Page 34 of Hers to Claim

“Because you’ve been neglecting the darker part of you.” He pushed her down against Dante. “You need to let the monster out to feed before the hunger consumes you.”

Dante’s back arched in slow motion as she rubbed against him, desperate for more friction.

Something inside her wanted to be let out to play with the man writhing under her. Something she didn’t understand and didn’t think she could control. “I’m scared,” she whispered.

Dohal stroked his thumb along her neck and his voice softened. “The longer you starve her the worse it will be when she breaks free.”

For some reason, Mari believed that he was trying to soothe her, no matter what he had threatened in the past. Her hips rocked in a slow rhythm as she leaned back into his touch, letting her magic rise up and find its way to him. The connection between them had never been stronger. “You really don’t want to hurt me.”

He moved his grip so that he could lift her chin to look up at him. His eyes were the color of the sky on a moonless night. His horns towered over her, making him seem menacing even as the severity of his expression eased. “Never, bavi.” He smiled slyly and lowered his hand to grab her throat. Her necklace hummed at his touch, sending sparks of sensation along her nerves. “Unless you want me to.”

Her cunt clenched. Did she want him to? Saints, she had no idea anymore. Desire moved through her in a shivering wave. She let him guide her body to an unhurried climax as she stared up into his eyes. Her magic bubbled over and he drank it up greedily as he started to fade away.

When her body returned to normal time, Dante reached up to caress her face and pull her down into a lingering kiss. She sighed into his mouth as the last of the aftershocks tensed her body.

He pulled back an inch and brushed his fingers over her cheek. “You okay?”

Mari nodded, but still couldn’t speak. Had that been affection, possibly even tenderness that she had sensed? She wasn’t sure she believed Dohal capable of that.

“What happened?” Pricilla asked, her voice shaking. “There was a huge spike and now it’s just gone.” She had backed away from them and was pressed against the wall near the door.

“That was Dohal,” Dante said to her before returning his attention to Mari. He pushed her hair behind her ear and held her gaze. “Whatever it is inside of you, I’m not scared of it.”

Mari finally found her voice. “You heard him that time?”

He nodded. “It was much clearer. I think he wanted me to hear it.”

She rested her forehead against his. “I just don’t want to hurt you.”

“Don’t worry about me, sweetheart.” He smiled and kissed her lightly, snuggling her tighter against him. “I’m tough.”

Mari turned to look at Pricilla. “I’m sorry about that. I got caught up again.” She let out a sigh. “Seems like I do that a lot all of a sudden.”

Pricilla shrugged. “I think that’s to be expected. Most people go through this awakening when they hit puberty and their magic is still forming. Yours is already fully grown and has been stifled for most of your life.” Her lips curled in a small smile. “We’ll get a handle on it.”

“I hope I didn’t scare you.”

“It was shocking in its ferocity, but you were very focused on him. I backed away because I thought I was in danger of getting caught up too.” She moved back to her seat. “I have to be vigilant because my magic is very eager to play with you and I want to be respectful of my role as your teacher.”

“I appreciate that,” Mari said as she relaxed against Dante. Being close to him felt good, like it was righting something that had been going wrong inside her. She felt sated, finally, as strange as that was to admit after she’d been with Rio and then Cisco already this morning. “I feel strangely satisfied right now.”

Pricilla closed her eyes in thought for a moment. “There is a thing that happens with some sex witches, especially young ones who are just coming into their power, where they form bonds without intending to. That may be what’s happened here.”

The idea that she’d done that without asking bothered Mari, even though she’d had no choice in the matter either. “What does that mean for them?” Mari asked, concern tightening her voice.

“It’s not like a gargoyle’s bonding,” Pricilla said carefully, perhaps picking up on Mari’s worries. “Mostly that they all need to provide you with an influx of magic pretty regularly or else you’ll start to get…possessive.”

Dante put a hand on the back of her neck and nuzzled into her with a soft nicker. “For the record, I’m available whenever you need a top up.”

If he was bothered by the fact that she was forming some kind of attachment to him without asking, she couldn’t detect it. Cisco and Rio were both already hers; she knew that in her bones. Neither of them would bat an eye at the admission that she’d formed a link to them that required feeding her magic.

Still, she couldn’t get past the concern that her magic was doing things without her knowledge to others without their consent. It bothered her to have so little control over something so important.

Pricilla spent the next few hours trying to teach Mari the ties that sex witches normally used with their partners, but Mari just couldn’t wrap her head around them. While she understood intellectually that they were the same shapes she used for the shielding magic she’d learned, Mari just couldn’t apply them to Dante. He waited patiently, unbothered while she fumbled awkwardly with her magic.

Mari stared at the delicate weaves Pricilla tried to show her until a headache formed behind her eyes. “The point of connection makes no sense to me.”

Pricilla watched her carefully. “Why do you think that is?”

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