His lips were firm and full, and the flavor of him reminded her of the wilderness, of the danger that surrounded them. Her fingers started tingling, and she felt her heart start to jackknife behind her ribs. She wanted to touch him, but another part of her, maybe the common sense and survival part, told her this man was not her friend, was not someone she should be submitting to.
But Audrey couldn’t help it, and certainly couldn’t stop herself from getting swept away in the kiss. And then when he dipped his tongue in her mouth, she said screw it all. Maybe it was the adrenaline pumping through her veins or the fact she couldn’t deny there was arousal and definite chemistry moving between them. All she knew was her emotions were high right now, and she didn’t want to come back to reality.
She braced her hands on his thick biceps, knowing that what she was allowing to happen went against all reason. But right now she didn’t care. God, she didn’t care.
Chapter
Six
She was sweet and so fucking soft against him. And when Audrey touched his arms, curled her nails into his flesh, his cock jerked like it had a mind of its own. Styx wanted her, wanted to lay her upon the furs of his pallet and claim her. He wanted his mark on her, his babies growing inside of her, and wanted her to admit she was his.
No one will ever have you but me. You’re my female, my mate.
He grabbed the back of her head at the same time he stroked her tongue with his. She gasped against his mouth. He started walking them backward, the primal side of him rising up and roaring out to take her, to claim her because she was his mate in every way.
When the cavern wall stopped their movements, he groaned into her mouth, his cock hard, demanding. But she placed her hands on his chest and pushed him back. As hard as it was, Styx retreated. Her cheeks were flushed, her mouth open and glossy, and her eyes wide. Styx was nearly to the point where his animalistic side—the part of him that only emerged when he was going to claim his mate—would have come out and all he would have been able to focus on was the mating.
“Your eyes,” she breathed out. “Your … teeth.”
Yes, he knew what he looked like, knew that because of his need to claim her, his eyes had gone darker, the pupils nearly taking up the white of his eyes. And his teeth, or more so the upper fangs that were on either side of his front teeth, probably made him look just as beastly as the creature he’d slain.
She started shaking her head. “I can’t do this.” She exhaled. “What am I thinking? You want to keep me your captive. I can’t be a prisoner. I can’t be what you need or want.”
He made a low, animalistic sound in the back of his throat and moved closer to her again. He placed a hand on either side of her head, caging her in, and leaned in so their faces were only an inch apart. Styx inhaled deeply, and he smelled her resolve, her need to not be seen as a caged animal, as a prisoner. But he also scented her arousal, the fact she was wet between her thighs … for him.
“Let’s get one thing straight, my female.” He stared right in her eyes and moved one of his hands closer to her face so he could run his thumb along the shell of her ear. “I may never harm you, may always protect you, and see you’re cared for, but never underestimate what a male will do, and the lengths they’ll go, for their mate.” He leaned in another inch until their lips were close enough that when he spoke they’d brush together. “From the moment I saw you I knew you’d be mine.”
She shook her head but didn’t say anything.
“Oh yes, female. You are mine, and there isn’t anything or anyone, man or beast, that will take you from me.” He grinned, but it wasn’t one of amusement or to ease her. He wanted her to see how serious he was. “You can claim you don’t want this, but I can smell how wet that virgin pussy is for me.” He couldn’t stop the low growl that left him.
“I’m not some piece of property you can claim,” she said softly and swallowed, obviously trying to seem stronger than she felt. Her arousal hadn’t dimmed, and Styx knew as much as she fought it, it claimed her as much as it did him. “I was running from servitude, and I won’t be subjected to it again.”
He lifted his hand and pushed the long fall of her fire-colored hair away from her neck. “It’s an honor to be mated.” He looked down at her lips. “And you are not being kept here as my prisoner.” He lifted his gaze to her face again. “But make no mistake in thinking you can run from me.” He ran his finger along the side of her throat, her pulse beating wildly beneath her ear. “I have your scent ingrained in my very cells.” He growled the words out. “I can find you anywhere, my female, and I will track you if you’re ever taken from me.”
“You’re a barbarian,” she said, but there was no heat or even disgust in her words.
He didn’t deny what and who he was. He took a step closer until he heard her gasp and knew she felt his cock pressing against her upper stomach. “You feel that?” he asked, but she didn’t respond, just licked her lips. He bared his teeth so she could see his fangs again. “You see these?” Again she didn’t respond. “I’m going to claim you by taking your virginity, by shoving my cock so far into you that you won’t know where I end and you begin.” His cock jerked after he spoke, and her eyes widened further. He leaned close so his mouth was by her ear now. “And I’ll use my fangs to pierce this pretty throat of yours, take your essence into my body, and leave my mark so every other male knows who you belong to.”
She was breathing harder, faster, and the scent of her arousal moving higher was like a flower blooming.
He leaned back so he could look in her eyes again. Styx placed his hand right over her belly, and although she probably wouldn’t take kindly to what he was about to say, he needed her to see exactly how determined and serious he was about this whole situation. “And every single time I take you, claim you, wife, I’ll make sure to fill you up with my seed until it slips out of your hot little pussy.”
This little sound left her, maybe outrage, but also maybe with a hint of desire.
“And I’ll keep filling you up until I put my baby right here.” He added a little pressure to her belly. He watched her chest rise and fall. “I don’t think you fully understand what it means to be mated to me, female. But you will, and very soon.”
Several days later
Audrey could have said she was too afraid of Styx to try to escape again, or that there was no hope of her getting down the mountain. She could even say the beasts out there in the wilderness had her too afraid to try to run. Audrey could have said that and more, but the truth was it wasn’t those things that kept her where she was, but the fact she was so confused by her own emotions concerning Styx that had her in this cave.
He had his back to her, was crouched on his haunches, cooking some kind of meat he’d caught just earlier this morning. Although he’d only been gone for an hour or so, and she probably could have explored more of the cavern that led to the outside, the truth was she’d been afraid. He’d told her she was safe being alone in the cave during the daylight hours because the most dangerous of predators came out at night. But of course all she thought about was that hideous creature that had wanted her as a meal.