Mistress of Souls, page 16
“Nothing important. I’m reflecting on how I got here.”
“Do ye want to talk about it?” he asks as his thumb smooths over my bottom lip.
I nuzzle my face farther into his palm and he secures his other hand on my hip. “No. Yes. I… It’s long and complicated.”
“Start from the beginning?”
How far could I go with him? How far did I want to go back with Hunter? I knew in that moment that I trusted him more than I did most.
I sigh deeply, reliving my creation as I describe my experience to Hunter as if it’s happening before him.
“It begins in darkness. A spark blossoms into an inferno, bending the outlines of existence to its will, creation set into unstoppable motion. Twisted shapes move in the inky depths. Flashes of light creep in to dance with the shadows like wraiths. Only the strongest survive creation, for creation is to be torn from the ether and smashed into reality.”
I lift my eyes to see him staring at me in wonder.
“I gain awareness near the end of my manifestation. Flames now dance not only around me, but within me. They wrap around my soul and cocoon it in their warmth. I’m not sure where the flames begin, and I end. We are one substance. One terrifying force, born for ruin and destruction. I do not know what I am, but I know I am real. Tangible. Living. The flames extinguish with a hiss as my physical form surfaces from the ashes.”
Unfathomable emotions course through my body. They strike through me as I push away the memories.
I described to Hunter the basics of Inferuna, my creation, what my job was, and being forced to exist in a state of constant darkness and nothingness.
He can tell that my mood has shifted drastically. I’m not sure how he plans to handle this situation, but there’s a gleam in his eye that piques my curiosity and also leaves me feeling weary.
He still hasn’t responded to my truth, and my anxiety is soaring.
Maybe I’m too much baggage for him. He’s so young and doesn’t need my trauma screwing him over for the rest of his life. I’m going to tell him I made a mistake accepting his invitation to our date.
I shouldn’t have agreed to this. I shouldn’t have said anything.
Before I get a chance to make my excuses and trudge home, he’s ripping the shirt off over his head, pulling it up from the back in the way that most males do that can melt panties.
“What the fuck are you doing? You know we’re in the middle of a public park, right?” I hiss, my self-loathing morphing into irritation as he ignores what I share. How can he listen to me spill my guts and then start stripping?
Wait, why is he stripping as we stand on the walking path?
He grins at me mischievously and then winks before walking off the path into the woods without a word. I stomp after him, annoyed but curious.
We get far enough away from the path that I can barely see it anymore. He turns around suddenly, and I crush my nose into the hard planes of his chest while still mumbling to myself about men and their immaturity levels when it comes to the deep stuff. His chuckle comes out like rolling gravel; the sound is like a siren’s call to my libido.
“Ye are worse off than I thought. Hmm. Good thing I have the cure. How would ye feel about a wee game?”
“What do you mean ‘worse off than you thought’?” I glare, my words dripping with venom.
“Ye are stuck in yer head. I can see it written all over yer face that sharing yer past with me has triggered a lot of fucked up self-loathing. Ye usually stand tall and proud, the baddest bitch in any space ye occupy. But as ye spoke, ye curled into yerself, speaking quieter with each sentence and looking anywhere but at me.”
How can Hunter read me this easily? I know my permanent mask hadn’t dropped, but he still saw past it.
His features soften. “I won’t ask about yer past again if it pains ye this badly. But I also won’t ignore the signs that ye need a distraction desperately.”
I work hard to keep my breathing even, and my face blank while my mind is reeling. I force my eyes up to his and plaster on my best fake smile. “What kind of game? One that involves me getting naked and you in your wolf form?” I raise an eyebrow in curiosity.
“The kind that yer nipples become painfully hard, and it’s not from the chill in the air.”
I inhale sharply, and he takes the opportunity to softly press his lips to mine. It’s the first time we’ve kissed, and he’s quick to deepen it by slipping his tongue past my lips. I greet his tongue enthusiastically, moaning at the feel of his tongue piercing, creating a desperate need within me, desire heating my core. His hands shift down to my ass. I move my arms up around his neck, gripping his man bun and pulling him down and closer.
Our kiss is passionate. A soft, wet clash of lips that are hungry to nibble at each other’s.
We’re surrounded by tall evergreens, his pine, fresh coffee, and wood smoke scent complementing them perfectly. The woods are deserted by all life minus the forest creatures, and it couldn’t be more insanely perfect. I know he was trying to make me feel better, but this is more. This is something unprecedented, and I’m surprised by my intense reaction.
He’s hardening between us, and I want to climb on top of him and ride him like he’s an untamable forest beast.
His hands shift up to the back of my head.
One caresses my horns, smoothing down the back of my hair as we kiss. He grips one of my horns near its thick base to bring me flush against his body. It feels fantastic to have him touching me so intimately. His palm sends waves of heat coursing through the length of it and onto my scalp.
He tilts my chin and head back to deepen the kiss. I’ve never been kissed so passionately that I felt dizzy before.
He pulls back, and I feel immediate longing and loss, but he quickly pops back down and plants a quick kiss on my lips, making me smile a little.
I look at him and smirk, “So, I thought this involved you being naked?”
He laughs, and the sound of his belt buckle clinking fills my ears. His pants drop to the ground, and he kicks them, along with his boots, over to lie with his shirt, creating a pile on the forest floor.
My arousal is becoming tangible, my clit throbbing with my heartbeat.
He steps closer nude, proud, his hard-on bobbing with the movement. He grabs my ass in both hands and holds me against his erection while he explains his plans.
In a deep, commanding, quiet voice, he whispers against my ear, “I want to shift into my Wolf, and I want ye to run. If I catch ye, I’m going to have sex with ye right here in the woods so that all the forest creatures know my name.”
His eyes are alight with mischief and lust. The thought of hunting me must bring something primal to the surface. I’m not used to being the prey, but I’ll do my best to act the part for him.
And who knows, maybe I’ll enjoy it.
“I will destroy ye in the best ways. I can’t wait to chase ye and taste yer fear in the air.”
I go to speak, but he puts his finger to my lips.
His warm breath washes over the side of my neck as he says, “and if ye win, I’ll let ye use yer tail to do whatever ye want to me. Anything. No hard limits. No safe words. I’m yers.”
My eyes widen as he pulls back and brushes his nose against mine. He can be so sweet. Sometimes sweet and cocky is a strange mixture, but it works for him. He cares deeply, too deeply, I admit. But I can’t deny he’s all in with everything he does.
It reminds me of a quote from one of the characters I saw on an American TV show at one of Tiffany’s random parties. Ron Swanson, this grumpy old hard-ass male, says, “never half-ass two things, whole ass one thing.” I believe Hunter could make that quote his motto.
I giggle at the thought.
He smiles broadly. “What’s so funny, wee Cheetie? The idea of being hunted is funny to ye?”
I bite my lip and shake my head. “You reminded me of someone. I’ll tell you about it another time.”
“Okay, so do ye want to play, then?”
I don’t hesitate before nodding and start stripping in front of him. I smirk saucily and begin making a show of it, shimmying my hips a little extra when I pull my combat boots and leggings off. Smoothing a hand down my stomach slowly, I grip the hem of my tank and rid myself of it. I rarely wear a bra or any panties, so I’m nude before him quickly, even with the brief strip tease. I enjoy the effect I have on him.
His jaw has dropped open, and a hand paused in running along his bearded jaw. His pupils are fully dilated, and any remaining color is now black, his wolf on the prowl. He stands there nude and frozen to the spot.
I take advantage of his momentary distraction, sprinting into the trees.
It feels odd to run completely bare, but it’s exhilarating. I’m already so turned on, and he’s only kissed me. Thinking of him hunting me sends a bolt of excitement directly to my clit, my arousal already beginning to slip between my thighs as I run.
The sticks and rocks have no effect on my shoeless feet. Out of my peripheral, I notice a streak of fur barreling towards me on my left side.
I wait until Hunter gets close enough, and then I grab his thick coat, using his own momentum to fling myself in the opposite direction and force him off balance.
His claws dig into the dirt as he tries to right himself, but I’m long gone.
My heart is beating wildly with anticipation.
I barely broke a sweat running this far. My demon blood was fully made for Hunter’s game, the thrill and anticipation of a hunt instinctual. I have no doubts that I will win, and my victory will be so damn sweet. All the wicked ways I can use my tail on him.
I plan in the back of my mind as I use my instincts to guide me quickly and quietly throughout the woods. I run as swiftly as I can, minute after minute, using all the tricks I know to mask my trail.
My tail becomes what resembles a pine branch, the leafy needles working to smooth my tracks as my tail swishes the ground. My scent was a bit trickier to hide, but staying above the wind should help considerably.
It’s then that I hear the crack of a large branch. I skid to a stop and crouch.
The wind blows gently from my left, and with it comes a feeling I know all too well. Trepidation. I fight my back from arching as a phantom claw scrapes down my spine.
My heart bashes against my ribs, and goosebumps cover my flesh. My breathing speeds up, white puffs forming in the chilly late fall air. I’m far from The Snuggle Pit’s protection wards and the safety they offer.
Another branch snaps, sounding closer than before, and I know it’s not Hunter. He would never be so careless as to make a sound. It is not attempting to be quiet, and that does not bode well for me.
I swallow my pride and run in the opposite direction.
I’m fighting my instincts to eviscerate this unknown creature, knowing that I need to survive at all costs to satiate my need for revenge against what has been stalking me. My lip curls in a snarl.
Its end will not be quick. It does not deserve a quick death after haunting me into near madness.
I’m so fucking tired of running. Running from anything that might trigger me, from my past, towards a future just as bleak as the one before it. This dreadful sensation I’ve felt since I came to the human realm is the bane of my existence.
I take off in a new direction, dodging between trees and climbing random ones, to jump to the next and mix up my path. But I hear it getting closer. Terror floods my system, and I panic. I thought I could face this alone, but I’m in over my head.
Whatever it is, it’s fast, way faster than I anticipated.
I drop back down on the ground from another tree and run into something hard, my cheeks smashing against it as I fall back on my ass. I look up and find Hunter shifted back into his human form, now staring at me with wild eyes. His hair in complete chaos, filled with knots and frizz.
He holds out a hand, and he pulls me up when I accept it. He watches me constantly check my surroundings in the woods.
“What’s wrong? Mariax, are ye okay? I was on yer trail for a while there. But then, all of a sudden, yer movements became erratic.”
“There was something chasing me. I think it is what has been stalking me for years, and I don’t know how to handle it,” I explain, my frustration mounting.
He immediately goes on the offensive.
His muscles tighten in his neck. He lightly pushes me away and says, “I’ll take care of it.”
Before I can speak another word, his wolf seems to tear from his body. A gigantic, beautiful creature where Hunter was standing. His furry shoulder reaches just past mine, while still having all four of his paws on the ground. His coat is made of fine grayish-silver fur.
I long to rub my face against him and snuggle into his warm animal heat.
His scent doesn’t change, but he’s fully an animal. He turns his head towards me and examines me with intelligent eyes. I know he’s still present in there somewhere, but his wolf has taken command. He takes off in the direction I came from, backtracking to find any sign of the creature.
I doubt it will take him long.
I hear my own heartbeat in the quiet night, feeling uncomfortable and alone in the small clearing of trees. A howl rips through the air, and what sounds like a fight in the distance. I don’t know how fast his wolf can run, but he’s far enough away that those are the only sounds that I’m hearing.
Suddenly, everything goes quiet, and I’m concerned that he is hurt, but then the shaggy wolf breaching the edge of the trees surrounding the clearing calms me.
He speeds over to me and shifts, returning to his human form, kneeling on the ground in front of me. Hunter stands and places his hands on my cheeks, silently communicating his concern.
“I don’t know what it was. But it was something unnatural and evil. It pulsed with an energy that made my coat feel like it was covered in oil. Vile, nasty thing… I can’t even properly describe it. I tried to grab it a couple of times, but it was like it existed and then, at the same time, didn’t. It didn’t really have a physical body, just an incorporeal form.”
He looks a little shaken but mostly pissed he did not get to unleash his wrath on the creature.
I stand on my tiptoes and kiss him on the lips. “Thank you. You didn’t have to go after it. You didn’t even know what you were up against.”
“I know, but I did it for ye. Yer the only thing that matters. It’s gone now. Do ye have an idea of what it is?”
“I don’t know, but not long after I came to the human realm, things began happening that I couldn’t explain, and anytime I stepped out of The Snuggle Pit’s wards, I felt eyes on me. I was, no, I am being stalked by whatever that creature is. It’s like icy fingers of awareness and dread scrape down my spine whenever it’s near. I’m on high alert all the time. I don’t know what it wants from me.” I continue, my cheek resting against Hunter’s sculpted pecs, “However, there have been times that even in The Snuggle Pit, something is causing disturbances. My cabinets are left open. Things moved around. Different rooms within my building have been rearranged. The other day, a dagger I hadn’t seen in years was on the floor peeking out from underneath my bed, blade first. I know I had it stashed away in a box, but somehow it was meticulously placed to cut me. Whatever it wants, we’ll find out soon because it’s escalating. I need to get rid of it. Wipe it from the face of this realm because I’ve had enough of this shit.”
Angry tears well along my lash line, but I will not let them fall. Hunter is looking at me with a mixture of fierce pride and barely leashed fury that something dared do this to me.
“Let me walk ye back. I’m sorry our date has to end, but I don’t feel comfortable with ye running in the woods on yer own. Hunting ye was so godsdamn hot, watching yer pink arse jiggle as ye ran. I couldn’t wait to win, but yer safety is more important,” he grumbles, a frown marring his features.
We walk back to where we disrobed to dress.
I wrap my tail around his waist and pull him to my side. As we walk, he throws a heavy, tattooed arm over my shoulders. The warmth he omits is comforting, a balm to my frayed nerves.
We’re a block from The Snuggle Pit when he stops by a streetlamp. I lean against it, all of my energy evaporating.
“I have a cabin in the Poconos that I go to whenever there’s a full moon. It helps me fully connect with my wolf when the moon’s influence is strong, so I don’t have to worry about terrorizing the innocents of my surroundings. Ye are welcome to come with me. I’d love to show ye the mountains and a few special favorite places of mine,” his voice is gravely.
He stops pacing and turns towards me. My tail reaches out for him, so he walks until he’s standing between my thighs, my ass planted on the concrete anchor of the lamppost. My tail slowly drags up and down his spine, and he shudders with pleasure.
I sigh. “I’d love to, but I can’t just abandon Lauren. I have to give her some notice and cancel some sessions so she can handle all the mistress’ duties on her own. But next time, we can plan ahead.” I can’t keep my smile in place, the thrill of the evening long gone. “There’s also the concern of whatever that creature is that’s stalking me.”
He grows in frustration and kisses the top of my head before resting there. Then, he says one of the sweetest things anyone has ever said to me.
“I will always protect ye. Nothing will come near ye that ye don’t desire. Ye have been through too much to deserve this, and I will see it gone. I will set all I can on it and find out what is causing ye distress. Anything unknown is a threat to my pack, and I will not tolerate any harm coming to them. If anything happens while I’m gone, please text me or call. I need to know that ye are safe.”
I don’t want to go, but staying out in the open is a risk I cannot afford right now.
We continue walking, his arm around my shoulders, and soon we’re at my door.
Sadness sweeps over me, and I find myself not wanting to let him go.
I want to invite him to my place.
I want him to stay with me, but he has a look that says he wants to start his mission to protect me immediately, and I won’t take that away from him.
