Page 71 of Realms of Swords and Storms
She was fast—faster than I remembered—her lithe form weaving between the ancient trees with the grace of a deer. But I was faster, my transformed nature lending me speed beyond human capacity. With each stride, I closed the distance between us, my breath coming quick but controlled, my muscles burning with sweet exertion.
She glanced back, saw me gaining, and her eyes widened with a mixture of excitement and mock fear that sent my blood surging hotter. She changed direction abruptly, cutting back toward denser trees, attempting to lose me in the shadowed labyrinth of trunks and branches.
But she had forgotten Sirrax—or perhaps had never realized his position. As she darted between two massive olive trees, his dark form materialized before her, blocking her escape. She skidded to a halt, pivoting to flee in another direction, only to find me there, blocking that route as well.
We had her cornered, trapped between us and the twisted trunk of an ancient olive tree wider than a man's embrace. Her chest heaved with exertion, her eyes darting between us, seeking an escape that didn't exist. The moonlight caressed her face,illuminating the flush on her cheeks, the parting of her lips as she caught her breath.
"Nowhere to run," I said, my voice a low growl that hardly sounded human to my own ears. "You're caught."
The look she gave me then—part defiance, part surrender, wholly desire—ignited something within me that transcended both my human and Talfen natures. Something elemental, ancient, a need as old as life itself.
"So I am," she replied, her voice steadier than I expected. "What happens now, hunter?"
I stepped closer, close enough to feel the heat of her body, to see the rapid pulse at her throat, to breathe in the intoxicating scent of her arousal. Sirrax moved in from the other side, creating a cage of male bodies around her smaller form.
"Now," I said, reaching out to trace a finger along the line of her jaw, feeling her shiver at my touch, "I claim what's mine."
My hand slid from her jaw to the back of her neck, tangling in the thick silk of her hair. I pulled her head back, exposing the long line of her throat, and I kissed her not with tenderness but with the raw hunger of the hunt, a devouring claim that left no room for doubt.
Her hands tangled in my hair, pulling me closer, her body arching against mine in fierce surrender.
A dark heat pressed against her back, and I felt more than saw Sirrax move in. His large hands slid around her waist, thumbs hooking into the waistband of her trousers as he pulled her flush against him. He buried his face in the curve of her neck, his growl of possession vibrating through her body and into mine. "Ours," he rumbled, the word a physical force against her skin.
Livia gasped into my mouth, a broken, breathless sound as she was caught between us. Her scent, sharp with arousal, filled my senses, mingling with Sirrax’s earthy musk. It was intoxicating, a primal perfume that fuelled the fire in my blood. I broke thekiss only to trail my mouth down her throat, tasting the salt on her skin, feeling the frantic beat of her pulse beneath my lips. Our hands moved over her together, a coordinated assault of sensation. We were a pack, a unit, and she was the centre of our world, the prize we now shared.
My fingers tore at the laces of her tunic, the rough fabric giving way easily under my newfound strength. I pushed the cloth aside, baring her breasts to the cool night air and my hungry mouth. At the same time, Sirrax’s hands were at her waist, pulling her trousers down her hips with an efficient, possessive roughness that made her cry out. We worked as one, stripping her bare with a hunter's efficiency until she stood naked and trembling between us, a sacrifice to our shared hunger.
Sirrax’s teeth scraped against her skin, not breaking it, a promise of the claim to come. My own canines ached in response, lengthening just enough to press against the tender flesh of her collarbone. She writhed between us, a beautiful, wild thing caught and ready to be owned. Her hands fisted in my tunic, her head thrown back in surrender as Sirrax’s lips and tongue mapped the side of her neck.
I took her breasts in my hand, cupping them, pinching at one hard nipple while my mouth claimed the other. My heightened senses could already scent her arousal, a sharp, sweet smell that was more potent than any wine. It drove me mad. I abandoned her breast to kiss my way down her stomach to its source. Behind her, Sirrax growled again, a low, guttural sound that was pure predator. His hands slid lower, cupping under her thighs and lifting her, pulling her legs apart so I could feast on the slick heat between them.
Livia cried out against my mouth, her body arching as I delved into her sweet pussy.
Her taste was wild and sweet, a heady mix of salt and arousal that sent a jolt of pure possession through me. I drank her in, myown humanity seeming to peel away with every desperate sound she made. This was instinct. This was claiming.
His hand came around her hip, his long, dark fingers finding her slick folds, joining my tongue in its worship. Livia screamed then, a raw, keening sound that was pure pleasure, her inner muscles clenching around my tongue as her release crashed through her. She shuddered in our arms, a beautiful, broken thing we had undone together.
Even as the waves of her climax subsided, the heat between us only intensified. This was just the beginning. Behind her, Sirrax growled again, a low, guttural sound that was pure predator. I glanced up, seeing the change in him. His cock was free, massive and terrifyingly beautiful. Not human, but something more. Dark scales rippled along its length, and a ridged extension of flesh curved up from the base, pulsing with a life of its own. It was a weapon designed for pleasure, for a claiming beyond anything a human could offer.
Sirrax positioned himself, his scaled cock pressing against her cleft, slick with her own wetness. “Mine,” he breathed against her ear, and then he was pushing inside her. Livia screamed, a raw, piercing sound of pain and overwhelming pleasure as he filled her completely. Her legs, still held by his powerful arms, trembled violently. I watched, mesmerized, as the ridged flesh above his shaft settled perfectly against her clit, rubbing with each of his slow, powerful thrusts. She was being taken, owned, and the sight of it, the scent of their joining, sent me over the edge. I surged forward, my own cock, hard and aching. I wrapped my hand around it, rubbing the head over and around her clit as Sirrax thrust into her and she whimpered.
It was mesmerising to watch him fuck her. I’d always been conscious of my size, but he was even bigger, and watching his cock stretch her pretty pink pussy was so fucking hot I couldn’t tear my eyes away.
Her whimpers turned into a low, continuous keen of pleasure that bordered on pain. Each of Sirrax’s thrusts was a slow, deep invasion, stretching her, filling her, that ridged flesh above his shaft grinding against her clit with relentless friction. I watched her face, saw her eyes roll back in her head, her lips parted in a silent scream. My own need was a frantic agony, my hand a blur on my cock, but I couldn't look away. This was a claiming, brutal and beautiful, and I was part of it.
Livia’s head fell forward, her chin dropping to her chest as she sobbed for breath. Her hand, trembling, reached out for me, fingers clutching at my tunic. It was all the invitation I needed. I moved forward, abandoning my own pleasure to take her mouth again, swallowing her desperate gasps. My kiss was a mirror of Sirrax’s fucking—deep, possessive, leaving no part of her untouched. I could taste him on her, taste her release, the metallic tang of our shared desire. With a final roar, I felt her body shudder as Sirrax released inside her, and I knew now why he had taken her first. She might be alpha, but he was the beta, and he was showing me my place. I was no longer just Tarshi; I was part of this unit, this pack, this bond. I was Talfen. I was mate. And she was ours.
I stepped back as Sirrax carefully lowered Livia to the ground. She fell onto her hands and knees gasping and my cock jerked at the sight of her pussy soaked in Sirrax’s cum and her own release. I knelt behind her, running my hand down her spine as I pulled her legs wider and pushed myself inside.
She was impossibly tight, already filled with his cum, and the friction was agonizingly exquisite. She cried out as I sank into her to the hilt, our bodies now completely joined.
My hips bucked, a desperate, uncontrolled motion. This was not the careful lovemaking of humans; this was a savage claiming. I was an animal, a predator, and she was my mate. Every thrust drove me deeper into her, my cock slick withthe evidence of Sirrax’s possession. Livia screamed, a ragged, beautiful sound that echoed through the grove, her back arching as she met my rhythm.
Yes,” Sirrax growled. “Claim her. Mark her. She is ours.”
The word ‘mark’ ignited the last vestiges of my control. My canines, longer and sharper than any human’s, ached with a sudden, sharp need. I reached down, sliding my fingers through her hair and pulling her back up against my chest, guiding her face to mine. Her eyes, dazed and unfocused, met mine for a second. She knew what was coming. She nodded, a tiny, almost imperceptible gesture of consent, and I turned her away to expose the smooth, unmarked skin of her throat. On one side, I saw the unmistakable scar where Sirrax had marked her, and I lowered my head to the juncture of her neck and shoulder, inhaling her scent one last time before I sank my teeth into her flesh.
A sharp cry, half pain, half pleasure, tore from her throat. I felt the bond snap into place, a jolt of pure energy that was her and I and a wave of pure, possessive ecstasy washed through me as my mark sealed us together for eternity. We were one.
