Page 34 of Soul of a Witch

His movement was quick. The next thing I knew I was sprawled in the chair, and Callum was bent over me. His chest was heaving with deep gulps of air, and a tremor ran through the taut muscles in his arms. His claws were gripped so tightly into the armrest they tore the fabric.

He sucked in a breath, slowly shaking his head. I slid my hand up his arm, and his veins turned black, as if ink was spreading beneath his skin where I touched him.

“You need to think very carefully about what you’re asking of me,” he said, so tightly it was like the words pained him.

“I’ve been careful all my life and look where it’s gotten me.”

His arm was shaking under my hold. I’d never felt a rush like this.

“I’m done being careful,” I said. “I’m not fucking content being silent and sweet and permissive.” All these years I’d spent keeping my head down, being obedient and faithful. Choking down every desire, gagging myself with my own fears.

As Callum hovered mere inches away from my mouth, I said, “Can I trust you?”

“Yes.” He kept his teeth clenched as he spoke. “My loyalty is to you, and you alone. I relinquished fealty to Hell for you. I waited…for so…fucking long…”

There was a sound of snapping wood, and the back of the chair was suddenly loose. The heat of his skin was feverish.

“Why?” I had to know, I needed to understand. My heart pounded, a coil of heat sitting deep inside me.

Carefully, so carefully, like I was made of the thinnest glass, he took my hand. He brought my fingers to his lips, kissed them. He bowed his head and pressed his brow to the back of my hand, growling viciously, “Fate took everything from me but offered you in exchange. Who am I to deny what fate provides? You know I saw you. I heard your voice and you were calling my name. Demons do not dream of witches, Everly.” On a sharp exhale, he continued, “But you’ve overtaken my dreams. A woman I don’t even know. Taunting me like a nymph playing a game of chase. Always years away from me…until now.”

I pulled back my hand, and when he lifted his head, I kissed him.

He surged forward to meet me, pressing me in the chair as his tongue parted my lips and slid inside. The forked sides moved independently, consuming me, while his arm encircled my back and pulled me closer. His touch was pure luxury, his breath flowing into me. He grazed his clawed hand along my jaw, stroked his fingers through my hair before gripping it at the nape of my neck and holding tight. He tugged my head back so he could angle his kiss deeper.

When he parted from me, I was dazed, like warm putty in his hands. I’d had quick kisses before; I’d made out with strangers in bars before fleeing, too timid to do anything more. But this time, I didn’t want to stop. I wasn’t going to run away.

“Oh, my dear lady witch…” His voice vibrated against me with a satisfying rumble as he sank his head against my neck and kissed behind my ear. “I want to do such filthy things to you.” I shivered at the touch of his teeth, those sharp fangs barely skimming me. “Mm, but you’ve never been penetrated before, have you?”

“I…” Anxious shame swirling in my stomach. There were only two ways people had ever reacted to me telling them I was a virgin — either with bizarre fascination or mockery. I didn’t want it to matter, but it always did. Apparently not even demons were exempt. “No, I never have been. I’ve never…I’ve never had sex with anyone.”

“I like the way you say that.” He tipped my head back further and his tongue traced along my throat, the forked sides sliding over my flesh. “Like you’re defiant. Like it’s a challenge. It makes no difference to me, darling, except…” He loosened his hold and let my head come forward. This close, the size of him was even more apparent. It was terrifying, to think thatthatwas supposed to fit insideme.“I’ll have to take my time with you so I don’t injure you. I’ll have to stretch you slowly, one finger at a time. I’ll make that sweet pussy drip for me.”

My mouth uselessly opened and closed, left absolutely dumbfounded at his words, like my brain was about to short circuit.

“You’ve had a little taste now,” he whispered. “You’ve had time to think. I told you to consider carefully. So, are you still so certain you’ll let a demon corrupt you?”

I nodded. There were a million doubts in my mind but not one was stronger than my certainty. I’d been desperate for a way out, desperate for freedom, and this…this was it.

He grabbed my hips and tugged me forward, right to the edge of the chair. My arms flailed, gripping tightly against the armrests as I stared at him between my legs. He tugged down my trousers, pulling them off my legs and tossing them aside. I hadn’t shaved in ages — why bother if no one was going to see it? — and self-consciousness quickly reared its ugly head.

“You’re so soft,” Callum murmured, caressing his hand over my thighs. The sharpness of his claws made me shiver, but he was moving carefully, inspecting every inch of me. Maybe if I’d planned on losing my virginity today, I would have worn something sexier than navy blue panties.

Callum dipped his head, running his tongue along my skin and making me quiver. “Mm, sensitive little thing. You’ve played with yourself before, haven’t you?” He paused, mouth just inches from my panties, sending goosebumps prickling across my legs. “Tell me how you like it. Tell me what you think about when you push your fingers inside yourself. Tell me what makes it feel good.”

I’d never put those thoughts into words before, never tried to articulate to anyone what I wanted, let alone whatfelt good. I’d read descriptions in books that sounded like heaven, I’d watched porn that had me sweating from how hot it was. But verbalizing it, putting those desires into words, was something I had no idea how to do.

He didn’t miss a beat. As my mind turned into a hurricane of embarrassment and uncertainty, he kept delicately touching me and said, “Soft or hard?”

I watched, mesmerized, as his claws left thin red lines down my flesh. “Hard.”

He gripped one leg and pushed it up, folding it close to my stomach while shoving the other leg to the side. I was splayed open for him now, curled in the chair.

“Gentle? Or rough?”

I gulped, but I knew what I wanted. “Rough.”

“Oh, Everly…” He chuckled softly. “I did hope you’d say that.”

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