Page 87 of Her Rabid Beasts

The curtain snatches open and I frown, blinking in annoyance at the new, harsh light. But it’s him standing there alright. A towering figure of power and?—

“Miss Aquinas?”

Oh, for fuck’s sake, he really needs to stop calling me that. I want to hearmyname in his mouth. But for the first time, there is an uncertainty in the way he says it. Like he’s not so sure about it anymore.

The lion strides in and I remain curled up in my blanket, unmoving, because my body feels like a boulder. Looming overme, his massive body blocks out the harsh medical lights. Suddenly I’m in line with his crotch and the large hands that hang by his sides, veined and beautiful.

Those hands stroked my fur at one time. I remember that now.

Alright, so I might have enough energy forsomethingafter all.

I manage to find my hand in my blanket cocoon and reach out and take one of those beautiful, inviting hands. For some reason, he lets me. It’s warm. Oh Goddess, warm enough to send the chill in my bones scuttling away. His skin is golden and tanned andyup, those veins are the stuff of dreams. Without thinking, I bring the utter perfection of anatomy to my face and press my lips and nose softly against his skin. I inhale deeply, and it’s like the first breath I’ve ever taken. It’s the dawn sun and fresh leaves of paper, hot off the press.

My moan is faint and wanton. “Need,” I whisper against his skin, my lips brushing across the back of his hand, unwilling to give up contact. I want to scent the beast underneath. The wild, broken lion that Iknowis under all that self-righteous control. I want to taste it, tastehimand every part of his naked body. His cock is so close to me. Close enough to my face that I could lick that, too.

His hand tightens around my own.

Permission? Perfection.

So I do.

The tip of my tongue darts out and I give his hand a tiny lick. He’s musk and man andlion. I growl softly against him.

“That’s Miss Boneweaver to you,” I whisper faintly.

“Sleep,” he commands, all sharp edges again. But alas, he still holds my hand! A victory.

Because I have no willpower to disobey, I do close my eyes. And it gives me a strange, delicious sense of satisfaction.

Chapter 36

Lyle

Celeste and I left the Council meeting and called it a success. We were begrudgingly given more time. Mace Naga’s reaction was confusing when it was decided. I thought he’d be angry or at least irritated, but instead, he looked me right in the eyes and smirked.

Like he knew something we didn’t. It unsettled me, Scythe too, and I wanted to throttle the serpent for it. But then it was time for us to depart and Scythe, Celeste and I parted ways, with the lady phoenix going to a meeting with the rest of her order and me coming back here. Scythe went wherever it was he needed to go and I wasn’t going to be asking him where.

I got the call from Ruben half an hour out from the academy and, on pure instinct, my telepathy lifted my BMW off the ground and shot it down the bitumen.

Inmyschool? They attacked her onmyterritory? Only focusing on the empty regional road kept the hot-blooded rage at bay.

That is, until I got here and saw Aurelia curled up in the fetal position, drained and covered in blood.

Her blood.

They tried to cut her mating mark off, and I realise it with a murderous abandon.

Eugene squawks loudly and I shake my head, trying to clear the red, the burning need to tear into someone’s throat.

“Thank you,” I tell him stiffly.

Of all the guards and beasts in this place, it was the rooster that saved Aurelia in the end. Lucky for Savage and his paranoia about the fifth member of the Boneweaver mating group.

I run a hand through my hair and breathe in heavily.

The scent of her blood and pain fills my nose and drives me near mad. Adrenaline heats my veins as two hearts pound in my head.

Colours change, my vision narrows and chains creak. Even with her skin ashen, her eyes closed in sleep and covered in blood and sweat, she is achingly beautiful.

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