Chapter 66

“I’m glad you’re back,” he murmured.

He looked up at her with a smile as Lilitha stroked his cheeks. His stubble was so thick it was almost a beard. He looked tired, like he hadn’t slept well for a long time.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you,” she murmured back.

“Okay, okay, that’s enough,” Damon said. “You haven’t told us what happened, Lilitha. How did you survive? Did you tell anyone of us? That man you were with, what of ~him~?”

Mateus jerked his head toward Damon. “What are you talking about? What man?”

“She was with a human. One of those knights.” Damon’s voice trembled. “The same human that raped her the night of our attack. I recognized him.”

Mateus’s eyes widened. His tail lashed aggressively. From the corner of her eye, Lilitha saw Silus stiffen.

“You were fucking him, weren’t you?” Damon continued. Lilitha’s heart leapt into her throat. “I saw. I could ~see~. And I can smell him all over you.”

Mateus’s eyes were narrowed as he seized her hips and drew her in close. He sniffed her groin. “Mateus!” She almost slapped him.

“Speak the truth, Lilitha, are you a beast fucker?” Damon said.

Lilitha glared at him, tears in her eyes. “You said you understood.”

“Speak the truth.” His eyes were blazing. He wasn’t just angry, he was furious. And sad. And betrayed and broken.

And she suddenly realized he’d been hiding his true feelings until she was safely home. Until he was sure he could prevent her from escaping again. Was she a prisoner here too?

Ripping out of Mateus’s grasp, Lilitha glared back into his furious eyes. “You. Know. Nothing.”

Damon sneered at her from beneath his brow. He looked like a wolf. “Then fill me in.”

“I was his prisoner.”

“You didn’t look like a prisoner.” He jabbed his finger at her. “You looked like you liked it. That house. The clothes. The horse! I bet he gave you pretty little gifts that made you spread your legs…”

“Shut up!” Her scream split the night.

Damon snapped his mouth shut. Hot, rage-filled tears swam in Lilitha’s eyes, but she couldn’t argue with him. She hated Mandalay. She hated him with all her heart.

And yet… When she thought about him, she felt a confusing pull that was both revolting and regretful at the same time. There was a time there when she even enjoyed his company. When she even waited for him expectantly… It was sick. It was perverse.

“He was nothing,” she said weakly. “He means nothing to me.”

Damon was staring at her, unconvinced. She looked over at Silus, but he was looking down into his lap.

She turned as Mateus stood with a growl.

“Mateus.” She went to grab his wrist, but he pulled his arm away. He gave her a look that turned her heart cold, then disappeared into the trees.

She spun on Damon. “Proud of yourself?”

“I only spoke the truth.”

“You didn’t need to say anything! Maybe—maybe I ~should~ fuck him again if this is the way I’m going to be treated!”

“Maybe you should,” he said quietly. He stood, and like Mateus, vanished into the trees.

“Are you going to leave too?” she asked her father as she stared after Damon.

For several breaths, there was no response. Then she heard him stand. Lilitha’s heart sank. Was he really going to leave?

But he grabbed her shoulders and turned her around. Lilitha sagged against him in relief.

She stayed with her father until the darkness began to brighten, and he began to sway on the log. It was only then she realized how tired he looked. Had any of them slept properly since she’d left?

Lilitha kissed him on the cheek. “Get some rest.”

He grabbed her arm. “Don’t be alone.”

“I won’t.”

Though how that was going to be possible when they were hating her so much right now, she wasn’t sure. As she walked, she breathed in the wide-open forest air like she was quenching a thirst.

She brushed her fingertips against the leaves. Beneath her bare feet, the ground cover was pliable. It crunched. Things rustled and moved. Eyes glowed. She could smell flowers and sweet leaves everywhere.

No more stinky humans. No more sounds of rolling wheels on cobblestones, or clopping horses, or calling street vendors. The sound of boots on pavement. No longer would there be the ominous footsteps of Mandalay’s arrival.

She didn’t know where she was headed, but something was pulling her toward her left. She expected to discover Mateus, only to find Carmella instead. She was resting on her side on a dry patch of ground, head pillowed on her thick hair, one slender black arm stretched out. Her cloak lay over the top of her like a blanket.

“What do you want?” she said, after Lilitha stood watching for a while.

“Sorry,” Lilitha started. “I thought you were asleep.”

Carmella turned on her back, bare breasts shining in the moonlight. “What do you want?” she repeated.

“Can I stay with you?”

Carmella shrugged.

Lilitha sat beside her, but Carmella rolled away.

“I’m sorry,” she spoke to her stiff back. “I didn’t mean for it to happen. I-I didn’t know.”

Carmella was silent a long time. “I grieved, you know. I’m still grieving. How could you do it?”

Lilitha’s eyes swam. “It can happen again.”

Carmella grunted. “Perhaps. Perhaps not. That might have been our only chance, and you took it away from me.”

“I’ll work on it. I swear. I’ll give you another.”

Carmella sat up, a smile pulling at her lips. “You’ll ~work~ on it?”

Lilitha’s cheeks turned hot. “If you forgive me, I’ll work Damon and Mateus so hard they’ll be sick of the sight of me.”

Carmella threw her head back and laughed. Lilitha’s cheeks burned hotter. Sometimes she surprised herself.

Carmella’s laughter slowly died. “You’d better.”

Lilitha’s smile faded. “I-I have a question.”

“What?”

“You don’t know, but…I was with a man. A-a human man… What if…” She couldn’t say it.

Carmella’s eyebrows shot up, but she didn’t seem disgusted or angry. Not like Mateus and Damon. “Not possible,” she said. “We might look like each other, but we are not the same species. We cannot breed.”

Lilitha’s heart soared. “Are you sure?”

The Diablon’s mouth quirked. “Positive. Wouldn’t it be…perverse to breed with what we eat? What would that make us? We’re not cannibals.”

Lilitha thought about it for a moment. She was right. She laid her hand on top of Carmella’s. “Do you forgive me?”

“I forgive you.”

Lilitha bunched up close so that their arms touched, and she could feel the warmth of her skin. As they leaned their heads together, Lilitha turned her face to breathe in her scent. “I missed you so much.”

Carmella gently pushed her away. “Not that I don’t want your company, Lilitha, but you promised me a baby. Go find a bull. When you’re with child, then we can cuddle all you want. And I’ll be only too glad.”

“I don’t think they’re in any mood right now,” Lilitha said. “They’re angry at me.”

“They’ll get over it. We’ve had this conversation before, and I was right, wasn’t I? Go and find Mateus. Leave Damon for now. You know him. Let him come to you when he’s ready. Mateus hasn’t touched you in ~so~ long. He won’t have the strength to refuse you.”

Lilitha stood, carefully brushing the leaves from her backside.

“Oh, and Lilitha”—Carmella’s eyes glittered—“ever try to leave again, and I’ll drag you back here by your hair, screaming.” She kissed the air.

Mateus was easy to find, his scent thick on the breeze, in her nostrils and lungs.

In her heart.

He was lying on his stomach, head to one side, muscly back and bronze bottom facing the canopy, tail coiled up, its sharp point safely tucked away. He hadn’t bothered to find a dry place, preferring the coolness of the wet. The damp made it humid. Lilitha was sweating.

“Mateus,” she whispered.

He didn’t stir. Quietly, she went over. Crouching beside him, she touched his shoulder. He was breathing deeply, eyelashes long and black against his cheeks. She rubbed his shoulder harder until he turned his head to the other side with a grunt. Lilitha stepped over his broad back.

“Mateus,” she said, rubbing his other shoulder, but he turned away again. Pursing her lips, she went to his other side. Earth and leaves clung to his horns. His eyes were squeezed shut, though he was clearly awake. His tail uncoiled. “Mateus!”

He turned away again. Lilitha slapped him hard on the bum. “Wake up!”

Mateus grumbled, shoulders shuddering with silent laughter. Then he rolled over, and Lilitha squealed as he pulled her on top of him.

He gazed up at her, soggy leaves clinging to the hairs on his chest. He smiled. “Mmm. Just where you belong. Well, almost.” Lilitha cried out in surprise as he rolled her beneath him. “That’s better.”

He nuzzled her neck. Lilitha grabbed onto his head with a gasp as he began licking her.

“Oh… Mateus.” She was panting, the breath hitching in her throat.

He kissed her mouth, then rubbed his cheek against hers. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too. ~So~ much.”

Gaze heavily hooded, he looked into her eyes. “Is it true about this human?”

“Yes.”

“Do you love him?”

“No.”

He narrowed his eyes. His tail was waving.

“Believe me, I don’t. All I could think about was you—and Damon.”

“But he touched you.”

A tear leaked out. “Yes.” And her voice quavered. “But I didn’t want it.” Her voice grew stronger as she realized the truth of it. “I never wanted it. He imprisoned me. He hurt me. He manipulated me.” She suddenly thought of Clara. “And I don’t want to go back.”

Mateus’s forehead puckered. He whined as he kissed away her tear.

“And you’re going to stay?” he whispered.

“I’ll never leave you again. I—I ~can’t~ leave.”

He kissed her, and Lilitha clung to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He reached below to pull down her underwear. There, he checked her, pushing the tips of his fingers inside her.

Lilitha spread her thighs. She sucked in a breath as she felt the sheer hugeness of his erection against her thigh. She arched her back, preparing herself. His massive tip opened her up, then slid inside, slow and deep and thick.

His eyes rolled in his head. His breath caught. The moment he pushed in all the way, she felt him orgasm, throbbing hard inside her in a hot wet gush that made her mouth water.

“Sorry,” he grunted.

“That’s all right.”

“It’s been—hard.”

Lilitha laughed.

He gave a crooked smile. “You know what I mean.” He took her face and braced his forehead against hers. “Let me finish you off.”

He lifted up her singlet and leaned over to suck her nipple into his mouth. Lilitha arched her back with a gasp. Then he grabbed onto her and rolled onto his back.

“I like it up here,” she said with a grin as she straddled his hips, his shaft still firm and engorged inside her.

Mateus reached up to grab her breasts. “So do I.”

Grabbing his horns, she leaned over so he could take her breasts in his mouth again. Slowly, she rocked against him. He grabbed onto her hips.

Mandalay had never liked her being on top. Made him feel less of a man, he’d once told her. And yet, look at Mateus. As sweet as he was. Mandalay had nothing over him. His wealth, his sword, his “manliness”—it was all an illusion. He had still run away like a coward.

Grinning at the thought of it, she pulled back, rolling her hips against Mateus, feeling every inch of him pressing against the sides of her channel. His tip was curved up against her cervix, rubbing as she rocked.

Mateus was growling quietly as his body tensed. She could see all the muscles in his chest and abdomen tighten. His quiet growling turned to loud growling. Bats fled the canopy. He clawed his fingers into her hips. Lilitha closed her eyes as the pleasure climbed.

With a jerk and a spasm, she climaxed just as Mateus snarled, releasing into her and filling her with his warmth for the second time. Lilitha clung to his arms for support as she gasped for breath.

She then collapsed onto him with a groan. She kissed his throat, his Adam’s apple, and then buried her face into his chest.

It was there that she drifted into a light sleep. Still connected. Still enveloped in his warmth. Mateus wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to his heart.