Magnus
“I’ve already seen all of you, Erina. There’s no sense in hiding your breasts from me.” I flicked at her hands, and she reluctantly let them fall to her sides, giving me an eyeful of her erect nipples. Her face turned scarlet with shame, and she turned her head to avoid my stare.
I enjoyed her embarrassment. It amused me, the way she tried to hide her body’s reaction to me. I actually found it endearing, and that was a foreign feeling; one I had completely forgotten existed. Yet this alluring creature was causing this emotion in me. This was magic, the prophecy. Had to be. She was my enemy. It would be foolish to give in to it. But my beast wanted, oh, how it wanted. Her.
I put my hands on her slender hips, and she forgot to breathe. Her eyes went wide.
“Tell me, did you like the way they were touching you?” I wanted to rip them apart when I saw what they intended. No one touches my property. My hand wandered over the expanse of her buttocks, the silkiness of her skin. Her muscles tensed underneath my palms.
“No, Master.” For a fleeting moment, her blue eyes lifted to mine before she looked down at her small hands, which she tried to hold still on her thighs.
“Then why didn’t you tell them who you were, huntress? Why not tell them who you belong to?” I pulled her down onto my lap. She was as stiff as a doll. I caressed her tense shoulders, feeling every sinew, muscle, and delicate bone. How easy it would be to break her. She should have told them. Her silence disappointed me.
She gulped. “I-I was afraid they might hurt me.” A shiver went down her spine when I cupped her small breast with one hand. My thumb teased the peaked nipple, and her breath caught in her throat. “I didn’t know… what to say.”
“They probably would have taken what I paid for. And I would have had to kill them.” I murmured next to her ear. The little hair at her nape stood to attention when my breath tickled her neck.
“You belong to me, Erina. That is what you should have said.” I moved her long hair away over her shoulder. The ends tickled my hand that held her breast. Her heart started a wild gallop at my words, but she stayed silent.
“I own every part of your body.” I turned her to me, holding her throat, tilting her chin with my thumb.
Her eyes flared open, fear making them seem larger, like twin pools drawing me in, drawing me to drown in them. I took her half-open mouth in a punishing kiss, bruising those petals with my mouth, nipping at her lips until she gasped. She gripped my wrist, trying to get free. As if I would let her go.
My tongue darted into her mouth, tasting her. Claiming her. The sound she made as I sucked her tongue into my mouth. It made me want to bend her over one of the many tables and plunge into her from behind. But I had to be patient. I wanted to savor every minute; every bit of innocence I took from her.
Did I say I wouldn’t eat her? Oh, I would devour her.
My erection poked against my pants, nudging her thigh. It was a beast all on its own. My Lycan wanted to mark her, turn her. Not yet, I told it. Not. Yet.
When I released her mouth, her lips were swollen, cheeks like red apples in summer. I still held her throat, feeling the throbbing of her pulse under my fingertips. Pupils blown, only a thin, pale blue rim showed.
“You’ve never been kissed?” Again, I simultaneously cursed and praised Ignatius Saul for this pleasure.
She couldn’t even form words, only shook her head. She pulled her hand free, as if I'd shocked her, realizing her mistake.
“Yes…” I mused. “But only a kiss is not enough to convince you and others.” Her taste left me craving more.
The cool silk of her skin slid against my hands as I eased her back onto the plush couch, keeping her legs across my thighs.
Her wide, uncertain eyes, pools of dark anxiety, darted across my face. The tautness in her body was intense; a bowstring pulled to the verge of snapping. She had the body of a huntress, not an ounce of softness, all lean muscles underneath my fingertips as I traced them over the ridges of her abdomen. I prefer my women softer. “You're too thin," I murmured. "I'll have to remedy that.”
“Relax, Erina. I won't hurt you.” Not yet.
Her gaze followed my hand, a silent tracking of my touch as it moved towards her hip, then lower. A choked protest escaped her lips as I neared her most private place, her thighs clamping shut.
“If you fight me, I will hurt you. Do you want me to hurt you?” My voice was gentle, as if speaking to a frightened bird.
Her lips formed a silent “no.”
“Then let me give you pleasure.” I separated her legs, revealing my prize. The scent of her skin filled my senses. “Forget what you think you know about sex, Erina. Let me teach you how to be a woman." Holding her calves, I felt the give of her muscles as I bent her knees.
“I-I know nothing,” she whispered, her voice raw with fear. “Except that it's wrong.”
“Wrong? For a man to have sex with a woman?” I chuckled, the sound hollow in the quiet room. “You're not a man.”
Strange how her words stung. “I am not just a man, that is true.” I leaned closer, my lips brushing her inner thigh. “But I am enough of a man to know how to pleasure a woman.”
And I would make her cum until she could no longer remember her name or that I was not a man.
MagnusAnother man. A human. Was this history repeating itself? I left Hein’s quarters and shuffled through the castle grounds like a blind man, cobblestones scraping against my boots. She was happy, Daphne said, her words echoing in my mind. And left me to suffer alone. Didn’t I give her everything she asked of me? I gave her my heart, and she trampled all over it, grounding it to dust. She asked for my fidelity, and what did she do? Run to another man. Just like her mother.If this were the fulfillment of the prophecy, well, congratulations. Well done. I was dead inside. A living corpse. Erik said she would come back to me if I let her choose. Why would she? I used her. I took everything from her, her virginity, her freedom, her soulmate… Ignatius was right, the bastard. She fulfilled her destiny.A soft hand on my arm brought me out of my reverie. It was Elise. She brought with her the sweet scent of spring blossoms, a cruel reminder of a new life. A life without Erina.“What do yo
HeinPain. White hot, burning through my bones. My wolf crawled away, whining, to hide deep within my subconscious mind. Someone was howling. It sounded familiar. And realized it was me.Magnus was relentless. He wanted to kill me. I wished at some point I could just die. Make the pain stop. I lost count of the lashes.But I thought about Erina and Daphne and my unborn pup. I couldn’t leave them. I had to hold on. Just hold on. It would be so easy to slip into nothingness. So easy…I found myself in a long, dark tunnel. This was it. I must be dead, and this is the road to hell. My footsteps echoed strangely in the place. At the end of the tunnel, I saw a white light and the silhouette of a woman waiting for me. When I approached, she turned around, smiling, and there was a golden light that surrounded her. She was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.“Who are you?” I asked her.She floated a few inches above the ground. “I am Selene, the Moon Goddess, my child.” Her voice was ev
MagnusA tense silence descended in the interior of the limo after I received the text from Hein. The only sound was the powerful roar of the motor that mirrored the pounding of my heart in my head. Soon I will have Erina in my arms again. The driver couldn’t drive fast enough. Erik looked at me with eyes full of concern. “Magnus…”“Goddammit, Erik. I will not hurt her. How many times must I tell you; I LOVE her? I couldn’t hurt her even if I tried.” I reached to get a drink but remembered I had finished all of it. Disappointed, I sank back against the soft leather.“If that text was from Hein, he got to her first.” Erik remarked.“Yes! I know that,” I snapped. “He disregarded my order to stay at the castle.”“Why didn’t he take her back to the castle then?” Erik mused.“I guess I will ask him when I see him.” My tone dripped with viciousness. Hein would explain himself while I stripped the flesh from his back. If he so much as touched her…“It’s strange…” Erik mused, chewing on hi
ErinaThe solid touch of Yves’ hands on my shoulders stopped me from clearing up the mess Hein and I had caused. If Yves had any sense, he would tell me to go. Tell me he never wanted to see my face again. I wouldn’t blame him.“Erina, look at me.” He turned me around to face him. “What the hell was that? Did he force himself on you?” his voice trembled.Shame made me hang my head. I had no self-control where it came to Hein. Father was right to keep me away from the opposite sex. I was a slut. Just like my mother. What have I done?! I hurt Hein and Magnus, and I will hurt Yves. I should run, go to a convent or something.“He didn’t force me,” I confessed, tears dripping down my cheeks. “I can’t explain…” I still smelled Hein, his wild essence clinging to me like a second skin.Yves thumbed away the tears. “Is he the father?” He spoke to me so gently it wrecked me. I clung to his shirt, sobbing onto his chest. He stroked my hair, holding me close, murmuring comforting words to me.“No
Magnus I woke with a head that was pounding as if someone had taken a hammer to it. There was a weight on my chest, hair in my face and a familiar scent in the room. It reeked of sex and bourbon.“What the hell…” Glaring sunlight streamed into the room. Too bright. Groaning, I pushed the weight off my chest.The weight turned out to be a woman, blonde, naked and asleep. Next to her, Erik lay stark naked on his back, snoring like a field worker in midsummer. My head was splitting. I got off the bed, stumbled over empty bottles of bourbon towards the window.“Where the fuck are we?” I closed the curtains quickly and leaned my head against the cold wall, needing some relief.I struggled to remember what happened after we left the Chaumont house. There was only the grief I felt at seeing the site where Ignatius buried Victoria. Buried her like a dead dog underneath an oak tree. I saw it in his memories that day when I probed his mind. If I could resurrect him to kill him again, I would.
The click of the office door echoed as he locked it, leaned against it, eyes fixed on me.“Hein…” What more could I say? The air crackled with unspoken desire.Two long strides closed the distance, his arms a vise around my waist, pulling me close. I pushed against the solid wall of his chest, feeling the frantic thumping of his heart beneath my palms.“Hein… we can’t…” But his mouth crashed onto mine, silencing my protest. Lord help me, I was lost. He lifted me onto the desk edge. Paperwork rustled to the floor. His hands, rough and insistent, bruised my breasts through my loose top, and a moan escaped my lips into his kiss. His tongue delved, hot and demanding, fucking my mouth until I was breathless. I pulled his head back by his hair, gasping for air.The bulge of his cock strained against the soft leather of his pants, and my pussy clenched, a vivid memory of his possession flooding my senses. Just one kiss, and I was drenched.“Hein…” I panted.“I’m not leaving without you, Erin