Chapter 38
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Knox
I wasn’t sure what propelled me from my bed in the middle of the night, but I was sleeping soundly before waking suddenly. I glanced around the room, my senses on high alert as I searched for danger.
Had Marina already realized Briar wasn’t in the harem and that I’d taken her? Had she arrived in Wildwood?
But as I searched for a threat, I knew it wasn’t her. She wouldn’t be here already, and if she were, the dragon would have let me know, as his roars would fill the night.
No, something else was happening.
The scent of strawberries and eucalyptus filled the air, along with the muskier aroma of arousal, but not just anyone’s… Briar’s.
My stomach lurched as the familiar scent of her desire filled my nostrils.
I hadn’t smelled it in ten years, but the second it entered my nose, I recognized it immediately; my body reacted like it did when we were first together.
Everything in me screamed to go to her as blood rushed to my shaft and the beast rolled within me.
“Fuck,” I hissed through my teeth as I grappled for control.
Anger washed through me as my body betrayed me for the woman I loathed. Yet, there was no denying my body still craved the one who’d condemned it to years of torture.
What is she doing? Has her Needing started?
If I could smell her all the way from the tower, then so could the others. Grinding my teeth, I tugged on a pair of loose-fitting pants before stalking out of my room and down the hall toward the tower.
It was the middle of the night; no one was about, but they could be in their rooms or somewhere nearby.
I couldn’t have anyone else around her once her Needing started.
I’d fuck a hole before I did her again, but I wouldn’t tolerate her screwing anyone else in this castle, and casters were mindless when their Needing hit.
Climbing the tower stairs, I removed the key from where the sprites set it above the door and slid it into the lock. When I twisted the knob, the door swung open.
Briar stood near the window, hovering in the shadows as she stared raptly outside. The thin, blue nightgown she wore hung loosely on her slender frame. Her brown hair spilled around her shoulders; whatever she saw out there had her so enraptured she hadn’t noticed me enter.
The scent of her arousal had weakened. I’d detected it much more clearly earlier, but something had changed since I woke.
Creeping up behind her, I glanced over her shoulder, and my eyebrows rose when I spotted Pierce, Lyra, and Dromon enjoying themselves below. It wasn’t until I was closer that I realized Briar wasn’t watching them; her attention was on the horizon, but she must have seen them.
I had no idea what was going through her mind, but she still hadn’t noticed me and seemed a million miles away. Then her attention shifted to them before she stepped back and straight into me.
With a yelp, she jumped two feet in the air and spun around. As she did so, her hand lashed out and would have connected solidly with my jaw if I hadn’t caught it first.
She let out another little yelp and yanked at her hand as she took a couple of steps away. I released her.
The wolf moon crept into view over the top of the mountains; its muted, silvery light broke through the gray layer enough to emphasize the beauty of her delicate features and the hue of her deep red lips. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she gazed at me in shock and horror.
“Enjoying the show?” I drawled.
Her eyes darted guiltily to the windows before returning to me. “What are you doing here?”
“I was curious.”
“About what?”
“What had you so excited.”
The color drained from her face as her mouth parted a little. “I… I… don’t know what you mean.”
“I could smell your arousal all the way in my room; it’s a scent I recall well from all those years ago. That is what I mean, mea perfidas eveto.”
Her jaw dropped further as color blazed through her cheeks. She turned so red so fast I half expected her to burst into flames.
“I take it you’re enjoying the show. I wonder how they’d feel about knowing they have an audience,” I murmured.
“If they didn’t expect an audience, they shouldn’t have sex beneath my windows,” she retorted. “It’s not like they’re quiet about it.”
I chuckled at this as my attention shifted to my friends. Lyra was on top of Dromon with her head tipped back while her hips rocked forward. Pierce stood to the side, stroking himself as he waited for his turn.
It wasn’t the first time I’d seen my friends in such positions, as they weren’t shy about their urges, and it wouldn’t be the last. I shifted my attention back to Briar when she stepped further into the shadows; her hands twisted in her nightgown as she watched me with the wary gaze of a trapped animal.
It both irritated and pleased me that I made her so uneasy.
“The animal goes after what it wants and is rarely denied the pleasures it seeks,” I told her.
“I guess that goes for you too.”
“Ah, you see,” I said as I prowled closer to her. “My animal, the one I was supposed to become, doesn’t exist anymore. It’s a beast who rules now.”
When her heel connected with the wall, she stopped moving and lifted her chin.
Her nipples pressed against the thin fabric of her gown.
I resisted licking my lips at the memory of what they tasted like in my mouth; she’d liked it when I gave them a gentle tug before sucking on them.
Her body would arch against mine, her fingers would grasp my hair, pulling me closer as she cried out.
I’d been keeping my desire under control, but blood flooded my shaft until it ached as I watched the rise and fall of her chest. I wanted to cup those breasts in my hand and watch her reaction play across her features.
At one time, she’d looked at me with such love that I’d felt invincible; her love had fed my starving soul.
“And what does the beast want?” she inquired.
You.
That answer, and the strength of it, astounded me. The beast never wanted for anything other than to kill, destroy, and protect. It took over for me in the harem and allowed me to slip away while the casters used it, but it didn’t desire anything for itself… until her.
Resentment filled me. For years, the beast protected me, and now it was betraying me by lusting after the one woman who’d created this mess… the one who’d betrayed us.
But maybe that’s why the beast desired her. Without Briar, it wouldn’t exist.
However, I knew it was more than that. I’d scented her arousal through walls, doors, and from hundreds of feet away. Shifters had extraordinary senses, but I wouldn’t have detected anyone else, not from that far away, and they wouldn’t have woken me from a deep sleep.
Only Briar could do such a thing.
“The beast wants freedom,” I replied as I rested my hand on the wall beside her head.
When her breath hitched, her breasts rose higher against the thin fabric, and my mouth watered at the memory of how her skin tasted. She tasted as sweet as she smelled but also salty, like the sea I’d planned to take her to.
My claws lengthened at the memory of our shattered plans. They scraped the stone wall. Briar’s gaze fell to my arm as orange fur briefly covered it before I suppressed my anger.
“And what do you want?” she asked.
The answer remained the same—you—but I would never voice it.
Instead, I shifted the conversation. “I never took you for a voyeur, Briar. Did you like what you saw?”
When her gaze returned to the window, her tongue nervously wet her luscious lips.
Fuck, I inwardly groaned as my entire being screamed to taste her lips again. They’d be soft and yielding, warm and lush beneath my mouth, but more than that, they’d utter the most delicious sounds I’d ever hear.
Her breath had whispered against my ear and come faster as she neared release. She’d urged me on with her legs locked around my waist as she drew me deeper with her hands on my ass and her breasts against my chest.
Back then, I’d believed she was heaven. Now, I knew she was hell.
And what irritated me most was that I craved her hell.
Being so close to her, and with the memories of her bombarding me, I was harder than I’d been in years. As a man, I hadn’t experienced an erection since her… or at least not one outside my dreams of her.
That was one of the many reasons why the beast took over in the harem, as only she could awaken this part of me. And I loathed her more for it.
I also couldn’t deny it felt good to be hard, and this close to her, again.
“No,” she murmured. “I was just… stunned by what they’re doing.”
I chuckled. “I saw far worse and far more than that in the harem.”
When she swallowed, the movement of her delicate throat drew my attention, and so did the scars she bore. My scars… or at least they were the ones of the animal who existed before she shattered my world.
“But I can tell you like it,” I said as I leaned closer to her.
We were so close, her breath whispered across my lips as her pulse fluttered wildly in her throat. The beat of her heart pounded in my ears, and my cock throbbed as it strained against the thin material of my pants.
“Do you know how I can tell you like it?” I whispered.
Her big eyes locked on mine as she gulped before shaking her head.
Leaning closer, I whispered in her ear, “Because I can smell your cunt.”