Page 29 of Carnal Magic
For who could ever want to fuck a Beast?
Me. That’s who.
“I offer you my heart.” His roar made my spine quiver, every hair on my body spiking with alarm. Raising my voice, I shouted, “I want you to eat it. I want you to eat me.”
His fury silenced immediately. A different sound reached me. Steady, rhythmic thuds, resounding through the ground.
Steps. Though each step sounded harder, heavier. Hooves, maybe? I couldn’t be sure.
Shadows thickened, winding around me like thick snakes. Around my wrists. My ankles. My throat. Spreading my arms and legs apart in midair. Frantically, I searched the shadows, trying to see what he was. A bull-like monster from my dream? The elegant, ruthless lord? A skeleton god of death? Something even worse?
“Much, much worse.” He whispered against my ear, making me jump against the bonds. I jerked my head around, searching the shadows, but I couldn’t see anything. “I accept your bargain, Arwena Redwine. Your heart will be a delectable feast.”
Fear tightened my ribcage, squeezing as if I could keep my heart safe inside the fragile confines of this human body.
An animal-like sound made my skin quiver, goosebumps racing down my arms. Deep, rattling whuffs, gusts of hot breath tightening my skin. A monster testing my scent and finding me delicious indeed. Shadows thickened around me, stroking over my flesh. Closing in. Surrounding me. Wrapping me in complete and utter darkness.
“Oh, yes.” Something large and hard brushed against my abdomen. More hot air blasted against my stomach and breasts. If that was his head… He was gigantic. “Your heart beats so rapidly, eager for the feast. Have you changed your mind, my lady? Shall I release you and send you back to your sweet, soft bed to dream of something safer?”
My breaths came in soft, frantic pants, too shallow. Too rapid. I was going to pass out if I didn’t get a grip. “I’m Arwena Redwine. I’ve come home. At last, I come to you.”
Shadows tightened, pulling my arms and legs out further, straining my ligaments and joints. I cried out in pain, afraid he might actually dislocate something.
He sucked in a deep, vicious hissing breath. The darkness surrounding him thinned enough for me to see the flash of glistening white teeth as long as knives. A hard, black skull with dual curved horns, much larger than the bull horns from my dream. These horns jutted up from the center of his skull like a rhinoceros. One jab of those brutal horns would cut me in half. The tip glistened like pale bone, viciously sharp and shiny. Much too close to my face as he dipped closer.
Teeth grazed over my collarbone and I screamed. I couldn’t help it. I struggled and flopped in the bonds, ignoring the strain in my arms and legs. I arched my back and heaved back and forth, trying to escape. My brain skittered away, my thoughts pure chaos.
I was going to die here.
His teeth dug deeper, that gigantic head heavy against my ribs. Crushing me.
Keneesha wouldn’t know what had happened to me. I hoped that I’d been able to heal her enough for her to see Isiah married with children of his own.
Martha should never have sent those papers to Mama. No wonder Rebekah ran away. Polly lived. She’d done this and survived. Martha said I was strong, but I didn’t think I was as strong as Polly. I couldn’t. I shouldn’t have stayed.
I smelled blood. My heart pounded so hard it started skipping beats, losing its natural rhythm. My ribs ached. I couldn’t draw a full breath.
That coconut cream pie had been to die for. Just as good as Mama’s. I should have had another piece before I decided to climb the mountain in the middle of the night.
Amy’s chicken wasn’t nearly as good asPopeye’s. No offense, Amy.
No matter what happened, I was glad I hadn’t let Austin keep my hand on his thigh. The fucking audacity of a mediocre white man.
I was hot as fuck tonight. A walking sex goddess on Samhain.
I could still feel the lingering pulse in my pussy. Taste Finn’s dick in my mouth. That seemed like a million years ago. Dhar inside me. So good, but it’d been too quick. I wanted more.
I wishedhewould grip my throat again. Only this time, I wanted him inside me.
My mind stilled. Everything clicked into place. I stopped struggling.
He lifted his head and smiled. His face wasn’t monstrous at all. In fact, he looked like an exquisite angel, so beautiful it hurt to look at him. Shining blue-black hair tumbled down around his shoulders, soft as silk, gliding over me as if it had a will of its own.
Blood darkened his lips. My blood.
“As my lady wishes.”
His fingers clamped down on my throat. He slammed inside me, stealing my breath. Making my body quiver and struggle again. Not to flee this time. I wanted to flail and thrash and writhe. I wanted to clutch at his shoulders and score his back. Goddess help me, he was so big, so thick, I couldn’t possibly take all of him.
