Beast Master Read online

  Would she? Could she? Just the thought of blood and life flowing out of him made her shudder. Granted, he was everything she believed she feared, but he was more than that, and until she’d completed her journey into understanding, she needed him alive.

  For many reasons.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” he said. “That what I’ve done to you doesn’t change you. You’re still a member of the Deer clan. A Deer brought down by a Puma.”

  “What are you going to do, kill me?”

  He blinked, and his eyes glowed yellow. “No. I told you—”

  “I know what you said, that you intend to make me into what you need.” Despite herself, she twisted her arms as much as her bonds allowed. “It won’t happen. I’ll die before I let you.”

  A single step brought him so close he became a blur. She started to slide back only to be brought to a halt by his firm hold on her elbows. He used his grip as leverage to press their bodies together and then released her elbows but only to wind a muscle-knotted arm around her waist under her arms. His other hand pressed against her butt cheek.

  She tried to lean away as he brought his mouth to the side of her neck. “If I wanted you dead,” he said, “it would have already happened. Listen to me and listen well.”

  He paused, not that silence made any difference because lightning had touched her body, weakening it and filling it with hot energy at the same time. Her breasts were flat against his middle, and he would have towered over her if he hadn’t curled himself around her.

  “What does the Deer clan know about the Beast?” Before she could reply, he went on. “The Beast is a puma and yet he is more, a massive force that rules all pumas. Because he is animal and not human, the Pumas don’t see him as their master, lord or ruler. But his presence is felt and revered in everything we do and are. The Beast was here when the first human ventured onto this mountain. Without his guidance, the Pumas wouldn’t have become the fighting force we are.”

  Her captor’s voice put her in mind of thunder, overwhelming and mesmerizing at the same time. She couldn’t think how to cool the fire coursing through her or if she wanted to.

  “I was a young boy when I was chosen to become Beast Master,” he continued. “I had no say in my future, but I have never questioned Ashlyn the Ruler’s wisdom. My role within the clan is to roam this sacred mountain. It has become part of me and I am part of it. The Beast reaches me through earth and rock. Sometimes he reveals himself to me, other times I hear him in my head. I take his orders and wisdom back to the clan so we may walk his path.”

  She’d heard of the Beast but had told herself the great puma-like creature was a myth, something to keep Deer children from venturing here. If she ever returned home, she’d tell them that the Beast was real. Her captor’s tone left no doubt that he was telling her the truth.

  “The Beast’s need to hunt and kill defines him, as it does all Pumas. We are many things but mostly we are predators. As such, we see other creatures, and humans, as prey.”

  “Only prey?” she managed. “Not as men, women and children?”

  “No.”

  “By the spirits—”

  “My people call me Beast Master, but he is the master and I his servant. His voice rang in my head when I first spotted you.”

  “What did he say?”

  “That I should take you, which I have.”

  Her captor’s words echoed in her, causing her legs to weaken. He might simply be giving her insight into what compelled him and the other Pumas to be what they were, but she didn’t dare forget that he saw her as his possession and prey. Did that mean he intended to kill her? Was there something worse than death?

  Chapter Three

  “What’s your name?” Ber repeated.

  If his captive had been a true deer, she would have been a yearling, he decided. At least she’d seemed fawnlike to him at first, but now that he had his arms around her and her body was pressed to his, hers was sending adult messages to him. Despite her slight build, her soft curves were those of a woman. Her nipples were hard but whether because she was responding to him or as a result of her fear, he didn’t know. He chose to believe she saw him as a man and not simply a beast.

  What would it be like between them if they approached each other as man and woman? Intrigued by the question, he took hold of her dress and beneath that, her buttocks. She stood without moving until he gathered the soft flesh in his palm and gently tugged one ass cheek away from the other. Then, shuddering, she tried to turn away.

  Don’t let her resist. The power is yours. It will always be.

  Spurred by the Beast’s wisdom, he increased his hold on her waist while continuing to separate her cheeks. At the same time, he raked his teeth over the side of her neck. A second shiver, this one lasting longer and starting stronger, raced through her.

  “No, please!” she gasped.

  “I asked you a question,” he said with his mouth still against her creamy skin and her body tight against his. “What is your name?”

  “Luann! I live in Windsong Valley.”

  She’d given him more than he’d asked for. The few female Pumas had their choice of partners, and men wooed them with attention, gifts and gentle treatment. He’d wanted to do the same, but the Beast was strong in him. Instead of hand holding and tentative kisses, he’d drawn on what the Beast had taught him about control and command. As a result, the women had rejected him. Granted, those he’d had sex with had praised his fierce thrusts and begged him to return to their beds. They just didn’t want to share their lives with someone who unnerved them.

  Now, for the first time, the woman in his arms had no say about how she intended to live her life. “I’m Ber,” he told her.

  “Ber.”

  What was it about hearing his name on her tongue that had him questioning what he was doing? Determined to cast off what couldn’t possibly be doubt, he released her buttock but only to slide his hand under her garment. Much as he wanted to rush the journey, he trailed his nails over the back of her thigh, slowly lifting the short skirt as he did.

  “By the spirits,” she moaned. A shiver made her body dance. She straightened and tried to arch away but made no attempt to wrench free.

  “What spirits?” he demanded. “Who are you speaking to?”

  “Wind. Sun. Rain. All living things.”

  The Pumas worshipped a multitude of spirits, including those she’d just named, which made him wonder if they revered the same entities. Maybe later he’d ask her about that. For now, however, his mind and body were interested in only one thing—her.

  “Do your spirits listen to you? Answer your prayers?” he asked.

  “That’s between me and them,” she shot back. “Do you really think I’d tell you?”

  “Maybe not now but later.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m stronger than you both in will and body.”

  If she was frightened, she gave no sign as she shook her head. “You don’t know me. You never will.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not.”

  He’d let his palm rest on her thigh while they were talking, but he could no longer remain still. Her skin was warmer than he expected, maybe a combination of her long walk and reaction to her predicament. Although he tried to concentrate on the new territory he was reaching as he continued his upward advance, his muscles felt too big for the skin covering them. He didn’t fear he might split apart, nothing like that. But the new sensation commanded his full attention. Perhaps she was experiencing much the same thing, this heady sense of having stepped into a world that circled around sensation.

  “Hmm,” she moaned. “No.”

  “Yes.” He’d reached the join between thigh and ass. Just out of reach was the sleek, soft flesh leading to her sex. It hadn’t taken him long to learn that women loved having their pussies attended to, especially the small, hard nub in front, but with her legs clamped together, he couldn’t easily reach that responsive place. Right now it
didn’t matter because he’d begun to work his fingers into the space between her ass cheeks. The muscles in the arm around her waist had knotted, but he didn’t care if they cramped. He’d keep her in place. His cock would continue to grind against her and he’d pull her scent deep into his lungs. Most distracting, her ass cheeks had settled around his hand. She was warming him as maybe he’d never been warmed and yet what he felt went far beyond that.

  Good. Teach her who belongs to whom.

  Belonging. Was that truly what he wanted?

  Yes!

  Surrendering to the Beast’s command, he opened his mind to whatever else the creature might want to tell him. Instead, an image formed of her on her knees before him, her head lowered nearly to the ground as a good slave should present herself to her master. She was naked with the outline of her spine and ribs visible beneath her tanned skin. Her hands were splayed over the ground and her legs were parted as he’d taught her. When he commanded her to look at him, she lifted her head, her features partly obscured by her flowing hair. Every line of her body said she worshipped him and lived for his pleasure.

  Satisfy me, he told her. As you know I want to be satisfied.

  Her features soft and compliant, she inched toward him while wiping her hands on her naked thighs. Then she slowly, hesitantly cupped his cock in her small hands.

  I have been waiting for you, Master, she told him. Thinking about you and praying for your safety.

  Not waiting for his response, she slipped even closer. Then, as his breath snagged in anticipation, she drew him into her mouth. Her lips glided over flesh so strained he thought it might split. Inch by wonderful inch, she embraced his cock and made it a part of her. Her moisture bled onto him, and her heat seeped into his veins until he was forced onto his toes. Even with her mouth full of him, she chuckled. Then the laughter became a moan, and she ran her hands over his buttocks. Her nose slid over his groin, pressed against him. Back and forth she rocked, back and forth. With each advance and retreat, lips and easy teeth stroked him. His scrotum knotted, and although he’d settled onto his feet, he rose up again while gasping.

  He was going to explode! Come in her mouth. Leave her with his seed sliding down her throat.

  Wild with anticipation, he fisted her hair and prayed he’d be alive when it was over. Who was the slave, he needed to know. And who the master?

  Instead of granting him answers, his body started to splinter, and as the Beast watched, Ber lifted his head and howled in pleasure and release.

  In his mind.

  * * * * *

  During winter, the valley where Luann lived was occasionally covered in fog. Although it wasn’t winter and she wasn’t home, she nevertheless felt surrounded by fog, but instead of cold dampness, this strange mist carried warmth. Moistness came from Ber’s mouth which was still against her neck.

  His hand had invaded the space she’d always considered private. She gathered her muscles in preparation for what might be the greatest battle of her life, but two things stopped her. One, even with her mind in tatters, she knew she’d never win this war. Second, she needed his hand there.

  Impossible. She couldn’t possibly want this manhandling. She’d come to the mountain because her people’s lives depended on it. The Deer wouldn’t understand why she was standing on numb and useless legs while a Puma plundered her.

  Not plunder, at least not yet. Yes, the side of his thumb was on her anus and pressing against it. Yes, his fingers kept her separated back there. But he hadn’t reached her sex, yet.

  What had she told him, that he’d never truly understand her. Maybe she’d been wrong.

  The pressure on her rear opening turned into movement, a slight rubbing that made her head roar and vision blur. Unnerved, she closed her eyes. She briefly wondered how she’d respond if she had use of her hands, but she didn’t. He had her, had her in all and every way. Her body was his playground, his to explore. The only thing she could do was experience.

  “What do you feel when I do this?” His thumb advanced and retreated, advanced and retreated, never leaving her anus. “Even more hatred?”

  “Yes,” she blurted although she was too far gone to know. When would he touch her cunt, not if but when? And when he did, would she collapse?

  “Are you ready to surrender, to admit I control you?”

  “No, no.”

  “No? Then why aren’t you fighting?”

  He’d taken his mouth away from her neck, which allowed her to straighten, not that it made much difference. “How?”

  He grunted. “Tell me, do Deer men touch their women here?”

  Ah, no! He didn’t have to rub her puckered flesh like that! “Only—only if they have permission.”

  “I didn’t ask, did I? Just as I’m not going to before I do this.”

  Before she could guess what he had in mind, he’d turned her away from him and bent her over so she was staring at the ground. His grip on her tethered wrists kept her from losing her balance, but she was deeply bent. She felt as if she were floating. “What—”

  “Mine to explore,” he said. “To control.”

  “Does control make you feel more of a man?”

  “Perhaps.”

  She’d widened her stance in her attempt to remain on her feet, and as he lifted her skirt and bunched it high on her buttocks, she knew what he was going to do. Panting despite herself, she grabbed her leather restraint with both hands and gripped it tightly.

  “Your sex flesh is amazing,” he said. “Such a deep color.”

  “Don’t say that!”

  “Why not? Are you ashamed?”

  “Of course not.”

  By the spirits, he was staring at her pussy, seeing her more clearly than she ever had! Feeling her cheeks grow even hotter, she told herself that was because blood was pooling in them, but she knew better. Ber had stolen her freedom only a few minutes ago, but in that short time, her world had changed. She’d gone from free and determined to—to what?

  Wanting. Needing. Anticipating.

  The first light brush of his finger along her labia brought her onto her toes. Her leg muscles knotted, and her back arched. She tugged on what was around her wrists without knowing what she had in mind. Along with movement and strain was a warm weakness in her sex that made the rest of her existence unimportant.

  If only his cock was claiming her!

  He touched her again, his finger lingering and yet light, the barest contact. Muscles deep inside her tightened only to collapse. She made a keening sound.

  “I’m not going to hurt you,” he whispered. “If nothing else, believe that.”

  “You expect me to believe you?”

  “In this thing, yes.”

  Responding to the strain in her neck and spine, she stopped trying to straighten. She didn’t trust him to keep her on her feet but neither was she distracted by the fear of falling. Then he let go of her bonds, and the pressure along her shoulders faded. A heartbeat later he’d placed his arm just above her breasts to support her. Proof of his strength rolled through her, and although she couldn’t believe it was happening, her sense of trust increased. The fog was still there and swirling around her. Taking her from the woman she’d always been to a mindless and hot animal.

  The heat in her cheeks spread from temple to neck. The hand between her legs started moving again. She needed to concentrate, wanted to! At the same time, she longed to float in the fog.

  Not her labia this time but her clit! The contact between female nub and male flesh was so light she wasn’t sure when it had begun, which gave her time to throw up her defenses. At least that’s what she told herself she was doing until touch became pressure and he started stroking. By the spirits, she was no longer floating but drowning! Not enough air entered her lungs, and her eyes bulged. Ber surrounded her, was everywhere and everything.

  She’d ceased to be her and was becoming him and it all felt wonderful.

  “You’re wet there.” His finger backed off, th
en “attacked” again while she silently begged him not to stop. “Why?”

  I don’t know.

  “You don’t want to answer, do you? What is it—you’re afraid of the truth? But the truth is already on my fingers.”

  The finger now sliding lightly over the length and breadth of her pussy was indeed drenched with her juices. He was responsible for the ever-growing belief that she was flying.

  “Aaah.” The sound pressed past her clenched teeth. “No. Aaah.”

  “So sweet,” he muttered. “And helpless. This,” a finger slipped into her, “makes you helpless, doesn’t it?”

  “No, no.” Fight him! Stop sounding like you’re in heat.

  “No? What then do you call it?”

  Did he really expect her to answer? If so he’d have to pull out of her, to wipe his hand dry and walk away.

  But if he did those things, her pussy would clench repeatedly and she’d press her thighs together because her need to climax had made her shameless. Not caring what he saw, heard or thought, she’d struggle to push herself over the edge.

  He started to say something, only to fall silent and pull in a noisy breath. Even positioned the way she was, she felt his cock against her hip. Perhaps she wasn’t the only one battling her body’s wild nature.

  His finger slipped deeper into her, rested a moment, then probed so she couldn’t tell where he ended and she began. Against all reason, she reveled in being treated this way. Her body sang a tune that was a mix of the wind chasing across the land while deer and other creatures raced. She was both more connected with herself than she’d ever been, and existing somewhere outside watching the creature she’d become shiver and moan. They both now breathed as if there wasn’t enough air, panting really. When had she started to twist from side to side and what did she hope to accomplish? It felt so good and yet wasn’t enough.