Page 55 of Hero Worship

I started at his throat, just below where the first mark stood dark against his skin. My mouth worked carefully, sucking blood to the surface while he writhed beneath me. Each new bruise was placed with precision, high enough to be visible, dark enough to be unmistakable.

"Mine," I growled, moving to the sensitive spot behind his ear that always made him gasp. His whole body shuddered as I marked him there, hands clenching where I still pinned them above his head.

"Please," he whimpered as I worked my way down his neck, leaving a trail of claiming marks. "Need more."

I took my time, mapping his body with my mouth, marking every spot that made him shake. The hollow of his throat. The sharp line of his collarbone. The sensitive skin over his racing pulse. Each bruise I left on his pretty skin was a brand, a warning to anyone who to dared think they could touch what was mine.

"They look so perfect on you," I praised, releasing his wrists to grab his hips.

His hands found my shoulders, nails digging in as I sucked another mark just below his collarbone. The sound he made was pure need, back arching to offer more of himself to my claiming mouth.

Each mark I left made me crave more. The need to possess completely, rose up like a tide I couldn't fight anymore. Didn't want to fight. My teeth found the spot where his shoulder met his neck and bit down hard enough to taste copper. Instead of flinching away, Xander arched into the pain with a broken sound that was pure need, his cock twitching where it pressed against my stomach. His hands clawed down my back, not trying to escape, but pulling me closer, begging for more without words.

His phone buzzed from the nightstand. Probably Xavier again. Xander had mentioned he’d been calling a lot. But the sound only made me bite harder, grip tighter, need more. Mine. No one else got to worry about him. No one else got to claim any part of him.

"Fuck," Xander gasped as I bit high on his throat. His hips bucked against me, cock hard and leaking between us. "Please!"

I silenced him with another bite, letting that monster I'd spent decades caging finally break free. Twenty years of hunting monsters had taught me exactly how to hurt someone, how to mark them permanently. Now I could use that knowledge to claim what was mine.

The phone buzzed again. I grabbed it without looking away from the marks blooming across Xander's skin and tossed it onto the floor beside the bed. Nothing else existed but this need to possess, to hurt, to claim.

"Show me," Xander breathed, eyes dark with a hunger that matched my own. "Show me what you really are."

The trust in their expression made something fierce and protective surge in my chest. Xander might play with presentation, might shift between sharp angles and soft curvesdepending on their mood, but here, like this, they were simply themselves, stripped of all performance and pretense.

My fingers traced one of his nipples, making him arch into the touch. "I want to mark you permanently," I growled against his throat. "Want to put my claim somewhere no one else will ever see. Somewhere that makes you feel me with every movement."

Understanding dawned in his eyes, pupils blown wide with need. "How?"

I rolled his nipple between my fingers, watching his reaction. "You should get your nipples pierced. Both of them. Pretty little rings that I can play with, tug on when you need reminding who you belong to." My grip tightened possessively. "And that pretty cock, too. Make sure you can't ever get hard without thinking about who owns you."

His whole body shuddered at that, but I wasn't finished. "You won't be able to come for weeks after that one," I purred, watching his pupils dilate further. "But I'll still use you whenever I want. Keep you desperate and aching while you heal. Make you take my cock, knowing you can't get any relief."

"Fuck," he gasped, grinding up against me despite the threat of extended denial, or maybe because of it. "Yes. I want that."

"Yeah?" I bit down on his throat again, harder this time.

The desperate sound he made was answer enough. His nails raked down my back as he tried to pull me closer, harder, deeper into his skin. "Please, I need you to fuck me."

"I was planning on it," I promised darkly, already reaching for the lube.

I slid my fingers inside him without warning, reveling in how his body opened for me. His breath hitched at the burn of the stretch, thighs trembling as I pressed deeper.

"More," he demanded, voice already wrecked. "Fucking hurt me."

The raw need in his voice made my cock throb. "You sure about that?" I twisted my fingers, watching his face contort. "You won't be able to sit right at that party."

"Good." His nails raked down my back, breaking skin. "I want it to fucking hurt when I have to play bait for that psychopath."

I gritted my teeth at the reminder of tonight's mission. Of Roche's predatory gaze following him across the club. I added another finger just to watch him arch off the bed, caught between pain and pleasure.

"Fuck," I growled, latching onto his throat. The copper taste of broken capillaries flooded my mouth as I sucked hard enough to leave deep bruises. "Let them all know what happens if they touch what's mine."

"Fuck, yes," he gasped, grinding down on my hand. "Like that. Want it to hurt. Want to feel owned."

I withdrew my fingers, ignoring his protest as I flipped him onto his stomach. The position put his ass on display, still red from last night's claiming. Perfect. My hand came down hard across one cheek, the sharp crack of skin on skin echoing through the room.

"This what you need?" Another slap, harder this time. "Need me to mark you up? Make you feel it?"

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