Page 6

“IF I PUT THIS IN HER drink, it’ll make her drip?” The idiot in the backwards baseball cap holds up a love potion and sends his buddy a smirk that has my molars grinding.

His friend, an equally ridiculous man-child with zero common sense waves a bottle of aphrodisiac. “This shit doesn’t actually work, does it?”

It could. We never stay in one place long enough to get proper feedback, but each one is from Mama’s personal herbal book, and she’s been brewing potions since before Aiden or I were born.

“Hell no.” Cap man snickers. “It’s all a scam.”

The two laugh and drop their items onto the shelves with enough force that I’m surprised they don’t shatter. That only pisses me off more.

“That’s not what you want anyway,” I say, keeping my voice soft and sultry. “Why would you settle for only one girl when you could get dozens?”

As it does every time, that gets their immediate attention. I reach under the counter and gingerly withdraw the small, metal case with the lock. The two scoot closer as I flip the latch open. The rusted metal gives a weak squeak, adding to the illusion.

“You can’t tell anyone I gave this to you. It’s a family secret. I’m not even supposed to...” I bite my lip and feign discomfort, like I’m regretting mentioning anything. I even tighten my hold and start dragging it back.

“No, seriously, we won’t tell anyone,” the shaggy blond swears, shouldering his friend over to get closer.

I peek innocently between the pair. “See, I only have one, and there’s only enough for one person.”

“What does it even do?” cap man mutters, apparently smarter than his friend.

I glance behind them at the empty doorway. “Have you heard of pheromones?” At their nods, I continue, “This enhances your natural musk. It’ll make you irresistible to women. You’ll have to use it carefully. You shouldn’t drink too much or...”

“Or what?” blondie presses.

I look into his green eyes. “Too much attention isn’t always a good thing either.”

His face breaks into a wide grin. “No shit! Are you saying this stuff will have bitches beating down my door?”

I struggle to keep my face soft and just a little hesitant. “You have to use it wisely.”

“Fuck that shit. She’s lying. Probably trying to sell you some sugar water or something.”

It’s not sugar water, but I shrug and start pulling the tin back towards me. “Your friend’s right. I shouldn’t have even said anything.”

“Wait. Hold on. You’re not fucking with me, are you?”

I absolutely am, but I sigh and look down at the rusted bit of metal. “There’s only one way to find out.”

“You’re a fucking idiot,” cap man mutters five minutes later as he follows his buddy out of the tent.

“Yeah, we’ll see about that this weekend when we hit the club, and I get all the pussy.”

The only thing he’s getting is a long, brutal night of violent diarrhea. Still, I count the hefty wad of cash, replace a fresh bottle of instant shit into the tin and lock it up for the next asshole.

I don’t offer the laxative to just anyone. They have to hit a certain level of foul to warrant the punishment.

Mama gave me the idea years ago when a couple of townies got too rowdy and broke a bunch of stuff. They were kicked out by Cook but Mama mentioned wishing them horrible diarrhea and I thought, why not? It’s easy enough to make. Then it’s all about selling it to the right people.

The rest of the evening goes by smoother. Most of my customers only stagger in after the bigger shows end and the last call gets announced. The last three are a group of women in their mid-sixties who wander the sliver of space, pick up every jar, tube, and canister, ask a million questions, but buy nothing before finally leaving.

I try not to feel irritable as I pack up the displays and stow the jars into their proper places for the night. In case Mama decides to check in the shop, I lock the crates and do a quick tidy.

I haven’t seen her since this morning. Truthfully, I avoid her most days, but she occasionally wanders her way to the apothecary tent just to find things to yell at me about.

The carnival is fully closed by the time I hurriedly snap the lock on the last container. The music is still a grating tinkle in the background. Most of the performers are already in their trailers or closing up their stands. The trio of townies have kept me almost twenty minutes longer than usual. I don’t even have to step out into the still night to know I’m late. Again.

Nerves and panic have my hands trembling as I fumble dragging the bolt into place. The air is charged with apprehension. I can almost feel Warrick’s impatience.

The flowing layers of skirts tangle around my ankles as I sprint to where I know Warrick is waiting for me.

He’s not.

I barely round the Big Top and there he is. A large, sinister figure standing directly in my path with his glowing red eyes blazing in the darkness. I skitter to a halt, heart thumping wildly. My stomach erupts with a cyclone of sensations I can’t decipher when all my senses are tangled in him.

He’s furious. His impatience is a wave of heat rolling off him and filling the entire clearing around us.

“I warned you,” he growls.

Bells explode in a torrent of chaos between my ears as panic scuttles up my spine. Clammy nerves turn my fingers and toes numb.

“I’m sorry. I had customers,” I try to explain around the jagged pants of air leaving my lungs.

Even from the twenty feet between us, even in the shadows, I can almost see the flare of his nostrils. The narrowing of his eyes. I know my excuses mean nothing to him. His hunger to have me is all that matters. And I have already broken the rules twice in two nights.

My core pangs with an odd surge of excitement at the prospect of another punishment like the night before. Even past the cloud of fear blinding me, I have to wonder if he would use his tail again. It felt so good, so different. A twisted part of me wondered just how deep he could go if he tried, or if he could fold it.

I shake the thought promptly away. This was not the time. He already cautioned me on what would happen if I was late again. He’s not going to be gentle or kind.

I have no choice.

“Don’t.”

But his warning means nothing to the frantic creature desperate not to get eaten by the predator. It’s not taking any chances when taking over my limbs and bolting headlong towards the forest.

I don’t check to see if he’s behind me. I don’t slow. I sprint into the night. The dark. I let the dirt pound beneath my feet the further I go from the carnival. From safety and light.

The moon dogs my steps, filtering a thin veil of illumination. Enough to save me from a broken nose. But not enough to save me from the twin figures that step directly into my path.

My scream is unintentional. I’d been so caught up in not getting captured by Warrick, I hadn’t been expecting to run into anyone else.

The two idiots from earlier stand before me, appearing as startled as I am, but they catch themselves faster.

“Hey, it’s you,” the blond one crows excitedly. “We were just coming to ask you a question.”

I stare at their shadowed features, baffled by their sheer stupidity. “What?”

The two exchange glances that prickle my apprehension.

“We were just thinking you’d like to come to a party with us. We can try out your potion and have a little fun. Or we can go over to your trailer or wherever you sleep and talk.” Cap man takes a step closer, the sound of crunching leaves and snapping twigs infinitely too loud. “You didn’t even tell us your name.”

I’m not playing this game. They have no idea the shit show they’ve gotten themselves into and I’m not going to tell them.

“You both have made a huge mistake coming back here. Leave. Now.”

The two snort and cackle like I’m hilarious but that’s all the warning they’re getting because I know I’m not alone, and my demon is bigger than both of them.

“Why are you being such a bitch?” the blond one huffs. “We came all the way to see you and you’re being rude. You could at least thank us for even thinking of you.”

“That was your mistake. I already belong to someone, and he doesn’t like anyone else touching me.”

They howl and, for the first time, I can smell the alcohol on their breaths. Not that it matters. I already know they’re not leaving these woods alive.

I’m proven correct when a scaly tail slides around my waist and drags me back into a solid wall of heat. A deep, rumbling voice sounds from over my head

“I don’t.”

All hilarity dies as the two spin to face Warrick’s piercing red eyes. Their faces morph into masks of horror.

I think I understand that fear. Warrick is a demon. How many humans can say they’ve actually confronted a real one?

“You should have taken her advice. You should have left. I wouldn’t have let you leave, not after hearing your reasons for being here, thinking you could take what’s mine, but I would have given you a head start. Now, I’m just going to kill you.” He nuzzles the side of my head. “Cover your ears, Seraphine.”

I do, obediently, muffling the world. I don’t see him move, but the punch of air as he dives for the pair sends me forward by two steps. My hair blows into my face, blinding me to the scene of the men screaming and running.

We’ve had townies slip into the carnival in the past thinking they could catch us freaks unaware. It never ends well for them. The freaks don’t like outsiders trespassing through our home uninvited.

But this is different. They came to attack me. They thought I was weak and unprotected. Just how many other women had they visited and gotten away with it?

Still, I try not to listen as their howls crescendo in the night. As they become blood curdling and masked beneath the crunch and snap of bones.

I keep my ears covered even after silence resumes and Warrick’s magnificent silhouette shifts out of the shadows, crimson eyes blazing. Even in the dark, the stain running down his chin and across his chest is unmistakable, as is the shredded top he’s using to clean himself off. I’m sure that belonged to cap man.

I lower my hands and watch his fluid approach. All animal and power. His strength winds around me like a protective blanket, securing me.

He’s before me with no more than a stir of air. His massive form towers over me, a shadowy outline with glowing eyes and flashing fangs. My heart barely has a chance to skip a full beat when his tail snaps around my middle and yanks me into his waiting claws.

“Where were we?”

I lean into him. “My punishment.”

He hums softly into the side of my face. “I warned you I would not go easy on you. You made it worse by running. Did you think you could escape me?”

I can’t catch my breath. Every cell in my body is aware of him in a way that has my nerves on edge. My blood roars hot through my veins and pounds viciously between my ears. I’m trembling and it’s not out of fear.

“I knew you would catch me.”

His head dips. His teeth nip my bottom lip hard enough to draw blood and a cry from me.

“Did you also know you doubled your punishment?”

I go up on my toes and wind my arms around his neck.

“I’ll do whatever you want,” I breathe unevenly.

Warrick unfurls his tongue from between his fangs, a long, pink strip that flicks across my bottom lip with the tapered point. My mouth automatically opens, extending an invitation for invasion that he doesn’t hesitate in accepting. Across my tongue, I feel his peel apart and separate into two prongs that twine around mine and stroke.

Aiden took my first kiss this morning, and it had been rough and angry. Warrick’s split tongue gliding over mine, squeezing and massaging is the polar opposite. It’s almost sweet and gentle, but I can feel the currants of his irritation humming through the palms of his hands drifting down the exposed skin my top doesn’t cover. I can feel his restraint in the subtle anchoring of his claws into my sides.

I moan without thinking when my pussy pangs viciously and a hot surge of heat floods my panties. My stomach muscles tighten to match the hard points of my nipples despite the mild warmth in the air.

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” he growls against my mouth. He detaches his swirling tongue from mine to roll down the column of my throat. “What has your pussy pulsing?”

He laps at the top of my right breast and the traitorous mound pushes itself higher for more, offers itself to the tongue he slips under the cup to flick my nipple.

“Warrick...”

My fingers catch in his hair. I tell myself it’s to stop him, but I’m only holding him in place as he hooks a finger into the flimsy fabric covering me and drags it down, baring the pink nub.

I watch helplessly as he traces the peak. As he flicks it. As he sinks his teeth and bites.

I cry out but still don’t pull away as he soothes the pain with a sweep of his tongue. I don’t stop him as he drags the other cup down and takes his time with the other nipple.

“You’re going to take my cock tonight,” he tells me simply. “I’m going to knot inside you and fill you with my seed.”

“No...” I try, I really try to sound convincing, but the image of his cum filling me has my knees weak, and I’m having a hard time thinking past it.

“You want it,” he says with every drop of confidence. “You want me to breed you, pump your little pussy so full you give me a baby.”

My knees buckle and his arms are the only things holding me up. The pussy in question throbs with unimaginable agony at the mere idea. It’s practically on the verge of climax and he hasn’t even touched me.

“Can’t.” I try one more time, one more desperate attempt for sanity when my body is ready to climb him myself and get the job done.

“You were created for me. Your body was made to take me. To pleasure me. To take my knot and give me babies, just as I was put here to love, protect, and worship you. You are my reason for living, little human.” His head lifts and I swear his eyes blaze even brighter as he peers down into my upturned face. “I have waited a long time to finally claim what is mine. Tonight, I will have you.”

I don’t think there is anything in the world I want more, but through the heady fog of desire, I remember Aiden, and all the reasons this would be so wrong.

“We can’t.” I somehow manage to break out of his hold and stand on my own feet. I stare up into his beautiful face with my heart in tatters. “I can’t feed you that way.”

I expect argument, or even for him to ask why, but the next second, his considerable height shrinks, and the world flips out from under me. The hard width of his shoulder slams into my stomach as all my hair flies over my face.

“Warrick!”

My cry of shock and outrage is ignored as he starts in some direction I can’t see from my upside-down position.

“Quiet,” he murmurs when I try to struggle. “No one is going to stop me from having you, and I won’t stop even if they tried.”

The audacity of those words has me kicking harder. I pound his back with my fists. I claw the hard tendons with my nails. I know it hurts him when he hisses, but he doesn’t stop me.

“Do you think a few scratches are going to make a difference? I expect you to tear my back open by the end of the night as you beg me not to stop.”

Blood already pools in my head, but it blazes hot at the implication.

“You’ll take me even if I’m not willing?” I counter.

“Never,” he says without hesitation. “But you’re not unwilling. Your panties are soaked. Your pussy is tender and wet. Your body is very willing, little mate.”

I hate that he’s not wrong. I’ve never been so ready for anything, but that doesn’t mean it’s right. He knows why we can’t. He knows everything about all of this is wrong.

He’s wearing my brother’s body. Aiden is still in there somewhere. In the morning, he will know what I did. And none of us know enough about this situation to know just how much of Aiden is still part of Warrick. Who’s to say it won’t be Aiden’s DNA creating those babies. I may not be the smartest person in the world, but I know that would be a horrible mistake. The fact that Warrick seems unaffected by the possibility only makes me all the more certain that I can’t allow this.

“Put me down, Warrick,” I snap.

To my surprise, he does. The world swings and I’m back on solid ground with him towering over me in absolute darkness. I think for a second I need to let my eyes adjust, but no amount of blinking brings anything but Warrick’s gleaming eyes into focus.

We’re too far in the woods. I don’t know how far in, but there isn’t a stitch of light anywhere.

“Where are we?”

“I don’t want anyone to hear you cum, but me,” he states evenly, like it’s the most rational response on the planet.

“You made me cum yesterday,” I remind him.

“Not like this. I’m going to make you scream, and that is only for me.”

The sweet thrum of arousal has my belly tingling. I hate that I want that.

“No,” I tell us both firmly. “This isn’t right.”

“Is your body telling you that or your head?”

I scowl at the ridiculous statement. “That doesn’t matter. You’re in my brother’s body—”

“This is my body. He only feels and sees what I allow him to. In this form, I am only me.” His hand captures my chin with frightening accuracy considering I can’t see an inch in front of my face. “No more arguing. I will lock him out if that will put your mind at ease.”

It does and doesn’t. Of course, I don’t want Aiden to be present, but the thought of him being present also...

I have no time to process any of this when he’s hooked a talon into the elastic of my skirt and cut through it like a knife through thread. The yards of fabric slide off my body and pool at my feet, baring me to the night. To his eyes.

“Warrick...”

My bra goes next, cut at the inch of fabric between the cups. They fall apart, spilling my breasts into his waiting palms. His teasing thumbs sweeps over the peaks, igniting the heat in my core.

“Tell me what you were thinking earlier,” he prompts softly.

His mouth replaces his left hand and my mind fogs over as the cool air and his tongue sets my skin on fire.

“Earlier?” I mutter, trying to think past the feel of his fingers twisting in the only scrap of fabric keeping me covered and snapping them off. The sting left behind clears my head enough to remember. “Your tongue.”

I’m being propelled backwards, stopped only by the rough bark of a tree coming up against my naked spine.

“What about it?”

There seems to be a bend in the trunk that offers me support when he presses me back into the curve.

“Aiden said you did things to me last night after I was in bed.” My fingers thread through his hair, cradling him to my chest as he teases my right nipple with his fangs.

“Every night,” he corrects, breaking away from my breast to leave a damp trail down my belly. “Last night is the only time I let him watch.”

I gasp. “What do you do to me?”

He’s kneeling at my feet. His warm breath fans my wet lips. I’m barely breathing. I wish I could see him, but part of me is comforted by the obscurity.

“This.”

All other thoughts vanish the moment his full tongue lashes up my center. The tip circles my opening and dives in so deep, so fully my head slams back against the trunk. Stars explode across the backs of my closed eyelids. As a single piece, his tongue thickens the deeper he penetrates until I’m sobbing and bucking under the pressure. He’s so far up inside me, writhing and flicking along my walls. Occasionally, I feel him splitting and stretching me, and I’m flailing, cutting my back against the bark as I drive my hips harder on his face, grinding my clit against his teeth. My fingers are steel clamps gripping his hair, refusing to give him space as he invades my body.

He groans the most beautiful sound and clamps his hands under my thighs. With the ease of someone lifting a bag of feathers, he spreads me open, using the tree as leverage to get even deeper.

“Don’t stop,” I whimper.

My reward is the division of his tongue. One half slips out to roll over my clit while the other stays inside me. His talons dig into my thighs, drawing blood and leaving scars, but I don’t care as both halves of his tongue work in tandem pitching me off the cliff.

I cum with a cry of his name.

He’s still between my legs, licking and cleaning when I float down. He grazes my tender clit with his teeth once before pushing to his feet and standing before me with my knees still hooked over his arms.

“Every night,” he says with a husky drawl that sends a shiver through me.

“To feed?” I pant, unable to catch my breath.

“To stretch you. To get you ready to take my cock without pain. Your little hole is so small.”

I don’t know whether I’m supposed to be grateful or afraid; just how big is he that I needed that much preparation?

“Is it going to hurt?” I ask.

There’s a second of hesitation followed by a gentle, “Yes, but I’ll be gentle.”

With my body cooling and apprehension taking root, I know I don’t have much time before I get fully inside my own head and overthink it.

“Do it quick,” I tell him, slipping my arms around his shoulders.

I feel his hold tighten on me.

“I could hurt—”

I shake my head. “Please. Just ... do it.”

I think for a moment he’s going to refuse, maybe even pull away, but his head falls forward and his tongue nudges my lips. I open willingly and let him twine his tongue around mine. I let him fill my senses. I let his heat envelop me. His scent. The weight of his body pressing me into the tree.

“You are mine,” he murmurs softly against my swollen lips. “My little human.” He nips on my bottom lip just hard enough to get a whimper from me. “My mate. I would burn the world to ashes for you.”

I open my mouth to respond when he surges forward.

The pain is a sharp, spearing stab that snatches the air from my lungs. His tongue twists around mine, capturing my cry. He gives me no room to adjust or move, pinning me fully in his hold as he drives himself deeper. And deeper. Every rigid length of him demanding space in my tight channel until I’m sure no more can fit, and still he’s urging for more.

“Too much,” I try around the hold he has on my tongue.

“No,” is all he growls as he starts thrusting, driving his hips and rubbing the whole length against my walls.

The oddity of the sensation fades quickly when I feel him pulsing like a heartbeat, a heart that emanates warmth, little bursts of heat that send electric currents through my body.

“Warrick?” I pant, clutching him tighter as my body loosens on its own, slickens with a fresh arousal.

“Like that?” he taunts into the side of my neck.

My head bobs as a fresh sense of release washes over me. “Yes ... God, what is that? What are you doing? It feels so good.”

He drives faster. Harder. And I welcome it as the flutters intensify and release the sweetest warmth to fill me. To soak into my body and...

“I think I’m cumming again. Don’t stop. Please.”

“Tell me to breed your little cunt. Tell me to put my baby in you.”

My body seizes. Between whatever he’s releasing inside me and that command, I spiral into the softest cloud of bliss.

“Breed me,” I choke out. “Please, Warrick, please. I want your baby. Don’t stop. Cum in me.”

With a snarl that sends me over, Warrick slams inside me with such violence I’m sure I’ll be bruised and sore in the morning, but I don’t care. I’m falling and he pumps thick, hot ropes of cum deep into my welcoming body. At some point, mid thrust, something catches between us. A knot locking him in place, trapping his seed from spilling free.

“Take it,” he growls into my ear. “Every drop.”

I wiggle my hips down, pulling him in deeper. I’m rewarded with a growl and the sharp spear of pain where his fangs puncture the curve of my shoulder.

I cry out, but his hold only tightens.

“Mine,” he breathes into the pulse at my throat. “You’re fucking mine.”