Chapter Sixteen
Vee
Nate’s consent meant everything to me.
The back of his head dug into my pec for a moment, then he stretched out on my white sheets, his movements graceful for such a ripped man.
His body was a work of art. With the tiniest twists of his body, his tight muscles flexed under his skin. He stretched out long, muscular arms and spread his thick thighs.
“You said you were coming with me.”
Nate’s eyebrows arched over his soft brown eyes.
One of the few soft things about this man.
The mattress dipped under my weight when I set my knees on the bed. I crawled over him and hunger stripped all the tenderness from his gaze.
You told him to make you burn. Let’s hope you don’t scorch your feathers.
I leaned in to kiss his sternum. Nate took a shuddering breath and his dick twitched, begging for my attention.
He had to wait for a few minutes longer.
First I wanted to explore all the bumps and dips on his torso.
He giggled when I licked up his abs. My soul soaked it up like the first rain after a decade of drought.
Being with Nate made me aware of just how parched I was.
He was my oasis after I’d wandered the desert for so long.
I traced my fingers up the insides of his thighs, brushing my feathers over the hairs. It got me another giggle and a fidget of his narrow hips.
You were dying of thirst and didn’t even realise it.
He was way better than any aphrodisiac.
Gods, when had been the last time I’d been this wound up, this excited, this hard?
When I brushed his balls with my fingertips and Nate didn’t laugh or squirm, but let out a deep, throaty moan, I turned into an animal.
I settled my shoulders between his legs, pushing his thighs wide with my bulk. I gripped his cock and swallowed him down my beak, bobbing my head in a frenzy to chase his climax.
Give me everything, Frat Boy. Now.
“Oh my God, Vee,” he whined. His hands tangled in the sheets, and he dug his head into the mattress, arching off the bed. I picked up the pace, trying not to hurt him with my beak, but fuck, I needed him to come, and he was close. His quivering thighs bracketed my shoulders.
So close.
One strong suck and he spilled in my mouth. As long as I lived, I’d never forget the way Nate moaned my name as his taste coated my tongue. I savoured every drop of him. It’s all mine.
I splayed my hand across his heart to ground him.
“Breathe for me, Frat Boy. That’s it,” I praised when he inhaled a shaky lungful of air.
“Holy shit.” Nate’s hand trembled as he cupped my face and made me meet his eyes.
I gasped when my heart squeezed in my chest like he’d reached inside my ribcage.
He licked his dry lips and chuckled. “I know, baby. I felt it, too.”
I laid down next to Nate, pulled him into a hug, and went in for a kiss. Then, I rested my chin on his head.
“I can’t get enough of the sounds you make.” I sighed. “I really mean it,” I insisted when he huffed into my neck. “Was that what you had in mind?”
Nate hummed, burying his face even deeper in my feathers.
“Oh yeah, Pecs. That’s exactly what I had in my head.”
Pecs? Gods, he’s cute.
“Well, one of the things,” he hedged.
“What else, Frat Boy?” I had to ask, and he gasped again when I slid my hand down his spine.
Nate’s hard chest arched against mine. “Vee, I want you. I don’t know how to handle the logistics, but I hope you know your way around an ass.
” Soft lips started planting kisses on my chest. “If not, we’ll figure it out together. ”
“You’ve never been with a man before?” I asked quietly, not really knowing what to think.
I never saw a lack of experience as a negative thing.
Damn it, I didn’t have much either. The older I got, the more I enjoyed being alone.
And it hadn’t been easy to let anyone close since losing Linden.
What I had didn’t scream ‘thrilling sex life’.
“Well, I messed around with a few guys in college.”
Anger at those faceless boys flared up inside me.
They touched what’s mine!
Nate gasped like a fish on dry land.
“Holy shit, Vee. What the hell was that?”
“What do you mean?” I asked. He couldn’t feel that aversion so strong it made me sick to my stomach, could he?
“I don’t know, it was just this…” Nate rubbed a hand over his sternum. “This rush of sickness in here.”
I pulled back and cupped his face in my hands to give him a once-over.
“Shit, do you think we caught something in the forest? Like a virus or anything?” The sparrow eyes danced between mine, gauging my feelings.
“There aren’t a lot of viruses I can get.” I stroked his high cheekbones with my thumbs. “And you seemed fine to me all morning.”
The way he dug his teeth into his bottom lip was so unfair that I burst out laughing.
“What?” Nate squinted at me, barely able to contain his smile.
Gods.
My heartbeat sped up when he looked at me like that.
“I’m trying to decide if you deserved a single minor or misconduct for your unsportsmanlike behaviour, Decks. This”—I rubbed my thumb over the spot he’d bitten—“has to be against the rules.”
The grin widened under my touch.
“Is it high sticking when it feels this fucking good, though?” He winked and flicked his tongue over my finger. His mouth entranced me, and it took me a moment to understand what he was saying.
High sticking was hitting another player in the head with one’s hockey stick.
We both cracked up.
Damn. When was the last time you laughed with someone at a dirty hockey joke?
That raw place inside my chest knew when it was, but for the first time in a decade I decided not to lean into that grief.
“Remind me, what’s the punishment for butt-ending, Frat boy?” I mumbled against his wet lips.
He shivered against me.
“I have no idea,” he lied. “I’m a shitty referee.”
“Are you still feeling sick?”
Nate shook his head, eyes heavily hooded. “No, do you?” His body pressed closer to mine.
“No.”
We both hesitated for another fraction of a second, then our lips met in a fiery kiss.