5. CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER FIVE
ISEOL
The following morning bursts bright and sweet. To my delight, Pem’s already on the ice, waiting for me.
Ice crusts the tips of his horns, turning them white, reminding me of mother’s fingers after she and her sisters herald in the Japanese winter.
“Good morning, Iseol.”
His deep voice seems to pool in the pit of my stomach, and the dull throb of warmth that seems to live inside of me unfurls into a fiery ball of need.
Just as it always does in his presence.
“Morning, Pem,” I reply softly.
He comes over and sits down next to me on the bank of snow. I glance at the Puca from the corner of my eye.
Today, he’s wearing a hunter green sweater that offsets the green of his hair while complementing the brown of his fur.
Pem’s golden gaze fastens on me, and I realize I’m outrightly staring—and I’ve just been caught in the act.
Panic lances through me as I scramble to stand up, thinking of something to say. Of course, I have no ready excuse or lie.
What I do instead is far worse.
“Um, you have snow on your horns.”
Reaching out, I brush off the icy flakes. They rain down like a tiny blizzard around Pem’s face, but it’s the groan— his groan —that shocks me.
It’s a thousand times deeper than his voice and absolutely wreaks havoc on my body. The desperate, needy sound shoots straight to my core.
I stare in shock as my hands seem to move of their own accord. My fingers curl around the thick curve of his horns, caressing the spired length.
This wrenches another lust-filled moan from the hulking man, and I bite my lip. For some reason, I can’t seem to stop.
Instead of giving Pem space, I find myself touching him more . Up and down I stroke, and in the dark recesses of my mind, I acknowledge this is wrong.
I shouldn’t be touching him like this without his permission.
As if reading my mind, Pem arches his head back, yanking his horns out of my possessive and greedy hold.
“Stop…fuck, stop.”
I gasp, appalled at my behavior. My palms vibrate from the contact, almost pulsing with the same need between my legs.
“S-sorry,” I stammer like a ninny. “That was inappropriate of me. I’ll leave.”
Before I can turn and run away— for a third time —the Puca halts me by fisting the hem of my crimson hanbok. It looks like blood against his fur.
“Stay. Just give me a moment to compose myself. I almost just embarrassed myself.”
I snort back a laugh. “I think that’s my line.”
“If you knew how close I was to coming, you wouldn’t be saying that.”
Even though I don’t have a lot of sexual experience, I know enough to get what Pem is alluding to. My cheeks heat with a blush at the idea of him being so aroused by just my touch.
“Really?!”
I blurt out the word and then instantly clamp a hand over my mouth, but Pem doesn’t seem fazed by the topic of our conversation.
In Korea, talking about anything sexual is taboo. I know Western culture is different—I just didn’t realize how different.
“Yes. Puca horns are very sensitive—like your ears and tails.”
“Oh, they aren’t,” I disagree. “Trust me, I’ve touched them a million times, and I’ve never reacted…erm, well, the way you did.”
Pem cocks his head. “Not even when you’re touching yourself?”
Oh boy.
Maybe I’m not ready for this.
No, you can talk about sex with a new friend, Iseol.
“I guess I don’t know. I’ve never thought to touch them when I’m… you know .”
The Puca bites his lip to keep from smiling. “Does talking about this make you uncomfortable?”
“Kinda. Couples barely talk about this stuff where I’m from, let alone people who just met.”
“Oh, well, no disrespect to your culture, but I think it’s important to know someone’s likes and dislikes. How can two people grow together if they can’t even be open about the most vulnerable part of their relationship? Intimacy is the physical extension of a couple’s feelings.”
“What about people who aren’t together but are still intimate?”
“I still think it’s important to discuss. Important discoveries can’t be made in silence—at least not these kinds. For example, you don’t feel anything when you touch your ears or tails, but what about when someone else does?”
“Um, I guess no one’s really touched them since I was a child. In Gumiho culture, our tails are sacred. No one in Korea would dare to even brush against them, and my kind usually keeps them tucked away.”
Pem stares up at me, something bright and dangerous sparkling in the honey-hued depths. “Can I touch them?”
My mouth drops open as I try to suck in the frigid air, hoping it’ll clear my head. It doesn’t. A permanent fog of desires seems to have clouded there.
Instead of answering, I just nod. Pem gently tugs the hand that he’s still holding, pulling me down between his legs.
“I need a verbal confirmation, Iseol.”
“But I didn’t ask your permission when I touched your horns—nor you when you kissed me!”
“For which I was out of line and apologized for, and you’ll never need my permission because you already have it. Touch me whenever—however—you like. Please, I’m begging you.”
Laughter bubbles up inside of me at his teasing tone. “I…yes, you have permission to touch me.”
Even though I don’t say it, I hope Pem understands how big this is for me, and that despite my inexperience, I trust him.
Besides, touching my ears isn’t worrisome. He can’t steal my fox marble since we won’t be kissing, and I highly doubt it even causes a fraction of the emotion needed to shift my marble into my mouth.
Wrong.
I was so wrong.
The Puca settles me in his lap, with my back pressed against the wide, muscled expanse of his chest.
My nerves thrum because this isn’t something I’ve done with another person. Ever. But I’m sick of always hiding from the outside world.
I want someone to see me.
To touch me.
The banked flames of whatever fire Pem’s lit within roars to life, until I swear smoke’s pouring out my ears.
Pem moves four of my tails to our left and the other five to our right. The touch definitely feels different than when I do it, and I swallow back a whimper.
It explodes out seconds later when he snakes a hand up to stroke one of my ears. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t expecting it, or maybe this is always how it is.
Either way, I’m lost in the tidal wave of sensation that courses through me at the exploratory contact.
My whimper transforms into something a little more feral and desperate when he switches to the other ear while simultaneously stroking one of my tails with his other hand.
The pressure throbbing between my legs grows, my hips bucking against my will. Pem leans forward, the bottom of his chin nuzzling the top of my head.
“Feel good, cariad?” An inarticulate sound tumbles past my lips, and Pem chuckles darkly. “If your plan is to unravel me—it’s working.”
Me unravel him ?
How can the man even suggest such a thing when it’s clear that even the lightest of touches sends pleasure shooting through my body?!
“Fuck, do you have any idea how sexy you are, arching into me? No, don’t freeze up. I want you unbridled and wild, just like when you skate.”
Suddenly, his strokes transform from feathery to bold. Pem’s hand leaves my ear to join the other on my tails, but his mouth replaces it.
The nibble on the outer edge of my ear jolts me upward and nearly out of his lap as I gasp. The exquisite contact sends a rush of heat to my core.
Jeojeun—the pearly slick female Gumiho produce when aroused—soaks the thin, silky fabric of my dari sokgot.
It drips onto my thighs, cool against my flesh despite my many layers and body temperature soaring from what Pem is doing to me.
A part of me registers this isn’t something I’ve experienced before. In fact, it sounds like when a Gumiho goes into heat…
Suddenly, Pem’s teeth scrape along my ear, obliterating my thoughts. My hands blindly reach for his as he runs them up and down the length of my tails.
“P-Pem!” I keen, spots forming before my eyes.
“Are you close? Feel like you’re going to explode? This is how I felt when you touched my horns.”
Gods, but it’s the more glorious torture. Before I can ponder his question, everything inside of me tightens.
I pant, trying to catch my breath as the tension within continues to coil before detonating. Pleasure ricochets throughout my entire body, and I cry out as I’m engulfed in fire.
My hands reach up, latching onto Pem’s horns. The act is purely unconscious—or perhaps instinctual is a better word.
Whatever the case, nothing’s ever felt so right in my life than holding onto the very man who’s made my body shatter into a million pieces.
Just by touching my ears and tails.
Beneath me, Pem growls, snarling something in a language I don’t understand before his hips start to buck like mine.
Vaguely, I realize he’s experiencing the same pleasure as me, and I grip his horns tighter. His teeth clamp down on my ear, and I scream in ecstasy.
A wave of pure bliss engulfs me, and my yeowoo guseul pops into my mouth. I wrap my tongue around it, clamping down on the marble.
I release Pem’s horns, and he collapses onto the snow bank. Our combined panting sends crystalized puffs into the air.
“Fuck me,” he mumbles, a sentiment I secretly whole-heartedly agree with me.
After my body calms down, my yeowoo guseul melts off my tongue, returning to its spot behind my neck.
I shift in Pem’s lap, self-conscious about the many layers of soggy material clinging to my legs. With a wrinkle of my nose, I shift into my fox form.
Pem startles at my swift transformation, frowning when I skitter a few feet away from him. I hold up a paw, silently asking for space.
The sun sits high in the sky once more, indicating that the morning has passed quicker than either of us realized, and now, I have to go.
No skating for us today.
“T-tomorrow?” I stammer, hoping Pem understands.
He stares for a moment before nodding. “Tomorrow.”
With this, I bound away, my body still trembling from the aftershocks of the pleasure the Puca coaxed from me.
I shake my vulpine head, forcing myself to focus as I run. My cousin’s team will need me to be present—not lost in the memory of what just happened.
But no matter how hard I try, the ghost of Pem’s touch glides over my tails.
Over my ears.
It lingers throughout the day and into the night. As though he’s etched himself into the fabric of my being.
And no matter what I do, nothing calms the fire he’s lit inside of me. Worse, my heart squeezes every time I think of Pem.
How am I going to survive him?