Page 21 of Ravaging Red (Monsters of the Hollow Realm #1)

A Subtle Craving

RAEL

D awn was breaking.

That cursed Blood Moon still hung low in the sky but was slowly fading into the horizon. The first light of morning slid across the floorboards of the cabin, bathing everything in a dim light. Red was asleep on my chest. The journey had taken it out of her and so had my rutting the night before.

Her limbs tangled with mine, her soft body curled around me so perfectly.

She belonged right here and had been made for this.

For me. Even now, my cock was still nestled deep inside her, the base of it locked tight with my knot keeping her trapped to me.

Her cunt fluttered softly around me, still twitching from the aftershocks of what I’d forced her to do last night.

Her thighs were slick and parted, her scent heavy in the air, mixed with sex, with sweat, with my seed.

And fuck, she was beautiful.

Her skin glowed with warmth; her thick curves covered in faint claw marks and bruises I’d caused her. They would disappear soon, but I relished seeing them on her. I would eventually give her a true mark; one she'd feel in her bones beyond the next morning.

I moved the strand of her hair that covered her beautiful face and groaned.

Her lips were swollen from kissing, her breasts marked with the impressions of my teeth, and her neck, fuck, her neck, I couldn't mark her yet.

Not fully. Not with blood. Not the way the moon demanded.

Not the way the Council expected. And that was the problem.

Because she was human and it was unheard of that the Council would let monsters keep humans.

Even if we were mated. Even if the Blood Moon itself had chosen her. Even if she’d taken my knot, soaked my cock, and screamed my name into the walls until the woods held their breath. The Council would find a way to keep us apart.

I held her close, my claws trailing up and down her spine, dragging through the sweat and pleasure still clinging to her skin.

She shivered under my touch, even in sleep, pressing her cheek tighter to my chest, her thighs squeezing around my hips on instinct, relishing in how deep I still was inside her.

I ran my claws slower, just over the curve of her ass. She gasped, waking with a soft moan.

“Morning,” I murmured, my voice low and rough from sleep and sin.

“Still mine,” I growled.

She lifted her head slowly, her hair wild around her face, a sleepy smile tugging at her lips. “Still knotted,” she whispered, breathless.

“Damn right,” I chuckled, cupping her breast with one large hand, kneading the heavy flesh until her nipple pebbled under my palm.

“You’re not going anywhere, Red. Not for a while.”

She hummed, rubbing her face into the fur along my chest, dragging her hand down my ribs, clinging to me like she couldn’t get close enough.

“I should be sore,” she mumbled.

“You are,” I said with a grin, “but you’re also glowing. That’s what happens when your cunt gets filled with a monster’s seed. You bloom.”

She let out a soft laugh, then moaned as I rolled her nipple between two claws, slow and precise.

“Rael…”

“Mmm?” I bent to suck the other nipple into my mouth, laving it with my tongue, my teeth grazing it gently before biting down just enough to make her hips roll again. Her voice trembled when she spoke.

“What would happen if I… tasted you?”

I froze. Then I smiled. Slowly. Wickedly. “My cock’s still slick with your pussy,” I murmured, licking up her chest as I stared into her eyes. “You want a taste, little Red?”

She flushed. Bit her lip. Nodded once. I groaned, the knot inside her throbbing. “You’re filthy,” I whispered, grinning against her lips. “And perfect.”

I eased the knot back gently from that tight hold inside her, our cum dripping between us.

It slid free with a wet pop, still hard, still throbbing, still flushed dark red and coated in both of us.

It protruded, lewd and glistening, lying heavy against my abs.

A pearl of cum slid slowly from the tip and I watched her curious eyes follow it.

I gripped the base and stroked once, dragging cum down the shaft, watching her pupils dilate with want.

“Come here,” I said, lying back, spreading my thighs just enough.

“Crawl on over, pretty girl. Let me see that smile while you taste what a monster’s cock tastes like after he’s ruined his mate.”

She slid down my body, slow and sensual, that smile blooming wider, hunger in her eyes now.

The moment her knees settled between mine and she looked down at me, I knew.

She wasn’t afraid anymore. She was starving.

And gods help me, I wanted to ruin her again, wreck her mouth the way I had wrecked her cunt, claim her lips, her tongue, her hunger until she couldn't remember what it felt like to crave anything but me.

She looked up at me once, just once, through those thick lashes, and when her mouth wrapped around the swollen head of my cock, still slick with the mess we’d made, still heavy and flushed from the knot she’d milked hours ago. I nearly came undone right then and there.

Her tongue swirled, greedy and soft, licking the taste of herself from me, humming while savoring it.

“Dirty girl,” I growled through clenched teeth.

Her mouth opened wider, lips stretching as she barely took me in, inch by slow, wet inch.

She didn’t gag, didn’t pause, no, Red was devouring me, like she’d been born for it, her cheeks hollowing as she sucked hard, dragging her mouth back only to flick the tip with her tongue and moan softly as she swallowed me again.

I groaned, my head falling back against the pillows, one hand gripping the edge of the broken headboard, the other sinking into her curls as I tried, really tried, to stay still, but her mouth was wicked.

Her hunger matched only by the dark thrill in her eyes every time I gasped or swore under my breath.

“Fucking hell, Red,” I growled, hips twitching. “You want to thank me for the Market; this is one hell of a start.”

She smiled around my cock, slow and sinful, and then took me deeper, her throat flexing as she swallowed, that tight heat making me bite back a snarl as her tongue traced the underside of my shaft and her fingers gripped the base, stroking me as she sucked, working me with all the focus and lust of a creature who’d finally accepted who she was made for.

Me .

I let her keep going, let her lick and suck and moan around me until I couldn’t hold it anymore, until the pleasure hit like a crash of heat behind my spine, until I was pumping thick pulses of seed onto her tongue, groaning low and rough as she swallowed every drop like it was sacred.

She pulled off with a wet pop, licking her lips, cheeks flushed and eyes glassy, and I reached for her before the moment could pass, pulling her up by the waist and flipping her onto the bed beside me, her body warm and slick and gleaming with satisfaction.

Still panting, I pointed toward the leather satchel near the hearth, the one I’d packed before we left for the Market. “Go on,” I said, voice low and hoarse, still buzzing from her mouth. “Take out what’s inside.”

She tilted her head, confused, but obeyed, giving me an eyeful of beautiful bare round heart shaped ass. I made a note to claim her that way later. She crawled off the bed with her thighs still trembling, her fingers untying the clasp, reaching inside.

The scarf came first. A deep, royal blue, sheer as breath, the weave delicate and fine, catching the light with every movement as she held it up, blinking like she didn’t quite believe it was hers.

“For me?” she whispered.

“Yes,” I said. “Put it on.”

She wrapped it around her chest, letting the ends fall loose behind her back, her full breasts gleaming through the sheer fabric, nipples dark and stiff beneath the whisper of silk. Her cheeks flushed with a mix of awe and shy delight that made my cock twitch again despite everything.

I sat up slowly, the hunger rising again, steady and deep.

“There’s more,” I murmured, reaching into the bag myself and pulling out the bracelet—the simple one, silver with the blood-red stone, the one she’d touched but walked away from.

She gasped.

I grabbed her wrist and pulled her down between my thighs, guiding her onto my lap, her legs spread across mine, her bare cunt hot against my cock. I slid the bracelet onto her wrist and held it there, my thumb stroking the stone, my claws gently pressing into her pulse.

“There,” I said. “Now you look properly owned.”

“I am,” she whispered, voice trembling. “Although you mentioned a mark…”

Her voice faltered. “What is it, Red?”

“Is it dangerous?”

“It can be.”

She nodded, biting down on her lip. “Will it hurt?”

I gave her a dark, seductive smile as I leaned in, licking the seam of her lips, and murmured against her mouth, “Only if you want it to.”

“Have you ever marked anyone before?” She shyly asked, her gaze dropping to my chest as she curled her fingers along the fur there.

“I have not.”

“Did you ever want to? I mean, I know there's been others.”

“I am not the only Wolf in these woods,” I stated firmly.

“And the others? Where are they?"

I curled a claw along her chin and forced her to look at me. “Women wander into these woods by mistake. They get lost and they get taken.”

“Are they dead?”

He shrugged. “Sometimes they can't handle this world, and they do perish.”

“Why didn't I die?”

“Because you belong to the Veil. In your blood runs something ancient. Your grandmother had it too. And the Blood Moon has made its decision upon us. It wouldn't have chosen you if it didn't think you were strong enough.”

“Are there others like me?”

“I don't know. None of us do. It's for the Blood Moon to decide.”

She shivered against me. “So if this is fated, why haven't you done it yet?”

It was a good question, and I paused, calculating every word.

“You are not ready for my mark, not yet, little Red. But when I do sink my teeth into that soft neck of yours, when I carve my name into your skin with blood, you’ll be mine in every way that matters, and there won’t be a god or a Council in all the Hollow that could ever take you from me.”

She shivered in my lap, her arms wrapped around my shoulders, her breasts pressed to my chest, her pussy slick and hot and rubbing against me like she couldn’t help herself anymore.

I pressed my lips to her throat, not biting, not yet, but letting the promise hang there like a sweet threat in the air.

“I will mark you,” I whispered. “And when I do, you’ll never stop begging for this cock, for my knot, for my name, for the monster you dared to call yours.”

She didn’t pull away.

She just leaned in and smiled.