Chapter Fifteen

Blythe was scared and Killian could smell it. But his tiger was demanding that he claim her. She reeked of Tristan and it was pissing him off. He stalked toward her, grabbing her ankle and jerking her under him. He grabbed her wrists, pinning her to the bed. He was still naked and knew that frightened her even more. She was so bashful when it came to things like that. For his kind, it was normal. Even the guards were used to it.

“You reek of him,” Killian spat. He kissed his mark on her neck and then licked it, causing her to whimper. He could smell her pleasure spiking, mixing with her fear. It both turned him on and turned him off. He didn’t want his mate to fear him. He would never hurt her.

“Please, Killian. Don’t do this. I need more time.”

“I can’t wait. You don’t understand how hard this is for me,” Killian admitted.

“I don’t even know you that well. I know nothing about you except what other people have told me,” Blythe rambled on, trying to distract him. “Talk to me. Tell me about yourself.”

“I don’t talk about myself,” Killian replied, nibbling on her ear. She wriggled under him, causing him to go hard in seconds. He wanted her, wanted to sink into her heat and claim what belonged to him. He’d known she was his since he found her in that tree in the Running.

She’d been so innocent then. He’d had no idea that he’d stolen her first kiss, but he was glad that it’d been him. He wanted to be her first everything. He wanted to experience all this with her, yet at the moment, she was begging him to reconsider and talk about himself. He hardly ever talked about himself. He was the quiet one in the back of the room that observed and everyone forgot he was there. It was a great way to gather information. He’d only started talking since Blythe came into his life.

“Please!” she tilted her head to the side, silently asking for more. Her body wanted this just as much as Killian did. It was her mind that was causing her to reject him. He had to change it. He kissed a trail up to her chin and then his lips captured hers. He swallowed her gasp and his tongue darted into to tease hers.

He could smell her arousal as he tasted her. She was exquisite and he wanted to taste other parts of her too. He jerked back and started sliding his hands up under her shirt. She gasped and grabbed his wrists.

“What are you doing?” she asked, wide-eyed.

“I’m undressing you,” he replied, his hands pushing against hers on his wrists.

“What’s your favorite color?” she blurted out. Killian stopped, so startled by the random question that he froze.

“What?” he asked, unsure he’d heard correctly.

“What is your favorite color?” she mumbled, her beautiful face flushing under his scrutiny and her embarrassment.

“Well, I’ve never given it much thought,” he admitted. “I guess it would be green.”

“What shade of green?” Blythe was attempting to distract him.

“The color of your eyes when they fill with passion under my ministrations.”

He wasn’t sure how it was possible, but her face turned a brighter red. He kissed both of her cheeks and started moving his hands again. He loved how soft her skin was under his callused hands.

“What is your favorite color?” he asked her, trying to keep her from noticing that he was slicing her shirt open with his claws.

“Blue,” she murmured. He smiled. His eyes were blue. Could she think the same of his as he thought of hers? It swelled his heart to think so. It was an unusual feeling and he let it slip away before he thought too much on it.

He dropped his head and kissed her stomach. He felt her tense and then her breathing increased drastically. He pulled her waistband back and nibbled just above her underwear. She gasped and he raised his eyes to see the passion flare in hers. His chest rumbled, the purr startling her. She raised an eyebrow and he winked at her. She blushed and turned her head away.

He quickly jerked her bottoms off and threw them before she could grab them and pull them back up. She kicked, trying to get away from him and he saw the terror in her eyes. There was no longer passion or arousal in her scent, just pure terror. Killian froze, realizing what he was doing. He was acting just like Diego. Was she seeing him trying to rape her instead of her mate trying to love her?

“Blythe, look at me. It’s me, not Diego. Stay here with me,” he cupped her cheeks. He watched the terror slowly slink away until only a bit of it remained. “I won’t hurt you. I swear to you that no matter how angry I grow, or how feral I seem, I will never hurt you intentionally.”

“I couldn’t stop it. It startled me and then something just flipped in my mind. I was back in the infirmary and he was trying to rape me,” she breathed. She started shaking and Killian pulled her into his arms. He cradled her head against his chest and breathed in her scent.

“If I talk to you and tell you about myself, will you let me claim you?” Killian asked. He was willing to try anything. If all it took was opening up, he’d suffer through it.

Blythe bit her lip and he wanted to replace her teeth with his own. Then he’d suck it into his mouth and ease the slight pain of his teeth. He moved, trying to get comfortable with his hard on and with no relief in sight.

“Will you go slow?” Blythe asked. “This is my first time. I don’t know what I’m doing. You have to tell me if I do something wrong.”

“I will tell you, and I’ll guide you. Trust me, you’ll enjoy this.”

“Then I promise that if you open up and talk to me, answering any questions I may have, I’ll let you claim me,” Blythe told him.

“It’s a deal. What would you like to know?” Killian asked. He was a bit hesitant about talking about himself, but when he sunk into his mate’s tight pussy, he knew it’d be worth it.

Stroking her back wasn’t enough. He wanted her naked and willing in his arms. He groaned and felt her tense. She jerked her head back to look up at him “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“You have no idea how hard it is for me to refrain from stripping you down and taking you right here right now.”

“But you said you wouldn’t!” Her eyes widened in fright and he quickly consoled her.

“I know and I won’t until you have asked all your heart desires. I was just telling you how hard it truly is. I was being honest,” Killian replied.

“What was your father like?” Blythe asked, thinking it an easy question.

Killian tensed and she could feel it. She looked up into his eyes and studied his expression. It was like trying to read a statue, impossible. Suddenly, Killian spun her around and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her back against his chest.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I can’t have you constantly staring at me. And your shirt is basically non-existent right now. If I keep staring at your chest, I’ll fuck you right now, consequences be damned.”

Blythe shivered from the brutal honesty and nodded.

“Describe your father to me,” Blythe pressed.

“He was a tiger, like me. He met my mom in the Running. They fell in love, so to speak. At least they thought it was love. It worked out for a while until my mom got pregnant with me. My father apparently got a little rough with her because he’d find her sneaking out all the time. He assumed she was cheating on him and even questioned if the baby was his. She’d come home smelling like all kinds of shifters and he never figured out which one it was.”

“Was she really cheating on him?” Blythe asked.

“Well, obviously, because Seth is my brother.”

“Oh, so your father wasn’t your father?” she pressed.

“No, he actually was my father or I’d be a bear. Mates are supposed to be for life, but my mother was human and didn’t understand. Shortly after I was born, my father tried to turn my mom into a tiger like us. She freaked out, wanting to remain human. My father grew angry and started throwing things. He never once raised a hand to her. My mom had claimed to love him, yet she didn’t want to be what we are and she was cheating on him. It was disgusting. I was one and a half when my mom got pregnant with Seth. That was the last straw. My dad knew it wasn’t his. He followed her one night and found that it was a bear shifter he’d once called a friend. They were plotting to kill him so she could be mated to him. My own mother was plotting against my father to kill him. Mates are supposed to cherish and protect each other, not plot to kill.”

“Killian, that’s awful,” Blythe tried to turn to comfort him, but he wouldn't allow it and squeezed his arms against her.

“My father tried to renounce my mother as his mate, even though it killed him to do so. The pride leaders wouldn’t allow it. My mother tried to take me with her to join Seth’s dad, but I didn’t want to leave my father. I was too young to understand fully what was happening, but I was definitely a daddy’s boy at the time.”

“What happened to your mother and father?” Blythe asked when Killian paused and didn’t continue.

“My dad went crazy after my mom left. He ended up killing my mom and Seth’s dad.”

Blythe gasped, realizing that Killian had reasoning behind all his jumbled emotions. He’d had a terrible past.

“I had to grow up with a father, knowing that he’d killed my mother and half-brother’s dad. Everyone avoided me; afraid I’d end up like my dad. It was a terrible life for a child. My father became abusive, even attacking the guards on purpose. Eventually, when I was around sixteen, I started fighting back. One night, it got bad. By the time we stopped, we both needed medical attention. Seth took my dad first, but they ran into some guards. My father was still angry and lashed out at the guard. The guard started shooting my father. He almost killed Seth too, but Seth managed to get away and get help. The guard was injured severely by some of the shifters, but none of them killed him. My father had deserved it, but they didn’t want the guards to know that they were turning against their own.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“It’s my fault he died. I shouldn’t have started fighting back. I should have let him hit me,” Killian sighed.

“No!” Blythe cried. “Never! No father or mother should ever abuse their child. You were right to start fighting back. Your friends should have helped.”

“I didn’t have any friends. Everyone was afraid of me. Many rumors spread about why my father was so hurt and why he was headed to the medical center. Seth had the doctor work on me in the room. No one ever knew that I was worse off than my dad. They assumed I’d gone crazy and attacked him. Not everyone knew that my father abused me. It was years later before people started believing Seth. He stuck up for me and told them what happened. He’d had to come live with us because no one would take him in. My father hated him, but he was still my brother. I only started fighting back when his anger went from me to my brother. Even though we are only half-brothers, he is still my brother and we protect our family.”

Blythe remained quiet, absorbing all that he’d told her. It was hard to imagine that this truly happened to people. Her family life had been a little rough, but nothing as extreme as Killian’s.

“Seth actually became a doctor because of that. He figured that if he was a doctor and something like this happened, we wouldn’t even have to leave the room. Then no guards could get involved. He also felt that he should’ve protected my father better or at least started fighting back instead of letting me do it all,” Killian finished.

Blythe didn’t know what to say. What could she say? She turned around in his arms, cupping his face and looking into his cold eyes. Leaning forward, she kissed him softly. Killian froze and at first didn’t kiss her back.

“Blythe,” he muttered before opening his mouth and allowing the kiss to deepen. Blythe felt his hands slide down her back, eliciting goosebumps. His hands slid down to her bare bottom, cupping her ass. He slid one hand even further, cupping her sex. Blythe sucked in a breath and pulled back from the kiss. She straightened and pulled his head against her chest. She held him as he slowly slid a finger into her. She jerked and gasped. At first Killian didn’t move, he just held his finger inside of her. The intrusion felt strange and she wiggled. The movement sent him deeper and he curled his finger. She moaned as pleasure flooded her. His other hand left her ass and slid between them. Killian pulled back to look at her as he started rubbing her clit.

Blythe didn’t fully understand what was happening to her. At times there was pain, but then pleasure overruled that. It was strange to have Killian’s fingers inside her, but it felt amazing at the same time. She never knew that it could feel like this. Her hands moved from his neck to grip his shoulders tightly as he started rubbing her faster. He tried something new, swirling his finger in a circle and pinching her slit at the same time. Her hips jerked and she moaned.

“Killian,” she cried, begging for more. She was so close, but to what she didn’t understand. Tension was building and she felt like she was going to explode. She rubbed her chest against his, creating friction against her nipples. She wanted the shirt gone and only bare skin. Gripping the shirt where it was already torn, she finished it off and let it slip off her arms. She arched her back and felt Killian kiss one of her breasts. His finger moved faster inside of her and he pressed harder against her clit. Suddenly all the tension inside of her was released. She bit her lip to keep from screaming, but she couldn’t help the moan that slipped out. Killian kept her orgasm going, rubbing harder and faster. She felt like putty in his arms and only his arms around her kept her upright.

He moved, laying her gently back on the bed. She looked glorious lying there on his bed, completely naked, her legs coated with her juices and her hair a mess. Her eyes were filled with heat and the after-effects of her second orgasm. He wanted to keep her there forever. He’d never forget the picture she left in his mind.

“You’re so beautiful,” he told her. She blushed and started covering herself up. Killian growled, stilling her.

“What is it?” Blythe asked.

“Don’t cover yourself from me. You are my mate. Your body is mine and you have nothing to be ashamed of.”

Blythe’s eyes roamed his chest and arms before lowering to his erection. She stared at it and a question formed. “Will you let me touch you?”

“Huh?” Killian asked, the question catching him off guard. He was ready to make love. What was she talking about?

“I want to touch you, explore you. All this time you’ve been touching me and bringing me to pleasure. I want to do the same for you, but I don’t know what I’m doing. Will you let me experiment with your body?” Blythe blushed, sitting up in the bed.

Killian’s breathing quickened. She wanted to touch him, learn what turned him on. But did he have enough strength to last under her hands? He was afraid he’d come just by her touching him at this point. His cock was hard and ached to come inside of his mate. He took a deep breath. She needed this; she needed to feel that she was in control. If he didn’t do this, she may never let him claim her. Raising his head to look at her, he nodded. Blythe moved over and then patted the bed beside her.

“Lay down on your back please,” she said nervously. Killian moved to do as she asked. He laid on his back, his cock pointing toward the ceiling. As soon as her hands touched his chest, he regretted this. He’d never last. His tiger was already pushing for more control. He’d had a taste of what bringing pleasure to his mate felt like. He wanted to claim her fully and make her belong to him forever.

Blythe couldn’t believe that Killian was allowing this to happen. She needed time to get her nerves under control and wanted to feel like she had some say in this. She could feel his racing heart beneath her hand. She’d never been this bold before. What would her mother think? A shadow descended upon her mind. Why hadn’t her mother explained any of this to her? Why had she made sex seem like a scary ordeal? Blythe had no idea of the pleasure her body was capable of. Killian definitely knew what he was doing when it came to drawing it out of her. She could still feel the memory of his finger inside of her and the sensations it elicited.

“I’m going to warn you now,” Killian started, “I don’t think I’ll be able to last long. There’s an internal war going on right now between my tiger and me. I don’t want to rush you or frighten you, but keep in mind that I’m not fully human.”

Blythe looked up at Killian. She took a deep breath and said, “I’m not afraid of you now.”