Chapter 42 Boundaries
BOUNDARIES
RAE
No one would know it to look at him, but Ash was a gentle giant who cared for and respected those around him. Despite our earlier intimacy, he still asked.
“You don’t have to ask,” I whispered, trailing my fingertips over his temple, down his cheek, and through his beard.
His eyelids lowered.
I arched my back when his warm hands glided up my waist, working my shirt up and over my head.
His long hair and braids tickled my skin as he lowered his head, laying hungry kisses over my breasts before pulling my nipple into his mouth. He flicked his tongue, creating a tight suction, and I cradled the back of his head, holding him where I wanted him.
I arched my neck, moaning when his fingers brushed my clit through my panties and tights. I’d been so focused on his mouth that I hadn’t noticed his wandering hand. Wanting more, I lifted my hips, encouraging him to remove the fabric standing in his way.
After he discarded my panties and tights, he rose to his knees. My breath stuttered when I caught the hunger in his eyes.
I reached for him, and his rum and cinnamon scent filled my senses as he bent to capture my lips, pausing only long enough for me to pull his shirt off so I could feel his skin against mine.
His lips skimmed my jaw as he worked my skirt up around my waist.
“I don’t want to wait.” He made quick work of the button and zipper, stripping off his jeans. “I need to be inside of you.” His lips met mine again, like he couldn’t get enough.
I understood the feeling. I wanted to kiss him all night, even if nothing more came of it. His kisses were intoxicating, leaving me breathless and aching. The weight of his cock against my thigh sent my heart racing in anticipation.
“Ash,” I panted against his lips when he slid the underside of his shaft over my sensitive slit.
“I’ve got you, beautiful blackbird.”
Something in his tone told me he meant something more, but I didn’t want to unpack that right now. Confusion lingered at the edges of my thoughts, but I refused to entertain it.
He rose above me, and I trailed my fingers over the soft hair on his broad chest and tight abs. He groaned and closed his eyes, savoring the touch, then shifted into position.
I moaned, head falling back when he pressed forward, stretching me open with the head of his cock.
I knew we should use a condom—that going bare was irresponsible—but I didn’t have any, and I didn’t want to stop. Could Shyrlivi carry STDs? Could they get humans pregnant?
When Ash slid fully inside me and let out a deep groan, my worries melted away as the pleasure of him filling me took over.
He brushed his lips against the inside of my knee while lifting my leg to hook over his arm, tilting my hips until he found that magical spot inside me that made my eyes roll back.
“I love how well you take me.” He scraped his teeth over the skin of my leg as he withdrew, then rolled his hips and slid home again. “Made for me.”
I reached above my head, grasping for something to hold as he increased his pace, driving me up the bed. “Feels good,” I said, my breath coming faster.
I couldn’t form words to tell him how I felt with the onslaught of emotions washing over me. Euphoria, pleasure, and… something else. Something bitter enough to drag me out of the haze of lust I’d fallen under.
That’s when I smelled the woody, spicy scent of mahogany, black teakwood, and lavender. Ezra.
“What was that?” Ash bent forward, bracing a hand beside me.
I hadn’t realized I’d said Ezra’s name out loud. “Nothing.” I turned my head as Ash lowered to kiss my neck and shoulder, sucking in a sharp breath at what I saw.
Standing just inside the room, Ezra watched us with hooded eyes.
“Fuck,” Ash grunted. “Keep squeezing me like that and I won’t last.”
Ezra’s fists clenched at his side when Ash revealed I’d responded to his presence.
I thought he’d leave after walking in on us, but he didn’t.
He stood there—eyes locked on mine. The clinical detachment and cold, soul-assessing gaze he often displayed had vanished.
In his ice-blue eyes, I saw the silent hunger our sex ignited, but I wasn’t foolish enough to think it meant anything deeper.
I cried out, throwing my head back when Ash shifted and put my legs over his shoulders, driving into me hard enough to make me see stars. He wasn’t rough—his cock was just that big.
“Too much?”
“No.” I groaned low and long when he rolled his hips. “Doesn’t hurt.”
“See?” He looked down at me, grinning. My heart tightened at the joy on his face. “Made for me.”
My gaze slid to the door again, and Ash followed suit.
He stilled inside me, chest heaving. His worried eyes met mine as he lowered my legs to the bed. “Should I make him leave?”
“What?” My voice sounded a little frantic. I expected Ash to curse Ezra out and make him leave, but he seemed unsure whether Ezra should stay.
Ash bent, kissing across my breasts and swirling his tongue around my nipple. “Look at him,” he murmured, breath hot against my damp skin.
When I caught Ezra’s stare again, my insides clenched around Ash’s cock.
Ash’s deep chuckle made me shiver. “You want him to watch?” He pulled my nipple and piercing into his mouth, drawing a moan from me before releasing it with a loud pop.
“Or leave?” He braced himself on one hand, looking down at me, tracing his fingers over the valley between my breasts.
“Your body says yes, but I need to know you’re okay. ”
My head rolled to the side, meeting Ezra’s stare.
His nostrils flared, and I whimpered, certain he was breathing in my scent.
Wrapping my legs around Ash’s hips, I pressed my heels into his backside, urging him to move. I wasn’t sure I could say the words, but I wanted Ezra to watch—wanted him to see Ash take me apart.
I wasn’t an exhibitionist, but seeing something other than Ezra’s cold detachment made me want more. He always looked so controlled, yet with the tables turned, I held the power.
Ash lowered until his cheek brushed mine to whisper, “He wants you too.”
I whined, unable to stop the sound from escaping. I’d never whined before. “How are you okay with this?”
His lips brushed my ear. “Because if you belong to us both, I have no right to keep you from him.” His hand ran along my side to grip my hip, and he gave a languid thrust that made me tremble.
“I feel better knowing it’s my brother and not a stranger.
Now, do you want him to watch or not? Because I’m at my limit. ”
“I want him to stay,” I mumbled low enough for Ash to hear.
Ash rose to his knees and withdrew, leaving me empty and clenching around nothing. He grinned at my confused expression, running his hands down my inner thighs before spreading my legs. “If he’s staying, might as well give him a show.”
My cheeks flamed when Ash sat on his heels, exposing my naked body for Ezra’s eyes. I hadn’t expected him to do that. I expected him to finish while shielding me with his body.
Instinctively, I brought my knees together.
“Stop,” Ezra commanded, tone hard and unyielding, making my breath hitch. His voice lowered, gruff and dripping with raw power. “Show me.”
“Better let him see, beautiful.” Ash caressed my knee, urging me to spread my legs again. “He doesn’t like it when people disobey his orders.”
Heat flushed my face, but I didn’t tell him no.
How had things turned out this way?
Ash rumbled his approval when my legs fell open. “Gorgeous.” His lips trailed down my inner thigh until his breath fanned over my aching center. “If you change your mind,” he said, meeting my eyes. “All you have to do is say so.”
I moaned when his thumbs brushed over my slit, spreading me before he dragged his tongue from my entrance to my clit. My back arched when his mouth closed around it, sucking and flicking his tongue the way he had with my nipple earlier.
Ash might have agreed to put on a show for Ezra, but he handled me the same as before. His large, warm hands trailed over me in a loving caress, and he whispered sweet words against my skin when he wasn’t drawing me to the brink with every swipe of his tongue.
My nails raked over the bed when he slid two thick fingers inside me.
“That’s it,” he said when I began rocking my hips against his thrusts. “Ride my hand.”
My head thrashed from side to side when he curled his fingers and began sucking my clit in earnest. I knew it wouldn’t take much more to break me. Feeling the weight of Ezra’s stare, I opened my eyes.
His black sclera contrasted his pale blue irises as he watched Ash between my legs. I feared he’d break his teeth with how hard his jaw clenched. I couldn’t tell if he was angry or hungry. He hadn’t transformed, but his eyes made it clear his control was slipping.
As if aware of my gaze, his head snapped up. His eyes met mine with such force that I couldn’t stop the orgasm that tore through me, nor the low scream that followed.
I sat up, clutching Ash’s head as he continued feasting on me while I jerked and shuddered above him.
Ash kissed my clit before withdrawing his fingers and rising to his knees.
I collapsed onto the pillow panting, my hands over my face.
“Looks like that was too much for him.”
I dropped my hands to find Ezra gone. “It was almost too much for me,” I said with a breathless laugh.
Never in my life did I think I’d have a sexual encounter with more than one man—even if only one of them watched.
Ash wiped his mouth before he crawled over me, stealing a kiss. “You did great,” he whispered. “But now I have you all to myself.”
My nails dug into his arm as he entered me again. I couldn’t help but squirm as his pelvis rubbed my oversensitive clit as he pressed and ground against me.
His skin glistened with sweat, and his long hair stuck to his sculpted chest as his thrusts grew more urgent. He bent, wrapped an arm around me, and pulled me against him, burying his face in the crook of my neck as he grunted and groaned with every thrust.
I wrapped my arms around his back, holding onto his broad shoulders as he cradled my head with his other hand.
As we clung to each other, his skin against mine ignited a rush of emotions that warred with my own. Sensing his happiness, and what felt like love—though I doubted it so soon—sparked a smaller orgasm that made me tremble in his arms.
He stilled, clutching me tighter. “Rae,” he rasped before groaning as warmth filled me.
Exhaustion hit me, and my hands dropped from his shoulders to the bed.
His body cloaked mine like a warm blanket, his arms tight around me, giving the care I so desperately wanted.
After a quiet moment, broken only by the sounds of our heavy breathing as we savored the high of our mutual release, he lifted his head to look down at me. “Fuck. I…” He squeezed his eyes shut and withdrew, sitting back on his heels. “I didn’t intend to do that.”
I opened my eyes and looked at him.
His eyes were wide as he stared at my vagina like it had teeth. It took me a few moments to realize why.
My gaze drifted to his glistening bare cock, and then I remembered the warmth. He’d come inside me this time.
“Shit.” I propped myself on my elbow. “I’m not on birth control.” I rubbed my face. “I don’t have any STDs… I haven’t been with anyone in a long time.” Dropping my hand, I leveled him with a look. “Do Shyrlivi even have STDs like humans?”
His brows bunched. “No, not the same way, but even so, I… I haven’t slept with anyone in a while. I don’t have anything.”
“Then it should be fine, right? You can’t get a human pregnant… right?” When he said nothing and kept staring at my vagina like it’d bite him, I brought my knees together. “Can you?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so, but…”
Okay. It seemed he’d lost a few brain cells with his cum.
“Ash,” I said, drawing his attention away from below my waist. “You don’t think so? It’s really important for you to think right now.”
He pushed his damp hair back from his face and dropped his hands to his thighs. “I’ve never heard of anything like that happening, but I’ve never heard of a human capable of being a Shyrlivi’s mate either.” His olive eyes met mine. “At this point, anything’s possible.”
“Fuck me sideways with a spork,” I muttered.
He laughed. “What?”
“Nothing.” I waved a hand, too tired to explain. “I’ll go to the pharmacy tomorrow for the morning-after pill.”
“The what?”
“Emergency contraceptive,” I said. “Can you get me a towel? I don’t wanna ruin my comforter when I sit up.”
He disappeared into the bathroom, and I rubbed my face with both hands. Shane’s revelation already had me reeling. The last thing I needed was a potential pregnancy on top of everything else.
What would a baby between a human and a Shyrlivi even look like?