Chapter 29

KNOX PANTED, STARINGat the barb that stuck on her skin like a thorn. The green venom dripped down her ass, and his chest tightened.

It went against everything he"d been taught growing up, but the books in his father"s office had been clear. He"d only lust for his mate, and there were requirements to finish the mating process.

She wiggled on the vines, and he reached forward, running his hands up and down her soft back.

"Sh, it"s alright, my love. It"s alright," he whispered into her ear, pulling the barb out swiftly.

She sucked in a breath. "Ouch, what the hells, Knox? What has come over you?"

He palmed her ass, rubbing the sore spot and soaking the venom into her skin. It was warm to his touch, and he reached up with his other hand to squeeze more from his tail. His heart raced, hoping desperately that the books were right.

"Don"t you like it? Do you want me to stop?"

Her breathing was rapid and shallow, but she froze at the question. He slowly traced his way between her legs, sliding the gooey liquid of venom over her clit. He stepped to her side, one hand rubbing the stinging Red spot and the other playing with her.

Her breasts rose and fell with her breathing, and he dipped his head and took one pebbled nipple into his mouth. She moaned as he sucked and nipped.

Then he pulled back enough to ask again. "Eirwyn? Do you want me to stop?"

She threw her head back and arched, pushing her breasts to him. "Damn it, don"t stop."

That was all he needed to hear. He rubbed her clit in circles until she was moaning, thankful for all the observing he"d done at the brothel. She thrust her hips but couldn"t move with the vines holding her.

He shifted the vines, wrapping them around her thighs and stretching her wider until her legs shook. Then he took his cock and rubbed it up and down her slit, coating it in the green venom.

Her eyes shot open wide as she stared at the sky blankly. "Gods, yes," she gasped.

The pressure at the base of his spine was already building as he slid slowly inside. Her tight, wet pussy wrapped around him, squeezing like a glove. His vision swam, stars blinking behind his eyes.

Once he was seated all the way inside, he wrapped his hands around her waist and switched to her other breast. He set up a steady, slow rhythm. He wanted this one to last. He wanted this one to be a mate claiming.

Only then could he truly protect her.

He shifted, nuzzling her neck as his tail wrapped around them to slide up and down her spine. "Be my mate, Eirwyn."

Her head fell back, her mouth open with a gasp. "What does that even mean?"

He kissed her neck. "It means you"ll be mine forever. Say yes, Eirwyn, so we can do this every day."

She gasped as his tail teased down the crack of her ass, a trail of green left in its wake. He kept the tip of it smooth, the barb retreating inside and the tip rounded like a smaller version of his cock. He grabbed her ass and pulled her cheeks apart.

She squirmed and gasped. "Knox? What–what are you, oh gods."

The tip of his tail teased her asshole, and she clenched, keeping him out. "That"s it, princess. I"m going to fill every hole. I"m going to make you scream in pleasure."

She shook her head. "The venom... the poison..."

"Is an aphrodisiac for you, my mate," he said, pressing his lubed up tail into her hidden depths. His rhythm never let up, his cock moving in and out. The slicking noises of sex mixed with the crickets and sounds of night in the forest.

"It–won"t hurt me?" she asked, thrusting her hips as she tried to wiggle closer.

He kissed the side of her neck, then took her ear lobe between his teeth. "I"d never hurt you, Eirwyn. I will protect you to my dying breath."

He knew it was true, had known it on some level since the day he"d seen her looking up at him from the wrecked carriage.

"You"re mine," he growled, his tail finally pushing into glory. She tensed, and he eased back out, shallowly thrusting his tail in time with his hips.

She grunted as he began to thrust deeper and deeper. "Yours," she said.

"My mate."

"Mate," she gasped.

"Forever," he demanded. He needed her to know that she was it for him. There would be no others.

"Forever," she groaned, her head falling onto his shoulder.

He dipped his head and sucked on her neck, tasting the metallic tang of blood as he thrust as deep as he could go. There were no more words, both of them beyond the ability to speak. They panted in pleasure, lost in a mad embrace. She moaned, gasped, and writhed in the vines, wild in his arms.

And still he wanted more. The air around him shifted, whipping leaves and grass around them as he stretched her. Her damp heat held him prisoner, but he never wanted to escape.

He rammed himself home, his body hard and primal against her as he rode her with rough strokes. The feel of her slick heat wrapped around him. Hips bucking, shaft and tail throbbing, he plundered her, ever trying to go deeper, closer.

He groaned and pulled out a little, then drove back in with sure, possessive thrusts. She writhed against the vines, her mouth falling open as she panted. Her moans went higher and higher.

She was close, and he wanted to soar with her.

Her body went taut, and she screamed. Her back arched, and pleasure rippled through her like a blast of magic. Her body convulsed and spasms wracked her as she milked him.

He couldn"t hold back anymore, needing to join her in a hot release. The explosion rocked his core as he continued to pound home. He grabbed her hips, pulling her hard into his final thrust. His pulsing cock gushed into her in time with the pumping of his tail. He roared his release, burying his head in her neck. The hot spray of his seed erupted from him, and he melted into her heat.

He stayed inside, just holding her as her body pulled more from him, demanding every drop as hers. Every muscle was tight as he poured into her. Together, they shuddered, bowing into each other"s bodies as if neither of them could get enough of the other.

The vines disentangled from her body as he slid out of her holes. She collapsed into his arms, and he slid them both down to the soft grass under the oak grove. He held her, cradling her head on his chest and his arms protecting her. Hard loving had become the heavy breathing of afterglow, peace swirling around them like a gentle summer breeze.

Exhausted, she fell asleep in his arms. His half-lidded eyes slid closed as he breathed her name, her body sprawled limply half on him.