It was after midnight by the time I got back to the house, and all the lights were off. It disappointed me far more than it should have to realize Juniper was probably asleep — why the hell did humans need so much sleep anyway? It shouldn’t have mattered. I could have gone back into town and found any number of horny, desperate humans eager to play.
But I didn’t want any human. I wanted her. I wanted her vicious submission. I wanted her desperate lust. I wanted to see that fiery, furious light in her eyes as pleasure broke her to pieces.
I wasn’t enough of an asshole to go in there and wake her up. It was going to be a long fucking night.
I smelled something strange, and didn’t realize until I got up to the front door what exactly it was: it was a bundle of cinnamon sticks and sage sprigs, knotted together and smoldering in a bowl outside the front door. It was scattered along the windowsill too, and on the steps leading up to the porch.
The scent of those herbs could deter the Eld. It wasn’t foolproof, but it was an age-old method and better than nothing.
The door was locked too, which caught me off guard. I never locked the door; I had no reason to. And since I never did, I hadn’t brought any keys.
Not that it mattered. Simple deadbolt locks were ridiculously easy to open. A little nudge from my mind and the bolt clicked back, and I opened the door to step into the hall —
I smelled her fear in the same moment I saw her crouched in the kitchen doorway, her pistol aimed at my head.
I glanced over at her nonchalantly, grinning as she sighed in relief. “Expecting someone else, little wolf?” She stood, rubbing the back of her neck tiredly, a frown fixed on her face.
“I heard the beasts howling out there as soon as the sun started to set,” she said. “I wasn’t going to just sit here and hope they don’t try to get in.”
She hadn’t slept at all. She’d been sitting here in the dark, with her gun, waiting for monsters to break down her door. It brought that tightness back into my chest, the same tightness I’d felt when I’d seen her panic over Leon.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have left her alone. Perhaps it was cruel to —
No. No, she didn’t need me to be her goddamn babysitter. She’d survived this long with good reason, and my desire to make her feel safe was just my own pride talking.
“Smart girl,” I said, closing the door behind me. “But you can relax. They won’t be so eager to get near this house with me here. You can keep pointing that gun at me though. Turns me on.”
She scoffed. “What doesn’t turn you on? Something is seriously wrong with you.” She kept the weapon in her hand as she walked back into the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the fridge. She must have gone out and bought it while I was away.
“Given my nature, I’m inclined to like fucked up things. And you’re telling me it wouldn’t turn you on? Come on. I think that pistol is an extension of your arm at this point.” She glared at me irritably, but I was feeling good. It was a relief to get back into a private space where I didn’t have to pretend to be human. I could let my disguise go, relax my claws and teeth. Making myself look human required constant effort. “Think about it, Juniper: you, pinned to the wall, and me with that gun pressed up inside you…” Her eyes narrowed even further, but there was no hiding her scent. Well, well, well. What a kinky little bitch. “That’s what I thought.”
“I didn’t agree, douchebag.” She set the gun down on the counter, cracked open her beer, and took a sip. Her eyes were reddened with exhaustion, but she made up for her obvious tiredness with an even stronger attitude. “You talked to him?”
Such an angry little thing, she wouldn’t even say his name. “Yeah. He said Kent has been nervous lately. Something has him on edge, but he doesn’t know what. Might be worth looking into.”
She nodded. “Might be. And what about Marcus?”
“I have good news and bad news. What’ll it be first?”
She didn’t look amused. “Bad news. Hit me with it.”
“Ah, well, bad news first ruins the impact of the good news —”
“Just tell me, Zane.”
I sighed dramatically, but really, the more unpleasant she acted, the more I wanted to bend her over the counter and fuck the bitchiness out of her body. “Fine. The bad news is that dear brother Marcus is in White Pine.”
Her hand clenched around the beer can, causing the metal to crinkle under her fingers. “Fucking hell. That bastard threw him down in the mine?”
“Yeah. Shame about that, but he is technically buried again,” I said. “He’s underground at least.”
If her eyes could have shot fireballs in my direction, they would have. “And what the hell is the good news then?”
“Oh, right. Well, the good news is that I found out where he is.” I grinned. “Told you, bad news first ruins the impact.”
“I fucking hate you.” It was surprising how fast that woman could move. She snatched a knife out of the block and raised it to throw at me — but I had her by the wrist before she could launch her projectile. She growled at me furiously, wriggling, pinned between me and the counter as I leaned over her.
“Don’t kill the messenger, little wolf,” I said softly. “I’m going to have to start keeping dangerous, pointy objects out of your reach.”
“Don’t you fucking dare,” she snapped. “It’s not like it would kill you anyway!” She strained against my hand, but all her strength had nothing on mine. “You’d probably like it. You’d just get all horny if I stabbed you again!”
“You’ve got me there,” I said. “Just like how you like it when I take control.” My grin widened, as did her eyes with blazing fury. Her arousal was undeniable. I could feel it when her hips moved subtly against me, the gap between us already non-existent. My hours of longing for her, only made worse by watching Leon with his eager little human toy, were about to bring me to an absolute explosion.
I wanted her. I wanted her now.
Despite her fury, she wanted it too.
I leaned my head down, so my breath brushed along her neck. Goose bumps prickled across her skin, her inhale hitching slightly. “Tell me no, Juniper,” I said. “Go on. Tell me you don’t want it and I’ll stop, no hesitation. No games.”
She clenched her jaw, her breath still shuddering as my lips traced along her ear. Fuck, she smelled so good. Her skin was aromatic with sweat, soft and warm. I wanted to bite it. I wanted to taste her blood on my tongue and hear the fury in her voice melt into irresistible pleasure.
I kissed slowly down her neck, letting my breath touch her as much as my lips did. I paused at her collarbone, at the smooth curve of her shoulder, before I nipped my teeth along her flesh. She’d be covered in bruises in the morning, everywhere my teeth touched. Marked all over as mine.
“How cute. Vicious Juniper likes soft kisses.”
She tried to scoff; it came out as a gasp. “I…I’m not…”
“Not cute? Yes, you are. Cute, angry little thing.”
She snarled like she wanted to bite my head off, but every little bite made her shudder. The scent of her arousal grew stronger, and my mouth began to water. I wanted to slip my hand down her pants and feel how slick she was, but even more than that, I wanted her to beg for it.
I wanted her to need it.
“I’m going to let go of your wrist,” I said. “So you’d better drop that knife.”
She smirked, watching me out of the corner of her eye. “Why? Scared you might get poked?”
I growled low in my throat, a warning as much as a promise. “If you try to stab me, I’m going to punish you.”
Her tension didn’t ease, and her smirk didn’t leave. The moment my hold on her wrist loosened, she did exactly what I’d warned her not to.
She tried to stab me, well aware of the consequences; perhaps even because of the consequences.
If her intentions were to see if I was more than just talk, I’d gladly prove I could follow through on my threats.
I seized her again before she could bring the knife down, and she wriggled so quickly that she slipped to the floor. The knife fell from her grasp, and before she could seize it again, I was on top of her, pinning her to the tile on her stomach.
“Ah, Juniper, Juniper.” I tsked. “What a bad girl you’ve been. Stabbing isn’t nice.”
“As if you want me to be nice,” she ground out the words, snarling furiously as she thrashed beneath me. She was right — this was exactly how I liked her. Righteously angry, proudly in denial that every choice she made was bringing her closer to what she so desperately wanted: a good hard fuck.
I secured her wrists firmly against her back in my hand, and dragged my claws across her shoulders. She hissed at the sting and her hips bucked up, wedging nicely between my legs and right up against my balls.
“What do we say if we want it to stop, Juniper?” I prodded, making sure she was still grasping logic and not losing herself in the struggle. “Tell me. Tell me now, or we don’t play.”
She grit her teeth, panting for a moment from the effort of fighting against me. “Mercy,” she finally whispered.
“There it is. Now…” I hauled her up to her feet, hands still restrained, and forced her back toward the counter so she was bent over the edge. “You say something is wrong with me for my tastes, but” — slowly, I laid my hand over her pistol and watched her eyes widen — “our tastes run in the same direction. You’re just as fucked up as me.”
I lifted the weapon and ejected the magazine before I checked the chamber for any remaining bullets. A quick flick of my finger and the safety was on. Human weapons weren’t something I ever needed to use, but I liked to understand the basics of destructive objects even if I didn’t personally have a need for them. I caressed the metal down her side, over her ribs and the curve of her hip. Every inch of her was tense, and she held her breath as the weapon neared her thigh.
“I can smell that sweet cunt, Juniper,” I said, smiling as her eyes fluttered closed for a moment, only to open harder than ever. God, I loved to see her fight it: her arousal, her own pleasure, how much she wanted this. “Tell me, have you soaked your panties yet?”
“Find out,” she said. Her hair had fallen into her face, and her cheeks were flushed. My smile widened.
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” She shuddered, and her hips pressed back against me. She was arching her back, a subtle plea for stimulation. I tightened my grip on her wrists as I moved the gun between her legs, teasing the cold metal over her thighs. Her legs tightened around it, a tremor going through her as she sucked in her breath. “You wish I’d touch you, pleasure you, make you cum as if you don’t have a choice in the matter. Too bad, Juniper.” I leaned over her back, curved against her body so she could feel the weight of me on her. “If you want more, you’re going to have to beg for it.”
“I don’t…I don’t beg.” She moved herself against the gun, but the stimulation through her jeans wasn’t enough, if her frustrated panting was any indication.
“I think you do,” I said, my voice low in her ear. “Look at you, rutting like a bitch in heat. Fucking desperate, aren’t you? How long can you wait, hm? How long” — I moved the muzzle of the gun back and forth, right where her clit was hidden beneath her clothes — “can you take it, Juniper?”
A tiny sound, the barest whimper, escaped her mouth. She was shaking, doing everything she could to pretend she wasn’t losing herself to lust. “There it is,” I taunted. “Feels so good, doesn’t it? But not quite good enough.” I released her wrists so I could tug open the button on her jeans. Her hands clenched hard against the countertop, and she gasped sharply before pressing her lips tightly together again. “I’ll keep you on edge as long as it takes. Until I hear that word pass your lips.”
“What word?” Her voice broke. Poor, needy little thing. She couldn’t keep those whimpers back forever.
“Please,” I murmured, nudging the gun up against her, laughing as she ground herself down against it. “Please,” I moaned the word in her ear, and moved my hips in unison with the gun, thrusting it between her legs. “Please…fucking please…”
She was breathing fast, her heart pounding. She tried to tug down her jeans, as if that would tempt me to move faster. It only convinced me to make her suffer longer. I grabbed her arm before she could pull them down, and she struggled, wrestling against me.
“Aww, really, Juniper?” I wrangled her back under control — her shoulders pressed against me, my free arm wrapped around her chest and gripped around her throat. I took the gun and traced the muzzle down her cheek. “Shall I stop? Tell me to stop, little wolf.”
“No.” She said it like a curse, like it infuriated her. “Don’t…don’t stop…fuck…”
“Don’t stop? Oh, you mean keep taking my time.”
I pulled her to the floor, and she swore as I forced her head down against the tile. I kept her hips up, her ass backed against me. She didn’t lift her head when I tugged her jeans down, leaving them around her knees. Her panties were damp, pulled tight against her pussy. I nudged the gun against her, pressing it against the damp spot. As much as I savored making her suffer through the wait, it was just as much torture for me. I wanted to get my mouth on her, I longed for the taste of her on my tongue.
“Zane…” she moaned my name, and it was like she’d thrown gasoline on that primal fire smoldering inside me. It was practically irresistible, the need to have her taking over every nerve in my body. I dug my claws into her hip, laughing at my own arm trembling.
Damn, she knew how to get to me. She had my dick wrapped around her finger.
“You know what to say, Juniper.” I nudged her panties aside with the gun, licking my lips at the sight of her. The metal glistened with her arousal as I caressed it over her, her thighs trembling at its cold touch.
Low and breathless but cruel, she said, “I don’t think you can wait. You want it…too badly…”
My eyes widened. This mortal thought she could resist longer than me? “That’s a dangerous game, Juniper.”
She spread her legs a little wider, as wide as her bunched-up jeans would allow. “I think…we both…we both know demons can’t resist…what they want.”
I ran my tongue up her thigh, over the supple curve of her ass before I bit it like a peach. She groaned, but fuck. “I want to bury my dick in that hot cunt,” I snarled. “But you’ll break before I do.”
She pressed back a little more, right up against the muzzle of the gun. I wasn’t moving it now, just holding it to her, but that was all she needed. She arched her back and pressed harder, moaning as the pistol’s muzzle slipped inside. Her pussy hugged around it, slick and swollen with need. She rocked forward and back, fucking herself on the weapon. When I looked down at her face, lying against the floor, she smiled at me wickedly.
“You wish it was your dick,” she said, running her tongue over those soft, perfect lips. “But I can still come on my gun. It doesn’t make a difference to me.”
She just had to add that little insult in there. My hand snapped out, gripping her face and squeezing her cheeks as she laughed. I pressed the gun in, deep and hard. “It doesn’t make a difference? Is that so? Do you think I’m going to let you come when you keep defying me?”
“That’s exactly what you’re going to do,” she gasped, breathless, dripping down her thighs. “Even if you stop right now, I’m going to lock myself upstairs and make myself come without you.”
I leaned over her, tightening my grip as I fucked the gun into her. “You think a lock will fucking keep me out? I’ll rip the door off its goddamn hinges, Juniper. I’ll tie you to the bed until you’re weeping for release.”
Her eyes fluttered, rolling back in her head. Fucking hell, she got off on the threats; it only brought her closer to the edge. I didn’t even want to stop…I wanted to see that glorious pussy clench, I wanted to see it squirt. My dick was so hard it was painful, that pulsating organ screaming at me to sink myself inside her.
“You can’t resist.” She was just taunting me now, eyes bright, cheeks flushed with pleasure. “You know you want to feel it…ah…you want to feel how wet it is…”
I swear to fucking Lucifer if she kept running her mouth —
“Oh God,” she moaned, and I could feel the extra resistance as I pressed the gun into her, her walls tightening. “I’m…I’m gonna come…”
Like hell she was.
I jerked her up from the floor and slammed her onto her back. “Don’t you dare call for God,” I snarled. “It’s my name you’re going to be crying.”
I slid the gun away, and it skid across the tile as I tore open my jeans, practically ripping the fabric. She was giggling — the wind was knocked out of her but she was fucking giggling at me. I tossed away her jeans and shredded her panties, laying her bare.
I wanted to rip her apart.
I wanted to eat her alive.
Fuck, I wanted to feel that tight, wet hole stretched around me.
I pinned her by the throat, pressing her legs back until her knees almost touched her shoulders. Even still, still, she whispered hoarsely, “I knew…knew you couldn’t…resist.”
I entered her roughly, mercilessly. I was far bigger than the pistol, and she cried out as I stretched her, legs shaking. Fuck taking my time, fuck waiting. Every cry spurred me on, and when her voice began to shake in unison with her body, it was my turn to laugh. “Cocky little slut,” I growled, squeezing her throat.
Her bare toes curled. Her eyes rolled back. I squeezed the sides of her neck as she came and watched her face pass from pleasure to sheer ecstasy. I’d given her exactly what she wanted; all her taunting had been right. There was something about her, about the way her body tightened and throbbed around me, the way her nails clawed up my back and her lips parted, that ignited the most desperate parts of me. I couldn’t fucking resist it.
I shuddered as I came, pumping her full, savoring her tiny whimpers as my cock throbbed inside her. She was panting, shaking, thighs sticky with her arousal and dripping my cum. I got up, leaning against the counter as she laid at my feet trying to catch her breath.
“I knew it,” she said triumphantly. “I knew you couldn’t hold out as long as me.”
I wanted to snap the marble countertops in half.
She sat up slowly and leaned back against the cabinets, still chuckling, still breathless, still so goddamn pleased with herself. “We’re going to White Pine tomorrow. We’re getting Marcus.” She grinned up at me. “Unless you’re too scared.”
“I’m not scared of shit,” I snarled. I’d come so hard my vision had gone blurry for a moment, and I still wanted more. I was addicted, I was goddamn obsessed. And she was so fucking smug about it.
This was a problem. A massive problem.
I squat down, glaring into her smug, beautiful face. “I haven’t even begun to wreck you, girl. You think you won this round? You’ve only made me crave breaking you more.”
She grinned, flipping me off from the floor. “I’ve already wrecked you, demon boy. Round one goes to me.”
