Oak, Sophie - Beast [A Faery Story 2] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) (18 page)

“I have a little room, but it could take me a while.” Meg’s arms moved, struggling against her bonds. They might not be sonic, but the old ways worked, too.

“I can’t get out of these, sweetheart.” He would need the locking sequence. Even if they could get Meg free, Dante couldn’t get out of his cuffs. His mind raced. “If you could make it over here, I might be able to use my teeth to loosen those ties. It’s not exactly how I imagined getting my mouth on you, but it will have to do.”

“Or we could just wait for Kaja to get me out.” Meg nodded toward the front of the tent where Kaja was nosing her way through the flap.

He’d never seen anything as beautiful as that wolf. Kaja would save Meg. There wasn’t any hope for him, but maybe they could get to Beck.

Kaja shifted, her form moving easily from wolf to one gorgeous, naked woman. She stood, her perfectly shaped breasts bouncing slightly as she walked toward Meg. She really was lovely. He might never get her breasts in his mouth. He really should have sucked her little pink nipples last night, but he hadn’t quite managed to get his face out of her pussy.

“Kaja, you need to get Meg out of here.”

She turned her face to him. Her lips curled up softly. For a woman performing what amounted to grand theft consort, she was remarkably calm. “Yes, that was my plan, Dante.”

She moved around to Meg’s back.

Dante wondered how much time they had. If she managed to get his cock out, he could probably get off really fast. It might be his last time. Even a hummer would work.

Meg shook her head at him. “Dante, seriously? What is wrong with you?”

Nothing from what he could tell. Meg was staring at his erection. It was pushing his pants up admirably. Nope. Nothing wrong with that. And his fangs were out. He was fully functional. “She’s naked. You can’t expect me to think about my inevitable death when my wife is walking around with all her pretty pink parts on display. Now, Meg, I really don’t care if you watch or not, but Kaja and I need to say goodbye in the nastiest way I can possibly achieve with my hands and feet tied.”

Meg flexed her hands. “And he calls me a drama queen. I don’t think I like real, actual bondage. There was nothing fun or sexy about that. At least when Beck and Ci tie me up, I get something out of it. This time, I just got a headache. You don’t have time for sex.”

“There is always time for sex. Come on, Kaj. I’ll be really quick.” He knew he sounded jokey, but deep down he really wanted her. Without Meg to keep him in check, Roan was likely to take out his frustration on Dante. He probably wouldn’t come out of this whole, if he came out at all. He wanted her. He wanted that moment with her. He couched it in sarcasm, but he wanted to know what it felt like to really bond with his wife.

“Does the First believe we will flee without him?” Kaja asked, her hands sliding over Meg’s, massaging her wrists back to life.

Now there was an idea…

“He’s not very smart,” Meg replied, ignoring him entirely. “You watched how they put those things on him?”

Kaja smiled brightly. “Of course. Their First did not realize what I am. He allowed me access to many things he should not have. He also fed me some lovely thing called beef jerky. The mercenaries have several pets. They tried to fight me for the jerky, but they fled after I growled. I enjoyed it very much.”

Kaja knew how to get him out of here. His cock could wait. He would rather live. Damn, he’d finally found the thing he’d rather do than have sex. “Oh, lover, I am going to buy you all the jerky you can handle once you get me out of here.”

Kaja knelt behind him and with a few twists, his hands came free. Kaja moved in front of him, but before she could reach to his feet, he caught her. He let his hands sink into her silky mass of hair and drew her close. He let her sweet scent fill his senses. He could hear her pulse, feel the softness of her skin against his.

“Thank you, Kaja.” He pressed his lips to hers.

The smile on her face lit up his whole fucking world. “You are welcome, Dante.”

Kaja knelt back down, and his feet came free. He wasn’t bound anymore, but he had to wonder if he hadn’t just become her prisoner.

Chapter Nine

Kaja turned her face up to the starlit sky. The black night was illuminated with more stars than any wolf could number. The moon was smaller. A pale silvery presence in the sky, this moon was oddly curved. It wasn’t as full and round as the one at home. It did not dominate the sky. The sun, it seemed, held sway here, with the moon only an afterthought.

Kaja heard Meg behind her. She had been working since the moment that Dante had told them it was safe to stop. Kaja had been staring at the forest in wonder.

Everything was different here. There was no snow, and the stars made different patterns in the sky. Water fell from above in a great sheet that flowed into a crystalline pool. She’d never seen anything like it. Dante had called it a waterfall, but Meg had mentioned something called paradise.

She looked out at Dante. He was bathing. He’d shed his clothes almost the instant they had stopped and walked into the pond. She had stayed behind. This wasn’t a tub. This water was deep. Dante had gone under several times, making her heart skip a beat until he resurfaced.

The sounds were different here, too. There was the whoosh of the water as it hit the pond, and the whisper of the wind in the trees. Beneath it all, she could hear something shuffling under the brush behind her.
Prey
. And yet she found herself more curious than hungry.

Everything about this world made her curious. Especially Dante.

She stared as he emerged from the pool, water dripping from his form. He was so beautiful. His skin was perfect and smooth. Every muscle rippled, from his broad shoulders to his strong thighs. He shook the water off of him. His hair looked different now. It was longer without the “product” he’d spoken of. The water had washed it away leaving only his silky hair behind. It made him look younger with his gold and red hair brushing his ears. Her eyes drifted down. Kaja couldn’t help but look at how his long, thick male part jutted up. Heavy balls swung below. She wondered what it would feel like to cup them, to run her hands along his…cock. He’d called it a cock.

Her eyes met with his. She had the urge to go to him.

“Whoa!” Meg yelled from behind her. “Dante, I did not need to see that!”

Kaja turned, that odd moment gone, and saw that Meg was hiding her eyes.

“Everyone’s seen it, Meg. I’ve been caught naked by every photographer in the States. This body was named ‘hottest royal bod’ four years in a row. Everyone wants a piece of this.” Dante grinned and motioned up and down, indicating his perfect body.

Meg sounded as though she was sick. “Gross, Dante.”

Kaja bit her lip. Not all things were good in this place. She still didn’t understand half the things Meg and Dante said to each other. She knew the words, but not the intentions behind them. Since that moment when the three of them had snuck from the camp, Kaja had been a bit lost. The words they spoke at each other did not match the tone. They did a lot of a thing they called joking. It involved insulting each other in a manner that would have gotten them outcast from the pack had they been pack members speaking to their betters.

Kaja had almost liked it better when they had been silent, prowling through the forest to get away from the men who had captured them. Dante had ordered her to return to her wolf form after he’d kissed her. That was a moment she’d loved. His mouth had played across hers, lighting up her skin. He’d needed her in that moment.

He did not need her anymore.

They seemed to be safe in this little corner of the forest. Perhaps the time had come to explore on her own. These woods were deep, she sensed. She could lose herself here and never be found.

“Kaja.” Dante’s voice had taken that slightly hard tone he used when he was taking control. That deep tone had Kaja turning her head to focus on him. He was knee-deep in the water. He held his hand out. “Come with me, Kaja. Take off the shirt, and we’ll get you clean before we bed down.”

That was not a good idea. Though her heart raced at the sight of him waiting for her, it would be smarter to leave. He was playing some sort of game with her. He wanted to be with her, but not forever. Wolves mated for life. She never expected she would get a true mate, but even a mistress had a place. She wasn’t sure what Dante believed her place to be. He had signed the important things called papers that made her his, but then talked about where he would place her when their mating was done.

She wasn’t sure of anything.

She shook her head. “I do not like the water. I am clean enough.”

When they bedded down for the night, she would sneak away. He would not hear her. He would not look for her. She would watch over both Dante and Meg. She would stay in wolf form, and they would never know that she followed them. When they were safe, she would disappear. She would stay in these woods and never leave her wolf form. Her two-legged nature would fade, and the wolf would be all that was left. It would be easier. The wolf felt, but not as much as her woman self. The wolf never cried.

She turned to aid Meg in her preparations. Meg was creating a small nest in which to rest. She had gathered leaves and vines to make a bed. Kaja didn’t need it. She would change and be perfectly fine, but Meg obviously wanted a bit of comfort. After the day she’d had, Meg deserved it.

Kaja was just about to lean over and gather leaves from the ground of the forest when a damp hand reached out and grabbed her elbow. She turned and looked up into stern eyes that were the color of the forest. Dante’s jaw was set in a firm line as he towered over her. He was so beautiful it hurt her heart to look at him.

“It wasn’t a question, Kaja.”

She tried to pull her arm away, but he held tight. “I am tired. I wish to rest.”

It would be easy to refuse, to run, if he didn’t move her in a way she’d never felt before. She’d been sure he wouldn’t come after her when she’d gone to save her gnome captor. She’d stared up at the ogre and realized that death had come for her. She would have gone down fighting, but she would have gone down.

And then he’d been there, yelling at her. His face had been contorted in rage and some strange worry.
For her
. He was so much smaller than the creature, and he’d only had Kaja to distract the ogre, yet Dante had triumphed. The ogre had fallen.

It had taken a piece of magic to force Dante to his knees.

That was the moment—when Dante had been struck with the nightmare magic that caused his big, beautiful body to shake—when Kaja had known she should leave. She’d felt the howl in her throat. It stuck there because she’d forced her jaw to stay closed, but the mating howl was inside her, and it was only for this man.

She could howl all she liked. He would not answer. He would not even understand what it meant, and if she explained it to him, his eyes would get that soft haze that told her she was an object of pity.

“I’ll take care of you,” Dante replied. “We’ll bed down close to Meg, but I want to spend time with my consort. This is our bonding time. I don’t care that we’re not alone. Meg can ignore it if she doesn’t like it.”

“There aren’t enough earplugs in the world,” Meg complained. Her hands went to her hips as she looked at Dante, obviously trying to keep her eyes on his face. “Now isn’t the time to bond, Dante. Like I don’t know what that means. Just lay your ass down and get some sleep. Beck and Cian will be here soon. Then you can paw the poor girl.”

The growl that came from Dante’s throat did all kinds of things to her woman’s parts.
Pussy
. Dante wanted her to call it a pussy. His fangs grew long. He moved toward Meg, never letting go of Kaja’s arm.

“And when your husbands return, I will have a long discussion with the warrior half about the way his wife places herself between me and my consort. We will discuss why you think you have rights over my consort and your definition of respect.”