Page 58 of Stolen By The Beast
“No, you did not.”
“What’s wrong, Karvik?” I took a step toward him, but stopped when he backed away.
“It is nothing. All will be right in the morning. Please sleep, little one.”
“Karvik, I’m not an idiot. You are avoiding my touch and instead of us holding each other after having a really freaking bad day, you are trying to stuff me in a cave with spider roomies so you can leave.”
Karvik growled, but refused to meet my eyes.
“I’m your Chosen. You can tell me! Maybe I can help you with whatever is bothering you!”
This time, when Karvik looked at me, his eyes were dark, absent of the warm glow they usually carried.
“You can help, but at what cost to you?” he snarled, taking a slow step toward me.
“Wh-what?” I stuttered, not understanding.
Karvik took another calculated step toward me. “I am fighting my instincts. Primal urges that are pounding through my skull, demanding I obey.”
His voice had dropped to a deep velvet that swirled around me, drawing me toward him.
“Today, I fought enemies who wished to destroy me. Those enemies tried to stake a claim and take what I had already claimed as mine.”
My foot lifted from the ground, but I didn’t know if I planned to take a step toward him or away from him. “Me?”
Karvik’s body pressed against mine an instant later. He was so fast, I hadn’t even seen him move.
His claws sank into my hair, pulling my head to the side to bear my neck to him.
Karvik nuzzled it in the sweet way he did every evening before falling asleep and every morning when I woke in his arms.
Then his sharp canines pressed into my skin, not enough to draw blood, but enough to make a point. He could kill me before I’d even realized death was coming for me.
His tongue teased a trail up my neck before he jerked himself away from me. Staggering a few feet away, he sagged to the ground with a pained moan.
“Karvik!” I rushed to him.
Grabbing his skull between my palms, I turned his head to face me. There was a faint, pulsing glow in his eyes.
My bonded was in pain.
“You told me about this. That there were times when your instincts would take over and you must answer their demands or be punished by hours of pain. Is that what is happening?”
“Yes.” Karvik rubbed his cheek against my palm, a giant beast seeking comfort. “My instincts demanded the death of all the intruders, but I denied it the satisfaction.”
“Because I asked you to let the officer go?”
Karvik’s silence was answer enough.
“Is that the only thing causing your pain?”
“No. My nature needs a release for the build of energy from today, but it also demands I mate with my Chosen to stake my claim that you are mine, and no one will take you from me.”
He was in pain because he was resisting sex? That was easy to fix.
Without a word, I stood and slipped my dress over my head. I let it fall to the floor and then climbed into Karvik’s lap.
“Stop fighting. I love you for who you are, and part of that is those instincts that make you all growly and protective.” I pressed a kiss to his skull and reached up to wipe a stray spider web from his antler.
