Poor Hawk…that wasn’t much of a break from the madness.

He grabs my chemise at the collar and I stop his hand before he can tear. “If you rip this, I won’t have anything to wear!”

He snarls at me, all red eyes and hunger, and I slither out of his grasp, going underneath his clutching arms. The chemise is loose and falls off the moment I do, and I collapse on the floor, naked once more.

Hawk is over me in a heartbeat.

He presses me to the rumpled cloak that’s serving as a blanket and shoves me forward. In the next moment, he pulls my hips into the air and spreads my thighs while I’m on hands and knees. That’s all the warning I get before he’s pumping into me again, his strokes quick and decisive and so full of hunger that it takes my breath away.

My body is still stretched and slick from before, and he’s able to knot me in less time, and then he’s coming, quaking over me as his release takes control. That time was fast and furious, and while it didn’t give me multiple orgasms like before, I don’t mind. The feel of Hawk over me and inside me is erotic all on its own, and I ache for him because he’s clearly lost right now.

I’m glad it’s me with him and not a stranger.

He collapses over me, pressing me into the floor, and I shift, twitching and full, trying to get comfortable underneath him. After a few minutes pass, Hawk rubs his face against the back of my head, further tangling my wrecked hair. “Mmm. Aspeth.”

“I’m here.” I pat the hand that reaches for me. “Here and fine.”

“I didn’t make you come that time, did I? I feel like it was fast.”

“Fast but not rough. It’s fine.” I love that he’s still inquiring about me, as if I’m just as important as his endless hunger.

“ ‘Fine’ is not acceptable.” He strokes his hand down my soft belly, moving between my thighs. “And the nice thing about you being knotted is that you can’t squirm away while I touch you.” He deftly strokes my clit, and the combination of his cock filling me and the sensitive nerves being strummed makes me whine loudly. “And oh, how I love to touch you.”

He pins me to the floor and works my clit until I come three times in a row, all the while whispering filthy words into my ear. When his cock eases free from my body again, I know there won’t be much time between rounds of rutting, but this time I’m prepared. I do my business quickly, tidy up, drink some water—

—and then he’s reaching for me again, lost in the rutting madness.

Now I see why the Taurians speak of the Conquest Moon with both love and dread.

On and on, the cycle continues. Hours pass.

Maybe entire afternoons.

I can’t tell if it’s day or night in the crypt. Time runs together—sometimes between bouts of rutting, we’ll doze, locked together, only for me to wake up to Hawk fucking me again. We have sex over and over, until everything below the waist for me is tender and sore, and my pussy feels permanently sticky. Everything in the crypt seems to be covered in a layer of sweat and Taurian leavings, and I’m both embarrassed that we’ve defiled this place and a little proud. We’re together.

And after this, I feel closer to him than ever.

FORTY-SIX ASPETH

Post–Conquest Moon

Hawk rubs my hip, drawing little circles into my skin. “I think it’s slowing down,” he murmurs, sounding as exhausted as I am. “I don’t feel as if my skull’s about to burst any longer.”

I smile idly, too tired to move from my spot tucked at his side. Our bodies are joined, his cock still knotted inside me, and I ache. My legs ache. My back aches. My pussy certainly aches. But I still feel good. “Has it been several days? I can’t tell.”

“We’re low on food and water and this place is a mess. I think so.” His hand slides to my pussy and I tense, because even that area feels achy. But he only takes some of the wetness of our mingled juices and drags his fingers through them, then paints my skin as if marking me. “Thank you again.”

“Thank you” feels…strange to hear in this moment. I want to hear words of love, not thanks. “It was our agreement,” I say, trying to keep the vague hurt out of my tone. “I always said I’d do this with you.”

“Aye, you did.” He leans in and rubs his long, broad nose against my temple. “Where are your spectacles? Did I break them?”

“They shattered in the cave-in.” I’m trying not to fret over that because spectacles are expensive, and I don’t have any coin left. I’ve got bigger issues to deal with than broken spectacles. “I’ll manage.”

He tuts. “We’ll get you new ones. I know a Taurian in the city who can put something together for you. We’ll just need to wait for him to come back from the plains.”

He sounds so casual, and that makes my heart ache, especially after that tepid “thank you.” “You make it seem like we have a future together,” I say, tone cheery.

Hawk stills against me. “After all this, you doubt me?”

I immediately feel like an arse. I turn my head, gazing at him. “No, I’m just feeling needy and lost. I…I don’t know what’s going to happen with me, Hawk. I’m a holder’s heir who just got caught stealing from the guild.”

He pulls me tightly against him, hugging me from behind. “I’ll be at your side, no matter what happens, as long as you want me there.”

I wrap my arms around him. “Don’t leave me. Never leave me.”

“As long as you want me there,” he repeats, making it a promise. He rubs his muzzle against my hair again. “But we both know a lady holder shouldn’t be married to a Taurian.”

I know that. I’m trying not to think about that. “I never wanted to be a lady holder anyhow,” I force myself to say lightly. “So they’ll just have to cope.”

He chuckles, nipping my ear. His hips surge against mine, and I realize that the Conquest Moon is upon him again. I hold him tight, and his hand steals to my breast, teasing the nipple and sending tired pleasure skittering through my body.

It feels like eternity has passed when Hawk wakes me from a nap and his eyes are bright gold and not the red that tinted them with every moment of our time in the crypt.

It’s time to go.

I ache and I’m filthy and I want a real night’s sleep, but I’m still not ready to go. I don’t want to face the world outside. Not after what we’ve shared in here. I dress with stiff fingers and try to pull my hair into some semblance of modesty, but I stink of sweat and sex and more sweat and more sex. I’m a wreck, and I’m trying not to think about all the things that I’ve forced out of my mind for the last several days.

“Do you think Squeaker is all right?” I ask, worried. “Do you think the nestmaid fed her? Changed her litter? Petted her?”

“I’m positive,” Hawk reassures me, pulling on his clothes. “Magpie might be self-serving but no one’s going to take their revenge on a cat.”

I hope he’s right. That Gwenna is back—or aware of the situation—and she’ll look after Squeaker for me. My poor cat. No one’s been there to pet her and snuggle her for days. She must be feeling so abandoned. I hate that aspect of guild life—staying away from home for days on end. My cat won’t understand.