Page 17 of Rise of the Witch
Chapter 14
Vasilisa
Asa sat up with a start, peering through my porch’s railing to the ground far below. “What the…?” he muttered, and I followed his gaze to find the skulls topping my fence posts being routinely lit for the night.
I carefully watched the man next to me, curious as to what his reaction to my helpers would be. Obviously, he knew about the existence of shifters—and had probably witnessed what he might consider unusual occurrences since we’d met—but humans were usually unprepared to watch three pairs of disembodied hands carry out household chores. Much to my satisfaction, Asa didnotask me to explain, as if sensing it was not wise to question such things. And right he was.
Knowing too much can shorten your life.
He continued to observe my helpers lighting the perimeter, and I enjoyed the uninterrupted view of him in profile. Yes, there was a gracefulness to him—an ingrained refinement—but there was also somethingwildprowling beneath the surface, straining to be let out. Something that called to me. Sliding down the bench, I purposefully crowded him, noticing the clench of his jaw as my thigh settled against his.
“Does it bother you when I touch you?” I brazenly asked, partially to unsettle him but also because I was genuinely curious how he felt.
“Not at all,” he haltingly replied. “I just find it confusing.” Meeting my gaze, he exhaled slowly and clarified, “I’m not usually interested in women...”
I hummed in understanding. “Ah, I see. And so now you’re having a human identity crisis because you want to fuck me?”
“No!” he yelped, color staining his cheeks again. “I mean, yes...I mean,fuck...it’s not like that!” He ran a hand through his blond curls, eyes darting around as if looking for an escape. “I feeldrawnto you, and it doesn’t make any sense, and I just want to…”
Smoothly rising, I placed my hands against the cabin’s exterior wall on either side of him, caging him in. He raised his gaze to meet mine, muscles tensing in his neck as he swallowed hard, heartbeat audibly rattling in his chest. Yes, this man was probably trained in fifty ways to eliminate another creature, but at this moment, he looked slightly panicked and deliciously helpless.
Like prey.
I lowered myself to straddle him, my long skirt bunching up to accommodate the position, causing his hardness to press against my bare center. Asa shuddered at the contact, his gaze a heady mix of nervousness and desire which I found intoxicating. It had been so long since a man had looked at me with anything other than revulsion, and I could feel wetness already dampening my thighs, awakening something ravenous inside me.
Raking my claws down the wall, I noticed his pupils dilating as the wood splintered around him. “Are you afraid I’ll hurt you?” I breathed against his lips before backing off to stare him down.
The charged silence stretched on as Asa’s gaze flitted between my eyes and my lips, chest heaving in anticipation. “No,” he finally replied. “I want you to.”
You’re mine.
With lightning speed, I buried one of my hands in Asa’s hair as I crushed my lips to his. He groaned, returning the kiss like it was the air he needed to breathe, sucking and licking my lips in a way that made my pussy clench, imagining how his gorgeous face would look between my thighs.
Lightly dragging my claws down his bicep, I tore through shirt and skin, relishing the slickness of his blood on my fingers. He moaned and involuntarily bucked beneath me, his hard cock rubbing the coarse material of his pants against my throbbing clit. Ever the gentleman, Asa kept his hands firmly planted on the bench, his knuckles white as he gripped the raw wood as if restraining himself from touching me.
Good boy.
Raising my head, I wiped some of his own blood across his lips before licking it off, smirking against his mouth as a needy groan escaped him. Remembering how I’d spied on him and Tan together the first night they were here, my aggression suddenly spiked, possessiveness coursing through my veins like a wild river breaking free of its banks. The hut started to pulse and vibrate as I drew power from the surrounding forest, channeling that wild magic into holding the man beneath me captive so I could use him however I saw fit.
Biting down hard on that tempting bottom lip earned me another desperate moan from deep within Asa’s broad chest. I wanted to devour this man—to tear my way through him until there was nothing left that I hadn’t consumed, hadn’t claimed as a part of me. The knowledge that hewantedme to do just that only made me more determined to take everything.
Yanking Asa’s head back, I noticed his gaze was hooded and distant again, only this time, a blissful smile also stretched across his face.
Lighting up his features like the sun...
“What the FUCK are you doing to him, you fucking slut!” Nox’s voice boomed just as I felt myself being yanked off of Asa’s lap and roughly tossed to the porch floor.
You’re a dead man.
Quickly clambering to my feet, I growled low as my claws grew longer still, ready to slice the Russian to slivers for all he’d done. The brutal crack of a fist meeting flesh cleared my vision, and I was shocked to find Asa looming over Nox’s crumpled form. All traces of the dreamy, delicate boy were gone, replaced with a coiled beast ready to strike as he stood between my attacker and me.
“If you touch her again, I will kill you,” Asa evenly stated, the coldness of his tone making me shiver deliciously. Without taking his eyes off the larger man, Asa reached back for my hand, pulling me protectively against his body as he herded me back into the cabin.
The last thing I saw before Asa closed the door was Nox’s face, dark eyes fixed on me, his expression full of hatred and the promise of retribution.
Chapter 15
Taneer
