Chapter 179

Seeing Caleb rush towards me, fury in his gaze, I already know what’s happened here.

Bethany.

She might have seemed compliant when I told her to stay behind, but I should have known she wouldn’t just sit idly by while I placed myself in danger, even if I instructed her to do so. She is my friend before she is my servant, and has been for a long time.

If she thought she couldn’t convince me to stop my plans, she would likely turn to the one person with the power to make me stop.

I could only imagine how that conversation might have gone, but I can see clearly now how it ends.

Caleb grabs me roughly by the arm and drags me back the aisle toward the stairwell. He is unkind, his fingers biting into my skin. He’s taking wide strides, giving me no time to collect myself. I struggle to keep up with him.

In the stairwell, he drags me up to the first landing, then he forcibly shoves me against the wall. My back strikes the stone, knocking the wind out of me. He gives me no room, crowding me in front, his chest pressing to mine. His hands slap the stone at either side of my head, entirely boxing me in with his body and his arms.

Leaning down, he brings his face directly in front of mine. His eyes flash red, fury nearly overwhelming him.

“You would dare to barter yourself?” he growls, his voice torn between wolf and man, deep and gravelly, with a growl lining every word. The growl persists even after the words have stopped. “You have no authority to do so.”

“Caleb –”

His growl sharpens at my attempt to speak, forcing me silent.

“You are mine, Harper. You belong to me. I own you.”

Despite everything – Caleb’s rage, his rough handling, the sharp fury in his voice – my body reacts with sudden, hot desire to those words, to this position, to the passion he’s showing for me.

As he inhales, he seems to catch the scent of my growing desire and my dampening panties. His eyes, still flickering red, take on a new heat.

“You need reminding,” he growls.

No. I can’t let this descend to sex so easily. Not with how much hurt is flaring through me.

I attempt to harden myself against him and the desires he’s spurning in me.

“I didn’t think you’d notice my absence,” I say, lifting my chin slightly in defiance. “Since you’ll soon be so busy with your new wife.”

“She is not you,” he says.

All thoughts flash out of my head. What does he mean by that?

Does he view me as special? Even more special than his wife?

I can’t believe that and yet…

His hands grip my upper arms, holding me so tightly, so desperately.

Yes, that’s not just anger or pleasure I see in his gaze, it’s also fear.

For better or worse, I’m the one he can’t bear to lose. I can see that now, with that glimpse of fear.

“This is the only way I can think of to get Tristan back,” I say, my heart spreading wide, somehow growing once again like the hurts of the past never happened before.

“Tristan can take care of himself,” Caleb insists.

“But, Caleb…”

“You are not negotiable, Harper,” he says. “Nor are you in any position to negotiate. You are my consort, in my harem, part of my property. Samuel may want you, but he will never have you. Unless you… want him…” The fear vanishes from his eyes in a rush, replaced once more with blatant rage and passion.

“I don’t,” I say, but he’s beyond hearing me now.

“I will show you pleasure that he would never be able to.”

I push at his shoulders, my last weak attempt to return the wall between us. “You should be with your wife…”

“She’s not my wife yet,” Caleb snaps, then he pounces.

In a great show of strength, Caleb bends down, grabs my legs and throws them over his shoulders. Standing, he drags me up the wall. He shoves my skirts to my waist, rips away my panties, and pushes his tongue forward, lapping past my folds from my clit down to my pussy, where he plunges it inside of me.

I grab onto his hair with both hands as I let my head fall back against the wall.

He grips my ass harshly, keeping me in place while he ravishes me with his tongue. My nipples harden, so sensitive. The fabric of my bra scratches against them, increasing my pleasure.

For a moment, I wish I was naked and start to tug at my top. But then I remember where we are. In this stairwell, anyone could happen upon us at any moment.

Caleb doesn’t care. Dragging his tongue back to my clit, he lines up his hand and slides one then two fingers inside of me.

The onslaught pushes me right up against the edge. Yet, just as I’m about to crash right over the ledge, Caleb stops. He removes his fingers and lowers me back down to his feet. As he rights himself, his lips glisten with his spit and the taste of me.

Hurt flashes through me. Is this some kind of punishment?

“Brace yourself,” he says, turning me toward the wall. I do as he says pushing my hands against the stones.

“Caleb?” I ask as he lifts my skirts. I’m a bit nervous, not sure what to expect, though with how much lust pulses through my body, I’m down for almost anything he’s willing to give or do to me.

Grabbing my thighs, he lifts me off the ground again. I brace myself against the wall, preparing, as he lines himself up and sinks me down onto his dick.

No matter how much sex we have, every time he enters me feels like the first. My walls stretch pleasantly as he fills me all the way to the core.

I gasp and cry out, before biting my lip to keep myself quiet.

“Do not stop your noises,” Caleb says.

“But they’ll hear…” I manage.

“Who? Only I am here,” he says.

“Anyone could come…”

“You’ll come first,” he jokes, then steals away my thoughts, as well as my breath, but fucking into me with long, hard, punishing strokes.

He’s holding me up, my feet are off the ground. I’m entirely at the mercy of his furious thrusting.

He’s giving it to me hard, much rougher than usual.

And I’m loving it all.

The pace is brutal, barely out before he’s thrusting roughly back inside of me.

“You are mine,” he growls.

Leaning forward, he presses his teeth to the nape of my neck.

My heart lurches in my chest, hoping, praying. If he would only bite down, I would be his mate.

“Ca-leb! Oh!” I cry out, each syllable punctuated by the slap of his skin to mine.

“Say it,” he growls, demanding. “Say you are mine.”

“I-I’m yours. I’m yours!”

“Fuck yes you are,” he says fiercely and somehow manages to increase his speed.

He’s moving at an otherworldly pace. My thoughts entirely fizzle out. I can only feel the sharp slap of his hips to my ass, the delve of his dick inside of me.

It’s so much. Too much.

I plunge straight over the edge, his name on my lips.

“Caleb!!”