Oath of the Alpha - Eva Dresden Page 0,42
few snapped twigs, all her attention diverted from him, Er’it would swear he could feel her misery, not just coating his skin as it hung in a heavy cloud around her but flowing through his veins, gripping his heart and twisting it within his chest.
Any glimmer of patience exploded with a brittle snap within him when she hung her head and began weeping in earnest. Latching onto her arm once more, he resumed dragging her through the forest. Ignoring her quiet sounds of pain that failed to bring him pleasure, he felt no satisfaction as he stormed through the trees toward the stream.
His earlier joy sitting like the poisoned sludge she’d purged from his veins, he half tossed her into the freezing water. He knew what she wanted when she’d demanded to come here and growled when she proved him right. As her fingers clawed at tender flesh to rid it of the taint of his seed and scent, Er’it paced the shore, watching her with hooded gaze while she turned her skin muddy rose in her desperation.
With the vague memory of thinking the Hat’or had aligned their paths scalding the back of his throat with bitter bile, Er’it launched himself from the shore into the water. The huge splash startling her into a scream, her small legs pumped through the heavy water to dodge him. Knocking away her slapping hands to grab her about the waist, a palm between her shoulders bent her over the soft sand. Without warning, he thrust inside her.
Her wail was nothing but pain. Lunging forward, clawing at the scrubby grass growing near the stream, she fought to get away. With no slick to ease the friction of his second cruel thrust, Er’it found no pleasure in it. Disgust slithered through his belly alongside the vicious scratching within his chest, heart thundering as cruel bands strangled it in a vise.
A wordless shout scraped his throat raw as he wrapped his arms tight around her struggling body. Pinning her to him, keeping them both still as they strained for panting breaths, Er’it covered her back and set his lips to the mark at her shoulder. Solace filtered through him as they edged toward stillness and her sweet scent became untainted by the foulness of fear and pain. Purr resonating through his chest and into her back without thought, his fingers found the dripping strands of her hair and tugged the slack fall aside to view her face.
The sight of lingering hard lines etched into the softness of her features, her midnight gaze clouded with emotion, twisted at his heart, tearing at it as he watched another salty tear slip free from her lashes. His purr grew louder, richer as Er’it surrounded her with his body, easing the agonizing thing in his chest as she took the first shuddery breath and her lashes fluttered with a hard exhale. As she calmed, becoming soft and warm within his embrace, Er’it nuzzled the line of her jaw and slid his hand down the flat of her stomach, shushing her quiet whimper when he cupped her mound. Pulling back enough to see her face once more, Er’it’s tongue lapped up the trail of bitter tears from the corner of her eye. Moving down her cheek, he brushed his lips against hers, not forcing or demanding but in a silent entreaty for her to open for him.
When she responded, it was as if the sky opened and the magnificent light of the Hat’or shone upon them. Tawny gold skin, so much paler than his yet rich in its own right, grew flush and warm against him. Cheeks becoming pink when she arched her back to accept his kiss, she took him deeper as her snug walls grew slick with arousal, easing the way for his fingers as they traced delicate circles around her clit.
Urgency he had aplenty, yet each slow thrust was made with precision, every movement controlled in a languid assault. Tenderness was not something he knew well, gentle never a thing he offered anymore. Yet Er’it took his time with her, his sole focus on her quiet sounds and reactions. He drew out each gasp and whimper, her moans plundered to their depths.
Purr changing pitch and depth, he offered her a licentious call, one that had her bucking against him and using the bank for leverage as she shoved her rounded ass into his hips in a silent plea for more. He kept to the slow sways that would