Chapter 15
Fifteen
Avalon
“ M y poor, sweet hero. Do you want some more steak?”
Quarry squawked pitifully, opening his little mouth like he was a baby bird, and I popped some of the meat into his beak. He had a wooden box filled with the softest fabrics the healers would let me have, and was positioned in a prime spot in front of the fire in my dorm room. My stolt Epsy was curled around him, looking at him lovingly.
Lucio had left his war cat with me, just in case someone else got murderous thoughts toward me before Hayle returned. Honestly, I thought Eugene might have been an anomaly. With both Hayle and Vox away for the time being, the buzz around me had died off.
Well, until Eugene had tried to chop my head off, and then it picked back up again.
“I swear, I just wanted to get through these two years without drama. What the heck happened?” I said to Leviat, the war cat, who looked at me like I was stupid. I didn’t know how she managed to convey her thoughts so clearly, but I knew she was here begrudgingly, that she thought I was as useless as a cub, and she only remained in case there was a chance to eat someone.
Epsy had remained by Quarry’s side, perhaps a little because the war cat still looked at him like she wanted to eat him. Lucio had promised me she wouldn’t, but there was some serious longing in the predator’s eyes.
Suddenly, the war cat was on her feet, ears pricked as she looked at the door to the dorm. I stood too, palming the knife I’d been using to cut up Quarry’s food. The bird seemed unperturbed, but maybe he was just full and sleepy?
Blink. The door to my dorm slammed open, and Hayle was there, his hounds on his heels.
Blink. He was in front of me, picking me up in his arms and holding me in a hug so tight, I couldn’t take a deep breath in.
“Hayle!” He nuzzled his face into my neck, inhaling me into his lungs. Well, at least one of us could inhale. “You're suffocating me.”
He finally loosened his arms and dropped me to my feet, but didn’t release me entirely. He looked down at my face, and when he saw the slight cut on my throat, his eyes turned murderous. “I’m going to destroy him.”
He spun, but I grabbed his hands just in time to halt him. “Hayle, stop. It’s fine. Calm down.”
“Calm down? Calm down?!” He was definitely losing it. “Eugene almost killed you.”
I dragged him to the couch, my free hand dropping down to reassure the hounds that were snuffling at my palm. I scratched their coarse fur, and they licked my fingers. They were filthy, with a twig even caught in Braxus’s coat. “You guys look rough.”
Leviat licked her paw, like even being in the room with the hounds was making her dirty, and then slunk out of the room, her need to watch over me done now that Hayle and the hounds were back. “Thank you, Leviat!” I called after her, and she swished her tail in my direction.
Hayle watched the cat go. “Lucio has a lot of explaining to do. How he let anyone get close enough to—” He cut off, like the idea of me getting injured actually physically hurt him too. He sat down on the couch, but pulled me onto his lap. I hadn’t realized we’d progressed this far in our friendship, but it was obvious that Hayle needed this, and there were worse places to be than snuggled into the chest of a very hot man.
I held his neck as he stroked his cheek against mine, marking me in an animalistic display of possession. “It wasn’t Lucio’s fault. Who could have predicted Eugene becoming a fucking lunatic? Besides, Quarry was there to protect me.”
The raven cooed happily, drawing Hayle’s attention. He was silent for a time, and I wondered if perhaps they were conversing. Finally, he drew his eyes back to mine. “I owe Quarry a life debt.”
Braxus huffed and laid down at my feet, his head knocking against my ankles. Alucius laid by the door, rolling onto her back, sticking all four feet in the air and falling asleep immediately.
Hayle chuckled low in his chest. “They’re exhausted. We ran.”
I gaped at him. “From Hamor?” He nodded, and I blinked at him. “Why? Lucio said you wouldn’t be back until the weekend.”
Instead of answering my question, he kissed me. No, it wasn’t a kiss. That seemed too mild for the way his lips devoured me, his tongue pushing into my mouth, stroking mine like he was tongue fucking me, like he couldn’t get enough of the taste of my lips. I kissed him back, because holy shit, and his hands slid to my hips, pulling me tight against his body and the hard ridge of his cock.
“You’re mine, Avalon Halhed. Mine to protect.” He squeezed my hips. “Mine to kiss. Mine to pleasure.”
Uh, yes please. I slipped my legs either side of his thighs, and then his cock was there, rubbing on the rough fabric of my conscript uniform, barely anything between us. We let our bodies speak for us as he ground up into my core, making me moan.
He dragged his mouth from mine, panting hard. “Avalon, please,” he begged.
He wanted to fuck. I had enough clarity of mind to know that. And I also knew that I wanted him to do it. I wanted him to be my first. The connection between us was almost undeniable as his fingers stroked fire over my skin.
When he shifted my shirt upward, feeling the lack of breast bindings, he groaned like he was in physical pain. “Let me taste these glorious tits.”
In answer, I dragged my shirt over my head and threw it across the room. Hayle stared at my breasts like he was moonstruck, his eyes glued to them like they were a target. Then he stood, still holding me to his chest as he walked me into my room, shutting the door with his foot.
“Don’t need a four-legged audience for what I want to do to you,” he rumbled, then took my nipple in his mouth, sucking hard.
Holy shit.
I arched toward him, my fingers threading through his hair, holding him tightly to my chest. Given the moans that were vibrating my nipple, I didn’t think he was going anywhere, but just in case. He pulled off and moved to the other nipple, not before breathing, “Gorgeous,” at my boobs like they were artwork.
As he sucked, he laid me on the bed, his fingers on the buttons of my pants. He stilled, his eyes begging for permission. Was this it? The moment I lost my virginity? Was Hayle the right person?
There was no doubt in my mind that the answer was yes. Absolutely yes. “Fuck me, Hayle. Make me feel good.”
He let out a pained groan and dropped to his knees. He dragged my pants off roughly, grunting with annoyance as they got caught on my feet. “I can’t wait to taste you, Avalon. I can’t wait to commit the flavor of you to memory. I can already smell that you’ll be the sweetest thing I’ll ever taste on my tongue.” He tore my underwear off, and I squeaked a protest. He looked up at me completely unapologetically, any words of chastisement halting on my tongue as he sucked my clit into his mouth.
Oh Goddess. “Hayle!” I shouted, and his happy hum almost shot me into the stratosphere.
“Fuck, I love the way you shout my name. Do it again.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “Make me.”
“Didn’t you ever learn not to challenge a member of the Third Line? We are extremely competitive. Hold on, Avalon Halhed, because I’m about to make you scream until your throat hurts and your body is mine.”
His firm tongue slid up and down my slit, before he began thrusting it inside me. Holy shit. I gripped his hair tightly, and he moaned, doubling down his efforts. He licked and sucked and scraped his teeth along every part of my sensitive core. Before I could even contemplate what was happening, what that feeling building in my belly was, I was coming in an avalanche of pleasure, the sensation flooding through my veins like I was dying. I slammed my thighs around his head, stopping his movements, because any more and I was going to eviscerated completely. I would be an Avalon stain on the bed.
Despite the power of my thighs, Hayle managed a gentle nudge of his nose through my folds, like he wanted to collect as much of my release on his face as he could. He was making soft groaning noises, and as I came back down, I knew I wanted him right now. I wanted him to fuck me. I wanted him inside me.
“Hayle…” I begged.
“What, baby? What do you need? Tell me,” he crooned, and my vagina wept tears of joy.
I tugged on his hair, making him climb my body. “I want you to be naked and inside me in ten seconds, Hayle Taeme, or so help me…”
He grinned down at me. “So help me what?”
“I’ll go join the orgy in the Twelfth dorm.”
Mirth slipped from Hayle’s face, and he growled, his eyes intense. “Never, baby. After this, when I take you, you’ll be mine and mine alone forever, do you understand? I’ll fuck you so good, you won’t even look at another man. I’ll make love to you so thoroughly, you’ll see only me. I’ll protect you so well, you’ll never have to be scared again. I swear it.”
This seemed intense, but something deep in my chest cried tears of relief. Like it had been waiting for this moment, for this man. So I found myself nodding, and he breathed a sigh of relief. It only took him four seconds to get naked and line his cock up at my entrance.
But then he paused. “This means something to me, Avalon. You understand, right?”
I was so dick-dazed, I would have agreed to anything to have him inside me at that moment. My soul knew, though. “It means something to me too.”
Relief washed over his face as he pushed inside me, and my eyes watered at the sting of his intrusion. Hayle threw his head back, his jaw tense. “So tight, baby. You feel like bliss on my cock. It’s taking everything in me not to slam myself deep inside you right now.”
I let out a choked noise. “Considering I’ve never done this before, we should probably leave the slamming until the second round.”
His eyes went comically wide. “You’re a virgin?” My cheeks pinkened with embarrassment as I nodded, but his lips were quickly on my cheekbones, kissing away the heat. “ Fuck. You don’t know how wild that makes me. How honored…” He choked on the words, dropping his forehead to mine. “I’ll make this so good that you won’t ever regret giving me this gift. Lie back and be my pillow princess, because I’m going to ruin even the thought of other men for you now. Only my hands will ever touch this body; only my cock will find its home in this pussy. Fuck… I’m going to blow just at the thought.”
He sucked in a few deep breaths, and then resumed his movements, more tentative now. He rocked into me, making me see stars as he slowly got deeper and deeper inside me. So deep, I was sure I could feel him in my stomach.
“Hayle…” I breathed. “ More. Fuck me harder.”
“Anything you want is yours, Avalon, my Avalon.”
Be careful what you wish for, because he fucked me like an animal. He pounded into me as he sucked my nipples, his body curled like a contortionist so he could touch and taste me everywhere.
I loved it.
“Come for me, baby. Goddess, I need to feel you clench around me. I need you so badly.” The authority in his voice was like a blanket over my body, and I was helpless to resist. My limbs seized with pleasure, my muscles contracting and my breath stilling in my lungs as wave after wave of my orgasm rocked me.
I feared that Hayle was right. He had ruined me for any other man ever.