Punishments II

I cried out weakly as I quickly leaned against the wall for support. My limbs were growing heavy again, as though the desire coursing through them was an unbearable weight, but I still reached out a hand to tug at my collar. I knew that it was most likely what was responsible for my state.

Unfortunately, the collar refused to budge. 

"Ah ah ah, no pulling," Blaise scolded, smacking my exposed bottom with one hand. I squealed. 

To my horror, the collar didn't relent. It reacted accordingly to Blaise's command, causing my body to heat up even further wherever it had the most contact with the collar. I could feel my mark burning, scorching my flesh from deep within. It was more pleasure than pain, but the shame of it all was a fate worse than death.

Murmurs started to fill the room. I could hear it despite the sound of rushing blood roaring in my ears, threatening to deafen me at any second. Through my hazy vision, I could see members of Fangborne making their way over, pointing and gesturing. Some even leered, their eyes trailing up and down my body as if I were a slab of meat up for sale.

"Blaise…" I panted, choking my words out between heavy breaths. "Please…"

I didn't know what I was begging for. All I knew was that my knees could no longer support my weight, even with the wall as a support. I dropped to the ground, huddling myself into the wall as much as I physically could.

Blaise scoffed, rolling his eyes at the sudden array of men that had come over. That was when I felt a piece of fabric fall over my shoulders.

"Show's over!" Blaise barked. "Don't you lot have things to do?"

Another session of hushed murmurs and footsteps. They were gone. The very air around me felt much cooler without the crowd encircling us. However, that didn't mean that the heat rushing inside my body cooled for even a second.

If anything, as time went by, it only seemed to increase.

My core was trembling, an intense feeling rushing through my abdomen, making me delirious in the head. From the way I sat, my most intimate parts were pressed against the floor and all I wanted was to rub against the tiles.

It was a demented thought and I didn't understand why I was feeling this way, not until Blaise's hand rested on my shoulder. Even through the cloth he had placed on me, I could feel the warmth of his palm. It cooled my skin for a split second, alleviating the torturous sensation, before the heat returned.

I wanted him to touch me. In fact, my body needed it. It was almost as though I was―

"You're in heat," Blaise said, his voice barely above a whisper but loud enough for me to hear due to how close he was to me. His lips were practically hovering right by my ear, his breath fanning across my neck, landing on the unmarked side.

The feeling was akin to getting tickled by a feather. His breath was light, dancing across my skin tantalizingly. It had the same effect as when his hand rested on my shoulder― it cooled me down for a fraction of a second before setting me on fire once more.

"Heat?" I asked through gasps, struggling to meet his gaze. When I did, the piercing silver held me there, entranced and captured. I couldn't find the strength in me to look away.

"Isn't it a wonderful thing to experience?" Blaise asked, his tone taunting. "The time of year where your body naturally craves for a mate, to be joined with someone so intimately…" 

His fingers grabbed my chin, forcing me to maintain eye contact with him when I attempted to look away.

"To mate and breed so animalistically, so that a man could be buried in you hilt-deep. Just so he can spill his seeds in you until your belly swells with his child."

It took all the strength I had left in me to struggle away from his hold just to break our eye contact. Blaise allowed me to, for I would've never succeeded if he actually used enough strength to hold onto me.

He merely laughed at my reaction, finding a little too much joy in my misery than what I would've liked. No doubt about it, Blaise must've caught sight of the way my cheeks had heated and boiled into a stunning red. I didn't need a mirror to know that I was blushing as though I was a beetroot.

"Sex during the peak of your heat is said to be the most enjoyable for both parties," Blaise mused. He ran the back of his index finger down the sides of my cheek, causing goosebumps to rise all over my skin. "Even if you pleasure yourself during this time, it's said to be a pleasure like never before."

I had to bite down on my bottom lip to prevent myself from making a single sound.

Truth to be told, I wouldn't know. Even though female werewolves were said to experience heat twice a year once they hit puberty, I had never experienced it. I had brushed it off on account of the lack of a wolf. Yet, somehow, Blaise was creating this phantom sensation out of nowhere.

If it weren't for all the stories I had heard, I would've never been able to guess that this agonizing experience was what they called a 'heat'.

"You're sick in the head," I said through gritted teeth. Anger was the only thing anchoring me to my sanity. "I don't know how you're triggering my heat but I won't give into it."

"You don't have to," Blaise said with a laugh. "But for every second you fight against it, you will be suffering a harrowing experience alone. Without the pleasure of your other half, it would feel as though you're burning from the inside out."

His hand trailed down the length of my arm, causing me to shudder from the sensation.

"Even if I give in," I said, "it will be with my mate."

"Oh, but don't you remember, Harper?" Blaise replied. The light in his eyes gleamed even brighter. "That may not be my mark on your neck but I, too, am your mate."