Reminding myself that the essence was a part of me and that I could control it, I locked the power down. It wasn’t a struggle like before. In the back of my mind, I knew it was because the eather was only a byproduct of my will, and it responded immediately because I never wanted to hurt him. “Ash?”

He shuddered. “I feared I would never hear you say my name again.” His body…it vibrated. A moment passed, and then another as he twisted his head from side to side. The tendrils of eather lifted. “When I…when I release you, you need to run.”

I tensed. “What?”

“You need to run, Sera. Fast. Faster than you ever have before. You may be able to outrun me…” Another series of shudders ran through him. “You have to try. Because I…I need you. Your heat. Your silky tightness. I need to be inside you.”

Another stunning pulse of desire sliced through me, causing my hips to squirm in blade-sharp anticipation. “Why would I want to run from that?”

More of the darkness became visible, nearly obscuring his skin. “I won’t be able to hold on to my mortal form much longer.” The shadows briefly thickened around him. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t. I trust in that—trust in you. Just as you trusted me earlier when I wasn’t even all that aware—”

“This is different.”

I started to tell him it wasn’t, but Ash changed. It was him—the shape of his features, the strong jaw, and wide, expressive mouth. His high, sharp cheekbones and blade-straight nose, but he was now shadow and smoke turned to stone.

He had shifted into his Primal form, his midnight-streaked skin looking as hard as granite as moonlight wings lifted behind him, sweeping out and blocking the chamber behind him.

This was Nyktos, the Asher, the one who is Blessed, the Guardian of Souls, and the Primal God of Common Men and Endings. This was who he was at his core: an ancient predator and the giver and taker of lives.

A Primal of Death, terrifying in his power and glory…and not in control.

Even without the newly gained knowledge that had come with my Ascension, I would’ve known that it made him incredibly dangerous. Even to a Primal.

Even to me.

My chest rose and fell rapidly as I stared up at the Primal, still…still seeing Ash. I saw only him, and I felt no fear as more shadow-laced eather drifted out in smoky tendrils, spilling onto the bed.

“If you don’t run, if I take you, I will take you like this,” he warned. “And I will do so as a Primal.”

“I’m here, and I’m not leaving,” I whispered, willing to give him anything and everything he needed. “I’m yours, Ash. Take me.”

A low, sensual rumble echoed from him, eliciting a wave of shivers from me. The swirling shadows eased off my shoulders and gathered along my forearms. They curled around my wrists. My heart stuttered as my gaze fixed on his.

Ash’s eyes were pure molten silver. “I tried to warn you.”

Before I could respond, the shadows yanked my arms up, pinning them to the bed above my head.

Oh, gods.

In an instant, the essence inside me strained against his display of dominance. There was no fear, though—no flashes of panic or desperation. There was no room for any of that when there was this heightened need to push back and see who would come out on top, and the twisting burst of red-hot desire.

Ash’s nostrils flared as he breathed in deeply. The growl deepened as he tilted forward, curling his fingers around my ankle. My entire body jerked at the touch. I wasn’t sure if it was the coldness of those fingers or the palpable tension gathering in the chamber.

Jaw clenched, he lifted my leg, pushing it to the side, exposing the throbbing heat between my thighs to the air…and to him.

Those glowing eyes left mine as wisps of shadowy eather throbbed restlessly against the bed, brushing my outer legs. The intensity of his stare was like an icy-hot brand as his gaze lowered, drifting over my heavy breasts. Between his thighs, his cock pulsed, and…

Was it larger? Thicker and longer?

My heart tripped as I took in the rest of him. His body was bigger—wider and likely taller. My gaze slid back down.

Dear gods.

His gaze lowered, moving past my navel and then lower still, which meant I was incapable of focusing on anything else.

Everything about him vibrated as his stare latched on to me. My legs reflexively started to close, but his grip on my ankle firmed as one of the humming tendrils rose from the bed and draped over my other leg.

The sudden cool weight of his eather caused my stomach to clench, but I still felt no fear. No unease. I never did with Ash. Not when he gave me complete control or took it for himself. I was always safe with him.

Memories of the night after the Cimmerian attack resurfaced. Would he touch me so wickedly again? I shivered. Would he do it while he knew I saw him? A rush of heat and dampness pooled where his eyes feasted.

One side of his lips curved up as his gaze returned to mine. “I can taste your need.”

I shook.

His stare dropped once more as he pushed the ankle he held up, spreading my legs even wider. “So pretty,” he murmured. “So wet.”

My skin flushed.

“Mine,” he rumbled.

The tendril on my calf started to move, drawing my attention. My heart began pounding as the swirling mass of energy rippled over my knee, leaving a cascade of shivers in its wake. I tried to slow my breathing, but it was no use. The wisp of darkness kissed my inner thigh. I couldn’t look away as it crept up my trembling skin. My fingers curled helplessly into my palms as the icy burn eased over the crease in my thigh.

Cool air brushed my core.

I cried out, hips twitching as the air charged all around us. The shadow rolled against me, teasing my damp, heated skin. The mist thickened, solidifying enough that I could only see a hint of my skin beneath. I trembled at the soft, humming feel of the shadows against me, so focused on what was happening there that I didn’t see the other tendrils lifting from the bed.

Thick, crackling air slid along my sides, startling me. Feeling breathless, my head tilted to the side. The tendrils flowed over my lower stomach, then spread up, kissing and licking my skin, my breasts. It felt like fingers pressing in and swirling around my nipples. My back arched—

Ash made a tsking sound, snapping my gaze to his. He looked utterly otherworldly in his Primal form. Primitive. Wild. “These lips are even softer.”

I think I did stop breathing then as I stared at him. He had such a…a naughty mouth when in his true form.

“And warmer,” he said, his tongue running along the inside of his lower lip. “I don’t want my pretty pussy feeling lonely.”

My pretty…

Eyes wide at his language, a laugh traveled up my throat, but it never made it past my lips. A sudden cry of shocking pleasure did as those thicker, heavier shadows pulsed, parting the softer, warmer lips he spoke of.

“Oh, gods,” I cried out, hips rolling as the tendril of energy pushed inside me. My memories of this experience did not do it any justice.

My head spun as the sensations at my breasts and in my pussy overwhelmed me. It felt wonderfully indecent.

I moaned, twisting as the thick, churning mass moved inside me. Ash was closer, and then he no longer held my ankle. He was still on his knees, his body keeping my legs open to him and his stare. I shuddered and gasped, quickly becoming lost to the sinful pleasure. My ass lifted off the bed, and I didn’t know if that was me or him, but the cool brush of air against my backside startled me.

I didn’t dare move as that air slipped and slid. My hips were tilted up even farther, and I saw a thinner wisp of energy split away. Oh, gods, was he going to…? I’d never had anything go in there. The Mistresses of the Jade had spoken of how pleasurable it could be with the right, er, prepping, but they were speaking of cocks, not spindly tendrils of energy.