Chapter 29 #2
A laugh broke her line of thought, before a gust of wind swept away their hard work, sending specks swirling around the tower. Even the goddess seemed desperate for them to have this. To take what little time they had left.
Felix’s hand came up slowly, giving her time to pull away.
He hesitated for a moment as if she would pull away.
But when she didn’t, his palm curved against her cheek.
Her lips parted at feather light touch. She couldn’t look away even if she wanted to; she was utterly transfixed by him.
And when he moved his calloused thumb across her lips, she couldn’t stop the gasp from tumbling from her.
Every nerve came alive, yearning to be joined with his.
For a heartbeat, he just stood there, thumb resting at the corner of her mouth as if thinking about something. Time ticked by agonizingly slow, her heartbeat roaring in her ears before she heard the two words that broke her.
“Fuck it,” he said.
The first kiss was gentle, tentative; his mouth barely brushing hers like a test. As if he were asking her is this okay.
She wanted to tell him that it was, that everything he did was just perfect.
But before she could answer, Felix’s lips crashed into hers like a man starved.
Despite the cold, a wildfire spread through her, consuming every thought that this would never work.
It burned and burned as he deepened the kiss, but still it wasn’t enough.
She needed him, needed his touch, needed him to hold her.
Not just now; she needed him for longer than just this second.
Until she was bleeding and raw. Until he left marks on her that would still be there in years to come.
If he was a cut, she desperately hoped it scarred.
Still, their bodies didn’t touch. That gap between them existed.
Wide enough to remind them that this would never work.
Even the very wind itself was determined to push them apart, roaring through them like a tunnel.
But Avery never listened to the weather; instead, she embraced it.
How many moments would she miss for the fear of something out of her control?
Gently, Avery put her hand up to the nape of his neck, sliding her hand between his collar.
He jerked back like she had burned him, putting more distance between them than was necessary. His breaths came ragged, shoulders moving up and down with the effort. Everything gentle about his expression had gone. He looked like a cornered animal, eyes wide and searching hers.
“I’m sorry,” he said, taking another step back. “I can’t.”
Her chest constricted as his hand started toward his throat, then stopped. She wanted to reach out to him, to tell him it would all be okay. Instead, she gave him space as he dropped into a crouch, running a hand through his hair.
She kneeled across from him, close enough that if he wanted to reach out, he could.
Each one of his breaths came faster than the last as he fought a war in his mind.
She didn’t know what memory had him by the throat, but she recognized the shape of it, knew what it looked like when the past dragged you under.
Her chest flooded with anxiety, but she realized quickly that it wasn’t hers; it was his.
“Breathe,” she pushed the word down the bond.
His eyes snapped up to hers, wild and full of emotion swelling within him.
Avery closed her eyes, taking a deep breath of her own, and pushing her feelings of calm down the bond, just as he had done for her.
She didn’t tell him it would be okay, or that things would get better, or that this would be over soon.
She said none of that; she only held him without touching him.
Just being there was enough for his breathing to start evening out.
When she opened her eyes, he was staring right at her. “Thank you,” he said simply.
It was the least she could do when he had done it for her so many times.
And while she could usually claw her way back to calm on her own, having someone else there while she worked through the emotions herself, helped.
She’d been alone long enough that admitting she needed that felt like weakness. But she did need it.
“When I was young…”
“Felix, you don’t have to.”
A tentative silence filled the air, and for a moment, she thought he wouldn’t say anything.
“When I was eight, a witch killed my father as he slept.”
The breath rushed from her lungs.
He swallowed before he continued, like he was trying to push it down far enough down that it couldn’t hurt him anymore. “So I ran to his room, but by the time I got there, it was already over.”
An unfamiliar feeling tore through her. A vicious urge to rip apart the witch that had done this to him.
To his father. This time she couldn’t blame it on Felix; it was her own rage.
And when a single tear slipped from his eye.
That small drop of water was large enough to crack open something she had repressed for so long.
If the witch was still alive, they were dead.
Felix cleared his throat, blinking back another tear. “At that time, I still couldn’t shift at will. I couldn’t protect him.”
“You were a child,” Avery said.
“I know. My father hadn’t even gone cold before—” He took another deep breath. “She grabbed my throat with both hands. Squeezed. Like I was an insect. Maybe she thought she’d killed me. Maybe she just didn’t care. Either way, she left me there on the floor next to my father’s body.”
Avery opened her mouth to say something, but the words didn’t come. What could she possibly say? There was nothing that would make this okay. Nothing that would undo what her people had done to him.
“I’m not telling you so you’ll feel sorry for me.” His eyes snapped to her, still fierce and defensive after all this time, still so afraid of being pitied that he’d rather be hated. “I’m telling you because you put your hand near my throat and I—”
He didn’t finish.
Avery stood there and watched him in the starlight. He wasn’t a monster. Just a boy who’d watched his father die. The real monster was the witch who’d murdered a man in his sleep and then choked a child for the crime of existing.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” was all Avery could say. The only thing she knew for certain.
As quick as a switch, his face softened. “You couldn’t if you tried.”
There he was, back to being an asshole.
“I take it back,” she said, fake lunging forward.
But he caught her wrist mid-motion and pulled, dragging her forward until their knees touched.
Felix closed his eyes, took her hand, and placed it gently on his neck.
A shaky exhale left him as her palm stretched out across it, his pulse fluttering underneath her touch.
She moved slowly, just in case she spooked him.
At first, she only moved a thumb across his neck.
He didn’t stop her. Then, using her fingers, she traced the line of his jaw.
Then, the lines of his face, committing them to memory as if they would disappear.
Soon, they would. She worked her fingers into his hair, running her hand through his soft, inky waves and then to the base of his cat ears.
“Is this okay?” she asked.
“Mmhmm.” He shivered, and when his eyes opened, they were dark, pupils blown wide, darkness sweltering through them.
His hands found her thigh, and he pulled her forward until she was straddling him.
The length of him was already hard, pressing against the thin fabric between them.
Felix moved his fingers achingly slow, tracing her edges before undoing the buttons of her blouse.
“Is this okay?” he asked, mirroring her question from before.
Already caught in a daze, she nodded, throat too tight for words.
He pulled the blouse off her shoulders, letting it fall behind them. Then her bralette. Then her skirt. He ran his hands, his real hands, all over her body. He left a burning path, tattooing her skin with his touch, feeling every divot and crevice.
“Please,” he said in a hoarse whisper. “Please kiss me.”
It was so gentle that it almost broke her.
He’d told her once he’d never say please to a witch.
And here he was, begging her to kiss him.
It wasn’t even a question; she indulged him, their mouths devouring each other as if they were stars colliding.
Her heart beat against her ribs, so dangerously close to exploding.
The sound made something in him snap. Her panties didn’t stand a chance; he tore through the fabric like it was paper, adding another pair to the growing count of underwear he’d destroyed.
She didn’t mind, as the pleasure was always worth it.
His shadow clothing fell away like smoke, leaving him as bare as her, the last barrier removed between them as she pressed herself against him.
Never in her life had something felt so right.
That every inch of skin and muscle and bone was born to intertwine with hers.
How had she ever thought they weren’t meant for this?
Her body knew his like they’d been made to fit together.
Out of breath, she placed her hand against his chest, pushing him back for just a moment to see this beautiful creature in all his glory.
His cock twitched under her attention, and—
She froze.
Holy shit, his cock was barbed.
The shaft looked normal enough, thick, veins visible along its length. How had she not seen this before? Likely far too distracted by his other talents. But when he pulled the skin back, it revealed another layer beneath it with small barbs.
A soft laugh made her look back at him, her mouth slightly agape. Felix cocked his head, studying her, clearly entertained.
“Will it hurt?” she asked.
“Only if you want me to hurt you.” His smile turned feral. “But no, it will only enhance your pleasure.”
As if to prove his point, he grabbed her ass and pulled her flush against him, and ground his cock against her core. The barbs dragged against her, an obscenely delicious pressure in all the right places, and…fuck. A strangled moan slipped from her throat.
She couldn’t help it; her hips rolled, chasing that friction. The barbs caught against her clit with every movement. He was right, it didn’t hurt, it felt fucking amazing. Better even than his tongue.
The sound Felix made was guttural, and his claws slid out, points pressing into her skin, not breaking it, but reminding her who was touching her.
Still, she didn’t slow down; she ground against his shaft until she felt sweet pressure building and building. It wasn’t enough, not nearly enough. She so badly wanted to feel him inside of her. To feel full of him.
“Felix, please, I want you inside of me.” The words came out as a desperate plea.
“Soon, I promise, little witch.”
Instead, she felt the ghost of his tail, sleek fur brushing up against her other hole.
A gasp ripped from her throat as Felix retracted his claws and brought his fingers between her thighs, before two of his fingers plunged into her pussy without warning.
She speared herself onto them, chasing more.
His fingers plunged in and out, the obscene wet sounds filling the space between them. When she opened her mouth to cry out, his other hand was there, two fingers pushing past her lips and pressing down on her tongue, muffling the sound.
“You’re taking them so fucking well, kitten. I fucking love how you grind against my cock.” His voice was rough in her mind.
She kept riding the waves of pleasure until she was almost there, almost at the fucking edge.
The whine that tore from her throat was pitiful. His laugh in response was dark, pleased. Bastard. She was going to kill him. Right after he made her come.
“Please,” she moaned.
“Please what?”
“Please fucking fill me.”
“You dirty fucking witch.” His tail circled her ass once more, mercilessly teasing her before it tested the tip of her tight hole. The stretch was unfamiliar, almost too much before her body adjusted to it. But when a thumb came down on her clit, all coherent thoughts fled her mind.
Words left her mouth, but they weren’t words anymore, just sounds. So fucking full. I feel so fucking full. Her body lit up, almost combusting.
Utter bliss rocked through her as everything moved all at once. His tail in her ass, his fingers in her pussy, pumping in and out, his fingers filling her mouth. In and out. In and out. She was going to shatter.
He used the fingers inside her to pull her forward, grinding his barbed cock against her again.
He brought her closer and closer to the edge, until she tumbled over it.
A silent cry came out of her mouth as she completely came apart around him, pussy clamping down on his fingers as she shook.
Pleasure racked her body in waves, her grip finding Felix’s hair and gripping on for dear fucking life.
“Fuck, Avery, that’s my good fucking girl.”
Felix shuddered beneath her, and she felt the hot spill of his release on her stomach.
Their hearts pounded together as she collapsed forward onto his shoulder. The dragon’s fire continued to rain down across the sky.
How the fuck could she ever let him walk away?