Page 37 of Cursed by Death (Ruby Jane #1)

M y breath caught in my throat as I stared into his mesmerizing eyes.

No one had ever loved me before. I wasn’t even sure if I was deserving of someone else’s love because I didn’t know if I’d be able to return it.

I was probably going to hurt Rally. If I hadn’t already. And if what he'd said earlier was any indication I had likely already managed to hurt him multiple times.

“Rally,” I murmured quietly. The urge to apologize to him was strong but I refrained. The best apologies were changed behavior, but I didn’t think I would be able to give him that. “I’m sorry that you got stuck with a mess like me as your mate.”

The growl that came from his throat was more animal than it was human. Instead of being scared of it I could feel myself start to get wet.

Certainly not a normal reaction to have but then again, I had never been a normal sort of girl before.

“I don’t want to hear anything like that ever come out of your mouth again,” he growled in a dark, sinister voice. “You’re everything I could have ever asked for in a mate and so much more. But you’ve got to start acting like you’re mated to a goddamn Prince. And that means you can’t go running off whenever you feel like it, especially not without telling anyone. And you should never, ever go into the underground without me or one of my guards with you. And, for fucks sake, don’t go running off alone with the hunters. You’re smarter than all of that and you need to start acting like it.”

That wiped the warm and fuzzy feelings right out of me. I put my hands on his chest and shoved. He barely moved back an inch. Just what the hell was he made of?

“You don’t get to tell me what to do, Rally. And you certainly aren’t going to tell me who I can and cannot hang out with like I’m some kind of naughty teenager. I’m going to do whatever the fuck I want. And, another thing, I don’t need a guard. I can take care of my own damn self.”

His face had morphed into something scary when I pushed him and it only grew darker and harder with every word that had come out of my mouth.

I didn’t care though. I was tired of people, men in particular, trying to control and dictate my life by telling me what I could and could not do.

“You’re a fucking brat,” he growled in my face. “A spoiled rotten, rich little bitch.”

I gasped in outrage. “You take that back right this second. I may be a rich bitch now but I’ve never been a spoiled rotten brat. You don’t fucking know anything about me and if you did know me, even in the slightest, those words would have never come out of your stupid mouth. Not ever.” I shoved at his chest and snapped, “Take it back.”

He got right in my face, so close that we were now sharing breath. “You’re so selfish sometimes and up your own ass that it’s a wonder that you can see straight. But don’t you worry, baby, I’m going to sort you so I’m not constantly having to deal with this bullshit.”

Selfish? No one had ever called me selfish before. I didn’t like the way it was making me feel now. If I wasn’t careful here he might actually hurt my feelings.

It made me uncomfortable knowing he now had the ability to hurt my feelings. It meant that I actually cared about him and I cared about what he thought of me.

And wasn’t that just a dangerous road to go down. Dangerous and unwanted.

I had to get rid of him before he made me do something I’d regret later, like cry or something. I’d never forgive myself if I cried in front of Rally right now.

I stood up quickly, catching him off guard and making him stumble back. I walked right past him towards the door and flung it open. Before I could turn back towards him the door was slammed shut and I was shoved up against it with my chest pressed up to it.

“That was the wrong thing to do,” he whispered in a deceptively soft voice and I shivered upon hearing it. “I’m tired of this game that you’ve been playing and forcing me to participate in. It ends now.”

That didn’t sound very good.

I struggled to push myself off of the door but he placed a hand in the middle of my back and held me firmly in place. “Get the fuck off of me,” I hissed at him angrily, wishing I could lash out at him to hurt him in some kind of way.

No matter how hard I pushed at the door, Rally didn’t budge even an inch and his hand stayed firmly in place. It was a very rude wake up call. No matter how much I practiced with my knives I would never have the brute strength some of the supernatural beings possessed.

I would never be any true match for someone like Rally if I was without my weapons on me.

His hand slid down my back and over the curve of my ass. My breath caught in my throat as he fingered the edge of my nightie. I should have gone to bed in sweatpants and a hoodie. I didn’t own any sweatpants.

“Rally,” I whispered, my voice full of warning.

I was afraid of him touching me. I was afraid of what it would do to me, what it would unleash from inside of me. I had been trying so hard to keep my desires and urges under control. This was going to destroy all of my hard fought efforts.

“Quiet, mate,” he growled, making me shiver and causing my nipples to harden. He ran his lips across my bare shoulder. “The time for talking is over. I don’t want to hear anything else you have to say. All I want to hear come out of your mouth for the rest of the night are the sweet sounds I’m sure you make when you cum.”

My breath hitched as he slipped his hand under my nightie. He grabbed my panties and jerked, my body jerking as well with the force of it. There was a ripping sound and I knew my panties were toast.

“Did you just rip my underwear off of me like some kind of barbarian?”

He chuckled, the sound low and deep in his throat, and seductively sensual. “No, baby, not a barbarian. Just an animal.”

He lifted up the hem of my nightie and my bare ass was exposed to him. Before I could even think to ask him what the hell he thought he was possibly doing his hand landed sharply on my right ass cheek, making a startled sound come out of my mouth.

“Did… did you just spank me? I’m not some naughty little girl that you can—”

My voice cut off, my words coming to a sudden halt, as the palm of his hand came down on my ass cheek again. I yelped as I tried to push myself away from the door so I could turn around and face him but I couldn’t move. He held me firmly in place and kneaded the now sore flesh. I didn’t know if he was attempting to soothe the pain and lessen the sting or if he was simply trying to fondle me after spanking me.

“This is what happens to naughty brats,” he murmured huskily. “They get punished. You have to learn what it means to be my mate, to be the mate of a Prince. Until you get it figured out I’m okay with teaching you a lesson every time you need one. In fact, I’m actually enjoying it immensely. Your ass looks fucking beautiful with my mark on it. It makes my dick hard just looking at it.”

I was losing my mind because his words were turning me on and I couldn’t help but rub my thighs together.

He pressed his nose to my throat and I heard his breath hitch as he inhaled my scent there. “I can smell you, you know. I can smell the sweet scent of your arousal. Your cunt smells divine and I plan on wearing your scent all over me like a brand.”

His hand left my ass, sliding around my hip and dipped down. Using his foot, he pushed my legs apart and the palm of his hand rested on my pubic bone. His fingers curled in until he held the most private of places on my body literally in the palm of his hand.

His fingers slid through my slick wetness and he groaned when he felt the physical proof of my arousal. I knew his enhanced senses allowed him to smell it but knowing he was feeling the actual physical response my body had to him was extremely different.

I moaned as I thrust my hips forward, urging him to touch me how I wanted and not just hold me there, teasing me without actually teasing me. It was so frustrating and I wanted more.

“Rally,” I said in a breathless rush that most likely would embarrass me when I thought back on this moment later. It was close to begging and I never did that.

“Don’t worry, I'm going to give you everything you need.”

I wanted to argue that I didn’t need anything. I wanted things but I’d survive without them. I kept my damn mouth shut because I wanted to see how far he was going to take things tonight. Also, it really hurt nothing to continue allowing him to live in the land of delulu. He seemed happy to be there, for the moment.

I moaned and all thoughts fled my mind as he slid two of his fingers inside of me. He circled my clit with his thumb as his fingers pumped inside of me at a fast pace. There was nothing slow or sweet about this, which I could absolutely appreciate and did.

I rode his fingers, my hips surging forward to meet every thrust of his fingers.

My breath was coming in heavy pants as my orgasm grew closer and closer. My head tipped back, landing on Rally’s shoulder, as my mouth opened in a silent whimper.

His fingers curled inside of me and I came. Hard. My legs felt like jello and I placed my hands on the door, almost clawing it in an attempt to hold myself up.

Rally snarled, the sound entirely animalistic, as he pulled his fingers out of me. I cried out at the sudden loss of him, feeling entirely too empty now. I could feel my wet arousal coating the inside of my thighs.

Rally grabbed a hold of the back of my nightie. It made a ripping noise as it was torn in half right down the middle. He pulled on the front of it and dragged it down my arms. I let it fall to the floor in a ruined mess at my feet.

He thrust his cock forward between my wet folds, coating it in my fluids. I gasped and shivered as the head of his cock brushed over my clit.

He growled, the sound sending goosebumps all over my flesh, as he notched his cock at the entrance to my pussy. He pushed his cock inside of me as he pushed my head against the door with my cheek pressed up against it.

“Open,” he growled as his fingers probed at my lips.

My lips parted on their own before I could even think about it. Two of his fingers slipped inside my mouth as his hand and the rest of his fingers wrapped around my jaw. His fingers dug into my skin slightly and I wondered if I’d have a bruise there later.

“Suck,” he ordered as he began fucking me, driving his cock in over and over again at a brutal pace that kept pushing me into the door.

I ran my tongue over his fingers as I did as he told me and sucked on them. I knew immediately that they were the fingers he’d had inside of me. They tasted like me. I knew because I had licked my fingers before after fingering myself.

I’d never had someone else’s fingers inside my mouth after they’d been inside my pussy before.

He kissed me on the shoulder, nipping at it with his teeth as he played with my clit. I cried out as pinched my clit gently and his teeth sunk into my shoulder.

My orgasm overtook me and my body shuddered as my release washed through me and I came.

Rally’s rhythm stuttered and then came to a stop with his pelvis pushed up tight against my ass. His teeth released the skin on my shoulder and he licked over the skin where he’d bitten me.

“My mate,” he murmured huskily as he nuzzled his face into my throat. I hummed, unable to speak to respond. Though I had no words to say to him and thank you sounded inappropriate.

With his cock buried in my pussy, his fingers still in my mouth, and the imprint of his teeth on my shoulder, I couldn’t argue with him even if I wanted to.

But the reason why was less physical and more about the warmth spreading throughout my chest and the knowledge that I might cry if he tried to pull away from me right now. I didn’t do intimacy on this level and always had been uncomfortable with it. It wasn’t a feeling I was familiar with and didn’t think I’d ever felt it before.

“Let’s get cleaned up and then we can get some sleep. I want to hold you tight in my arms all night. It will probably be the best sleep of my life.”

I didn’t ever sleep next to someone else. I always kicked them out of my bed and then out of my house. I wasn’t going to do either of those things with Rally. I was actually looking forward to sleeping in his arms all night.

And wasn’t that just the scariest thought ever.