Page 35 of Claimed By Night

DRAGAN

The Raven Forest,

Shadow Realm

We busy ourselves gathering supplies needed to camp. Thoradin marches off in search of wood and the sprite attempts to help him. Moments later, Thoradin returns with a large bundle of sticks, logs, and kindling while Flumph, the useless thing, drags a single small twig across the forest floor, his squat body heaving under the supposed weight. He sets his twig beside Thoradin’s bundle and wipes his brow.

Thoradin arranges the kindling and branches into a pyramid shape. Then, he holds his palms up. “Conjure Flame,” he says and immediately, a flickering blaze appears between them. The flame sheds a bright light in a ten-foot radius around us, and dim light for another ten feet beyond that. He leans down to the pyramid of wood and opens his hands above it. Instantly, the small pyre is consumed with the shadow flame and the fire roars to life.

“What’s for dinner?” Flumph asks, looking around expectantly.

The Raven Forest is a wasteland, home only to foul and enormous insects, terrifying monsters, and the spirits of the dead. Any animals fit to consume would be skin and bones—their bodies likely ravaged by disease. My stomach tightens with hunger, but there will be no dinner tonight. I watch as the realization sobers the sprite’s expression.

“See to it that the fire never goes out,” I order, eyeing Flumph specifically.

“Why you lookin’ at me like it’s my job?”

“Because I’m making it your job.” I take a deep breath. “The fire’s your only means of protection beyond theGlyph of Warding. Respect it.”

I hear movement and look to the tree under which Eilish is propped. She’s stirring, her limp body now showing signs of alertness. I move toward her as she raises her hand to her head, wincing in pain.

“Dragan…” she half mumbles.

At the sound of her voice, I hurry until I’m standing above her. She repeats my name but doesn’t open her eyes. She’ll most likely be confused by her whereabouts, tired, and hungry. Conditions I can’t do anything about. And yet, she asks for me anyway. In her fear and suffering, my name is the one that moves across her full, pink lips.

I place one arm beneath her back and the other under her legs, and lift her easily. It’s as if she weighs nothing; her body feels small and fragile. I can feel her skin, where it’s exposed beneath the poor wrapping of her sheet. The soft fleshiness of her thighs, the slenderness of her shoulders and arms. She folds her face into my chest as I walk to the fire.

She’s so vulnerable, it would be easy to take what you want from her,points out a voice inside my head. It’s the voice of darkness, a voice that’s been my constant companion for as long as I can remember.

Imagine how good she would feel, wrapped around your cock. That hot, tight wetness you’ve denied yourself for so long…

Stop!I yell inwardly and shake my head as I clench my eyes shut.

Carry her away from the others and spread her wide. Taste her. It’s been so long, you’ve forgotten what a woman tastes like.

Enough!I inhale deeply, trying to get control of myself, trying to force these awful thoughts aside.

Imagine the feel as you slide into her, her folds stretching wide. That slickness welcoming your throbbing cock. Imagine the moans escaping her lips, the way her breath speeds up.

It’s an endless battle to fight the darkness within me—a darkness that constantly threatens to take over. I’m angry with myself for needing to battle my baser instincts, instincts that tell me to take what I want. And I want Eilish. I want her more than I can remember wanting anything in a long time. The need to claim her grows stronger the more I’m in her company, and it’s everything I can do to keep it at bay.

In general, I’m not the type of man who keeps anything at bay. I’m accustomed to taking what I want, but I know it’s not right. Especially with Eilish. She trusts me. More so than she trusts the others, I can tell. And I want to encourage that trust. Giving into my needs and having my way with her won’t achieve that.

Take her. Fuck her,Dragan,the voice insists.She’s yours. Claim her. Mark her.

No.

If you don’t, Cambion will. Remember the vision…

And suddenly, I remember the expression on Eilish’s face right before she came out of the vision. I remember her smile, the way her breath hitched. The rise and fall of her breasts as she envisioned Cambion inside her. And then I remember the tugging pain of jealousy that consumed me. The anger, the fire that rose up inside me until I wanted to punch my fist through the wall.

Is that what you want?The voice insists. Do you want Cambion to be the one who experiences her?

Fuck! No, that’s not what I want!

Then take her now, so Cambion knows she’s yours. Make him understand he’ll never have her—that if he were to try, you’d kill him. Claim her before another man does.

I can’t take it anymore. My head feels like a battlefield, warring thoughts rampaging through it until I want to scream.

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