Cruel Union (Brutal Universe #1)

23. Slade

23

SLADE

S he was shivering in my arms and I wasn’t sure how much of it was The Need and how much was fear. Her scent was conflicted—half hot and half frightened, as though she didn’t know how to feel around me.

“ Take it easy, baby,” I murmured as I settled on the couch with her still in my lap. “ What are you afraid of?”

“ Are you…are you mad at me for listening to your conversation?” she asked at last. Her teeth had stopped chattering, at least. Probably because I was holding her. Direct skin-to-skin contact was best to counteract The Need . Luckily she had on a dress with short sleeves and I was still bare-chested.

I shook my head.

“ If I had wanted to keep things private, I would have locked the door. I’m sorry if you heard something you didn’t like—that’s the nature of my business. We operate outside the law—it isn’t always very fucking pretty.”

“ I believe you,” she said faintly. “ Er …you can put me down now?”

“ So you can freeze to death? I don’t think so,” I said firmly. “ Until we seal our Binding? —”

“ But how do we seal it?” she interrupted. “ I know the priestess said something about a ‘ Deep Seeding ’ in the ceremony last night—what does that mean?”

I sighed to myself—she probably wasn’t going to like this.

“ You saw the knot at the base of my cock last night, right?” I asked.

Aurora’s cheeks got pink with embarrassment but she nodded.

“ Yes , I saw it. There’s no way that would ever fit inside me, though!” she added, half embarrassed and half defiant.

“ Yes , it will,” I said patiently. “ Of course, it would be easier if you’d let me lick you, but there are other ways to help you open.”

“ What ways?” she asked suspiciously. “ And what does your knot have to do with a ‘ Deep Seeding ?’”

I debated on holding back this information—it might scare her, since she was a virgin. But I had too much respect for her intelligence to try and put her off—she was sharp. She would find out, if not from me then from someone else. I preferred to be her main source of information.

“ A Deep Seeding is when the mouth of your womb opens to allow the head of my shaft to slide inside,” I explained. “ That allows my knot to slip up, into your pussy and swell to tie us together. It also allows me to shoot my seed directly into your womb, increasing the chance of getting you pregnant.”

Her eyes got wide.

“ But …that couldn’t happen! I don’t think my body works that way.”

“ Mine does,” I said firmly. “ Don’t worry, baby—it won’t hurt. In fact, it should feel very, very good once you’re open and ready for me.”

“ Does that happen—that Deep Seeding —every time?” she asked, her eyes still wide.

I shook my head.

“ No , Knotting and Seeding are a step past regular sex. We save them for special occasions—like sealing a Binding or Breeding a woman.” I gave her a direct look. “ The way I’m going to be Breeding you.”

Her eyes got even wider.

“ But , Slade? —”

“ Not yet, though,” I interrupted. “ I promised you I wouldn’t take you until you begged me to, remember?”

The defiant look came back on her face.

“ I remember. You know that’s never going to happen, though.”

“ Yes , it will,” I told her. “ We’re Fated Mates , Princess . Now that we’ve spent time together in close proximity, your body has recognized mine. Which means you’re going to start to crave me.” I let her see the lust I was feeling in my eyes. “ The same way I crave you.”

“ Slade …”

Her words trailed off and she shivered in my arms again, though she didn’t seem to be cold anymore.

For a long moment I held her gaze with mine.

“ I want to spread your legs and lick your pussy, Princess ,” I murmured. “ I want to slide my shaft deep inside you and Breed you— I want to fill you with my seed. But first I want to taste your sweet juices.”

Her eyes went wide and her breath began to come in short little pants. Her cheeks were rosy with a blush and she put her hand to her heart, as though to still its drumming. She squirmed uncomfortably on my lap—which meant her lush bottom was rubbing against my aching shaft, making me even harder than I already was.

“ Slade , please!” she got out at last. “ I just can’t… I don’t want you licking me there. It’s dirty.”

I sighed. The wrong-headed sexual ideas she’d been raised with were proving to be more difficult to get over than I had hoped.

“ All right,” I told her. “ Then we’ll just have to open your pussy another way.”

“ What ? How ?” She gave me a look that was pure apprehension.

“ Don’t worry,” I told her. “ I’m not going to hurt you. In fact, it should feel really good if you relax for me.”

“ What should feel good?” she demanded.

“ You’ll find out.” I gave her a smile and nodded at the plate of fruit on the table beside the couch. “ For now, eat your breakfast and then we’re going out.”

“ We are? Where are we going?” she asked.

“ Shopping ,” I told her and pushed her gently off my lap. “ Eat fast, Princess —we need to get going.”