Page 92 of Body and Soul

Keres's grip on the back of my neck tightened, grounding me. “Breathe, Eli,” he commanded, his deep voice cutting through the haze of panic. “You're safe now. He can't hurt you anymore. I won’t allow it.”

I sucked in a shaky breath, focusing on Keres's solid warmth beside me, his strength holding me steady. Gradually, my heart rate slowed, and the memories receded to the dark corners of my mind where they lurked, waiting for the next trigger.

I opened my eyes to find Keres watching me intently, brows furrowed in concern. “I'm okay,” I said, though my voice trembled. “It's hard to think about him. About what he did to me. To us.”

Keres nodded, his expression grim. “I know. But that’s why we do this. To ensure monsters like him can never hurt anyone else and give their victims the justice they deserve.”

His words struck a chord deep inside, resonating with the part of my soul that cried out for vengeance.

I wanted to believe Keres, to accept that sometimes taking a life might be justified. But a lifetime of being told killing was the ultimate sin warred with the raw, aching need for retribution pulsing inside me.

I leaned into Keres's solid form, breathing in his scent of leather, pine, and something uniquely him. Even with tonight’s revelations weighing on me, his presence calmed the tornadoof emotions raging in my chest. Underneath it all, one truth crystallized: Keres and Shepherd would never hurt me.

They welcomed me into their home and lives, giving me so much. Now, they trusted me with their darkest secret. The knowledge settled like a lead weight in my stomach but was accompanied by a flicker of something warm and fragile, unfurling in my chest like a new butterfly testing its wings.

Belonging.

For so long, I’d been adrift, cast out by my family, abused by the cult, barely scraping by. But Shepherd and his alters gave me a place to call home, people to call my own.

Keres must have sensed my thoughts, as he nuzzled into the crook of my neck, his stubble rasping against my skin. His lips brushed my ear as he spoke, his voice a low, sensual growl that sent shivers down my spine. “We need to go home, little rabbit. I need you.”

The raw desire in his tone, the possessive way his arms tightened around me, had heat pooling low in my belly. Keres had never been one to mince words or dance around what he wanted.

“I need to be inside you,” Keres rumbled, his large hands sliding down to grip my hips, pulling me flush against the hard planes of his body. “Need to claim you, mark you, fill you up with my seed until my scent is all over you, inside and out. Until there's no question who you belong to.”

A needy whimper escaped my throat at his declaration. The idea of being so thoroughly claimed, owned, branded by this primal force of nature, had my cock swelling in my jeans, despite the day’s events.

My heart pounded as Keres drove us home, the tension between us electric and all-consuming. His words echoed in my head - how he needed to claim me, mark me, fill me with hisseed. Possess me so completely that his essence seeped into my pores.

The rational part of my brain knew I should be processing everything I'd learned tonight about Shepherd's vigilante activities. But base need overrode higher thought, my body responding to Keres on a primal level. I craved his touch, his dominance, with a desperation that terrified and thrilled me.

We barely made it inside the apartment before Keres pounced, slamming me up against the door and caging me in with his powerful arms. He buried his face in the crook of my neck, inhaling deeply, a rumbling growl emanating from his chest.

“Fuck, you smell good,” Keres growled, his voice muffled against my skin. His tongue darted out, licking a hot stripe up the column of my throat. “Taste even better. Can't wait to get my mouth all over you.”

I whimpered as he nipped at my pulse point, my hips bucking involuntarily against his. I could feel the thick ridge of his erection through his jeans, grinding against my own aching hardness.

Keres wedged a muscular thigh between my legs, giving me something to rut against as his huge hands roamed my body, slipping under my shirt. His palms skated over my ribs, his thumbs brushing my nipples and making me gasp. He rucked my shirt up, breaking our kiss long enough to yank it over my head before his mouth crashed back onto mine, all teeth and tongue and raw hunger.

Large hands fumbled with my belt, Keres growling in frustration against my lips until he finally got it undone. He shoved my slacks and underwear down in one rough motion, letting them pool around my ankles. I was too far gone to care, stepping out of them clumsily as Keres manhandled me.

He shoved me against the wall and told me to stay with a growl as he tore off his own clothing. Literally. I heard the fabric rip in several places as he struggled out of it.

The sight of him nude never failed to take my breath away - acres of tanned skin rippling with hard muscle, thick thighs corded with strength, the cock jutting proudly from a thatch of dark hair. He was pure masculine power, an apex predator in human form, and he was all mine.

I made a small sound of surprise as he gripped my thighs and hoisted me up, encouraging me to wrap my legs around his waist. The blunt head of his cock nudged insistently at my entrance and I gasped.

Keres spat into his hand, slicking up his cock with a few rough strokes before pressing the blunt head against my tight hole. There was no slow preparation, no gentle stretching - just the insistent pressure of his thick shaft breaching me, forcing my body to yield to his.

I cried out at the burning intrusion, my hands scrabbling at his broad shoulders as he impaled me on his length. The pain was sharp and biting, but beneath it pulsed a deep, primal pleasure. Being taken like this, claimed so thoroughly by Keres's beast - it tapped into some dark need within me.

Keres grunted as he hilted inside me, his heavy balls slapping against my ass. He gave me a moment to adjust before he started to move, withdrawing almost all the way out before slamming back in.

Each powerful thrust jolted me against the wall, my cock bouncing between our sweat-slicked bodies. But even as Keres pounded into me, hitting my prostate with expert aim, I could feel my erection flagging from the relentless onslaught. It was too much sensation, edging into overstimulation.

Keres didn't seem to care about my pleasure, lost in chasing his own release as he rutted into me. His eyes were wildand dark, glazed with feral lust. Keres pistoned into me with animalistic grunts and snarls, his hips smacking against my ass with bruising force. The intense, burning stretch bordered on too much, making my cock wilt between our sweat-slick bodies despite the deep ache of pleasure sparking through me with each relentless thrust against my prostate.

“Mine,” Keres growled, his voice guttural and raw. “My little rabbit, my sweet prey. Mine to protect. Mine to breed. Mine, mine, mine.”

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