Page 154 of Wolf Caged
Her face crumpled and she doubled over, grunting as she folded in on herself.
Any moment now, she was going to demand I find her a male, and I was going to lose my temper.
So I swept her into my arms, weathering her angry growls and half-hearted blows as I carried her tucked close to my chest.
And teleported.
I set her down in the small single room in the timber and stone cottage at the edge of the woods, halfway up the mountain. A retreat that I had built soon after my parents had died, close to the place I used to sit to admire the view when they had been alive. A place only I could go.
“You will be safe here. When the storm clears, you can run. But do not run far. Remain near the cottage. The woods here are wild. Dangerous. Do you understand?” I leaned over, bringingmy face level with hers, needing to see that she did understand as she nodded. “I am going to lock the door and when the storm clears, I will unlock it. I will return soon to check on you and bring you some things to make you more comfortable.”
She nodded again, shoulders trembling as her pupils dilated and she gripped her trousers, as if trying to stop herself from seizing hold of me.
I teleported away from her, to her rooms this time, unsure what I was doing. Keeping her in the castle when she was maddened by her mating frenzy would be a dangerously bad idea, the thought of her demanding I bring her males or seeking ones out enough to have my claws coming out. But locking her in a cottage?
She was safe from other males, but I wasn’t sure it was going to help her.
She needed a male.
She needed pleasure and a release.
But she seemed set on denying that need.
And I wouldn’t force her.
Despite how fiercely I wanted her.
Wanted to take care of her needs again, finding satisfaction in watching her break apart, in hearing her cry my name as pleasure overtook her.
Maybe she was better off in the cottage.
Far away from me.
I gathered a few things she might need—her robe and slippers, some books she had on her nightstand, and her blanket and pillow—and then teleported back to her.
She paced the room, strides swift as she clawed at her blouse, shredding it as she stared straight ahead of her, muttering beneath her breath. Her face contorted and she grunted as she gritted her teeth, stifling a cry that still broke free of her lips.
“Walk it off. Walk it off,” she mumbled, tearing at her blouse each time she said it as she resumed pacing, her eyes holding a world of pain.
“This is ridiculous. You know walking it off will not fix this. It will not make the pain go away.” I set everything down on the double bed at one end of the cottage and turned back to face her. “You need pleasure, Saphira. Pleasure I want to give you.”
She looked at me as if she hadn’t noticed I was there, eyebrows pinned high on her forehead, blue eyes wide. Delirious. Maybe she hadn’t noticed. Her gaze dropped to my chest, and the tip of her tongue swept across her lower lip.
“Considering devouring me, little wolf?” I smirked at her when she caught herself. “You know what you need.”
She wrapped her arms around her waist and doubled over, screaming in pain.
Sweat dotted her brow as she fought for air.
“Do something,” she sobbed. “Maybe magic could?—”
“No amount of magic can help you with this. You need release. More than we did before.” Something within me fractured when she lifted her head, her blue eyes imploring me, silently begging me to help her. I had never seen her looking so defeated.
She opened her mouth and I teleported to her and pressed a finger to it, silencing her, aware of what words would leave her lips. Ones I had thought would please me when she had signed that contract, when I had decided I would tease her until she was on her knees, desperate for me to take her.
My voice was low, rougher than I had ever heard it, as I held her gaze and said, “Never beg. You never have to beg me. You only need to tell me what you need.”
“You,” she whispered and her face crumpled. “But I can’t ask that of you. I can’t use you like that… like a whore.”
