Bethany's Rite (14 page)

Each impression passed through without thought until the
kyltar
’s
eyes locked on the size six, white sneaker abandoned in the middle of the
cabin’s destruction. The sight didn’t cause even a momentary break in the
kyltar
’s
momentum. It cleared the debris and entered the bathroom with a single leap,
sank its teeth and claws into the back and neck of the Slayer, rolled with it
out of the bathroom and finished what one of his team members had started.

The small tennis shoe might not have stopped the
kyltar
,
but it had nearly stopped the human heart that beat deep inside it.

“Is she okay?” Jordyn’s voice rumbled from behind him.

Wyc didn’t turn around. “Yes.”

“Shyrana’s out here. Do you want her to check for shock or
injury?”

“No. I’ve checked. Have your men remove the carcass and
clear the house.” There was a brief moment of tense silence when no one moved.
A second later, he heard Jordyn turn and issue a couple of curt commands. He
didn’t take his eyes from Bethany, and she shifted nervously in front of him.

Shyrana’s voice floated through the doorway over the sounds
of scuffling and of the dead Slayer being dragged across the floor. Jordyn’s
clipped response told him that the man was still standing in front of the
bathroom door, faced away. There was the sound of glass being brushed up and exiting
footsteps.

“It’s clear,” Jordyn stated and then left. The clean-up
process over in a few, brief minutes.

Bethany glanced around. Pulled her bottom lip between her
teeth. He almost had regained enough control to trust himself to touch her. She
released her bottom lip and dragged her tongue over it. His lust spiked at the
movement.

“Is it safe for me to leave?” she asked.

“Safe.” He repeated, the rush of anger returning. His jaw
clenched, and his next words ground out. “To leave.” And suddenly something inside
him snapped.

Grabbing her by the front of her sweatshirt, he pulled her
toward him. Her feet stumbled over the side of the tub to keep up with her
upper body being hauled against his chest. “It will never be safe for you to
leave me, Bethany. Ever.”

With both her wrists manacled together in one of his, he
dragged her out of the bathroom and over to the bed. When he turned to face
her, she opened her mouth to speak.

“Don’t,” he warned. “Not a word.” He picked her up and
tossed her onto the bed. She bounced once, rolled to her side and immediately
started to scramble toward the opposite side. Before she could reach the edge
of the bed, he was on her, pinning her facedown beneath him.

“Still trying to run?” he asked. “That’s turned into a bad
habit for you.” He leaned back enough to jerk her sweatshirt up and over her
head, leaving her arms tangled in it. His fingers wrapped around the thin
straps and lace of her bra next. It gave quickly and he tossed the resulting
scraps to the floor. She was still struggling against the twisted fabric of her
shirt as he shoved a hand underneath her body to unfasten her jeans. “But I bet
that’s a habit I can break.”

Going up on his knees, he straddled her legs and grabbed the
waistband of her jeans. He yanked it down to her knees, leaving her ass covered
only in a tiny pair of silky black panties.

She twisted her head around to look at him. “Wyc…I was
going—”

His hand landed with a smack on the right cheek of her ass.
Hard enough to sting, not hard enough to really hurt. Bethany let out a
startled gasp.

“I told you, not a word.” He pulled her panties down to her
knees, revealing the bright red imprint of his hand. Quickly, he finished
stripping her and tossed her clothes to the floor. With one hand to the center
of her back, he kept her pressed into the mattress when he leaned over her to
tug a pillowcase off its pillow. He put one end in his mouth and ripped it down
the seam.

Bethany’s head came up off the bed. “What’re you—”

His hand landed on her other ass cheek. She stiffened and
sucked in her breath. He smoothed his palm over the swell of her bottom.

“Babydoll, I told you once that I would never hurt you, and
I meant that. But I have no problem spanking this pretty little ass until you
learn I mean what I say. Understand?”

Bethany nodded.

“Good, because I want your full attention.” He used the
strips of pillowcase to tie her hands to the headboard. “And if I have to tie
you to a bed to keep you from running—” he gave his makeshift bindings a test
yank, “—I will.”

Slowly, he ran his hands down her arms, splayed his fingers
when he reached her shoulders and then followed the line of her spine with his
thumbs. When he reached the curve of her waist, he saw the beginnings of a
nasty bruise that wrapped over the top of her right hip. That wasn’t there this
morning.

Anger and agony flashed through him. It wouldn’t be there
tonight if Bethany had stayed put like he told her to.

He lowered himself over her body, aligning his with hers,
but keeping the majority of his weight supported on his forearms. His chest
pressed against her back, and his groin pressed up against her butt. He rocked
until his erection was nestled between her ass cheeks.

She tensed underneath him, her muscles tightening and
inadvertently squeezing his cock. He dropped his head to the mattress beside
hers and groaned. Damn, she felt good underneath him. That she had come so
close to ripping his life apart by nearly getting herself killed tonight only
intensified his determination to keep her with him, no matter what he had to
do. He needed her underneath him, in his bed, every night of his life.

He swept her hair back from the side of her face and kissed
the top curve of her cheek. “There are some things we need to get straightened
out,” he said. He felt her tremble beneath him.

“First, with or without the Guardian, you are my mate. Mine.
Eventually, you will take me as yours.

“Second, never run from me again.” Bethany’s eyes widened
and cut up sharply to look at him, but she didn’t say a word. Progress.

Bethany tried to make sense of what was happening. She had
been so relieved to see Wyc standing over her after the Slayer’s attack, she
could have wept. But the look in his eyes had thrown her. He had been furious.

The hands he had swept over her body, checking for injury,
had been cold and impersonal. He hadn’t helped her to stand, but had blocked
her from leaving. And when she asked if it was safe, the hard edge in his eyes
darkened and his face had sharpened into a mask of barely contained rage.

She had never truly feared for her life in his presence
until that moment. When he dragged her to him, her heart stopped, skipped a
beat and thudded in double time. It hadn’t slowed down yet.

His anger made no sense. She had followed his instructions.
But when she tried to explain, to ask what was the matter, he refused to let
her utter a word. Had stripped her and tied her to the bed. And then he had
gentled and kissed her. She didn’t know what to think.

What had happened to make him believe she was running away from
him? She hadn’t run from him. She had run from the attack. Like her mother.

Oh God. Just like her mother. Did he think he was going to
lose her like they had lost her mother all those years ago? He had just claimed
that she was his, even without the Guardian. That sparked alive a hope she had
been trying to snuff out since her conversation with Myrra.

He stroked the corner of her mouth with two fingers. She was
suffused with a sudden craving to taste him. To connect to him. Bridge the gap
of whatever misunderstanding had happened. Even if it was only temporary, she
needed him.

Her tongue darted out and flicked over the tip of one of his
fingers. His nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed. Slowly, he pushed his
finger between her lips, into her mouth. She closed her eyes and gently sucked.

Yes
.

A low sound vibrated out of his chest and he pushed his
finger in deeper. She sucked harder. Swirled her tongue around it.

“Do you know how helpless I felt when I knew you weren’t
where I could protect you?” he whispered. He pulled his finger partially out,
pushed it in again. Repeated the action. She continued to suck. “When I found
out that you had a Slayer after you, and I might not reach you in time?”

He pulled his hand away to flatten it on the bed and push
himself off her back. His knees moved between her legs, pushing them apart. He
thrust his hips back and forth, rubbing his thick cock along the crevice of her
bottom.

“At that moment, I would have given anything to make certain
you were safe.” He pressed her legs further apart so that his balls hit her
pussy every time he rocked forward. “But there wasn’t anything I could do.”

The anger she could hear vibrating in his voice didn’t stop
the need for him from building within her. She pressed her stomach into the bed
to tilt her ass up and expose her pussy more fully to the gentle slap of his
testicles.

He immediately pushed himself up to his knees.

“You want to put your ass in the air for me? Then let’s do
it right.”

She didn’t have the maneuverability to accomplish it on her
own, not with her arms stretched in front of her and tied to the bed and her
legs spread by his knees. In fact, she was completely at his mercy. The thought
of being so vulnerable to Wyc and what he might do to her had her burying her
face against the quilt to stifle a moan of pure sexual anticipation.

He lifted her hips and her knees slid into place under them.
His hands roamed down the outside of her thighs and up the back of them. He
cupped the twin curves of her ass and squeezed.

“You have a gorgeous ass, babydoll.” He massaged it, working
his thumbs closer and closer to her sex. “Arch your back. Show me that pussy of
yours.”

She did, and slid her knees further apart, putting herself
on full display.

“Good girl.” He spread her cheeks. “Goddamn. What a sight.
Sitting there so pink and pretty, just waiting for a good fucking.”

Bethany whimpered, and her cunt clenched around emptiness.

Wyc leaned over her, his cock sliding between her legs. The
scalding friction against her clit sent a burst of sensation through her body.
He rotated his hips, and his cock moved against her clit again, making her
shudder and sharpening her need. “I’m going to fuck you, Bethany,” he whispered
next to her ear. “Hard and deep. Fuck you until you’ll never think about leaving
me again.”

Sliding a hand between her legs, he rubbed his fingers over
her pussy until she was sure her cream was dripping off them. Moving his hand
up between her ass cheeks, he circled her anus with his wet fingers. When he
pushed one blunt fingertip in up to the first knuckle, she gasped, her muscles
tensing in alarm and anticipation.

“And one of these days,” he said, “I’m going to fuck this
tight little hole of yours as well.”

At his words, heat flashed over her body and she forced
herself to swallow a whimper. His erotic promise both frightened her and fired
her desire to give herself to him in any way he wanted. He worked his finger
back and forth until it was deep inside her. The pinching sensation only drove
her need higher, and her clit throbbed with the hot rush of lust. Just when she
was on the edge of begging, he removed his finger and began the slow thrust of
his cock between her legs again.

“But first,” he ground out in a jagged voice, “I’m going to
show you what it feels like to be powerless to get what you so desperately
want.”

This time, she couldn’t keep her soft cry of need from
escaping.

Wyc thrust against Bethany several times, enjoying the feel
of her hot cream slicking his cock. He was about to the point of just ramming
inside her when he forced himself to pull back. Not yet. First, she had a
lesson to learn.

Reaching down, he put pressure on the base of his cock until
the blinding need dulled to a constant ache. A quick tug on her ankles had
Bethany once again flat on the bed. If he left her ass so provocatively propped
up for him, he’d never be able to withstand the temptation. He’d been
fantasizing about fucking her in that position too long. As it was, her
unexpected but highly sensual reaction to him probing her ass had already
nearly made him sacrifice his goal in favor of seeing just how far she’d let
him go. Sitting up on his knees, he took his time looking over her body. Her
pretty little feet, the curve of her calves and softness of her thighs. The
sweetest ass. The narrowing of her waist and gentle line of her spine. The
perfect proportion of shoulders and hips. Hair that, against her alabaster
skin, appeared nearly black in the darkened room. Slender arms stretched and
tied above her head.

He leaned over her and laid down a long, slow line of kisses
along her spine, stopping to swirl his tongue over her skin with each new inch
covered. Near the small of her back and again at the top of the cleft in her
ass she was extremely sensitive. When he licked and teased her there, she
wiggled and tried to follow his tongue with her body when he moved away. But
tied down as she was, her ability was limited.

Next he explored the backs of her legs. Licking and nipping
his way down first one leg and then the other. Her entire upper body jerked off
the bed when he sucked at the back of her knees. By the time he was finished,
she was whimpering his name.

As he placed a kiss on her shoulder, he slid his hand
between her legs. When he cupped her mound she pressed against his hand.

“Don’t get in a hurry,” he said. “I’ve only just begun.”

She closed her eyes and groaned low in her throat. Squeezed
her thighs together. Kept them tight on his hand.

“Pull your legs back apart,” he instructed. She hesitated,
then separated them a fraction. “More,” he bit out when she stopped. She
complied. “That’s good. Real good.”

He slid two fingers between her pussy lips. “You’re so wet.
Slick and creamy.” He stroked the center of her heat, letting her juices cover
his fingers.

“Is your cunt starting to ache yet?” He stroked her pussy
faster. Added a third finger and swirled them over and around the soaked folds
of her sex. “Do you need my cock inside you, Bethany?”

Her back arched, and she strained at the bindings on her
wrists, trying to give herself more slack to bear down on his hand.

“I could finger-fuck you to orgasm right now.” He flicked
her clit once with his middle finger and her body bucked. He pulled his hand
away. “I could. But I’m not.”

The muscles in her thighs flexed as she started to pull them
together. He clamped his hands on them, pushed them wider than they had been
before. “No. I want to see your need. Want to see that cunt pulse and weep for
what I have to give it.”

Bethany released a frustrated groan and lifted her head to
look back at him. He raised his hand over her ass.

“Do you have something to say?”

She glared at him for a long moment, and then dropped her
head back to the bed and took a deep breath.

He flipped her over. Began kissing and nipping at the front
of her body with the same care he had covered the back. Taking his time with
her neck and breasts. Loving the way she writhed and gasped at his attentions.
He sucked her nipples until she cried out. Pinched and tugged at them until she
moaned and threw her legs around him, trying to force his cock to enter her.
With one hand, he held her hips down while his mouth moved down her belly and
his other hand continued to fondle her breasts.

She gasped and twisted. Planted her feet to thrust her body
against his. The scent of her desire was so strong it made his cock hurt with
the demand to be inside her greedy cunt. Her pussy pressed against his stomach
and her wet heat nearly undid him.

He pushed her legs wide, still bent at the knees with her
feet flat on the bed. “I want you to keep your legs just like that for me.
Understand?”

Her eyes were dark with need. Her mouth opened as her breath
panted in and out. She nodded.

He scooted down the bed until his head was between her
thighs. Past the point of gentle touches, he wanted her to need him. To be out
of control with her desire for him. To be completely unable to withhold
anything. To feel utterly helpless in her lust.

With a savage intent, he attacked her pussy with his mouth.
He licked deep inside her cunt, stabbing in again and again until he felt her
tightening toward release.

Then he withdrew and she let out a strangled shriek of
frustration. Clamped her thighs around his head. He pressed her legs nearly
flat to the bed, spreading her out completely and changed his mode of assault.
Started working her clit. Immediately her body started racing toward climax
again. Denying her yet again, he moved to nip the insides of her thighs. She
screamed and bucked.

Dragging his teeth over the inside of her other thigh, he
began a campaign of long licks from her opening to the top of her slit. Slowly
at first, then building in pressure and speed until the muscles of her abdomen
started to contract with the intensity of her need. Her body shook, begged for
him.

The tip of his tongue circled her entrance over and over.
She was taking great sobbing breaths. He dipped his tongue inside. A fast,
shallow dunk. She gasped, and a hard shudder racked her body.

He raised himself over her. Placed his cock at her entrance.

Bethany went completely still. Looked at him with a mixture
of harsh need, hope and disbelief. Her cheeks were bright with color, damp hair
clinging to the sides of her face in ringlets. At some point, tears had started
falling from the corners of her eyes. She had bitten her bottom lip until it
was red and swollen, and her entire body was slick with sweat from being
brought so close to the peak again and again.

He held her hips in place and pushed inside her. A quick
shallow movement that allowed nothing more than the head of his cock entry
before he pulled out. Again and again. Each time only teasing little plunges
that withheld far more sensation than they delivered. Her cunt gripped at him,
covered him with thick, dripping pussy juice. She whimpered, tossed her head
from side to side. Pushed her hips against his restrictive hands. Pushed
against the force of his will to make her understand.

“What do you want, Bethany?” He thrust in a fraction deeper.
Pulled out. Stopped. Held her trembling body in place with his hands. “Tell me
what you want.”

She blinked. Swallowed. Sucked in a breath. “You.”

His heart constricted around hope. “What else?”

“Nothing else.” She shook her head. “Just you.”

With a noise that sounded harsh even in his own ears, he
pulled out of her, rolled her back onto her stomach and yanked her hips up. In
one hard thrust, he impaled her on his cock to the hilt. Filling her and
slamming so deep inside her, he felt the tip of his shaft hit her cervix.

Bethany screamed and clawed at the ties around her wrists as
her body convulsed around his in the climax she had so desperately needed. Her
cunt gripped and milked him hard.

He rode out her storm, teeth clenched against the beautiful
torture. He wasn’t going to let her get off that easily. With a final whimper,
her body relaxed and would have slumped to the bed if he hadn’t been holding on
to her.

Deliberately, he pulled out and pushed in again. One long,
slow stroke that made his intent clear. She shuddered and looked over her
shoulder at him.

“I don’t think I can.”

His smile was strained. “Yes. You will.” With even, measured
thrusts, he pushed her need back up. When she started rocking her ass back
against him to counter his thrusts, he reached around with one hand and stroked
her clit.

“Oh God.” She moaned. Rocked back faster. “God, Wyc. So
good. Oh God!” Again her body shuddered, her muscles tensed. And then her
breath burst out and her inner muscles performed their erotic massage around
his cock once more.

Bright spots exploded in front of his eyes as he struggled
to keep his own release at bay. “Again,” he demanded, voice harsh and hard.

She pressed her forehead to the bed. Shook her head. “I
can’t.”

Leaning forward, he splayed his hand between her shoulder
blades and pushed until her shoulders and breasts were pressed into the mattress.
Her knees slid further apart and her back arched sharply, changing the angle of
his penetration. He started fucking her fast and deep. “Again.”

With each thrust, his cock moved hard against the front of
her vagina. He shifted slightly with each plunge until he found the exact
position that hit the cluster of nerves that made her mewl with intense
pleasure every time his cock dragged over it.

“Wyc!”

Up until this point, he had blocked his mental connection to
her. Knew he would never have made it this long without release if he even
brushed her mind. But when she called his name, keening it out as she drowned
in ecstasy, he cast off his control. Mental and physical.

The room filled with his shout, and he fucked her like a man
possessed. Possessed by need and love. And he was. For her. Only for her.

Bethany had given up on breathing. It was too much effort.
After what seemed like hours of sexual teasing that left her body cramping in
desperate need for release, Wyc had driven her to an explosive climax. And
another one.

And then, with every muscle, every nerve still fighting an
excess of ecstasy, he forced her body into another dimension of mind-blowing
pleasure. Even if she ever wanted to fuck someone else, he had probably ruined
her for any other man.

Wyc’s final shout rang in her ears. Deep inside her, the
pulsing of his cock slowed, her cunt filled with his flesh and his seed. His
big hands continued to hold her in place even when the last aftershocks had
passed. He groaned, a low tortured sound, and slowly rotated his hips.

“Bethany. Oh God, babydoll.” He slid his hands up her sides
and over her arms until he reached her wrists. His weight pressed her down as
he untied the bindings.

He shifted off her, lay pressed full length against the side
of her body and massaged her arms. With gentle fingers, he worked the stiffness
out of them, paying special attention to her wrists. She pulled her arms out of
his grasp and wrapped them around his neck. Pressing her face into his neck,
she cuddled against his chest.

“You okay?” he asked. His hands stroked her shoulders and
back.

Okay? If she had any muscles in her body that still worked,
she would have giggled. Instead, she snuggled closer. “No.”

His hands stopped. “No?”

She pressed her cheek to him and let out a soft sigh. “Not
even close to okay.”

He pulled back and tilted her chin up. His eyes were worried
as he searched her face.

She placed her palm against his cheek. “I’m far, far better
than okay.” His concern melted into a look of pure male arrogance. A small
smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. With a sexy, half-lidded look, she
said, “I think three consecutive orgasms qualify somewhere closer to
‘stupendous’.”

“Just stupendous?”

“It’s the best I can come up with until the haze of sexual
ecstasy clears.”

He chuckled and ran a hand down her back.

She closed her eyes and inhaled. Slowly. Deeply. The air was
heavy with the musk of their sex. The sharp smell of pine trees and wind off
water wafted in through the broken window.

The thought of the broken window reminded her of tonight’s
events and she shivered.

“Cold?” he asked.

She shook her head and pressed close to his body. He stopped
rubbing her back and wrapped his arms around her. Hard and tight. He dropped a
quick kiss on her hair, and then tucked her head under his chin.

“Don’t ever run from me again, Bethany. Ever.”

Inwardly, she cringed at the bite of his words, the
remoteness of his tone. She tried to reconcile those with the look she had seen
in his eyes the moment he had lifted the shower door off her. A look stark with
fear and desperation.

But it had been almost instantly replaced with a cold rage.
The same icy quality had been in his answer when she asked if it was safe to
leave.

“I wasn’t running from you, Wyc. I was trying to get to
safety. Exactly like you told me to.”

“I told you to stay in our room.” Angry tension vibrated
from every inch of his body.

“And I did. Until the attack got so bad, it was unsafe for
me to stay.”

He pulled back, looked down at her. “Bethany, not a single Slayer
got past the second perimeter. You were safe until you left the house.”

God she was tired, and this conversation was going in
circles. Her mind and emotions were on overload and her body passed exhausted a
long time ago. She closed her eyes, hoping she wouldn’t be required to open
them for days. “Can we please talk about this tomorrow?”

“Answer me. Why did you leave?”

“I was following your instructions.” She yawned and
stretched her legs. Curling back up against him, she said, “Just like Myrra
told me to.”

Her head was swimming with fatigue. Every single cell of her
body felt wrung out and hung up to dry. She started to fall to the seductive
draw of unconsciousness as sleep’s silky fingers began to wrap around her mind.
The image of Wyc’s face looking at her tonight right before he fucked her
floated through the swirling pictures pulling her toward sleep.