Chapter 17 #2
She lifted her ass, searching for friction.
I spread her legs farther apart and adjusted until I had a perfect view of her shining wet pussy in the moonlight. Until I could witness the way my fingers moved in and out of her. She was my good little girl. Perfect in every fucking way.
“I want you, Sinner. Please. Please just fuck me.”
A growl escaped my throat. “So eager. So impatient. Keep watching. I want you to witness how good it will feel when I fuck you like that.”
She did as she was told, my obedient little slut. She kept her focus locked on the couple as they moved in a writhing frenzy. The woman was screaming in pleasure now—the sounds echoing off the rocks and fading into the night sky.
He thrust once, twice, a third time—hard—and howled as he came. She did the same, jerking in pleasure as the orgasm overtook her body.
Athena tightened around my fingers in response, and I spread her legs farther, ensuring I could witness the moment she detonated. Then I ordered, “Come for me, Athena. Come hard and fast like the good fucking girl you are.”
Before I’d finished the command, she crashed down on my fingers, arching into my body and crying out in pure bliss.
My vision went spotty. This. I missed this. It felt so fucking wrong, yet nothing had ever felt more right. We belonged together. Our bodies had been made to pleasure each other.
How could something so fucking beautiful be so wrong?
The idea was hard to comprehend. Yet this was all I’d ever have of her. We’d never complete the claiming. She’d never have sex with me—not fully.
These small bits of pleasure were the closest thing I’d get to my dream of having her for myself. To the fantasies I couldn’t fight, where she rode my cock while I gripped her hips, thrusting up from beneath.
So I soaked in every fucking moment. I encouraged her to ride my hand until her climax subsided completely. And I held the connection until her breathing settled. Until the pounding of my own heart quieted.
“It’s been too fucking long, New Girl.” I slid my fingers from her heat, already dreading how quickly it would leave me. “You know how to make a man weak.”
She turned over and pushed herself up, looking me in the eyes for the first time all night. “That was…”
Holding my breath, I braced myself for the next word.
A mistake. Wrong. Horrendous.
“Unexpected.”
The air rushed from my lungs and I choked on a laugh. “I’ve been dreaming of you coming on my fingers since the last blood moon. None of that was unexpected to me.”
I regretted giving her the truth the moment it was out, but there was no going back now. I fucking wanted her.
But I couldn’t have her. I couldn’t be with her.
Even so, just the sight of her every fucking day brought me to my knees.
She pulled her pants back on and sat up on her knees. “What?” she asked, her dark eyes wide. “What do you mean? I thought you hated me?”
My heart lurched. “You really think I hate you?” God. She was beautiful like this.
She bit her lip, her attention darting away. “Of course I do. You threaten me constantly. You’re genuinely an asshole to me. You’re controlling and protective but never nice. Never kind.”
A growl escaped me. “You don’t think what I just did was kind?”
She blushed, looking away.
I wanted to kiss her. God, I wanted to kiss her more than anything. It would be so easy to grab her face and press my mouth to hers.
It wouldn’t be performative this time. Not even sexual.
It’d be proof that I really did not hate her.
But I couldn’t kiss her. Not again. Not here. Certainly not after what I’d just done to her.
If I did, it would be the beginning of my downfall. Or maybe I was already halfway there.
“No, Athena,” I said when she didn’t reply, ignoring the pain of my rock-hard dick. “I don’t hate you, okay? You’re my claimed.”
She laughed quietly, head lowered.
“What?” I asked.
“You keep saying that, but I’m not. Not really. How long do you think we can keep this up before someone realizes it?”
My heart stopped beating. “Forever, I hope.”
She sighed. “Do you ever think about it?”
Every fucking second of every fucking day, I wanted to say. I shrugged instead. “Occasionally. Do you?”
She focused on the water, on the tide moving in and out. “Sometimes I think it would be easier than all of this pretending.”
My heart sank.
I didn’t want her to want me that way. I didn’t want her to want me out of convenience. Out of survival.
I wanted her to want me because she thought of nothing else day and night. Because she dreamed of walking into every room at my side. Because she pictured my smile as she drifted off to bed each night.
But I couldn’t say any of that; that was never part of our deal.
We’d pretended to claim so we wouldn’t be forced into it with someone else.
We each had our reasons for that.
But those reasons were starting to blur. Every day, my original motivation slipped farther and farther away.
Originally, the idea of claiming with Athena had made me sick. Claiming with anyone made me physically ill. I vowed to never touch another woman, not after what my father had made me do.
Not after what he’d tried to do, anyway.
I’d been content living a life of solitude. Content knowing I would never be the source of pain for a woman.
Was Athena changing me so much? Was she really making me second-guess what I’d sworn so adamantly?
“It’s a good thing the claiming is off the table,” I forced myself to say. “You’re a four, I’m a powerful three. We can wield each other’s magic without it, anyway, so there’s no need to actually complete it, right?”
Her focus remained locked on that tide. “Right.”
When I stood up, she didn’t follow.
She didn’t even flinch.
“No more sneaking around at night,” I said. “You have no idea who might be following you in the darkness.”