Page 34 of Thorn & Ash

And then she was kissing him back, her mouth moving desperately over his, as if she couldn’t taste him thoroughly enough. She wanted to devour him; he could feel it in her body, in her urgent movements. Her teeth caught his lip again, just as bruising as before, but this time it aroused him further, eliciting a low growl in his throat. Her fingers tangled in his hair, tugging and clawing at it as if she were a feral beast finally unleashed from its cage. When her hand brushed his horn, he groaned. Encouraged by his reaction, she clenched it firmly in her palm.

All his restraint snapped. His hands cupped her ass, and he hoisted her up so her legs wrapped around his middle. She ground against his arousal with a wicked gleam in her eyes, knowing exactly how she tormented him. He responded by trailing his lips down her neck and grazing his teeth along her throat. She shuddered, throwing her head back, beckoning for more. He bit down harder, and she cried out, the sound echoing in the vast chamber and driving him mad.

His mouth traveled lower, his tongue tracing circles around her collarbone and the swell of her breast. He hungrily shoved the fabric of her dress aside to devour her breast fully, his teeth capturing her nipple. A guttural moan ripped from her throat as she bucked against him. He staggered backward from the force of her thrusts until he fell onto his throne with her on top of him. The stone beneath him was cold to the touch, but it did nothing to stifle the molten heat coursing through him.

Prue straddled him atop the throne, hiking up her skirts to press herself flush against him. “I want all of you,” she commanded, her eyes heady and bright with desire. She stroked the length of his cock, and even through the fabric of his trousers, he felt her skin against him like a white-hot branding iron.

Gods, he needed her. He needed her now.

She seemed to read the hunger in his eyes, because then her hands were on his belt, unfastening it with ease. His cock sprang free, and she writhed against it, teasing him, torturing him.

“Prue,” he groaned, the sound pained.

“Tell me you’re mine,” she murmured. “Swear you’ll be mine. That you’ll fight this darkness and be with me.”

Gods above, he would swear anything to her in that moment. “I swear it,” he vowed, meaning every word.

Because she was right. He hadn’t been fighting. He hadn’t tried hard enough.

She deserved better.

“I swear it, Prue,” he said more fervently. “I am yours. Always. And I will fight to be with you.”

Satisfaction gleamed in her gaze as she sank onto him, letting him fill her completely. Their moans mingled, bouncing off the walls. Cyrus lifted his hips, driving himself deep inside her. His hands found her ass again, and her heels dug into his back as they moved together. He drew back, only to thrust harder than before. Her hips moved in time with his, her body grinding and rocking. Her hands clasped his horns as she rode him, and he cried out her name.

The aching desire in him built more and more until he couldn’t stand it. He leaned in and bit down on her breast again. She threw her head back and screamed with her release as Cyrus followed after, the tension uncoiling and cascading over him in waves of pleasure. His body shuddered as his cock spilled inside her, and she clung to him, gasping, her breaths in his ear.

He was hers. Utterly and completely hers. How could he have forgotten the claim she had on him?

For several moments, they sat there atop his throne, their bodies still joined, their heavy breathing echoing. Cyrus relished the silence in his mind, indicating Kronos had fully withdrawn. He didn’t know why, but he was grateful for the brief respite. All around him, he sensed nothing but stillness and the rapid beating of Prue’s heart pressed against his.

Pure bliss.

And yet… his time was limited. He had to warn her.

“Tartarus,” he whispered.

“What?” she breathed, drawing back to look at him. Her eyes were dark with lust, as if she could take him all over again.

“Kronos possesses the power inside me,” Cyrus said quickly, worrying that speaking his name would summon the dark presence again. “He fears Tartarus. I don’t know if there’s something in there or if he fears the prison itself, but that’s the key to defeating him.”

Confusion and fear flickered in her gaze. “And you don’t know what it is?”

“Kronos was imprisoned well before I was born.”

“Who would know more? Your father?”

Cyrus hesitated. The last thing he wanted to do was draw his father’s attention to Prue, who happened to be Cyrus’s greatest weakness.

But he’d made a vow to her to fight. And he had to keep that oath.

“Yes,” he said. “Aidoneus would know more. But I don’t know whose side he’s on. It’s possible he wants Kronos to succeed. After all, he was willing to destroy this realm in his quest for revenge against me.”

Prue’s mouth thinned, but determination blazed in her eyes. “I’ll find a way. Whatever it takes, I’ll free you from this.” She brought her hand to his face, her fingers trailing along his jaw. The touch was so feather-light compared to their violent lovemaking, but it sent shivers of pleasure up and down his body just the same.

Cyrus leaned in and kissed her hard, his mouth claiming hers thoroughly. She responded in kind, her tongue twining with his and her body rubbing against him. Cyrus cupped the back of her neck, bringing her mouth closer so he could fully ravish her. He felt himself grow hard inside her once more, his desire mounting. He could take her right here all over again.

And perhaps she wanted it, too.