Page 37 of Grotesque

T he slam of her heart against her ribs was like music to my ears.

Its steady pump was the only thing that kept me grounded.

I don’t know whether I was more angry, or afraid that she had read those bitches’ diaries.

They had too much of the truth in them. Truths that Sorcha could not find out lest she try to pry herself from my hold.

I was so close, so incredibly close to sealing her fate to mine. I would not fail this time. I refused.

I stroked her throat with my thumb, pressing harder into the vein at her neck with each swipe.

“Two truths and a lie,” she blurted.

“I’ve already sniffed out your lie, sweetheart,” I growled. “Down on your knees and if you do a good job, we can play a different game after.”

She had the good sense to look afraid. Her fear wafted up into my nose. But so did her heat. The two had become close as lovers, perfuming the air each time I loomed over her.

“It’s only those two, I swear. I didn’t know there were others.”

Truth? Her heart hadn’t kicked an extra beat like it had before when she was fibbing.

“I want Glamis,” she said. “Macky left it to me, and I want it. I’ll do whatever I can to free you and get you back to Under. I was looking to see if there was a way to free you that you hadn’t already tried before. A clue they may have written but didn’t understand for themselves.”

Lie.

One lie. Her heart stuttered violently at the end. She had read something in Maxine’s sketchbook that scared her. But the other part? Why the hell would she want Glamis when she had me?

I squinted down at her. “Why do you want Glamis?”

She rubbed her fingers together, a sign of just how nervous she was. “I’ve never had anything of my own. It feels like magic here and I want to keep it.”

I scoffed and twisted my hand so that it collared her throat.

“I am the magik, Sorcha. Who do you think feeds you by keeping the cupboards stocked? Where do you think your entertainment comes from when I am not buried between your legs? These books,” I nodded to the shelves, “are one of the few things I have allowed to stay that are not of my own making.”

Her eyes widened. They darted to the shelves and back at me. “None of it’s real?”

“It is real because I make it so.” I ground my molars together.

“So without you….”

“There is no Glamis,” I finished for her.

“That is why I asked you to come with me to Under. I do not want to be parted from you, but also…” I flicked my eyes to the ceiling, to the windows.

“All of this is nothing compared to what I can give you. What is one old house compared to an entire realm? Once I am restored to my homeland there will be endless possibilities. All wholly and completely yours.”

Sorcha worked her teeth over her lower lip. Gods I almost had her. She was right there, teetering on the edge. I could feel the bond between us vibrating. She just needed a little push and she’d tumble right over into the right decision.

“I find it hard to believe. You’ve been playing with me this entire time–”

“So, let’s keeping playing. You love my games, but allow me to play one of yours.”

Sorcha shifted against my hand, trying to widen the distance between us. I let Maxine’s sketchbook fall to the ground in exchange for grabbing hold of her waist. Not yet. I couldn’t let her go before pulling her into the deep end of my want. I needed her to drown in my desire. Drown in me.

“Two truths and one lie. Places far grander than Glamis will be yours. You will be happier apart from me. I am so madly, deeply in love with you.”

Air blew out of Sorcha’s lungs in a fatal exhale. My own breath became trapped in my throat as the confession left me. I hadn’t meant to say it, not yet, but the truth was out there now. Or was it? Is that what this electric wave flowing between us was? Love?

Her heavy breasts heaved. “What are you doing to me? Why do you insist on playing these vicious games with me? You’ve just told me you can give me everything.

You know that I’ll never be happy without you.

And I know you don’t love me.” She placed her shaking hands against my stomach. “A creature like you cannot love.”

I hunched over her. “You think that is the lie?”

“You’ve given me two lies and a truth.”

I pressed my forehead against hers, angling my face until the tips of our noses touched. “Little dove, that is not how the game works.”

A tremor ran through her body as if it had erupted from her core. My sweet Sorcha, so incredibly brave, so determined, was pushing her way through that fear. Ignoring whatever warnings Maxine had left to her.

A little farther.

“Which is the lie?”

She shook her head. “I can’t.”

“Say it.” I pushed her chin up so I could brush my lips to hers.

“Corban,” she pleaded. Begged.

I slid my fingers beneath her shirt and groped her warm skin. “Then let me to show you the truth.”

There wasn’t a single part of me that was made to be gentle.

I enjoyed pain. Both inflicting it and being on the receiving end.

I reveled in it. I knew Sorcha enjoyed how I touched her, but she needed to know I could be tender.

That I was capable of love, of holding her delicate heart in my hands without crushing it.

She stifled a moan behind her lips when I kissed her neck. “Don’t do this to me,” she begged.

I ran my tongue over the divots of my fang marks. I slid my tongue along her jaw and planted a soft kiss to her lips. “What am I doing?” I trailed my hand from her hip down the swell of her ass and squeezed. I’d never get over how full she was against me.

“You’re going to destroy me.” She pulled her face away while simultaneously pushing her hips into my hand.

I pressed my mouth to the top of her head, breathing her in while I moved my hand to her waistband and worked her underwear and pants down her hips. “That’s not so terrible, is it? Don’t you want to see the stars again?” I pushed her firmly against the bookcase, earning another startled exhale.

She grabbed hold of my shoulders as I slid to the ground to relieve her of her clothes. I lifted one of her bare legs to kiss the sole of her foot. She took her bottom lip between her teeth. Her straight white teeth worked it furiously. She’d make herself bleed before I could if she kept at it.

“Careful, love. I haven’t quite gotten past not wanting to fuck that devious little mouth of yours.” I traced the line of her smooth leg, opting for kisses instead of sinking my teeth into her flesh like I craved.

Her back arched, shoulders pressing into the books as I climbed higher up her leg until I was at her sweet, hot center. I couldn’t stop my devilish grin even if I’d tried. She was soaking wet. Gods I could already taste her.

“Eyes on me,” I instructed as hers threatened to close. I made a slow show of gliding my tongue over her slit, swirling it over the bundle of nerves that always made her breath catch, before dipping it inside her.

“Oh fuck,” she groaned. Her hips snapped forward involuntarily, forcing my nose against her.

I breathed in, pushed my tongue farther, and ate.

I devoured her like she was my last meal, like she was the first thing I’d tasted after starving for a thousand years.

Like my very life depended on it, and maybe it did.

I pushed and pulled my tongue, twisting it inside her. I worked her right to the edge then pulled back to suck her clit. Sorcha’s hands dove for my head, one in my hair, the other at the base of one of my horns. She rocked with the motion of my tongue.

I sucked harder. As she thrust against my face, I took the opportunity to slide my fingers inside of her. Her cheeks flushed bright pink. Beads of sweat dotted her forehead like crystals, collecting and dripping down her face.

I twisted my fingers and curled them over the upper ridge of her pussy, back and forth until she tightened around them, trying to push me out. I pressed the flat of my tongue against her clit, worked my fingers faster, and then sucked.

Sorcha’s head slammed against the books, her back arched. She gripped my fingers like a vice as she came hard and sudden. Was there anything more beautiful than watching a woman come? Than watching Sorcha come?

“Do you see the stars, love?”

Sorcha’s fingers flexed in my hair. “There’s so many.”

I kissed the inside of her leg. “Shall I show you the universe?” I licked where she had dripped down on her thigh then looked up at her, arching a brow.

“Yes, please.” She flashed me a lopsided grin.

I gave her cunt another quick lick before standing up. I took a step back and took my time in glamouring my pants and shirt away. Her eyes dropped down to where I stroked my cock. Slowly they worked their way up my frame, to my face, and back down again.

“I’ll never get over you. You’re so fucking beautiful,” she breathed.

I moved forward and scooped her up. I held her by her ass while I worked my cock across her slit and up her stomach. “That’s all you. You’re perfect.”

She laughed. It was a sound I rarely heard her make, and I loved it. Breathless and uncertain. She wrapped her legs around my waist as I poised at her entrance, her arms around my neck.

“You are. So, ah!” She tensed when I pushed into her. “So, so perfect.”

It was painful not to fuck her thoroughly.

I was grateful for the distraction of her heady moans and sweet kisses.

I kissed her gently, told her how divine she was.

How beautiful she would look covered in jewels and with a crown atop her head.

It didn’t matter if she heard my words or if only my tone registered.

She was becoming undone beneath me, melting, dripping, coming into bloom.

Sorcha’s pussy tightened around my cock. Her legs pulled me in when I started to withdraw. “Show me that universe you mentioned.”