Land of Monsters (Savage Lands #8)

Chapter 16

Voices dragged me from sleep, my lashes lifting to reveal a figure standing by the window. My body instantly reacted at seeing Ash’s naked physique, his gorgeous profile. The man’s plump, firm ass was on display, demanding to be bitten into like a juicy apple. Bruises, bites, and claw marks from last night’s pursuits decorated his skin, showcasing my endless hunger for him.

Standing there, he stole my breath and caused a kaleidoscope of sensations to flutter in my stomach. It curved through me, the connection I felt to him, the blooming in my chest I had never felt before, not even remotely with Wyatt. I stopped breathing at the intensity of emotion, at what it all meant.

Last night, when he demanded words from my obscurer, pulled forth my beast, and saw only me, there was a final line I walked right over and fell.

“Look, Master Mushroom, your fun-girl is awake.” A small voice popped my attention to the figure standing on the bed next to me. The same brownie and imp I saw at the bike club. “Get it?” The brownie snickered, the dice skirt around his hips swaying under his large belly clicking together. “ Fungirl , instead of fung—”

“Opie, shut up,” Ash replied, his voice monotone, not even looking back.

Chirp!

“Right? You’d think he’d be in a much better mood with all the gardening he did last night, planting his seed until all hours of the night!”

Chirp!

“I wasn’t watching! I just assumed.”

Chirp! Chirp! The imp’s fingers flew in the air.

“Well, I didn’t purposely watch!”

Chirp!

“That is a total misunderstanding!”

“I don’t understand.” I pulled the sheet up to my chest, sitting up. “Why are you guys here? I thought you lived at the biker club.”

“Live in a biker club?” The brownie sucked in, his hand going to his chest, his voice rising. “Do I look like someone who lives in a biker club?!”

Chirpchirpchirp! I had no doubt the imp was definitely flipping me off.

“They belong to my friend,” Ash inserted. “I have to babysit sometimes.”

“Babysit!” Opie exclaimed. His dice skirt swung and showed off all his bits and pieces. “How many times have we saved your behind, tree fairy?” He put his hands on his hips. “If anyone is babysitting, it is us! Why do you think we are even here?”

Chip! Chirp!

“You are free to go back to Budapest anytime,” Ash muttered, his mood pensive, but it only called to me. Climbing out of bed, I grabbed a shirt left for me. I tugged it on, padding to where he stood.

“You okay?” I couldn’t fully disguise my nerves, terrified he would say this was all a mistake. Or maybe I was scared he wouldn’t. We both had been hurt so much before, and to feel this deep connection terrified me. Yet I couldn’t stop the need to be near him. Touch him.

“See for yourself.” He flicked his chin out the window, taking my focus with it. It took me a moment to understand what I was looking at. The branches from the trees reached for each other, tangling, twining together almost seductively.

“Are they…?”

“Knotted together?” He glanced over at me. “Yes.”

“Holy shit… did we…” I swallowed. “Did we do that?”

“Yes.”

“You should see what you did to the trees outside the window of the last place.” Opie chuckled, strolling to the end of the bed. “You guys are just knotting limbs everywhere you go.”

“What?” My mouth hung open, a panic speeding up my pulse. “We did this before?”

“Taking the being knotty to a whole new level.” Opie tipped back his head, his hand on his belly as he laughed. “Get it?”

“Unfortunately.” Ash sighed. Turning to face me, he noticed the worry on my face. “Hey.” He sat his bare ass on the windowsill and pulled me between his legs, completely comfortable with being naked. “It’s okay.”

“Did we hurt them?” I lifted my gaze back to the gnarled limbs together.

“No.” A slight smile hinted on his face. “It didn’t hurt them at all .”

“What do you mean?”

He took another deep breath, his head lowering.

“They feel what I do.” He peered back up at me. “I can share energy with trees, and they can feel my emotions. They could feel both of us… so more than anything, they are pollinating very early this year.”

“What?” Heat traveled up my neck to my face.

“The entire floor watched us fuck in the shower last night, and this gets you blushing?” His thumb swept over my cheek. I melted at his touch, his tease causing me to redden more at the memory. With Ash, I felt comfortable to explore, to see what I liked. Wyatt had been great, but we were young, and he wasn’t really in love with me, so something was always slightly off.

This was…

My attention went back outside, taking in the power we created together, feeling the fear creep back in.

“Ash…” I nipped my lip. “What happened last night between us—”

“And the night before last and all of last night and this morning.” He lifted a brow. “Yeah, I know what it means.”

“I shouldn’t be able to… We shouldn’t be able to do any of this.” I swallowed, not able to say the word, motioning to the trees, indicating what it symbolized. “It shouldn’t be possible.” There weren’t a lot of women dark dwellers anymore, my aunt Gabby being the only full-bred one left. And she told me knotting between mates should only happen when dark dweller women mated with another dark dweller. I was just half dweller, so I shouldn’t experience it at all. I couldn’t even link mentally to my alpha or family, so I sure as hell shouldn’t be able to do this. “I don’t understand. It is so rare and should only happen with another of my kind.” I stepped back, wanting to run. “This is bad.” I swore under my breath, the burden of what this meant sagging on my shoulders, knowing of all people, a tree fairy was not the mating or knotting type. “This is the last thing you want. Plus, I’m a freak! I shouldn’t even be capable of it.”

“You are not a freak.” He yanked me back into him, his face going serious.

“How many obscurers, dark dwellers do you know? And one who can’t fully turn into either? I can’t link with my family like other dark dwellers. I can’t use my powers without either killing others or myself! I am a freak and a monster!”

“Makes you rare, not a freak and definitely not a monster.” He threaded his fingers with mine. “And who said it was the last thing I wanted?”

“Ash.” I slanted my head. “You came here to avenge your lovers, not find me, or…” I cleared my throat, not looking at him. “Knot with some girl.”

“Hey.” He tilted my chin up until I was looking into his eyes. “You are not some girl.” Annoyance flashed in his eyes. “Not even close. You think I could share my magic with some girl?” I sucked in at his declaration. We hadn’t spoken about what happened between us when we fled the castle. The raw intimacy of sharing his magic with me. Once again, it shouldn’t have been possible.

“You’re right, I didn’t come here looking for you or anyone . I was supposed to get the information on Sonya and Iain that night and walk out of the bar, none the wiser. I’d come here to kill them—and probably die in the process. But the plan went to shit the moment you stepped into that pub. I didn’t prepare for you, and I tried like hell to get rid of you.”

I tried to step back again, but he didn’t let me move.

“Before Sonya’s men took you to the castle, I thought you left me. Went back home without saying goodbye.” His throat bobbed. “And I realized it was the last thing I wanted. You have burrowed under my skin, dziubu? .” His head wagged with astonishment. “All my life, the notion of being with one person forever bored the fuck out of me, made me feel restless and agitated. And I was fine with that because it’s who I am. Nature fairies don’t have mates. You understand, right?” His throat bobbed, fear twitching his cheek. “So, I don’t know what the fuck is happening here.”

He didn’t want this. And I felt it was my fault. He had no say when my body decided he was the one.

My father told us the story of when my mom first rejected him. The year he lived in agony. What happened to dwellers when their mate refused the connection. They would grow weaker and weaker, and some eventually died.

Panic fizzled in my chest at the notion of Ash walking away from me. I not only had the bond, but my body knotted with him. Him, of all people. A tree fairy whose very nature went against being mated.

I could see no way out for me, but I couldn’t do that to him.

“This isn’t your fault.” I stepped out of his hold. “It’s on me. And don’t worry, I’m not asking you for anything.”

His lids narrowed. “What are you talking about?”

“This.” I motioned between us. “It’s my problem. I’m the one who glitched—”

“Raven.” He cut me off. “You’re not hearing me.” He spread his legs wider, pulling me back in, his cock erect against his stomach. “I don’t know what the fuck you did to me, dziubu? .” His voice scraped between my legs. “I never had a problem sharing before. Never . But the thought of someone else touching you, being with you… Just know. I will not share you.” His hand grazed up my thigh under my shirt, forcing me to bite my lip. “This is mine.” He trailed over my pussy. “I have lived a long fucking time, fucked a lot of people, some I even loved. But I’ve never felt like this.” His fingers parted me, making me gasp. “I won’t pretend it doesn’t freak me out. But I can’t walk away from you now.” His free hand laced through my hair, gripping the back of my head. “Even when I know this can’t go anywhere.”

“What?” His words contradicted what his hands were doing to my body.

“You are a fucking princess.”

“So?”

“So?” He scoffed. The hand in my hair slid to my lips, his thumb hooking my mouth. “You belong in that world with your family. In America. I don’t…”

“Don’t tell me where I belong.” I bit down on his thumb, my breath stumbling as he slipped deeper inside me. “What if I belong here? With you?”

“Raven.” He tilted his head, giving me a look, both of us understanding. I didn’t have a say. My birthright was chosen for me.

“Think of it this way… I most likely won’t make it out of this country alive, so it won’t be a problem anyway.”

“Don’t say that.” Fury and fear roped off my lungs.

He paused his movement, his thumb tugging my chin down to look at him.

“I’m not leaving until Sonya and Iain are dead. Whatever that takes.”

“I can help you.”

“Let’s enjoy the time we do have left.” His voice went low, his fingers picking back up as he towed my face to his. The moment our lips met, I ceased to remember anything else, only aware of his naked body against mine. His hand trailed down, cupping my breasts, rubbing at my hard nipples.

“Ash,” I moaned, desire claiming all my thoughts, our kiss deepening as I straddled him on the windowsill. I was starving for him, like it had been years instead of a few hours since I had him inside me. Wrapping my hand around his thick girth, I rubbed my thumb over his tip, spreading the precum down his shaft.

“ Megbasz ,” he hissed.

Breaking the kiss, I stared into his eyes as I gripped him firmer, angling him into my entrance and sliding him through my slick folds. Playing and taunting him.

“Raven,” he growled, ripping off my shirt.

The energy between us, the need, was so thick it smothered the room.

“Choke me as I slide down your cock,” I whispered. He gripped my throat as I slowly sank down on him, the lack of air causing me to feel everything in abundance. My mouth parted, a guttural groan vibrating my chest. The feel of him stretching me to the point of pain. “Oh gods, you feel so good,” I croaked out.

“Oh fuck.” His hips lifted, pushing deeper. He let go of my throat and gripped my ass, pulling me into his thrust, causing me to already see stars. “What the hell are you doing to me?”

“Ash!” My nails clawed at him, rolling into him, our pace picking up. “I don’t want this to ever stop.” I leaned back, achieving a deeper angle, pressing him into the window. I loved that anyone could look up from the street and see us. Watch him fuck me.

“Get out,” Ash snarled.

“What?”

“I know you’re still in here,” he breathed, the trees starting to sway outside. “Watching.” He flicked his chin toward the empty bed. “Two dozen mushrooms if you leave.”

I realized he wasn’t talking to me.

There was a long silence before I heard a chirping sound.

“Two dozen for Bitzy and all the clothing supplies I want!” A small voice came from the other side of the room.

Ash grunted as I rolled harder into him, his grasp on me leaving a mark.

“Whatever the fuck you want,” he agreed, holding me as he stood up, continuing to fuck me. “And leave some dice.”

“You want me to ruin my masterpiece? No way!”

“If Bitzy wants the bag of mushrooms I left here, you will leave now.”

Chhhhhhhhhhhiiiirrp!

“Fine!” Opie huffed, though I couldn’t find them in the room. “But just know you are ruining a work of art!”

Ash smirked as he carried me across the room, dropping me on the bed. The moment he slid out of me, I whimpered, but he grabbed my thighs. “Spread your legs. I want to see your dripping pussy.” He opened me wide, his eyes brightening with lust. He leaned over, swiping up something off the bed. Three dice rolling in his hand. “A game I know I can win.” He took the die, placed it on my clit, and started to rub into me.

My back arched as he added another one.

“Oh gods!”

“Like that, little beak?”

“Yes,” I croaked.

“You’ll like this even more.” He went down on his knees, his hands spreading me even more. His tongue slid through me, before his mouth swiped up the die and covered my pussy in a deep kiss. My hands gripped the bedding as he used his tongue to slide them through my clit and up into me.

“Oh fuck!” I heard myself bark, my skin flushing hot as he worked me, the dice adding a bit of pain to the unbelievable pleasure. My body jolted as he pushed one into my ass. The others he licked through me, hitting every nerve that made me lose my mind.

“Ash!” The beast howled, my nails cutting into the mattress.

“Come on my tongue, mroczny.” Dark one.

I knew he didn’t speak out loud, his tongue busy fucking my pussy, but I swear I heard him ordering me to comply.

His fingers twisted the die deeper into me, touching something I never felt before, detonating an explosion in me.

I bowed off the bed in a scream as I violently came. He groaned into me, lapping every drop of my release until my body sagged into the bed.

“Holy fuck.” I gulped for air, my head spinning.

“Those are my lucky dice from now on.” He lifted his head with a confident grin. Standing up, he rubbed his erection, the tip almost purple. “I’m nowhere near done with you.” He pulled me up, my legs barely able to stand. “I want you to watch those trees respond to us, watch them knot while I feel you do the same around my cock.”

?

“I’m starving.” My voice vibrated against Ash’s chest as I watched the late morning light spill into the room, my nails tracing over his abs.

“I know. I can hear your stomach growling.” He chuckled, stretching out his arms and legs underneath me. “We burned a lot of calories earlier. And last night. Well, most of the night.” His hands slid through my hair, stroking down my back.

After he fucked me against the window, observing the trees twine and quiver with our force, we were barely able to crawl into bed before passing out. It felt purposeful this time. Like we both accepted the connection, jumped into it, and bent it to our will. Yet, deep down, neither of us wanted to think about the outcome down the road, the consequences of what we were doing.

The devastation it would cause.

His sentiment earlier about this having no future hurt. It hurt because it was true. I was destined for a world no one should be forced into. For good or bad, I was my mother’s daughter. A princess. It meant being under a microscope every minute of my life. Judged and critiqued, praised and condemned. I never felt comfortable in it, too much like my father, but I played the part I was born into. I didn’t realize until I was out of the spotlight how much I hated always being in it. How fake and shallow I had been. However, it was still my future.

That life wasn’t Ash. He was wild and free, living in the woods, growing herbs, while I was in an expensive gown, meeting leaders of the world.

I was too aware of how my mom’s “job” tormented my father. He was the opposite of all the pomp and court, prowling the edges of the party, forcing a smile at some jackass senate member because he loved my mother beyond this world. He kept from tearing their heads off for her .

No way I would want it for Ash. His family and life were in Budapest.

I listened to his heartbeat against my ear, my throat closing up at the idea of saying goodbye to him. Or even worse, his life being taken from me.

Agony watered my eyes, the notion of him not in this world pulling bile up my throat.

“You can’t die.”

“What?” His hand stopped skating through my hair.

“I think I can survive if I know you are still in this world somewhere.” I lifted my head, twisting to look at him, my brows furrowing. “Promise me. Don’t die.”

His mouth parted to speak, but I rushed in.

“It’s the only thing I ask.” I pushed up on my arms, peering down at him. “I’m made differently than you. And I’m not saying this because I’m a girl or anything. I’m saying it as a dark dweller.” I swallowed, hating how vulnerable this made me. “It’s not only the idea of you not existing.” I shook my head, wanting to throw up. “But I won’t stay alive either…” I looked away. “And again, that isn’t a platitude. Dark dwellers don’t survive long without their ma—” I cut off my own sentence. Saying it out loud felt like flaying myself wide open for him to peck at, like a dead corpse. “It’s not your fault or on you. I know you aren’t designed the same way I am. And I know you said this can’t go anywhere.” I rushed out, hating how young and clingy I sounded. Exactly what he accused me of when we first met. “All I ask is for you not to die. Please.” I bit my lower lip to stop babbling. “For me,” I interjected before snapping down again.

“Did you just say please?” Ash’s brow curved up, a hint of a smirk on his face.

“Shut up.”

“There’s my girl.” In a blink, he had me flipped over on my back, his body nestling between my thighs. With no warning, he pushed one knee up, then entered me with a slow thrust.

“Ash!” I grunted, my head going back into the pillow. I was so sore, but him being inside me felt so fucking good. I became greedy for more each time.

“You’re right. We aren’t created the same, and as I’ve told you, nature fairies don’t have mates.” His nose flared, his eyes brightening as he sank into me, his hips rolling, pushing in again. “But I guess I’ve never been good at being a nature fairy.” He spoke low, our eyes locking as our bodies moved together. “You say you’re a freak? I am too. I’ve never been normal. Even as a child. Where tree fairies strive for harmony and nature, I’ve always lived in violence and conflict. I pretended for a moment I was happy living in peace, but the moment chaos stepped back onto my doorstep, I welcomed it. Eagerly. I realize now I was bored without it.

“And it’s taken me until you to accept that I thrive in discord. I feel alive in battle. I enjoy variance.” Ash moved so unhurriedly, hitting every nerve, each strike of his hips causing me to gasp and moan, my nails digging into his back. His mouth brushed over mine, fucking me so steadily, my vision blurred at the edges. “You are my chaos, mroczny, my battle, my variance. It’s like I was waiting for you this whole time.” He pushed my one leg higher, hooking it over his shoulder.

“Ash…” My pussy gripped around him.

“Yeah. Keep your eyes on me.” A muscle in his jaw clenched. “You feel that?”

He wasn’t talking about his size, though fuck, I felt that too, but the magic snaking around us, the undeniable bond winding tighter.

“Use whatever term you want for us. It doesn’t matter to me because what this is?” He rocked harder into me. “Goes way beyond labels.” He grabbed my arms, pulling them over my head, his tempo picking up. “Just know, you have me at your will, little beak. And whatever is in my power to do for you… I will do it.”

“Don’t die.” The obscurer would annihilate this world if he was lost. “And never cheat on me. I don’t share either.” The dweller would murder anyone who touched him.

“I will try. And not a fucking problem. You own my cock now.” He leaned over, his tongue sliding over my lips before claiming them, pushing in deeper. “Though I will always be up for people watching me fuck you.” He let go of my wrists, gripping the frame and using it as leverage, sliding in and out of me, the sound of us slapping the walls.

“Oh gods!” I rasped out, feeling the burn of my orgasm, my tongue blistering with possession, the spell to knot him swelling up inside me.

“Fuuuuck,” he hissed, slamming into me, feeling the magic gripping him. “You have me so fucked. I need to fill you with my semen, put my seed in you,” he growled. The bedframe struck the wall with loud bangs, my cries no longer contained. “For everyone to know this pussy is mine. You are mine.”

His words pushed me over, my cry sprouting with the spell, my obscurer taking over, swelling me around him.

Ash roared, and I felt his hot cum like a brand. Air was ripped from my lungs, yet it was like I could finally breathe. For a moment, no line was between us, no separation of souls. I felt his desire, his feelings, his thoughts like he could mine.

But in that moment, my barriers down, I felt something else. A familiar tug humming in the back of my brain, reaching for me. Calling my name. It was a whisper of something I knew, something I recognized but didn’t want to believe. A connection that had nothing to do with the man coming inside me. Then it was gone. Disappearing as fast as it came, it evaporated from my mind as my orgasm shook through me.

“ Raven .” Ash pulled my attention back to him, my body hungrily milking every drop before we crashed down, his body sagging over mine.

Gasping and heaving together, he stared down at me in awe until he was able to speak.

“I know how dangerous this is with a Druid, even if you are protected with the tree fairy potion.” His finger traced my lip. “I don’t care.”

Tree fairies were known for concocting iron-clad birth control potions, and they would stay in place until you went back and took a counter potion. This seemed to work for everyone except Druids. Me and my brother were a result of the potion failing. Though my parents were glad it did, we were still a surprise.

“You don’t have to worry about that,” I said quietly, my voice hoarse.

“That’s the thing. I’m not worried.” He wagged his head. “ That’s what worries me.”

“No, I mean… I can’t.” I blinked with the shame that something was wrong with me. “I told you I was a freak. Whatever turned me out like this left me barren.” I looked away. Ash still knotted inside me, made this conversation even more intimate and raw.

“Hey.” He tugged my chin back, forcing my gaze on his. “Do not ever be ashamed of that. Never. It is such bullshit that having kids makes you complete or something. You are whole just how you are, dziubu? . I want nothing more. You understand me?” He waited for me to nod before kissing me. “I told you I didn’t want kids.”

“You’d make a good father.”

He lifted a shoulder, a smile pulling his lips. “Kids are a pain in the ass and will get in the way of me fucking you whenever and wherever I want.”

“You promise?” I clung to the thread of hope this had a future.

“To fuck you whenever and wherever I want?” He smirked against my mouth. “Yes. Fae don’t make promises, but for that, I will.”

Wrapping my arms around him, I sucked at his bottom lip, taking his mouth. My pussy squeezed even more around him, creating a moan in the back of his throat, deepening our kiss.

Right then, my stomach chose to speak out again, grumbling loudly, breaking the escalating desire in the room.

Ash laughed against my lips. “I’m not scared of your dark dweller or obscurer, but your stomach? That I am terrified of.” He whispered to me softly, rubbing my side. “I need to get you fed.”

“Oh I want bulz … no maybe pl?cint? . And all of the ham.” I licked at my lips, my stomach taking over. “Oh, and definitely some gogo?i ! And a huge coffee.”

“You’re gonna have to release me,” he teased, my body still secured around him. “If you want me to go get you something to eat.”

“What do you mean? I’m going with you.”

“You can’t. Everyone is out looking for you.”

“I’ll wear a hood. I need food now . I need meat.” My dweller was famished.

“Is it why your pussy is swallowing me whole and won’t let go?” His mouth dragged up my neck.

“Shut up.” I playfully shoved at his chest, pulling a deeper laugh from him. The sound was like music, easing my body, allowing him to adjust and slowly ease out of me, pooling ropes of his cum down my legs.

“Fuck.” He sat back on his knees, staring at me, biting down. “If you want to eat anytime today, better get up quickly before I change both of our minds.”

I almost let him, but with another grumble of my stomach, he let out an exhale, pulling me to sit up with him.

“I need to take a shower.”

“Nope.” He leaned over, his lips sliding over mine. “I want to know the whole time we are out, my cum is dripping from you, pooling in your panties.”

“You are dirty,” I muttered against his mouth.

“You will continue to learn how right you are.” He kissed me quickly. “Now get dressed.”

“Oh finally! We’re starving !” A voice came from somewhere in the room. “And bored!”

C hirp!

“Lies! I was totally bored!”

Chirp!

“I was not watching!”

Chirp! Chirp!

“Like you can talk!” Opie’s voice pitched. “Don’t tell me you weren’t observing that colossal mushroom bury itself in the garden over and over!”

“ Mi a fasz van veled?! ” Ash palmed his face with a sigh. “I can see why Warwick wants to kill you two all the time.” Ash stood up, striding over to where someone put our cleaned clothes on the table. He tossed me my items and boots, and I quickly dressed, not thinking about how the clothes were still bloodstained in some places, the spots reminding me what I did the day before. The pile of bodies I was leaving was growing.

After what I did, I should’ve been comatose for a week, but just a few hours after, I was screwing Ash in the shower for all to watch, feeling even more alive.

No doubt after what happened on the mountain, we were sharing energy.

Peering over at Ash, I watched him dress, my heart lurching in my chest.

To think I didn’t even want to go to the bar that night. It was Eve and the others dragging me there. Now I understood why Eve wanted me to be there, but I couldn’t help but feel strangely grateful she betrayed me. Otherwise, I never would’ve met Ash. And that hurt more than the idea that Eve had wanted me dead.

“Ready?” Ash held out his hand for me to take, yanking me up to my feet. He draped a cloak around me, pulling up my hood. Grinning, he stepped into me, cupping my face and kissing me like he also couldn’t stop touching me. “Let’s get you some food.”

“It’s about time! Bitzy wants double the mushrooms on everything.” A tiny body dressed in a skintight, white silk jumpsuit, with his chest exposed and clamps on his nipples, darted up Ash’s leg, climbing up to his shoulder, a backpack, holding the imp on his back.

“I’m sorry, but is that a… buttplug on her head?” I sputtered.

“Yes.” Ash scoffed.

“No.” Opie glared at Ash. “It’s called a fascinator fastener ,” he corrected. “A sophisticated headpiece. She likes how she looks in them.”

“And I like how she looks when one’s in her.” Ash winked at me, my cheeks blushing. Lacing his hand in mine, we strolled out of the door. The downstairs was quiet, and we slipped out into the streets, heading toward the square.

Keeping deep in my hood, my hand in his, I couldn’t stop the smile plastered on my face. I was giddy. Happy. Like, deliriously happy.

It should’ve been enough to warn me not to ignore the prickling feeling I sensed earlier. But I had been blinded by Ash, too absorbed in our little bubble to understand what was coming.

That was always when everything came crashing down.