Page 74 of A War of Embers

He drags his cock out slowly before roughly grinding forward. My legs lift, tightening around his waist. The table jerks beneath us as he brutally continues to fuck me. There’s nothing sweet about this. We come together like we hate each other. My nails claw at his back as he sucks on my tongue. His fingers delve into my hair, twisting around my locks until he’s tangled enough to prick my scalp when he pulls his hand into a fist. I hiss as I tilt my head back to relieve some of the pressure.

Rowan wastes no time biting down on my neck, making me gasp as his teeth bury deep. I swear he’s going to break the skin, but he merely holds on, sucking deep so I’m as locked to him as I can be without moving. He continues hammering into me in an aggressive rhythm.

Suddenly he lifts up, separating our bodies as his hands smack down on the table once again, bracketing me in. “Touch yourself. Make yourself come.”

Without hesitation I slide my hand between our sweaty bodies to do as he says. I circle my engorged clit with my fingers. The movement makes my back arch as pleasure skitters down my spine in search of release. I gasp as my pussy clenches around him. I’m so fucking close, right on the edge of oblivion but I need something to push me over the edge. My wild gaze seeks out Rowan’s, his eyes flickering back and forth between green and black, but his mouth curves into a delicious grin as if he can sense my struggle.

“You need help getting over the edge, little monster? Who do you belong to?” he purrs as he leans down to brush his nose up the length of my throat.

I’m too blissed out to fight him on it today. Later. I’ll address his craziness later. “You,” I whine, tossing my head back as I furiously rub at my clit, trying desperately to push myself over.

Rowan ups his pace as he hammers into me. I didn’t realize he was holding back. The black tattoo on his face slips down his skin, going down his chest towards his cock. It peels off his upper thigh, the tongue of the snake flickering as it eyes me. Panic suddenly thrashes through my body, but before I can say anything the snake strikes, sinking its fangs into my upper thigh close to my hip.

A rush of warmth floods my veins as my pleasure suddenly doubles over until I’m screaming, my fingers sinking into his skin as I come harder than I ever have in my life. Everything crashes through me, wave after wave of pleasure until it begins to ebb away. Moments later Rowan roars, his neck corded and dark eyes filled with satisfaction. He grinds his hips further, sealing us as tight as he can without being one.

We're both breathing heavy as we stare at one another recovering. The black snake disappears back into his skin, crawling up his chest to settle over one of his pecs. Glancing down at where it bit me, there’s no mark to show I was ever bitten. Letting my head fall back and hit the table, I stare up at the ornate ceiling and try to process everything that just happened.

Immediately my hackles raise in preparation for a similar speech Rowan gave me when we were in the Wraithlands. Instead he slips out of me slowly, dragging it out so I feel every inch and vein as he leaves my body. A shock of cold covers my skin as his warmth ebbs away from me.

Bending down he grabs his shirt off the floor, his cock glistening with our combined wetness. He steps forward, dragging his shirt through my slit cleaning me up. My cheeks heat as I realize he’s taking care of me, similar to how he did last time. Then he balls his shirt up, using the non-damp side to wipe himself off before tucking himself back into his pants and lacing them back up.

“Your snake bit me,” I murmur, moving my gaze back to my thigh as I struggle to sit up on the table.

“You wanted help, I helped,” Rowan easily says. He eyes me now, his gaze green once again as I slip off the table and grab my pants to cover myself up. “You liked it.”

I did, but that’s beside the point. “It could have hurt me.”

Rowan snorts in disagreement. “The snake isn’t going to hurt you. It’s a manifestation of me and my power. I would have to want to hurt you for it to do any damage. Lucky for you, you’re probably the only safe thing in Aïdes from my power.”

Somehow that doesn’t make me feel better. If anything it dredges up our previous conversation before we both went crazy with lust. Suddenly his words I previously ignored slammed into me. “You lied,” I say stiffly.

Rowan sighs. “Are we going through this again? I was hoping you would be interested in going to my room to continue this.” His eyes darken to a mossy green as he rolls them over my body even with my clothes on. “I have countless ways I plan on making you come, Keres. Let me show you.”

“You lied to me,” I repeat, crossing my arms to hide my pebbled nipples from his view since they seem all on board with his idea.

“Initially, no I didn’t lie to you,” he says, taking several steps back until his hip is resting against the nearest table. “I was planning on helping you find a way to remove the godlike soul stuck inside of you.”

“So what changed?”

He shrugs. “I chose you.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“No, I suppose choosing a mate doesn’t make sense most of the time. I chose to ignore it at first, the feeling I had the first time I saw you. You were here to die,” Rowan growls, his eyes flashing black as his monster slinks to the surface. “I didn’t want to be tied to someone with a death wish. I used the Wraithlands Haze as an opportunity to buy time. I thought if you were out of my sight, out of my way, I could continue to sever this tie I felt toward you. Instead I became volatile being away from you. My people were suffering, terrified of me more than usual because of my lack of control. I figured if you stayed away while I was away then I could easily keep to our bargain because you wouldn’t be around me. When I found you in the Wraithlands, you came to me. Not intentionally, no, but you sealed your fate by showing up.” His eyes land on the white snake on my face. “The root in tattoo form is a connection of my power. You are turning into a Lady, my Lady.”

He’s certifiable. Absolutely batshit crazy. Angrily, I swipe the maps off the table I’d moments ago been laying on. “And you didn’t think to ask me what I want?”

“It’s irrelevant.”

That's it. I'm going to murder him. Right this second.

Rowan smirks at the fury on my face. “Be mad all you want, it doesn’t change anything. You’re mine, little monster. You’ll come around.”

The only thing coming around was karma when I tear his head off his shoulders. I start for him, angrily marching on a mission to do just that. His laugh echoes around the room as he vanishes from my view the moment I get within arms length.

“How about we try this when you’re calmer, hmm?” Rowan says.

I spin in a circle, trying to narrow down where he’s at but nothing gives him away. I shove everything off another table, hoping something hits his invisible form so I can see him.

---