Total pages in book: 179
Estimated words: 169943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 850(@200wpm)___ 680(@250wpm)___ 566(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 169943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 850(@200wpm)___ 680(@250wpm)___ 566(@300wpm)
“It’s the Conquest Moon,” I cry out, even as he claws at the waist of my pants, desperate to get inside them. I look over at Lark. “He’s not himself. You need to get out of here.”
“This way,” calls someone else. “Over here! We’ve got the ratlings under control.”
Lark hefts her shield and heads out the doors. The group rushes out, Gwenna and the others fleeing the chamber that’s kept us safe for the last while. I remain locked in Hawk’s arms, and I don’t think I could get free if I tried. He’s all over me, clinging and ripping at my clothing as if it offends him.
“Leave the Taurian behind,” the guild soldier calls. “He’s gone mad.”
Hawk rubs his snout against my head, drinking in my scent, even as he squeezes my backside so tightly that I squeak.
“He’s not mad,” I call back. “He’s just in rut.”
“Regardless, leave him behind. We’ll shut him in until it’s safe for him to come out. You can return with us and we’ll lock him in.”
Leave him behind? Leave him trapped in the crypt by himself when he needs me the most? That’s the cruelest of things to suggest.
Hawk’s hands are roaming over my body, squeezing and touching everything. If he were in his right mind, he’d be full of apologies, because though Hawk is many things, he’s always considerate. But he’s not himself right now. He warned me, and warned me again. His big hand finds the front of my top and tears my chemise down, exposing my breast to his roaming hand, and I hastily fling my cloak over both of us as his mouth closes on my nipple.
I make a whimpery noise despite myself.
“Aspeth?” Lark has her weapons out, and she steps toward me. The others are behind her, ready to confront Hawk to save me from him.
I shake my head, clinging to him even as he sucks on my nipple, hard, under the cloak. “You…you all should go. Lock us in. Bar the door. Leave food. Come back…when the Conquest Moon is gone.” It’s hard to speak with his mouth being so distracting, and his fingers are driving between my legs, rubbing me through my pants.
“Are you sure?” Lark hesitates, about to reenter the crypt.
Hawk lifts his head from my breast and growls, low and menacing. I push his head down, back to my breast, and meet Lark’s gaze. I nod at her and mouth, “Go.” I’ve heard stories of the brutal rampages that Taurians in rut will go into, and it makes the ratlings seem tame.
I promised Hawk I’d be with him, and I mean it.
“Aspeth—”
“Get out of here,” I yell, even as his fingers tear a hole in my pants. “Lock us in!”
Gwenna surges back into the room, and for a moment I think she’s going to try to stop me. Instead, she tosses down her bag of supplies and then grabs the doors, shutting them behind her. I hear scraping and a bit of discussion on the other side as they try to figure out the best way to seal the doors, and—
—and then Hawk is pushing a finger into my channel and I suck in a breath, because I’m dry and his finger feels huge and invasive.
“Wait,” I tell him, squirming against his hand. “Wait.”
He growls, this time directed at me.
“Hawk,” I say, keeping my voice even. I have to stay focused, and hope that my calm bleeds over into him. I grab one of his horns and angle his head back, forcing him to look me in the eye. He thrusts his finger into me again, his features full of mindless hunger as his red gaze meets my determined one. “I’m here.”
“Mine,” he growls.
“Yours,” I agree. I squirm atop the finger that pushes deep inside me. “I’m here with you. I’m going to be with you every moment of the Conquest Moon’s passing. But I need to be prepared so it doesn’t hurt, understand?”
“Aspeth,” he rasps. “Mine.”
This isn’t going as I’d like. Time for bigger moves, then. I grab him by the face and kiss his nose. It’s broad and dry, and when he huffs like a charging bull, he huffs right in my face. If he can’t be in his own head enough to prepare my body, I need to take control. Maybe I can make him come at least once just to get the edge off. If nothing else, if I can get his cock wet with his dripping seed, maybe that will ease the way enough. “Hawk.” I make my tone as sultry and seductive as I can. “I want to put your cock in my mouth.”
“Aspeth.”
I can’t tell if he’s hearing what I’m saying or if he’s completely lost. “Aspeth’s mouth,” I say in a flirty voice, and lick his nose. “Your cock. My tongue.”