Dark Need by Clarissa Wild

Chapter 44

Soren

I’m dragged awayfrom the field and put back into a hut again. Though this one is much smaller than before. I’m chained to the floor this time, but the ropes aren’t nearly as sturdy as the metal was in the barracks. The only thing truly keeping me here is that locked door in front of me. I could easily knock it down with sheer force, but I won’t.

Because they’re out there, waiting for me to try.

Waiting for me to jump into another fight … one that’ll be the death of me.

These men are fearless, like me. They were born to fight, born to sacrifice themselves. There’s no way I can make it out alive … not if I want to save April too. And I refuse to leave her here.

Suddenly, the door is unlocked, and a guard steps inside to throw me a disgusted look. Then he moves aside. A figure stands in the door opening, long hair and gracious curves illuminated by the sun. I blink to stop the sun from blinding me and mutter, “April?”

But when the woman steps inside and the door is closed, I realize it isn’t her at all.

It’s the woman I saw in my mother’s hut.

The maiden I was promised.

She walks closer to me, her steps ethereal, delicate like a feather as she almost seems to levitate in her white dress. In her hands, she holds a bucket and a cloth. She approaches me but hesitates and bites her lip, inspecting me. Her hand drifts toward my face, and I let her touch my cheek. Her hands are soft, graceful, but they do nothing for my heart.

She leans in and goes to her knees in front of me, and she pushes the cloth into the bucket. Water drips off the cloth, and she gently dabs the cloth against my skin. The hot water is a warm welcome to my aching skin as she cleans off the dirt and blood.

When she’s done, she places the cloth back in the bucket. Then she grabs my face with both hands and makes me look at her. Look at the sweet smile, the ashen blond hair, her rosy cheeks. But nothing about her stirs my body the way April did.

“Do you want me?” she asks in our native tongue, caressing me gently.

I don’t respond, but I cannot stop my face from contorting at the thought of having another woman. Of knowing it would hurt the only one I care about.

The girl in front of me frowns, confused, and shakes her head. “How? Why?”

I look away in defeat, in embarrassment.

Because I did the one thing I was not supposed to do.

Fall for another.

She sighs and whispers, “If that is what you truly want …”

Her fingers linger near my chin, forcing me to look up as she stands.

I know I just signed my own death sentence.

But I would rather dishonor my people than dishonor my own heart.

Still, it’s hard to look at the girl whose eyes tear up as she clutches her hand close to her chest. Then she quickly darts off, only to talk to the guard outside before disappearing. I sigh as the door closes again.

This must be the end of the line.

But even as I sit here in shame, I still know I made the right decision.

I gave April what her heart desired the most. I protected her with everything I had the second her life was in danger, and if dying because of that makes me a sinner, then so be it.

Suddenly, the door opens again.

In steps a guard, dragging along another person, shoving them inside.

Only when the door is closed do I look up, trying to see who it is with the only visible light coming from the candle lit before I was locked up. But the second I look up, the air is knocked from my lungs.

“April.”

* * *

April

His face is in shambles, his body covered in bruises, and it’s a shock to see him that way. I can’t hide the despair on my face as I run to him and collapse beside him, wrapping my arms around him tight. “Oh, Soren. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

The warmth of his body against mine ignites my soul. Even though he’s still tied up and unable to hug me back, I’m glad I still got the opportunity to have him close.

“It’s okay,” he replies, his voice warm, steady. Not how I’d expect it to sound after what we’ve just been through.

“I thought I almost lost you,” I whisper. “Why? Why did you try to sacrifice yourself for me?”

He looks up at me. “Because I promised I’d keep you safe.”

His words unravel me, laying bare something I’ve tried to keep hidden for so long. Tears well up in my eyes as I remember he said those words to me before when he told me to trust him … that he’d keep me safe. And something about that makes me choke up inside.

I squeeze him tight as I hug him hard. “You kept your promise. But you almost died.”

“I’m alive,” he replies as I try to hide my sniffles and fail miserably.

“You’re hurt,” I add, gently brushing over the wounds on his back.

“It’ll heal,” he says, groaning.

I quickly stop, hoping I didn’t hurt him further, and I lean back to look at him. “We have to get out of here.”

He shakes his head. “I have no fight left in me.”

All of it was spent on saving me.

Oh God. What have I done?

“Isn’t there anything we can do?”

He jerks the ropes around his wrists, but they’re too tight to do anything. I glance at them and then quickly jump up to rush to the mirror hanging on the wall. I wrap the wet cloth around my hand and shatter the mirror softly so no one hears. Then I pick up a shard from the ground and run back to Soren, cutting through the rope until his hands and feet are finally free again.

He stretches to release the tension, the size of him still making me choke up. He instantly wraps his arms around me, squishing me tight until I drop the shard, probably to stop me from fighting the guards outside.

He pulls me close and sets me down on his lap, silencing any resistance I had inside me. And when he grabs my chin and makes me look at him, I’m at a loss for words. I drown in his eyes. Live for his kisses. And when his mouth lands on mine, I float away.

How is it possible that one man has managed to capture me in such a way that I’m not able to let go?

That I feel like I can’t even breathe when I’m not near him?

His kisses are gentle but all-consuming and soul-destroying. Even though the tears run down my face, I kiss him back gleefully, knowing this could all come to an end at any moment in time.

When his lips unlatch, he says. “How are you even here right now?”

“I was kept as a prisoner in some damp hut, but then this girl came to get me out of nowhere and had a guard escort me here.”

He looks away and frowns. “The maiden …”

I nod. “She was here, wasn’t she?”

His brow twitches. “To clean me.”

I touch his beard, which seems cold and wet to the touch. So that’s what the bucket of water was for.

“She’s the girl you were supposed to …”

I can’t even finish my sentence before my cheeks start to flush.

He turns my head to meet his gaze again. “I don’t want her.”

I’m mesmerized by the sheer look of devotion in his eyes.

Like I am the only girl he could ever love.

Like I am the girl he would die for.

“I want you.”

The desperation in his voice is too much to bear. And as my fingers curl through his beard, all I can think of is that I don’t want him to be with that girl. I want him to be mine.

So I lean in, our lips dangerously close. “Then take me.”

And when he does, he kisses me so hard my soul leaves my body. I wrap my arms around his neck as his hand rests in the nook of my back, and I lean in to press my body against his.

He groans with greed, his pants tenting against my ass. He quickly scoops me up in his arms and plants me down onto the ground, slathering me with kisses. First on my chin, then down my neck, all the way to my breasts, where he grabs a fistful and grunts, the sound bringing goose bumps to my skin.

I’ve wanted nothing more than this ever since he left. But the feeling is bittersweet as I know it must end. After this, who knows what they’re going to do to us. But when he looks at me, all of that seems to disappear, and all that’s left is us, swept away by love and lust.

And I let it all wash over me as he rips down my shirt and buries his face in my chest, cupping my breasts, twisting the nipple until I moan. The sound is interrupted by his mouth covering mine as he crawls on top of me. My hands desperately search for his pants, and I fumble with the button until it finally pops and his giant dick breaks free, still causing me to tense up.

His lips linger on my lips, leaving a taste I’ve only dreamed of these past few days.

“Are you sure?” he asks.

I plant a finger on his lips and bite my own, nodding while I coax him closer with my hand. Pleasure shows on his face as I wrap my hand around his length, and I can tell it’s hard for him to hold back. Like he’s been dying to finally have me again and make me his.

He plunges into me with full force, my mouth forming an o-shape when he’s buried deep inside. His mouth slams onto mine again, the kisses volatile and uncontrollable. It almost feels like this is our last day on earth. Like he wants to tell me I’m his and he is mine and that nothing will ever change that. And I’m okay with that.

In fact, all I want to do is stay right here, underneath him, with my hands wrapped around his thick, muscular neck, looking deep into those blue eyes until I suffocate.

My hands slide along the ridges of his back, the coarse markings left on his skin by his punishers, wishing I could take every one of them away. But I can’t. Instead, I let him ravage me with every inch of his body. His lips roam freely across my chest, my lips, my neck, moans mixing with sweat and tears as I take it all in like an addict on her last shot.

When he moans, my body lights up, and the pressure in my pussy begins to rise.

“Fuck,” I mutter as he buries himself in me deep.

His groans come out in spurts as though he’s trying not to make noise so no one hears us, but I don’t need to hear him to know what’s happening. Because I can feel it inside me, dripping out of me, pooling underneath my legs.

He leans up on his knees, violently breathing in and out as his hands drift down my body, leaving nothing unscathed.

“Are you mine, Kitten?” he says, his voice so low that it makes my pussy thump.

I bite my lip, not even caring that he called me Kitten again.

Because any name is good as long as it comes from his mouth as I whisper, “Yes.”

“Say it,” he groans, his hand dipping down my belly. “Say you’re mine.”

“I’m yours.” It comes out in a heady breath, but when his thumb hits my clit, my eyes actually roll into the back of my head.

He circles around and around, touching me in ways I only dreamed of being touched when he wasn’t near me. How he looks at me when he teases me turns me on so much that my breath hitches in my throat. The way he touches me is so subtle yet so explicit as if he knows exactly where to nudge a little harder to make my toes curl. His eyes never leave mine. He enjoys seeing me in heat, and I don’t look away either, afraid it’ll all be over if I even blink once.

And when I come undone, he watches me fall apart, biting his lip as if he’s savoring the moment to remember it forever.

As the orgasm subsides, I lean my head back and take a moment to breathe. Something plops down next to me, sand whisking up into the air, making me sneeze.

Soren laughs and rolls around to wrap his arm around my waist, pulling me in for a snuggle.

It’s the first time in ages I’ve felt like I could just fall asleep right here, right now. In his arms, I’m safe.

Even though I know, deep down, I won’t ever be safe …

But I don’t need to. Because with him, I can take on the entire world.