Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
Daemon
OUR VOW
My demon was more alive than ever. He was completely unchained and craving more and more.
Or maybe it wasn’t just him. Maybe it was me.
Now that I’d had her, it was all I could think about. She’d become rooted into every aspect of my being and fractured any semblance of control I had left.
I’d fucked before. But it was fast and meaningless without any emotions tied to it. Being with her—being inside her—drove my obsession to a whole new level. She hadn’t just satisfied a hunger—she had created a whole new one. One that was darker and all-consuming.
I held her all night, watching the rise and fall of her chest and memorizing how every curve of her body fit perfectly against mine while she slept. My body vibrated with restraint, making my muscles ache. My demon fought with the need to touch her again.
And Hells help me, so did I.
The sun would be rising soon, and I could sense a storm on the horizon, blocking the approaching dawn. The tree we lay beneath would do little to protect us from the elements. We needed to find proper shelter.
I craned my neck to glance at the landscape. There were rocky hills farther east, away from the river. I suspected there would be some kind of cave we could find there to ride out the storm—and the rest of the Hunt as well.
I needed to wake her up and get moving before we were caught in a torrential downpour. But I didn’t want to move. I wanted to keep her warm body pressed against mine. Her face was so peaceful, lips parted slightly as the soft sounds of her breath escaped.
I brushed my fingers along the curve of her hip, up to her ribs, feeling the beat of her heart beneath her skin, before tracing back down to her thigh. My shirt had ridden up, grazing just below the swell of her ass. My dick hardened the moment I touched her bare skin.
She stirred slightly, but I didn’t stop. I could have stayed like this, selfishly savoring this moment. She was wrapped in my shirt, my scent, like it was a symbol of possession.
“Let me taste her.” My demon slithered to the front, wrapping around me like a noose. “You’ve had your fill. Now, it’s my turn.”
“Your lust is for blood. I won’t let you draw a drop. She’ll never trust me again.”
“You need to trust me!”
I paused, glancing down at Vhaena while I considered his request.
“I would never hurt her,” he said quietly.
I believed him. But I also didn’t know what he would do to her if I completely submitted to his will.
“I will only please her,” he added.
But I knew pleasure wasn’t always tender, and desire could be vicious.
I closed my eyes and released a heavy breath. “Remember the vow.”
I felt the depravity in his grin. “I could never forget.”
I hesitated for just a heartbeat. Then I let go. I released my hold, stopped trying to hold him back, letting him rise.
The shift was instantaneous. I was nothing but a shadow, a bystander in my own body. Every sensation was just as pronounced as before but as if it were through a haze. The line between me and my demon blurred until there was nothing left.
I—he—leaned down and whispered against her skin like a prayer, “Vhaena.”
She let out a sleepy hum.
My hand beneath her roamed up her stomach and caressed the underside of her breast. My demon moved with grace.
His desire gripped my senses, but it was more than just physical lust. There was possession, worship, and a devouring hunger.
A desire that needed her to know just how ruinously loved she was.
Then, it hit me.
He was me. He was the part of me that wanted her too deeply, that had burned for her over years.
Her skin pebbled under my touch as she arched her back, pressing her ass against my cock. Her eyes fluttered open when she turned her head to the side, meeting my dark, heated gaze.
I wondered who she saw there, staring down at her savagely. But it wasn’t fear reflected in her eyes. It was something much fiercer. Something raw and resolute.
She leaned into him—me—pressing her chest forward against my palm. I squeezed, roughly brushing my thumb across her nipple, eliciting a gasp from her. My eyes never left hers, watching every reaction, every emotion, flash across her face.
My other hand slid up the side of her thigh and under the shirt, until I reached the edges of her undergarment. I wasn’t gentle. I wasn’t slow. And I didn’t wait to dip my fingers beneath the fabric and slide them across her pussy.
“You’re wet for me,” my voice rumbled from my chest, but it was my demon’s words.
I sunk two fingers into her, relishing in her warmth.
“I was dreaming of you,” she moaned.
She rolled her hips against my hand, forcibly taking her pleasure from me.
My fingers curled, finding that delicious spot that made her writhe over and over until my fingers were dripping.
I pulled them out and shoved them beneath my mask, grazing them over my tongue and gracing myself with the taste of her.
I groaned as I removed them, depriving myself of their flavor.
“Patience. We will have so much more.”
She whimpered, but I cut off the sound when I shoved my dripping fingers between her lips.
“Taste yourself. Taste what I crave, what I find so fucking irresistible.” I wanted to taste her cunt on my tongue. I wanted to bury my face between her legs and never come up for air. I’d happily suffocate between her thighs.
Her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Her tongue wrapped around my fingers, licking off every last bit of her arousal.
With my fingers still in her mouth, I removed my arm from beneath her and pushed down my pants. Her lips popped when I pulled my fingers out.
“Take off your panties before I tear them off,” I threatened. My claws emerged in front of her face, and her eyes widened. I was ready to shred apart anything between us.
She quickly shoved them down her legs and kicked them off while I pulled the shirt over her head and tossed it aside. Maybe it was the fog of sleep or something else entirely, but she was eager. It made my cock even harder to the point of pain.
She lifted a hand to remove my mask, and I snatched her wrist before she could reach my face.
“I want to kiss you. I want to see you,” she breathed.
“You want to see a man,” my demon said through my teeth.
“But I’m a creature of darkness, risen from the depths of this world to bring depravity.
I’m everything you fear, the sin you ache for.
I’m the terror of your dreams and everything your body begs to be ruined by.
I’m a demon—so that’s what you’re going to see. ”
I lifted her leg slowly and aligned myself with her, taking my time.
“You’re going to know what it’s like to be fucked by me.” His voice was low and gentle. It was almost unrecognizable.
She released a shaky breath as I pushed into her.
“What it’s like to be protected by me.”
I pushed in a little more.
“To be cared for by me.”
She sighed when I finally filled her.
“And loved by me.”
I hadn’t expected such gentleness from my demon as he eased in and out of her, drawing out her pleasure as if it fueled him.
But I also hadn’t realized what he felt for her.
His heart…was mine. And it wasn’t until I saw his dedication, his untainted desire and protectiveness, that I realized where my heart had always belonged.
With her.
She widened her legs, allowing me to go deeper. I fucked her harder, wrenching cries from her. She clenched around me with each bruising thrust, and my balls tightened. I groaned, burying my face in the crook of her neck as the pressure built nearly to the point of blissfully bursting.
She winced and shifted her shoulder away from me.
My demon stilled. His eyes locked onto the bitemark—Asher’s mark—fixating on the two puncture wounds at the bottom of her neck. He traced the injury with his gaze, pulling in the memory of her taste when my mouth drank from her. My thirst only surged.
“Do you trust me, Vhaena?” I asked, low and coaxing—laced with the prospect of something dangerous as he slowly dragged a claw down her spine as light as a feather.
His words hung in the air, choking on the silence.
“I swear to never hurt you,” I promised.
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. A dam of relief broke when she nodded, fully giving herself to me.
“Get on your knees.”
She did as she was told, sitting on her feet as she kneeled in front of me.
“Turn around.”
She swallowed, her eyes searching my mask before she shifted, facing away.
With one hand, I reached around and started rubbing her clit.
“Focus on my fingers touching you. Focus on how good it feels,” I whispered.
“It…feels so good,” she moaned.
With my other hand, I tilted her head to the side and trailed a claw down her neck.
“She won’t have anyone else’s mark on her but ours.”
The moment I realized what he was about to do, it was too late to stop it. Nor did I want to.
The claw pressed into the first puncture wound. It was shallow, but deep enough to draw blood.
Vhaena yelped, “What are you— Oh…”
Her cry turned into a moan when I pushed a finger into her, pressing my palm down on her clit and circling, overwhelming her pain with pleasure.
“Shh. That’s it,” I praised.
My claw dragged down the back of her shoulder at an angle, trails of blood trickling along her skin. I pushed another finger into her, then I moved the claw to the other puncture, tearing her skin in a line until it met at the bottom of the other…in the shape of a ‘V.’
My demon replaced Asher’s mark with our own.
“Our vow upon her skin.”
My claws retracted, and I gathered the drops of her blood on the pads of my fingers before pressing it against her lips.
“Taste yourself,” I repeated from earlier, my voice low and rough. “Taste what drives me mad with desire.”
She groaned, the guttural sound reverberating against my finger.
“You did so good, my little demon.” Her breath caught at the praise. “Now, bend over. I’ll take all your pain away.”
She willingly fell to her hands, and I spread her legs apart with my knee. I didn’t wait. I thrusted into her. I tangled my hand in her hair, pushing her head down between her arms.
Now, there was no chance she could see me.
I yanked down my mask, letting it fall around my neck, then reached around her hips and circled her clit, finding the speed that made her moan louder than the approaching thunder.
I was drooling at the sight of the blood on her bare skin with my cock driving in and out of her.
I eagerly lapped the streams of crimson.
I wanted to fuck her so hard that she bled; from her pussy, her mouth, her ass.
I was going to have her in every way and claim every inch of her body until she was corrupted by the darkness within me.
Vhaena tensed for a moment, but relaxed again when I rubbed her clit faster, releasing animalistic sounds that rivaled the beasts of the island. I tasted the blood from the wounds I’d inflicted, relishing the metallic flavor on my tongue.
I licked and sucked, bruised and bit, all while fucking her ruthlessly.
“I’m—I’m going to come!” she cried. Her fingers clawed into the dirt, and she pushed back against me, meeting every punishing thrust.
I couldn’t hold out any longer. Once she began pulsing around me, screaming from the pleasure I was giving her, I slammed into her with an unrestrained roar.
My vision went black as I filled her with my cum. But I wasn’t done. I never would be.