Page 71 of The Huntmaster

Chapter 47

Kaelen-Thul

Ihad given her the lead, a deliberate act of sadistic mercy that felt more like self-torture with every passing second. I wanted her to feel the weight of the finish line, to taste the false hope of sanctuary. I had stalked through the shadows, my bare feet barely touching the earth, savouring the way her scent had become a thick, intoxicating cloud in the humid forest air. It was a trail of gold in a world of grey, a siren song that vibrated in my very teeth.

But as I crested the final ridge overlooking the Great Waterfall, the world went cold.

I stopped dead, my lungs expanding until my ribs ached as I drew in a massive, searching breath. Nothing. The sharp, honeyed musk of her arousal—the trail that had been my compass and my torment for the last hour—was gone. In its place was only the heavy, ozonic spray of the falls and the neutral, metallic scent of wet stone.

A low, dangerous growl rattled my chest, a tectonic vibration of disbelief. She was gone.

I scanned the edge of the lagoon, my eyes snapping to the disturbed moss near the water’s edge. Small, frantic footprints led directly into the glowing blue pool. My markings flared a frustrated copper, pulsing with the rhythm of my mounting fury. The little human had used her head. She had realised that the highly mineralised, rushing water of the falls would scrub her scent from the air, turning my primary predatory advantage into a blindfold.

She wasn't just running anymore. She was playing the Huntmaster at his own game, and the realisation sent a jolt of lethal admiration through my gut.

The pressure was tectonic, a grinding need that made my vision pulse with every beat of my heart. My length was a rigid, throbbing bar of iron, the skin stretched so tight I thought it would split. The three marks, the Solstice rules—they were ash in the wind. I needed to be inside her until the world dissolved into nothing but the wet, hot rhythm of our joining.

"Clever girl," I snarled into the spray, my voice a dark, admiring rasp. I didn’t hesitate. I dived.

The water swirled in a chaotic mix of bioluminescent light. I cut through the blue glow and saw her near the base of the falls, tucked behind a curtain of water in a small, hidden grotto. She was submerged to her shoulders, her hair floating like golden silk, her eyes wide and defiant as I breached the surface.

"You found me," she panted, her breath hitching.

"I told you I would." I lunged. My hands caught her waist and slammed her back against the smooth, wet stone. The impact forced a gasp from her lips. I crowded her, my face inches from hers. "You tried to hide, Ly-ra. You tried to drown the scent of your surrender."

She didn’t look afraid. She looked feral. Her hands came up to grip my shoulders, her human nails digging into my skin hard enough to sting. "I’m tired of being the prey, Kaelen," she snapped, her voice shaking with adrenaline. "If you’re going to take me, do it. But I want this to be my choice. I want to feel you give in, too."

I let out a harsh laugh. "Control? You want to see me break?" I leaned down and bit the junction of her neck and shoulder, not a love bite but a claim of sheer ferocity. Her sharp, high scream was swallowed by the waterfall’s roar. I tasted the salt of her skin, the metallic hint of her blood where my teeth broke the surface. A primal thrill shot down my spine.

"You think I have been in control?" I hissed against the wet, marked skin. My hips pressed forward, my throbbing length sliding against her slick stomach. "I have been losing control since the fucking moment your skymetal crashed on my planet. I have given in to you more times than you even know."

I pulled back just enough to look into her blown-out pupils. Her irises were swallowed by black, her lips parted. "We have forever to make it more. But right now? Now it is time to complete the hunt. And you told me you wanted to hurt, vra-ka shei. You told me to stop being careful. You want to see the beast? Fine."

I didn't wait for her to process the warning. I grabbed her thighs, my hands spanning their softness, and hoisted her up. Her legs wrapped around my waist instinctively. Her core was slick and swollen, the heat of her pressing directly against the burning head of my length. I guided myself to her entrance, felt the incredible give of her body as I pressed against it.

"Look at me," I commanded.

She did. Her gaze locked with mine, blazing with a challenge I intended to conquer.

With one brutal, unyielding thrust, I drove home to the hilt.

Lyra’s scream was lost, but her body spoke volumes. Her back arched, her head thrown back, her inner muscles clamping around me in a sudden, violent spasm of shocked pleasure. I was buried so deep I felt the blunt impact of my tip against her cervix. The sensation was blinding—a tight, wet, impossible heat that threatened to short-circuit my nervous system. I groaned; the sound ripped from my very core.

I didn’t wait for her to adjust. I began to move, a slow, punishing withdrawal followed by a hard, deep slam. The water resisted, creating a delicious, dragging friction on every inward stroke. Her moans turned into breathless sobs that matched the cadence of my hips.

"You feel that?" I gritted out, watching her face contort. "You feel how full you are? How you stretch for me?"

She could only nod, her nails carving half-moons into my back. I needed more heat, more friction than the water allowed. With her legs locked around my waist and my length buried to the root, I waded out of the lagoon. Every step was agony and ecstasy. The movement shifted me inside her, my length dragging over her most sensitive spots with each heavy, labouring step. She buried her face in my neck, her hot, panting breaths a counterpoint to the cool air.

I carried her onto the bank and laid her down on a bed of silver-ferns under the direct glare of the moons. I stayed between her knees, my hands pinning her wrists into the soft moss above her head.

"Look at the moons, Ly-ra," I commanded, my voice a serrated edge. "Look at what they’ve done to us."

I began to move again, and this was different. Unfettered. My hips pistoned with a punishing, relentless vigour. Each thrust was a heavy, sliding friction that felt like molten lead being poured into my veins. The wet slap of our skin meeting filled the clearing. I watched her body respond—the arch of her spine, the desperate lift of her hips to meet me, the way her breasts heaved with every driving impact.

"Kaelen!" she cried out, her back bowing off the ground.

I released her wrists, needing to feel more of her. My hands slid down to grip her hips, my claws pricking her skin as I angled her perfectly. I drove deeper. So deep I saw stars explode behind my own eyes. And as I did, a secondary pulse began to thrum in the very centre of my being, a psychic drumbeat syncing with the hammering of our joining.