Page 96 of Somber Prince

I made it down to the second to last step before Rha grabbed me and hauled me to him.

“I told you to leave!” He shook me like a rag doll. “Go!”

He shoved me away from him. I staggered backwards, stopping only when my back hit the rock wall behind me.

His eyes roamed wildly in their sockets. His garment bulged at his crotch, the fabric undulating as if it concealed a caged beast straining to get free. And as if that wasn’t enough, a golden glow burst from above his belt.

Trepidation slithered into my chest, curling around my heart like an ice-cold tentacle. But there was also a spark of anticipation. My heart beat wildly. I couldn’t possibly predict what would happen, but I wished to find out.

“What are you going to do if I’m gone, Rha?” I willed my voice not to shake, speaking louder than was necessary. I tipped my chin at whatever the hell was happening inside that skirt of his. “Will you jerk off your newly manifested dick until it falls off? Judging by how hard you’re fisting your hands, you’ll probably rip it off.”

My voice was firm enough, but my body shook, rocked by the feeling similar to the one I had when skydiving for the first time. The unknown was terrifying, but it called to me, urging me to take that one crucial step off the plane, after which there'd be no return, no changing my mind.

“Leave!” he roared. “It’s an order. I’ll give you three seconds to get out. One?—”

He didn’t make it to three.

Not even to two.

He lurched forward. His nails scraped the rock of the wall on each side of my head as he caged me.

“Too late,” he growled in his own defeat. “I can’t give you even a second now.”

I slid my trembling fingers down his chest. I had to know what exactly I was dealing with here.

“Let me see it, Rha.”

I gripped his belt as he jerked back. The closure on his belt clicked open, and the shimmering material fluttered down to the floor.

He stood in front of me naked, save for the short boots on his feet and the jewels on his chest.

Coils of black shadows streamed over his hips and curled around his thighs. He didn’t have a singular cock, but an entire bunch of them that undulated between his legs like shorter versions of his tendrils. The ones on the outside of the cluster were also black, like the rest of him. The few in the middle pulsed with a golden glow, looking as if poured from liquid gold and shimmering light.

Stunned, I had no words and simply stared at it. Trepidation vibrated through me with both fear and an odd sense of excitement.

Lifting a trembling hand to the black ribbon on my arm, I tapped the golden rosette.

“Feel me, Rha.”

I didn’t have much joy to share at the moment. But connecting to me would hopefully lend some humanity to the feral beast I was facing. I needed him to feel my fear.

He shook his head, however, keeping his tendrils in.

“My control is slipping,” he croaked. “I will hurt you, Dawn. I’ll use your body for as long as I need for the mating fever to pass. And I’d rather not feel what it’ll do to you.”

My breath stuck in my throat. My spine went rigid. With my back pressed to the wall, I had nowhere to run. He’d given me plenty of chances to get out. But I stayed. And now, it was too late.

At the same time, I had an odd feeling I wouldn’t mind being “used” by him, that I could manage it somehow. That I could even enjoy it. The butterflies in my stomach fluttered in both fear and excitement. His growls resonated through me, eliciting tingles of anticipation.

A shadow of deep sorrow moved across his face. Like he was already mourning what he hadn’t done yet.

“I can bear my own pain, my sweet. But feeling yours would destroy me.”

Said softly, the words made him sound like the Rha I knew, and my heart swelled with compassion and affection.

I’d been conditioned to associate Rha with safety. It was hard for me to see him as a threat now. Even when he was growling, with his teeth bared and his hands fisted, I saw mostly his suffering, not anger.

“I won’t fight you. You don’t want to hurt me. Let’s just enjoy our time together, like we’ve done so many times before.” Trying to keep my hand steady, I reached for the cluster of the slim, glowing tentacles between his thighs. They fanned out like petals of a magical chrysanthemum.

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