Chapter 48
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Briar
Every part of me ached. Breathing was difficult, and my skin felt like someone had taken sandpaper to it. I needed him to touch me; it was the only thing that would ease the fire building within me.
My head lolled forward as my clit throbbed. I’d give anything to have him between my legs, filling me, and rocking against me while I dug my nails into his back and screamed with ecstasy.
My hips involuntarily bucked forward. The chains rattled when I jerked back again while I struggled to maintain control.
I won’t be like them. I won’t bind myself to anyone or anything. I will get through this, but I have to do it on my own.
I needed to withstand this without chains. I had to prove to myself that I could get through this without giving in to the demands of the Needing.
“You have to free me,” I whispered.
I winced at Knox’s cold, harsh laugh. “And why would I do that?”
“Because…” I gulped as I tried to wet my parched throat. “Because… I have to… I must get through my Needing alone.”
Lifting my head, I met his burning orange eyes. He’d rested his elbows on his knees and settled his chin on his clasped hands. Orange fur covered him to his elbows, and his shoulders hunched unnaturally forward as he tried to restrain the beast.
I didn’t know how long I’d been chained; it felt like hours or days, or years, but I could do this.
“Tell me about the curse, Briar.”
“I already told you everything I know!” I sobbed. “I can’t give you answers to something I don’t have.”
“Why did you tell your mother?”
I closed my eyes against the tears of frustration burning my eyes. “Nothing you do is going to change my answers. I’m sorry… I’m so… so sorry for everything that happened to you, to us, but I’ve given you all I know. I gave you everything. I’m your mate—”
“No, you’re not,” he interrupted savagely. “I marked you as such when the animal I was supposed to be emerged to do so, but that animal’s gone, and the beast will never mark you. You’re not my mate; you never will be.”
His words were so cutting that for a minute, they pushed aside the hunger of my Needing. He no longer considered me his mate.
“I have forsaken you as such.”
This time, I couldn’t stop the tears from falling, but it was anguish propelling them, not frustration. I should have known he wouldn’t want me as his mate anymore, especially after everything that passed between us recently.
I should have known it, yet I didn’t. I’d been foolish enough to think we at least still had that bond between us, but we didn’t. He was right, a different animal marked me; the beast had never done so.
Another sob escaped as my head fell forward. I blinked away the fresh tears burning my eyes; I wouldn’t let them fall.
“The curse, Briar.”
Rage tore through me. “I don’t know anything about the curse!”
His eyes narrowed and his knuckles turned white as he studied me over the top of them.
“My mother hates me as much as you! Why would she tell me anything about the curse?” I demanded.
The truth of my words sank in like a knife to the heart. He hated me.
“And why should I believe you?” he asked.
“Because I’m telling the truth, but that doesn’t matter to you!”
He studied me for an uncomfortably long time, but at least his questions had finally ceased. I wasn’t sure if he believed me or not, and I didn’t care; I was too busy fighting my out-of-control body to deal with him.
“You have to free me; it’s the only way I can prove my difference from them,” I whispered.
“And what do you plan on doing?” he inquired.
“Surviving.”
When his head tipped to the side, one of his fangs flashed in the light. He may say that he’d never claim me as his mate, but the beast wanted to mark me.
I barely suppressed a whimper as the excruciating ache between my thighs strengthened. If he set me free and I crawled to him and spread my legs in invitation, he’d screw me in every way possible.
A whimper lodged in my throat. No. Stop. STOP!
If he sets you free, you must remain in control.
Neither of us wanted to let our baser impulses take over. We’d both hate that we’d been propelled into each other’s arms by urges beyond our control, but I craved him so badly I could taste his semen on my lips.
I used to enjoy taking his shaft deep into my mouth and the way his body moved while I sucked and stroked him. He was too big to fit completely, but that hadn’t stopped him from enjoying it.
He’d thread his fingers through my hair and draw me closer as my fingers grasped his taut ass while he rocked against me. When he came, I’d enjoyed the pulse of his cock against my tongue and the salty taste of his seed before swallowing it.
The memory was so vivid that, for a moment, I was there once more as he groaned deep in his throat and thrust one more time. Once he finished coming, he’d pull away and claim my mouth in a kiss that stole my breath before taking me to the ground.
I closed my eyes against the memory as I tried to rid myself of the ache, but it was an incessant part of me that had burrowed into my veins. It pulsed outward with every beat of my heart until my toes and fingers burned with it too.
It had dug into my bones and embedded into the very marrow of them. As it crept through my skeleton, it felt like my bones might shatter from the lust quaking through them.
Can I die from my Needing? I pondered again, because it certainly felt that way.
“The curse, Briar.”
My eyes flew open, and I laughed bitterly as he returned to this maddening line of questioning. “I told you everything I know about the curse! Since you like hearing me repeat myself, I don’t know how to break it, and I don’t know how she knew our plan!”
I didn’t realize I was yelling until my throat became raw from shouting. I winced as I tried to swallow, but my parched throat made the movement difficult.
Determined to ignore any more of the same questions, I took a deep breath and focused on the wild beat of my heart against my ribs. It didn’t shut out the pain in my bones, but at least I wasn’t so focused on it.
My heart raced so fast I could feel its pulse as it rushed through my ears and out through my body again. My fingers curled in on themselves, and I took another steadying breath as I sought to calm myself.
I couldn’t open my eyes; I couldn’t look at him. I could still smell him, and despite my focus on my heartbeat, his scent taunted me with something far more enjoyable, but I couldn’t have it.
I could get through this. I would get through this. Even if he didn’t free me, I’d do this on my own by focusing on the here and now, but I still wanted the chance to prove I could do more.
“Please, free me,” I whispered.