Ash’s chest rose sharply, and then he went completely still, even the eather in his eyes.
My heart kicked as our gazes collided once more. There was an almost feral look to his stare, one that caused a whoosh to rush through my stomach. “Ash?” I whispered.
His eyes slammed shut. Shadows began appearing along his shoulders and across his chest. His skin thinned.
Oh, gods, had I taken too much blood? I moved off him a bit.
Tendrils of shadowy eather lashed out from him, coiling along my forearms. I gasped at the chill, momentarily caught off guard. My stare swept over him. Blotches of darkness appeared down his arms, his thighs, and even on his cock, where pearly white liquid beaded at the tip—
Sucking in a startled breath, my head jerked to the side as the shadows slid up my arms, brushing against the sides of my breasts like a cold winter’s kiss. My nipples beaded, sending a pulse of blade-sharp desire through me.
Skin tingling, I attempted to rein in my response. Now didn’t seem like the right time to be turned on, but harsh, churning lust hit my core.
A low rumbling growl echoed from Ash, snapping my attention back to him. My arousal hadn’t gone unnoticed.
His lips parted, revealing a glimpse of his fangs. Dark hollows appeared in his cheeks.
“Ash,” I tried again.
“I was terrified,” he said, his voice thicker and guttural. “I was terrified that I would lose you.”
My chest dipped. “You didn’t. You saved me.” I wasn’t exactly sure how, but I knew he had. I knew the only reason I was here was because of him.
“Then I was terrified that you wouldn’t remember me.” Tendons stood out starkly as he twisted his neck to the side, seeming not to hear me. “That I would still lose you.”
“You won’t. Not ever,” I promised, attempting once more to move closer to him.
The ripple of eather pushed down on my shoulders, pressing me onto my back. Essence pulsed in my chest, ramping up in response to his Primal display of power. My eyes widened as I saw energy spark along my skin
below the throbbing mass of his shadows.
The sight of the silvery light coming from within me—light streaked with gold—distracted me for a second. I’d never seen it look like that before. But I…I was different now.
Reminding myself that the essence was a part of me and that I could control it, I locked the power down. It wasn’t a struggle like before. In the back of my mind, I knew it was because the eather was only a byproduct of my will, and it responded immediately because I never wanted to hurt him. “Ash?”
He shuddered. “I feared I would never hear you say my name again.” His body…it vibrated. A moment passed, and then another as he twisted his head from side to side. The tendrils of eather lifted. “When I…when I release you, you need to run.”
I tensed. “What?”
“You need to run, Sera. Fast. Faster than you ever have before. You may be able to outrun me…” Another series of shudders ran through him. “You
have to try. Because I…I need you. Your heat. Your silky tightness. I need to be inside you.”
Another stunning pulse of desire sliced through me, causing my hips to squirm in blade-sharp anticipation. “Why would I want to run from that?”
More of the darkness became visible, nearly obscuring his skin. “I won’t be able to hold on to my mortal form much longer.” The shadows briefly thickened around him. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t. I trust in that—trust in you. Just as you trusted me earlier when I wasn’t even all that aware—”
“This is different.”
I started to tell him it wasn’t, but Ash changed. It was him—the shape of his features, the strong jaw, and wide, expressive mouth. His high, sharp
cheekbones and blade-straight nose, but he was now shadow and smoke turned to stone.
He had shifted into his Primal form, his midnight-streaked skin looking as hard as granite as moonlight wings lifted behind him, sweeping out and blocking the chamber behind him.
This was Nyktos, the Asher, the one who is Blessed, the Guardian of Souls, and the Primal God of Common Men and Endings. This was who he was at his core: an ancient predator and the giver and taker of lives.
A Primal of Death, terrifying in his power and glory…and not in control. Even without the newly gained knowledge that had come with my
Ascension, I would’ve known that it made him incredibly dangerous. Even to
a Primal.
Even to me.
My chest rose and fell rapidly as I stared up at the Primal, still…still seeing Ash. I saw only him, and I felt no fear as more shadow-laced eather drifted out in smoky tendrils, spilling onto the bed.
“If you don’t run, if I take you, I will take you like this,” he warned. “And I will do so as a Primal.”
“I’m here, and I’m not leaving,” I whispered, willing to give him anything and everything he needed. “I’m yours, Ash. Take me.”
A low, sensual rumble echoed from him, eliciting a wave of shivers from me. The swirling shadows eased off my shoulders and gathered along my forearms. They curled around my wrists. My heart stuttered as my gaze fixed on his.
Ash’s eyes were pure molten silver. “I tried to warn you.”
Before I could respond, the shadows yanked my arms up, pinning them to the bed above my head.
Oh, gods.
In an instant, the essence inside me strained against his display of dominance. There was no fear, though—no flashes of panic or desperation.
There was no room for any of that when there was this heightened need to push back and see who would come out on top, and the twisting burst of red- hot desire.
Ash’s nostrils flared as he breathed in deeply. The growl deepened as he tilted forward, curling his fingers around my ankle. My entire body jerked at the touch. I wasn’t sure if it was the coldness of those fingers or the palpable tension gathering in the chamber.
Jaw clenched, he lifted my leg, pushing it to the side, exposing the throbbing heat between my thighs to the air…and to him.
Those glowing eyes left mine as wisps of shadowy eather throbbed restlessly against the bed, brushing my outer legs. The intensity of his stare
was like an icy-hot brand as his gaze lowered, drifting over my heavy breasts. Between his thighs, his cock pulsed, and…
Was it larger? Thicker and longer?
My heart tripped as I took in the rest of him. His body was bigger—wider and likely taller. My gaze slid back down.
Dear gods.
His gaze lowered, moving past my navel and then lower still, which meant I was incapable of focusing on anything else.
Everything about him vibrated as his stare latched on to me. My legs reflexively started to close, but his grip on my ankle firmed as one of the humming tendrils rose from the bed and draped over my other leg.
The sudden cool weight of his eather caused my stomach to clench, but I still felt no fear. No unease. I never did with Ash. Not when he gave me
complete control or took it for himself. I was always safe with him.
Memories of the night after the Cimmerian attack resurfaced. Would he touch me so wickedly again? I shivered. Would he do it while he knew I saw him? A rush of heat and dampness pooled where his eyes feasted.
One side of his lips curved up as his gaze returned to mine. “I can taste your need.”
I shook.
His stare dropped once more as he pushed the ankle he held up, spreading my legs even wider. “So pretty,” he murmured. “So wet.”
My skin flushed.
“Mine,” he rumbled.
The tendril on my calf started to move, drawing my attention. My heart began pounding as the swirling mass of energy rippled over my knee, leaving a cascade of shivers in its wake. I tried to slow my breathing, but it was no use. The wisp of darkness kissed my inner thigh. I couldn’t look away as it crept up my trembling skin. My fingers curled helplessly into my palms as
the icy burn eased over the crease in my thigh.
Cool air brushed my core.
I cried out, hips twitching as the air charged all around us. The shadow rolled against me, teasing my damp, heated skin. The mist thickened, solidifying enough that I could only see a hint of my skin beneath. I trembled at the soft, humming feel of the shadows against me, so focused on what was happening there that I didn’t see the other tendrils lifting from the bed.
Thick, crackling air slid along my sides, startling me. Feeling breathless, my head tilted to the side. The tendrils flowed over my lower stomach, then
spread up, kissing and licking my skin, my breasts. It felt like fingers pressing in and swirling around my nipples. My back arched—
Ash made a tsking sound, snapping my gaze to his. He looked utterly otherworldly in his Primal form. Primitive. Wild. “These lips are even softer.”
I think I did stop breathing then as I stared at him. He had such a…a naughty mouth when in his true form.
“And warmer,” he said, his tongue running along the inside of his lower lip. “I don’t want my pretty pussy feeling lonely.”
My pretty…
Eyes wide at his language, a laugh traveled up my throat, but it never
made it past my lips. A sudden cry of shocking pleasure did as those thicker, heavier shadows pulsed, parting the softer, warmer lips he spoke of.
“Oh, gods,” I cried out, hips rolling as the tendril of energy pushed inside me. My memories of this experience did not do it any justice.
My head spun as the sensations at my breasts and in my pussy
overwhelmed me. It felt wonderfully indecent.
I moaned, twisting as the thick, churning mass moved inside me. Ash was closer, and then he no longer held my ankle. He was still on his knees, his body keeping my legs open to him and his stare. I shuddered and gasped, quickly becoming lost to the sinful pleasure. My ass lifted off the bed, and I didn’t know if that was me or him, but the cool brush of air against my
backside startled me.
I didn’t dare move as that air slipped and slid. My hips were tilted up even farther, and I saw a thinner wisp of energy split away. Oh, gods, was he going
to…? I’d never had anything go in there. The Mistresses of the Jade had spoken of how pleasurable it could be with the right, er, prepping, but they were speaking of cocks, not spindly tendrils of energy.
“Liessa,” he called in a low trill.
My gaze cut to his as I felt him sliding and seeking. I didn’t think my heart could beat any faster. I bit down on my lip again, either not drawing blood this time or unable to feel it as I tentatively pushed against the thrumming bolt of energy.
Eather skated across Ash’s skin as his wings spread out once more. “I want to hear you say it.”
His demand scorched every part of me. “Yes.”
He twisted his head again, his dark, hard chest rising with a deep breath. The bead at the tip of his cock was more noticeable now. “I want to hear you say exactly what you want from me, and I want you to say it with my name.”
I discovered right then that my temper hadn’t improved with my Ascension. My eyes narrowed. “And if I don’t?”
His snarl wasn’t one of anger but of sensual challenge. The teasing
presence at my rear stilled, as did the tendril inside me. “Then I won’t fuck that pretty pussy and ass of yours.”
Good fucking gods…
I couldn’t move, think, or even breathe for a moment. He was so… shameless when in his Primal form.
And I couldn’t be more aroused by it because it was him. “Please,” I whispered.
He cocked his head.
“Please fuck my pretty pussy and ass.” I paused. “Ash.”
The dark air between my thighs plunged forward as the sudden pressure eased into the entrance there, quickly becoming a burn—an icy, stinging burn.
Every muscle in my body locked as he held me, my lower body several
inches off the bed. The pressure and fullness were…mind-blowing. I’d never felt anything like it. Wouldn’t have imagined it possible.
Ash chuckled darkly, grasping my hip with his hand as he carefully and gently lowered me back to the bed. It was as cold and hot as the churning
tendrils still inside me. The thin one didn’t move, but the other…it thrust in and out as he watched himself take me that way, thin bursts of eather crackling across his skin like lightning.
“I want to see you come again,” he said, his voice a whisper of moonlight as his hand urged me to move, to take what I wanted. “I want to hear it. Taste and feel it. Drown in it.”
And so, I did.
I rocked against him, gasping at the fullness and the dual coils of pleasure spinning out. Within seconds, I was lost to the scandalous sensation. My hips grinding, my head thrashed. The eather at my breast pulsed, tugging at my nipples. I cried out, my body jerking.
Tension built quickly, stealing my breath and shocking me. Ash had marvelously talented…eather, but I’d never felt this kind of intensity before.
Did I just feel things stronger because of the Ascension? Or was it him and
these new experiences?
The wickedness of it all? I didn’t know, but I couldn’t even think clearly as his head lowered. Soft strands of hair grazed my stomach. His cool, slick tongue ran up the inside of my thigh.
The coil deep inside me tightened. My movements became almost frantic, the pleasure I felt bordering on painful. “I…I can’t,” I gasped. “It’s too
much.”
“You can.” He licked again, catching the wetness there. “You will.
Because no one is stronger than you.”
I wasn’t sure if that was true, but I kept thrusting, my movements becoming increasingly erratic.
Tension built quickly, stealing my breath and shocking me. I screamed as a release took me hard, whirling through me in pounding waves of pleasure. And Ash…
Gods, he was relentless.
His mouth moved over me as he licked and tasted, drawing out every quiver and gasp.
The tendrils eased from me, bringing forth a ragged gasp. His eyes pulsed with eather as he rose. Power crackled across his shadowstone-hued flesh as he crawled over me.
A sharp bolt of lust lanced me. I didn’t think it would be possible for me to feel anything like that after what we’d just done. Or what he had. What we’d both taken part in. Whatever.
Grasping my hip, he rolled me onto my belly. I started to push up out of reflex, but the cool press of his chest against my back only let me get so far.
One hand stayed on my hip, fingers pressing into the flesh. I trembled as his firm hold reached deep inside me, stroking that dark, wicked part of me alive once more.
Ash lifted me onto my widespread knees and then guided me so my back was almost straight. I felt him begin to press into…what had he said earlier? My pussy? I shuddered and clung to his arm.
He was…oh, gods, he was definitely bigger.
“I won’t ever get tired of this,” he whispered in my ear, dragging his free hand over my breast and then down my stomach to the junction of my thighs. “Especially this.”
My hips jerked, seeking his hand, but he caught me, pushing my rear against him.
“I will never take you for granted,” he promised, and my breath froze then redoubled as I felt him entering me, inch by delicious inch. “I will never dishonor you.”
A spasm ran up my leg as he stretched me. The coolness of his cock was such a shock.
“I will always stand at your side, your command my will.” He nipped my jaw as he went deeper. “I will never let harm come to you.”
I shook, unable to even cry out as he pushed into me, to the hilt. He groaned as I stared wide-eyed at the wall. The feel of him inside me now, his cock throbbing, was indescribable.
“And I will lay waste to Primals, gods, Kings, and men if they even try to hurt you, and I will feel no remorse for doing so.” His tongue soothed the skin he’d scraped. “I will give my life for yours.”
My chest rose sharply. I didn’t want to hear him say that. “Ash—”
His hips thrust into me, drawing out a ragged moan. He ground against me, hitting every sensitive, hidden part and then some. “And I will kill for you.”
Senses whirling, I was only vaguely aware of my knees lifting from the bed, of both of us rising into the air as his arm curled around my stomach to hold me in place. He moved, pulling back until just the tip of him pressed in, and then thrust forward again until there wasn’t an inch between us. My legs curled in the empty space with each hard plunge and fast retreat. I pressed the soles of my feet against his calves, trying to escape the intense sensation
while at the same time trying to get more of it. The friction built a crazy storm of emotion that quickly turned into a swirling knot of deep tension that had me twisting and quivering against him and on his cock.
“You’re my everything,” he said, cheek pressed to mine as his hips pounded. “My world. My salvation. My redemption.”
Ash drove into me, over and over, stopping between thrusts to grind against me. Pleasure licked through me like sweet flames, igniting an inferno that was somehow as intense and shattering as the ones that came before it.
My feet lost their purchase as I came, his name a hoarse shout.
Things were a bit of a blur after that, and I wasn’t even sure how we ended up as we were now—me on my back and Ash above me, his fingers running over my cheek and through my hair.
His eyes were full of brilliant pulses of eather. “Fates, Sera, I…” Ash’s chest rose sharply as he cupped my cheek. “I love you.”
