15. Camazotz

15

Camazotz

S he broke free from my hold the second we landed in my castle's courtyard. Her face was devoid of any emotion she had granted me in the passing days. Bringing her to Elio was a mistake. I thought once she'd seen the monster, she'd realize the truth, and on her own she'd come to realize the promise of her destiny was flawed.

Elio's arrogance kept him quiet, and I cursed myself for even thinking this could have gone any differently. Elio would always be the hero, the victim, the only good left in this wasteland, and I, the thing keeping us all in place.

He sat there, in his chains, abusing her ignorance, saying only enough to paint the picture he wanted. Another reason why he'd never be deserving of her love; Florencia deserved the truth above all else. I knew how badly her mind depended on it.

Her fists beat against my chest plate. "What the hell?" she yelled, her rage and all-consuming beast ripping out of her fearlessly.

"Florencia," I pleaded, letting her process and relieve her pain in whatever way she needed. She had no idea the destiny that waited for her, and if letting her hate me for keeping her safe was all I could do to protect her, then I would carry that burden.

"How could you do that to him?" she sobbed, her hands growing weak as she exhausted her energy hitting me.

"This is the way of things," I explained, lifting my chin into the air.

I would not beg apologies for the task entrusted to me because a simple mortal was too weak to stomach it. Yet, I could not vocalize the totality of it all. I never claimed to be a decent or even a fair god, and yet I felt incapable of telling her secrets that were not my own.

My mouth could not will the words free.

She couldn't be his. It was the only thing I felt down in the center of my being. She was not meant for him.

Elio's entire existence was woven from a lie, his kingdom nothing but a field of untruths, and if this silky excursion taught me anything, it was that wishing for him to be any different was absurd.

My body tensed with the memory of her soft hands on his body, the way she feared for his safety and the gentleness she graced him with. He manipulated his world to his desire, and she would simply be another part of that. She would believe in anything that was pretty enough to seem good, and the thought alone filled me with an uncontrollable rage.

I stared down at her, a pathetic puddle on the ground, sobbing at my feet. I turned around and left her behind. She remained yelling, hurling insults at me, calling me a monster, as if it was the first I'd heard it.

A sharp pain cut into the back of my head, the rock tumbling to my feet just as I turned around to watch her arm fall from a throwing position.

Feisty little Haxia could get me hard with the smallest effort.

She was red in the face, hair disheveled as she panted hard, all the anger in her expression only making me hotter for her. In two strides, I was in front of her again, her breasts rising every time she breathed.

"Stop looking at me like that," she said on a whisper.

I crossed my arms in front of my chest. "No."

Another sob broke free from her chest. "I can't leave him that way. I have to go back, you have to let me–"

I raised my hand to stop her, to stop her spiraling and the way her mind could take off on a tangent because she could only see things in black or white. She couldn't grasp the in-betweens, couldn't see how truly gray everything in our world was. "If I ask you to kneel for me again, would you?"

Her eyes doubled in size, but I could smell her. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the power of making her wet with a couple of words.

"Fuck you," she spat.

I reached for her face, twisting a strand of hair that came free from of her neatly pinned hair. "If I wanted to fuck you right here in the courtyard, with the guards around us? Would they hear you beg for my cocks?"

Her eyes lowered, disconnecting from mine. She couldn't lie to me, even when she was angry. Even when she was too preoccupied with her supposed prince, she still craved me.

The same way I craved her.

The smirk curved its way on my lips. "Let me ease this pain for you." Hooking my arm behind her waist, I dragged her to her feet, pulling her close to my body.

Her knees faltered, her breathing stuttering as she glared at me with hateful eyes. "Florencia," I hummed, tucking the stray hair behind her ear. Her nostrils still flared in anger, her knuckles white as she gripped me, but still, she didn't speak.

With my free hand, I caressed the side of her face, my finger trailing the contour of her jaw as she took a long blink. She pacified, melting in my arms, as if my touch was enough to remind her of what she truly wanted, despite her brain and her logic feeding her the idea that being with Elio was what she needed. I gripped her chin between my index finger and thumb, pressing the sharp point of my nails against her flesh, a reminder that my attention, my love, was painful.

A silent tear fell from the corner of her left eye before she spoke. "I thought you were getting rid of me."

Her confession was more than I could handle. The wound was nearly a physical tear in her soul, and how I missed it was beyond me. She thought I took her there to give her to him.

"I was making you mine, Haxia." That was the only way I could explain it to her as again, the words failed me, like a curse I was forbidden to speak on.

"He needs me," she breathed out, my fingers squeezing her jaw tighter from what felt like rejection.

I closed my lips around hers, releasing her face and letting my hand drift down to her breast, cupping it in my hand before I moved lower. As I pulled at the band of her pants, the buttons broke loose, flying in three separate directions as I shoved my hand in.

She sucked in a breath, her eyes fixed on mine as I moved my fingers through the damp fabric keeping us apart. Greed was my motive, but satisfaction fueled me. The slick of her arousal dripped into my hand, giving me the lubrication to slide between her folds.

Florencia cried a sound of pleasure straight into my ear, her grip on my arms tightening and her knees buckling. "If I am the monster," my voice was a low hush, "then what do I call the Haxia who gets wet for me?"

Again, she gave me no response. Her will to remain the stubborn, unmoving thing she was, her refusal to admit that she may not be right, were all things that drove me mad for her. I circled her clit, feeling more like a god when she moaned my name than I'd ever felt in the last eternity.

"Wait." Her eyes opened with a wild alarm. "Not here."

I followed her gaze to where the Stonecrux stood, with their faceless heads and their hand eyes pointed down to the ground. They were not living; they could not see her. Yet, today, it was unacceptable. There was a clawing inside of me that said no one else could see her this way, this vulnerable, this fleshed out and raw with need. It was only for me, and the image of her hands on my brother only heightened my desire to keep her all to myself.

I wanted her eyes only on me, her hands on my body. I wanted to feel we were the only ones in the world. I wanted to forget that she touched him, that she called for him with pity and kindness and fell for his untruths.

I lifted her, gathering her into my arms as I held under her knees and she wrapped her hold around my neck. Urgency ran through my veins, a visceral demand to mark her so intense, I could no longer see straight.

In the tower she had made her home, I kicked the door open, throwing her on the bed. My cocks were hard, painful, the monster inside begging to be unleashed, to devour. My control was slipping, and the need was louder than I'd ever felt it before.

With my nails, I slashed her clothes away, caring very little about anything else. Florencia was all soft, golden-brown skin, perky nipples, and a pouty mouth. She was a meal waiting to be gorged on, and she was spread on my bed like a buffet.

A gift no one would ever give to a monster unless he stole it away.

I tasted the sun on her skin when I licked it, warmth spreading over my cold heart when she shivered against my lips. Biting at her nipple, I filled my mouth with as much of her breast as I could while she chanted my name softly. Her fingers found their way into my hair, gripping as if it would somehow keep her from falling off the edge of the universe, or maybe keeping me where she needed me.

The way her body reacted to me only stoked my irrational need. Her arousal inebriated my senses, and with that passion, I took her mouth, kissing her as if she had been fated to me instead.

Our tongues collided, hotter than anything I'd felt before, almost as if she was the one consuming me. I couldn't get enough, didn't want the moment to end, needed it to go on forever, to stay like this, to somehow get even closer and become something new entirely instead of two separate beings.

Her voice was breathy. "Let me see them, Camazotz." Her hand moved to the zipper of my pants.

I didn't waste time with words, removing my clothing and squeezing my upper cock, stroking down to the base while she watched with a hunger in her eyes that almost matched my own. Her gaze stayed fixed where my hand stroked, giving me courage to perform. I played with myself, not daring to blink in case I'd miss a single reaction.

"I will taste you now, Haxia," I warned her, gripping at her legs and lifting her up into the air. Her squeal was formidable, her fright visible in her eyes as I held her thighs at level with my face. "Hold on to my wings," I encouraged her, waiting until each hand gripped the sharp bones protruding from the tops.

In a beat, I rushed her against the wall, pressing her back to it as I sank my mouth into her cunt. Her moan was sacrilegious, perfect for the filthy queen I was desperate to make her. Her pleasure was a forbidden fruit I never thought I'd taste, and yet she moaned with each flick of my tongue, blessing my name through her teeth.

Her hands gripped the bones above my wings, her ass moving away from the wall as she bucked against my mouth in the perfect rhythm that suited her pleasure. "Beg for more," I commanded between her legs.

"More," she whispered without hesitation.

I speared two fingers inside her, my tongue keeping the pace over her clit as I sucked and circled. Her hold on me became frantic, her hips moving with desperate, greedy need, attempting to control me, as if I was a simple toy for her pleasure.

She was only further proving who she belonged to.

"Beg for more," I demanded.

And like a good little Haxia, she did. Her body moved in pleasure, her eyes closing with her head tipped back as she pleaded again. My control dissolved to nothing, every fiber of my being on fire as the monster roared to feed, to be satisfied.

I pulled my mouth away from her cunt, licking at her inner thigh, forcing another moan as I curved my fingers inside her. With my thumb pressed to her clit, I sank my teeth into the same soft flesh, bordering the apex of her thigh. She gasped, not a scream or a shout escaping her, but I released before daring to take a drink.

A dizzying rush overcame me when drops of her sweet blood touched my tongue. She was a desert, a sweetness I'd never encountered before. The taste of her cunt was still on my lips, now mixed with her blood, and there was no stronger elixir in this world, no mead a god could crave quite like it.

I gazed up to see Florencia watching me in confusion. Her brown eyes were surprised, taking in the image of her flesh pierced from my teeth. Blood beaded at each puncture, tempting me, daring me to go further.

All I wanted was more, to drink every drop of it. I wanted her to be mine in every way, to consume her until every ounce of her blood was running through my own veins.

Only then would I be satiated.

I let her go, stopping myself before I followed a path I could no longer return from. Her blood became a thick coating on my tongue, refusing to wash down with my saliva. The animal inside me hissed, watching her thigh drip a single drop of blood that I followed with my eyes.

She asked nothing, though, her lips parting just slightly before she closed them again. I fought her spell, ignoring the disorienting rush and the scorching heat inside of me, moving my fingers in and out of her as if I hadn't nearly lost myself. Our eyes stayed on one another, even as she dove headfirst into her unraveling, gripping my fingers with her cunt.

She wanted this.

She was just as fucked as me.