Page 65 of When Ashes Fall

I’d vowed never to stick my dick in her again, but I’d gladly skull fuck her. Oh, who was I kidding? I’d fuck her anyway I could get her.

The beast purred in response.

I ground my teeth together as she huddled deeper into herself. She was keeping something from me, and all I could think about was entangling her hair around my wrist and pumping into her until she was begging for release.

I’ll fuck her until she cries, and then I’ll fuck her some more.

I inwardly recoiled a little as that idea rose unbidden from the deepest recesses of my mind. I didn’t want to make her cry. Scream my name, yes, but not her tears.

Why did I think that?

Because you’re completely fucked in the head.

And that was the entire truth of it. I had to get images of screwing her out of my mind and figure out what she was hiding.

“Come sit by the fire,” I commanded gruffly.

Briar hesitated before approaching with the wariness of one advancing on a dragon. I didn’t blame her for that.

With care, she perched on the edge of a chair. Her back remained ramrod straight as she held her hands out to the fire.

I settled into the other chair and leaned back as I stretched out my legs and crossed them at the ankles. While I relaxed into my seat, she remained rigid.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t like some clothes?” she asked.

I grunted out a laugh. “I’ve literally been inside you, Briar. There’s no room for modesty here.”

Her head turned stiffly toward me. “Do you always have to be so crude?”

I clasped my hands and rested them on my belly. However, I couldn’t hide the stress building within me. Did she always have to smell so good?

“I’m simply being honest,” I told her.

“You can be honest without being an asshole.”

“Maybe, but why bother? Do you not like reminders of our past?”

“It’s you who doesn’t like reminders of our past… or at least of the man you used to be.”

I shrugged, but her words had struck a nerve. “I’m fine with who I am.”

She stared at me before shifting her eyes to the fire. She fiddled with the sleeves of her shirt, rolling one side down and then up again.

“Are you fine with who you’ve become?” I asked.

“I don’t think I’m much different than the girl you knew.”

Oh, she was very different. Not as much as me, but she didn’t smile as often. And when she looked at me, it was with a newfound suspicion in her eyes, yet there was also a yearning that spoke more words than she ever could.

Her body had also ripened into something more womanly. Something I wanted to get my hands on so I could trace every one of her curves.

“I think you’re different,” I said.

“You think I’m a liar.”

“No, I don’t.”

Briar’s head swiveled toward me. Her lips parted on a breath, but she didn’t say anything.