His blood ran hot at the thought, cock swelling in anticipation. It would eventually happen. One more mark and the blood bond would be cemented. If she could face the beasts within him, claim them as her mates and accept their hold on her they would become tied for the duration of her life—or until the end of his. At that point she’d be just as wild and eager to try new things as he was to introduce them to her.
He closed the door after they entered the apartment and tried to staunch his need. Ava needed to eat, rest and recover from everything that had occurred in the last few days. She didn’t need him rutting on her like a fucking sex fiend. Placing the tray on the counter, he stopped short when he turned and found Ava on her knees before him.
Her large blue eyes were cloudy, her cheeks flushed a beautiful shade of red. Her tray of food was resting on the end table in the living room, left behind as she’d followed him into the kitchen.
So much for food, rest and recovery.
She unbuttoned his pants, yanked them down and wrapped her lips around his cock. He groaned and buried his fingers in her hair, tugging on the short strands, bringing her forward until the glans bumped the back of her throat. The mental connection they shared opened and he was able to feel her gratification at satisfying him like this. She loved his taste, his scent. It was a bestial tendency, something she’d never experienced before. The prominent entities within him—the cat, wolf and grizzly—also longed to reside in her. She would be the female who would sate them in ways no other ever could, completing them in a manner that would unite them as one.
Her fingers traveled along his inner thigh before she gently cupped his sac. She massaged the heavy weight with careful fingers, rolling the sensitive balls in her hand. He let his head fall back as she took control, taking more and more of his length into her mouth with each pass. The hot, wet cavern provided a dizzying suction, her lips and tongue bringing him closer to the pinnacle. When he started to pull away, she released his testicles, cupped his ass and sucked harder.
I want to swallow you whole, she whispered in his mind. I’m so hungry for you.
He came the instant he slid to the back of her mouth and she swallowed. His semen shot down her throat and she didn’t choke or gag, swallowing each wave, drinking him down until his semi-hard cock slid from her glistening lips.
Gasping for breath, he lifted and carried her into the bedroom, making sure to close the door behind them so they wouldn’t be interrupted. Once there he lowered her to the bed and slowly undressed her, taking his time, licking and lapping at every delectable curve of her body. Peeling off her bra and panties, he moved between her legs and inhaled her scent. Her cunt was shimmering, the dewy folds puffy and pink.
She arched her back and cried out as he palmed her ass, brought her to his mouth and tasted her sweetness, coating his tongue in her honey. He alternated between fucking her with his tongue and lapping at her clit, using fast, measured strokes.
She panted, writhed and ground against his face. “Diskant.”
“All mine, Ava,” he whispered as he feasted on her.
“All yours,” she murmured breathlessly.
She shattered in his arms as he focused on her clit, flicking his tongue over the distended bead that had pushed its way from the fleshy hood. Up and down, back and forth, each lap sensuous and teasing. She grasped at his head, her legs stiffening around his shoulders. Parting her cheeks, he lowered his head and gazed at the rosette he wanted to claim before he tasted her there, running his tongue over the surface of the puckered skin as she gasped and squirmed.
“Do you like that?” He pulled away and looked at her.
The red stain on her cheeks answered his unspoken question. He would be the first and only man to claim her dark passage, the only one to know the heaven that existed in ramming his cock deep inside her ass.
“One day soon,” he rotated his finger along the sensitive tissue that was still wet from his tongue, “I’m going to take you here.”
Her eyes darkened and her breath caught, her silence indicating she was more than willing to try. He released her ass and moved up her body, sliding up her sweat-slicked frame, licking at the shimmering, salty beads along the way. She was entirely open to him—arms wide, legs spread, mind unlocked—and a quick shift of his hips was all it took to be buried inside of her.
Cock to cunt, skin to skin and heart to heart.
So close that he could have sworn he could feel her very soul.
Her fingers raked the skin on his back as she worked herself against him, straining for that one, last mind-numbing climax. He rolled his hips until his cock was nudging her clit with each downward stroke, so that with each thrust he slid his length against her. The feral portions of him raged for him to take the final step, to allow them to surround Ava in their strength, their power, their essence and mark her in their scent. It would be so easy to do, bringing them wholly together.
“Yes,” she rasped against his throat, clinging to him. “God, please.”
“Soon,” he promised and increased the pace, plunging harder when he felt her quicken. Denying his urges came at a price, making him wild in his motions as he plowed into her delicate body. Each retreat was met by a harsher, less forgiving, return. He had to spend himself inside her, satiate himself and allow her to rest and recover. The third mark would be the most important one, requiring all her strength.
When she came, he immediately followed. Her pussy spasmed, clenched and vibrated around him, shrouding his cock in heat, squeezing him until he thought he’d die from the agony of it. He roared, his hoarse bellow echoing off the walls as ripples of white-hot pleasure ricocheted through his body.
As he settled over her, blanketing her small body while pulling her in the shelter of his arms, he knew that next time he would finally do what he longed to do.
Ava was his other half, his bloodbonded mate.
There was no going back.
Chapter Fifteen
Mary pressed her ear against her door, straining to hear what John was saying through the thin wood. The sounds of his footsteps in the kitchen were muted, as was his voice.
“I’ve requested a prayer vigil from the congregations, of course.” John’s muffled words carried down the hallway. “It is the most giving sacrifice. They are to be commended. Yes, she’ll be ready when you arrive. She’s atoned and is ready to take her vows.” An extended silence and John said, “Yes, everything will be ready by the time you arrive tomorrow.”
It felt as if spiders crawled over her skin, making her cringe. Her stomach churned in panic and a bitter-tasting bile rose to the back of her throat. She moved away from the door, wanting to vomit, run and scream at the top of her lungs.
Yesterday she’d learned that prayer wasn’t the only thing her demented kinfolk had decided would keep her on the straight and narrow. In this Children of the Corn fucked-up version of hell she had to prove her worth the good old-fashioned way.
By killing a shifter.
Pretending to pray was one thing. Agreeing to kill someone was another. When Mary was taken to the girl who was her own age and told what she’d be expected to do—degrade, torture, and mutilate the poor thing until she broke—it had taken all of her willpower not to break down and show the sick freaks how disgusted, repulsed and horrified she truly felt.
“Donna and Nathaniel went into town,” John continued and she heard the sound of a cabinet being closed. “She wanted to prepare something special for your return.”