13. Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Thirteen
Hendr
T he feel of her pussy, tight and rippling and pulsing around my shaft, made me absolutely crazed.
I needed her like I’d never needed anything in my whole miserable life. I gripped her hips hard and bucked upward. She was so wet and slick that she took my cock nearly halfway.
“Ah fuck , yes, Hendr!” She gasped, twisting her hips and bouncing against me.
Fades, the sound of my name on her lips was sweet agony . It was sheer force of will that stopped me from spilling right then. The precipice of my orgasm felt like a razor edge in my mind, and I was desperately trying to balance it.
I needed her to come first, like I needed to breathe.
“Oh, it’s so much.” She braced her hands against my shoulders and rolled her hips back and forth, slowly taking more of my cock. So much more than I ever would have dreamed she could. “It’s so good .”
The sound of her pleasure-drenched words made my mind reel. I reached for her thighs and spread them more. She groaned long and loud and took more of me in.
My fingers found the little nub at the top of her pussy that made her crazed, and I rolled my thumb over it.
She lit up like a fucking beacon, eyes flashing wide, body racked with shivers. “Oh, Hendr, yes .”
She was rippling and bucking and grinding into me so hard I couldn’t see straight. My mind was gone to everything but the intensity of the pressure building inside me, rolling over my skin. Prickling coated my limbs as I held back my orgasm. My body jerked and shuddered. I shifted her upward, pushing my cock deep.
She took me right to the hilt .
And then she exploded .
She let out a deafening cry and her body went taut as her pussy began to clamp around me, gushing and bucking as she came.
Finally, I let go. The pressure burst in a mind-altering snap as I released. The waves of bliss crashed over me. I couldn’t get enough air, and she was still grinding her hips on me. The ecstasy was unreal. It was too much and not enough, and I gripped her thighs tight to make her buck harder.
“Oh, Fades.” She gasped, and I felt her pussy walls tighten around me so hard my eyes crossed. She was coming again .
I gritted my teeth in concentration as her pussy clenched. I had to hold back. If I came again, she would be pregnant immediately. She didn’t want that, and I’d rather have my cock fall off than do anything against her will.
Finally, she collapsed on top of me, and I quickly pulled her off my shaft. The chill in the air helped to soothe my ragged senses. I took gulping breaths to suppress the urge to plunge back into her. The instinctual drive to finish rutting her was so much harder to control than I’d ever dreamed it would be.
She hummed under her breath and shifted backward. My cock grazed between the heat of her legs and my lungs seized.
“W-wait.” I clenched my teeth so hard I thought they might crack. “I need—I can’t control—”
My words broke off in a groan as she brought my shaft between us. The base was held tight between her damp folds and her hand found the tip, massaging, stroking. My body went tight with shock as she began to pump.
The quick, tight tempo she used made my mind blank. The pleasure built to a hazy peak so quickly it made light burst behind my eyes. She gave no quarter, working my shaft with her hand and rolling her hips and driving me up, up, up.
I fell into an orgasm so powerful it made my back bow. My heels dug into the ground and my roar threatened to bring down the cave walls. The ecstasy gripped me like a vice, rolling through me as I spilled my seed into her palm.
She milked my cock until I was nothing but a pleasure-wrecked husk, and I never wanted it to end.
But it did. Far too soon, the intense pleasure faded but left a dim glow of delight that pulsed with the beat of my heart. A kind of warm satisfaction the likes of which I’d never known.
She curled into my side, breathing hard. The feel of her body, all warm and soft and perfect. I wrapped my arms around her, dazed from the pleasure, never wanting this to end. I wanted to keep her right here for an eternity.
“Fuck,” she whispered against my neck, and I couldn’t help but chuckle at how adorable it was to hear this beautiful woman curse. “That was . . .”
I hummed out a long breath, unable to find words for it either.
“I wasn’t too hard on you, was I?”
I shook my head. Fuck, I wanted her to be that hard on me every time.
She chuckled softly. “Can you speak?”
“No.” I didn’t want to. I just wanted to rest here and forget everything else but her.
Her fingers trailed along my chest, so gentle it made my mind reel. “I suppose this means I should forgive you.”
I snorted. “I’d rather you not.”
She moved up slightly so she could search my face. “You like being punished that much?”
“Fuck, yes.”
She grinned, and I felt my heart squeeze in response. “You’re a sick beast, Hendr. My sick beast.”
“Fuck, that’s all I ever want to be for the rest of my miserable life.” I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her in close. “You are perfection, Nalina. I’m never going to let you go.”
She let out a little gasp as I tucked her head into my neck. Her body felt so perfect against mine. It was like she was made for me.
Except that she was too thin. “I need to fatten you up more.”
She snorted even as her whole body went limp against me. “Is that a way for you to say you want me to eat your cock again?”
My blood instantly heated. “No, Nalina. I mean, I am going to care for you in every way imaginable until you are the healthiest, happiest, and most pleasured woman on the surface of our world.”
She moved up a little to search my face with wide, blinking eyes. “You’re serious.”
I raised a brow. “Did you think I wasn’t?”
She shook her head slowly and her expression softened so much I could feel every part of me melting. “No, Hendr. I believe you.”
I huffed out a happy sigh and tucked her head back into my neck. We lay there for a long time, just basking in each other and I memorized every part of it. The feel of her body. The delicious sweetness of her scent.
But even this must end eventually, and she stirred, pushing away from my chest.
“Can we go outside? I’d like to freshen up.”
“No,” I said, unwilling to let her go.
“Hendr, I know you’ve enjoyed yourself, but I need to pee. I will come right back in here once I’m done.” She gently tapped my nose, and I felt like I was melting. My mind turned to mush.
“Just . . . go in here,” I muttered as she caressed my forehead.
“Hendr, I am not going to pee in here. Absolutely not.” Her angry tone made me tense. She was serious about this.
I had no choice but to let her up. “I’m coming with you then.”
“I’m not going to let you watch me.” She got to her feet and picked up her discarded dress. My heart squeezed with dismay as she put it on.
“Not to watch. Just to keep guard,” I insisted as she put her hair back up into a tight queue.
She shot me a hard look. “Don’t lie, Hendr. I know that’s not the only reason. I know you like to watch me.”
“I won’t deny that I do.” I cupped under her chin and tipped her head up. “Your strength is magnificent, beauty.”
She snorted. “I’m not strong. Not like you.”
“You are strong, beauty. Stronger than anything I have ever known. The currents of your bravery run deep. You just need to learn to bring them to the surface.”
Her cheeks flushed, and her eyes sparkled with pleasure. It made me melt for her even more. “For a huge, gruff beast, you really have a way with words.”
“Only when it comes to you,” I said, reluctantly releasing her. “Everyone else can fuck off.”
A thoughtful look crossed her features as she picked up the water pouch. “Why is it so easy for you?”
“What?” I raised a brow.
She took a drink. “Telling people off. I’d never be brave enough to do that.”
My brows shot up. “Of course you would. You do it to me all the time.”
“You’re different.” She shot me an incredulous look. “Don’t you worry that being an ass will come back to haunt you?”
I went to fetch my pants and pulled them on. “No. I’d rather burn bridges than bend to another’s will. Except for yours, of course.”
She watched me for a few long moments, and I relished it. The feel of her stare as she studied me felt like a caress. Finally, she said, “Why do you care so much about me, Hendr? We’ve only just met.”
I stopped adjusting the drawstring of my pants to look her in the eye. “Nalina, I have spent most of my life at war. In the warlord’s company, we traveled constantly, from clan to clan, protecting them. We keep only a single pack and live off what we can hunt and scavenge. I have very few things in my life that are precious to me, and you are one of them. I would move the Fades themselves to keep you hale, beauty. Never doubt that.”
Her breath left her in a quick exhale and her eyes grew wide. “You . . . really mean that, don’t you?” she whispered.
“I do,” I vowed. “To the very depths of my soul.”
Her cheeks were pink, and I held my breath as she looked away, thinking. Considering.
Then she smiled, and it felt like my world was tipping on its axis. Like the ground beneath me was changing. Like the future I had planned was now brighter and fuller and better than anything I could have dreamed.
“Come over here so I can kiss you.” She crooked her finger, and I loped over to her helplessly. Bent down to take her lips. She tasted like paradise.
She broke off the kiss long before I wanted her to and then pressed me back. I wanted to weep. “I really need to relieve myself now.”
I exhaled sharply. “Like I said, you could just go in here.”
She shot me a harsh look as she started for the cave entrance. “I’m not going in here, Hendr. That’s disgusting.”
“No, it’s not. I’d clean it up for you.”
“That’s even more disgusting!” she snapped, though there was a hint of humor to her tone. “I’m going outside and that’s that.” She took a moment before beginning the climb. “You know, this cave really isn’t so bad. I suppose if Waston starts being too pushy, I could just move out here to avoid her.”
There was something in her tone that made my chest squeeze. “Do you want to avoid her that badly?”
She glanced back at me over her shoulder. “It’s better than angering her and becoming the next target for her abuse, isn’t it?”
There was a cold weight in her tone. A chilled acceptance that burrowed deep into one’s marrow and froze you from the inside out.
She was stuck.
My heart jumped into my throat with realization. I reached out and gripped her ankle, stopping her so I could crawl close to her side. She blinked at me with wide eyes as I searched her face.
I’d been doing this all wrong. “You don’t need a trade partner, beauty. You don’t need someone to feed you.”
Her brows furrowed in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“What you need is to find your own strength. Because bending to that vile woman’s will, swallowing down all your power, has withered away at your soul for far too long.” I loosened my grip on her, but her eyes stayed locked to mine. “I’ve seen your strength, beauty. You could easily put all your problems to rest if you just stood up to her.”
Her eyes went huge in the dim light and then she chuckled wryly. “It’s not strength with you, Hendr. It’s anger . You’re just goading me into fighting with you.”
“Anger and strength are the same thing, beauty,” I assured her. “You just need to wield it properly.”
“And you intend to show me how to do that, do you?” She would have crossed her arms and tapped her foot had we not been crouched in a cave. “Forgive me if I’m skeptical because from what I’ve seen so far, all you do is start fights and act contrary. You wouldn’t even obey the centuries-old law to stay away from our village wall. You should be picking up some of my habits, not the other way around.”
“That is true. I won’t deny that I’ve got the will of a stubborn boar.” I reached out and stroked her cheek and she sucked in a breath. “I could learn much from you. Just as you could learn from me.”
Her eyes went wide.
I softened my touch as I cupped her chin. “This isn’t about obeying or disobeying, Nalina. This is about what you feel is right. It’s about what you think you can live with. I’ve jumped off many cliffs in my time. I’ve had some brutal fucking landings and gotten many scars, but one thing I don’t have is regret.”
I could feel her relaxing under my fingertips. She felt softer like my words were finally warming up her frozen marrow. “You have to weigh this for yourself, Nalina. Weigh it in your soul . Would you sleep better at night knowing that those assholes got away with squashing you down? Or would you rather burn those bridges and warm yourself with the flames? Either way is your choice. You choose what to live with.”
She swallowed against my palm and licked her lips. “You’ve really never regretted being an asshole?”
I snorted. “No. Never.” And then my mind flashed with the image of her broken face. “Not until that trade with you. I do regret the words I said then, Nalina. I am sorry.”
It was funny how easy it was to speak that sincere apology. Every other I’d ever given had felt like broken glass in my throat.
She exhaled hard enough to rustle my hair. “You shouldn’t regret them. They were the truth. My family traditions are boarshit. But they’re all I’ve known. They’re what’s kept me and mine alive for generations. It’s hard to take a plunge and start standing up for yourself when that plunge might be into starvation .”
“I’d never let you starve, beauty,” I said earnestly. “But even without me, I don’t think you would. I do not believe that Waston has as much influence as she would like you to believe.”
“And you want me to put that to the test? You want me to poke the bear and see if its claws are as sharp as they say?” she asked.
“Like I said, that’s something you must decide on your own. You have to decide what you want to live with. But I will tell you that what you’ve been doing hasn’t been living. Stay with me, Nalina, and I’ll show you how good your life can get.”
Her eyes widened, and she let out an earnest laugh that soothed my soul. “That’s your whole angle in this, isn’t it, you beast? You want me out from under Waston’s thumb so I can be under yours.”
“No, beauty. I want you freed so you can put me under your thumb.” I stroked her chin. “I’d sleep in a blackberry bush if it was under your window, just to be near you. I’d give you everything I have and more, just to remain in your company.”
Her cheeks colored and there was a flash of pleasure in her eyes that made me want to shout with victory. Then she pushed my hand away and began to climb through the tunnel once more. “Don’t be silly. I can’t just rely on you for everything , Hendr.”
I followed after her. “I don’t see why not.”
“You might not be around forever, you know.” I could hear a little tension in her tone. I really was a beast for being giddy at the thought of me not being around made her uncomfortable. “With how often you say you jump off cliffs, you could be gone by tomorrow.”
“I’ll stop jumping, Nalina,” I said earnestly just as she reached the mouth of the cave. She turned back to face me. The daylight illuminated her frame, casting her in a bright glow that made her look magical. Like some soft mystical being come to drag me from the darkness and back into the light. “I’ll teach you to use your strength, and you teach me to be calm. We fit together in this way, Nalina. Do you deny it?”
Her eyes widened as she rapidly blinked.
“No,” she said softly. “I don’t.”
I felt like I was flying.
And then she blushed again and turned to exit the cave. I loped after her, happy to follow her everywhere she went for the rest of my life.
“What is this?”
Nalina’s abrupt question had me quickly returning to her side. I found her blinking in shock at the tree line and knew what it was before I even looked.
Birds.