Page 106 of Taste of Thorns

“I thought you were going to–”

“I am.”

I hear him shuffle behind me, then his hands clamp my hips and there’s the familiar nudge of his warm cockhead through my folds. I bite down on my lip, trained now to know what comes next. He thrusts deep inside me, and I moan, digging my fingers into the covers.

“Fuck, I’ve wanted to fuck you like this for such a long time. Proper wolf-style.” He cackles, and then he’s taking a handful of my hair and forcing my head backwards and my back to arch, the action allowing him to sink even deeper inside me.

“You sure you want this, Kitten?” he asks, stroking one of his palms over my asscheek and massaging the flesh between his fingers.

“I’m sure, Dray,” I tell him.

He lifts his hand from my skin and then I feel a whack against my backside. The impact sends a jolt through my pussy and automatically I squeeze around his cock, groaning as I do.

The pleasure morphs to a slight sensation of pain, a hot sting more than anything.

“How was that, Kitten? You like it?”

“Again,” I tell him. He chuckles, and then I feel another slap against my asscheek, followed by two more.

Each one is better than the last, the combination of the pleasure and the pain surprisingly stark.

“Fuck, Kitten,” Dray mutters, and then he’s sliding out of me and thrusting back inside, over and over, the pace brutal and relentless. He reaches deeper in this position than I’ve been penetrated before, and I feel more raw and more open to him. My breasts bounce and sway and I’m thankful for the bra. “One day this wolf is going to have you in his proper form. Just like this. Because you look and feel amazing.” He growls, tugging on my hair. “And you know how else I’m going to have you? Here.”

I feel his thumb press against my asshole.

“Beau touched you here, right?” he asks.

“Hmmm,” I murmur.

“Then I’m going to touch you here too, Kitten. Just need a little …” His shadows spark in the air and when he touches me at my hole again, his thumb is wet and slippery. He pushes it inside me and it’s enough to have me coming, squeezing his cock in my pussy and his thumb in my ass.

“We just got to keep working you here,” he says, fucking me right through my orgasm and massaging his thumb in my back passage. “Keep stretching you so you can take us.”

He thrusts into me one last time, grunting as he comes, and landing a final slap on my asscheek.

Then he collapses down over me, caging me with his body, his fists landing down on the mattress next to mine.

“That was fun,” he says, dragging his tongue up my throat.

“Hmmm,” I say, spinning around underneath him and peering up into his face, “what’s the time now?”

“Still got fifteen minutes,” he says with an arched eyebrow.

“Fifteen, huh?” I say, twining my arms around his neck. “I wonder how we could fill those minutes …”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Beaufort

As soon as I return to the academy early the next morning, I make a beeline straight for the shower. Stripping off my clothes where I stand, leaving them in a pile by the bathroom door and ducking under the scalding water. It burns my skin but I appreciate it. Like it’s washing away all the slime and scum from home, taking a layer of contaminated skin with it.

Did home always feel this way? Did I always possess an awareness that it was rotten and rancid? Or has my time at the academy – my time with Briony – lifted the veil from my eyes and shown me just how cold and heartless home is?

I shiver under the hot water, letting the liquid flow directly into my eyes, down my face and over my body. Then I scrub at my flesh with soap and a brush. When I finally feel clean, I slam off the water, step out of the cubicle and wrap a waiting towel around my waist. With the side of my left hand, I wipe away the condensation coating the mirror over the sink and glare at my reflection.

It’s done now. I’ve given Henrietta what she wanted and in return I have my information. Problem is, it wasn’t the information I was anticipating and I don’t know what to do with it.

I made Henny a promise. If I tell on Kratos, I effectively tell on her too. Plus, I won’t be responsible for that civil war I fear most. I want to protect Briony, not drive her into danger.