Page 49 of The Beast of Ashwood Manor

“I don’t mind,” he whispered.

Despite my initial reluctance to try and break the curse with him, I wanted nothing more than to surround myself in him now. I had already accepted that it wouldn’t happen. After Cale realized what I truly was, he would either run in fear or try to kill me. But was there any shame in indulging in him? For at least one night?

Then we can just go back to studying.

Nodding, I left the library with him, collecting our plates and giving them to Mary on our way out. I followed him to his room, carrying a few books to make it look like we were only changing rooms to study words.

Inside, I set the books down while he added more logs into the fire. I looked outside the windows, where the stars shined brightly. The wind howled against the manor, and I could feel the bite of it inside. It would be bitterly cold tonight.

Cale stood before the hearth and held his hand out for me, and like an idiot, I took it. “Do you want to sit and read a while?” he asked.

I shook my head, my eyes lingering on his. Bringing his hand to my mouth, I kissed each of his knuckles, and doing so sent my insides alight. He tightened his hold on my hand, and I cut my eyes at him to see his deep-browns staring back. I leaned into him, taking his lips against mine before I could draw away.

Cale seemed hesitant at first, but when I brought my hand up to his face, he melted against me and gently clutched my arms. His mouth moved against mine, opening for me to graze against his tongue, and it instantly made me harden. Aside from our time on the beach, I hadn’t kissed in over eight years, and honestly, I felt rather sloppy at what I was doing, but Cale didn’t know how much I’d changed. I had once been a man who wanted everything done a certain way, in a certain order. Now, I just did what I felt. And I loved that he made me feel that way.

I brushed my thumb across his bottom lip, wondering if I should pull away. And I almost did, just to take this slow. Because I knew that, regardless, if nothing happened now, it would eventually happen later. But I didn’t pull away. I couldn’t. Not after he took my finger into his mouth and sucked it gently.

Shit.

That was it for me. My other hand found his hair, and my fingers tangled in it so I could gently tug his head back to graze my lips against the sensitive skin on the curve of his neck.

Cale’s fingers fumbled with the belt at my waist. He wanted this as much as I did, even knowing what I could become. But he hadn’t seen that dark part of me yet. There was no need to let him. Perhaps I could pull this off without him ever seeing.

I slid my trousers off and lifted his shirt over his head. His trousers were the last to go, and then we were standing in front of each other, laid bare, my heart pounding as I looked him over.

My hands grazed up his chest, and I caught a glance of the necklace around his neck, noticing an iron charm in the shape of a crescent moon. There was a trail of hair below his navel, and there was hair around his nipples, but he was otherwise smooth. Unlike my own body, there were little, if any at all, scars on his.

I hoped my own body, littered with so many faded scars from being out in the forest, wouldn’t turn him away. But he seemed drawn to them instead, running his fingers over the ones on my side, my chest, and up my arms.

I planted a kiss against his shoulder and rubbed my hands down his arms, feeling the muscles in his arms that I’d longed to touch since watching him from my tower. I pulled him close to me, our eyes connecting, and I ran my palms down his back. When I squeezed lightly at the cheeks below his waist, he gasped softly. My fingers slipped into the crease of his behind, but then I pulled away quickly, unsure if he would like that.

“You can touch me there,” Cale breathed, his mouth close to mine. “I want you to.”

My lips twitched into a smile. I ran my other palm up his chest, all over his body, roving all the places of a human I’d missed for years and finding them so damn satisfying to touch that I sighed softly against him. His arms stretched up and his hands cradled my head, pulling me closer as I kissed along his chest. When I licked up his throat, he giggled, and I tried to ignore the feeling it gave me.

As my mouth found his again, I kissed him deeply, unable to stop the noises I made in my throat as I backed us up to the bed. Laying him down, I hovered over him and trailed my lips along his stomach and to that part of him that had me so heated in the first place.

I caressed his inner thighs with my lips, kissing him, teasing him. Every sigh that escaped his throat was harmonious, and I wanted nothing more than to hear how loud that sweet melody would get.

Clear fluid leaked from his swollen cock, and I admired it for a moment, smoothing my thumb over the tip, taking pleasure in the sound such a small act gave him and watching as his hands gripped the sheets in the firelight.

Taking Cale into my mouth elicited a moan from his throat, and that one sound alone undid me. Taking his hips in my hands, I pulled him into me more, suddenly wanting to taste every part of him as I took him deeply.

It had been far too long, and my body was on fire, igniting once again as I put my absolute trust into this man. How he could come into my life and tempt me, with his poor reading skills and his eagerness to help the others in the manor, was a witchery beyond my understanding or control. And in my ravenous state, I wanted all of him.

Cale’s fingers twisted in my hair, his hips bucking as he let out groans of pleasure.

I took him as far back as I could until he pushed me away.

“Give me a minute,” he puffed.

Spitting in my hand, I stroked myself as I moved on top of him, until I could feel his cock against mine. I hadn’t felt such ecstasy in so long, I knew it wouldn’t take me long to spill, but I wanted the moment to last, so I slowed down and held the back of his head in my hand as I bent over him, grazing my lips against his collarbone.

Cale placed his palms gently against me and pressed his lips against the light patch of hair on my chest. When I realized he was trailing downward, I moved onto my back and let him continue his kisses all the way down.

As he took my cock into his mouth, I clenched my teeth, my hand finding his hair like before. It was soft between my fingers, thick, and the prickles of hair on his face felt rough. His mouth felt good, different. Here was a man who, fourteen years ago, I’d never have considered pleasuring me, nor myself pleasuring him. And he was so good at it that I had to pull away for fear I might release too early.

I laid on my side, bringing him up next to me, and stroked us together again.

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