Page 5

Chapter Five

Thanatos

H ow fucking beautiful was this creature? What right did she have being so gorgeous bathed in moonlight and wrapped in my shadows?

I couldn’t keep the darkness away. My shadows wanted her as desperately as I did. They were me by extension, but tonight, I didn’t have any control over them. They sought her out, moving to touch and wrap around her without thought or command.

But, fuck, did my little raven look good bound by my shadows. Her milky-white skin contrasted their darkness beautifully, and I couldn’t get enough of the sight. I wanted to brand it into my memory and paint it on a large canvas so I could look on it whenever I wanted. Even if it meant that every other horseman questioned its origin.

Asha followed the shadows moving over her body with curiosity, not fear. As if she wanted to touch them and find out what they could do. But they kept her locked to the bed, leaving the curious human to watch their slithery descent with her captivating green eyes.

Of course, she thought tonight was a dream, so my shadows binding and snaking across her limbs didn’t seem odd. It was all part of a cleverly constructed dream. I thought for sure I wanted to come to her as a nightmare, but the fact that I hadn’t settled inside my chest like it pleased me. Why would it matter how she felt about me?

I was her nightmare come to life.

The monster under her bed.

“Are…are you controlling them?” Asha asked out of nowhere, dragging me out of my spiraling thoughts.

Grinning, I leveled my intense, all-seeing eyes on her. “Does it scare you?”

Her breathing was shallow, but she quickly shook her head, denying it so strongly it made my eyebrow quirk in amusement. “It’s just weird. I know this is a dream, but it all feels so…real.”

Because it is, little raven.

My shadows might be what touched and imprisoned her first, but it was I who needed to own the little human. Every fucking inch of her.

I wrapped squeezing hands around her soft thighs, addicted to how every part of her body was made exactly to my liking. Fucking perfection. That was the danger of this woman, no doubt—she was created to be my greatest temptation and my most terrifying weakness.

My cock throbbed and pushed against my pants, demanding I sink into her heat and spill every dark part of myself as deep as I could. Lay claim to her in ways no other person could. But I denied myself the treat. For now.

I wanted to savor her.

Her chest hitched when I licked her wet opening, tasting it for the first time. Even this part of her was made for me. Utterly fucking delicious. And I was starving. Had been for a long time. It took every ounce of control I had left not to dive into her and force the length of my tongue as deep as it would go.

Instead, I slowly traced the soft outer parts, teasing the places that made her thighs quiver with the urge to clench. My shadows kept her legs wide open for me, but I wouldn’t mind the little human using all her strength to crush my head between them.

“Oh, fuck. Just like that,” she groaned, her voice cutting out a little at the end. It made it nearly impossible to focus. My cock was already so hard it could puncture through the pants I wore.

Wouldn’t that be a sight? How would the little human react to my dick slicing through fabric, I wondered? Certainly amusing to imagine her face should I let it.

Asha arched and swiveled as much as my shadows allowed, stealing my focus instantly. The sight of the gorgeous thing writhing from the pleasure I gave her got my dick fucking throbbing.

I’d never craved someone like this. Never thought about the endless ways I could have them or make them writhe in pleasure. Or how to forever bind them to me so I never had to let go of this feeling. I was ready to be buried inside her. Fucking dying for it as ironic as that was coming from Death himself. It was all I could think about with her taste on my tongue and her moans in my ears.

She was finally mine to ripen and devour.

Her lustful gaze stayed with mine, living for everything I did to her without asking. She couldn’t wait for what was next, and I couldn’t wait to show her what no mortal was capable of giving her. How would she respond to the piercings running the length of my cock? Would her mouth grow wet? Would her legs go weak, her pulse quicken, and her pussy clench imagining all the ways I’d fuck her with it?

If she didn’t care for the piercings, they were easy to remove, but most women enjoyed them. Not that I had time for many, but I’d gotten the occasional craving to have a woman under me. Honestly, it was Zelus’s idea in the first place, the kinky fuck. He'd talked me into doing it, saying “Give those human bitches pleasure they’d never forget.” I knew better to listen to Zelus go on about his sexual prowess, but I’d grown fond of the effect it had on the women I bent over to satisfy an urge.

If I wanted, I could change my appearance to match whatever she preferred. I chose this form because it was closest to how I saw myself, but being Death meant I could shift to be whoever or whatever she wanted. Still, the fear of the little human rejecting this form was unexpected. As if I was…self-conscious? Concerned she’d reject me? But I was Death. Death didn’t get self-conscious or worry about whether or not he was wanted.

Granted, I’d never been refused by anyone.

I sucked her wet pussy into my mouth and grazed my lengthened canines over the petal-soft flesh I found there. Her wanting moan nearly caused me to sink my fangs into her, but I wouldn’t. Not tonight. Tonight was about the euphoric pleasure I could give her without biting. I’d save the taste of her blood for another night. A night when she was ready to surrender her soul to me.

Asha fought the restraints keeping her locked to the headboard, pleading with the darkness to release her, but I liked her bound and didn’t send them away. If anything, I beckoned more to join. Several snaked across her gorgeous white flesh and teased her body into another beautiful curve.

I dragged a hand down her chest and stomach, obsessed with how quickly my nails left red marks across her obscenely pale skin. Lifting the little human off the bed, my shadows released her to me, but only enough so I could have her the way I wanted her.

Greedy darkness. But then again, so was I.

Having Asha under my command was too good to end this early into the night. If she cried for me to send them away again, maybe I’d give in. I smirked. But probably not.

“Thanatos…” she begged, stomach retracting sharply when my tongue penetrated her. “Please, just fuck me already. I can’t take it anymore.”

She wasn’t the only one, but this was my dessert to savor. I wouldn’t surrender it to anyone, not even her.

I stole a look at the bound beauty, soaking in the sight of her completely at my mercy. It was easy to tell she liked my shadows more than she let on. It was in the flush of her skin and glazed look about her eyes. She was getting off on being my prey.

Good.

The urge to hunt her clawed at my throat, demanding I send her running into the night so I could chase her down and fuck her out in the open. But I kept that part of me locked away. Tonight, I’d take my time and give her more pleasure than she could conceivably comprehend. Later, I’d devour her excited fear. That promise was the only reason I kept myself in check. I promised myself another night—a future I wasn’t permitted to have but would take all the same.

My tongue worked back and forth, sliding and flicking, delving deeply into her softness and tasting parts of her no human tongue could reach. She writhed and moved over the bed in a sensual dance, conflicted about whether she should give in or keep fighting. But it wouldn’t be Asha if she surrendered right away, so I welcomed it. My shadows gave her just enough room to put on a show, to fight back, but neither of us wanted her to get away.

Not this time, at least.

Sucking on her clit, I beckoned my darkness over. It slithered over her stomach, quickly making its way from her chest to her hips. Her glittering gaze followed its path, confusion etched into the lines of her face. Then her head shot back when it slipped between her legs and stroked the place I was already devouring.

She wasn’t given a chance to ask questions. My tongue tormented the deepest part of her, twisting and fucking the vulgar moans out of her. The shadow stroking her clit moved to tease the other hole before I pulled away.

I sat up, licking my lips of her taste.

Have it my way and I’d eat her delectable pussy all night long. But my dick was violently pulsing inside my pants. I needed to be inside of her. Fucking her. Ripening her body to my liking. Spilling my dark seed inside her. Breeding her.

No. Fuck. I can’t breed her.

My jaw locked, fighting the urges bubbling inside my chest. Urges I hadn’t any right to act on. Urges that made me forget why I’d come to her in the first place. I stared at the beauty wrapped in my darkness. She was so fucking beautiful.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Her eyes took a slow path down my body when the rest of my clothes transformed into shadows and disappeared. “Oh my god—”

I put a finger to my mouth, hushing her. “You’re never to say another man’s name around me again, little raven. Do you understand?”

Her eyebrow quirked in adorable perplexity. “I didn’t…oh,” she murmured, finally catching on. “Does that mean you believe God’s a man? How very old-fashioned of you.”

I’d forgotten who it was I saved tonight. This was the ridiculous human prone to silly rants in the middle of the night at no one but the four walls. Despite the fact that we were both naked, ready to commit a number of sins, it appeared even that wasn’t enough to smother the silliness from her mouth.

I couldn’t help it. I laughed. With my fucking dick out.

Asha’s lips twitched, hiding her smile, before her eyes caught sight of the entire reason this absurd moment happened in the first place. I followed her line of sight, smirking and flexing in an uncharacteristically proud moment.

The curious human tilted her head, still quaking inside of her shadow prison. “I didn’t expect that , but I can’t say I’m mad about it. If I’m honest, I…want to know what that feels like. But, um, you’re going to need to go slow, killer. That thing is a goddamn weapon,” she rambled cutely, her tongue swiping across her lips like she was thirsty for it.

And fuck, I wanted to force my cock into her throat and make her choke on it. Smother every silly word bent on leaving that pretty little mouth of hers. Watch the tears and saliva pour down her face because she could barely take it all in.

But I didn’t move on her like the monster I was. Instead, I watched her face and body for signs of distress and rejection. It took me a second to piece it all together in my head. I was waiting for Asha to give me permission.

Which was fucking insane .

Death didn’t need permission. I wasn’t here for her consent. I was here to ripen her soul for the apocalypse. I could coax ripening even when she wasn’t willing. But why did it feel like I was waiting for this little human—my Counter Soul—to accept me for everything I was? The man and the monster. A killer and her savior. The reason she’d one day lose her soul and no longer exist.

Fuck.

I dragged a hand through my dark hair, ignoring the powerful burn in my throat. Denying the explosive feeling in my chest when I thought about how one day, I’d be the one to take her life. How one day, she’d be gone forever.

As if she’d read my mind, the sensual air receded, and Asha stared at me, struggling to get free of my shadows. I hadn’t called them off, but she gained her freedom somehow and was suddenly in front of me, her soft hands taking my jaw’s shape. “Is everything okay, Thanatos?”

Without meaning to, my eyes closed, living for the sweet way she said my name. For the fucking amazing tone of fear it’d taken. Not fear of me, but fear that I’d reject her. She wanted me the same way I wanted her. No, needed her.

When my eyes opened, I took the red-haired beauty by the throat and kissed her so fiercely it nearly sent both of us off balance. My shadows reached out and dragged her back down to the mattress, binding her the same way as before, and I hovered over her body like the fucking menace I was.

“I’ve kept you waiting. Forgive me.” Her eyes danced across my face, and I grabbed her around the back of her head, collecting a handful of that beautiful vibrant hair before yanking it hard enough to make her gasp. “Tell me one thing, little raven. Are you ready for what comes after I fuck you the way we both want? Are you prepared to give me everything?”

The pause and breath she took left me oddly anxious, but when she let it go and a ghost of a smile lifted her mouth, the tension in my body eased.

“Yes, I’ll give you everything.”

Fuck.

With her consent, I no longer cared what I’d come for. She was mine now.

All mine.