Corson

Wren leaned against the lockers as I kissed her. I tasted the jerky on her lips, but also something more, something inherently her. Though I didn’t eat human food, I could only think of sweet as the way to describe her. So sweet, yet so deadly; so confident about some things, yet so lost about others. She was a contradiction unlike any I’d ever known, and I liked the way she kept me on my toes. I would never be bored with Wren in my life.

Breaking the kiss, she inhaled a shaky breath as she turned her head away. I lowered my forehead to rest it against her temple and inhaled the scent of pine and woods on her. She’d washed, but she’d never rid herself of the scent of the earth ingrained on her flesh.

“Wren,” I whispered as I nuzzled her ear.

She turned her head so her lips brushed against my cheek. “I don’t know how to do this.”

I didn’t have to ask what she meant; I knew she didn’t know how to handle opening herself up to another as completely as she’d started to open to me. “We’ll do it together, one day at a time.”

“But I’m mortal, and you’re not invincible.”

“I can’t promise I’ll never die, but I can promise I am extremely difficult to kill.” Lifting my head, I gazed into her sky-colored eyes with their flecks of green. “I’ve never felt about another the way I feel for you. There is nothing I won’t do for you, including walking away if you tell me to.”

“I don’t want that.”

“What do you want then?”

“You,” she breathed. “I want you.”

With a growl, I pulled her flush against me and lifted her against the lockers. Bending, I claimed her lips again. I felt half out of control as my tongue delved into her mouth. Her fingers entangled in my hair and gave it a small tug. She mewled as she pressed her body as tight as she could to mine.

Her urgency fueled my own. Stepping away from the lockers, I carried her to the closest classroom, adjusted my hold on her to open the door, and entered the room. She broke the kiss to trail her lips over my jawline before nipping at me. Wren didn’t have the instinct to mark me, as I did her, but I found myself craving her bite.

My hands slid under the bottom of her shirt, pushing it up until I could settle my palms on her silken flesh. I kicked the door closed with my heel and carried her to the large, metal desk at the front of the room. She released her hold on my hair and ran her fingers through it until they brushed the tips of my ears. Setting her on the desk, I groaned as I turned into her touch.

“Your ears?” she asked as she brushed her fingers over them again.

“Are extremely sensitive,” I told her and stepped closer to rub my erection against the juncture between her thighs to prove what she did to me.

She squirmed closer until I was nestled securely against her center. The fingers stroking my ears and pushing me to the point of near madness slid away when I tugged her shirt up. She lifted her arms for me to pull it off her.

Tossing the shirt aside, my mouth watered as I gazed down at her flat stomach and enticing, handful-sized breasts. I drank in her golden skin and the pert nipples poking against the simple, black bra she wore.

“Mah lahala,” I murmured before bending to place my mouth against her nipple and sucking on it through her bra.

She arched her hips up and down against my shaft. Delicious moans whispered from her throat as she used my body to rouse herself to higher heights of passion. “What does that mean?” she panted.

Her husky voice set my blood on fire. I bit at her nipple before releasing it and sliding my hands around to undo the clasp. I’d love nothing more than to shred all her clothes from her and bury myself inside her, but the Wilders had few clothes. Wren would walk around naked if it became necessary, and I would make sure that never happened.

When the bra fell open, I removed it and dropped it to the ground. Cupping one of her breasts, I lifted my head to gaze at her while I ran my thumb over it. Her eyes darkened as she watched me while red color crept through her cheeks. She wasn’t embarrassed, I knew, but aroused and growing more so by the second.

“It means ‘my love’ in demonish,” I told her.

Panic flashed across her face, and she stiffened against me.

“Don’t,” I said, drawing her closer. “Don’t pull away from me.”

“But I’m not your love.”

“Yes, you are.” I held her gaze, determined to make her understand. “To me, you are everything, Wren.”

The panic didn’t leave her eyes, but she softened toward me. Bending my head, I drew her bottom lip into my mouth before sliding my arm around her waist and rocking my shaft against her once more. When I released her lip, her head fell into the hollow of my shoulder.

“I can’t get pregnant, Corson,” she murmured. “You said humans have had demon children before, but I can’t have a baby, not now. It would be a death sentence for our child and me.”

“You would be safer at the wall; we could return there if you carried my child.”

“I don’t want that. Not now.”

“I will take care to make sure you don’t get pregnant,” I assured her.

“The last time we did this—”

“The last time I wasn’t expecting what happened. I’ll be more careful this time, but know that I would never allow any harm to come to you or our child. I’ll fight to the death for you both.”

A child. It surprised me how much that possibility pleased me. I’d never considered a child before, but now…

My hands tightened on her as I imagined a little girl with Wren’s hair and smile and none of the sorrow haunting her blue eyes. I would make sure our child only knew peace and love. Those were the only things I wanted Wren to know, but I couldn’t give them to her while our world was so uncertain. It could be years before things settled enough for us to experience peace and Wren might not have years left.

I grappled to control the tumult of emotions the knowledge of Wren’s inevitable death brought with it. My mortal.

“I know you would protect us,” she said and slid her hands inside my shirt. Her fingers ran up my stomach before her short nails raked lightly down it. “I don’t think I could handle being a mom with everything I’ve seen, and we’re nowhere near close to the child stage of our relationship, or whatever this is between us.”

“This is the beginning of something great.”

“Oh is it, demon?” she asked in a teasing, breathy voice.

I found I didn’t mind her calling me demon in that tone. “It is.”

She tugged my shirt over my head and threw it aside. Her fingers traced the muscles of my abdomen as I brushed her hair aside to reveal my marks on her. The unfamiliar sensation of my canines lengthening into fangs came back when they started to fill my mouth again.

Wren must have detected the outline of them behind my lips as she tilted her head to study me before leaning closer. “Let me see them,” she said.

My lips skimmed back to reveal my fangs to her. Her breath caught before she reached up to prod the tip of one with her finger. She snatched her hand back when her prodding caused it to lengthen further.

“Amazing,” she breathed. “I never knew you had fangs.”

“I never did, until you.”

“Did you know that would happen when you found your Chosen?”

“No.” My hands fell to the button of her pants, and I slid it free. “I remember seeing my parents’ marks on each other, but I never thought about the fact there were always two punctures on them. A Chosen strengthens a demon and brings out things in them they never knew they could do before. You have already brought out some of those changes in me.”

I tugged her pants down her legs and bent to untie her boots. Pulling them off, the boots clattered onto the floor when I dropped them before pulling her socks and pants off. She raptly watched me as my hands glided up her shapely calves to her thighs. I pushed her legs further apart to reveal the pale blonde curls between them; curls that were already wet with her want for me. I held her eyes as I knelt to place a kiss against her inner knee before sliding my mouth further up her thigh.

Her breath sucked in when my fangs grazed her flesh before I sank them into her. Her body jerked and bowed toward me; passion darkened her eyes as she watched me. Sliding my hands beneath her legs, I lifted them over my shoulders until her knees were on either side of my head. Releasing my bite, I continued to kiss my way up her thigh until my mouth fell upon her hot center. I slipped my hands under her ass to lift her against me.

“Corson!” She panted when I dipped my tongue inside her. She tasted like she smelled, of the outdoors and something sweeter that brought to mind the honey I’d seen some of the humans eating. Her fingers entangled in my hair, drawing me closer against her as her head fell back and she rode my tongue.

I couldn’t get enough of savoring her and greedily took in more and more until I was on the point of coming in my pants. Releasing her ass, my hand fell to shift my erection as it throbbed against my zipper. I slid the button on my pants free, breathing a sigh of relief when I released my shaft from its confines.

When I drew back, I ran my tongue over her clit while sliding one of my fingers into her. I drank in the sight of her body bared before me and my finger deep within her as I pushed her closer and closer to release. Bending back to her, I tongued her clit and spread her further to slip two fingers inside her.

Wren tugged on my hair and cried out as she came in a heated rush. The muscles of her sheath gripped my fingers before I slid them away from her. Rising, I tugged my pants down and kicked off my boots before grabbing her hips and drawing her closer to the edge of the desk.

Her dazed eyes met mine; her lips still glistened from my kiss as a smile played across her swollen mouth. She caressed the tip of one of my ears.

“Fuck,” I shuddered as a bead of cum formed on the head of my cock. “Unless you want this over with now, I’d recommend leaving the ears alone.”

She grinned mischievously at me before stroking my ear again. Unable to stop myself, I thrust forward, parting her folds and penetrating deep within her. Her muscles gripped me as I stilled and took a minute to savor the feel of us joined together.

Pulling back, I slid slowly into her again before bending to sink my fangs into her breast. Her legs locked around my waist, drawing me deeper. Her blood dripped onto my tongue, but I found no satisfaction in the taste of it, only in the marking of her again.

Releasing my hold on her breast, I rose to gaze down at her flushed face. Her eyes held mine as I pulled back before plunging into her again. She lifted her hands to run her fingers over my cheeks as if she were memorizing every detail of me. Then she leaned forward to nibble on my bottom lip and her hands fell to my shoulders.

I felt my control unraveling, but I was helpless to stop it as the pleasure Wren gave me became all I knew. Cradling her head to my shoulder with one hand, I slid the other beneath her ass to lift her off the desk. I drove into her over and over again, needing to leave my mark on every part of her.

“Corson,” she moaned.

Her muscles contracted around me as she orgasmed again. The force of her orgasm caused my semen to rush up my shaft. With a loud cry, I pulled out and came against her stomach before I could stop myself. Clutching her against me, I didn’t think my release would ever stop, but finally, it did.

Limp in my arms, Wren nestled closer to me as I cupped the back of her head and a new emotion swelled to life within me. As prickly as akalia vine and as ruthless as any demon, Wren was also one of the most giving and loving people I’d ever encountered.

I may never figure her out completely, but I wouldn’t have it any other way as this walking contradiction was mine.

Reluctantly, I set her on the desk and released her to retrieve my shirt. With tender care, I used my shirt to clean her while she watched my every move.

“Corson,” she whispered when I finished and tossed my shirt aside.

My breath caught when I saw the vulnerability in her eyes and the raw anguish on her face. “Yes?”

“I know you said demons are faithful to their Chosen, but everyone is different. While we’re together, don’t have sex with another woman.”

“I would never do that, Wren.”

“Good.”

I smiled at the decisive tone of her voice. “I’m glad you think so, but the same also goes for you. I won’t tolerate you with another man. I would never hurt you, but I will kill him.”

“What if this doesn’t work out between us and I find another?”

The possibility caused my fangs to throb with the impulse to tear something apart. My talons prodded my skin, but I kept them leashed. She had no idea the jealousy her words evoked in me.

She is human! She doesn’t understand or feel the Chosen bond!

Reminding myself of this did nothing to ease the tension knotting my chest. “This will work out between us.”

“You’re so sure?”

“Yes.”

“But I am mortal. I will die, and you will find another—”

“No!” I snapped with far more anger than I’d expected. Instead of being wary of me, Wren’s eyes narrowed. If I didn’t get control of myself, this conversation would spiral into a fight. “No,” I said more calmly. “There will never be another for me again. The idea of touching another, or having her touch me, turns me on as much as the ouro did. Even if you die, I am yours alone, and I always will be.”

“And if I decide to walk away from this?”

I couldn’t stop myself from flinching at her words before I instinctively bared my teeth. Her palms flattened against my chest, but she didn’t push me away or try to flee. If anything, she’d break my nose again if she believed I might become a risk to her.

“If you decide to walk away, I will let you,” I managed to say. It would destroy me, but I couldn’t keep her caged; she’d hate me forever if I tried, and I couldn’t be the cause of any unhappiness for her. “I would have to get as far from you as possible, but I won’t force something on you that you don’t want.”

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“Do you want me to walk away?” I demanded, unsure of how I would react if she said yes.

“No. I just wanted to know what all this meant and what my options are if things go bad. I like the way things are now, and I’m coming to like you more than I’d believed possible, demon,” she teased.

“Good,” I said gruffly.

She reached down to grip my shaft. “But I had to know I could still have my freedom from you if I asked for it,” she said as she stroked me.

“You can.”

“I know Hawk changed from human to demon, but I don’t want to be a demon.” She ran her thumb over the head of my cock before giving it another long stroke.

I didn’t argue with her about it. Perhaps, with time, and if she grew to love me, she would change her mind about becoming a demon. However, I was not in a rush to watch her almost die, which is what it would take for me to attempt changing her. Plus, there was a risk the change would kill her. But Wren was strong, if anyone had a chance of surviving the transition from human to demon, it was her.

“I understand,” I said, knowing she wouldn’t accept any other answer from me. “But know that if you ever change your mind, I would never allow another to change you. It will be me.”

“My mind is set, but my mortality is something to worry about on another day. I will give you something else to think about now,” she said with a mischievous smile.

Before I knew what she intended, Wren slid from the desk and went to her knees before me. She licked her lips before leaning forward to run her tongue from the base of my shaft to the head of it.

Wrapping my hand around the back of her head, I guided her as she took me deep into her mouth.