Heart of Stone Read online

  "Kestrel, you are beautiful."

  "Thank you." She bit his lower lip and squeezed his cock between her hands. "Are we going to fuck, or just stand here and stare at each other?"

  "Whatever you want," he whispered. His hands slid over her hips and down the outsides of her thighs. His claws sliced through her tight pants. She shifted, instinctively parting for him. He caressed the soft flesh inside her thighs and trailed the tip of a single claw over her skin. She quivered, needing his touch where she was most sensitive, just inches away, but he moved no further.

  "I want you, Damaris."

  A smile curved the edge of his mouth. "You have me."

  She laughed, brief and humorless. "Not enough." He thrust his fingers into her, piercing her, stretching her. She threw her head back and gasped. "Not. . .nearly enough."

  He lay her down on the lush grass, her body spread out before him. He stared at her with an expression she was all-too familiar with: the hungry gaze of an aroused man. Kestrel smiled and stretched out so the moonlight played off of her skin. Her legs spread open, allowing him to see her fully. A groan pushed from his throat.

  She brought a hand up to her breast. Her fingers stroked and kneaded while she kept her gaze locked with his, but it wasn't enough. Her own touch was paltry in comparison to the raging fire of his. She needed what only he could give her, and she put that need into her gaze as she stared up at him.

  "Oh, you'll have me." He crawled over her, held his body just above hers. The head of his cock pressed against her slick flesh. It parted her folds and pressed inside. He barely entered her, but even that created exquisite sensations. Kestrel moaned in delight. She rose up off of the ground and took his mouth in a kiss.

  He withdrew from her. Kestrel's heart sank at the empty, aching feeling he left in her. "But not just yet," he said with a lopsided grin.

  The fingers of one hand circled her wrist and pulled her hand away from her breast, leaving nothing but the night breeze to caress her. She writhed in frustration, but his crooked smile told her that trying to goad him into giving her what she needed was futile. She would get it when he chose to give it to her, and no sooner.

  Something deep within her shivered at his unexpected dominance. She thought it would frustrate her to be denied what she needed, and it did, but it also excited her. Slowly, she eased back onto the grass and waited for Damaris's next move.

  His grin widened. "Much better," he said. He waited while she struggled to relax completely beneath him. When she had fully submitted to his dominance, he curved his hand over her breast and began to caress her flesh. She sucked in her breath at the sharp pleasure, and lost it on a hoarse cry. He brushed soft kisses over her nipple. His tongue, wet and slightly rough, lapped across her pebbled flesh. She arched up against him, twisting with need.

  "Please," she moaned.

  "Not yet."

  She tried to wrap her legs around his hips and pull him against her, giving her even the briefest taste of what she needed, but he caught her knee and pressed her leg back to the ground. His teeth nipped lightly at her nipple in chastisement. Even that just made her need for him grow even stronger.

  He drew his hand down her stomach and brushed his fingers through the curls between her thighs; she sucked in her breath with anticipation. He gave her a long, heated look and slid a finger through the slick, wet folds of her flesh. He stroked her slowly, driving her desire higher and denying her all at the same time. His knuckle brushed across her clit. She cried out and pressed her hips up toward his hand.

  Kestrel expected him to stop touching her as payback for her forwardness, but instead, he just chuckled and stroked her more firmly. He pressed his finger against her entrance and sank into her with slow, maddening pressure. She fisted her hands in the grass beneath her and held very still, desperate not to do anything that would make him stop.

  He crooked his finger inside of her, and she forgot about everything but the ecstasy of his touch. She screamed, torn with a mix of pleasure and need. Her muscles tightened around him, trying to hold him within her. He withdrew, and she nearly sobbed in frustration. She drew in a breath, ready to beg if that's what it took to get him to give her release, but before she could say a word, he pressed into her again. Damaris probed deeply with two fingers, then three. The fire of his touch seared her lungs and left her breathless and transfixed. She shivered beneath him and pressed into his palm with the same slow, careful rhythm of his thrust and withdrawal. She was so close, so close, and still he held her away from the release that she so desperately wanted.

  His mouth released her breast and trailed a line of fire down her stomach. His breath blew softly across her heated flesh, caress and torment in one. Pleasure tightened through her until it threatened to tear her apart. She caught her lip between her teeth and trembled even more violently.

  He bent over her and kissed her clit. His lips and tongue gently caressed the exquisitely sensitive nub as his fingers stroked within her. She tightened around him. The pleasure turned to pain, and quickly turned to pure electricity that snapped through her with all the force and power of lightning. She bucked against Damaris, and her scream sliced through the night air.

  Slowly, the climax released her from its grip, and she collapsed back onto the ground. Damaris circled his arms around her and drew her close against the heat of his chest. She pressed her lips against his throat and waited for her breathing to even.

  Damaris tucked a claw beneath her chin and used it to tip her face toward his. She watched him with hooded eyes. She longed for the laziness of afterglow even while the heat of his gaze stirred her body back into arousal. "You are magnificent when you climax, Kestrel," he whispered and kissed her.

  She lost herself in the kiss as deeply as she'd lost herself in her climax. Teeth nipped. Tongues battled. She spread her hands on his shoulders and rolled up onto her knees, pushing him back. Her hands curved around the solid muscles that banded his thighs and pulled him towards her. His cock brushed her cheek, a firm caress that made her long for the feel of his true girth inside of her.

  She drew him closer and let the very tip of him brush against her lips. He tasted unlike anything she'd ever known, like cool mountain springs and fresh air. Kestrel moaned and took him deeper. She ran her tongue along the shaft's ridges and veins, and drew circles around the head of his cock. He groaned and sank his fingers into her hair.

  He filled her mouth, then more, and still she hadn't taken all of him. She let him slide back out of her mouth, sucking lightly. Just before he would have left her completely, she thrust forward and took him deep again.

  His hands clenched in her hair and added pain to the sensations that already filled her. It heightened the pleasure until the two were one. Her own soft cries of arousal echoed Damaris's grunts as she worked her mouth over him.

  One of her hands stole over the naked curve of her hip, fingertips softly caressing her skin. The roughness of the hair between her thighs met her fingers. She brushed through the curls gently and slid her fingers lower, into her heat. Wetness spilled over her fingers and she moaned and sucked harder at Damaris's cock. Her fingers worked over her clit, spreading the slickness over her sensitive flesh as another climax built within her.

  Damaris's grunts became more insistent. She moved her fingers faster over her clit and her mouth more quickly over his cock, and brought herself to the edge of a shattering climax.

  Damaris suddenly grabbed her hand. He pulled it from between her thighs and drew himself out of her mouth. She gave a disappointed cry and scowled up at him.

  "What happened to 'whatever you want'?" she demanded. She jerked against his grip, but it held firm. She slid her other hand toward her clit. He grabbed that hand as well and spread her on the grass again, arms stretched overhead and pinned securely.

  "You said you liked it rough."

  "I do."

  "How rough?"

  She quirked an eyebrow at the challenge in his tone. "I can take what you dish
out," she said. She raised her chin and gave him a confident look.

  His grin flashed in the moonlight.

  He skimmed his mouth along her throat, scraping her skin with his teeth. She shivered at the slight sting and knew that he was just getting started. His tongue circled her nipple, drew it into an erect peak. He pulled it into his mouth and caught it between his teeth. His gentle pressure slowly increased until she gasped beneath him. Arrows of heat shot straight from his bite to her groin.

  She'd thought he couldn't make it more intense without breaking the skin. He drew back and pulled on her nipple, and proved her wrong. She felt her flesh stretch between them, felt the weight of her breast pulling on the sensitive nub. A moan caught in her throat. A flick of his tongue across the tip of her captured flesh turned her moan into a sharp cry. She twisted beneath him, desperate for release and staggered by how quickly he'd brought her back to the edge of climax.

  Damaris shifted her wrists so that he held both in one hand. He cupped her other breast in his freed hand and massaged gently —then caught her nipple and rolled it sharply between his fingers. She screamed and bucked her hips beneath his.

  "You said rough sex," she growled and jerked against his hold. "You've only fulfilled half the deal."

  He released her breast from his mouth and gently licked the aching nub. "I'm getting there," he murmured. "We've got all night."

  Kestrel tilted her head back. She looked toward the horizon and wondered how long they had until sunrise. Minutes? Hours?

  The thought made her groan, and simultaneously sent a thrill of excitement through her. Could she endure this for hours longer? She looked up into Damaris's dark, intense gaze.

  Would he give her a choice?

  * * * *

  Chapter 3

  Kestrel curled her hands into fists and jerked against Damaris's restraint. He's as solid as a rock, she thought. Pun fully intended.

  His grin spread, as though he knew that she was just testing the waters, not really trying to escape. He twisted her nipple again and scraped his claws down her stomach.

  When he'd fingered her before, he'd been careful to keep his claws out of the way. This time, he showed no such tenderness. Their sharp tips scraped along her folds, a promise of danger that made her shiver with anticipation. She caught her lip between her teeth and spread her legs further apart, allowing him greater access, giving tacit permission for him to do whatever he liked.

  He pressed three fingers into her, filling her like he had before. He added a fourth, and followed it with his thumb. Her muscles burned as they stretched to accommodate him. Her breathing came fast and heavy. She whimpered and writhed beneath him, trying to force him deeper.

  He paused and left her aching and desperate until she thought he'd changed his mind and had stopped completely. Kestrel arched her hips forward and drove him marginally deeper. Her breath caught in her throat.

  "Please," she groaned. "Please, I need—“

  He pushed further into her. Her muscles wrapped around his hand and held him tight within her. Her words dissolved into a broken moan. Tension tightened through her until she shook from it, but still the climax she needed remained elusive. He moved his hand in her with a powerful rhythm of thrust and withdrawal. Kestrel cried out and struggled against his restraint, burning with the need to touch him.

  His hand and arm stretched her, thick and powerful—everything she desired in a lover. His knuckles kneaded her inner muscles. They wound her tighter and tighter with every thrust until she cared for nothing but the release she sensed coming. Her arms strained against him, her legs wrapped around his waist.

  The pleasure built until she moaned and trembled beneath him, a breath away from climax. He stopped and pulled out of her. He left her untouched, but for his hand on her wrist and the heat that radiated off of his body. She swore and thrashed against him.

  "Damn it! Are you going to let me come or not?"

  "I am," he murmured. He pinned her hips to the ground and stretched out on top of her. He nudged her knees apart with his indomitable strength. His cock nuzzled against her entrance, hot and wet from the anticipation of this moment. "I want to be inside you. I want to hold you in my arms as you climax." His gaze remained locked with hers. "I want to see your face."

  "I couldn't agree more," she breathed, and lifted her mouth to his.

  He thrust into her, filled her. The length and girth of his cock stretched her more than any man ever had. Every stroke cascaded through her and left her shaking in its wake. She arched and pressed her shoulders into the ground, her hips into his. He thrust into her with heavy strokes. He filled her with his massive cock and withdrew almost completely before he plunged back into her.

  She couldn't breathe, but it didn't matter. Passion and lust formed a noose around her that tightened with every movement. It was insanity to continue, but she couldn't stop. She didn't want to. Damaris's pebbly skin abraded Kestrel's flesh as he caressed her. His hands covered her breasts, trailed down her stomach and slid lower to knead her belly and hips. He didn't bother to sheathe his claws, but the pain only heightened her pleasure.

  Damaris pulled back and broke the kiss. He looked down at her, his gaze burning into hers, and brought his claws to his mouth. He carefully licked her blood from each of them before bringing his mouth back to hers. Kestrel tasted herself on him, her sweat, her juices, her blood, and the darkness of pure, complete lust enveloped her.

  He was just as lost as she was. She saw it in his eyes, felt it in the grip of his hands and the thrust of his cock. Finesse, technique, and timing didn't matter now--only pleasure. The next breath, the next thrust, the next moment. That was enough. That was all.

  He dragged her to the edge of climax again, but this time she brought him with her. With hands, lips, and teeth, they caught one another up in a trap that had only one escape.

  They fell together, wrapped in each other's embrace. Damaris thrust into her one last time, locking their hips together. Their hands found one another, their fingers intertwined, their muscles strained against each other and the force of their climax. Intoxicating power filled her, tore control from her grasp. Her body jerked and writhed against Damaris. She screamed as her orgasm exploded through her, and Damaris slammed into her one last time. He groaned and spilled himself within her.

  Kestrel gasped and shuddered with the last, lingering aftershocks that pulsed through her. Damaris lay collapsed on top of her, arms and wings both wrapped tightly around her. He rested his cheek against her breast . Slowly, she flexed beneath him and stretched her shoulders, back, and hips to make sure she was still in one piece.

  She felt hammered and bruised. Her muscles protested as she stretched them, and she found a few spots of flesh that had been rubbed raw in the course of things. She relaxed back into the grass with a sigh and a sated smile.

  "That was much better than some stupid party."

  Damaris lifted his head from her breast and looked at her, but there was no pleasure or levity in his expression. Kestrel's smile faded, and she brought a hand to his face. "What is it? What's wrong?"

  "That was beautiful, Kestrel."

  She placed a soft kiss on his lips. "You look upset."

  He nodded, but didn't elaborate. He pushed himself off of her with a deep sigh. For the first time, she felt the chill of the night air, and wrapped her arms over her breasts. "What's wrong?" she asked again. "Did I—“

  He shook his head, cutting her off. "No. You did nothing wrong. Kestrel..." He sighed again and slid the backs of his fingers along her cheek. She shivered at the gentle caress. "Do you know how long I've lived? Have you any idea?"

  One of her usual sarcastic retorts rose to her lips, but because he seemed like he needed honesty, not flippancy, she fought it back and said simply, "No."

  "Millenia. More years than I can count. Every All Hallows' Eve, I have held a mortal woman in my arms the way I held you tonight. I have seen countless faces transformed in the throes of ecstasy
—and the sum of every woman that has come before is not enough to touch the beauty I saw within your face when you lost control."

  Desperate to ease his ache, Kestrel pressed kisses across his chest. He pulled away and moved back to his pedestal with laboriously slow movements, as though he carried a tremendous weight. She hesitated, but followed him after a moment and stared up into his face. "I still don't understand, Damaris."

  "It is my curse. I made a mistake long ago, and this is the price I pay for it. One night, Kestrel. That's all I am allowed. One night to spend with another, and the rest of the year encased in stone amongst the dead."

  The agony in his voice made her heart ache in sympathy. She grabbed hold of the pedestal's edge and pulled herself up to stand with him. He gave her a startled look. She threw her arms around his neck and he stiffened against her. "Tell me," she whispered against the muscled curve of his shoulder. "What happened? What mistake did you make that's worth this price?"

  His expression twisted with scorn, though whether it was at himself, or the price he had been made to pay, or her questions about it, she couldn't have said. "I fell in love with my king's concubine."

  Kestrel stared at him, slack-jawed. "Love? This is the fate you've been bound to, just for love?"

  "Not exactly." His expression twisted further. "He'd have forgiven me, if it had just been love. He'd have even forgiven me for seducing her, I think, but not for getting her with child. He had been trying to conceive an heir for over two decades, and I accomplished what he could not. That was my true crime. And this is my sentence, to live in this stone body, trapped by his magic."

  "Christ," Kestrel muttered. "How long do you have to endure this?"

  "Forever." He said the word with an immeasurable amount of sadness. "There is no end. He will never forgive me, and I will never be free."

  Her eyes widened. She would have said something, but he put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back. "It's morning," he said in an agonized whisper. "You must go. Thank you for this night, Kestrel."