Page 58 of Cruelest Kiss and Fairest Blood (Tales So Wicked #2)

Fire rips through my left shoulder as a pair of frothing jaws lock onto me.

Acid burns into my skin as every jagged tooth sinks deeper.

My claws ram upward, sinking deep into the wolf’s throat.

I can’t kill it. I need its help to finish off the bone creatures.

But I can’t let it destroy me in the meantime.

The wolf yelps, releasing its hold on me. I use the moment to fling it several feet away. My hand burns from the acidity of the blood coating it. I roll my shoulder, testing it. I’m already healing, but the wound is incredibly deep.

“All these fucking snakes and you want me?”

The wolf charges again. This time I dodge its attack. Shadowing from one spot to the other, I make my way around the garden. Quick glances back to the corner show my scorpion still restraining the snakes. A new monster count reveals two wolves, five snakes still standing.

The one I wounded is bleeding badly. He spins, searching for me each time I shadow away.

A small burst of relief fuels my tired muscles when I spy one of the wolves lunging for Lenore’s corner. With a flick of my wrist, my scorpion drops one of the snakes. It hits the ground and is quickly devoured by the wolf. He goes for my scorpion next.

I can’t have him wasting his energy on something that isn’t even a real enemy. I disband the scorpion, recalling my shadows. The bones drop to the ground, freeing the other snake. The skeletal serpent manages one quick strike before the wolf takes him down.

I take stock once more. Two wolves, two snakes. The injured animal is still stalking me. I shadow myself to the other side of one of the remaining snakes, leaving it slithering between me and the wolf. Confronted by the skeletal beast, the wolf has no choice but to fight it head-on.

The overwhelming rattling in the garden quiets. As the injured animal lifts its muzzle, I note that there are no more skeletons left. Just two eerie wolves and twelve eyes fixed on me.

In a coordinated attack, they both lunge forward.

We collide in a tangle of limbs, teeth, and whispering darkness.

My shadows take on a life of their own, tearing away at the wolves’ rancid fur.

My monster roars when teeth penetrate my abdomen.

I’m quick to retaliate, my claws shredding the mouth that just dared to bite me. They keep coming. Pain pierces my skin.

With a last storm of power, I release an onslaught of dagger-shaped shadows.

They shoot through the air, piercing flesh.

A desperate yelp and dying howl confirm they’ve met their mark.

Both wolves have fallen. They look like pincushions with the amount of shadow spikes sticking out from their bodies.

My shadows disband, leaving me in a pile of brutalized flesh and crumbling bones. I groan. My stomach fucking aches where a chunk of me was torn free. Breathing deeply, I lie still. Shadows knit my body back together, working harder than usual due to my massive expenditure of power.

At last, I rise. At least my wings are unscathed. It’s hell healing those.

The furious pounding of Lenore’s small fists returns my attention to her hiding spot.

Lowering my shield, I release her from the shadows she’s been tucked away behind. Her steps are tentative as she absorbs the scope of the carnage filling the bone garden. She clutches a femur in one hand and a skull in the other.

“What were you planning to use those for?” My cocky grin is not received well.

Her gaze whips to mine. “Couldn’t you hear me screaming? What was that ? You were getting your ass handed to you and I couldn’t do anything but watch. Those things damn near ripped you apart. Why didn’t you let me out?” Her anger is unexpected.

“I was keeping you safe.” Did she really think she could do anything against those demons with a few tiny bones? Lenore’s overconfidence never ceases to amaze me.

Her scowl deepens. “I wanted to help and your stupid shadows wouldn’t let me out .”

She smacks me on the chest with the femur once, twice.

I snatch the bone, tossing it aside before she can strike again.

Gripping her wrists, I drag her body into mine.

My blood is still pumping hard. Worrying for Lenore’s safety while also focusing on a hell of a nasty fight tested me near to my limits.

The action earns me a surprised yelp from Lenore. I have to crane my neck farther in my monster form to look down at her. My silver tongue flicks forward, swiping the soft spot above Lenore’s pulse.

“Harrow.” There’s a war raging in her eyes as she fights to maintain her anger. I flick my tongue again, running it up the full column of her throat. I’m rewarded with the sight of her pupils blowing wide.

Fear and arousal. Add a pinch of adrenaline and there’s a cocktail for the most feral type of lust. Lenore’s hands slide up my chest.

I manipulate her shadow dress, tightening the areas covering her nipples and redirecting the skirt tendrils to snake between her legs. She sucks in a breath, clutching my biceps for support. The slickness between her thighs matches the steady stream of precum dripping from my now-hardened cock.

“Tell me again how stupid my shadows are.” I begin to withdraw them. Lenore digs her nails into my skin.

“Don’t.” She squirms against me. “They’re not stupid. Don’t take them away. Please, Harrow.”

My shadows return, sliding between her folds. With lazy, featherlight circles I tease her clit. She shifts her weight, lifting one foot onto her toes to allow me more room.

That won’t be nearly enough. Snaring her left thigh with a shadow, I raise her leg. It gives me the perfect access. My own body jerks with need as I push my shadows deep inside.

“I thought you were going to die. I—Ohhh.” Her head falls back when I stroke her deepest parts.

“I told you, I can’t die.” Though if they’d torn me into small enough pieces, I suppose it would be challenging to regenerate.

Lenore moans and then slaps me. “You fucking scared me.”

When her hand comes back up, I snare it with shadows and pin it behind her back.

“You’re always hitting me. If I didn’t know better, I would think you’re trying to get a rise out of me.

” With my shadows still inside her, I flip her over, sending her face-down in the garden dirt.

“Is that what it is, little raven? Are you testing me to see if I’ll punish you? ”

I remove my shadows from her cunt, sending them spearing into her ass instead. Lenore gasps, squirming.

“Harrow!” She fights to get her arms beneath her.

Placing one clawed hand between her shoulder blades, I pin her upper body to the ground. My other hand grips her hips, lifting them so she’s ass up in the air. My shadows work her, sliding in and out of that untouched space. I should have taken this part of her sooner.

My cock shifts in shape. It’s nearly human, but the tip is altogether monstrous.

Wide, scalloped, and hooked. It looks more like a carnivorous flower than a cock head.

The new tip pulses, pulse, pulse, pulse .

Oh, I think she’s going to enjoy this. My shadows remain in her ass while I line my cock up with her entrance.

The size of the swollen head has Lenore gasping when I push it inside.

I can only imagine how full she’s feeling with my newly shaped cock ruining her pussy and my shadows stretching her ass.

The first time I slide my hips out and forward again, she moans so loudly that I worry she’ll invite a new slew of monsters to our refuge.

“Look at how good you’re doing. What do you think, little raven? Should I fuck your ass with this new cock of mine?”

She sucks in a breath and struggles beneath me.

My laugh is feral as I watch her. I’d never put anything this large into her uncharted space.

She would need weeks of preparation to take me like this.

Still, I enjoy the way panic has her body tightening around my girth.

As if she could fight me off even if I did choose to take her in that way.

Her struggling lessens when I allow my cock to begin pulsing inside her.

“Oh gods,” Lenore mewls, drool spilling from the side of her mouth.

“Does that feel good?”

She clenches down around me, coming so hard her entire body seizes up, head jerking backward. Even her ass tightens around my shadows.

My smile splits my face. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

A high-pitched scream has my head snapping up. The sound is almost human, but not quite. What new hell has decided to visit us now? We shouldn’t have lingered here. The need to see what’s coming and the need to keep driving into Lenore fight one another for priority. Maybe there’s a way to do both.

My claws tighten around her hips as we take to the sky.

“Harrow!” Lenore cries out as she’s lifted off the ground with my cock still inside her.

Her body flails as it loses hold of the ground.

My shadows wrap her up, pinning her arms behind her back and looping her ankles to one another.

I need to get a better vantage point to know what we’re up against.

Impressing even myself, I continue to pummel into Lenore as my wings pound the air. The rush of flying mixed with the pleasure of Lenore’s tight heat makes me dizzy. Flying and fucking might be my new favorite pastime.

I lay Lenore over the top of the garden’s stone walls. Several new shrieks sound off to our right. I need to investigate, but can’t bear to stop. Lenore’s moaning is too intoxicating. I’ll just have to keep her distracted for a few minutes.

Conjuring a shadow self is easier than I thought.

The dark version of me lacks my wings, face, and taloned feet, but possess my general size and most importantly, a shadow replica of my cock.

Between one moan and then next, I’ve emptied Lenore and replaced her with my doppelg?nger.

She so enraptured with the harsh fucking she’s receiving that she doesn’t notice the switch.

Diving into the darkness, I seek out the source of the sounds.

A group of nine humanoid creatures hobble toward the garden.

They’re clad in broken armor, and in place of a face they have wide, teeth-lined flowers.

What a mashup. It gives new meaning to man-eating plants.

Pink petals two feet in diameter unfurl, chomping at the air.

I’d guarantee these carnivorous flowers indeed eat men. Or women. They must be drawn to Lenore.

I soar above them, tracking the horde until they’ve reached the base of the wall Lenore is currently being railed out on. Screams mix with the sounds of Lenore’s climax. I know her well enough to recognize her broken sob when she comes. Well done, shadow self.

Her comedown brings clarity and she finally opens her eyes. Lenore squeals as she notices the guards beneath her. Her eyes flick to me where I hover above the guards and then instantly behind her.

“Who?”

“It’s still me, little raven. My shadows have been taking care of you in my absence.”

She looks back to the monsters below. “What are those ?”

“Guards, I suspect.” They claw at the wall, but never make any upward progress. They can’t reach her there. An undead audience. How thrilling. They can watch the grand finale. A devious thought brings a grin to my face. Maybe I’ll watch too.

The bond between my shadows and I means I don’t need to speak to convey what I’d like them to do next.

Lenore’s shadow binds vanish. My doppelg?nger sits on the wall, hauling her onto its lap so she’s facing outward.

Shadow arms hook beneath her knees, lifting them until they match the height of her chin.

New restraints wrap around her so that her back presses against the shadow man’s chest. He lowers her onto his cock and slams upward.

Lenore looks too sexy like this. Open wide for my viewing pleasure. I would never let another man touch her, but using my shadows to take her while I watch is another story.

He bounces her on his cock, impaling that quivering pussy with quick, hard thrusts. Lenore struggles to focus. Her eyes shift between wide and fearful when she peers down at the creatures, and so pleasure-filled that they fall shut in ecstasy.

“They look thirsty, Roseheart,” I call out to her in the same moment I switch the angle of my shadow cock. Realization dawns on Lenore as that familiar feeling starts to swell within.

“You are fucking crazy,” she cries out. I’ve made this happen several times now and I know the signs. Lenore’s legs tremble, her climax approaching fast.

She fights the sensation. Her body squirms, thrashing against the shadows. It’s no use. I’m relentless in my need to see her soak the castle grounds.

“Oh fuck, I, I…”

My doppelg?nger lifts her free from his cock, holding her over the horde and pulling her knees ever higher.

Lenore squirts, her cum raining down over the mutant monsters.

I never realized what a fascination I had with this before.

Now that I know how easy it is to do it to Lenore, I find myself addicted.

The last of her release trickles down and she sags against the shadows. I swoop in, taking her in my arms and wrapping her legs around my waist. “That was too damn sexy.” My cock pushes inside her. “Hold on for just a few more minutes for me.”

Lenore nods, her head wobbly. I don’t land.

Instead, I keep her legs around me and finish with her in the air.

I’m so wound up from watching that I’ve pumped her full of my cum within seconds of entering her.

My spend drips free, spilling onto the monsters below and joining the beautiful mess Lenore made.

Such a fucking rush .

I pull her into my chest and she cries out, clutching her shoulder.

“Your amulet!” There’s a bubbled-up red mark where the crystal scorched her flesh.

I’ve become so accustomed to the continuous throbbing of its dark warnings that I’d forgotten.

She looks up at me with wide, fearful eyes, all traces of lust gone.

“We need to get you back to the Underworld.”

“Can you walk?”

She nods. It’s probably a lie. When I clothe her in shadows, I send a few extras up her legs for support.

“Put us down over there. I feel something.”

We land on the other side of the garden, safely away from the flowery guards. “You know where your door is?”

“No, but I think we’re getting close.”