Page 124 of Hearts of Stone

Because of me.

I pushed her towards the wall until her back hit it, then I held her wrists up against the wallpaper and told her to keep them there.

“But what if I want to scratch your back up and make it clear you’re mine?” she asked in a little voice that had a hefty dose of minx in it. I paused, mid-kiss of her clavicle. That idea, I rolled it around in my head and realised I wanted that very much, and I told her that.

“But next time,” I promised. “Because there will be many, many times. So either invest in some soundproofing in this room or be prepared to talk about how little gargoyles are made with your parents.”

“Little gargoyles…?”

I pulled back to check her response, then smiled when I saw the flush in her cheeks.

“If that’s what you want. I’d be proud to father any child you wish to have and I’m sure becoming a father would help Seneca do some much needed growing up. Graven would be insufferable…And Wulfstan will be making miniature shields and wooden swords before they can walk.” Her short burst of laughter had me pausing for a second. “Hmmm. But maybe we should just practise for a bit, yes?”

“Yes,” was what she said as I kissed my way down her sternum. “Yes.” Again as I traced the pendulous curves of her breasts, loving the way they swayed with every breath she took, growing faster as I traced circles around the nipples. “Yes,” she hissed as my claws pinched those hard points tight, squeezing sensation from her until her thighs started to rub together, and as I kept up the pressure with one hand while the other forced her thighs wide. I nipped off my claws and then slid them through her saturated folds with a groan.

She was so fucking wet.

And all for me, the beast that loved her. I gloried in the soft swell of her belly as I dropped to my knees, then the fragrant folds of her cunt as I forced her up and onto her tiptoes and settled her thighs either side of my head as I buried my face inside her. I didn’t really know if she was loud or quiet since all sound was cut off but for what came to me through her body. The rapid thud of her heartbeat as I licked at her and the sound of her moans vibrating from her chest as I took her clit gently between my fangs. The points pressed into the sensitive skin either side,before I sucked it into my mouth with long, slow swallows. I was barely holding the beast back as I gorged myself on her, pushing my fingers inside and finding the spot that would force her to come alive.

I would hit it over and over, with every one of my pearls, and her pleasure would increase with each one. Maybe she’d be unable to hold back her screams, all self-consciousness gone as she swept up in pure sensation. She was able to conjure magic with her hands, draw a gargoyle’s soul back to his body, but somehow it didn’t seem as magical as this: finding the one person in the world you shared a soul with for eternity. And when I finally pulled away from her, hoisting her up against the wall, her lids heavy with pleasure and exhaustion, I told her that.

“There’ll never be another woman for me but you,” I said, as my cock grazed her swollen opening. She wriggled around, then let out a frustrated huff when she couldn’t get me to pierce her. “You’re all that I want, all that I need. The sun could stay down, the moon never rising, and I’d come back from stone every night just to be with you. Tell me you feel the same.”

“Yes…” There was an impatient note to her voice, her brows creasing before she realised I’d gone perfectly still. Those pretty hazel eyes flicked right open and met mine, seeing my expression with at first wonder, then something far more profound. “Yes, Carrick, I choose you, today and every day forward. You’re mine and I’m yours.”

“That’s what I needed to hear.”

I leaned her hard against the wall, cradling her with one arm while the other shifted my cock head against her, then speared in. Several pearls popped in all at once, shredding my control, like my nails did to the antique wallpaper. I’d apologise for that in the morning, but gods above… My fangs ground together at that sudden exquisite feeling, like it was dragging my seed from my balls, right as I was trying to shove it back down.

“Mine…” I gasped as I delved deeper, her cunt flaring out over the next pearl, then as I drew back before pushing in the next. “Mine…”

I fed another and another inside her, and it was like she was sucking me in deeper rather than me pushing them in. My head lifted up and I held her gaze as another slipped in, catching the little O her mouth made, then her deep, heartfelt sigh as I shifted back and forth, milking that little spot inside her for all it was worth.

“Mine.” I said it far more confidently, because Luther Whiteley himself could’ve dragged himself back from the gates of hell and lurched into this room, and he wouldn’t have stopped me from my work. This was my life’s purpose, pleasing Jade. “Mine, Jade,” I growled, the beast slipping free of his collar. “Mine!

“Yours…”

She grasped my jaw in her hand and kissed me hard, right before bearing down in a way that had both of us groaning. The last pearl was always the hardest, stretching her to her limits.

And rewarding her for all of her efforts.

“Oh fuck!”

Her voice echoed around the room, an unabashed declaration of her joy for all around to hear. I laughed at it, feeling something loosen inside me. I couldn’t pull back too far, press too hard, but I moved as hard and fast as I dared. We were racing now, the feeling like skimming across the surface of the earth with just enough a current under my wings to keep us afloat, watching the miles tick by in a dizzying blur. Harder, faster, my instincts screamed. Make her feel like a queen!

And then she raked her nails across my shoulders and sank her teeth into the muscle to stifle her cry of pleasure. My fangs snapped down in response, burying them in her flesh, marking her indelibly as mine, for now and forever. Jade was my mate inreality now, as well as in my heart. Tears pricked my eyes as my seed jetted into her, because this went beyond mere fucking. I was emptying everything I had into her, in the hope she’d give it back.

“Carrick…” she gasped, kissing me blindly and that’s when I knew she had. “Love. I love—”

“I know.”

And then there were no words, only messy, feral, monster kisses. The sort that made your lips sting for hours after, reminding you of what you’d done. I lowered her onto the bed, pushing back her hair so I could stare at her as she snuggled into my chest.

“My mate…” I said, barely audible now.

“Yours…” she agreed.

Chapter 69

---