Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Callum
T he roar of the crowd chases me as my father hustles me out of the pit and back to the underground room. I feel like I am spinning; pressure is building inside me, and it needs an out.
There is a basic shower down here, no more than a spout that he shoves me under, still clothed in my pants.
The cold water is fucking freezing and feels like needles against my skin.
"Fuck!" I mutter gruffly, trying to step out.
My father shoves me back with surprising force. Goosebumps spring across the surface of my skin as the icy water pelts me anew, sending steam rising as it hits my burning flesh. "You can stay there until you're in possession of your wits."
I chuckle. It releases the spell I'm under. "I am fucking freezing."
"Good," my father says brusquely.
I hear his footsteps move away as I fumble for the tie on my simple combat pants. The fact that my fingers are going numb complicates the task but, finally, it comes undone, and I shove them down my thighs until they land with a wet plop on the stone floor.
As I glance down, a different kind of shock hits me—what the fuck is happening to my cock?! I snatch up the bar of hard soap and wash the sweat and blood off my body with shaking hands, all the while trying not to look at my cock.
It's no use; I can't avoid it, and as my eyes lower again, they present me with unavoidable facts.
It looks longer and thicker, and not in the way that happens when I harden. Also, the water is ice cold, and my cock ought to be trying to crawl back inside me. A man is intimately acquainted with his cock. I'm sure I'm not the only male who takes it in hand with frequent enthusiasm—I know my own fucking cock. I tentatively reach down and squeeze the two swellings close to the base hoping that might make them go down.
The pleasure is instantaneous. A shudder ripples through me and, despite the frigid water dousing me, I start to grow hard.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" I am fucking broken. My rising panic makes it soften, at least, but now I feel sick. What is wrong with it? Is it going to keep swelling and drop off?
By the time I hear my father's footsteps approach, my fingers and toes are turning blue, and I'm shivering uncontrollably.
"Here," he pulls the lever to shut the shower off and passes me a cloth to dry myself with.
In the absence of cold water, the heat returns, bathing my body in an instant sheen of sweat. I rake my fingers through my wet hair, shove the cloth around my waist, and step out of the puddle to find my father's eyes on me with concern.
"I'm alright, pa," I say, feeling the weight of his study, though I'm still shaken. I don't even need to dry myself when my burning skin evaporates the water.
He puts his hand on my shoulder in the way he has done many times, and which calms me. "We'll have that talk later, lad."
Well, fuck! I am ready for the talk, but also fucking nervous. Also, I probably ought to tell him about what is happening down there, but doing so will be fucking awkward, and I need to build up to that.
Hearing voices approach—with distinctly feminine tones—he rolls his eyes and turns.
I grin. Lasses have been known to sneak down here on occasion, although my father always sends them politely on their way. They do not always come seeking me, either, and my pa gets his share of attention despite not competing for many years. He doesn't entertain any lasses here or anywhere else, which makes me sad now that I think about it. I have someone now, a lass, who is important to me, and I'm struck by how long he has been without companionship of that kind.
My father's hand slips from my shoulder. "Sounds like some lasses up to mischief," he says good-naturedly. "I'll send them on their way."
My smile is back.
"They're expecting us," a familiar voice says, wiping the smile off my face. Betsy?
My father curses and surges toward the door with me hot on his heels.
My fears are realized in the corridor as we find both Betsy and Ada.
Ada is looking shifty. Betsy is batting her lashes at the big alpha guard who ensures there is no trouble down here, her fingers playing absently with his collar. It is small consolation that Glen is blushing crimson even as he tries to coach her to turn back.
"We'll handle them, Glen," my pa says, taking Betsy by the arm and yanking her away. "The lass has not been disciplined enough in her short life."
Betsy coos and sends a saucy grin my father's way.
I cough to cover my chuckle even as I wade in to collect Ada before she can slink off. I didn't like that she was watching the fight where any man might approach her—I definitely don't want her down here where the other fighters might get the wrong fucking idea.
"What are you two doing down here?" my father says gruffly.
"Ada wanted to check as no hussies were here trying to get their hands on Callum," Betsy says boldly.
Ada gasps.
I bite back a chuckle, drawing my errant woman closer to my side.
"There is only one hussy down here," my pa says, "And her name is not Ada."
Betsy pouts.
My pa sighs heavily, although I notice the way he has taken a possessive hold of Betsy. He seems torn between checking on the lass for imaginary injury and surveying the area in case other nosy bastards are near.
"I'll deal with this one," he says ominously. "I'll leave you to take care of your lass and see as she is taken safely back to her home."
I nod. He strides off, Betsy still protesting her innocence. I take Ada's hand to hustle her back into the room where my clothes await me.
"Oh. It was, um, Betsy's idea," Ada stammers. Her eyes grow round as she takes in my state of undress. She blushes prettily, suddenly looking everywhere but at me. "Are you not cold?"
"No," I say. I can barely feel anything beyond the sudden rush of euphoria that she came down here to check on me, to make sure no other lass was snooping around. I like her possessiveness. It makes me feel like a king. My face lowers to her throat, and I breathe in through my nose, drawing her sweet, feminine scent into my lungs. Gods, I love her scent. I want to rub it all over me, especially the smell of her arousal that is already perfuming the air.
I trail my nose up the side of her throat, drawing her closer, not even caring that I am naked save for a cloth, which slips as I circle her waist with my arm and tug her against me.
My lips find hers. She opens sweetly with a breathy gasp, her fingers curling against my chest.
Blood rushes south, the simmering lust from the fight igniting because my woman is here, in my arms.
I want her. I always fucking want her. If I could, I would inhale her and keep her under my skin.
"You shouldn't have come down here," I warn, dragging my lips from hers and tightening my hold. "Where anyone might have come upon you, maybe thought you fair game… that they could take you… take what is mine." My head dips down for another kiss before I hold her eyes.
"Only yours," she whispers, her eyes searching mine.
That fast, I am gone. My mouth slants over hers, and I kiss her like I want to consume her body, heart, and soul. Distantly, I remember something about talking and explaining how I feel, but fuck it, she tastes too good, and we will get to that in a bit.
Her little tongue comes out to play, and my heart rate takes off at a gallop.
"I need to taste you," I mumble against her lips before trailing kisses down her throat.
I back her up into the wall beside the open doorway. I can hear voices beyond and the shuffling of feet. It does nothing to deter me. I will fuck up any man who dares to interfere. Tugging her bodice down, I close my lips over her right breast, sucking a little too roughly against her sweet flesh.
"Callum," she breathes before her fingers spear my hair, pulling me close.
Her urgent demands only drive me on. I trail my lips across to the other breast, squeezing it roughly before I seal my lips over it. I'm in a daze, can't see straight—I am obsessed with this woman. Absolutely obsessed.
I fucking love her.
Only I've not found the courage to tell her. I know I need to. And even though I will sound like a fucking sap, I don't care. I want to make her mine.
"I need you to come all over my tongue," I say, already lifting her skirt. Her fingers are still in my hair, guiding me as I kneel before her, and my lips find the soft skin at the top of her stockings.
I suck roughly against the skin, eliciting a needy gasp. I like the noises she makes as I mark her flesh, leaving the evidence that she belongs to me, even though she doesn't, for I have not broached the subject yet.
Her aroused scent blooms, filling my nose. Impatient, I tug her panties to the side.
"Callum!"
Her gasp accompanies me pulling her leg over my shoulder. "Hush, I need this," I mumble as I spread her pussy open with my finger and thumb and lap her sweet juices up. Fuck, I'm greedy for her.
Feeling her begin to shake, I pin her securely against the wall.
"I'm going to come," she gasps as I latch onto her fat little clit. "Oh, yes. Right there!"
I've barely touched her, and she's coming apart for me. I know she is sensitive as she floods my mouth, her thighs shaking harder now, but I can't fucking stop. I need to get her off at least a couple more times. Then I need to get inside her, to imprint myself upon her, to leave an impression, one she will never forget.
I thrust two fingers into her hot pussy, and curve them toward the front wall and the magic spot I have discovered that will get her off in record time.
Her strangled sob accompanies her pussy crushing my fingers as a gush of sweet cum floods my waiting tongue.
Twice will have to do.
I drag my mouth from further temptation, pick her up and take her down onto the rough wooden floor where I come down over her. She gazes up at me, panting, her jaw slack and her expression dazed.
I take my cock in hand, shuddering when even my hand provides intense pleasure, deciding I will come over her pussy, mark her, and show her in the way my stupid words cannot that she is mine. Gods, I want her in my bed, under me always, her pussy full of my cum.
Claimed.
Bred.
That word ought to cool my ardor. No man seeks to get a woman with child unless by decision and they are wed. Yet if she were carrying my child, there would be no choice, now would there?
Instead of instilling caution, this thought slams me with reckless need.
I begin to jack over her vulnerable pussy, my thoughts clouded and sliding into places they should not. I've got tunnel vision. My cock feels bigger than usual in my hand, harder, and then there is the swelling at the root that I realize is wrong, yet ignore in my heightened state.
"Callum?" There is a question in her voice. "Let me, please."
Not a fucking chance my cum is going in her mouth, not today. "I'm sorry." I plant my hand over her mouth as I lean down and whisper in her ear. "Hush. I'll take it out before I come."
Her heated gaze meets mine. She begged me to put it inside her last time. It is dutiful on my part to give her what she needs.
"I'm just going to put it in for a bit. Is that okay, Ada? Nod, if that's okay."
She nods. My cock is hot and heavy in my hand. I slide the tip through her slick folds until I snag at her entrance, and then I push.
She moans behind my palm.
I can hear footsteps and voices again, but I don't fucking care. I lean up a little so that I can watch her face and see the pleasure there before my eyes trail down her body. Her tits are out, covered in marks where I've sucked against the skin. Her skirts are rucked up, and my fat cock head is buried in the entrance to her pussy.
It is a compelling sight, one that breaks the rational part of my brain.
"I just need to feel you around me for a bit," I say, making a few tentative thrusts. Her answering moan is muffled. "I'm going to keep my hand here in case you make too much noise."
She nods again behind my hand and I thrust slowly into her. Her pussy flutters around me, all hot and clenching, like the perfect caress. I'm already nearly halfway in.
"That feels so fucking good." I plant my other hand on her belly, pinning her still, and spread my knees wide so I can get a better angle. Wet, sticky noises begin to accompany my rutting. I think about my seed leaking into her with every thrust as she grows ever more slick. Maybe I could get her pregnant already, even by doing this?
I pick up my pace, keeping one hand clamped over her mouth.
She mumbles against my palm. Maybe words of encouragement.
I don't remove my hand to check. Only distantly do I acknowledge that if she can't speak, she can't tell me to stop.
"I'll take it out soon, I promise."
Only, I am going deeper as some buried animalistic instinct takes command of me. The need to seed her and claim her is an imperative that cannot be denied. She agreed to this and nodded when I asked. No one could blame me if her pussy feels too good, and I cannot stop; that is on her.
"Try to stop clenching, Ada," I say. "If you keep squeezing over my cock, I might come inside you. We don't want that, do we?"
She clamps down on my length so tightly that I nearly blow my fucking load.
"Such a naughty lass," I say. I am nearly all the way in now. My cock is abnormally fat, and the twin swellings near the base are thicker, and that ought to frighten me more than it does. "I'm trying to pull out, and your pussy keeps sucking me back in."
She mumbles something behind my hand. But I clamp my palm tighter, and my other hand lowers until my thumb can find her clit. I swipe back and forth, keeping her pinned and open around me.
"You feel so good," I say. "Hot and tight. I'll pull out before I come, lest I breed you. Don't want your belly to swell with a babe and your tits to grow fat and full of milk, now do we?"
Her eyes are wide—glazed.
"Do you like the sound of that, Ada? Of me breeding you?"
She moans again.
"Maybe I won't pull out. Maybe I'll come inside you. What do you think about that?"
She sinks her teeth into my palm, and I don't know what the fuck that means beyond we are both lost in a kind of frenzy. I start pounding into her pussy that I swore I wouldn't take like this, that I would wait so I could prepare her for me and give her the comfort of a bed.
I have crossed a line, but her aroused perfume is wrapping around me, telling me to give her more, and she is taking everything, her pussy fluttering over me.
As I look down, I can see I am all the way inside, save for the swollen part. She is untried, a virgin. We both are…
Were .
As I thrust to the root, a haze falls over my world. What I do has changed us both.
A near-blinding surge of possessiveness rocks me.
Mine.
"Don't come, Ada. If you come, I won't be able to help myself, and I'll be forced to fill your pussy all up with my cum. You need to hold it for me like a good girl. If you hold it, then I'll pull my cock out, and I'll come over your belly instead."
Her eyes are hooded now, and her pussy is fluttering all over my thrusting length.
She is close. She's going to cum. I know she is.
My thumb is merciless against her clit. I want her to come. Then it won't be my fault when I fill her with my seed.
Her grunts and groans are muffled by my palm—my balls are tightening, ready to unload, but I'm fucking determined that I won't break first.
Ada
If you'd asked me a week ago, I would have sworn Callum was the sweetest lad you could ever meet.
He is not sweet tonight. He is possessed by the devil himself. And, Goddess, if I am not helpless before him. My deepest, darkest fantasy has been brought to life in human flesh.
The stark lines of his face, his green eyes almost black, and his wild, tousled hair falling forward to frame his handsome face. His power as his hips and ass move to pound into me is a sensual revelation, one that keeps me hanging on the cusp of pleasure I know will destroy me and remake me into someone new.
He is inside me, filling me, making me whole. I did not know I was empty until he put his cock inside me.
My legs are spread wide to accommodate him as he moves over me with a powerful, almost savage, grace. The wooden floor is cold and hard beneath me, but I couldn't care less.
He has kissed me intimately and put his fingers inside me, yet his cock is thicker and longer and touches places that have never been touched before. There was minimal discomfort when he first pushed deeply, just a faint pinching sensation that was lost in the next thrust when sweet, achy pleasure bloomed.
My legs curve around his waist. He is so much larger than me. But I wrap them around him as tightly as I can, encouraging him without words to go deeper, to fill me how I need.
I know what can happen. He has spoken of it bluntly about how I could get with child. We have not even talked about such things, yet I sense his intentions toward me are true, and he would not abandon me should I fall pregnant.
His breeding talk ought to scare me.
It does not.
The thought of his seed taking inside me, of a child growing, of him breeding me, makes me hot for him. I want to do this with him every night and every day. I want to be his.
We have not spoken about the future—we barely know one another, yet how much time does a person need?
The pleasure swirls ever higher. I am a leaf caught in the flow of a mighty river that is taking me where it wills, driving me ever higher, yet denying me the ultimate bliss. My thoughts surge and scatter, a chaotic jumble of pressures and emotions.
I know the nature of this man. He saved me. He dealt with my father.
He brought my cherished book back to me.
I feel my body teetering on the brink of something beyond ordinary.
Today, I understand that Callum is the one for me. The filthy words that pour from his lips are not those of practiced charm but of a man claiming his woman.
I want to be his woman, to be his in every way.
"You belong to me," he says roughly.
And I nod eagerly, my words trapped behind his hand.
"Forever, Ada. I am not fucking about with this. I have put my cock inside you. I am going to fucking come. Forever, Ada. Tell me you are mine forever. Tell me you will marry me."
Finally, he peels his hand from my lips.
"Yes, Callum. Yes. I am yours, forever."
I throw my arms around his neck, and his lips capture mine. The kiss lends a deeper level of intimacy to his cock filling me over and over again. I cling to him without shame, feeling my body catapult toward heaven, lifting me and sending me tumbling over into spasmodic bliss.
I am shattered by sweet climactic waves that crash over me again and again.
Inside, a connection blossoms. It begins in the pit of my belly and spreads into my chest.
A feeling of euphoria.
Of being one.
He drags his lips from mine, and his face contorts in pleasure before his hips slam against mine and hold. The pressure becomes intense inside like his pulsing cock is growing…
He growls lowly. A hot flood fills me, triggering another heady climax.
I welcome his essence into me, even as his thick girth makes me twitch and groan.
Breathing heavily, he presses his forehead to mine. My hips make a cradle, and I wrap him up with my arms and legs, holding him close. A low growl rumbles in his chest, one that stirs the hairs on the back of my neck and makes my pussy clench blissfully over his hard length, which rewards me with another flood of his hot cum.
A strange fluttering takes root in the center of my chest, that warm place surging with emotions that feel like they belong to someone else.
They are bright and pure.
They are full of love and devotion.
I get the strangest notion that they are his, like a part of him has crawled inside me.
I wonder if this happens with everybody or whether it is merely a manifestation of extreme love.
We share gusty breaths.
"You are perfect," he says, lifting his head so our eyes can meet. A smile spreads across his lips and lights the entirety of his face. He brushes my hair from my flushed cheeks. "My perfect Ada. I intended to do that… somewhere softer." His face colors. "But I will not take back my words. I love you. I think I loved you from the moment I saw you in that terrible place and when I carried you in my arms to The Green Man. I have grown more deeply in love with you every day since… every time we touch. What we share through intimacy is a reflection of that love."
"I love you too," I say, my eyes stinging with emotion. I brace my palm against his cheek, and he turns his face to kiss me.
He grins and then chuckles. "I also meant to do this in a bed."
I giggle.
Seeing a cloud pass over his face, I frown. "What is it?"
"I don't have much to give you," he says. He goes to pull out, but I wrap around him tighter, holding him there, not bearing the thought of separation even as we talk.
I shake my head. Fresh tears prick the back of my eyes as fresh emotions swamp me with a sense of inadequacy.
"I am an apprentice," he says. "I don't even have my own home."
"That doesn't matter to me," I say earnestly. "I have come from nothing. Your heart is a gift." I smile lightly. "Your wicked tongue is a delightful bonus… I am already smitten with your cock… You are hard-working and a hero in my eyes. Besides, I have nothing to offer you in return save my love."
The clouds hanging over him fade before a look of wonder takes their place. His lips lower, and we share a kiss, this one sweet, joyful and full of hope.
Hearing approaching footsteps and voices, I bury my nose against his throat, biting back a giggle that threatens to bubble up.
"Best we get you back to the tavern," he says with a rueful grin, and then, despite my resistance, he pulls out… or tries to. Something is stuck.
"Oh?" It feels really nice, if a little alarming when he tries to move. Instinctively, I wrap my legs tighter around him.
He frowns and glances down between us. "My cock has a mind of his fucking own."
I nip my lower lip. Now is not a laughing time. Also, my pussy is fluttering again, and I think I might come. "Don't leave me yet." I nip his throat.
He groans, and I feel another hot flood fill me.
He rocks his hips slowly, prolonging the pleasure, making my pussy spark and spasm until I feel like I might lose my mind.
Voices are once more closing in. This time, I am alert enough to feel the shame of our compromised position.
"Gods!" he mutters gruffly, and clamping his hands on my hips, he pulls. There is a stretched moment of resistance, and then his cock pops out, leaving a sticky trail and an empty feeling I don't like one bit.
I huff and glare at him as I clamp my hand over my pussy, which is still tingling and missing his cock.
The voices and footsteps move on.
"Sorry," he says. "I didn't want any bastard to come in. I don't know what I was thinking, taking you like that… and on the floor. Are you alright, lass… Is your pussy sore… Do you need me to check?"
He captures my wrist and tries to pull my hand away like he really is intent on checking my condition there.
His face is flushed a deep red. I am sure mine looks the same.
"No, thank you," I say. "The only matter of discomfort is the lack of cock filling me how I need."
He swipes his hand down his face and groans. "Gods, lass, you are killing me here. I definitely think I should have a quick check. You might need my mouth there to ease any soreness."
My pussy clenches savagely with interest, even as I ward him off lest I never get off this floor. At least my wits have returned… along with the arrival of pain in various parts of me that have been scraped against the filthy floor.
"I am fine and do not need to be checked!"
"Okay then." He looks uncertain, but he gently sets my clothing to rights and helps me up. Then he sits me on the bench and reaches for his pants.
My eyes, despite my determination not to, land straight on his cock.
I swallow. Was that…?
His pants whisper over his hips, snatching it from my view.
I turn away, blinking, thinking about what Betsy said to me about alphas, about how they have glands on their cock, a knot…
If I'm not mistaken, Callum, who I always thought was a beta, has just knotted me.