16 13

Beast watched Sonya be dragged off by his brother. Try as he might, he couldn’t pretend that the quick way she ran into his brother’s arms didn’t infuriate him. His self-control was rapidly slipping away from him.

In truth, he didn’t know how he managed to keep his wits about him as he spoke—more like scolded her—when inside of him his emotions swirled out of control. He couldn’t decide what pissed him off more: the stupidity of her actions and the danger she had put herself in or the fact that he was drawn to her with an attraction so profound it was beginning to shake his very foundation. He couldn’t decide, but what he did know was that if she didn’t look at him like he was the worst sort of creature, he might have been a little kinder to her.

Then again, she seemed to be just fine clinging to his brother. That was something Beast couldn’t tolerate. He could handle her terrified looks and scared flinches, but he would not let her cower from him only to run into the arms of his brother.

Taking several deep breaths, Beast tried to clear his mind. A daunting task given the fact that the scent of the two wolf corpses wrapped around his senses, continually reminding him of the violence that pumped through his veins. The joy that had rushed through him as he had snapped the wolves’ necks in his jaws was indescribable. It was pure elation that sent tingles down his spine.

How long had it been since he had last hunted… last killed?

He had spent so much time locked away in his castle that he had forgotten what it felt like to give in to his darker needs.

Groaning, Beast dropped down to all fours. Although he might hate the curse that was placed upon him, he couldn’t let the opportunity to run free pass him by. When Cassandra had first cursed him, he had been more man than beast. However, as the years ticked endlessly by, he knew that was no longer the case. With each passing moment, each breath he took, he could feel the monster in him slowly claiming more and more of his soul, and he feared he had become more beast than man. If he didn’t break the curse soon, even before the last rose petal fell, there would be nothing left of the man he had once been.

He pawed the ground beneath him, reveling at the way the cold dirt was mashed between the pads of his feet. In the back of his mind, there was a sliver of fear that he no longer wanted to return to the way he had once been. True, his human part craved companionship and longed to once again feel the warmth of a woman’s thighs wrapped around his waist, but the feral power that pounded through him was intoxicating, a dark sensation he was drowning in.

His gaze went to the thick forest in front of him. Deep in those woods, he could lose himself and forget who and what he was and simply give himself over to the world around him.

Freedom…

It was all he ever wanted. Taking off into the depth of the forest, Beast ran. Blood pumping through his veins as his senses heightened, he became one with the enchanted forest around him.

How many times had he wished things could have been different?

Had he known Cassandra would have acted in a hostile and unreasonable manner, he would have never touched her. Back then, he had held her at a higher standard than any other woman and most people he knew. Too many times he had confided in her, had given her his trust, something that was nearly impossible to get and hold on to. There was nothing he couldn’t tell her… she had been his best friend. She was supposed to understand him. The last thing she was supposed to do was act like every other female he had met, letting her feelings and emotions control her.

Of its own accord, his mind drifted back to the first day he had tasted her body, a moment in time he wished he could go back and undo…

“What is wrong with you women?” Jacks asked as he burst through the doors of Cassandra’s bedroom, hardly noticing that she was in the process of getting dressed. After all, he had seen her half-dressed more times than he could count. In all the time they had spent together, her naked body was something he had seen more times than he could count. There had been many times where he had admired the subtle curves of her body and the flawless beauty of her skin, but he had never touched her.

He even admitted that at one point he had craved to touch her and know the softness of her flesh. But, as the years ticked by and their bond began to grow, their relationship grew into something he valued more than bodily pleasure.

His personal record keeper, she was someone he truly loved. Besides his brother, Cassandra was the only other person Beast would do anything for.

“How many times must I tell you to knock before you just barge into my room?”

“I’ve lost count,” was his nonchalant reply as he dropped into the armchair beside the bed. “It’s not like I haven’t seen you naked before.”

That earned him a scowl from across the room after she had closed her robe and turned to face him.

Although he respected her more than anyone else, he was still a man. As a man, he could appreciate a beautiful woman when he saw one. Friend or not, Cassandra was, and probably would be for a long time, one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. A perfect creature if he ever saw one. Skin the color of rich chocolate covered her from head to toe. When you added the soft bounce of her full breasts as she walked, it was enough to have his body stirring.

“You have never seen me naked,” she told him flatly as she walked over to her dresser. Jacks watched as she grabbed a jar of scented oils and then headed back towards the bed.

“That much is true.” She seemed to ignore his somewhat dejected tone as she sat on the bed. As if he wasn’t sitting in front of her, his growing erection started to make him uncomfortable behind his pants, she went about oiling her body, starting with the length of her long and shapely legs until her hands disappeared under her robe.

Thoughts he hadn’t had for ages suddenly started to swarm, catching him off guard and unaware he couldn’t shut them out before they consumed him. Watching her lotion her legs, her thick black hair falling to one side and her towel hanging open just enough to give him a tempting view of her breasts, Jacks said in a hoarse voice, “But don’t think it’s something I haven’t thought about on more than one occasion.”

She gave him a dismissive chuckle, one that he had heard a thousand times before, yet for some reason, it bothered him more than it should have that day.

“You don’t believe me?” he asked, his tone slightly offended.

Lifting her head, her black eyes locking on to him, Cassandra gave him a dull stare.

“What can I do to make you believe me?” He meant it as a joke, something to lighten the awkward tension between them. Instead, his words were grave and serious. Again, she gave him another one of those dismissive chuckles that served to piss him off.

Cassandra had to be the only woman in existence that had ever brushed him off that quickly, treating him as if he was some commoner and not a prince, soon to become king like he was some average man and not one of the most handsome men she had ever seen. It was something that not only irked his nerves but bruised his ego as well… and a bruised ego was something he simply couldn’t tolerate. Before he knew it, Jacks was out of his chair and kneeling in front of her, one of her slim ankles in his hand. His gaze locked with hers, and something passed between them, a seductive and dark enticement that slowly crept its way down his spine and into his cock.

If it wasn’t for the surprised look on her face, a look he had never seen before, he would have thought she used some type of magic spell on him.

Adorable… The word crossed his mind, and he held back a smile. Cassandra was many things—a tempting vixen, a seducing siren, an enchantress—but this newly developed vulnerability was something that pulled him in and made him want to tease her even further. A piece of him swelled with male pride as he realized he was probably the only man to ever cause that look on her face.

“What the hell are you doing?” she asked him, and he guessed she meant her words to come out in her usual normal and unfazed tone instead of the breathless whisper that reached his ears.

“Making you a believer.” It was an easy and loaded reply, which Jacks gave as he uncrossed her legs and pushed them open. His gaze never wavered from hers. He expected her to push him away, something she normally did when he flirted with her. When she did nothing but watch him with a mix of curiosity and confusion, he took that as permission to continue.

“If you think you can, you are more than welcome to try.” The sudden challenge in her tone had him raising a brow. Gone was the vulnerable woman he had thought was so adorable. Suddenly, before him was the seductress he knew her to be. Her black eyes seemed to grow darker with her growing arousal.

“Oh, I know I can.” He smirked and then turned his attention to the body before him. Her robe kept much of her body from his view. Soon that wouldn’t be a problem for him. Sliding his hands along her leg and up her inner thighs, he reveled in the way her breaths came in short bursts. For all her bravo, she was much more responsive than he thought she would be.

“Now, let’s get rid of this.” Reaching up, Jacks untied her robe and watched with hungry eyes as it fell open.

“Do you like what you see?” she asked him in a low voice.

“Indeed, I do,” he responded without taking his eyes of her body. The black bra and panty set he wore complimented her darker skin tone, and full breasts sat nicely framed in the bra she wore. Through the flimsy fabric, he could see her hardening nipples.

He licked his lips.

“Are you going to stare all day?”

No, he had no intention of staring. He just wanted to take a minute to admire the masterpiece before him and record the valley of her breasts, the flat planes of her stomach, the narrowing of her waist, and the width of her hips before he lost himself.

Jacks let his hands roam freely up her thighs, lightly brushing against the warm mound of flesh that stared at him until he was cupping her breasts. Kneading her through the fabric of her bra, he pinched her nipples, rolling them around between his thumb and forefinger. He watched her observe him for a moment, a defiant challenge in her gaze before he dipped his head between her legs and inhaled her musky scent. Pure and decadent woman, he couldn’t help but lightly brush his tongue along her lace-covered mound. Her moan reached his ear, and he didn’t have to look up to know that she had rested back on her elbows and thrown her head back as she waited for him to feast on her. He could tell by the subtle shift of her body.

His hands released her breast in favor of her thighs. Grabbing them, he lifted her legs until they rested on his shoulders. In the position he wanted, one that gave him the most embarrassing access to her, he tasted her. Taking her mound into his mouth, he found her clit through the fabric of her panty, suckling on her until her juices slowly began to fill his mouth. With every slight twitch of her body, he sucked harder.

“Damn it,” she cursed harshly. “These have to go.”

One moment he was teasing her through her underwear, and the next his mouth was on warm flesh.

The joys of sex with a witch. Jacks mused to himself as he dove back into his meal.

With the barrier gone, he could freely taste her. His tongue flicked her clit, drawing it out until it was as hard as his cock. Then he suckled it gently, with soft tugs until her fingers gripped the back of his head and her hips grinded against his face, a silent urge for him to take it up a notch. With her moans filling his ears and her nails digging into his scalp, he indulged his senses. Taking one of his hands, he spread her lips wide. Finding the entrance to her body, he slid his tongue inside of her, licking at the walls of her body until she was all he knew. Her moans grew louder, her hips moved faster, and his tongue worked harder.

“Fuck… me.” It was all the warning he got before her legs locked around him, and her body jerked as her orgasm washed over her. In a gush, she filled his mouth, and he swallowed all of her. She tasted of woman and power—something dark and dangerous, yet sinfully delicious. He lapped at her until the last of her flowed into his mouth. It wasn’t until the death grip around his neck loosed did he release her from his mouth.

“Jacks,” she panted his name, extending her arms to him as he made his way up her body. “Should we be doing this?”

There was that adorable woman again.

“Probably not.” He placed a light kiss on her lips as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “It’s too late to turn back now.”

“True.” With that, she pulled him to her, capturing his lips with hers, and kissed him senseless.

He growled low in his throat as his hands once again found her breasts, which he noticed was missing a bra.

“I need you inside of me,” she whispered against his lips. One moment he was fully clothed, and the next they were both naked. For a moment, he locked gazes with her. In the back of his mind was a small voice yelling for him to stop, to pull back before his actions could come back to bite him in the ass later. He ignored the warning, too ensnared by the beautiful witch beneath him. As he gripped his shaft and rubbed the head of his cock against her entrance, nothing else mattered—the past, present, future… none of it. All he wanted was to bury himself deep inside his little witch and see what magic they could make. Without another word, he pushed inside her. Hot, wet, and tight, he was sure his mind would explode as pleasure erupted through his veins.

When he thought back about it, he wished he had listened to that voice in the back of his mind. Maybe then his world wouldn’t have fallen apart, and he would still have his best friend. His kingdom wouldn’t have fallen into shambles, and he wouldn’t be cursed to live his days in the darkness.

He growled into the night sky. At that moment, he wished he had never met her because it was much easier for him to be a monster than it was for him to pretend to be the prince charming that existed in fairy tales… that part of him no longer existed, and he doubted it ever did.