Simon (Promised Mates of Monktona Wood #3)

13. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Lucy

“Did you touch me?” I hissed. “Did you touch me in… places?” Heat flooded my face, making my cheeks burn.

Simon’s face fell.

“Plaaces?”

Did I really want to know? Part of me did, but the other didn’t. Just because it would ruin how great that orgasm really was. My body was all for this; my mind wasn’t. I couldn’t entertain the idea that he’d touched me, otherwise, it would ruin what enjoyment I had.

Truthfully, I woke up with my hands between my thighs, knuckles deep inside of me. He wasn’t there.

He didn’t touch me there. It was a dream.

The scenting, though?

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “How do you scent-mark me, Simon?”

Simon shuffled from hoof to hoof. “Lucy touch?” He extended his hand, palm up, fingers slightly splayed.

This Consent King was going to take me out. I could feel myself getting hot in places I shouldn’t.

Hoe Lucy needs to get a grip.

I nodded, and his fingers closed around my wrist, his touch surprisingly gentle as he guided my hand to the side of his neck. “It is strong there. Not covered with yellowcress root.”

I swallowed and pulled my hand away. That was how he stayed hidden, and no one could smell him very well.

Simon had watched me sleep and scented me. He didn’t touch me other than that, I concluded. He didn’t know better. I couldn’t have faulted him for any of that if he thought I was his mate, either.

That was just how things worked around here.

A brilliant burst of light danced across the vast expanse of the sky, illuminating the gray clouds that floated by. The crashing of thunder echoed in my ears, and I saw the downpour of rain in the distance. The dark, foreboding clouds loomed closer, casting an ominous shadow over the wood.

In one swoop, Simon scooped me up into his arms and trotted over to the side of the cliff where the thin path awaited. I buried my face in his chest, not daring to move so we wouldn’t plummet to our death. In seconds, it was over, and he’d placed me back on the rockier terrain.

“B-big storm. Get inside.”

Over the next several hours, Simon climbed up and down the cliff. The storm was settling in, and he said he was retrieving food and water. I didn’t dare go outside. I only had one set of clothes, and sitting in a cave, soaking wet was not on the agenda.

Especially when, technically, one of us was already naked. We didn’t need both of us running around with exposed privates. What if his body betrayed him; heck, what if mine betrayed me?

Why couldn’t he just put the skirt on?

This whole “can’t leave the cave, one bed, big storm, close proximity” trope was really working for him. My body was a tight wire, ready to snap.

Simon approached me while I sat on his bed, and he held out a plate full of grapes, cheese, and a roll of bread. Where was he getting this food? He obviously can’t make cheese. Where were the cows?

My eyes blinked several times. He doesn’t make milk, does he? I was not eating goat cheese he’d made himself, was I?

He’s male, Lucy, what the heck?

“Where did you get the cheese?” I blurted, as he poured more water into a basin at the far end of the cave. Simon’s ears perked up as the deafening thunder outside reverberated through the musty cave, causing the ground to shake beneath our feet.

I winced, and Simon came closer to me, sitting on the bed.

He was so close to me again, but instead of feeling offended, knowing that he wanted my body, I wasn’t. I felt comfortable with him sitting there while the storm raged outside. The power of the storm was strong. You could hear the howl of the wind and the snapping of trees.

The tents were made to withstand a storm of this magnitude. Magic, or something or other, to keep them from being broken, but I was still glad I was in a cave. The fire was roaring, and for being a cave, it was cozy.

“Friend gave me food. I kept her until she found her mate.”

I raised a brow. A she? So, he has spent time with other women?

Wow, way to be jealous.

“Friend? And did this friend not teach you boundaries?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “She didn’t tell you not to touch or steal people?”

Simon tilted his head. “Her mate did that to her.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose.

Of course he did. That was what this realm was all about.

Besides, you thought it was hot, anyway .

“But did you not talk to her?” How could he not talk to his friend, who was giving him all this food?

Simon shook his head, a frustrated sigh escaping his lips. “I didn’t talk. Not the same now. I not her friend anymore.” He lowered his head and stared at his hands.

I knew that having a mate could make males and females more possessive and territorial, but did you have to drop all your friends once you are mated? That seemed absurd, and it made me angry for him. Simon didn’t have anyone, and now he was alone in this cave and had to kidnap someone to make a friend.

“If you were both friends, then you should remain friends,” I argued. “Why would she not want to talk to you once she got a mate? That’s just mean and cruel! Maybe she was never really your friend if she went off with some male.”

Simon darted his head toward me. “No, she wants to be friends. Her m-male—”

“Is a possessive asshole? Not being able to see your friend because you have a mate is ridiculous, Simon. If you want, I can go talk to the jerk so you can have a friend.”

A woman that you never talked to. She could be beautiful, lovely, and Simon used to spend all his time with her.

But…I did feel pretty smug that Simon only talked to me.

Simon’s lip curled into a smile. “Lucy upset if I talked to her?”

I paused. Wait a minute. Would I be upset?

Simon admitted I was the only person he’d tried to talk to. Would I be jealous if he went and talked to his friend? I shouldn’t be jealous. I wasn’t his mate.

Yes, I would be jealous . Should I admit that?

I scratched the back of my neck. “We aren’t mates—”

Simon's growl was a low, guttural sound, like the rumble of distant thunder.

“I think you should be able to have friends of the opposite sex. You must have had a friendly bond if you protected her.”

“We protected each other.” His shoulders fell limp. “She does not need me.”

I scoffed. “Did she tell you this? Or did you think this all on your own?”

Simon twisted his mouth to the side, his furrowed brows creating deep creases on his forehead. I watched intently as his moist, pink tongue slipped from his lips and delicately licked the side of his mouth.

“And you really never spoke before me?”

Simon shook his head. He looked at me like I was something precious. Sure, my father gave me love and attention, and he was proud of me for getting this far in life, but no man had ever looked at me the way Simon did.

As Simon’s piercing gold eyes locked with mine, I felt a rush of excitement cascade through my body. It was as if time stood still, and all I could hear was the thumping of my heart echoing in my ears.

Simon didn’t just look at my body, he looked at me. When I rambled, when I questioned everything he did, he just listened. My body had come alive in his gaze. It was a gaze that spoke volumes, conveying admiration, desire, and a profound connection that left me breathless.

He was the only one I ever had sexual feelings for.

In that moment, I realized that no one before had ever truly seen me the way Simon did. His gaze was like a gentle caress, unraveling the layers of my soul and making me feel truly seen and cherished. Even if his courting style was… different.

I stood up from the bed, breaking the connection that became far too deep and too fast.

Simon was a puzzle. A puzzle I was going to figure out. Why he never spoke before me and who this female was. I needed to know it all.

Simon’s shoulders slump in disappointment. He stood up from the spot on the bed and went to the pile of hay on the opposite side of the cave. The storm raged outside, the thunder shaking the cave below our feet.

“Sleep, Lucy.” He curled up in the hay and closed his eyes.

I wanted to say he could sleep in the bed next to me, but his tiny snores could already be heard.

The confusion within my body, the fight with my mind and my heart were becoming too much to bear.

“Why do you fight it?”

The voice echoed in my head when I felt the heat of something warm on my chest. I reached up to feel what could cause the strange sensation until I felt those all too familiar curls.

As his tongue delicately traced intricate patterns around my breast, I gasped, overcome by the intense heat of his breath caressing the curves of my chest.

“Oh, wrong. This is wrong,” I whispered.

It didn’t feel wrong. How could something that felt so good be wrong?

Another hand crept up my side, grasping the other breast. I wanted to push it down between my legs, but the claws were all I could think about.

What if he scratched me? Just enough to let me feel the power of his hands?

I let out a moan, my legs widening for him to settle himself between them. I felt the heat of his stomach pressing against my core. My hips rolled, trying to gain the unfamiliar friction I needed.

Yes, I needed it. The dream that I was in, I needed it.

A barely audible "Please," escaped my lips. “Please, touch me.”

His tongue flicked against my nipple. I opened my eyes and gasped when I saw those golden eyes stare back at me, hungrily.

“Lucy, touch.” No question, a statement. His tongue snaked out between his lips and licked my nipple. He opened his mouth to engulf it all, sucking the entire breast into his mouth.

My pussy fluttered around nothing. I wanted something there—his tongue, maybe his dick.

Ugh, why hadn’t I felt this before? Sex was going to be far better than I ever imagined it to be. All those years of ignoring and not being bothered with it, then Simon had lit the candle on fire, and I was going to become a sex addict.

Simon let go of my breast, his mouth trailing up my chest to my neck. He nuzzled against me, and my arms wrapped around him to hold him there.

It wasn’t just the physical part that felt so good, but the care he was putting into my body. He touched me gently, then grabbed me harshly when I moaned for more. He was playing me like a fine fiddle. Simon knew exactly where I wanted it—even when I didn’t know myself.

“My Lucy.” His breath hitched when his mouth came to my shoulder. He peppered kisses, licks, and bites along my body.

“Please!” It was a cry of desperation. “Simon, touch me.”

He didn’t laugh to mock me or make me feel bad, instead, his head traveled lower. His licks became swirls of delight when he reached my navel and finally between my legs.

He pushed my legs open wide, and knowing this was a dream, I didn’t even care. “Please lick me down there.”

My boldness shocked me, but in this dream, I could do what I wanted, right? I mean, I didn’t go to bed naked.

This was a dream.

He took in a long draw of my scent, and his nose moved back and forth, inhaling my arousal deep into his lungs. I could feel the warmth of his breath on my most intimate part as he prepared to take me in.

And with that promise, he parted my lips with his fingers, revealing the secret depths of me. He lowered his head, and I felt the gentle pressure of his mouth against me. The sensation was electric and had me relaxing into his mouth.

His tongue made slow, deliberate strokes, tasting every inch. He was thorough and precise, exploring every hidden crevice. As he went deeper, I felt an intense heat building within me, a desire so strong it was almost painful.

His hands cupped my hips, drawing me closer to his face. “Mmm,” he hummed, his claws sinking into me.

I arched my back, pushing myself ever closer. My breath came in short pants as he sunk his long tongue deep inside me.

I whined, “Please, suck. Suck on it, please.”

A guttural growl tore from his throat, his body stiffening and contorting into a tense, animalistic form. Snarling, he sucked in a breath and then began kneading my hips with a determined touch.

I cried out, feeling my orgasm hit me. It was impossibly stronger than two nights ago. This was euphoric and earth-shattering. I thought I had gone to the heavens and now was crashing back down to the soil.

I wanted more; I wanted to feel his—

“Lucy okay?” his voice came from a distance, but he was right there. “Lucy, are you okay?”

A warm hand wrapped around my arm, and I jolted, leaving this dream-like state behind and waking up in a dark cave. A lantern shone on the table, and Simon’s face was only half-lit.

His face was wild, his eyes dark, and he was breathing incredibly hard as if he had run a mile. Simon hovered over me and lifted his hand from my arm. “Lucy, touch?” he questioned, and all I did was stare back at him.

I could feel his erection on the side of my hip. It was hot, and when I stared down, it was leaking precum, which glistened with the lantern’s light.

My heart was in my throat, but the haze of the orgasm I just had in my dream was making me bold. I was still horny, and Simon was hovering over me like he was going to eat me.

I lifted my hands from my dress, the fabric clinging slightly to my thighs, which I had hiked up beneath the covers. My fingers were wet—no, soaked—and I realized he wasn’t the one touching me in my dream; it was just me.

I stared into his wild eyes and traced his erection with my wet fingers, feeling the heat radiating from it. My voice, rough and husky from disuse, barely sounded out the words, “Simon, touch.”

He seemed to hold his breath, while his eyes locked on mine as if searching for permission. Finally, he nodded slightly, his breath hitching. One hand gripped my hip, and the other pushed the dress away.

His lip turned into a snarl as he gently used his claws to pull down my white cotton underwear.

“My mate smells pretty.”