Dying Wish: A Novel of the Sentinel Wars

by Shannon K. Butcher

  The kiss ended, and he cupped her face, staring down at her with eyes that pulsed with faint flickers of light. “I should buy you buildings more often.”

  She laughed at that. “You’re ridiculous, but I love you anyway.”

  “So I didn’t overstep my bounds?” he asked. “I know nothing can ever replace the void that Sister Olive left behind, but I thought this would honor her memory.”

  “It does. It’s perfect. And so are you.”

  Jackie woke as the sky lightened. Her eyes opened to see Iain kneeling, naked, his eyes closed and his body relaxed. She stared at him for a long time, watching him breathe. The tree on his chest was mostly empty of leaves, unlike those of her sisters’ husbands. Their trees had budded and sprung new leaves. She didn’t understand the process, but she knew it had something to do with a woman taking a man’s luceria.

  Why was Iain’s lifemark still bare?

  Maybe it was because he knew they weren’t staying together.

  The thought bothered her more than it should have. She couldn’t very well head back into her old life with a giant sword-wielding warrior following her to the office. And he would. She didn’t doubt that for a second. Iain wasn’t the type to leave her unguarded.

  Even now, while there was a naked, warm woman lying right here, he chose to get out of bed and stand guard, rather than seeing to his own comfort. Men like that didn’t exist anymore—or if they did, she’d never met one.

  Jackie slipped out of bed and went to the bathroom and cleaned herself up. When she came out, Iain was standing in front of her, naked and glorious. His body was wrapped in muscles, covered in smooth skin, and completely delicious. As she watched, he became hugely erect. It made her mouth water and her knees weaken as she remembered just how he could make her feel. She couldn’t help but stare.

  Desire swirled around low in her belly, and she felt her nipples bead up, tightening in hopes he’d touch her again, or use his hot mouth to drive her wild.

  “You should dress,” he said, his voice rough and low.

  “Later.” When she was done with him.

  She took a step forward and put her hand over his heart. The steady, strong beat soothed something deep inside of her, allowing a bit of tension she’d carried around for far too long to ease.

  She curled her fingers into his flesh, enjoying the steely strength of his pecs. The scent of his skin filled the space between them, inflaming her senses even as it calmed her.

  Outside of this place lurked monsters. Both real and metaphorical. She had big decisions to make that could alter the course of people’s lives. But right now, right here, enclosed in this little house out in the middle of nowhere, she felt safe and happy. She knew they had to leave soon—that the outside world wouldn’t wait forever—but she was in no hurry to make it happen.

  Jackie stepped closer, pressing her naked body to his. He flinched and sucked in a breath, and then his eyelids fell shut in pleasure. Tingling bubbles soaked into her wherever his skin met hers. He was so warm, she couldn’t stop herself from trying to get closer.

  “We should go,” he said, but she could hear indecision ringing in his tone. He wanted to stay as much as she did.

  “We will.” She pulled his head down so she could kiss his mouth, hoping to rid him of any more thoughts about leaving.

  He gave in to her kiss with a groan, and then gripped her hips in his big hands. His erection throbbed against her belly, and she felt herself growing wet and slick in response. She needed to feel him inside of her again, but first, she wanted to show him the same kind of pleasure he’d given her last night.

  She kissed his chin, and then his neck, lingering at the band of lighter skin where his luceria had once lain. Every time her tongue flickered over that patch, his body clenched and he sucked in a breath. A wave of feminine power swelled within her as she realized one more way she could make him feel good.

  Jackie pressed her teeth to his neck, nibbling and sucking hard enough to leave marks. She liked the idea that others would know she’d claimed him—at least for now. It went against everything she was working for, but right now, she simply didn’t care.

  His hand snaked between them to cup her breast, his thumb rubbing across her hard nipple. Jolts of sensation arced into her womb, making her sway with the force of her growing need.

  Sweat beaded up along her spine as she kissed a path down his chest and abdomen, until she was on her knees at his feet. He looked down at her, his cheeks dark and his mouth tight with lust. She could tell he knew what she wanted to do, and that he wanted it just as much as she did.

  Jackie wrapped her fingers around his erection and licked across the wide end. His whole body clenched hard and he actually shook. He grabbed her head and pulled her away, staring down at her with a fierce, black gaze. “Don’t. I won’t be able to control myself.”

  She smiled up at him, victory coursing through her veins. She didn’t want his control. She wanted him. All of him. “Good,” she told him, and then she slid her mouth over his cock.

  A low, rumbling groan vibrated through his body, into hers, tingling along her nerve endings. Without conscious thought, her mind reached for his, aching for that deeper connection she’d shared with him last night. It was against her principles to invade his privacy, but she couldn’t help herself. She needed it, the way she needed the taste of him on her tongue and the feel of him stretching her as he filled her.

  She felt his control—tight bands of it stretching through his mind. The effort was exhausting and painful for him. She tried to tell him to stop, but her mouth was busy, and the words flittering through her thoughts were too jumbled for her to have any hope he’d understand. The only thing she could think to do was reassure him that this was what she wanted.

  Jackie showed him her desire, sending it through their link in hot, pulsing waves. The resounding echo that came back was darker and harder, tinted with an animalistic ferocity. And there was fear. For her. He was afraid of hurting her or scaring her, maybe. She couldn’t be sure, but she was stronger than he thought. She could take whatever he had to give.

  That’s what she wanted.

  Her message got through. She could feel the knowledge swelling in his mind, glowing like a beacon, lighting up all the dark urges he’d tried to keep hidden. She stared at them, groaning with need.

  She pulled her mouth from his erection with a sucking pop, and looked up at him. “That’s what I want—the real man within, not the one you show the world.”

  Jackie felt those bands of control tighten as he struggled to fight his urges. And then they snapped. Whatever he’d been trying to hold back was unleashed. She saw his body shift and stretch as if settling into his own skin. He rolled his shoulders in a powerful move and looked down at her. Those were not Iain’s eyes. They looked like his, but she could tell the difference. The man gazing down at her in hunger was no longer Iain.

  Chapter 20

  The monster was out. It howled in victory. Jackie had freed it, and there was nothing Iain could do but pray he’d regain control again before she got hurt.

  He grabbed the back of her head in one hand and his throbbing cock in the other. “Open,” he growled, rubbing himself against her lips.

  She smiled, and did as his monster asked, taking his cock into her sweet mouth once more. The hot suction drove him mad, making him fuck her mouth with short, shallow thrusts. She took him as deep as she could, but it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.

  Pressure built in his balls as he watched her cheeks hollow out with every stroke. Her fingernails scraped over his sac, making him suck in a hard breath. It was too much sensation and yet still not enough.

  Her hips began to undulate, and he saw she had her hand between her thighs. A moan of pleasure vibrated out of her throat, tickling his cock. He couldn’t control his lust, he couldn’t control his beast, but he could at least make sure that she was right there with him, spinning out of control.

  Iain bundl
ed up his desire and all the physical sensations and shoved them through the link, forcing her to feel what he was feeling. Her body went tense, and then melted with womanly softness as she accepted what he forced on her.

  The monster mocked his efforts, and seemed to swell in power. “I’m going to come,” the monster told Jackie, its voice inhuman. “And you’re going to swallow.”

  Iain felt a shiver of excitement course through her. Her breathing sped, as did the hand between her legs.

  Just the sight was enough to send him careening over the edge. His monster gripped her head tighter and held her in place while his orgasm exploded through his body. His semen pumped into her mouth and she went stiff. He was sure he’d disgusted her, but then he felt their link pulse with pleasure, and she sucked harder as she came.

  The monster’s gloating satisfaction grated against Iain, and he worked to regain control now that the monster was sated.

  But it wasn’t sated. It liked being free. It liked taking Jackie, and it wasn’t going to stop until it had had its fill of her.

  She lay crumpled on her side on the floor, panting to catch her breath. A rosy flush covered her body, and a slick sheen glistened along the inside of her thigh.

  The monster picked her up and tossed her onto the bed. She looked up in surprise, not realizing that Iain was no longer behind the wheel.

  Without permission or preamble, the monster parted her thighs and drove his cock deep.

  Jackie let out a whimper, which turned into a sigh as he stretched her, filled her. “You don’t need a minute?” she asked.

  The monster growled in response and began to move.

  Iain fought for control. She was so vulnerable like this, so trusting. She had no idea of the danger she faced if the beast decided to turn violent. Her actions had appeased it so far, but there was no way to know if she would continue to do so.

  He gathered power into his body, tiny motes of it that floated through the atmosphere. He wasn’t strong enough to wage this battle yet, and he knew he’d have only one chance. The beast was distracted by the slick heat of her body, entranced by the way her breasts moved with every powerful thrust. Lust swelled within it, driving it onward with one single purpose.

  It wanted to lay claim to Jackie. It wanted her for itself.

  No fucking way Iain was going to let that happen.

  He prodded at the monster’s defenses, making it snarl. Jackie reached up and laid her hand on his face. “Are you okay?” she asked.

  The beast shoved her legs up and quickened its pace.

  She didn’t deserve this—she didn’t deserve to be fucked by a monster who cared for nothing but the pleasure it could find in her body. She deserved to be with a man who could love her.

  That was beyond Iain, but at least he had enough honor left to know it. The beast didn’t.

  He waited until the pleasure swelled, until the monster was pounding into her, making her gasp with every heavy thrust. Then he struck.

  Iain gathered all the energy sparkling in his skin and hurled it at the monster. The beast snarled, and Iain couldn’t tell if the noise made it out of his mouth or not. The pleasure in his body raged, and as he regained a flicker of control, he nearly lost it in the wave of sensations buffeting him.

  “Iain?” he heard Jackie say, both in his ears and in his thoughts.

  She was reaching for him—prodding at his mind. She was going to see his internal battle and know that he’d allowed a monster to touch her. He couldn’t let that happen.

  With a monumental force of will spurred on by his panic, he beat the howling monster back into its cage and slammed the door shut.

  A soothing presence filled his mind. Jackie. She was with him, but he had no idea how much she’d witnessed.

  His cock was still inside her sweet body. His own was raging with need, so close to release he found it hard to breathe.

  “I’m okay,” he panted, hoping to reassure her.

  He began to move away, sliding out of her pussy. She grabbed his hips to stop him, staring into his eyes. “It’s you again, isn’t it?”

  He hated it that she knew. Shame bore down on him, and all he wanted to do was go somewhere where she couldn’t see it. He let his gaze slink away like a coward, unable to look her in the eye.

  “Whatever that was, it’s gone now. I felt you fight it off. For me.”

  He couldn’t stay here and talk about this. He had to get away.

  One second he was shifting his weight to get off the bed, and the next, he was flat on his back on the bed with Jackie straddling him. She’d called on his power, used it to give herself a burst of strength. “I won’t let you run away from me like this. You shouldn’t be ashamed.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I’m not afraid of you. I’m not afraid of any part of you.”

  “You should be.”

  “Why? Because you could hurt me? Because I didn’t like it?” She moved her hips, sliding herself against his cock. So slick and hot. He was dying to be inside of her again even as he hated himself for considering it. “I liked it. And if I hadn’t, I could have shoved you into the ceiling with a mere thought.”

  She had a point, but Iain was having a difficult time making sense of it right now. All he could think about was the way she undulated atop him, the way her body curved and her breasts pouted for attention.

  “You don’t have to be afraid for me. I’m a big girl.” She trailed her finger across his throat, making the sensitive skin there tingle in delight. “And thanks to you, I have the power to take care of myself.”

  “It’s a monster,” said Iain, struggling to think clearly. All his blood was in his cock, starving his brain.

  “It’s part of you.”

  Iain wanted to deny it. He hated that she was right. This thing inside of him hadn’t been put there by a demon or some Synestryn magic. It had been born there. Grown there. He’d fed it a steady diet of rage and fear, and it had become the only thing it could become: a monster. “I don’t want it to touch you.”

  “Fine. Then you do it.” She lifted his hands to her breasts.

  He couldn’t resist an invitation like that. His fingers curled around her, cupping her flesh, and he felt the velvet thrust of her tight nipples against each palm.

  She closed her eyes and her head fell back in enjoyment.

  The monster reared its head, but he shoved it back down and told it to stay the fuck away. This was his time, and he was going to enjoy every second of it.

  Jackie angled her body and slid down, impaling herself on his cock. The snug grip was perfect, and he knew in that moment that he’d never get his fill of her, not if he lived forever.

  She pressed her hands on his ribs and began to move, circling her hips in a way that teased his nerve endings and made his skin ignite. She stared down into his eyes, watching him carefully as if searching for signs of the monster.

  “I won’t let it come back,” he told her.

  She gave him a sultry smile so full of heat, he was sure his eyelashes were scorched. “Stop worrying and make me come.”

  He’d never been more eager to obey an order in his life.

  Iain sat up and pulled her close, kissing her mouth. She moaned against his tongue and her fingernails bit into his back. His sweet little Jackie had turned fierce and demanding, showing him what she wanted in the sinuous moves of her hips, and the soft sounds of pleasure falling from her lips.

  Their link flared bright, wider than it had been before. He could feel her need sinking into him, feel his own flowing back into her. The waves melded together, amplifying one another until there was no way to tell who was feeling what.

  He couldn’t get deep enough, couldn’t move fast enough like this, so he laid her back onto the bed. Now he could slide nice and deep, hitting all the spots that made her breath catch in her lungs.

  He leaned down, catching the tip of her breast in his mouth, sucking hard the way he knew she like
d. Her pussy fluttered around him, and her back arched as she sucked in a gasp. She was close. He could feel it thrumming through their link, driving him forward with an urgent need to make her come again.

  The monster screamed for a turn, but Iain ignored it, his focus completely on Jackie and the subtle signs of her impending orgasm.

  He reached between them and found her tight little clit with his finger. She was so wet, it was easy to slide across it and make her cry out, over and over. She coiled tighter with each gliding touch.

  Iain opened himself up, letting her feel everything he did. He knew it was dangerous, that he risked letting her learn of his dead soul, but he couldn’t help himself. He needed this connection in a way he didn’t understand. He needed to be a part of her, to exist in the same space while he gave her the ultimate pleasure.

  She let out a gasping sob and then she exploded, her body pulsing with the waves of her orgasm.

  Iain held his own back, watching her, soaking in the sight of her pleasure. Her eyes were shut tight, her mouth wide open on a silent scream. The tendons in her neck stood out and a dark flush spread down onto her chest.

  He rode her through it, keeping up the pace he knew she liked best. Finally, as the last fluttering waves passed through her, she opened her eyes and looked up at him with complete trust. So beautiful.

  Iain lost his control. His body spasmed as his orgasm tore through him, strangling the breath from his lungs. Wave after wave pummeled him as his cock spurted inside of her, lodged deep, near the mouth of her womb.

  She watched him the whole time, a contented smile playing about one corner of her mouth. He lowered his forehead to hers as he caught his breath, unwilling to stop looking at her. She hadn’t shied away from him—not even after what she’d seen lurking inside. She was as fearless as she was beautiful.

  Whoever was lucky enough to end up with Jackie at his side was someone to be envied.

  He pulled back enough to stroke her cheek. His luceria glowed golden in the dim light, lovely against her throat. There was no more movement within the band, and not even the rough scars lining her neck could diminish the beauty of that sight. They were bonded. Completely.