Page 74 of When Roses Burn

I recoiled like she’d punched me in the nuts. My hands fell away as I stepped away from her. “What?”

I couldn’t have heard her right. There was no way a caster would ask someone to stop at any time, especially not during their Needing.

“Don’t touch me. I can’t be like them… any of them,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

She shook her head and then winced when her hair brushed her breasts. The muscles in her belly clenched as her head fell back and an erotic sound issued from her.

The visceral reaction in my body froze my breath as my shoulders cracked and the beast surged to the forefront. Briar recoiled from me, and I could only imagine what she saw on my face and in my eyes.

“No,” she whispered. “Please, no. I can’t be like them.”

Those words knocked some of the beast out of me. How often had I heard some of the others begging for mercy or to be left alone while in the harem? How often had I listened to their cries and cursed them for the weakness, while inwardly screaming the same pleas when my time came.

I never begged the casters to stop or to leave me alone; they never would, and I was certain my pleas would only excite them further. So many of them enjoyed inflicting pain and relished their control over everyone in the harem.

How often had I sworn never to be like those monsters?

And now she was begging me to stop while all I wanted was to fuck her. She needed it and would enjoy it; we both would. If I kept touching her, she’d soon be begging for release instead of asking me not to.

It was true, but my feet wouldn’t move any closer to her. Maybe her body was begging for release, but she wasn’t, and if she weren’t in her Needing, she wouldn’t be this aroused. I didn’t want her unless she was in her right mind.

You don’t want her at all! While I tried to make that true, it wasn’t, and I couldn’t deny it anymore. I’d always long for her, but that didn’t mean I could have her.

“I can’t… I can’t be them,” she whispered.

As I retreated to the chair, I questioned if I should be the one in chains. “What do you mean by that?” I asked in a guttural voice.

“I don’t want to be day or night; I want to be me.”

I sank into the chair and closed my eyes as I willed myself to regain control. It took some time, but eventually the beast retreated again.

When I felt stable enough to look at her again, her eyes were closed and her mouth was clamped shut. She was still aching as her wetness trailed down her thighs.

My canines throbbed to extend and sink into the delicate column of her throat, marking her as my mate again. The marks on her were clearly visible against her otherwise pristine skin, but I still yearned to reopen them.

This was a mistake. I’d been so sure I could handle this, but I was wrong.

I couldn’t let the beast take over; I didn’t know what it would do to her, and as much as I hated her, I couldn’t allow that. I’d never do to another what they did to me in the harem, and while the beast had taken on my role in that awful place, it couldn’t be with her.

I wouldn’t allow it. Not only because she was in chains, but also because she was mine and I wouldn’t allow it to touch her.

That confusing notion had me shaking my head. She’s not mine.

At one time, she was, but she never would be again. And she was never yours. It was all lies.

I should walk out of here and let Lyra come in to deal with her, but I couldn’t leave Briar in this vulnerable state. Lyra would never go against my orders, but she hated casters almost as much as I did. Being so close to another one going through their Needing might push her over the edge.

I could ask Bertie to come in, but I wouldn’t let anyone near her while she was like this, yet I couldn’t get anywhere near her either. My teeth ground together when she moaned again.

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

Briar

Every part of me ached. Breathing was difficult, and my skin felt like someone had taken sandpaper to it. I needed him to touch me; it was the only thing that would ease the fire building within me.

My head lolled forward as my clit throbbed. I’d give anything to have him between my legs, filling me, and rocking against me while I dug my nails into his back and screamed with ecstasy.