Her eyes lowered to my hand, which gripped my balls to ease the agony. Her lips parted before those sexy fucking eyes rounded in horror. A sadistic smile played on my lips, because she’d just realized how ruthless she’d just given me permission to be against that pretty, wet cunt of hers.
Spinning around, she bolted with speed she shouldn’t have yet. The moon hit that perky ass of hers, bathing it in light until she disappeared into the dense forest. A smile spread over my lips as I used magic to make the first, then second branch whip against her naked, unmarked skin as beautiful, breathless gasps touched my ears. Closing my eyes against the pain, I pushed from the ground and bolted after her.
Aria hadn’t realized her primal self was free from restraints yet. But I could see the feral bitch unleashed in all her naked glory running wild within the woods. Yet, she wasn’t screaming or whining about the limbs marking her creamy flesh each time I ordered one to do so.
I’d thought her devilish before, but my girl was a force of nature. A loud grunt sounded as a larger limb smacked against her breasts and then another against her clit. She deserved it for fighting dirty, even if I liked the type of dirty she played by.
I had thought no woman would ever be welcomed in my life after I’d lost Liliana. Not one who could force me to be a better person. Not because I should’ve been one but because I wanted to be what she needed. I wanted to show her I wasn’t some barbarian who didn’t value her worth. I knew I didn’t deserve her after the shit I’d done to her, but I’d be damned if I gave her up either.
Aria wasn’t the type of woman you walked away from. There wouldn’t be any getting over that girl. Greer had filled my head with shit about twin flames, which was what I blamed for my need of connection to another soul. Aria made me feel younger, and that wasn’t something I would give up without one hell of a fight.
If I lost that fight, they’d be forced to put me down. I’d never stop hunting her. She and I held a deeper, more profound connection than I’d ever had before. She made me whole again with her soft touches against my sharp edges. The woman kissed my scars and wasn’t afraid to get cut in order to do it. Fuck letting her go. She was my salvation. But she was also raw chaos in the truest form, and I was about to make her my queen. Ashes and ruins.
Chapter Thirteen
Aria
Aria
Running through a forest, stark-ass naked, wasn’t how I’d seen this going down. Ember, on the other hand, would really love doing so. Knox had been predatory, his movements fueled by a need I couldn’t understand. I’d never been so turned-on, while actually fearful of the way he tracked me, like he was more beast than man. But I was down to play whatever game this was, so long as I got off before we left this forest.
My thighs ached, burning where the limbs of the trees and bushes slapped and scraped against the muscle. The ache in my side told me I’d been running longer than I’d realized.
The freedom that came with being in nature, rushing blindly through the world? Exhilarating. Though, painful when stark assed naked. I felt free here, as if my inhibitions were gone. Each step took me further into an animalistic state and allowed me to run harder, faster. I didn’t want him to catch me, but only because I’d kneed him in the balls. Knox was pissed. The proof drifted in the air in waves. I felt his need to hunt me, to throw me down and rut into my body without a shred of mercy.
I’d never asked him for mercy before, but this time was different. There was something primal about his hunting me down tonight. He was pushing me toward something, but I wasn’t certain what it was or why.
The moment I escaped the heavily wooded forest, I found myself staring at a cliff wall that did nothing but make dread snake down my spine. Climbing it seemed impossible until a branch snapped behind me, and then I was properly motivated. I leaped toward a low-hanging rock and then pulled myself up the ledge. My fingers ached and the scent of earth and pine clung to my flesh from the trees I’d barreled blindly through.
I was halfway up the cliff when Knox loosed wicked laughter below me but far, far too close to be from the ground. I chanced a glance, finding him standing on a small ledge a few steps away. His chest was covered in a fine sheen of sweat that glistened in the moonlight. Unable to tear my gaze from his delicious, muscular body, I chewed my bottom lip and drank in every sharp edge of his physique.
“See something you like, Aria?” he asked in a raspy tone, flooded with lust.
“Most definitely,” I admitted, uncaring if he knew how much I wanted him. “Too bad you’re being an asshole, which means I’ll need to pass, regretfully.” Without waiting for his reply, I began climbing faster, my body racing to go over the crest before he caught me. Something warm wrapped around my ankle, yanking me from the rocks I’d been clinging to.
I grasped out wildly, seeking anything to hold on to in order to prevent toppling to the ground. Knox leaped to the next ledge, hauling me with him by my fucking ankle. The most I had time to do was hold my hands out in front of me to keep my face from smashing into the rock as he dragged me up the cliff. At a small crevice, he paused, lifted me up by the leg, then flicked my clit with his skilled tongue.
Adrenaline rushed through me, even as pleasure drove a moan from my parched lips. My spine arched as he dragged his tongue through the center of my core, growling as he teased, taunted, and took what he wanted from me. The position forced my mind to battle against the pleasure and fear of falling to my death. Knox’s wicked laughter against my pussy told me he knew exactly why my moan turned to a whispered cry of fear.
“Such a pretty pussy you’re offering me,” he murmured before he jumped to another ledge as I screamed. As he moved, he continued to ravish my center. Knox was dragging me up with him, while inching me toward another type of ledge all together.
“Knox!” I cried as his other hand released the rocks to grab my free ankle. He wasn’t licking anymore. His mouth was ravenously fucking my flesh. He licked the fissure of my center before sinking his tongue so deep inside that it battered against the G-spot. “Fuck!” This was how I died. In a fucking dreamscape with Knox’s tongue in my cunt while he dangled me over a thousand-foot drop. If this was it, it wasn’t such a horrible way to go.
“If I were you, I’d hold on, pretty monster.”
Hold on, was he fucking serious right now? His hold on my ankles tightened as he swung me, even as I grabbed blindly for something to hold on to.