Page 78 of The Beast of Ashwood Manor

Cale slipped inside the bathroom, where I was already sitting in the tub. I glanced up at him, part of me tense in fear for what he thought of me, and the other part tense for wanting release with him.

I relaxed when he pulled off his clothes and got into the tub. Before I could say a word, he sat in my lap and kissed me, and like a fool, I wrapped my arms around him, kissing him back. I left a trail of wet kisses on his shoulder, and he shivered. I delighted in seeing the goose bumps raise on his skin.

When he moved back, he took the sliver of soap and handed it to me, smiling tiredly.

I washed his hair and face, touching lightly over the bruise he’d gotten on his head in the woods and over all the marks I’d made on his body the night before. Cale did the same to me, smoothing his hands down my chest and rubbing into all the places that were dirty. Then he laid down against my chest, and I held him, relieved that he still wanted me.

“I’m sorry, Cale,” I started, rubbing his back. “You’re right. I didn’t mean what I said before. I’ll never get tired of you.”

He squeezed me. “We say things we don’t mean when we’re afraid.”

“And also do outrageous things, such as baring yourself in front of a monster?”

He leaned up and put a hand to my cheek, but he didn’t smile. He seemed shaken by what had happened. “You’re not a monster. But I didn’t know what else to do. I’d been reading, you know, in that book about the creatures. One thing I read was that . . . wolfmen sometimes enjoy mates, and if such a mate is so willing to give themselves, in their vulnerability, that is . . .” He looked away and rubbed his arm. “I had to. You might have . . .”

“Please don’t, Cale.” I took a breath, not wanting to think of what might have happened if he hadn’t. I shook my head. “If I had never taught you to read, you would never know that.”

Cale leaned forward and brushed his lips against mine. “Then I suppose it was supposed to happen. This. Us.”

I grabbed his head and pressed him to me, kissing him deeply. We broke long enough to tiptoe to his room, where it was much warmer.

Everyone else had gone to sleep, exhausted after the ordeal.

We fell onto the bed, and I kissed every inch of Cale’s body before coming to his cock. I lifted his legs up so I could access him better, and he let me.

“Can I try this again?” I asked.

Smiling, he said, “Yes, please.”

Spreading his cheeks, I licked against his sensitive area, and he let out a gasp. My tongue wiggled against his hole, and then I lapped at it hungrily, devouring what was mine, claiming it once again after knowing this man accepted every part of me. Perhaps I wasn’t so different from the beast after all. We both wanted one thing, but only one of us could have him.

“Gil,” he started. “I want you to make love to me.”

I leaned up and grabbed him. “Even after what you saw today, you still want my cock inside you?”

“Yes,” he whined.

He sat on top of me and guided my cock inside him slowly until I was halfway in. He relaxed and rocked against me, and I gasped as I slid deeper into him. We were so used to this now; I knew what he could and couldn’t take, and when he stopped me, I waited patiently for him to adjust. When I was all the way inside, I let out a long moan, and he sighed.

Our kiss deepened. My body grew hot against his, and as I broke away from his lips to nip along his neck, Cale held me closer, tighter.

“You’re so beautiful,” I said.

He laughed. “So are you.”

My fingers ran through his hair. I couldn’t help but wonder what this man saw in me. After all that I’d done, that I’d witnessed and become, how could he love me?

I was nothing. I was broken.

And yet, here he was, making love to me despite the fact I turned into a hideous, bloodthirsty beast.

But he made me feel good, in a way that made me feel needed. Hewantedme, and it was enough, because for the past fifteen years, I’d been so lonely. I’d wondered if I would die alone as that beast.

Suddenly enamored, I embraced him, clutching his head to my chest.

Cale’s fingers curled around my arms and pulled them away, and he got up off my cock with a groan. He turned around onto his knees and pushed his backside up in the air, just like he had in the woods.

I was immediately drawn to it, and I pushed one of my fingers inside as I licked him, kissing and sucking against his skin before spitting there.

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