44. Wolf
Chapter 44
Wolf
A n entire day passed and we still hadn’t caught up with the others. I wasn’t worried. I saw signs of them every so often, and Jessiah was making his path known to us with assembled rocks or branches pointed in his direction.
It was something we did as children, leaving markers that only we could identify, like our own secret language away from Asmodeus.
I couldn’t think of him right now, couldn’t think of what I fucking did to him. The weight of the situation would come crashing down at any fucking moment, and it would be so damn heavy.
Asmodeus was dead because of me. I killed my own damn father, and the worst part? I didn’t even feel bad about it.
Would Jessiah hate me? He seemed to be on board with my plan in the moment, but what was he thinking now? We sent him away with Rummy and practically forced him to run. When he found out what happened…
I shook my head. Jessiah would understand. He had to understand.
Huntyr’s walking slowed. We would never catch up with them at this rate, but I was as worn as she was. My wound was healing because of her blood, but I still felt the pain with every step.
Hells, the memory of her blood sent another wave of heat through my veins. Cherries and fucking perfection. Goddess above, I’d planned on never again tasting anything so divine in my entire life, but when I tasted that hot liquid from her body again, I was practically pulled from the shadows of death.
“Stop that,” Huntyr said from behind me.
I immediately pushed up my mental shields so she couldn’t feel what my thoughts were doing to my body.
“Trust me, Huntress, I’m trying.” Okay, I was sort of trying. Think of literally anything else. Think of Jessiah. Of Asmodeus. Of how fucking angry Luseyar is going to be when he hunts us down to kill us.
Maybe Huntyr would share her blood with me again once more before I died. Death would not be so bad with her blood on my lips.
“ Wolf, ” she warned.
“Sorry!”
“Are you doing that on purpose?”
I laughed quietly. We spent the last couple of months practically ignoring what the bond meant for us, but things were more intense after the wedding ceremony. We were bonded now in more ways than one, and it was getting harder and harder to keep my thoughts and emotions to myself.
“Is it so bad that I enjoy the taste of your delicious blood?”
I felt her own emotions then, hot and sweet at my words.
Instead of answering, she put her head down and grunted. “Just keep walking.”
So I did. The two of us walked and walked. We would be a fucking sight to anyone passing us by. Huntyr’s dress from the wedding ceremony ripped above her knees and split down her back. The tunic of mine she wore hung off her, now caked with my dry blood and covered in dirt.
My own shirt was ripped and tattered. My pants and boots thickened in blood—some mine, some not.
And we had days left of this journey.
Still, the scent of cherries wafted through the air.
And it smelled fucking good .
I turned right as soon as I heard the soft stream of water running down the hill. Hours had gone by, and the blood covering our bodies was now so dry, it cracked and flaked with every torturous movement.
A fucking bath was exactly what I needed.
Huntyr too, though she didn’t seem nearly as excited as I did as we made our way to the shallow trickle of water.
I instantly dropped to my knees and scooped up a handful of the liquid, pulling it into my cotton-dry mouth and throwing it over my head.
I kicked my boots off quickly and slipped into the water. Fuck, it felt amazing, a close second to tasting Huntyr’s blood.
The water was deeper than I thought, coming just above my shoulders as I stood.
Huntyr tentatively fell to her knees too, taking a drink before sitting back and watching me.
“What?” I asked. “Get in here, Huntress. It feels fucking amazing.”
“I’m sure it does.”
She looked down at her hands and picked at her fingernails before she shifted to stick her feet in the river. “I’m fine here.”
“Like hells you are.”
I took two strides through the water before reaching her. I gripped her legs beneath her knees and pulled. Hard . She slid off the land with a squeal.
But I didn’t let her go far. I snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her body to mine. She sucked in a sharp breath and clung to me, arms tightening around my neck. Her face looked pissed, but I could feel her relax as I pulled us both into the flowing water.
“Dammit, Wolf,” she muttered under her breath. “Just when I think I could get used to you.”
She looked at me, just inches away, water dripping from her thick, black lashes. Hells, she was beautiful, and the only thing separating her perfect body from mine was a very, very thin layer of soaking wet fabric.
If she knew what I was thinking, she didn’t show it. She leaned back in my grasp and dipped her head into the water, using one hand to run her fingers through her thick curls.
“I’m teaching you to swim one of these days,” I whispered, watching her. I couldn’t take my damn eyes off her if I tried.
“Maybe,” she replied. “But today is certainly not that day. I’m not even sure I have enough energy to make it all the way to Scarlata.”
Her legs wrapped around my waist while her ankles locked behind my back. I moved my hands to grip her thighs, holding her body against me effortlessly as she bathed herself in the stream.
When she pulled herself back up, her face was clean. Blood no longer covered her perfect, pale skin. I could even see the faintest signs of freckles.
She stared at me for a second before dragging a handful of water up to my face. “Here,” she said as she rubbed my rough skin gently, using her thumb to wash away the dirt, grime, blood, violence. Her eyes grew serious, her face focusing on the task at hand.
I watched her while she washed my face, closing my eyes momentarily when she demanded it. My entire body grew hot as she used her finger to wipe away the smeared blood on my bottom lip. Then, she moved to my hair. She used her torturous fucking hands to pull at the long strands.
I wasn’t sure how much time passed. It could have been ten minutes. It could have been two fucking hours.
Huntyr relaxed against me, trusting me entirely as I held her body in the flow of the river.
Eventually, we were both clean. The water no longer ran red, my hair no longer heavy with caked substances.
But still, we remained in the stream.
“I should dry these clothes,” I said, voice hoarse. Huntyr’s eyes clung to my lips when I spoke.
“Yes,” she agreed. “That’s a good idea.”
She did not smile, did not joke. She adjusted herself slightly so she could grab the bottom of my shirt, using her legs to hold herself against me while she pulled it up and over my head before throwing the wet fabric onto the dry riverbank.
I reached down and unbuttoned my own pants, pushing them off without letting go of her.
I was already so fucking hard just from holding her body to mine. Any chance of hiding that was long gone. I threw my pants onto the land, underwear following.
Huntyr said nothing.
I froze in the water as she leaned back—every movement laced with caution—and pulled the tunic up and over her own head.
She did the same with her dress, though it already bunched around her waist. She maneuvered it off, her breasts falling against me as she tossed the dress to dry.
Leaving only her panties between us.
Huntyr swallowed, and I watched every fucking movement of it, mesmerized by her beauty, barely controlling myself.
“I should let these dry too,” she whispered.
“It would be a good idea.” Neither of us moved. I didn’t fucking dare.
She cleared her throat. “Care to assist?”
Goddess have fucking mercy.
My throat rumbled with a low growl, one I couldn’t hold back if my life depended on it. I carried us to the riverbank, eyes locked on her, hers locked on me.
This felt different. Intense. Huntyr made me nervous in more ways than one, but this was something entirely more nerve-wrecking.
I reached the land and set her down with her legs still straddling me.
I took both index fingers and hooked them around each side of the evil fabric.
Her breasts dripped with water, her black curls covering her shoulders so fucking perfectly.
She pressed herself up on her hands as I pulled the panties away.
Her breathing hitched as the air hit her exposed body. I quickly tossed the fabric aside and into the sun along with the rest of our clothes.
Still, we said nothing. We didn’t need to. I could feel her own nerves, her anticipation, her longing.
I slowly moved closer, running my hands on the outside of her smooth thighs. “You’re fucking perfect, Huntress, and you’re all mine.”
Her big, brown eyes gazed up at me.
“Will you let me clean you?” I asked.
She hesitated for a second before nodding, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth.
So shy. So perfect. So mine.
I stepped back in the water so I could see her fully. I pushed her knees, spreading her open. She glistened against the damn sunlight. She was that stunning, that incredible.
Controlling myself with her blood was one thing, but controlling myself with her body?
Damn near impossible.
I pulled back even further, lifting her left foot and massaging gently, using the water to wash away any dirt, any lingering blood, until I left only her perfect, clean skin.
She moaned as I worked my thumbs deep into the sole of her foot. I ran my fingers across her heels where I healed the blisters that lingered there.
I cleaned the other foot too, taking my time as I worked my way up her calf.
By the time I reached her knees, she was squirming against my touch.
Hells, I loved the way she reacted to me. I loved the way she could hardly control what her body really wanted.
And I was the one who could give it to her. I was the one who could give her anything, who could make her feel pleasure she would only ever feel by my hand.
Or by my mouth.
I sank into the water and kissed the inside of her knee. I sank even deeper and slid her leg over my shoulder, looking up at her in the sunlight. She really was a goddess, her pale body glittering with drying drops of water as she exposed herself fully.
She didn’t try to hide from me, didn’t try to cover herself.
She locked her eyes on mine as she reclined backwards, propping herself up on her elbows.
I didn’t dare look at her bare center. I knew once I got a view of her perfection, it would all be over. My cock pulsed in the water as I returned to her inner thigh. I washed any remaining dirt away with handfuls of water before covering her wet skin with my mouth. I kissed and sucked and nipped as I pleased, obsessing over the taste of her until I heard her moan again.
“Wolf,” she said finally. “Please.”
The way she said my name sent a shiver through my body.
My mouth met her center with an electrifying jolt, as if finally, for the first time in fucking weeks, I was giving both of us what we desperately wanted.
I craved this more than blood, more than water.
I craved it like it was everything I ever fucking needed.
Cherries and perfection. I was wrong when I said I could die happy with her blood on her lips. This was what I needed. This would make me a happy, happy dead man.
She leaned back, arching off the ground as I slipped my tongue inside her, licking her fully and holding both thighs over my shoulders. I lapped and devoured, never wanting to get enough of her.
Hells, it would be impossible to get enough. I could taste her for weeks straight and still not be satiated, but there was so much more of her body I hadn’t tasted, so much more of her I had been craving for the last few weeks.
I licked her apex once more before moving upward. My divine Huntress shivered when I slid her legs off my shoulders and re-secured them around my body as I kissed her stomach and licked her torso until I reached her breasts.
“I can’t believe I’ve been able to stay away from you this long, Huntress.” I leaned over her and palmed one of her breasts. Still so fucking plump, so perfect. “I need to touch you every minute of every day. I need to taste you more than I need your blood.”
She whimpered as I dropped my head and pulled a nipple into my mouth. I teased her with my teeth, making her shiver again. Fuck, I would never grow tired of that.
I returned myself to the water and tried to regain a single ounce of control. Goddess above, I needed her. I needed her in the next five fucking seconds, or I would die, I was sure of it.
But Huntyr surprised me by following me into the water, sliding off the riverbank and wrapping her legs around my naked body just like before.
“Huntress,” I moaned, my hardness throbbing against her entrance. “You’re playing a very dangerous game.”
Her serious, focused face finally flickered into a smile.
“And what if I want to play?”
She reached down, sliding a hand between our bodies and gripping me. My entire body shook as her warm, delicate palm wrapped around my shaft.
“What if I want you to feel everything I feel?” She pumped her hand up and down. “What if I want you to moan for me like I moan for you?”
Goddess fucking kill me now. I tossed my head back and closed my eyes, using every last ounce of energy to not throw her on that riverbank and fuck her.
“Eyes on me, Wolf. Only me.”
Images of our first time together flashed through my mind. Eyes on me, Huntress. Only me.
I meant what I said before. I would choose her forever. Every fucking day. Always.
“You have no idea how badly I want to moan your name,” I admitted. “Every time I dream about you, I wake up fearing that I’ve said your name in my sleep. You have no idea how much restraint it takes to be so close to you and not have your naked body in my arms.”
She pumped her hand again.
I shuddered against her.
“Then show me how bad you want me, dear husband.” She leaned down and ran her mouth across my jawline before nipping lightly at my earlobe.
Any remaining restraint quickly unraveled.