Chapter 3
I look up at the cave ceiling, unable to think rational thoughts. I’ve touched myself before. What girl hasn’t? This is different. It’s intrusive and violating, and yet with his soft tongue, he intrinsically knows the way around my entrance like he’s been there a thousand times before.
From this angle, I notice the muscle in his jaw, how it constricts as he sucks on my tender nub. Every flick shatters me. The air in my lungs betrays me as I try over and over again to stifle my cries. But it’s no use. I’m falling apart inside his vile mouth.
I don’t want to find him handsome. He’s terrifying. But still, I admire the way wisps of his silky brown waves break free from his bun as he works his tongue in circles, devouring me. The way his green eyes blaze with hunger and thirst for a taste of me.
He drags his tongue across my abdomen, using his thumb now to press on my swollen clit. He growls against my belly. “You are divine, sweet one. I need more.”
“No,” I whine. I don’t want him to stop, and that scares me. So he must. “No more. I will not be defiled this way. It’s not proper.” I try to squirm away from him, but he holds me in place.
“Imogen… don’t make me tie you up. Unless you want that.” He draws circles around my taut nipples, then pinches them tight between his fingers. “Would you like that?”
I feel a blush sweep across my face. “Don’t be ridiculous.
I would not.” And yet the more I protest, the more I try to wrangle myself out of his grasp, I know it only incites him more.
I know what the result will be. So why am I pushing his limits?
I should just go limp like a dead rodent, but instead I’m biting back like a rabid one.
He sits back on his knees. “Again, your tongue is a liar.” He fiddles with the rope that holds his trousers up, releasing it from its loops. He pulls it free and grabs my wrists, wrapping the rope around them and securing it tightly.
I yelp as frayed threads pinch my skin. “Get this off me. I am not yours to restrain.”
He pins my tied wrists over my head, holding them in place with just one of his big hands. “You are mine to do whatever I wish with.”
The heat rises in my body as he thrusts his finger inside my pussy. I let out a soft moan, then curse under my breath as my traitorous voice betrays me.
He probes deeper, pressing against a spot that makes my eyes roll back into my head. I arch back and spread my legs wider in response. My body is surrendering and gods help me… I can’t stop it.
“Oh, sweet little doe. I like it when you open up for me. Now we are in agreement.” He moans as he adds another finger inside me, scissoring them back and forth against my flesh.
An irrevocable wave of pleasure consumes me as he continues to knead his fingers.
As if he were drawing sensual maps inside the deepest parts of me to ensure he never forgets the way to my core.
My moans turn into gurgled cries. Spasms build like a crescendo, an onslaught of sensations that roll into each other. “Oh gods… what is happening?”
He sucks in a delighted breath while pressing his thumb to my nub. “Ahh, now you will understand. You’re falling apart. Surrender to it. Drench my fingers.”
The pressure builds in my belly. Another act of betrayal from my traitorous body.
A tingling radiates through my thighs, all the way up the back of my neck.
I clench around him, my body seizing while stars dot my vision.
A hot tingling rush, of what can only be deemed as witchcraft, takes hold of my body, destroying my ability to function.
I’m dizzy, like the time I drank too much honey mead at the summer solstice festival. But back then, I don’t recall the devil’s nectar ever making me feel as alive as this does. I’m plummeting, drowning in a sea of ecstasy that I don’t want to be saved from.
I thrust my hips up to meet his pace, desperate to grind against his rough palm.
He licks his lips as he holds my gaze. “You like this.”
I look away, my cheeks hot like an inferno. “No. I hate this,” I snap, ashamed that I’m enjoying this as much as he threatened I would.
He releases my wrists only to yank my chin back toward him. “Tell me, or I’ll stop.”
It only takes a split second of him stilling his fingers for me to cry out. “Yes. Please. I like it…” I murmur.
He smirks, thrusting harder, faster, stoking my release. “Cum for me, Imogen. Show me how I’ve conquered you.”
I unclench and grind my pussy into his hand as he pounds my tender spot so hard I think I might die from delight. It’s too much. It’s not enough. My gods. I can’t fight it. The swell keeps building, forcing me to either ride it or get pulled under. I ache to do both. So I do.
A gurgled cry unleashes from my throat as the most vigorous spasm I’ve ever felt takes hold of my entire body. I jerk back and forth, unwavering, desperate to chase this unholy rapture, begging the gods to let it last forever.
“Mmm. That’s it.” He presses his lips to mine, cutting off another strangled cry.
I flinch at the taste of my own juices on his tongue, but then another warm sensation takes hold in my belly.
He slows his fingers, coaxing another ripple of delirium from me.
I moan deep into his mouth as our tongues collide and stars twinkle from behind my closed eyelids.
He wraps his other hand around my neck, squeezing gently as he growls, scraping his teeth across my lips. “I want these wrapped around my cock.”
The vile things he says only make me hotter, needier, for his wicked promises. No, these are threats, Imogen. Brutal but exquisite threats. I can’t forget that this man has stolen me away from my village and is defiling me against my will. No matter how good his body feels against mine…
I loop my bound wrists over his head and dig my nails into his back as the next spasm pushes me to the threshold of blacking out. Is this how it is for everyone? Or does this man have skills that mortal men can only dream about?
If he keeps me forever, there will be no comparison. In this moment of exultation, I know without a shadow of a doubt that I’m ruined. This predator in the night has broken me and wrecked me for anyone else.
My arms shake as I clutch him to me. I try to swallow, but my mouth is dry, my voice hoarse from screaming. “What have you done to me?”
Conquest brushes a matted strand away from my brow before placing a gentle kiss on my forehead. “You unraveled. And so you were rewarded for your sweet surrender.”
My chest heaves as I gasp for breath. “Am I still virtuous?”
He chuckles. “Yes, your innocence is still intact. For now. Mostly.” He unties my wrists and rubs them, coaxing the blood back into my veins. “You are lucky I found you first, sweet one.”
A chill slithers up my back. There are three more of them. I had forgotten that in the throes of my ripe undoing. “And why is that?”
He sighs with that devious smirk still lingering on his lips. “The others won’t be as gentle. War is brutal, Famine is twisted, and Death… well, let’s just say he doesn’t need you to be conscious to derive pleasure from you.”
Oh gods…
Conquest sits across the fire from me, fixated on me. “You’re going to have to run soon. I’ve repaired your boots to give you a slight head start.”
With my dress on the ground, torn to shreds, I wrap his cloak around my shoulders. Yet it does little to shield me from the icy wind that trickles in. “But you’ve already caught me.”
He takes a swig from his metal flask. “I have. They have not. This is the Wild Hunt. We are predators, and you are our prey. We need to chase and hunt.”
The fear that I first had resurfaces. Why can’t it just be him? “Please, I don’t want to run anymore. I can’t… just bring me to them.”
Conquest comes around the fire and buttons up the cloak, so I’m no longer exposed.
“You’ve been such a good sport so far. Don’t back down now.
” He pinches my chin and thrusts his eager tongue into my mouth.
I fight it, choking on my own saliva until I give in to his audacity, surrendering to that ache he’s festered in me.
He slides his thumb across my lips. “They are going to be so pleased with you. Our delicious sacrifice. Remember, the more you scream and fight, the more they will delight in breaking you.”
Tears stream down my cheeks again. My lips are bruised, my pussy raw, and my feet are still sore from running earlier. “I didn’t agree to this. I agreed to die.”
He pulls me up off the ground. “Sometimes, what you want and what you need are worlds apart. But the moment you give up control is when you’ll find how similar they are.”
I let him lace up my boots. They feel more stable now that he’s repaired them, and yet my knees still tremble with the fear of the unknown.
An uneasiness washes over me. Knowing that three more monsters are out there circling, waiting to pounce.
Eager to do vile things to me. His threats have, in fact, been promises.
So the warning of their brutality curdles my stomach.
I look down at the ground, but he lifts my chin, always demanding with his gestures as well as his words. I wipe my cheeks with the sleeve of my new—his—cloak. “And when they’re done? What happens then?”
He flips up my collar. “Running will keep you warm. The snowfall is thick and unforgiving. Don’t stop until he’s cornered you. Or you’ll freeze to death.”
I get an unobstructed view of him as he walks ahead of me and mounts his horse.
His thick thighs grip the sides of the saddle, stoking an unfamiliar longing from deep within my core.
I picture his muscular arms wrapped around me, pinning me to the ground with such force that I unravel for him again. My cheeks heat at the thought.
Noticing, he flashes me a mischievous smirk. “Don’t fret. We’ll be together again soon. And I will destroy that sweet cunt of yours with more than just my tongue and fingers.”
A whimper tickles my throat, but I swallow it down. I will not give him any more fuel to stoke this blasphemous fire.
He is right about the snowfall though. I can barely see two feet in front of me. It’s coming down hard, creating a thick blanket of slush for my boots to sink into. “Shall I run in circles, then?”
His arrogance is on full display as he trots around me, snickering.
“Head back into the woods. Over there”—he points far past my field of vision— “where the branches are the spiniest. War will track your scent, but it will give you a slight advantage. And it will please him. Remember, the longer the chase, the hungrier he will be. So run like hell, little doe. If you make it too easy, you’ll incur his wrath. ”
I can’t help but pout. “What does it matter? It seems I’m damned if I do, damned if I don’t.”
Conquest caresses my face once more. “Trust me, you don’t want to find out. Brutality comes in many forms. One that will bring you pleasure, and one that will only serve him.”
My breath hitches as he gallops off into the dark without another word or glance back. I try to track his silhouette, but it’s useless. He’s gone. And I’m alone again, and back to being hunted by wild beasts.
I curse under my breath as I lift my boots out of the slush.
I’m tempted to let myself sink further. To give up and let him find me here, brutality be damned.
But just as I think the fight has left me, I’m shaken out of my despair, startled by thunderous hooves pounding in the distance.
It gets closer, louder, with every breath I take.
A renewed will to live awakens in me. I trudge through until I reach a path that’s free from debris, seemingly carved by angels. I will not surrender so easily. With my adrenaline racing through my veins, my heart pounding, I break into a run across the clearing and head toward the woods.