
The soft crunch of snow caught my attention as we neared the side garden. I signaled to Ash who nodded that he’d heard it too. Magic sizzling in our hands, we waited, ready to unleash hell on the intruder.
A solo form stepped out from behind a tree. A woman. She had short blond hair and was dressed in all black. Against her side, she clutched a motorcycle helmet.
“Who the fuck are you?” I asked in a menacing tone. Did 5th Circle think they could throw us off balance by sending a woman?
She casually gazed past us at the mansion. “Even knowing your location, you were not easy to find. But your ward needs some patching up. I made it through too easily.”
I repeated myself. “Who the fuck are you?”
Her icy blue eyes settled on me, the color unnerving. “I’m Claire Nightling.” She lifted her free hand showing us a very familiar gold-and-black jewelry sized box. “I have a message for Emma.”
I stared at her. Claire Nightling? I knew that name, or rather, both of those names but individually.
A few pieces dropped into place at once. Nightling as in the same last name as Forrest Nightling? Claire as in Emma’s childhood best friend?
Wasn’t she supposed to be dead?
* * *
To be continued in Brazen Hearts.
You can also grab the bonus scene here: https://bf.cassiabriar.com/p1huv3sgp0
Authors Note
Dear reader, now that cliffhanger wasn’t that bad, right? Or was it worse than the first book? According to my ARC team, that topic is debatable.
So Claire’s alive. I guess the question is, is she good or evil? You’ll find out in the next book!
Brazen Hearts, Lords of Penumbra Syndicate #3, is the final book in this trilogy. I hope you enjoy the epic, dark, and twisty conclusion.
* * *
xx, Cassia
Acknowledgments
Huge thanks go out to my ARC team, my PA Andi, Cassandra, Sam, and Jay for reading my first drafts and offering valuable feedback, and to my editor Maggie. It’s all of you, my awesome team, who keep me sane. Thank you.
Thanks go to Kayla Lutz for coming up with the name Club Essence, which will feature more so in the next book.
