Chapter 19 Lemon
Lemon
We talk about the train while we peruse the books.
It’s clear Furyon’s looking for something related to work, but it doesn’t bother me.
I can’t blame him. I read through the book I picked, looking for any mention of side effects like what we’ve seen.
We come up short though, and when the pager lets us know dinner’s ready, we’re eager enough to leave the research behind.
Dinner’s incredible, and the company’s even better. Furyon regales me with tales of when he first arrived in PG and how some folks welcomed him, and some folks held him at arm’s length. He’s got funny stories from that time, but he seems to fit in just fine now.
He grins at me as the pixie waitress removes our empty plates. “Dessert, Lemon?”
I smile. “I did see a lemon cheesecake on the menu, and I’m partial to that flavor, if I’m honest.”
He lifts a black flag on the edge of the table to let the waitress know we’re ready to order. She shows up immediately, taking our order with friendly efficiency.
When the cheesecake arrives, we split it, and Furyon insists on feeding me every bite from his fork.
Outside the train, Pine Gulch flies past. We crawl up into the mountains again and through dense trees, Furyon pointing out ash and pine and aspen.
Apparently, Aspens are the largest living entity on earth both in and out of the human world. Every Aspen is connected together.
It’s such a nerdy fact, and I love how excited he is to share it with me.
I grumble on the last bite of cheesecake, tickling his side. “If Merit and Bryony find us, we’ll be splashed all over The Gulch Gossip again.”
Furyon shoots me that crooked smile. “And I find that I don’t care, Miss Knox. I’m happy to be splashed all over the front page if it means you and I are together.”
We’re dancing around a more serious conversation about what we are to one another.
It’s the strangest thing to find one’s mate in such an unexpected way.
Which leads me to remembering that I haven’t talked to the girls about it, and I definitely need to.
It’s a testament to how much of my brain space Furyon takes up that I haven’t already called Shadow with the news.
I can imagine the look on Kingston’s and Amadala’s faces when I tell them I met my mate.
And oh, by the way, he’s a country boy who threatened to tie me up with a lasso, of all things.
After dessert, Furyon suggests we deboard and go back to his place. I know what he wants. And I know, after this delightful evening, I want it as much as he does. We’re quiet at Mabel’s next stop, anticipation thrumming. Everything feels different now that we know what’s between us.
When Mable stops seemingly in the middle of nowhere, we get off and emerge into the chilly night.
“It’s so pitch black out here,” I muse, looking up at the dark sky and brightly twinkling stars.
Furyon takes my hand and lifts it to his mouth, kissing the back of it. “You wanna fly me, city girl? Or maybe we can play a little game of chase. My place ain’t far, about half a mile.”
“Depends.” I shrug. “What happens when I catch you?”
He grips my throat, pulling close as he slides one hand up the back of my shirt to rest between my shoulder blades. “Whatever you want, city girl.” Pale eyes scan my face, his lips curving into a seductive smile. “And I mean that.”
A full body shiver racks me, and I call my shadow wings, flaring them wide behind me.
Furyon stares up at them, the smile overtaking his face.
“There you are…” His voice is soft, reverent.
Releasing my throat, he reaches back and strokes the inside of my wings with his fingers.
He trails them through the shadows, sending heat streaking along the shadows to pool down my spine into my stomach.
“Mmm.” He grins. “You like that, don’t you?
We haven’t talked much about what you’re into in the bedroom.
Honestly, we’ve done everything a little bit backwards.
What’s something you like that we haven’t done yet?
” He moves his fingers along individual feathers, stroking each one to its point then moving to the next.
The pressure of his fingertips is driving me mad, my second eyelids flashing over my irises as my fangs punch hard out of my gums.
“Dominance,” I murmur, staring into those beautiful pale eyes. “Degradation.”
His eyes narrow as he grins enough to bare his shorter fangs. “You’re speakin’ my love language, Lemon. We need the traffic light system, though, because I need to know if it’s too far for you, alright?”
I slide a hand up his chest, curling my fingers into soft, short hair. “Red, yellow and green, I assume?”
He nods, hand still moving through my feathers.
“I need you to chase me first, though. Run me down, Lemon. Then I’ll flip the script and talk to you like what you are.
” He presses his chest to mine and grips my throat with both hands.
“And how degrading are we talkin’ about?
You wanna be my little blood whore or do we start lighter? ”
I gasp at the insult and the wash of heat it sends through me. Degradation is decadence when done right with a partner you trust. It can be the absolute worst with someone who gets off on being mean-spirited. I’ve dated a few monsters like that.
I’m zero percent worried with Furyon, though.
“Dark as you want,” I admit.
Still, it shocks me when he drops his hold on my throat and sprints off into the darkness.
Blinking rapidly, I try to process the fact he just fucking took off. He ran from me. I gnash my teeth as I press off the ground and swoop into the air, getting twenty feet of height. A twitch of the ears tells me he’s up ahead by forty yards or so.
Fast.
My mate is fast.
Oh gods, I thought of him as my mate.
I let that tidbit flow through my mind as I burst through the air, clawing through the sky to overtake the distance between us. He comes into view ahead of me, arms pumping and that perfect ass flexing beneath his jeans. When I dip closer, he puts on an extra sprint of speed.
The need stokes high until all I want is to knock him to the ground and take everything. He told me I could, and that makes me hotter than anything we’ve done so far.
His cabin comes into view up ahead. Several of the pit hells lie on the front porch, glancing up as we get closer to the house. I have to wonder if they’ll attack if they think I’m hurting him. I really don’t want to get bitten.
That’s all the brain power I have left, though, because he trips in a small hole in the ground and falls forward.
Doesn’t even look back, just leaps to his feet and takes off again.
But it was enough for me to overtake him.
Swinging high, I come down on his back with both feet.
He tumbles to the ground, head over heels, taking me with him as he snarls and snaps.
I throw one arm under his and the other over his shoulder, gripping his throat. The pit hells come off the porch, yowling and howling. Who can say if they’re even concerned or just making a lotta noise? I haul Furyon twenty feet into the sky and chuckle as he squirms in my arms.
“I’m gonna enjoy this, country boy,” I hiss into his ear.
He’s heavy in my arms, but in flight, I’m so powerful that it doesn’t even matter.
That signature pine and snowmelt scent overtakes me, tantalizing as I think about his blood.
Opening my mouth wide, I sink my fangs into that delectable spot where his neck and shoulder meet.
Blood floods the wound, filling my mouth and dripping down my chin.
Bliss overtakes me as I suck and pull at the pinprick holes.
Gods, oh fucking gods, he tastes like pure starlight.
Flooding the bite with venom to make him come, I scream into it as my own orgasm thunders through me with all the force of a hurricane.
The effect is immediate. His body locks up tight, and he arches against me, bellowing out a sound that echoes around us. He claws at my forearm as his body jolts against mine. But the bliss is too fucking hot, too hard for me to do anything but ride out the pleasure with him.
I sob into the bite, flooding him with more venom until he mewls and gasps.
“Don’t stop. Don’t fucking stop. Don’t st—I’m comin’, Lemon. Fuck, godsda—” He finishes the curse on a wail that lifts all the hair on my nape. One hand grips my thigh and squeezes, his claws sinking into my flesh as he vibrates in my arms.
I drag a third orgasm from him, soaking him in venom until I fucking run out and it drips down his muscle, wetting his shirt. He gasps, body quaking, as I drop us to the ground. The pit hells crowd around us, but when I flare my wings wide, a couple yip and hightail it back to the porch.
I’m on top of Furyon, straddling a hard-on that makes my fangs ache with need.
He looks at the remaining few dogs. “Git on outta here. I’m fine.”
“You’re not gonna be fine in a second,” I croon, reaching down and ripping his belt open. I pull his zipper down, releasing that perfect cock from its confinement. “I’m nowhere near done with you, country boy, and I haven’t even begun to have my way with you.”