Chapter Thirty

I tore into the hunk of meat with my teeth. Juices flowed down my chin. I didn't care. Another bite. Another. I ate as voraciously as I fucked, taking all the pleasure life could offer me. This was how people should live—reveling in every delight. Consuming. Taking more. I grabbed a slice of warm, buttered bread and shoved it in my mouth. The flavor burst through me, giving me an erection. Everything gave me an erection lately.

How long had I been with Aranren? Only a few weeks. Yet, my life had changed so utterly. We woke up and made love, ate breakfast then made love, had dinner and fucked. I was looking forward to bending him over the dining table and driving into him while we had our dessert.

Around the hall, our soldiers stood, awaiting our next command. Aranren left every few days to take them to whatever city or village Death wanted to target. Sometimes, he took our living soldiers, like these. Other times, it was the reanimated dead. There was a method to it, but I let him and Death handle that. It was their plan. I was just there because I believed in it and Ara. And because I wanted to fuck him.

I growled, swinging my head to look at my lover. Aranren ate more delicately than I, but with just as much relish, savoring every bite. Licking his lips, he reached out and slid his hand into my lap. With a flick, he had my robe open. I grunted as he stroked me. After a few seconds of this, I flung away his robe entirely with my magic, then gripped his eager cock and stroked him with my greasy hand. Aranren enjoyed the attention for a few minutes, but then wiped his mouth and slid under the table, easing out of my grip.

Just as one of the soldiers set a cake down before me, Aranren started to suck my cock. I spread my legs and draped his hair over my thighs, creating the perfect picture. Aranren's eyes rolled up toward me, full of bliss. I grinned at him and set one hand on his head as I reached for a fork with my other. Feeling like a fucking god, I ate my cake and got sucked off at the same time.

"Enough," I finally said and shoved my chair back.

Aranren licked his lips as he stood.

"Bend over," I said. "And spread those plump cheeks for me."

With a happy purr, Aranren shoved dishes off the table and bent over it, right beside the cake. I broke off a small piece of cake and fed it to him, then kissed the frosting from his lips.

"I love you," he said.

I just grunted again. I couldn't remember what love was.

What's happening to me? I frowned as I thought about it. Where am I? Right. I'm with my lover, about to fuck his sweet ass. Sweet. Yes. It will be. I reached for the pot of honey.

"I said, spread your ass," I growled.

"Yes, my love." Aranren pulled his cheeks apart, exposing that glorious pink hole.

Mine. He belongs to me.

I drizzled honey over Ara's entrance, then worked it in with my finger. Aranren groaned when I pumped into him, loosening his muscles. With his immortality, he never stayed loose for long, and I liked that. Craved that tight flesh around mine.

Again, the thought came that I was someone else. That these weren't my desires. But no, that wasn't right. And where was Death? He hadn't spoken to me in days. Odd. Oh, well. He'd come back. He always did.

I rubbed the remainder of the honey over my cock, then slipped into my lover's slick channel. He shivered around me and started to move, easing himself further and further onto my dick. I groaned and brushed his hands away so I could grab his ass cheeks. I kneaded his flesh as I slammed forward.

"Ember!" Aranren cried out.

"You like that?" I demanded. "Do you?"

"Oh, yes! Fuck me harder! Go deeper!"

"Oh, I will." I slammed deeper, then leaned over him to thrust and thrust and thrust.

I looked up and paused. Against the wall, staring forward with a blank expression, was Caleb. I knew him. I had fucked him once too. No, he had fucked me. I had been a receiver once. Only that. The memory of my time with Caleb came to me—his lips parted in bliss as he pumped into my body. I shook my head, but another memory came on the heels of that one. When I looked down at Aranren, he was Xae, and I was straddling him, riding his thick cock. I could feel it in my channel, the memory was that vivid. Xae's flesh in mine. His stare locked on my face. Love burning down a cord that bound us.

"Ember?" Aranren asked.

I blinked and saw the present again. "Aranren?"

"I think you need this more than I do." He slipped out from under me and resumed his seat. "Come here."

Aranren's chair was huge, more like a throne. Solid wood and carved to look as if it were made of bones, it had a crimson cushion and a wide seat. Wide enough for me to climb atop. I did just that, straddling his waist and bringing my cock to the level of his lips. He gave it a playful lick before I lowered myself. Gripping his shoulders, I bent my knees and rubbed my oiled asshole over his tip. I was always lubricated lately, either with oil, honey, or spit. But I preferred oil.

Sighing, I slid onto Aranren's flesh, my body stretching to accept his. "You're right. I needed this." With my shins bracketing his thighs, I rode him. "I need your dick deep in me."

"And I need you to look at me, Ember." Aranren took my face in his hands. "You're letting Death tempt you into your baser needs. You're regressing. Come back to me now. Tell me how much you love me."

I frowned and focused on his lips. The perfect lips to kiss. To fuck. I growled and pumped faster, taking him as deep as I could.

"Ember!" Aranren's voice thundered, blasting past the veil of primal hunger that had been cloaking me.

I shuddered and went still.

"There you are," he said gently.

"Aranren?" I whispered and crumpled onto his lap.

"It's all right, my love." He cradled me against his chest. "It's all right. I will show you how to keep your beast in check."

"Beast?"

"Death has a voracious appetite for life. It can become a beast, merging with the wild part of us. The need to consume and grow. To spread your seed and feast. But you are in control, not Death. Remember that. That is our reward for housing him."

I lifted my head and looked at Aranren. It was so odd. I thought I knew him. I had seen him. Felt him. But now, I looked deeper. I saw the cage again. The bones. I remembered that I wasn't a god. I wasn't even free. I had a cage that matched his.

"Housing him," I whispered. "Death is inside us, isn't he?"

Yes, Death purred in my mind. I have you, now, Ember. But don't worry. I'm a generous god. I have desires and you have fulfilled them for now. You may have control for a while.

A tear slid down my cheek, and Aranren kissed it away.

"We have each other now," Aranren said. "He takes, but he also gives. You will see. With him, we shall rule. The lunacy is a small price to pay. And as I said, it can be controlled.

When I allow it , Death whispered, then vanished.