I wasn’t comfortable with beauty. I had never thought I was pretty, and even though I was Fae now, I still wasn’t comfortable with my own looks. Ryder saying it, not once but twice, made me blush and something inside of me felt warm as tears threatened to fall from my eyes with the sincere tone in his voice. This beautiful beast thought I was beautiful.
I fought against the thickening in my throat that his words had created, and I blinked back tears as I sat up to go to him. He stopped me with his eyes alone. The possessiveness in their expressive depths was enough to stop me cold. This man was saying he wanted me, without having to move those beautifully skilled lips.
I stayed rooted to the bed, as if I’d become a part of it. I felt melded to it and unable to move from beneath the amber hunger that was burning for me in them. This beautiful creature dominated the space, filled it brimming with his presence. The air grew thick around me, and I knew what was coming before it kissed along my spine, and rained tendrils of a thousand kisses over my neck and face.
“The beast needs to feed, Synthia. He wants to feed from you,” he said, even as his body began to change, as if he couldn’t stop it from happening.
“Ryder,” I said as a sliver of ice crept up my spine, which did little to cool the heat that was coiled in my belly. His eyes blinked from gold to obsidian, and brands that had been stationary, now slithered over his skin. Skin that had changed from bronzed, to pale as he stood before me. I ran my tongue over my dry lips and stifled a violent tremor that fought to be let loose.
“You’ve been with him before, Pet. He was there in Transition with us.”
I shook with the memories from Transition, as if I’d known it all along but hadn’t been able to believe it. My mind went back, as if I was back in the room during my own Transition, and watching it from above. Ryder was there, but he was different; he was larger. His skin had been paler, and he’d been inside of me, the beast had.
He’d spread my legs, and spread me from the inside. His tongue had grown, and it hadn’t just been Ryder who was with me, but the beast. He’d ensured I had made it through Transition, and now I knew why Ryder hadn’t needed the help to bring me over. He already had help in the form of his beast.
“You allowed him to fuck me without asking me?” I accused.
“He didn’t need to ask you, and it’s not like he really could at the time, anyway. You challenged him, and he accepted. You allowed him out, you wanted him! You may not have been able to admit it back then, Pet, but you knew. You have seen him in my eyes often, and you chose to ignore it. You took him in small measures during the hunt, on our first night together. You have nothing to fear here. Not from us,” he said even as his hair grew longer, darker and his features became more defined, his skin paling to a soft alabaster.
His eyes smoldered with desire, even as his voice dropped a few octaves. His hands rested on his hips, as his body grew larger by about six inches overall; his brands writhed and changed. His wings unfolded, until they were spread behind him, wide and beautiful.
“Say yes,” Ryder urged. “I’ll be right here with you. If you want him to stop, all you have to do is tell me.”
“Yes,” I whispered, and as he stepped back from the bed, allowing for me to stand, I did.
“Sit,” he said after I’d stood in place for only a few seconds.
A small bench with a soft pillow placed a top it appeared, materialized by his magic. A thin metal pole appeared after that, with a chain that hung from a small connected metal that was embedded in the pole itself. I tore my eyes from it and looked at Ryder, who was smiling roguishly.
“Yes, I plan to tie you up and take full control of your passion. It is how I like you; at my mercy, begging me to allow you to come,” his voice came out multilayered, and husky as hell.
“You always have control,” I replied honestly. He was always in control; he didn’t need chains to do that. I stepped closer until I was inches from the bench, and lowered myself down until I sat on it. I lifted my hand without waiting for him to ask, and spread my legs until my knees rested on the bench.
He said nothing; his eyes just watched my movements as if he was memorizing each line, every curve of my body. Those eyes shifted, and when I blinked, they were obsidian. His body shimmered and his brands pulsed with life. He cracked his neck as the pulse in his jaw ticked. He stepped closer and ran his thumb over my face before he released it to grab the chain that hung above my head.
“You will have no control this time. He’s going to be hungry and demanding. If you don’t want this, Synthia, tell me now.”
“I can handle the beast,” I replied, finding the thought of finally knowing what was taking me thrilling. I’d always thought that Ryder had something inside of him, and even though I hadn’t been aware of it at the time, I’d fed his beast, and in return, it had knocked me up.