CHAPTER 3
The weather held clear as we flew back to Chateau Evans. I was even starting to enjoy myself a little bit.
“Coming in for the landing,” Aiden shouted over his shoulder.
I didn’t understand why he needed to warn me. The landing at the jail had been smooth.
Tsunami started circling, swooping lower and lower around the stables.
Then I realized he was aiming for the open skylight.
“It’s not big enough!” I squeaked.
Aiden chuckled. “We left that way. It’s the dragon’s door.”
“How can we make it?” I buried my face in Aiden’s back so I wouldn’t have to watch.
“Trust him. He’s been doing this all his life.” Aiden clicked his tongue. “Doing great, boy.”
Tsunami shook himself, rocking us, and then dropped, his wings snapping up so hard that the leather slapped against my thigh. He landed with a jolt that made my teeth clack together and bite my tongue.
I healed the injury quickly and swallowed the coppery blood in my mouth before Aiden could ask me about it.
We dismounted the same way we had at the jail, but this time, Aiden didn’t let go of me. “Ready to see my favorite place at this chateau?”
“Does it have a toilet?” I asked, clutching my stomach.
“It’ll pass. But yes.”
“Then I’m all for it.”
“You were a good boy, Tsunami,” Aiden said, rubbing the dragon’s snout. “Thank you.”
I waved a little. “Thank you for the great first ride,” I said politely, although ‘great’ wasn’t the word I wanted to use. It could have been much worse.
We stripped out of our riding leathers before leaving the stable, making a pile of them that Aiden assured me would be taken care of.
“Come on!” he said, pulling me by the hand, a boyish grin of glee on his face.
I followed readily enough, curious to see what he considered his favorite place that wasn’t the dragon stables.
He led me to a copse of trees not far from the chateau, the only sense of the sea the brine in the air.
“This is beautiful,” I said, looking around the glade. “Did you plant these trees yourself? They’re not very old.”
“I did.” Aiden pushed through them until he reached a clearing in the middle. He spread his arms wide. “Here it is.”
I nodded. “It’s a very nice field.”
Aiden chuckled. “One more step.”
The tingle of magic in the air hit me the next moment, and I almost rolled my eyes at myself. Of course Aiden would hide it. One more step showed me the most intricate playhouse I’d ever seen.
“Oh!” I gasped, clasping my hands in front of my mouth. “I would have loved to have this when I was a child!”
“It grew with me. Hayden did a lot of the spellwork. He wanted me to have somewhere I could go that was just mine when I came home from boarding school.”
“That’s really sweet.” I spotted the door. “Can we go in?”
“Of course.”
The building was rustic, but fully functional. A partial kitchen was off the main living space, a tiny bathroom and a reading room in the opposite direction. The walls were partial climbing gym, partial display shelving. High above, various openings led to different areas that I couldn’t make out from the lower level.
“Go ahead,” Aiden encouraged me.
I wiped my hands on the seat of my jeans and grabbed the jutting out portions of the climbing wall. It took a moment for me to get used to the motion of climbing, but I reached the second level in a short time. I stood, chest heaving, proud of myself for managing the climb.
I peeked into one opening after another. One led to a rope bridge across to another portion of the playhouse. Another was a sloping tube that led downward. I remembered seeing the slide from the outside. A third was an obstacle course across to the same place as the bridge.
My arms were still trembling a little from climbing the wall, so I chose to cross by the bridge. It was open to the air, but it was easy enough to cross, with a rope on either side to hold, one strung taut to walk on, and all tied together to avoid too much wobbling.
My efforts were completely worth it. On this side, there was a winding staircase that twisted up around a center firefighter-style pole. I lost track of the number of stairs I climbed, peeking out the sporadic windows as I came to them. Once I was higher than the tops of the trees, the stairs stopped at a trapdoor. I opened it upward and climbed a little ladder to a loft area. There was a telescope set up in the center, and I spotted controls on the wall that would open up the ceiling.
Making a mental note to ask Aiden if we could come back here at night, I looked around the rest of the tiny room. There was another tube, marking a slide. The opening was covered with a moveable plexiglass, so nobody would fall down accidentally. The pole in the center of the stairs had stopped below the trapdoor, for safety as well. There were cushions against the wall, large ones that looked extremely comfortable.
I debated with myself about whether I should take the slide or the pole back down. The slide won, and I lifted the plastic, sitting at the top with my legs in the tube. It was a steep drop, curling around the outside of the tower. The top of the tube was open, and I watched the sky and then the trees whiz by as I rode the slide down to the bottom.
Aiden met me. “What do you think?”
“I love it,” I said happily. “Can we use it tonight?”
Aiden considered the now cloudy sky. “Depends on the weather.”
“Of course.”
His attention returned to me. “I’ve had this fantasy,” he said, eyes twinkling.
“Do tell,” I prompted.
“I want to fuck you in here, but I want to pretend that you’re a thief who broke into my house. Your punishment is to make me feel good.”
I shivered, already wet from desire. “That sounds like fun.”
Aiden grinned. “I love that you’re adventurous.”
“Go and relax. I’ll be there shortly,” I said, already trying to figure out how I would get in without using the obvious front door.
Aiden planted a quick kiss on my lips before flashing me a beaming grin and running around the side of the main playhouse.
I turned back to the tower. The easiest way for me to “break in” was by the second floor. I crossed the rope bridge again, and slipped into the main part of the house. Aiden had dimmed the lights, making it seem like he wasn’t there.
Using the ladder, I shimmied down until my feet were on the floor. I turned and yelped, because Aiden was right behind me, his horns already present, fire gleaming in his eyes.
If it had been anyone else, I would’ve been terrified. Instead, it just turned me on further.
“What are you doing in my house, little thief?” he growled.
Even his voice made me weak in the knees.
“I thought you were out, and you have something that I wanted,” I said, double-entendre thick.
“Oh, I bet there’s something that you want,” he said, chuckling darkly. “But what about what I want?” He leaned in close, sniffing my neck. “You might want to run.”
I squeaked and slipped around him, but there was nowhere to run to . Aiden pounced from behind, taking me gently down onto the plush carpet in front of the couch.
“You don’t have much self-preservation, do you?” he growled.
He grabbed rope from somewhere— probably conjured it —and used it to tie my wrists together above my head.
“You’ve broken into my home , somewhere private . You have violated me. Now it’s my turn to do the same to you.”
His sharp claws, which I hardly ever saw, even when he fully beasted out, raked through my clothing, leaving shreds of material behind.
I gasped, belatedly remembering that I should be struggling to get away.
“Where do you think you’re going, pet ?” Aiden snarled. He took the long loose end of the rope around my wrists and tied it to the leg of the couch in front of me, pulling it taut. “Let me look at my prize.”
He flipped me over onto my back and brushed the scraps of my clothing away.
I was completely naked.
Completely at his mercy.
I loved it.
Aiden wasn’t fully in his beast form yet, but he was getting there. Flames hadn’t yet covered his skin, but his horns were large and present, his claws elongated his fingers, and when he licked his lips, I saw that his tongue was thick and forked.
I shivered.
“Aw, is somebody cold? Maybe you should have considered the possibility that I would strip you of your dignity, the way you wished to strip my property of its belongings.” He called fire to life on his hand, letting the flames dance between his fingers. “But I am not completely uncaring for your comforts. Remember that.” He threw the fireball into the hearth, igniting the logs that lay there into a roaring blaze.
It immediately warmed my side, but I wasn’t actually cold, so it didn’t have any effect beyond that. I admired the play of the flicker of light across his body. He had yet to strip, but I could see his muscles beneath his clothing. I couldn’t wait to feel them against me.
Aiden frowned, suddenly crouching over me, his face much too close, and I yelped.
“If you’re not cold, why are your nipples all drawn in?” he murmured as if to himself. “Could it be that this entire situation turns you on? Did you break into my house hoping for me to defile you in retribution?”
I bit my lip, not sure how to answer him.
Another flicker of flame on his finger, which he used to caress my breast, circling around the tight little bud. The fire didn’t burn me, which was as expected.
Once the fire wasn’t part of him, like the one in the hearth, it became real flames, and those would burn. But this fire, his fire, only tickled and felt warm. I loved feeling it against me and within me.
“Little witches who play with fire are bound to get burned,” Aiden muttered darkly, his hand questing downward to settle between my thighs. He thrust inside me suddenly, making me whimper at the intrusion. He pulled his hand away, fire doused, sticky with my fluids. “You’re going to test my patience. I was going to leave you trussed up here for the night, but...” He sniffed the air, heady with the scent of my arousal. “...you are taunting the beast now. And he wants to come out and play.”
I had no idea where Aiden was getting these dirty words, but I loved it. I wanted more.
“Oh no!” I moaned theatrically.
Aiden paused for a moment, amusement dancing behind his eyes and in the curl of his lips. “That’s right, you didn’t want to provoke the beast. He only ever wants one thing—to fuck until the woman underneath him is covered in his spunk. You have no idea how much that turns him on. And the more you fight, the better he loves it.”
He got to his feet and stripped off his clothing, his human cock hard and pressing against his stomach. When it bobbed, it left a string of pearlescent pre-cum behind.
My mouth actually started watering. I swallowed convulsively.
“Spread your legs, pretty thing, or I will spread them for you,” Aiden threatened.
Biting my lip, I did the opposite of what I wanted, clenching my thighs together.
“Now you’re playing coy?” Aiden rumbled. In a swift movement, he grabbed both my ankles in one hand, folding me in half, pressing my knees my knees into my chest and exposing me to his gaze. “There’s your pretty little pussy. It’s dripping for me.”
I felt two of his fingers prodding my opening one at a time, suddenly spearing deep with both, his thumb pressing against my clit.
“If I have to hold your legs up, you’re going to miss out on any extra pleasure I can provide you. I’ll just have to take you like an animal. Is that what you want?”
“No,” I whimpered.
His weight covered me, his cock finding its home and pressing into my channel. It was a tight fit; with my legs not wide open, everything was squeezed together. His shoulders fit underneath my knees, pressing my legs into my body. “Oh yeah, baby. The beast inside me likes the feel of your cunt. It’s warm, wet, and oh, so inviting. You’re clenching around me. You like this, I know you do. Let yourself enjoy it.”
He pumped his hips into me, but I couldn’t move. I just had to lie there and take the pounding he was giving me.
“Fuck, I’m going to come,” Aiden muttered. “Once I do, I won’t be able to hold the beast back. I hope you’re prepared for him.”
I couldn’t wait.
Aiden met my eyes, checking in to make sure I was okay. I nodded slightly and the tension around his lips vanished. “Lie there and take it, thief. I’m going to fill you up with my cum.” He drove his cock in hard and I felt him pulse within me.
I hadn’t quite reached orgasm, but I knew Aiden would make sure I got there at least once tonight.
As we lay in front of the fire, sharing hard-fought breaths, Aiden pulled out and then his form changed into that of his full beast, fire licking over every inch of his skin.
“Now it’s my turn,” he rumbled, deepening his voice until it was almost unrecognizable.
He maneuvered my body like it was nothing, flipping me onto my front again, this time on my knees, spread wide. His secondary cock, still bigger than his human one, entered me, preparing me for his beast’s primary one.
I knew how this evening would end—with him knotting me. It had been too long since I’d felt that full.
He thrust hard and fast, his fingers sliding around my ample hips to find my clit and rub over it. I lost track of how many times I came on his cock before he filled me again, my thighs sticky with his leftovers.
“And now the main event,” he warned, fitting the head of his largest cock against me.
“No, please don’t,” I whined, the sound fake even to me.
Aiden chuckled darkly. “You want it. You need it. You are craving it. Submit to me.” With that, he pushed in, filling me entirely.
I could feel his knot already swelling as it pressed against my nether lips. He was extremely turned on by this scenario, and it thrilled me that I was able to drive him to such heights.
I squirmed in his grip, trying to pull away from him.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Aiden growled. “You. Are. Mine .” On the last word, he thrust so hard that his knot popped inside me, stretching me beyond normal limits and setting me off over that orgasmic cliff as well.
I was grateful as ever for the aphrodisiac properties of the secondary phallus. It loosened my muscles so that there was never any pain from taking his knot.
Aiden rolled us onto our sides, me tucked against him, and untied my bonds, chafing my wrists with gentle fingers. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
“Nothing that can’t be easily healed,” I replied, half asleep. “That was hot.”
“You enjoyed my fantasy?”
“Very much,” I purred. “You should tell me about your fantasies more often.”
Aiden chuckled. “Maybe I will.” He pressed his lips to my cheek. “Only a few more minutes of snuggling, though. It’s dinner soon.”
I turned around as much as I was capable. “I have to go have a meal with your family like this ?” I gestured at myself.
“We can mend your clothing. You don’t have to be naked. I wouldn’t mind, though.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, you would.”
Aiden bared his teeth. “That’s true. Nobody should get to see you naked but me. I can cast a spell to make my family think you’re wearing clothes. Only you and I would be able to see the truth. Could you control yourself?”
“No.” I flushed at the thought. “I’m still going to have your cum dripping down my thighs.”
His eyes flashed possessively and he pulled me closer by the arm wrapped around my waist. “You’re mine, and the sooner my family knows it, the better.”
“You did this on purpose!” I gasped.
“I always fuck you on purpose.”
“I mean your scent. It’s going to be all over me.”
“Yes. It is.” His voice rumbled deep in his chest.
I sighed. “I’m never going to understand beast family dynamics.”
Aiden buried his nose in the back of my neck and inhaled deeply. “Scent means everything.”
I found his words to be prophetic, or at the very least, true. The instant I stepped into the living room, despite having used a spell to clean up, every head snapped up to look at us.
It wasn’t just his immediate family, either. There were so many people that I couldn’t count them all, ranging in age from a toddler to Hayden himself, with a heavy emphasis on people our age.
I clung to Aiden’s hand as every eye in the room focused on us.
Hayden stepped forward to greet us first, his brows furrowed. “Good of you to join us for dinner.” He inhaled once more before his head snapped over to Aiden. “She?—”
“I told you that she is my soul bond,” Aiden growled. “She is mine , heart, body, and soul.”
“That is not how things are done, boy,” Hayden hissed. “You must be joined?—”
“I assure you, Grandfather, we have joined successfully multiple times over the past two years,” Aiden said, not bothering to lower his voice.
I flushed and pretended I was part of the wallpaper.
“In matrimony!” Hayden continued as if he hadn’t heard Aiden, although his reddening face proved otherwise. “The soul bond must be sanctified by an ordained minister to prove that it exists!”
“You haven’t met your soulmate, so I’m going to give you grace,” Aiden said mildly. “I assure you, I’m absolutely, one hundred percent certain that Siobhan is my soulmate. Our bond is securely in place, and nobody will be able to sever it. I’m not going to die because my family doesn’t believe that witches can be the soulmate of the beast.”
Hayden drew back as if he’d been slapped.
“Accept my mate,” Aiden growled. “Or we’re leaving. Forever.”
I squeezed his hand lightly. I hadn’t realized that he’d been planning this.
After a long, tension-filled moment, Aiden’s mother came forward and took my free hand. “Welcome to the family, Siobhan,” she said loudly. “Come, we should sit down to dinner.”