Chapter 47
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Knox
“I didn’t tell her. That day was the worst of my life, and I’ve missed you… I mean, Seth… ever since.”
My head shot up at her qualifying words, and a snarl rumbled through my chest, but I didn’t release it. Her words were true. I wasn’t the man she remembered; I’d told her that repeatedly.
She also wasn’t the woman I’d believed her to be.
When I rose again, she recoiled from me. Her limbs stretched as far back as they could go as she strained against the chains.
Her breath came faster as I prowled closer. The scent of her was intoxicating, as were her hardened nipples and the wetness sliding down her leg.
Standing before her, I drew her aroma deep into me as the rise and fall of her breasts caused them to brush against my chest. She bit her bottom lip again, drawing more blood as she swayed toward me.
Unable to resist, I skimmed my knuckles down her side, tracing her lush curves. My fingers opened to splay across her hip as she watched me.
“I bet you’d give anything for some release,” I murmured.
I moved my hand lower, gliding it across her belly to just above the dark hair shielding her pussy. I recalled the wiry feel of that hair against my face when I buried myself in it and listened to her cries as her hips thrust toward me.
“Knox,” she breathed.
And then she let out a sound that was a mixture of desperation and pain. When I dipped my hand lower, my fingers slid through her wetness, and my mouth watered.
She’d always been so wet and tight, but I’d never felt her this wet before. When my finger grazed her clit, the hardened bud quivered as it begged for more. If I rubbed it a few more times, I’d push her right over the edge.
“Fuck,” I growled as I forced my hand away.
I’d chained her so she couldn’t experience any pleasure, not even with herself. If I gave her the orgasm her body clamored for, she’d have no reason to provide me with any answers.
But I’d seen the casters in that harem, I could give her twenty orgasms, and she’d still beg for more. I could give her this one and let myself hear her cries of ecstasy again. I could bury my mouth in her cunt and drink down the taste of her while she bucked against me and begged for me.
I shouldn’t want it, but I did so badly my body thrummed with tension, and the beast was a panting, desperate monstrosity within me.
“Please,” she whispered.
My other hand fell to my cock. I rubbed it through my pants while I waited to hear what she wanted. “Please, what?”
“Stop.”
“What?”
“Don’t touch me.”
I recoiled like she’d punched me in the nuts. My hands fell away as I stepped away from her. “What?”
I couldn’t have heard her right. There was no way a caster would ask someone to stop at any time, especially not during their Needing.
“Don’t touch me. I can’t be like them… any of them,” she said.
“What do you mean?”
She shook her head and then winced when her hair brushed her breasts. The muscles in her belly clenched as her head fell back and an erotic sound issued from her.
The visceral reaction in my body froze my breath as my shoulders cracked and the beast surged to the forefront. Briar recoiled from me, and I could only imagine what she saw on my face and in my eyes.
“No,” she whispered. “Please, no. I can’t be like them.”
Those words knocked some of the beast out of me. How often had I heard some of the others begging for mercy or to be left alone while in the harem? How often had I listened to their cries and cursed them for the weakness, while inwardly screaming the same pleas when my time came.
I never begged the casters to stop or to leave me alone; they never would, and I was certain my pleas would only excite them further. So many of them enjoyed inflicting pain and relished their control over everyone in the harem.
How often had I sworn never to be like those monsters?
And now she was begging me to stop while all I wanted was to fuck her. She needed it and would enjoy it; we both would. If I kept touching her, she’d soon be begging for release instead of asking me not to.
It was true, but my feet wouldn’t move any closer to her. Maybe her body was begging for release, but she wasn’t, and if she weren’t in her Needing, she wouldn’t be this aroused. I didn’t want her unless she was in her right mind.
You don’t want her at all! While I tried to make that true, it wasn’t, and I couldn’t deny it anymore. I’d always long for her, but that didn’t mean I could have her.
“I can’t… I can’t be them,” she whispered.
As I retreated to the chair, I questioned if I should be the one in chains. “What do you mean by that?” I asked in a guttural voice.
“I don’t want to be day or night; I want to be me.”
I sank into the chair and closed my eyes as I willed myself to regain control. It took some time, but eventually the beast retreated again.
When I felt stable enough to look at her again, her eyes were closed and her mouth was clamped shut. She was still aching as her wetness trailed down her thighs.
My canines throbbed to extend and sink into the delicate column of her throat, marking her as my mate again. The marks on her were clearly visible against her otherwise pristine skin, but I still yearned to reopen them.
This was a mistake. I’d been so sure I could handle this, but I was wrong.
I couldn’t let the beast take over; I didn’t know what it would do to her, and as much as I hated her, I couldn’t allow that. I’d never do to another what they did to me in the harem, and while the beast had taken on my role in that awful place, it couldn’t be with her.
I wouldn’t allow it. Not only because she was in chains, but also because she was mine and I wouldn’t allow it to touch her.
That confusing notion had me shaking my head. She’s not mine.
At one time, she was, but she never would be again. And she was never yours. It was all lies.
I should walk out of here and let Lyra come in to deal with her, but I couldn’t leave Briar in this vulnerable state. Lyra would never go against my orders, but she hated casters almost as much as I did. Being so close to another one going through their Needing might push her over the edge.
I could ask Bertie to come in, but I wouldn’t let anyone near her while she was like this, yet I couldn’t get anywhere near her either. My teeth ground together when she moaned again.