Page 30 of When Ashes Fall

With that, she undid two more buttons on her shirt, leaned her hip against the counter, and glowered at me. The thin, white binding she’d donned to keep her lush breasts restrained was clearly visible now… as were her dark pink areolas.

It would be so easy to slide a claw down that material and slice it open to reveal the plump breasts beneath. Eager to touch her, the beast rolled within me as saliva filled my mouth and my fangs tingled.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Knox

“You’re not looking at me like I’m a stupid girl,” she said.

“I’m not?” I asked.

“No, you’re looking at me like you’d love to fuck me again.”

My lip twitched toward a sneer; she knew exactly what she was doing to me, but she was right… I would love to fuck her again.

I’d give anything to grasp that knot on her nape, pull her head back, and bury myself in her. I’d fuck her until she pleaded with me to stop, and then I’d fuck her some more. I wouldn’t stop until I finished with her.

I’d make her feel… make her see…

See what? How messed up I am? How badly they damaged me in the harem? What would I make her see? Would I become one of them just to make her understand?

I will never be like one of them.

Running a hand over the stubble lining my jaw, I ground my teeth together as I tore my attention away from her. I’d never be like them, but I couldn’t deny the sick feeling of wanting to make her suffer too.

Things with Briar had always been sweet and loving. Yes, there were rougher moments and times when I lost control, but that wasn’t what I wanted from her now.

I looked at the lowleeto as sickness churned in my gut. As if sensing my thoughts, the creature eyed me with a scowl I wouldn’t have considered possible for its frankly adorable features.

“And that won’t ever happen again.” Briar’s words drew my attention back to her. “You won’t ever claim me as your mate again, remember?”

“I don’t have to claim you as my mate to fuck you. I only claimed you once, but I’ve felt your tight, wet cunt many, many times.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“I am.” When I prowled closer, her shoulders stiffened. “But I’m also honest.”

She threw her arms in the air. “Well, yippee for you! Let’s throw a party! We can get some music and dance all night to celebrate how revoltingly honest you are!”

“And what kind of a party would we throw for you?”

When I stopped a couple of feet away from her, her head tipped back, and her eyes filled with fury.

“We’ll throw the one you want to throw for me,” she grated. “We’ll celebrate what an awful liar I am and how I betrayed you and had you thrown into the harem.”

When I prowled closer, she stepped back and into the counter. With nowhere to retreat to, her breath hitched when I planted my hands beside her on the marble. Fear flickered through her eyes as she realized provoking me probably wasn’t her wisest choice.

“Is that the party I want to throw?” I inquired in a low voice.

“It’s the one you’ve been throwing since you took me from the harem.”

“So I have.”

Without thinking, I lifted my hand to brush back a strand of her hair. She slapped my hand away.

“Don’t touch me!” she snapped.

Unwilling to be told what I could and couldn’t do in my home, I grasped the strand and tugged her closer. Briar’s nostrils flared as she resisted my pull. Her body was as unyielding as stone while her pulse thudded in her neck.