Chapter 27

“Only a little,” she said, tentatively reaching out to touch his horn.

Damon’s eyelids fluttered as she ran her fingers over it. He gave a soft groan.

“You like that?”

“Very much,” he gasped.

The sudden urge to lean over and kiss them made her jerk back.

“What’s wrong?” he said.

“Nothing. Nothing.” She reached out a trembling hand and touched the other horn. She pressed her finger against the point. “Do you—do you use these to kill?”

“Rarely. We use our tails for that.”

~Their tails~. Lilitha swallowed.

“Then what’s the point of them?”

“For show. To frighten away other predators. And sometimes to fight against other alphas.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

“Keep touching them.” His eyelids hung low over his eyes. “I like it.”

She stroked them again until Damon started making a purring sensation in the back of his throat. He grabbed her hips, eyes dark and shining.

“Can I—can I see your tail?”

She climbed off him as he sat up. Curling into his lap, she cuddled into him as she looked over his shoulder. Around four feet long, red and sinuous, its arrow-shaped tip was sharp and deadly. She remembered how it had ripped apart those trees.

She reached for it, but Damon seized her wrist. “Careful.”

She reached around, gently grabbing it at its base before running the length of it delicately through her hand. Thick and muscular at the bottom, it tapered to a width little bigger than her forefinger. It reminded her of a snake, though harmless and tame under Damon’s careful control. He kept it very still as she ran her finger lightly over its tip.

“Ouch,” she said, jerking her hand away. A bead of blood welled on her fingertip.

“Told you to be careful.”

“It’s so sharp. How don’t you cut yourself?” She sucked at her finger.

“I have. See the scars on my back?” He turned for her to see. Lilitha winced. She hadn’t noticed them before. They were all over his back, mostly around the middle, the skin stretched and shiny. “It happens as a child while you’re still learning to keep it under control. Though it still happens occasionally.”

Lilitha went to suck at her finger again but Damon stopped her, popping it into his mouth instead, lapping his tongue over it.

Lilitha jerked her finger back when he started to growl. A real growl. That same growl she’d heard so often. Goosebumps puckered all up her arms. His green eyes lit up. Suddenly she was on her back, gazing up at him as he straddled her hips. Knuckling his fists into the ground, he leaned over to suck at her neck.

Lilitha grabbed his horns. It was instinctive, like it was the right thing to do. Like she’d done it a hundred times before. Then he was pushing up her tunic. She was still gripping onto his horns as he pressed his mouth against her breast. She arched her neck with a gasp. He moved onto the right, sucking and gnawing until her skin puckered into more goosebumps and her nipples went hard. He was panting, the big muscles in his sides sliding over his ribs.

He reached down for his britches, ripping them open, his shaft popping out, hard and blushing and swollen. A string of precum clung to his waistband. Lilitha stared, heart thundering. She swallowed a burst of saliva.

“Put it in me,” she said. She slapped a hand to her mouth. Did she just say that?

Damon laughed. He grabbed at her hips, eyes glazed over. “Whatever you say.”

She squealed, then laughed as he yanked down her pants and ripped off her boots. Then he was on top of her, hands around her throat as he kissed her. He nestled between her thighs. She opened her eyes wide with a gasp as he slid deep inside. Then she closed them, arching her back with a moan. He felt so good, like he belonged there. She tingled around his circumference as she rocked, moaning as he leaned over to fondle his breasts with his tongue.

He half sat up, red-faced and grimacing, pulling her against him so he could drive himself deeper inside her. When he orgasmed, Lilitha could feel it rush up the length of his shaft. He growled as he erupted in a hot gush that made her skin bead with sweat. He rocked twice more until Lilitha came, all her vaginal muscles tugging him in deeper, drinking down his semen. His ~monster~ semen.

Afterward, they lay together, staring into the canopy. Heart pounding, Lilitha laid a hand on his penis as it rested warm and slick against her. More of his hot seed dribbled down the inside of her thigh. He kissed her on the head, and she closed her eyes with a sigh.

When she woke next, the sky was darkening. Lilitha sat up. Damon did the same.

“What are you doing?” she said as he pushed his hand between her legs.

“Nothing.” His hand slick with their fluids, he smeared it on the grass. “Just leaving a message.”

Lilitha frowned at him.

He helped her to her feet, hands on her hips, hands on her thighs and breasts. “Whoops, whoops,” he kept saying as he helped her dress. Laughing, Lilitha shoved him away. They were just about to leave the clearing when something caught Lilitha’s eye.

“What is that?”

Damon turned to look. “Carvings. Your father’s.”

“Silus did them?”

She crouched in front of the log. The top was smoothed for seating, but both the front and rear sides had images carved into them. They were pictures of animals. She ran her fingers over them.

“They’re best seen at night with the fire blazing,” Damon said, crouching beside her. “They really come alive then.”

He took her hand and they left. Rays of afternoon light penetrated the forest, making the ground cover glow. It was soft and dry and Lilitha kicked her boots through the leaves, laughing. It was a joy to have dry feet. Birds sang, there was chittering and squeaking from somewhere high in the canopy. A bat lifted from a branch and flapped away.

“Be rid of it,” Damon said, as Lilitha fidgeted with her cloak.

She pulled it off and Damon took it.

“Why am I so warm?”

She breathed into the air and saw the mist. She could feel the ice on her skin and yet she wasn’t cold.

“It is the way we are,” he said. “We can survive quite well in the cold and the heat and the wet. We don’t need shelter like humans to survive.”

“So we’re like animals, then.”

He looked at her sharply. “Most animals make their own homes in some way or another.” Then he smiled. “You could remove your clothes entirely, if you wanted.”

“I’m not going to walk the forest naked.”

“Why not?”

“It’s not proper.”

He snorted. “Only human beasts think that way.”

Lilitha snorted too and indicated his britches. “What are those then?”

“I wear what I will, but I am perfectly comfortable without them.”

She suddenly remembered the cave—way too quickly. “Mateus—he doesn’t wear clothes.”

“No.” He scowled. “Though he should. I don’t want to see that.”

Lilitha bit back a retort. “Where are they anyway? The others?”

“Sleeping, I should think.”

“Now?”

“Of course.” He looked at her in surprise, then shook his head. “Haven’t you realized yet? We are creatures of the night. Why else do you think we can see in the dark?” He grinned and leered. “Now, take it off!”

He grabbed at her, but she jumped back. “Hands off!”

He gave her a tired smile. “You will come to be one of us soon, Lilitha, whether you like it or not.”

They reached the cliffside. Hand in hand, they sat on the edge, their legs dangling into emptiness as they watched the sun set.

“It’s beautiful.”

“Thought you might like it.”

“I never get to see it. Always busy. My father never had time for such things.” She thought of him suddenly, chained and scared, then promptly forgot about him.

When the sun had completed its descent and night began to marry the shadows, they left the cliffside.

“Where are we going?”

“To join the others.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry. They understand your fears. Come,” he took her hand, “your father is desperate to see you.”

She looked at Damon in confusion before realizing which father he was talking about.