She turned again and faced him, closed the distance between them to rub her hard nipples against his chest, to drag her cheek against the edge of his jaw, marking herself with his scent.
“Just think, if you were free…”
Meg kissed his neck then nipped at his carotid before tracing a trail down his body to his cock, stopping just shy of tasting it again. She flashed him a wicked smirk, knowing exactly what she was doing to him and enjoying every second.
She eased down onto the cold floor and unsnapped the button to her leather pants. Meg leaned back and, still watching Marcus, slipped her hand down to her cunt and teased her first two fingers over her clit.
The sensation felt good, but what gave her a thrill, what made her so hot, was watching as all of his muscles strained against his bonds. His veins pressed against his skin with his effort.
“If you were free,
you
could touch me just like this.” The zipper slid down as she pushed her fingers farther inside and gave herself the solid animal fucking she wanted from Marcus.
She moaned and arched up to meet her own caress. Meg was so wet with want of him, her cunt slick and hot around her fingers.
An animal roar tore from him and the links on the chains fractured under the torque of his strength, dropping him to the ground with a thud. Marcus didn’t hesitate to pounce on her, ripping her leathers off in one fluid motion.
Marcus shifted her onto her stomach and mounted her like a wolf would his mate. She could feel his growling rumble low in his belly and Meg pushed back, meeting his thrusts as he drilled into her.
His fingers found her clit, strumming the engorged bud in rhythm with his thrusts.
She loved the feel of his hard, taut abs against her ass, his strong thighs braced on both sides of her, the heat of his chest on her back. His thick cock pounding into her cunt.
Meg bucked against him, crying out as he hit her core, ecstasy spiraling in concentric circles so she felt every jolt of pleasure all the way to her fingertips. Bliss fogged her awareness, she couldn’t fathom anything beyond the next thrust—the next moment when his cock filled her, stretched her, only to withdraw and plunge into her again.
Her whole body trembled as he pushed her higher, harder. She grit her teeth against the onslaught of pleasure as she fought her orgasm, but Marcus wouldn’t be denied.
She could do nothing but surrender. A cry was torn from her as she came, a keening as the orgasm hit, rocking her body with ecstasy as the universe imploded behind her eyes.
Marcus grabbed her hips and used them to help her keep meeting his thrusts as he sought his own completion. Meg shuddered when his cock surged and she felt him spill inside her.
They collapsed to the floor together, both breathing in short bursts. He drew her close to him and kissed her softly.
“You have to chain me back up,” he said raggedly.
“No, you’re not an animal.”
“Oh, but I am.” He pressed his broad hand against the small of her back and brought her flush against him.
He was hard again. Already.
“That’s impossible.”
“No, it’s the beast. Either fuck me again or chain me back up. Or the beast will run.”
“Will it?” she asked breathlessly.
She sat up and shifted to her knees, her hands tracing over the hard lines of his flesh even as it shifted. He was Changing.
“Too late, Meg. Chain me and run!” His head was thrown back and his claws dug long grooves in the marble floor.
Yet she knew he wouldn’t hurt her. That which made her a Fury, which showed her the hearts of men, showed her the heart of the wolf inside him. Wolves mated for life and Lycanos were no different. He would never hurt her.
He needed to see that, to know that for himself.
“I won’t chain you,” she said, hopping to her feet, still naked. “And I’ll only run if you promise to chase me.”
With a primeval roar, the beast exploded from Marcus Kage.
What might have been an agonizing process of breaking bones, blood and pain, was swift and smooth as one reality bled into another like the colors on an artist’s palette. His wheat-gold hair blended into a bright, silky pelt. His muscles bulged and flexed, becoming larger, more animal, yet still bipedal and human. He stood taller, broader, his large hands now terrible claws. His hard-chiseled features elongated into a muzzle with a fierce jaw and predator’s teeth that could only be meant for brutality.
His amber gaze fixed on her.
And all Meg could think about was what it would feel like to be claimed by the beast—to be his carnal prey.
Megaera smiled…
Then tossed a saucy look over her shoulder as she ran for the cave entrance. When a loud howl sounded from behind her, she laughed.
“Catch me if you can, beast.”
Chapter Five
Marcus awoke with the cool night breeze on his face and the scent of fresh spring grasses in his nose. There was the familiar, bitter copper tang of blood on his tongue, but he felt
good
. Powerful. Alive.
The full moon was up—and he was still a man.
What had he done?
The last thing he remembered was feeling the Change coming on and fleeing Nicodemus Frost’s house for the cave, where he could chain himself up. Either he hadn’t made it or someone had let him out.
The blood in his mouth… By Artemis,
what had he done
?
He looked down, checking for the source of the blood, horrified he was going to find himself covered with it and what used to be a person. But the only thing he was covered with was a naked Fury.
Instead of a crimson splash, the silver-gold of her hair spilled over his chest and she was curled into him as if he were the safest place in the world. Both of their feet were caked in dark earth and flickers of memories erupted in his brain.
Meg coming to the cave. Sucking him off. Fucking him.
Running from him.
But not in fear. Laughing. Taunting his beast to chase her—and chase it did.
He
did. Until he caught her and fucked her again. They ran the day and night, frolicking in field and forest, before collapsing here beneath the stars in each other’s arms.
He hadn’t hurt her. He hadn’t hurt
anyone
.
Marcus remembered her demanding that he bite her, and she came so hard when he had, her nails digging into his shoulders and her slick heat spasming around his cock.
Her long lashes fluttered and her eyes drifted open, fixing him with her blue gaze. “See? Wasn’t that fun?”
“I could have hurt you.”
“This again? No, you couldn’t have. That’s not who you are. Trust me, I’m a Fury. I know these things.”
He tightened his arm around her, locking her against his side as if that would protect her from him, Nicodemus Frost and even herself.
“Will you tell me what happened, Marcus? What makes you think you killed the woman you were talking about?”
The memories that had startled trickling through a crack in the wall since he’d met Megaera were suddenly overwhelming. “She was an apprentice healer in the next village over from where I was born. We fell in love and I’d already asked her father’s permission to marry her when I found out I was a Lycanos. I wanted her to know too before she married me.”
Meg nodded. “Of course you did.”
“When I told her, she said she didn’t want to marry me. Didn’t want to have Lycanos children.”
Marcus was surprised to see his own pain reflected in Megaera’s eyes. There was no pity there, only a shared understanding. Empathy.
“So I told her father I couldn’t pay the bride price we’d agreed upon. Shamed myself and said I couldn’t provide for her. He told me that he knew the truth, and the wedding would continue as planned. She came to me later, crying. Said she had to see the animal she’d be forced to take to her bed, demanded I show her. When I did, she ran.
“I don’t remember anything after that except the chase, and then I woke up with the taste of her blood on my tongue and strips of her bloody dress scattered through the forest.” He took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. “After I realized what I’d done, I took what was left of her dress and three silver bullets that had been blessed by Artemis and gave them to her father. Her family refused to take my life, even though I begged.”
“What was her name?” Meg asked.
“Esmerelda Payne. Esme.”
Meg sat up, her back ramrod straight and her eyes narrowed. “Esme Payne? You said she was a healer?”
“Yes,” Marcus replied.
“I
know
an Esme Payne. A wicked witch, in fact. She’s an Amazon ally, helps us out with everything from birth control to warding spells. I’ve never looked inside her because I’ve always known that if I did, I’d have to punish her…and we need her. In fact, I’ve even hidden her presence from Nicodemus Frost.”
“I killed Esme, Meg. And she was a healer, not a witch. Good or bad.” He sat up and looked for his clothes then realized he had none. He wondered just where the fuck he and Meg were.
He refused to acknowledge the hope that Esme was still alive. The betrayal that surged at the mere thought she might have lied to him for two hundred years, let him hate himself for her death…
“Don’t you think I would know if you’d killed someone?” Megaera raised her eyebrow.
“No. I’m a beast, Meg. Your powers don’t apply.”
“Maybe not, but I can still see into your soul whether it’s in my power to punish you or not, and I see no unrighteous deaths.”
“I don’t have time for fantasies, Meg. I have murders to solve.”
“So do I. Don’t you understand what it’s like for me to feel guilt as a Fury? To feel remorse for something I’ve done?”
“Oh, and what is it you feel remorse for? For lying to me?”
“I didn’t—”
“A lie of omission is still a lie.”
“Damn it! No. I told you there were some things I can’t talk about. Not even to you. Not as a cop, not as my marked mate. I just can’t. But it
is
my fault that Galatea died.”
“Frost thinks so too. And he’s going to kill you.”
“Let him try. Guilt will cause my power to devour me from the inside out before he gets a chance.”
“Maybe not. He thought of Galatea as a daughter. His anger is righteous.”
“Doubtful. Nicodemus Frost is frozen to the core. He feels nothing for no one. If he comes near me, I’ll destroy him.”
“How?”
“Haven’t decided yet. But we have bigger problems.” Meg straddled him. “We should probably talk about this marked thing. Don’t you think?”
“Later,” he said as he rolled her over and pushed her down in the grass. “I can’t think with your sweet pussy against my cock.”
“Oh?” She laughed. “Then maybe I should find some panties. I don’t want to be a distraction.”
“Yes, you do.”
“Fine, I do.” She smiled.
There was a long moment of silence as they looked at each other. It seemed they were both on the cusp of saying something, but neither did. The playful mood became heavy and suddenly too intense.
The prospect that this woman belonged to him was staggering. A punch in the gut that every full moon could be like this…every
day
.
She was beautiful, intelligent, strong and sensual. She wanted him. Wanted him enough to mark him, to claim him.
To wrap her legs around his waist now and arch into him in invitation…
Her cheeks pinkened. “What?” she asked.
Marcus drew the pad of his thumb over the curve of her cheek. “I like looking at you.”
“Then I guess I should give you something to look at.”
She shifted her body weight and he allowed her to switch their positions until he was on his back in the grass and she sat astride him, her moonlight hair streaming over her shoulder in waves, her rosebud nipples and the globes of her breasts visible through her curtain of hair. She braced her hands on his shoulders and ground her hips against him, the moisture from her ready pussy slicking his cock as she did.
He bucked his hips, seeking entry, but she held herself aloft. “Not until I say.” Meg raised an eyebrow. “I told you I’d give you something to look at, not a Fury ride.”
He laughed. “So how does one book a Fury ride?” Marcus slid his hands up her thighs to her hips, her ribcage, then up to cup her breasts, stroking his thumbs over her erect nipples.
Her diaphragm rose and fell just a little faster as her pulse increased. He leaned up and took one pert nipple in his mouth, grazing the tip with his teeth. She gasped and carded her fingers through his hair to pull him closer.
“I thought I was just supposed to be looking, not licking?” he murmured against her skin.
“Done playing.” She pushed him down and reached between them, wrapped her hand around his cock and guided him home.
The feel of her pussy clenching around his cock and the feral look on her face were almost enough to make him come. But he controlled his breathing, his response to her.
He’d never cared much about the pleasure of the women he’d paid to fuck him, or whether or not how long he’d lasted was good for them. It had been a mechanical transaction. Marcus had always been afraid of letting it be anything more. Scared he’d hurt them.
But this was different. He wanted to be inside her in all ways. His cock in her cunt, filling her with his seed. He wanted to be in her head, too, wanted her to think about him and all the pleasure he could give her, wanted to be in her heart…her soul. He wanted to possess her thoroughly, but even though they were marked mates, Marcus knew no male would ever truly possess a Fury. They were wild, free.
He grit his teeth when she rolled her hips and a groan escaped him.
“You like that, Lycanos?” She did it again and his balls tightened, his abdomen tensed.
“Be careful, Fury. Or this ride will be over before it starts.”
She tightened and released her pussy muscles in quick succession. “That’s what I’m hoping for. You owned my ass three times earlier. It’s my turn.” Megaera leaned down to whisper in his ear. “I want you to come. Right now.”
“I don’t,” he said. “I want
you
to come first. Getting me off is easy; it takes no effort. There’s no challenge. But you, my Fury…” He nipped at her throat, tasted the wild on her skin, the salt, the remnants of their run through the woods. He found where he’d marked her and swirled his tongue over the newly sensitized skin.
“Marcus—oh!” She gasped as her nails dug into the same place on his shoulders where
she’d
marked
him
.
That slight razor of discomfort shredded all of his intentions and he tightened his arms around her as his cock surged and spent inside her. The aftershocks of the orgasm ricocheted through Marcus and he clung to her as spasms racked his body.
He rested his forehead against the curve of her throat. “I warned you.”
“I know. And it was exactly what I wanted.”
It wasn’t what
he
wanted. He was actually embarrassed. Marcus wanted to push her down in the grass and show her what he could do. Make her come twice before he finished. He couldn’t understand why she wanted to fuck him, to service him, and take nothing for herself.
Then it hit him.
What Marcus was feeling—the helplessness, the way she enslaved his body and made it react and respond as if it no longer belonged to him—he’d made
Meg
feel the same way last night. He’d made her feel good, yes, but he’d taken some of her control, what she felt was her power, and she had to get it back. Claim what was hers.
That
he understood, because he felt the same way.
“I live to serve,” he mumbled, and kissed her cheek.