Chapter 17 - Dan
The power flooding through my body shakes me to the core. If I weren’t holding Grace, I don’t know if I’d be able to stand it, but with her skin against mine, I know a kind of bliss I’ve never even imagined before.
The way her body constricts around me—my arms, legs, and deep inside me—sends thrills of pleasure through me that resonate to my core. My thrusts work in time with these waves without any conscious effort from me, and I can feel it flowing from me into Grace and back to me again.
She writhes under me, her fingernails digging into my back as she thrusts against me, trapped between my body and the ground. The fiery glow around us is beginning to die down, leaving only raw pleasure between us.
But still plenty of magic.
My mind shies away from that, and I focus on my body again, letting the sensations wipe my mind clean.
I can feel Grace’s hot breasts sliding against my chest as she tightens her legs around me, bracing her hands against my lower back to thrust against me.
I hold myself still above her, letting her writhe under me.
A long, low moan tears through her, and she grips me, wrapping her entire body around mine in a point of complete tension.
I can feel her shivering as the moan rises in her throat, getting louder and more desperate until she suddenly cries out, her whole body thrashing and going wild as an orgasm explodes inside her.
Her arms hang loosely from my shoulders, and she whimpers softly, her breath heaving in and out of her chest. I pull back a little, looking down at her and running my hands across her sweat-sheened skin.
Her eyes are closed, hair spread out across the ground like a golden halo, and a soft, satisfied smile on her lips.
I bend down and tease her nipples with my tongue, rubbing her breasts and squeezing them as I move from one to the other, savoring the taste of her.
She writhes under me, grabbing the back of my head and urging me on.
Slowly, I lick a salty trail down her belly, stroking her thighs as I leave light kisses across her skin.
When I slide my arms under her legs, she trembles, a little cry bursting from her lips. I flick the tip of my tongue gently across the outer lips of her pussy, making her cry out again, then I lower my mouth and sink my lips into her wet heat.
I’m aware of Grace thrashing against me, her cries of pleasure and her hand twisting in my hair, but it’s all secondary to the fierce joy of eating her out.
My tongue dives between the slick folds, chasing trails of her delicious cum.
I lick my way slowly up to her clit, wrapping my lips around it and sucking on it, lapping with the flat of my tongue in between, then dive back down to her throbbing, aching slit and plunging my tongue inside.
Grace tugs on my hair, rocking her hips back and forth. When I go back to her clit, her cries sharpen, and I focus my attention, teasing with the tip of my tongue, then letting my slippery lips slide firmly across it before sucking on it as hard as I can.
When her gasps become cries, I tease her with my fingers, caressing around her hot, wet slit before thrusting them inside and sucking on her clit at the same time.
Grace screams and thrashes against me, shocks running through her body as she writhes. I lower my head, lapping up her sweet juices as she comes.
My thirst isn’t slaked, but I can tell from the way she’s trembling that the stimulation is going beyond pleasure. I move up to look into her eyes. When I touch her cheek gently, she opens them, and they look soft and shimmering gray, like the fresh sky after a summer storm.
“I need your cock,” she whispers, her voice hoarse from screaming. “Fuck me.”
My arousal peaks, the humming of pleasure shifting suddenly into red-hot need. I cup her head with one hand as I reach down, feeling my hard cock sliding in her slick folds. As I slip inside her, the pleasure overwhelms me, and I have to close my eyes, gasping as her body swallows me.
I feel her arms and legs clamp around me again, and her head rests gently against my shoulder.
Our hearts beat as one, our breath falling into the same rhythm.
I curl my arms around her, crushing her to me as I thrust forward with my hips.
Grace cries out as my hard cock drives all the way to the end of her, and I rock forward, savoring the feel of our bodies completely meshed together before I slowly draw back.
I don’t loosen my grip as I thrust again, my hands and arms tightening around her as my hips pound into her, over and over. She is soft and warm in my arms, her whole body going loose as she succumbs to my strength.
You are mine!
Tremors run through her again, and I feel her arms and legs tighten around me.
I thrust harder and faster, holding her against my body.
Her deepest muscles spasm around my cock, forcing the breath from my lungs as another orgasm explodes inside her.
A growl rips through my teeth as I completely let myself go, pounding her into the ground until my cock blows deep inside her.
Sensations come back to me slowly as the orgasm fades. Grace’s chest rising and falling against me. The soil under my knees. The sounds of the forest around us. All my senses come back one by one, and I slip off Grace, lying down beside her. Her hand finds mine, and we link our fingers together.
For a few moments, we lay side by side until I start to become painfully aware of how uncomfortable the ground is. I get up slowly, helping Grace to her feet. She smiles at me, and the connection I feel with her spreads straight to my chest like a warm glow.
I stroke her hair, shaking my head a little. She giggles and hugs me, leaning her cheek against my chest. I hold her gently, my arms wrapped around her as her scent floods my nose, leaving my mind clear of everything except my powerful feeling of belonging.
We walk back to the house together, not saying a word, but touching each other as much as possible the whole time.
When we get home and lay down in bed, we look at each other for a long while, her eyes glittering like stars that have been scattered in the void, the light in the darkness that never fades.
Sleep takes me, a dark wave that rises and swallows me suddenly, as if my body has completely reached its limit.
***
When I wake hours later, at first, I’m not sure where I am. Then I look down and see Grace lying in my arms.
There is a moment of warmth and tenderness that is swiftly obliterated by panic. The events of the night before crash through my head, knocking the breath from my lungs.
The snake—magic—oh my God. So much fucking magic!
A shudder runs through me, and I practically leap out of bed, trying to get as far away from Grace as possible. The sight of her curled up sleeping makes my heart ache with care for her, but my fear rages into my heart, chasing everything else away.
I almost bolt for the shower, turning the water on hard and hot.
I scrub my skin like I can get the magic off me, but I can feel it running in my blood, soaking into my bones.
As I examine myself all over, I remember seeing my own burned skin, blackened edges peeling away as my body blistered and melted.
Fuck.
When I stagger out of the shower, I clear the mist from the mirror, tilting my head back and forth to look at my face. There isn’t a single mark on me. It’s as if I were never injured at all.
But I remember it. I remember seeing my hands burn away, the bones poking through. Then Grace grabbed me—
The force that shocked through me in that moment was like nothing I’d ever felt before. At the time, it was intoxicating, and watching Grace wield incredible power while connected to me left me full of wonder, like watching the birth of a goddess.
Now it’s the light of day, and I have to do ordinary things like go out and deal with pack business, and I don’t know how you just go out and act normal after something like that.
The sex blew my mind. I’ve never felt pleasure like that, or such a strong connection with a human being. But instead of making me feel better about the encounter, I feel worse.
I shouldn’t have gotten so close to her. It’s just going to make things more difficult, because I can’t open myself up like this. If I’m vulnerable, if I care too much, I can’t protect anyone.
It’ll be the same as it was with my family all over again.
The faint touch of magic in my veins still makes me feel violated, so I hurry downstairs to make coffee and breakfast, hoping the mundane tasks will distract me. It puts distance between my conscious reasoning and the insanity of the night before, which soothes my nerves.
When I hear Grace get up and go to the shower, my nerves jangle all over again, making sweat break out on my sides. I know I’m too keyed up to cook, and the last thing I want is another confrontation, so I just put some fruit, granola, and yogurt on the table.
I made the coffee at least. I can do that without utter disaster.
I pick at the food, surprised that I don’t have much appetite after last night. When I hear Grace’s footsteps in the hall, my stomach flips again. As she walks through the door, tension rises in me until my chest feels like a balloon about to burst.
“Good morning,” she says, a sweet smile on her face. She walks over to me, wraps her arm around my shoulders, and gives me a kiss on the cheek.
“Morning,” I mutter, keeping my eyes on my cup.
Grace steps back, and I can feel the energy change in the room. I glance up and see her looking at me with concern, her gray eyes wide and shimmering.
I try to look away, but her beauty captivates me, as it always has.
She is especially lovely today, her slender curves wrapped in a light blue dress of thin fabric that clings to her shape but flows freely about her legs.
Her long blond hair is swept up in a ponytail that makes her seem young and innocent.
“Everything okay?” she asks, and I can hear the hurt in her voice.
“Fine,” I answer. “You'd better have your coffee if you want it. We have work to do today.”
She takes a big step back from me, and I force myself not to look up.
I can’t bear to see the hurt in her eyes, but Grace, you don’t understand. It has to be this way. I can’t do this.
“Okay,” she says, almost choking on the word.
I keep my head down, hoping that if I refuse to acknowledge her pain, she will understand how this has to be and get over it in her own time.
I can’t be a part of magic… and I can’t get so close to someone, it blurs my judgment. I wish I could tell her how sorry I am, but what I’m doing is the kindest thing for both of us.