“We have unfinished business,” Wolf says as we enter the cottage and the door closes behind him.
“We do?” I turn around and Wolf closes the gap between us smoothly. His eyes are ablaze with an intensity that sends my breath ratcheting in my throat.
Still, I can't help but poke him. I take several steps back, circling the table until it's between us. “You sure you have unfinished business with me, and not with whoever it is that you go to meet at this hour?”
"If you’re implying what I think you are then the answer is no.” He approaches me with a smile that's almost playful and half threatening. There’s also something about the fluid way he moves that reminds me of a predator stalking prey. Except this prey kinda of wants to be caught. “The only person I'm currently in business with is you.”
The gleam in his eyes tells me exactly what he’s talking about before he even reaches me and snags an arm around my waist, pulling me to him. “I want to do more.”
“More what?” I whisper.
“More of this.” He leans down and licks my lips in that unpracticed, sensual way that only he seems to know how to do. I shiver.
“We talked about this, Wolf.’” My voice sounds weak even to my ears.
“You talked.” His lips skim my cheeks softly and I feel like he’s drugging me with each brush. As if there is venom from his mouth seeping through my skin and quickening my blood, turning it into a river of pulsing lust that rushes through me. I bring my hand up to his chest to push him away but it rests there instead, unable to do more than feel him.
“Yes," he whispers and I shake. “Touch me.”
A strangled sound leaves my lips as his tone does untold things to me. Without thinking, my hand moves to grasp his hair, feeling the softness. His teeth nips my neck and I squeeze harder, some violent thought taking over me.
But then I imagine Wolf, helpless underneath some woman, unable to escape. I imagine his mind leaving him whether through her or of his own accord, so that he doesn't have to deal with what's happening.
“Wait, Wolf.” I gasp out and hold his face while he still dragged this rough tongue over my skin. Even as I seek to stop him, my eyes closed again in pleasure. “Wolf, do you even know what you’re doing?”
“Mmm,” is all he answers.
“Wolf, have you ever done this before?”
"I won’t hurt you,” he says and my heart melts, because that’s the first thing that comes to his head.
“That’s not what I mean.” I pull back and stare at his eyes. “I don’t want to do something that brings back bad memories for you or for me. We need to tread carefully.”
I can’t believe the words are leaving my mouth. I should be telling him that we can’t do this, should be pushing him away but part of me knows that we’ve already gone beyond that step. The same need I feel is pulsing in Wolf’s eyes, trembling underneath the surface to break through.
“I need you," Wolf tells me as though I cannot see it. “I ache for you. Please.”
God, he begs so well.
I release a breath through my nose and close my eyes. “Wolf, go sit down on the chair.”
He goes still, and when I open my eyes he’s staring down at me with disbelief.
“Go,” I say again, huskily, and press a kiss against his neck. "If you still want me to touch you that is."
He groans and then hustles to obey. But he doesn’t just sit. He sprawls on the seat, filling it up entirely, and staring at me with his hooded gaze. His legs are open and there is a large bulge pushing up against his breeches.
My eyes widen when I see it. God, he’s larger than any other man I’d ever seen. Larger than Caster which up till this point had been my frame of reference
The thought should scare me but rather it thrills me.
I stride closer to him and he leans towards me as I approach.
“Don’t move you,” I tell him and spread to sit astride on his lap. His hands go to my waist and he attempts to shift me closer but I shake my head so he lets his hands fall.
So obedient.
“If I do anything that makes you uncomfortable, tell me,” I tell him and he nods. I hold his cheeks and then lean down and kiss him.
This kiss is just as good as the first. Perhaps better, because he doesn’t hesitate to use his tongue this time. He plunges it into my mouth greedily and I play with it, teasing it, ensuring that I’m maintaining control. He's a vibrating ball of need and if I let him he’s going to rush this entire thing to the end.
But I want to make him savor it, enjoy it to its fullest. Wolf has done so much good in all his lifetimes. He deserves for this to be as good as it can get.
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And a part of me craves to make him feel good. I want this piece of him even though I know that nothing between us can last long. At least, so I can say that we have this moment.
I pull back to breathe against his lips, then wrap my hand lightly around his neck to hold him in place. Then I suckle at the skin of his neck. Heat races down my spine as I try to move leisurely down, ignoring the growling he is doing. He's straining against my hold, something within pushing him to drag my closer but he's holding himself back wonderfully.
I want to reward him for it.
I reach in between his thighs and stroke one hand over his manhood.
His breath escapes him in a harsh woosh.
It does not return.
He goes still, so still that I feel that if I push him over he may crack on the floor in a million pieces.
I continue anyway, stroking, feeling it grow in my hands and throb underneath his breeches. I look up again and nearly gasp.
His eyes are on fire.
Their brilliant yellow, like the sun, is now tinged in red. His teeth are bared, and I never noticed how sharp they were until now. And his nose is flared as though he's trying to withhold a beast.
I stroke again experimentally, while I rise to lick the line of his neck. A sound rumbles through him, almost like a purring, and when I place my hand on his chest, I find that it's pounding like he's going to die.
And then suddenly I'm flying through the air.
"Oof!" I land on my back on the floor and blink up as he runs out the door.
"Wolf." I get up and run to the door, trying to find him, but he's already disappeared.
"Damn." Guilt peppers me, dousing desire. "I messed up. I'm sorry."
The words are said to no one, for no one is there.
Regret is my companion for most of the night, while I stay up waiting for Wolf. The night is silent except for the insects and the howl of the wind and the light pattering of snow, but Wolf still does not appear.
I worry that I may have triggered something, a bad memory. I definitely did. He wouldn’t have reacted that way if he was fine.
What if the memories push him over the edge? What if he does something stupid out of fear and confusion? I know I never should have touched him. I should have stayed firm in my decision not to.
My despairing thoughts course through my mind the whole night, and by daybreak, I'm a ball of nerves. I'm torn between going out to look for him and leaving his cottage entirely when the door swings open.
I spin around as Wolf strides in.
“Wolf.” I stand and go to him, eyeing the snowy fluff on his shoulders. How is he not freezing in just a thin tunic? “Are you ok?”
He nods and attempts to sidestep me.
“I’m sorry,” I tell him. “I won’t do it again. It was foolish of me to–“
“You did nothing wrong.” He tells me and his hand comes out and brushes my cheek, even though he still avoids my gaze. “I nearly lost control."
"What?"
"I was going to lose control. That’s why I left. I needed to get it back before I could return."
I blink at him. "But...you were gone for the entire night."
Yes, “ he says smirking. “Now, I can go to sleep."
----------------------------------------
The Pangeans are being hosted in one of the towers within the castle walls, usually reserved for important visitors and dignitaries. Not everyone is happy about it, and some in the market make their dissent known, although they don't do it too loudly, in case the King or the foreigners hear.
The Pangeans have not left their abode yet to venture into town, and I don't know if they will.
Meanwhile, the time for the next stage of the third trial comes rolling around.
Wolf and I report back to the King's castle courtyard. Most of the contestants, including Jace, are already there when we arrive. Brute, Paisley, and the Prince stay in their corner as usual, but Genya is missing thankfully.
Brute gives me a sore look and I ignore him thoroughly.
I nod at the twins who nod back, and spot Savannah and Tia talking again.
Jace waves and saunters over to us, as the doors of the castle open and Tyne descends the black stairs.
This time, he's wearing red and has a shimmering hat to boot.
"What on earth?" I hear Jace murmur, and I try not to smile in case Tyne overhears him.
"Welcome hopefuls," he announces with his usual flourish. "We're now initiating the second stage of the third trial. Now, for this stage the teams will be reorganized. You will go in for a second to read who will be on your new team."
A murmur of discontent spreads through the crowd. I can relate. We all assumed we would be in the same teams, and have spent time likely forging bonds with the team members, perhaps training together and learning each other's weaknesses and strengths.
And now we're being reorganized again.
I wonder if the King finds all this chaos fun.
Jace and I share a look just as Tyne claps his hand again to regain order.
"Quiet. Now another thing to note is that each team will also be given a different task of equal importance. The team who accomplishes their task effectively within the time constraints moves on to the next stage. Anyone who fails, won't."
"Well," Jace mumbles. "This just keeps getting better and better."
"Yes," I whisper. I wonder what this is about, getting different tasks. To the best of my knowledge, this didn't happen in my last life either.
"Go in first and check your teams. Arrange yourself accordingly in the dining hall, which you will be directed to. And then one by one, I will come in and explain your task."
We all head up the stairs, and into the dark halls at once, bunching around the bulletin boards. I wait at the back of the line as it clears with increasing groaning and grumbling, and eventually nervously approach the board.
Please let me be in a team with Jace or Wolf. Heck, I'll even pick Caster at this point. Just not Brute.
Once I get to the front, I close my eyes in a brief prayer and then open it to read.
I breathe a sigh of relief
I’m on the same team as Jace.
Other people on our team are Tia, Savannah, and Paisley of all people.
I scan down the page and find that Wolf and Caster have been placed on the same team much to my amusement.
"Mostly women on our team," I comment. Somehow I don't think that's a coincidence.
After I'm done, I catch Savannah's eyes and she waves me over. She's already standing with Tia, and I go to join them.
"Where do we go?" she asks Tyne who watches everything from the back.
He points to an empty room with an open door. We walk into the dark room, furnished with only a few seats. Like most other rooms in Black Castle, there are no decorations on the walls and there's even a distinct lack of scent. As if the room itself, is without life.
As we arrange ourselves in a semi-circle, Paisley – Caster's friend and Chief Ludus' son – walks in looking annoyed.
"How nice. They placed me on the losing team," he murmurs under his breath as he passes me. Jace instantly frowns at him.
"Well, that was rude," he says loudly and pointedly.
Paisley smirks. "You'll get used to it."
Jace opens his mouth to say something but the clicking of heels announces Tyne's presence.
Tyne shuts the two doors behind him, and everyone but Paisley rises to greet him deferentially.
"Team 3," he says. "Your task will be very simple but very important. And should you fail, it will be truly disastrous." He meets everyone's eyes and walks closer to us before continuing in a low voice. "You will need to plan to infiltrate the Pangean's current abode in order to retrieve important intel and relay it back to your King. And you will need to do it in three days."