Page 53 of Coal Hearts

All his warnings not to fight. All his cryptic words and darkly given promises couldn’t hold back my shattering.

I screamed.

I screeched and lost all sense of self.

I scratched his cheeks. I kicked his legs. I punched his shoulders. I sobbed and begged and—

“Jesus Christ.” He grabbed my jaw and slammed my head into the grass. Stars danced in my vision as his fingers dug against my teeth. His furious face gilded with gold dawnlight as his eyes shot black, latching onto my mouth. “It’s gonna happen eventually. I’m going to have to fuck you eventually.” He nodded as if convincing himself. “Might as well be now.”

With a grunt, he shifted his hips and fumbled between us. Yanking his belt undone, he struggled with his zipper.

I stiffened.

I ceased fighting.

I did my best to be smart and went as meek and as feeble as a dead mouse. “Please...” I sniffed back tears. “Please...don’t.”

He paused.

The storm clouds in his eyes receded just a little. A splinter of grey in a sea of black as he stared at me and sucked in a breath.

And something happened.

The monstrosity inside him retreated. The hunger in his touch and the ferocity in his veins returned to a hot-blooded male instead of a cold-blooded beast.

Sucking in a heavy breath, he looked up. His throat revealed cords of power as he muttered a curse. “They’re coming.”

I didn’t know why I suddenly felt a kinship with him.

Why, in that moment, it felt like it was us against them.

But I embraced it. I was willing to try anything. “Tell me. Right now.”

He scowled and looked down, pinning me with his stare. “Tell you what?”

“Tell me who you truly are.”

He huffed and shook his head. “I’m exactly who you think I am.” He pressed his cock between my spread and powerless legs. “I’m hard and ever so close to taking everything I’ve ever wanted.”

Prickles darted over my skin, and despite my fear and honest-to-God hatred of him, something horrible heated in my core. Just a flicker. Just a tease. But it did something to me that Sam had never been able to achieve in four years.

He licked his lips as his gaze latched onto my mouth. “Stop looking at me like that.”

I blinked away nonsensical fog. “Like how?”

“Like you might finally be listening to me.” He bent and whispered, “That you might finally see what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

I arched beneath him as his cock twitched against me. “What are you trying to tell me?”

He grabbed a handful of my hair. “That I’m your only chance to survive this.”

“How?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “But I do know you’ll suffer far worse if you don’t trust me.”

“Trust you?” I scoffed. “How could I ever—”

“You don’t have a choice.” His chin tipped down; he dragged his nose along my cheek to my ear. “They’re almost here. I let you tell me no on the plane, but that shit stops right now. You’re in a place where women are toys and men are kings. You’re probably cursing all your actions since meeting me, but I’m cursing all mine since I learned who I descended from.” He licked me as if he truly was a beast from a nightmare. “Something is inside me. Something not normal. Something not nice. While you fight me, it comes out to play. But...if you tug on the part of me that wants to protect you...I might just have the strength not to lose myself entirely.”