Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 112500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 563(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 563(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Chapter 25
Thane
Full moon. Only hours away.
Soon it would rise, swollen with power, bringing even more turmoil to a male who’d spent weeks adrift in chaos—ever since he’d last seen Ditch atop the Mount.
Since she’d sauntered away in that scrap of lace, tail swishing.
Since she’d almost made him laugh…and awakened a possessiveness he’d never imagined he could feel.
As the noon sun spilled over the sea beyond his castle, he paced his chambers, fangs clenched. What else was there to do but stalk and stew? His days of deep drinking and carousing were over. He could think of nothing but her—his nemesis, his undoing—and that was even before her letters…
Greedy for more peeks into her complicated mind, he’d begun the exchange himself, summoning Jastorgh, an outside demon courier, to deliver a missive to the haunted Strix Keep.
In the first letter, Thane had kept it short, sharp, and meant to provoke:
Witch,
I liked that coat. Return it directly.
King Thane
Craigdúr
While waiting for her reply, he’d prowled his rooms, replaying the fire in her eyes as she’d challenged him, her boldness like nectar for a male dying of thirst.
Just recalling her taunting grin made him hard. His tongue flicked in his mouth as he recalled that impudent nipple emerging between blond locks. He wanted to suckle her until she couldn’t stand it anymore and grazed him with a horn.
But more than physical need plagued him. The weight of the Skein pressed on his shoulders, the strain of a king whose queen stood vulnerable in hostile territory.
Lowell’s continued investigations with Meera had yielded little, save for one certainty: the coven despised Ditch and actively plotted against her.
Thane understood why. She was a menace. Had she truly murdered and cannibalized one of her own?
Unknown.
Would he accept her anyway?
Aye. Known.
She’d taken her sweet bloody time replying. Days passed before Jastorgh had dropped off a scroll. Alone, Thane had torn it open like prey.
Wolf,
The coat is mine. Once I claim territory, I never cede it back. Also, I inhale it when I masturbate. My compliments; your scent is aphrodisiacal.
Ditch
House of Witches, Skein Coven
The bold cursive had blurred before him, his mind and body gone aflame.
His mate touching her cunny…as she took in his scent… Frenzy. Pants shoved to his knees, he’d come with one stroke. Ropes of pearly semen had jetted to spatter the floor of his room.
Once he recovered enough to pen a response, he’d written:
Witch,
I should be wearing that coat whenever you pleasure yourself anywhere in its vicinity. Fair is fair, and my scent’s better in person.
A coat and your finger—or me and my tongue? You don’t strike me as the type to settle.
King Thane
After dispatching it with Jastorgh, he’d waited for her to respond. And waited. The winged Volar demon had arrived this very morning, looking dazed. Once he’d teleported away, Thane had cracked open the scarlet seal stamped with a leafless oak.
Wolf,
Who said anything about a finger? I have a flexible tail with a lusty mind of its own. Does your tongue have a mind of its own? Seems so. Speaking of scents…this parchment is absorbent.
Happy jacking!
D
She used her tail? Great gods. Some demons had tails so complex they could give a massage or inject a poison; she self-pleasured with hers.
He’d inhaled the page in a frothing lather. She’d laced it with her orgasm. Breathing her climax, fanging the paper, he’d torn his breeches down. Too late. He’d already been coming a flood in them.
After regaining his senses, he’d growled low. No wonder the demon courier had looked dazed. He’d scented her release too!
Thane had readied a piece of parchment and responded to her in kind—his culmination for hers—with a thicker envelope and no words. The volume spoke volumes.
Despite the envelope, Jastorgh had known what he was about to deliver. Before the demon had disappeared, he’d winked. “This is truly a golden age of correspondence!”
Now, as the sun slipped toward the sea, Thane paced again, awaiting a reply—and moonrise. Tonight would be grueling.
The more he learned about his mate, the more he desired a future with her. Yet it was forever out of reach. Even if he could somehow win her, this realm would never allow their union.
Not that Ditch wanted to be with him. She played with him only to gain the upper hand for her coven.
If fate meant to punish him, she’d chosen well—temptation married to torment. He cast his mind back, searching for some punishable sin. He’d done nothing to warrant having an enemy mate.
When Jastorgh returned at last, the demon’s grin was too wide. “The most fun I’ve had in ages. I feel like I’ve bedded both of you.”
“Begone.” Thane opened her seal.
Wolf,
Your offering was acceptable. More is required. Unless you’d like me to consume your semen-stained paper, we should meet tonight.
D
Offering. Required.
Those words hit like fists. His mate demanded worship, and gods help him, he wanted to give it. In turn, he wanted her to tame him for a spell—right before he unleashed himself and his beast to master her as well.