The Taking (erotic paranormal) (The Breeding Prophecy) Read online

  “Are you sufficiently recovered?” a voice asked from the doorway. Cassandra opened her eyes and swallowed her irritation when she saw Tieran with a tray of food. She jerked a short nod and he entered, placing the tray on her lap with an efficient motion. Cassandra accepted the tray with a muttered thanks and then tore into the food, ravenous.

  “Where’s Jandin?” she asked between bites of near raw steak that ran with blood as she sliced into it.

  “It is not his place to feed you,” he said stiffly, surprising her.

  “Come again?” She swallowed slowly, regarding Tieran with a frown. “Do you feed everyone in the clan? That sounds like a full-time job,” she muttered, taking another bite.

  “No. Only you.” His blue eyes narrowed and she shivered as the air in the room seemed of short supply.

  “Why me? Two days ago you wanted to kill me.” Yeah, sorry that was a hard one to let go, she thought grumpily. “Now you’re suddenly all interested in my welfare? Not buying it. Not be rude or anything,” she tacked on for appearances sake because frankly, she was a bit pissed. Of course, Cristophe had been planning to kill her as well, but for some reason, she wasn’t as miffed at him for his momentary lapse in judgment. “Here I am kidnapped by creatures I’ve never even heard of until a few days ago and since then I’ve been, well, for lack of a better word, violated, when I’d been planning to save myself for marriage and I can’t seem to help myself when that stupid Phase thing starts heating up my body like an engine that’s been running too hot without oil; suddenly, I’m this raging slut who wants to screw anything that walks, oh! And if that’s not bad enough, I’m some mystical werewolf with a magical hoo-ha! Then, I get kidnapped by this really, really bad guy named Ulster who has terrible plans for the world, I should let you know, and when I finally manage to get away — on my own, thank you very much — I come to the one place I thought I’d be safe and the first thing you do is try to kill me. Forgive me if I don’t think much of your managerial style.” She finished her last bite, shoveling the meat into her mouth in an angry gesture. “That was delicious,” she snapped, privately shocked at how feral she felt inside. She was all riled up and could almost feel the hackles of her wolf-self rising from beneath the skin. She wanted more food. That steak wasn’t nearly big enough to satisfy her hunger but she wasn’t about to ask Tieran for a single thing. The silky smooth fabric began to chafe her tender skin and a bead of sweat dotted her hairline. Someone had washed and bathed her sometime after she’d passed out for her epic snooze and had dressed her in a thin chemise the color of cream. Seconds ago she’d been perfectly comfortable but now, everything felt too hot and scratchy. Oh no. She recognized this feeling. Nooooo, not with him in the room! “You need to leave,” she gritted out, swallowing as her heart rate rose. Instead, he closed the door and locked it. To her horror, he began unbuttoning his shirt. His chest, smooth and chiseled, was the picture of male perfection. Muscle corded his stomach and tapered to tight hips. Her tongue snaked out to slide along her bottom lip. “Please go,” she whispered, too ashamed to care that she was pleading. “I don’t want to be with you.”

  “You’re Phasing,” he said unnecessarily. She probably had that figured out seeing as she was about to rip her chemise to shreds just to be free of anything touching her. He advanced toward her, a low growl sounding from his chest when she actually bared her tiny, human teeth at him. “No one will touch you but me from this moment forward.”

  “Get the fuck away from me,” she warned. “Go get Jandin or Koris, or Cristophe for fuck’s sake; anyone but you!” She scrambled from the bed, trying to escape, possibly to jump through the window — anything to get away — but he jerked her into his arms, hissing when their chests collided. Her breasts heaved as she panted, her insides boiling. God, she hated this! Even as she cursed him, she rubbed against the granite of his chest, writhing in his arms. “When I come down from this, I’m going to kick you in the nuts,” she promised in an angry breathless whisper seconds before she latched onto his mouth, sucking his tongue deep into her mouth as he hefted her in his arms. She fit perfectly into his arms, like a puzzle piece locking into place. Cassandra didn’t know if it was the Phase that made her feel as if she’d just leapt into the arms of destiny or something else but she knew it was pointless to try and figure it out at this moment. She moaned as her core liquefied with desperate need.

  “It’s like there’s a fire beneath your skin,” he gasped, breaking free from her ravenous kiss. He cupped her behind and squeezed the plump flesh. She thrilled at the possessive imprint on her skin. His eyes darkened to a wild hue as the blue disappeared with his humanity. He took her mouth savagely, growling against her lips as he plundered, stabbing her mouth with his tongue until she was forced to accept him. It was brutal and heady — something that she would’ve found completely distasteful if she were in her right mind — but at the moment she found him intoxicating. She clutched a handful of his dark hair and wrenched it back, laughing when he responded in kind, twisting a hank of her hair and yanking it close to the scalp. The pain sparked an insane pleasure that baffled but she didn’t care. A low throaty laugh followed and he threw her to the bed. “I don’t like you anymore than you like me,” he said in a low growl as he followed her to the bed to rip the thin chemise away from her body. His eyes glowed with lust as he feasted on the curves and valleys of her breasts, hips and thighs. Her knees fell open and her hand found its way to her core. She was nearly mindless with the need to be filled. He slapped her hand and pushed it away from her folds as he climbed her body with the grace of an animal; all muscle and sinew corded together to create sheer masculine power. His scent hit her like a sensual slap. He smelled of something so intoxicating she couldn’t even put words to it, but she wanted to bury her nose against his groin like a woman who’d found her drug of choice. “But there will be no one but me planting their seed in your belly. If you are to whelp a pup that will rule this world, it will be mine or no one’s.”

  Yes! No! Her heart sang even as her brain babbled in an incoherent attempt at holding onto her sanity but the Phase would not be denied and simply shut down the thinking section of her mind. She wanted to feel, touch and taste. She wanted Tieran to bathe her insides with his seed and calm the fire that raged inside her. She wanted to feel his pup grow inside her, beneath her heart, which was pure insanity!

  He flipped her onto her belly, pausing to grip the twin halves of her behind in both hands and squeezing with a grunt of approval. “On your knees,” he demanded, his voice tight. “I want to see your beautiful ass in the air.”

  She didn’t hesitate. In fact, it felt completely natural to offer herself to Tieran like this when in fact, if she were completely lucid, she would’ve told him to go fuck himself. But there was nothing but eager compliance in her head at the moment and she simply spread her knees and lifted her backside, ready and quivering. He didn’t wait a moment. There was no teasing, no readying either. No, it was a brutal assault from the start but there was something about Tieran that made her heart sing even as she would’ve been happy to deny it. He was a cold, ruthless jerk and she wanted nothing to do with him, under most circumstances. But right now, she was infected with the insatiable need to feel him inside her, thrusting into her with the same reckless abandon as they tumbled down the rabbit’s hole of insanity together.

  His cock pressed at her entrance, thick and blunt and she shuddered as he rammed himself deep into her core. She groaned as the pain of being entered without warning faded into delicious fullness, the head of his cock banging against that elusive spot that she’d only read about in books. She writhed, impaled; gasping with pleasure. “Yesss! Tieran! Yess! Make me yours! Fill me with your seed!”

  The words flowed from her lips as if she’d suddenly been possessed and she was helpless to stop the torrent. “The superior male will claim the womb of the pale bitch and the resulting pup will rule the world!”

  Cassandra’s breasts bounced with each hard thrust
, rubbing against the linens as she clutched the comforter tightly. She was spiraling quickly, her channel gripping his cock, milking him with feral intent. They were helpless to stop what was happening. They were both caught in a maelstrom set in motion at the beginning of time as they fulfilled an ancient creed. It didn’t matter that neither particularly wanted the responsibility that the Gods had given them; the Gods would have their Prophecy fulfilled.

  In a blinding moment, Cassandra felt melded with Tieran. She glimpsed a female face that was not her own. A wave of sorrow washed over Cassandra that clashed with the wild lust riding her hard. Momentarily disoriented, she realized she’d slipped behind the curtain of Tieran’s thoughts, similar to what had happened with Ulster.

  “No!” Tieran growled savagely and suddenly Cassandra was shoved from his mind and back into her own. He withdrew and flipped her onto her back so that he hovered above her. Everything happened so fast Cassandra could only blink in stunned silence as Tieran regarded her with angry lust-hazed eyes. “Off limits,” he bit out a warning before shoving himself back into her molten core. She gasped at the savagery and agony in his tone but quickly lost herself in the building pleasure between them.

  Tieran groaned, his movements becoming frantic as his grip on her hips tightened almost painfully. She knew what was coming. She could feel it in her bones as her own body reacted in kind. Pleasure spiraled, taking no prisoners as they both hurtled into their own black hole of pleasure where nothing existed but the sizzle of sensation obliterating their nerve endings and sending both collapsing to the bed, panting hard.

  It was several moments before either realized where they were or what had happened. Cassandra’s thighs were wet with sticky fluid and her cheeks heated with the knowledge that it was Tieran’s seed dribbling from her core. She wanted to move away but she was as weak as a newborn kitten. Tieran seemed the same, which was shocking given the man was one solid wall of muscle.

  “What just happened?” she asked in raspy voice, still stunned. This had been different than the other Phasing. Vastly different. “What. The. Fuck. Just. Happened?”

  Tieran remained silent for a long moment but she could feel the tension in the air between them as they lay sprawled naked and spent. He turned slowly to regard her, his expression resigned, and perhaps a bit angry, as he gave her the answer she feared the most.

  “The Prophecy has been set in motion.”

  Tears pricked Cassandra’s eyes and her hand strayed to her flat belly. She swallowed as the import of his statement hit her hard.

  “Am I pregnant?” she whispered.

  Tieran rose on shaky limbs to grab his shirt and jerk it on. She trembled as she wavered on full-blown hysteria. She wasn’t ready to be a mother, much less the mother of some Prophesied child! “Tieran…” she pleaded, not knowing what she was asking exactly but he heard the fear and uncertainty in her voice. He softened, albeit minutely, and his eyes returned to their striking shade of blue. “Tieran…I’m not ready for any of this…”

  He buttoned his jeans slowly, almost methodically before meeting her gaze. “That makes two of us. But we weren’t given a choice. I will send someone to help you bathe. I will bring food soon.”

  “I’m not hungry,” she lied, fighting tears. “Just leave me alone. I need time to figure things out.”

  “You will need food. The Phase raises your metabolism. And if you are carrying my child…you will eat, whether you want to or not. There are other things to consider now that the Prophecy has begun.”

  “I don’t want this!” she shouted, her voice shaking as she struggled to her feet, mindless of her nudity. What did it matter now? There was nothing to hide from Tieran at this point. “I want to leave. I want to go back to college. I want to forget that I ever met any of you people! I had a life. I had goals and dreams. I wasn’t some mindless freakish slut who spoke in tongues and wanted to fuck anything with a dick!”

  His eyes blazed, turning dark as he advanced, scooping her into the hard shelter of his arms before she could squeak a protest. “Do you think that I wanted this?” He didn’t wait for an answer as he sneered softly. “You are not the only one being asked to sacrifice something. You may have stumbled onto your heritage but I’ve been shouldering the weight of this clan since I turned sixteen. It’s been ground into my head that I must sire the Prophesied child to save the world from the hands of Clan Janus! So hear me when I say that just because I do not weep and wail, wringing my hands at the circumstance that I am not, in fact, grieving for what has been taken from me in the name of some fucking Prophecy!” He gave her a hard shake and then when she thought he might thrust her away from him as if she were diseased, he ground his mouth against hers in a short, brutal kiss that spoke of anger, pain and burning desire. He released her abruptly, his breath coming in short rasps as he glared. He held her stare for a long moment then as he regained some semblance of control, he said in an icy tone, “Never presume again, Cassandra. Ever. Now, stay put. I will return.”

  Her breath hitched in her throat on a cry as he closed the door and as soon as he was gone, she fell back onto the bed with a sob.

  Why? Why was this happening? Cassandra curled into a fetal ball and cried for a good five minutes, soaking her pillow. When the tears finally stopped, she wiped her nose and rinsed her face, still confused and angry but one question rose to the surface with startling speed.

  Who was the woman in Tieran’s thoughts? Cassandra shifted with discomfort, embarrassed at her own inadvertent trespass. She hadn’t meant to pry. It wasn’t as if she had a handle on the things that she could do. Like she’d wanted to know that Tieran had been thinking of someone else while he was inside of her?

  She could be flippant and say, who cares? But deep down, she did care. She cared a lot.

  Which made zero sense but then, nothing had made sense since she’d been thrust into this nightmare of a new life so why should she expect anything would start sliding into place now?

  Her eyes welled again with more tears. She supposed she’d earned the right to bawl, right?

  Hell yes.

  So that’s what she did.

  ***

  Koris found Cassandra hours later, wandering the wild, walled garden behind the house. The grounds were immense, giving the semblance of freedom, but in fact, she felt just as caged as when she was trapped in the cave with Cristophe or under lock and key with Ulster. She plucked wild lavender and brought it to her nose, inhaling deeply when Koris startled her with his presence.

  She dropped the lavender and immediately went to embrace him but Koris reluctantly took a step away from her. She stared reproachfully at Koris with wounded feelings. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “It is not my place to touch you any longer,” he answered wretchedly. “Even only in comfort. You are the Alpha’s woman and the Prophesied One. If you seek comfort you must find it with Tieran.”

  At the mention of Tieran’s name, Cassandra turned away in irritation. “He’s the last person I would seek comfort from and the last person who would offer it,” she snapped. The Prophecy was ruining her life. And now she couldn’t have friends? She returned to Koris, softening when she saw how lashing out had hurt Koris. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m not quite myself. Well, that’s an understatement actually.” She walked to the small cement bench and sat down with an unhappy sigh. Koris followed at a respectable distance until Cassandra patted the seat beside her with a pleading expression. “Certainly there are no rules about friends sitting beside each other, right? No touching, I promise.”

  He seemed uncertain but couldn’t refuse her. He sat gingerly beside her. Even though he wasn’t as large as Tieran, his body still ate up most of the bench and caused Cassandra to smile with genuine warmth at his obvious discomfort yet desire to make her happy. “Why couldn’t it have been you or Jandin?” she asked.

  She didn’t need to clarify. Koris knew what she was referring to. “It would’ve been our honor to be your champion,” K
oris murmured. “I would that things were different for you from the start. But we cannot live in the past, only in the present. Tieran is a good Alpha. He will protect you with his life as he would anyone in his clan.”

  “He hates me,” she whispered. Koris struggled to refute her claim without being dishonest but she saved him the trouble, saying, “Please don’t bother. The Phase, as lousy as it is, has given me certain insights. He is with me because he’s expected to be, not because he wanted to be. It seems no one wants me for me,” she added with a dose of self-pity.

  “Tieran is a difficult man to understand. He is very private. I would not presume to know his feelings, however,” Koris began cautiously, trying to find the right words. “Don’t give up on him. The Gods would not have put you in his path if it were not meant to be.”

  “Koris, I don’t have your faith. I was raised in a normal household where I had chores and homework, not tales of legends and prophesies. I don’t know if I believe in fate or destiny. I’m overwhelmed with everything that has happened and frankly, I just want to go home.”

  “You are home,” Koris reminded her gently. She shook her head vehemently and Koris sighed. “You may not believe in fate or destiny but it believes in you. We all believe in you.”

  “Why?”

  Koris smiled and unfolded himself from the tiny bench with a slight grunt, causing her to allow a tiny smile. “Because you are special. When you stop fighting it, you will understand. Right now, the Prophesied Child is likely growing in your womb. When your maternal instincts kick in, you will know what it’s like to believe in something you’ve never known.”