Page 12 of The Devil Takes

His words played on repeat in my mind as I shoved back, ignoring Haden’s unspoken demand to let him take charge. It was that disobedience, however, that finally got me what I wanted.

Haden’s teeth were surprisingly sharp when he bit me. He held the back of my neck tight, rendering me immobile as his cold gloved fingers grabbed my throat in one hand and his hips slapped hard against my ass. Without warning, he set a punishing pace that had me sobbing for mercy, tears slipping hot down my cheeks. The harder he fucked, the slicker I got, the wet sounds filling the air obscene.

My dick rubbed against my lower abs, aching and eager, and with each particularly brutal thrust it would slap against my belly in a way that made me tingle, a wet spot left behind.

“Shit,” I gasped, body throbbing with pleasure. “Shit, shit, shit.”

Haden shifted his hips, grabbing my ass tight in one massive hand as he moved me to change the angle. I trembled when he found what he was looking for, pushing up against something inside me that made my jaw drop open as a broken whine left my lips.

It was so fucking good.

Good enough that my eyes rolled back, my lashes fluttering as Haden’s teeth dug in tighter, harder around my mating gland.

I should’ve been scared.

Even I knew what Haden was doing was considered impolite. If he broke skin, we’d be mated, and well…fuck. How the hell was I going to explain that? It was one of my worst fears, actually. Not because I didn’t want it, but because I knew what getting it would mean for me.

Slap, slap, slap, his hips met my ass.

He gnawed at my neck.

My eyes rolled back with pleasure, despite the danger.

Haden didn’t seem to care though, because his free hand slipped across my pelvis, dragging across my sweaty, sensitive skin till he reached his destination and squeezed tight around my throbbing dick. Fuuuck. That felt so fucking good. I humped into his grip, drunk on the way he panted behind me, hot breath caressing my neck. All thoughts of mating and its repercussions left my mind as the needy, desperate part of me that had been lurking under the surface since the moment I saw him broke free.

When he came, his fangs sank inside my neck.

The pain was so laced with pleasure I hardly noticed. The second I felt the heat of his cum inside me my own cock spurted across his fingers, balls drawing up tight as his knot popped inside me, and I distantly recognized that I was mewling.

Haden’s teeth didn’t release my neck as he forced me off my knees and onto my belly, letting me rest as his body bracketed my own and his cock released another shorter bout of his pleasure inside me. His clothing scraped against my sensitive skin, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. Not when it felt so fucking good to be held down like this. To be overpowered, but protected. To not have to think or worry at all.

In a weird way, I felt…powerful.

That this large, frightening creature was mine until his knot popped free.

We were tied together and therefore vulnerable, but deep down, I knew Haden wouldn’t let anything happen to me.

He would protect me.

Mate, my soul whispered as my lashes fluttered and I finally succumbed to sleep, his warm body atop my own.

Mate.

Through smoke and shadows, he struggles toward me.

Like a phantom in search of light.

Sifting through fortresses and walls I constructed myself.

He stubbornly fights his way into my sight.

The fact that the convenience store by my dorm building was only two hundred feet away should’ve meant the location was perfect. Except, standing between me and my deep-fried potato wedges and mini donuts was the highway that dissected the small town of Madison.

The only way to cross the busy street was to walk a mile down the road to the southern exit, smack the half-broken button, and cross the only crosswalk. Though some students—with a death wish—chose to jaywalk across three busy lanes and pray to the gods for mercy, I wasn’t that kind of reckless.

I was feeling grouchy—not suicidal—so instead of braving the busy street, I wandered my way down the sidewalk, my headphones shoved in my ears. The fact that there was only one crosswalk was bullshit. The walk should’ve taken five minutes max but instead, it took a solid forty-five. Only the determined or truly stubborn still attempted it.

Which was apparently me.

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