Page 37

Chapter thirty-five

A strid blinked against the morning rays brightening the room.

The dull ache that steadily grew behind her eyes had developed into a stabbing headache over the course of the night.

She’d thought Dimitri had done his worst when she first arrived, forcing her to sleep with a plug in her ass—and she was wrong.

Dimitri’s cock inside her was so much worse.

It was more than the intrusion he thrust between her thighs.

It was the way his chest rose and fell behind her.

How the angle of his cock moved when he squeezed her closer.

The heat building each time he shifted position, drawing his length away, only to press those inches back into her.

Astrid had been trapped beside him all night. Caged in his arms and impaled.

It was morning, and she’d had enough of this. Astrid struggled to untangle herself, but her demented jailor only hugged her tighter.

“It’s morning and I haven’t slept,” she said, prying at the muscular arm barred over her waist. His callused fingers dug into her waist and Astrid’s temper flared.

She kicked, hoping for his knee but was satisfied when her heel connected with his shin.

He grunted and she continued thrashing against him.

“I’m fucking tired, Dimitri.”

He caged her throat with one hand while the other hand caught her wrists. “Did you spend the whole night thinking of me?” he asked at her ear.

His voice had taken a deeper pitch, one Astrid may have appreciated if she didn’t want to ram his swords through his ribs.

Astrid relaxed in his hold and softened her voice. “I’m tired, my lord. I just need a few hours.”

“Do you think I can be managed so easily?”

“How can I manage you when I’m exhausted and you don’t allow me to rest?”

Dimitri’s death magic enveloped her and Astrid exhaled loudly, squeezing her eyes shut. The entire room was too bright. The rays of morning light were like needles in her eyes, stabbing at her brain to the rhythm of her pulse.

“I fuck you because you’re mine,” he murmured, “but I also care for my belongings.”

The scathing retort on Astrid’s tongue never left her lips, as waves of his magic swept up the back of her neck and crashed over her scalp. This wasn’t the gentle serrated teeth that pricked her soul, intensifying every sensation in her body.

This was like being stroked with the side of a blade. There was no pain, but the potential was there, if it were turned. It dulled the throbbing behind her eyes, taking a little more with each pass. The fatigue clouding her mind thinned, but didn’t entirely lift.

Astrid’s brow drew together. “You’re a healer,” she stated. But not like her. Lack of sleep wasn’t an injury and certainly wasn’t something she could correct.

“I’m a Death Spirit,” he corrected.

Astrid relaxed and her magic engulfed her in a rush.

She glanced down at her body, examining the aura of her tiny soul stars gleaming through her skin.

Dimitri’s shadowed magic slithered over her.

Black hazy coils traversing her curves in the same way serpents would.

The sight was oddly comforting, and Astrid contained her power once more.

“What did you do?” She felt sharper. Clear headed.

His lips traced the angle of her ear, and he rasped, “I returned some of what I took.” Astrid narrowed her eyes, and he added, “I’ll drink from you and replenish myself tonight.”

His magic pulsed and changed. Like needles scraping over her skin, thickening as they moved, transforming to serrated teeth. Ecstasy swallowed her and she bit back a moan.

Dimitri rocked his hips, and murmured, “Beg for my cum, wife.”

“Serpents—”

No. Insulting him would only push him to do worse.

Astrid focused on her breathing. The pleasure that fogged her mind made the grip on her throat feel like an embrace and her brow drew together.

Something was wrong with her, but she couldn’t think.

Dimitri withdrew the length of his cock before sliding back in, fucking her slow and deep.

Astrid’s lashes fluttered as she breathed, “A husband should worship his wife.”

“ Worship ?” Humor colored the word, and his breath skimmed over her ear. “If you wanted my tongue in your cunt, you’d only have to spread your legs, neva.”

She imagined him between her thighs. Her fingers tangled in his dark hair.

Dimitri pulled out of her and Astrid gasped as he lifted her onto her hands and knees. His hand smoothed over the curve of her back and he sat back against the headboard.

“Ride me,” he commanded with an arrogant grin. “Show me how you want to be worshiped.”

His magic curled over her, giving her no quarter. It was as addictive as it was maddening. The shadows beckoned her to lay on her back and spread her legs. To let his touch consume her entirely.

Astrid fought the overwhelming sensations and clung to the physical sensation of his touch. The satin beneath her knees. The hard muscle of his thigh under her palm. How her night-streaked nails glided across his skin as she crawled on top of him.

She pressed her hands to his chest and lowered herself onto his cock. Astrid’s head fell back as the crown stretched her. Her breath caught as she took his head, working him into her body. Ecstasy rained over her as she rose and fell, taking him deeper each time.

Fingertips brushed her cheek, moving to her parted lips. Astrid opened her eyes and met Dimitri’s amber stare. His dark gray wings framed him against the stitched leather headboard. His thumb brushed over her mouth as she took more of him.

“You’re so gentle.”

Astrid kissed his fingertips and drew his hand down the front of her throat. “You only think it’s gentle because you can’t see the difference between fucking and breaking.”

His grin widened at that, and he lifted the leading edge of his wing. Astrid stilled, tensing as the curved talon brushed her hair behind her shoulder.

“Why do you hate my wings?” he asked, settling his bony appendage beside him.

Astrid ignored him and rolled her hips.

“Tell me and I won’t fuck you with them… tonight .”

Her gaze lifted to the taloned points. “You’ve said you take care of the things that belong to you, but you’d torture your wife with those jagged bones?”

He chuckled, taking her wrist and Astrid leaned against his chest. She ducked her head beneath his chin not trusting her expression. The sheets rustled and her hand lifted higher, meeting roughened scales.

“This is the leading edge of my wing. The bones here are larger, denser, and difficult to break. The edge is meant for battle. We use it to deflect blows and impale our opponents.”

Astrid cataloged the information and nodded. It must have pleased him because he caressed the small of her back.

He moved her hand lower, brushing the tips of her fingers over the membrane, and Astrid’s breathing betrayed her.

“I know you have quite the imagination. Think of it as leather,” he said, before adding, “a fine suede.”

“Suede doesn’t have a heartbeat,” she breathed as her stomach knotted.

“Is it my pulse that bothers you?” he asked, bemused.

His pulse did bother her, but not for the reason he was thinking.

Dimitri kissed her temple and leaned up, circling her in his arms. “The inner bones are thinner. Smooth,” he said, curling his wing toward her.

Dimitri intertwined his fingers with hers and folded the last joint of his wing onto itself. He made a loose fist and thrusted the folded joint through her grip, fucking her hand.

“I can fill your cunt with one and fuck your ass with the other,” he whispered at her ear.

Astrid jerked her hand away. “They’re animal parts.” Never meant to be fused to a Fae.

“They are part of the male you belong to,” he said, catching her throat.

This again. Astrid lifted her chin, giving herself a sliver of air. She needed to steer her demented jailor’s attention. Keep from losing what ground she’d gained this morning.

She leaned into his grip, then resumed rising and falling on his cock.

She took his hard length as she stared into the depths his molten gold eyes.

Her fingers dug into either side of his jaw and the callused grip on her throat fell away.

She leaned down and kissed him, taking him deeper as she sucked on his tongue.

His cock twitched inside her and Astrid’s lips curled into a smile.

Attention starved male.

“Compromise with your wife,” she whispered against his mouth.

“I’ll be a little rougher. You fuck me a little slower.

” He chuckled, his breath fanning over her.

She snapped his bottom lip between her teeth, biting hard enough to draw blood.

“And if you touch me with your wings, I’ll cut them off the next time you fall asleep. ”

A thin line of blood fell from his lip and trickled over his stubble. Dimitri was on top of her the next moment. He thrust into her, each brutal stroke jarring her body. Her earrings clinked and swayed as he fucked her hard and Astrid spread her legs— welcoming him.

His dark wings unfurled above them. Outspread and menacing.

He was hatred and power.

Death embodied.

And she wielded him.

Astrid didn’t fight the orgasm as it crashed through her. She raked her nails across Dimitri’s shoulders, down his back. “Deeper,” she cried. “Dimitri, come for me.”

He groaned and thrusted into her once. Twice. Astrid’s nails tore the sheets as he yanked her hips toward him. Dimitri had risen to his knees, holding her ass more than a foot off the bed while her shoulders remained on the mattress. The veins along his forearms bulged as he fucked her.

Astrid couldn’t move; couldn’t get away or shield herself. She could only take his relentless thrusts and come for him. Writhe for him. Astrid let the ecstasy of his touch engulf her. It consumed her, permeating her very soul.

Marking her.

With a hard beat of his wings, Dimitri thrust into her a final time. His cock pulsed as he came deep inside her.

Astrid wasn’t sure how long he held her or when he’d sat against the headboard and pulled her close. She rested against the unyielding planes of his chest, counting his heartbeats.

“La nikogda v zhizni tak sil-no ne konchal,” Dimitri said in a language she didn’t understand.

“What did you say?”

“Your cunt is exquisite, neva.”

Astrid grabbed his jaw and hissed, “That is not how you speak to a princess.”

Dimitri seized her throat and dragged her closer. Astrid bared her teeth then parted her lips for him, letting his tongue slide across hers as he ravaged her mouth. He smiled after a few moments, breaking their kiss and asked.

“Jewels, then?”