Chapter 14
brIAR
“Grab us something to drink, and I’ll be right back.” Giggling, I walk into the bathroom and put on as many layers as I have available. BuK is looking at the cards when I walk back out.
“Are you cold, Briar? I may be able to turn the heater up slightly if so.”
“No, you will see in a little bit. Now, have you ever played cards with anyone before?”
“Not like these, but we have games that are similar.”
“Okay, well I’m sure you didn’t miss the title, and because I’m not all that good at remembering the rules, this is how it’s gonna work. Technically, we should be playing this game with money or chips, but we’re playing with clothing. Whichever person loses must take off a piece of clothing.”
“Is that why you have so many layers on?”
“Yes, because my odds of winning anything are rare and never in my favor, so I needed some extra padding.”
“You know, if you wanted to get naked, all you had to do was ask.”
“I’m glad you were ready to take one for the team but this will be fun, I promise. I’ll even give you a minute to go put a few layers on if you want.”
“No, the quicker the better in my mind.”
“First, let me tell you what all these symbols on the cards mean. There are four suits: see the little hearts on the top? Then there are spades, clubs, and diamonds. The rest of these are face cards. You know what? Never mind, let’s just play a couple rounds until you get the hang of it.
We will play War first, so you can figure out what each one of these cards means.
Splitting the deck, BuK just looks at me like I’ve lost my mind, and I can’t help but laugh when he tries to hold all the cards in his hand. “No, silly, let me show you. I’m going to lay a card down, then you pick one up and lay it down beside mine and then we’ll see who has the highest.”
I lay down a two, and he lays down a queen. “See, your card is worth more than mine. You win that round.” We play through the deck, and my luck runs true as I only win three out of twenty-plus cards.
“What is the name of this game?”
“War.”
“Seems a harsh name for such a simple game.”
“Technically, you’re supposed to play it by flipping the cards super-fast, but we’re just learning.
And to be honest, I suck at most games. I always teased people not to pick me for their team, as my brain is too scattered to play effectively.
How about we make this one our own? For every three hands someone wins, the other loses a piece of clothing.
It will be war with a twist.” I laugh when BuK lays his first card down on the table, and it’s a King. “I see you’re starting off strong.”
“You have three layers on, so I will have to win every hand in order to see even a little skin.”
Before we even get through the first round, I’ve already lost both pairs of socks and one pair of pants. In comparison, BuK has lost a boot.
He smiles before shuffling the cards. “This round skin is a guarantee.”
“Awfully confident, aren’t ya?”
“You see, there is this little female I really like, and every time I get her in my arms, something interrupts us. So, this time I plan to take my time and enjoy myself.”
“Are you now? Does she not have a say in this endeavor of yours?” This confident BuK is not someone I’ve encountered before, and by the look he’s giving me, I have to fan my face because I know my cheeks are blood red.
“Play the game, Briar. After all, this was your idea.”
He wins the next three hands and then motions his hand toward my body.
I stand up and shimmy out of my pants, now standing in front of him in just my panties and a sweatshirt.
His eyes flash bright as he looks up and down my legs, and I can’t help but smile when he starts squirming as he readjusts himself.
Three more hands, and now for the hard decision: panties or the shirt, since I don’t have a bra on?
Hoping to distract him, I reach for the hem and pull it up and over my head, only to hear him let out a hiss.
When he reaches for me, I smack his fingers playfully.
“Nope, no touchy. You stay on your side and behave. This game’s not over. ”
“You expect me to simply sit here and just look at you?”
“Yup, play your cards.”
Because he’s distracted now, he’s not paying attention and just laying cards down, so the next hand goes to me. “Hah! Take that, boobs for the win in the final round!” Holding my winning hand up, I wave the cards around. “That’s your last piece of clothing, mister. I WIN!”
BuK stands up, and that’s when I realize I probably should have let him win, as he slowly unbuttons his pants.
I barely notice them falling to the floor because my eyes are locked on the monster he’s casually stroking in front of me.
It’s darker than the rest of his skin, long with a large mushroom head, but it’s the girth that really has me worried.
I crawl back away from him as he steps over the crate we were using as a makeshift table.
“BuK, honey, that thing sure is beautiful, but I don’t think it was meant for human girls. Don’t ask me how I missed it before, but there’s no way that’s going to fit inside me.”
“Briar, stop talking.” Before I can say another word because suddenly, and of course I now have plenty to say, he lifts me up, carefully setting me on the bed before laying down beside me. His fingers trace the line of my collarbone, and my skin heats beneath his touch.
When BuK kisses me, all my lingering nerves dissolve.
His mouth moves against mine with careful passion, his hands framing my face like I’m something precious.
The kiss deepens slowly, and I lose myself in the slide of our tongues.
His hands grow possessive as he roams my body, tracing patterns across my ribs and mapping the curve of my waist. He stops at my panties then growls, “If you want to keep these, you had better take them off.”
I’m almost tempted to leave them on just to see what he’s going to do, but I only have this one pair and I hate going commando.
BuK helps me slide them down my legs, only for his eyes to devour me.
“Perfect,” he whispers against my throat as he presses open-mouth kisses along my neck. “So, fracking perfect.”
BuK’s hands continue their exploration, calloused palms rough against the soft skin of my breasts. When his thumb brushes across one peaked nipple, I arch into his touch, and moan low in my throat.
“Tell me what feels good, Briar. Do not hide from me.”
It takes me a moment to realize what he’s asking me. I’m no stranger to sex, but to be asked what I want, what brings me pleasure … I can barely process that, but when his lips close around my nipple, the spike of sensation has me reaching for his horns, pulling him closer.
“That’s it.” “Yes, just like that, my love.”
His voice seems to rumble against my sensitive skin, and the sudden praise sends heat spiraling straight to my core, and I can feel my body quivering slightly.
“So responsive, so beautiful.”
BuK takes his time with my breasts, and by the time he starts kissing his way down my belly, I am trembling with need and something deeper.
I grab onto his horns when he settles between my thighs.
The sight of him there with that devastating smile and those huge shoulders pinning me in place is overwhelming.
BuK presses gentle kisses to my thighs, making his way up to my center, slowly, torturously, leaving a slick, blazing line along the way.
“Are you ready for the next round?”
“Oh, I’m more than ready for a rematch.”
The first touch of his mouth against my core nearly has me jerking away, the shock of pleasure so much it hurts. His mouth seals over my clit, his tongue flicking and swirling in a rhythm that steals any rational thought.
“Tell me how it feels.”
“Don’t you dare stop.” My spine arches, and I grip the twisted bedding under me. His hot breath blowing against me when he chuckles has my toes curling.
“Never. I could feast upon you for risings. If the Lord of Light took me right now, I would die happily between your thighs.”
That response was not what I was expecting. The sound of BuK’s voice, filled with his honesty, breaks something open in me that I’ve been holding back all my life. Years of keeping my heart guarded crumble, and I know I would fight the gods to stay by his side.
When BuK pushes one long finger inside my tight channel, that combined with the perfect pressure of his mouth and fingers, sends me spiraling toward something I’ve never experienced before. “Yes, beautiful, fall apart on my fingers.”
The dual sensations have me arching against his mouth, chasing the pleasure building in my core.
He adds a second finger, curling them both inside me, and I cry out.
When my climax crashes, it’s with an intensity that brings tears to my eyes.
My body convulses around his fingers as wave after wave of sensations roll through me.
BuK doesn’t pull away … he just gentles his touch, wringing every last ounce of sensation from me until I’m boneless and shaking beneath him.
He crawls back up my body, pressing soft kisses on my skin, his fangs running lightly up my sides.
When he reaches my face, I can taste myself on his lips, sweet, salty, and new.
His hands are all over me as his cock presses against my entrance; the head pulsing as our fluids mix, creating a wild scent and primitive feelings.
BuK grasps my hips in his hands, careful as always, when he slowly presses forward.
My body fights against him for a moment until it sucks in his large, mushroom head that stretches me with heat and fullness like I’ve never known.
The bumps and ridges along his shaft provide a friction that rockets me back toward the brink once more.
Every pump drives him deeper, until somehow, he’s fully seated.
I can feel his muscles straining above me as he holds himself still, giving me a chance to adjust to this invasion.
“You still with me down there?”
“What did you say to me earlier? Stop talking.”
We move together, our bodies slick and frantic, breaths mingling. My hands grasp his hips, pulling him even closer as he grunts, a raw and primal sound that I feel clear to my core. We come together loud and unrestrained, clinging in a promise of never letting go as he and I become one.
I can feel BuK’s body tightening up, and a roar leaves his lips until his sharp fangs find the tender part of my neck, sinking deep.
I scream out in pleasure and pain as my body climaxes hard, my channel milking him as I feel the heat of his release pulsing inside of me.
Holding him close, I feel him tug at my neck, and fire floods my veins as another climax hits, this time so hard I almost black out.
He wrenches his fangs out of my neck, and I feel the wetness of his tongue and my blood mingle as it runs down my collarbone. Reluctantly, he pulls out of me, and I curl into him, slightly raw, as my legs quiver. Every muscle in my body goes slack with the aftershocks of what just happened.
“You should come with a warning label.”
His laughter is the last thing I hear as I drift off to sleep in his arms.