One look at her on her knees before him, eagerly waiting, and the beast surfaced, and this time, took over. Conall’s canines lengthened, wicked sharp talons protruded where blunt nails had been, and he growled.
***
The air seemed to crackle around them, and Vivienne felt a burst of renewed energy shoot through her. Strong hands gripped her waist and she pushed back against air, whimpering in frustration.
A scream tore from her throat as his length parted her folds in one quick thrust. One hand gripped her waist as the other tangled in her hair. She cried out, feeling a combination of pain and pleasure as he began to thrust against her, his sweat-slicked body rocking against hers as his pace increased. I will be the only one to have you, Vivienne. Only me. Do you accept me as your mate? His voice was a torrent of deep unintelligible sounds and low growls, but she understood.
Mate? Her brain thought briefly to the word before her emotions took over and she nodded frantically.
“Yes, yes. Only you. Please. Harder.”
His thrusts grew even stronger, his body slapping against hers so powerfully as to shake the king-sized bed. Her hand caught a fistful of sheet as she pushed back against him, feeling her body burn with the need to release.
Like that, Vivienne?
Something in her demanded more.
“More.”
His hard belly, ribbed with deep grooves of his abs, came down against her back as his hands pressed into the mattress on either side of her. Turning her head, she looked at him, and was startled by the bright yellow eyes piercing into her. Vivienne gasped as he went deep, and closed her eyes. She was imagining things—she was in such a high state of arousal that she was imagining things.
You are mine, Vivienne.
Yes, yours. Take me, Con—
Before she could finish that thought, a sharp pain lanced her shoulder and her knees buckled before giving out. His arm was below her belly, holding her up now. A burn started at her shoulder and as he quickened his pace, something strange erupted inside of her. She was still there, but something else, something much fiercer, had taken over. He pushed against her again, and she rocked back against him frantically. A soft growl escaped her lips and then a cry, a keening, high-pitched sound, left her lips.
Take me, Conall. Take me completely. She didn’t hear herself speaking those words but she was quick to accept them as her own.
A strangled shout escaped his lips as he pushed forward wildly, his organ seeming to increase in girth as he came into her. Vivienne’s eyes widened even as her body demanded more of him, all of him. He reared back and pushed forward again, and her body stretched further as it tried to accommodate him. Another hard thrust, resulted in Vivienne’s strangled cry, and every inch of him was sheathed in her body as heat pulsed through her core. Her body began shaking, quivering, coming. Vivienne heard a feral snarl, followed by a growl from somewhere in the distance as her body shook violently.
The world erupted into sound, but this time, there were no voices. The silent song of the wind, the rustling of curtains, Conall’s harsh breathing in her ear. Despite the darkness, she could see the white sheets beneath her, the burgundy headboard before her. Her own breathing was just beginning to calm when the voices came once more.
It was impossible to make out the words, but she knew it to be a chant from the singsong, lyrical way that it was being said. It grew louder and louder, until she was no longer moaning in pleasure but from the jolting pain of their heightened voices. She was briefly aware of Conall’s arm wrapping about her belly as he carefully lowered them both onto their sides. He was still inside of her, still hard. The voices hit a high crescendo and she screamed. Why are they so loud? She clutched at her forehead, her temple.
Suddenly, all went silent, and a mercifully soothing voice whispered to her. Sleep.
Even if she wanted to resist it, she couldn’t. She was exhausted, and it offered her reprieve.
***
As soon as Conall reined in his beast, he recognized he had more pressing problems, other than the fact that he’d just mated a human. He hadn’t completed the ritual, but from his mating scent on her skin, and his essence still secured in her body, any non-human being would be able to sense it. She was his. Still, he didn’t have time to dwell on things that could not be undone.
His human was not as human as he’d suspected. Conall sniffed at her, as a frown marred his lips. Vivienne smelled human, looked human, acted human, but something was off. He trailed his hand down the length of her torso as he remembered what had happened before he’d put her to sleep.
He’d been inside of her, mind and body, when something unlocked. There was no other way to describe it. He’d felt its energy, its strength, but had been too far gone to focus on exactly what it was. Whatever had surfaced had been strong and demanding and had brought out the dominance of his wolf as he lost control, and pinned her to him. His brow furrowed. And if that had not clued him to the fact that Vivienne was more than he’d originally thought, the voices in her head were a clear indication. He’d remained a silent force in her mind, trying to locate and understand them, to see if some sort of witchery was involved, but had found no sources. No energy flowing into the room that would link the chanting to a witch.