Destined to the Hellhound: BEAST

Chapter 12

"Tell me the truth! Tell me why you brought me here, and why my father is in this book!" I jump up, running after him. "Tell me-"

The words wither and die in my throat. My body stops dead as I watch him casually wade into the giant bathtub. Naked as the day his monstrous parents welcomed him.

Turning back, he looks over his shoulder with a stupid smirk on his face. "Coming?"

He turns, facing me in the waist-deep water, and drops down, submerging himself before standing again, running his hands over his now wet hair.

I haven't moved, blinked, or managed to close my mouth.

Droplets of water run down his chest, and my body shivers. My neck hurts so badly that I try to rub the ache, but touching it only intensifies it.

"I need medication," I ignore his wet, muscular body and invitation.

"Why?"

"The bite mark is infected."

"It isn't."

"Well, it still hurts and I can't see it but-" I crane my neck down and point. "I can see right here it's black, that's definitely not a good sign."

"It's not infected."

"It's gangrenous! I'm going to die of infection!

The laughter that comes out of him makes me angry. I'm in pain, pain that he caused. The least he can do is not laugh at me.

His laughter suddenly stops short, and he growls, stepping forward in the water. "You're angry."

"Yeah! I'm fucking angry! You did this to me! I need something for it. Something to make it stop aching this way!" I yell, cupping it again with my hand. The constant throbbing is making me feel unstable. It's always there, thumping and burning. It's maddening, and I can't take another second of it.

"You want the pain to go away?"

"Yes!" I snap, my fists clenching and shaking. "You took my wings! You bit me! I've been in constant pain since arriving here. I can only sleep when I've passed out, everything hurts all the time!"

I'm so busy screaming, I don't register that he's walking out of the water until he's right in front of me. Warm drips drop down onto my feet from his body. One hand comes up, grabbing me by the throat as he pushes me back, slamming me into the wall.

I flail and fight, pushing against his chest, but he's got me pinned. Trying to pry his hand from around my neck is useless, but I'm not going to give up.

"Does it hurt now?" He growls in my ear.

As I fight and push, it occurs to me that I'm not in any pain. The infuriating throbbing is gone. It burns and tingles under the grip of his hand, but it's not painful.

"It's not infected," he growls. "I can smell infection, rotting flesh, pestilence, and disease. It is not infected, it hurts because you have been marked by a hellhound and we have not consummated the bond."

"What?" I stop struggling and gape up at him.

"You want the truth, little bird?"

I've been asking for it, but now I'm not sure.

"Every answer you're looking for is in the book. The whole history of how you came to be mine. It's all there in black and white. How your father gave you to me. He gave me your soul before you were even born. You are my mate. We belong together. That is why my mark didn't kill you. That's why my rage flows through your veins. That's why you crave my touch. You think you're supposed to fear me, and fight against me. But your body knows where you belong."

"W-where I belong?"

"In my bed, beneath me, wrapped around me," he growls. "I gave half of my soul for you, let the fates rip it right out of my body. We are bound by spirit, space and time cannot separate us. No man on earth can keep me from you. We are one. No matter where you go, I will find you. Your body will always long for mine because we can only be whole together."

I open my mouth to protest, but no sound comes out. Everything he said echoes in my head, making it impossible to speak.

He takes my open mouth as an invitation and slams his lips to mine. In an instant, there is pain and immeasurable pleasure. The metallic taste of blood dances on my tongue as he moves his mouth against mine roughly. It's his blood and mine, mixing together. My lip burns, the broken, open skin objecting to the kiss. My body, though, my treacherous, betraying body, leans in, opens up, and lets him have his way.

The rage in my mind is muted, and all I can taste is his breath as it fills my lungs. Smoke. Not acrid or choking but warm, like the embers of a slowly flickering flame.

In a whirlwind of movement, I'm lifted up into his arms, pressed against his wet chest.

"You are mine," he grunts against my lips, breaking the painful kiss only long enough to growl, then his mouth is back on me.

The intensity of the feelings that rise up inside of me are like tidal waves. They rush toward me with no way to stop them before beating me down, sweeping me off my feet and below the surface. Just when I think I've found my footing, another comes.

Something about this is so familiar.

What is it?

When the realization hits me, I gasp. He uses the opportunity to thrust his tongue into my mouth. Wet and warm, he leaves nothing unexplored.

Flying. This feels like flying. Like soaring into the wind. Like total freedom.

I'm not free, though. I'm a bird with clipped wings locked in a cage.

Dropping my feet to the ground, I push against his chest, and he finally relents, stepping back, not from the force of my shove but because he's allowing it.

"How dare you!" I wipe my hand across my swollen, bloody lips. I'm not sure if I'm yelling at him or myself. How could I let him kiss me like that?

Running out of the bathroom, I grab the book from where it fell and stumble out of the warmth of his bedroom.

The nauseating, never-ending dull throb has returned to my neck. As I reach my room, rage takes over as I upturn every piece of furniture in sight. Screaming and completely out of control, I break everything. As I pick up a chair and slam it into the ground, the familiar blackness creeps into my vision.

My body sways, and my eyes catch the book that I fell from my hands to the ground. The illustration of my father staring up at me on the open pages.

"You know the truth, little bird," his voice whispers in my head. "Your body feels it."

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