Page 123 of The Primal of Blood and Bone (Blood and Ash #6)

She was in my arms, lying on her side. She wasn’t standing by the glass wall again.

Letting my head fall back onto the pillow, I waited for my pounding heart to calm.

What had happened when I woke a few hours ago to find her standing at the wall wasn’t anything like the two nights before.

Poppy hadn’t acknowledged my voice or touch this time.

It’d scared the fucking shit out of me when she just stood there, staring at the darkness beyond.

I’d eventually guided her back to the bed but didn’t shut my eyes until she slept.

This shit wasn’t normal.

It had to be the stress of what’d happened in Stonehill, then the attack on Lowertown, and, well, everything.

It was getting to her. I could tell as much as she’d sat in the tub, her legs drawn close to her chest. After saying what I’d already suspected, that a Primal god had fallen, she hadn’t spoken again.

I’d cleaned her up and then fed her from a wound I created on my wrist. Having her at my vein would’ve been too much for us both.

Not that my blood hadn’t affected her—both of us—but she was clearly exhausted and quickly fell asleep afterward.

Only then did I leave her long enough to clean myself up.

A soft whimper snapped my head off the pillow.

“Poppy?” My sleep-roughened voice scratched against my throat.

She shuddered against me, her breath hitching, fingers twisting in the blanket. Another broken cry escaped her as her lashes trembled.

Shit.

Kieran had said she’d barely slept when we were apart, and when she did, she always had nightmares.

But as far as I knew, she hadn’t had any since we were reunited.

Fuck, I’d barely had any since she became mine.

Her breathing picked up as she jerked, likely caught in memories of the night the Craven had scarred her—or any of the other countless things that’d happened since.

“It’s okay.” Lifting an arm, I gently scooped strands of hair back from her face. Her body tensed. “I’ve got you, and nothing—absolutely nothing—can touch you.” I pressed a kiss to her temple. “You’re safe.”

A tremor ran through her, and the tension seeped out of her muscles. She shifted, wiggling her ass as if seeking to get closer. It would be adorable, except we were both nude, and her wiggling ass was rubbing against my cock.

I held myself still, ignoring the heat gathering in my gut. She needed her sleep. Both of us did, but especially her. Sleep was important after a Culling. So was food and blood. And she would probably need to feed again soon—

Fuck.

My dick throbbed as I thought about her fangs at my throat—better yet, at the vein on my inner thigh as she stroked me—

Why was I thinking about that? Clearly, I was a glutton for punishment.

I scooted my hips back, hoping it would help.

It did. For about five seconds. Poppy grumbled something incoherent under her breath, sounding like a very frustrated small animal, and squirmed until her ass was once more nestled against my cock.

The humming sound that came from her then was breathy and soft. Pleased.

“For fuck’s sake,” I groaned, my molars grinding.

Poppy stiffened, then her chest rose. Her eyes fluttered open, her head jerking to the side. Our eyes locked. In the dim light of the approaching dawn, the splotches of green, blue, and brown in her eyes swirled wildly around her pupils before slowing and shrinking into flecks of vivid color.

“Hey,” she whispered, her voice husky with sleep.

The greeting drew a smile out of me. “Hey, yourself.”

Blinking a few times, she wet her lips and then swallowed. “Is there a reason you’re staring at me while I sleep?”

“Would you think it was creepy if I said there wasn’t?”

“A little.”

Chuckling, I dropped a kiss onto her forehead. “You were having a nightmare.”

“Oh.” She turned her head, and a pink flush crept into her face.

I kissed her cheek, this time brushing my lips over her scar. “Was it about Lockswood?”

“I…don’t exactly remember.” She closed her eyes.

I lifted my head, my gaze sharpening on her profile. Poppy remembered her nightmares. They were so visceral that it was as if she relived those moments. Why would she lie?

“Cas?”

“Yeah?” I forced my voice to stay light.

“If I was having a nightmare,” she said, once more opening her eyes and turning her head to me, “then why is your…cock hard?”

Muscles in my abdomen clenched at hearing her say that word. Cock .

“I’m pretty sure that’s what woke me,” she continued.

“It’s your fault.”

Her lips pursed. “How is it my fault?”

“Once you settled from the nightmare, you started wiggling your ass against me,” I told her. “And I, being thoughtful and not wanting to wake you—”

“Really?” she said dryly.

“Yes. Really. I tried to move away. But then you grumbled at me, sounding like an angry, feral cat.”

Poppy’s eyes widened. “I did not!”

“You’re right. You sounded more like an angry kitten as you plastered that ass against my cock.” I paused, fighting a grin as her cheeks flushed a deeper pink. “Then you made a noise—”

“I don’t believe any of this.”

“—that sounded like a happy but feral cat having just been fu—”

“Ass!” Poppy tried to ram me with her elbow, but all she ended up doing was jamming it into her own side with a grunt.

I laughed. “Nice.”

“I’m about to show you nice,” she growled.

I sighed. “You’re back to sounding like an angry feral kitten.”

“You’re so fuck—”

“Able?”

Her brows pinched together. “What?”

“Fuckable.”

“Oh, my gods.” Rolling her eyes, she flopped onto her back with the grace of a lamaea . The cream blanket had slipped, drawing my gaze down to the faded scar between her breasts. A shudder went through me, and I locked up. In a heartbeat, I saw her tangled in roots, bleeding out before me.

“Cas?” She touched my shoulder.

Blinking, I pushed down the blade-sharp panic. “Poppy?”

“You okay?”

I exhaled slowly, watching as she lowered her arm. My gaze followed the movement over the rise of her breasts and then below, exposing the pink tips. “I’m perfect.”

“You sure?” Doubt crept into her voice.

“I’m staring at your nipples,” I said. “So, yeah, I’m sure.”

“Cas.” She sighed, her tone flat despite how her scent increased. “How about before you were staring at them?”

“Before?” I drew my lip between my teeth and watched the buds harden. “I was thinking about how I’m going to punish you.”

“What?”

“For waking me,” I reminded her. “With your ass.”

“Oh, my gods.” She turned her head, but I saw her grin. My lips turned upward.

Neither of our grins lasted. It was almost as if she suddenly remembered what had happened yesterday in the minutes after waking because I felt it the moment she did. Her grief was tangy with undercurrents of acidic anger and…something else. Something bitter.

Her walls went up then, shutting me out. I wasn’t sure she even realized she knew how to shield her emotions. It was probably something she did without even thinking.

“We should get up,” she said, rolling away from me. “A lot probably needs to be addressed.”

Poppy pushed up, baring that ass. Lust fisted deep in my stomach.

She froze and glanced over her shoulder at me.

Her gaze touched mine and then drifted downward, to where I knew my erection was tenting the blanket.

The flush returned to her cheeks as the warm, heady scent of jasmine increased.

Her gaze snapped back to mine, and the colors shrank to churning flecks.

Fuck.

Moving fast, I snagged her around the waist and hauled her against my front. “Do you remember what I promised when you were in the bath?”

Those plump, pink lips parted, and her scent grew stronger.

“Oh, yeah. You remember.” I nipped her ear, causing her to jerk. “And I know how I’m going to punish you.” I shifted her so she was half on her side and half on her stomach, then hooked an arm under her thigh and lifted it. “Though I know you’ll enjoy it.”

“Cas—” Her protests ended in a moan as I entered her.

“Gods,” I groaned, feeling her tight heat in every nerve ending. “Like I said, always wet for me.”

Poppy shuddered as I used the hold on her leg to draw her against my chest, freeing my other hand. “We should…” She gasped as I closed my hand around her breast and started to move.

My lips coasted over her cheek. “We should what?”

“Not be doing this,” she said, her hips rocking to meet my thrusts. “We have—” She gasped when my hips moved. “Stuff to do.”

“We do.” I ran my thumb over her nipple. “Perhaps you should stop pushing your ass back on me then.”

“I’m not.”

“Liar,” I whispered, pinching the sensitive nub of flesh.

Poppy cried out, her tight, wet core tightening around my cock as she gripped the arm I had under her leg.

I moved slowly, letting myself get lost in the feel of her as my hungry gaze traveled the length of her body.

My stare fixated on the paradise between her thighs as she followed the pace I set. “Touch yourself.”

Her hips stilled. “W-what?”

“Touch yourself,” I repeated, forcing myself to keep the pumping rhythm of my hips slow, even though the thought of her doing what I asked brought me to the edge of control. “Play with your pussy.” I nipped on her earlobe. “Like you did for me before.”

Her sharp inhale went straight to my cock as I watched the flush spread across her chest. Her fingers tightened around my arm.

I moved my hand from her breast and grasped hers. Her breathing quickened as I pulled it to the juncture of her thighs. “This.” I moved her finger. “Tell me what it’s called.”

“Cas…”

“Tell me,” I urged.

She turned her cheek toward me, burying her heated face in the pillow.

“I want to hear you say it,” I said. “And not with your head buried in the pillow.”

“You’re ridiculous,” she muttered but lifted her head. A moment passed. She whispered the word, but I heard it. “Clit.”

“That’s right, my Queen. I want you to play with your clit, Poppy. While I fuck you,” I said, the words seeming to vibrate from my chest. “Please.”

Another shudder swept through her and me as I watched her hand drift and then hesitate a few inches above where my cock slowly moved in and out of her.

Her fingers twitched. The color in her chest and face deepened.

I stifled a groan, loving her shyness as much as I did her boldness.

Those two sides of her—sin and innocence—were an addictive mix.

From my angle, I couldn’t see much of my cock entering her, but I didn’t miss the moment her hand slipped between her thighs.

And I didn’t dare blink as she moved her fingers against the bundle of nerves.

Her movements were tentative at first, but as I played with those pink nipples and whispered in her ear, telling her how good she felt, her ministrations became more confident.

Firmer. Wilder. Uninhibited. It didn’t take long before I started to feel her tight, wet core spasming around my cock.

Letting go of her leg, I pulled her hand from between her thighs and brought her glistening finger to my mouth, sucking the sweetness from her skin as she continued to come.

“Honeydew,” I groaned, pinning her hand to the bed as I rolled her beneath me.

I drove into her, the force of my thrusts pushing her deeper into the mattress.

The realm fell away. All I was focused on, all I could feel or think about, was her.

The hand I held to the mattress curled, her fingers digging into the sheet as my release powered down my spine.

Shadows tinged in crimson rolled through the skin stretched taut across my knuckles as I spilled myself deep inside her.

My hips were still rocking, my cock still spasming as I dropped my head to the pillow beside hers. The release felt endless, and by the time my hips finally stilled, and my breathing slowed, my awareness of our surroundings returned.

The air in the Solar had shifted. At first, I wasn’t sure what it was. It was almost like a whisper of…awareness against my skin.

Poppy stiffened beneath me.

Then, all at once, a jolt of undeniable awareness ran up my spine.

Someone was in the chamber, and I had been too damn distracted to notice. Both of us had been. But I knew what happened when I got distracted.

The memory sent a rush of icy rage through me, stroking a deep, primitive instinct. A hum filled my ears and hit my skin, my blood, and then my bones. It was the same ancient, powerful instinct I’d felt when I saw that Revenant touching her. A veil of shadowy crimson fell over my eyes.

I was moving before I even thought about it, letting the Primal essence take hold.