Taming the Beast

“I want you to ride me like a stallion.”

“Like a horse?”

“Yes.” My hips surged upward. She gasped as my hardness touched her soft petals.

“I don’t know how,” she said.

“I’ll show you.” I ground against the outside of her body, careful to touch her pleasure center. Her eyes closed and mouth opened as I rubbed against her, giving her the smallest taste of what she would have. She breathed in big gasps.

“That’s right,” I praised. “Ride me.”

She rocked her hips as my tip entered her outer folds. My hands were on her hips now, and she was moving in a steady rhythm on top of me, taking just a half inch of me inside her before letting me fall out again.

I loved her teasing, but when the need to come filled me like a forest fire, I gripped her hips a little harder and pulled her body down onto mine. She opened her mouth and screamed, but I didn’t give her any mercy. I was now slamming her small body down on top of mine as her mouth opened even more widely.

“Take me,” I growled, and I knew that my bear was at the front. “Take me.”

She put her delicate hands on my chest, her hair hanging down and tickling my face. I didn’t mind the tickling, though, because her body was merging with mine at a very fast pace. I could tell by the way that she was arching her back that she was close.

“Mine,” I growled. I turned us so that she was on the bottom. My hands were pushing her knees apart as I went just a little more deeply into her perfect, soft body. “Mine.”

She screamed wordlessly when my middle finger stroked her clit, slowly at first. But when I picked up the pace, her hips went wild as her body bucked under mine. As her muscles contracted, I could feel my own orgasm being drawn out of me. My bear roared its pleasure. Right here was where we belonged. When I was done, I was still hard. I knew that she had until very recently been a virgin, though, so I pulled out of her, even though my bear protested. He wanted everyone to smell us on our mate. I knew that it was impractical to stay inside of her forever, even though it was what my bear insisted that we do. We had responsibilities.

I stroked her sweet-scented hair and bit the top part of her ear. My bear wanted me to leave a mating mark on her neck, never mind that it would be noticeable. I licked it instead, placating him but not giving him enough.

My hand made its way down between her legs. She was coated in our juices, hers and mine. I used the slickness to coax her clit into giving her an orgasm again. She was so sweet like this, panting and exhausted but unable to stop herself from clenching down on my fingers.

“That’s it, my dear.” Her eyes were shut tight now, and I could see in her face that she was trying very hard not to scream.

But when I got my thumb on her clit, she couldn’t hold back anymore. Her scream of ecstasy echoed off of the stone walls of my bedchamber. Our bedchamber.

My bear was extremely smug after we pleased our mate over and over again. I went to my washbasin and washed my hands quickly before taking the towel and wiping between her legs. She was a little sticky. I kissed the top of her mound when I was down, which made her gasp a little. I could see her core clench a little bit, as if she were experiencing aftershocks.

“I think you killed me,” she murmured so softly that if I hadn’t had shifter hearing, I might’ve missed it.

“No,” I said, leaning in to kiss the tip of her nose. “You’ll live to do that many more times.”

I pulled the quilt over her and made sure that she was warm. She was a fragile human who could get sick from the chill in the air. A castle was difficult to heat.

“I feel so lazy, sleeping in the middle of the day.” Her eyes were closed. Her voice was soft, stroking something inside of my chest.

“I’ll join you.” I untucked the covers that I had pulled around her and wrapped her soft body in my arms. I buried my nose in her hair. I could feel warmth in the center of my chest, as if my heart were sitting in front of a roaring fire.

I felt a depth of contentment that I’d never felt in my life. From the first moment I saw her, I knew that she was it for me. Yes, this was an arranged marriage. She was only here because her father had bargained with his daughters. But any man who couldn’t hold onto somebody like Cateline didn’t deserve to have her.

I thought of the sight of her climbing the rose garden’s wall. I moved her hair aside in one swift motion and I bit her neck. My bear roared in approval. It was what we’d wanted since that moment in the garden. Even if she wanted to leave us, I knew that my bear would follow her to the end of the world if it would make her happy to live elsewhere. He was satisfied.

“Are you purring?”

“No,” I said, even though my chest and throat were vibrating. “It’s my bear. And it’s a rumble, not a purr.”

She turned in my arms, bit my neck just hard enough to break the skin, and then kissed me. I loved the feeling that she claimed me just like I had claimed her. “Whatever it is, I like feeling it vibrate through me.”

She slid downward to rest her head on my shoulder. I don’t know what happened, but it was almost as effective as a lullaby. I fell asleep immediately.

Nosebleed

Marceau