Page 92 of A Soul to Embrace

Then they changed again, swirling over his body like a ribbon that even covered part of his face, while his hair darkened to black. They shifted once more, just covering him from the neck down to his sternum, and up his fingers and hands like he’d dunked them into an inky liquid.

She wondered if these were the glamours he’d once told her of. She was too mesmerised to look away from his symbols shifting and sliding across his body like water.

They reverted back to what she now knew to be his true self: Elvish runic symbols that either created circles on his body, or left rings and runic ribbons up his limbs. Even a triangular symbol on his side returned, as did the multi-pointed star on his mid-back.

Then he was gone within an instant. Not invisible, as his heart and breaths ceased as well.

Uncertainty crept up her spine, barely believing he’d just disappeared into thin air!

“Oh, how I’ve missed this,” he stated, just as he materialised back into the space, but on the opposite side of the pool.

He was gone again, and she looked up when she heard movement on the ceiling. She’d looked too late, and instead watched him fall to land on his feet and a single hand with ease.

The roots around her shifted as the area rumbled. Loose rocks clicked and clacked against the ground as the pool of water bubbled and dropped in volume. Everything in the air felt charged, like when lightning was about to strike the top of a tree.

With orbs turning white in worry, Zylah stepped back. The back of her right heel caught around a root that had shifted, and she tripped over. She landed on her backside and an elbow with a loudoomph.

As if he’d forgotten about her presence, she saw the moment his headcreepilytwisted to the side to face her.

Zylah shrieked when small brown roots began to twine around her arms and legs. She fought them, kicking as she twisted to get away before being yanked right back as more grew over her. She broke them repeatedly, gaining freedom, only to be dragged back down when more and more encircled her limbs.

Just as her strength appeared to be winning, and she managed to tear her right arm free so she could claw at the ones wrapping around her midsection, her wrist was grabbed. Pressure weighed on her waist as Jabez shoved her arm back down against the ground until vines could capture it once more.

Long white hair brushed over her tossing skull, and his earthy scent fluttered all around her. Sitting on top of her and now pinning down both her arms so all she could do was kick her legs, he let out a chuckle that had her heart wanting to burst.

She’d never heard anything more evil and menacing, the depth and bass of his voice thumping through her like an ominous beat. Panting in fear, she managed to glance at his features, and he looked entirely crazed. His irises glowed withthe faintest red, while his eyes were narrowed, and yet... somehow filled with utter glee. His grin almost made him look insane and vicious with his sharp fangs bared at her.

“Thisis what power is,” he rumbled, his face drawing closer as the press on her wrists grew tighter and stronger. “Thisis what true strength is.”

“Let me go!” Zylah roared, her sight flickering red before snuffing back into fearful white.

Her fur puffed in aversion when his face lowered until it was right next to hers. She tried to bash her skull against his, only to whimper in the realisation that even her antlers were trapped. It strained her neck when she tried to get them free, causing a snarly groan to bubble in her chest.

“I told you things would be different between us if I had my magic,” he stated, his voicedrippingwith so much malice she could almost taste it in the air.

Zylah didn’t know what else to do but struggle against the vines as they continued to grow. Her thighs twitched when they slipped under the skirt of her dress, and her abdomen tightened as more slipped over it. They even swirled around her breasts, cupping them from below as they crossed over her chest.

Every part of her was being captured in order to force her to submit. She twitched when the roots caressed sensitive spots, their roughness tickling her inner thighs, chest, and pounding forearms right behind where his hands were. The strangeness of those sensations had her jerking in surprise at their pleasantness and it cut through her tension.

He wasn’t leaning heavily on her, as if he was merely pressing her down but not trying to hurt her. Actually... the longer she remained trapped, the more she realised that nothing hurt. Her body wasn’t being strangled except for when she tried to pull away, and the constriction gentled whenever she stopped.

Fighting was obviously pointless – there were too many vines for him to manipulate with the tree roots surrounding them. The energy radiating off him felt... unusual and chaotic.

None of this felt right. Not his laughter, not the feel of the magic, and not what he was doing. This wasn’t the Jabez she’d come to know.

“Fuck. Why do you have to smell so damnnice?” he growled right next to her ear hole, and she winced when his hold on her wrists tightened painfully.

Zylah froze beneath him.Wait. Did he... did he just say I smell nice?

It was only then that she noticed something hard and long resting against her abdomen, and it appeared to be coming from the centre of his groin. It didn’t feel like the vines, but she thought she may have originally mistaken it for a big one with the way it’d grown against her.

Fayren had not only shown her diagrams of different Demon female anatomy, but also common ones of male genitalia as well. At the time, she’d wondered what kind Jabez had – if it was more human in nature, or more Demon-like. She’d seen it be small and dangly between his thighs, but she’d never seen it hard like in those diagrams.

Trying to figure out what was happening, Zylah chittered nervously, only to let out a cry when his face buried into the fur of her neck. Nuzzling into her until she shivered, he took in a deep draw of her scent.

With her senses overly alert and her fur disturbed, her skin was sensitive against his deep breath that followed, making an incidental moan escape her.

Fear gave way to a string of other emotions, but none were more powerful than the one that made herpussyclench in reaction to him. His body was heavy and warm against hers, andshe liked the weight of him bearing down on her. Suddenly, his grip on her wrists felt secure in a sublime way.

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