Page 26 of Hunted Ink

My shoulder began to ache, my palm slick with sweat on the handle, and Seth began to falter. One hand slipped from the crossbeam, and he leaned his shoulder on it instead, his entire body shaking from the effort to stay upright. I felt each whip as if they’d been inflicted on myself. Seth was no longer a rival. He was family—he was pack.

The lashes were no longer healing. Too much damage had been inflicted, and at last he fell to his knees, his blood turning the dirt to mud beneath him. His shoulders heaved with each breath, but still he did not ask me to stop.

I glanced over toward the house and found Pater standing in the doorway watching, arms crossed over his chest, triumphant look on his face. He gave me a nod of approval, then turned to go back inside. I blew out a relieved breath, then came to crouch beside Seth. Emotion choked me, and I swallowed to clear the pressure that had built up in my throat.

Even though no one was around to hear what I said, I kept my voice low. “Please… I need you pretend to be obedient to Pater and the other elders. Let him believe he won. Just for now. Can you do that?”

It took effort for Seth to raise his head enough to look at me, but he was not broken. In his eyes, I saw a glimmer of hope. “Yes, Apollo. For you, I can do that.”

And though he said my name, I swore he was calling me Alpha.

Chapter 17

Kedi

The words on the screen blurred, and I blinked hard to clear my vision. Did it say he was coming over? Or maybe it said he couldn’t make it. Either way, it didn’t solve my immediate problem, which was my aching dick and my needy, greedy hole demanding to be filled.

Whining, I thrashed my legs, kicking off the sweat-soaked sheet, my hand drifting to my cock like it had a mind of its own, stroking absently. “Norman… Norman, I need you to tell me what this text says,” I yelled. Except Norman didn’t appear, not even when I called louder. “Norman?”

He’s not here, my wolf reminded me.

Oh yeah. I forgot. As soon as my heat had started, he’d made other plans for a place to stay. He said he didn’t want to listen to my weird sex sounds. Pfft, I wasn’t that loud. And honestly, I wasn’t even sure if I’d be having any sex. As soon as my temperature spiked, I’d texted Apollo’s burner phone, letting him know I needed his knot, but the chances of him being able to sneak away were slim. It wouldn’t be the first time I had to take care of my heat by myself, but now that I had a mate, the thought of using a dildo was a bit of a mood killer.

My phone buzzed with another text, but I didn’t even attempt to read it. I was lost to the heat haze, and I tossed it aside, listening to it thud as it slipped off the side of the bed and hit the carpet. I vaguely debated retrieving it, but fuck it. Everyone important knew I would be unreachable for a few days. I’d called in to work, informed my pack, and Joel promised to check in on me if he hadn’t heard from me by Sunday.

As another gush of slick trickled from my hole in preparation for a knot that wouldn’t come, I whimpered needily, before finally admitting defeat. I rolled over and pulled open my bedside drawer, withdrawing my knotting dildo. It was purple, looked like it was covered with dragon scales, and was also very girthy. Normally it did the trick, but as I eased the head of it into my ass, I felt nothing but frustration. It wasn’t what my body needed.

“Well, too bad, body,” I grunted, working it all the way in, feeling the burn of the stretch. “It’s all you’re gonna get, so you’d better make it work.”

I was midway through “making it work” when my bedroom door slammed open. I peeled my eyes open, blinking through the haze. Standing there, chest heaving, pupils blown wide, was Apollo. “You’re here,” I said dreamily. In fact, now that I’d said it, how could I be sure this wasn’t a dream? Maybe this was some kind of heat-induced hallucination.

“Of course I’m here. I just about lost my mind knowing you were going through your heat without me, but one of the guys could tell something was wrong and said he’d cover for me.” He licked his lips, stumbling into the room as my pheromones took the reins. “You started without me,” he said, though it certainly didn’t look like he minded one bit, his gaze zeroed in on where I was working the dildo in and out of my hole. He fumbled with the buttons on his shirt before giving up and just tearing it off instead. His erection was already straining at his pants, and as soon as he got his belt undone, his cock forced the zipper down in a rush to join the party.

“I didn’t know if you were coming,” I said, still not entirely sure this was real. “I guess I don’t need this thing anymore.”

“Hang on, let’s not be hasty.” Apollo knelt on the bed between my spread legs and grabbed the silicone shaft before I could extract it. He took my hand and moved it to my dick, encouraging me to grip myself. Lowering himself to his stomach, his breath felt cool against my heated skin, as he whispered, “Show me how you like it. What makes my mate feel good?”

I shuddered as I dragged my fist up my shaft as instructed, precum dripping from the tip, which I smeared with my thumb before bringing it to my lips, sucking the salty cream onto my tongue. “Fuck, baby, that’s so hot,” Apollo said with a low groan, before he dragged the dildo back until only the flared tip remained inside me.

I held my breath, anticipating him pushing it back in, but he just held it there, not moving. With each passing second, my need seemed to ratchet even higher, until I thought I might scream. Nope, there was no way this was a hallucination, because my imagination wouldn’t torture me like this.

Just as I was about to start making demands, he thrust it back in, as deep as it could go. I cried out, my free hand searching for something to hold on to, and I found his hair as he moved in to lick up my shaft. I held on tight, guiding his head as he slid the dildo in and out a few times while sucking my balls into his mouth, left then right.

“I need… I need…” I panted desperately as my orgasm built inside me. Apollo’s moans vibrating right through me, and as he lodged the dildo deep inside me, feeling it nudge at my womb was enough to set me off like a bottle rocket. I kept working my hand furiously through the orgasm, but my cock didn’t soften even a little. There was no relief to be found from a toy. What I needed was my mate’s knot.

Luckily, Apollo got the message. Maybe because I was blubbering in my feverish attempt at communicating, “More. Fuck. Knot me. Now.”

With one quick move, he removed the dildo, leaving me gaping, and I was only vaguely aware of him tossing the toy somewhere over his shoulder with a heavy thud. I hoped it didn’t damage the drywall; I wanted to get my damage deposit back. I whined at how empty I felt, but it was a short-lived dilemma. Apollo was suddenly above me, filling me with one thrust, his hips pressed flush against my ass cheeks. No need for foreplay when I was already stretched and ready for him.

My body felt the difference immediately, recognizing him as what I needed. “Deeper,” I groaned, needing everything he had to give me and more.

A shifter’s heat served only one purpose, and that was breeding. Instinct drove us both. Usually, we liked to experiment with power dynamics, my alpha loving to be dominated, but now wasn’t the time to play.

With a growl, Apollo pulled out and flipped me around onto all fours, before he drove back into me, finally hitting that spot, scratching an itch that had been just out of reach.

“Yes, right there!” I cried out, dropping my head to the mattress like a rag doll. I was more than happy to let him use me for his own pleasure right now, because as long as I had his dick in my ass, everything felt good. Even the slightest breeze across my skin felt divine, the texture of the sheets on my face, the firm grip he had on my hips—it all served to drive me toward another climax.

With a stuttered gasp, I came untouched onto the bed beneath me, but it barely even took the edge off. Luckily, Apollo didn’t even pause in his stride. His DNA was hardwired to give me exactly what I needed, so even when I came a third time only a couple minutes later, it only seemed to drive him faster.