Chapter 23
MIA
The irony that I am running through the woods in high-heeled boots and a seventeenth-century ball gown while I could very easily be getting high on twenty-first-century weed back at Blackwell Manor instead, is not lost on me.
The fact that I actually had the option and yet I still chose to taunt the scary, albeit really fucking hot, Skelker, is a true testament to how fucked up I really am.
I want to run home, but he planted himself in that direction, forcing me to go the opposite way. I could’ve also made a dash back through the Circle, toward my guys and the bonfires. I can still see the smoke billowing over the treetops.
But I don’t. Because that would mean I’m running away instead of playing his game. If I want to find out who he really is and what he truly wants, then I have to let him catch me. So where are you herding me?
I curse under my breath as my laces snag on a fallen branch. I stumble forward, my legs tumbling underneath me, as I nearly fall on my face. The momentum propels me forward faster, and this time, I do trip on a rock.
“Fuck!” I slam into the dirt, palms out. Searing pain shoots up my arms as I brace all my weight on them.
Mine. Mine. Mine.
Oh, hell. He’s right behind me, letting me think I was farther ahead. I scramble to my feet, ignoring my stinging palms, hike up my skirt, and take off into a full sprint through the forest.
Fuck, you, Sonny Crane. Or whatever your name really is.
I try not to think about the gravel that’s embedded in my skin as I run.
Trying to hold these heavy skirts up so I don’t trip on them again is harder than one would think.
This fucking monster has me acting like a helpless damsel in distress.
Like I’m one of those sacrificial virgins from the olden days.
Fuck my life.
I could tell myself that it’s all for Bones. That it’s to get him the answers he needs. But then I’d be a liar. Who am I kidding? I’m doing this all for my traitorous pussy.
Because the thrill that this man, this fucking devil’s spawn, gives me is the most unholy thing I’ve ever craved. I’m hot, breathless, and my thighs burn. And not in a bad way. I always say that I don’t run unless I’m being chased. I’m never making that stupid joke ever again.
As I reach the river crossing, I realize where I am. My stomach drops. This is the same path Draven took me the other day. The sacrificial murder cabin is up ahead. He really does want to reenact the Wild Hunt. Great.
I skirt across the rocks, groaning as puddles of rainwater slosh around my ankles. It’s enough of a nuisance to slow me down so that he gains on me again. His hissing gets louder and sends chills up my spine. But as soon as I get across, I break into a run again.
Take. Take. Take. His voice clicks, unnerving me.
My stomach bottoms out, pushing me to the verge of nausea.
That thick, heavy energy hits me as soon as the cabin comes into view.
Every inch of my body resists, begging me to stay as far away as I can.
It was easier with Draven at my side. But now that the devil’s at my back, my courage wanes. I’m not so tough now.
My fingers tremble, and for a moment, I’m tempted to drink the poison Draven gave me.
It can’t drown the Skelker out now that he’s here in the flesh, but it can at least numb my fear.
Fuck. I don’t know what to do. I whip around to see him stalking through the grass.
He looks unreal, like an apparition. But he is very real.
And the closer he gets, the more pronounced his smug smirk gets.
“Ready to face my wrath, dark one?” he calls across the field.
On instinct, I lurch back and wrestle the cabin door open.
As if these walls can protect me from him.
The second I’m inside, I’m reminded of the heavy, dark curse that hangs in the air.
So much death and pain permeate this space.
But as I scramble up the stairs in the dark with nothing but moonlight to see by, the energy turns feral and carnal.
He doesn’t slam the door or race up behind me. No, he waits. He lurks. The floorboards creak below. He walks slowly up the stairs, his breath heavy. It’s all I can hear in this silence. That and the hammering of my heart.
I flatten myself against the wall farthest from the door.
As if somehow I can disappear into the chipped paint.
Terrified, I nearly pass out when he appears in the doorway.
His size is unnatural. The man is so big, he has to duck under the frame before entering.
Which makes me wonder if any part of him is still human at all. I think that he might be la bestia.
“I’m glad you came.” He stalks toward me, taking his time. Deliberately taunting me with his restraint.
Fuck. I can’t stop shaking. “What do you want from me?”
“You know what I want. Don’t ask stupid questions.”
“No. I mean after. Will you kill me? Take me back to hell with you?” My heart is going to explode if he gets any closer. But he will. He’s inching toward me as if he’s gliding across the floor.
“Oh, are we already having the whole what-are-we-to-each-other talk? I didn’t know you’d gotten so attached to me.” He stops just short of pressing up against me. His breath is sweet and warm on my face. His amber eyes flicker with amusement.
I hug the wall so hard the spot between my shoulder blades starts to ache. “What? No. You’re obsessed with me. Clearly.” I can’t catch my breath. Fuck.
His hand snaps out and closes around my throat. He drags me forward and slams me onto the bed. I claw at his fingers as air depletes from my lungs. I can’t even scream for help.
“Shhh… Will you cry for me when I hurt you?”
I gasp as he releases my throat only so he can pull the ropes down to secure my wrists to the bedposts. “I will never shed a tear for you,” I grit out.
There are moments you can’t take back. I think this is one of them…
The Skelker removes his cloak as he straddles me. “Yes. You. Will.” He takes his time unlacing my corset, never taking his eyes off mine as he unwinds the ribbons.
“Please…” I gasp when his fingertips graze my bare breasts. “Fuck. It burns.” His touch leaves black, inky marks on me that exude small wispy threads of smoke.
“Since I am damned, so shall you be.” He rakes his nails down my torso as he rips the rest of my bodice off.
I scream and arch my back as the most excruciating pain shoots through me. “Why are you doing this to me?”
He covers my nipple with his mouth and sucks, replacing the pain with heat. Blinding white heat. Fuck. Drool dribbles down my chin as I toss my head from side to side.
“You are most beautiful when you suffer. You make me want to do unspeakable things when you look like this. So scared and yet so hot for my cock.” He tears my skirts open with his bare hands, jerking them away from my body. “So eager to be the devil’s whore.”
A surge of nausea creeps up my throat as I watch him in horror. He is a monster, a psycho, half man, half beast. Heartless. “You’re not the devil. You’re just his pet. A pathetic servant who can’t—”
He grabs my throat and squeezes. “I’m going to show you what it means to serve, dark one.”
He rakes two fingers down the length of my tongue, so far back, I gag and convulse. “Such a pretty throat. So eager to choke on me.”
I feel his cock harden against my stomach, and I hate myself for wondering what it looks like. What it feels like. As I lay here in my torn dress with his fingers down my throat, my pussy wet, my nipples hard, my shame and my lustful appetite are at odds with each other.
He spreads my legs open with his knees then circles the tip of his thumb over my clit with light delicate strokes. “Your fear is like a drug… I want to show you what he did to me.” His eyelids flutter as he unzips his pants. “He did it for you.”
Oh, fuck. My breath quickens. “Please untie me. Please.” I try to writhe away from him, even though I know it’s no use. The ropes burn my wrists the more I struggle.
“You’re his whore, Mia. But he gave you to me. Mine to tie up. Mine to mark and scar. Mine.” A sound I’ve never heard a man make gurgles from his throat; a feral growl mixed with a high-pitched whine. His nostrils flare as he bares his teeth before sinking them into my thigh.
“Fuck!” I scream out as he tears into my flesh.
He thrusts his thumb inside my pussy and presses down on my abdomen with his palm. I let out a moan, my voice cracking, as I struggle to understand the sensations taking over my body. A spasm flickers violently inside me while he laps at his own bite mark with his pronged tongue.
“You bring out the beast that lives inside me,” he rasps. He rakes his teeth higher, hovering them over my clit.
I shake my head. “No. Please.”
He smiles before taking my clit between his teeth. But he doesn’t bite down hard, just nibbles, and oh my fucking god, it makes my entire body heat. I roll my head back and bite my lip. “Fuck. You.”
He hisses before biting down on my other thigh. His teeth break the skin on impact, and a burst of blood splatters onto his skull. He moans as he licks and sucks, massaging his three-pronged tongue over it until it burns.
While I should be more concerned with him eating me alive, I can’t help but wonder again what he looks like beneath the bone skull. His eyes glow like burnt honey, and his lips are so thick and soft that I ache for them on my body.
As if reading my mind, he plants a soft kiss against my pussy. “I wonder how long you could survive tied up like this, me feeding on your flesh… my cum your only sustenance… We’ll have to test that out.”
He’s a real monster. The kind you actually fear is under your bed. And he’s going to be the fucking death of me. “Not long, I promise you. So if you want to keep playing with me, you’re going to have to untie me eventually.”
He tastes my blood again, swirling his tongue around my wounds, then back to my pussy as he hungrily licks the inside of my entrance. “It’s cute that you think I need you alive in order to play with you.”
Bastard. “You wouldn’t dare let me die.” Would he? As he continues to devour me, I pray he doesn’t stop. I fear his restraint would be more agonizing than his attacks. And I curse myself for wanting it more than anything in this moment.
“I love how you respond to me, dark one. Now, up here. Eyes on me.” His voice is full of heat and longing. And even though it carries ancient wounds, I can hear the youth in it, still clinging to him like an imaginary friend.
I wince. The bite wound stings without his saliva covering it.
I feel fucking unhinged. Ruined. I obey him for fear he may rip out another chunk of my flesh.
All while I kind of want him to. I follow the path his fingers take—back to the waistband of his leather pants.
He slips his hand inside and stills it for a quick second before freeing his cock.
My mouth drops open as I try to make sense of what I’m looking at. His cock is long and thick and… ribbed with bones. Every veiny ridge is studded. “What… wait. How did you…”
He smooths his hand down his shaft, slowly thumbing over the thick pieces of bone that protrude out.
“I can crush you. Rip you apart from the inside. If I want. Mine.” He drags the tip of his cock up my slit, forcing me to feel how the bone is both smooth and rough at the same time, jagged as if it was embedded without care.
I can’t help but arch into it. Fuck. He is destruction. The literal definition of ruin. “Does it hurt?” I ask.
That diabolical grin returns to his mouth. “Not for me, it doesn’t. You, on the other hand…”
I gasp as he thrusts the tip inside my pussy and pushes in halfway.
“Wait. It’s too much. Please.” He throbs inside me, showing me how much more he plans to stretch me.
Reminding me that I can’t feel my wrists anymore.
That I have no say in anything he plans to do to me.
And that, regardless of how much it hurts, I’m also going to cum harder than I ever have before.
“Looks like I’ll be tasting your tears tonight after all.” He pushes all the way in, and for a split second, it feels like my soul leaves my body.
“Oh, gods…” I can’t control the stretch or the angle as he fills me. The bone… fucking hell, it’s like daggers, and yet, it stimulates as much as it rubs me raw.
“The gods can’t hear you now, dark one. No one can. You’re at my mercy, and I have none.” He slams into me without warning, and I almost black out.