Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
ARENA
Trying to breathe through my panic, I stared into his yellow eyes.
Take it?
The head of “it” was near my tailbone.
He couldn’t mean…
He was way too big for that. No wonder he needed his partners willing.
“It’s melting,” he said.
I blinked at him, momentarily confused.
Realization dawned, and I looked down at the bit of chocolate melting on his upper abs between us. A dark pool was forming around it.
“Arena.”
The desperation and plea in his voice when he said my name flipped a switch in me.
I’d reached thirty, single and childless, for a simple reason…
I had horrible taste in men.
The takers. The self-first, twist-it-when-called-out types. The ones who looked like trouble and treated women like bodies, gone by morning. All because I loved the way they looked at me with raw lust and need—the same thing I saw in Nav’s gaze now.
It’d taken years and more failed relationships than I’d like to acknowledge to understand I would never get what I wanted from that type. Someone who would love me unconditionally. Someone who wanted more than sex. Someone who would prioritize my wants and needs as much as I prioritized theirs.
Yet, as I stared into Nav’s eyes, I felt myself falling into the same trap—a sudden burst of physical attraction as my libido overrode my hard-earned wisdom.
Distance, as much as my current circumstance would allow, was the smartest move. For me, but not for my friends.
Shifting my gaze to the chocolate melting on Nav’s skin, I thought of my family, the islanders, and what would happen when they came back. Because they would return for me. They wouldn’t give up until they saw the bra hanging.
If Nav and I were still near the water, would we hear their boat? Unlikely on this side of the hotel, but what if he was getting supplies or searching another room? I couldn’t take that chance.
Finding somewhere more remote would be better. For them, but probably not for me. Sex would likely then become inevitable. Did I mind though?
No, sex with Nav was a sacrifice I was willing to make.
Plus, if I could talk him into moving us to a house, I’d have more space to roam. And maybe even running water. The idea of heat and a bath appealed to me. My skin was itchy from the lake water.
But leaving the hotel meant moving further away from my escape route…the water.
His hand moved to my hip, kneading my skin as I frowned. Between the question of my exposure to infection, Nav’s interest in the other islanders, and my fear of water, I couldn’t leave.
The smartest move would be to grab Nav’s interest so he wouldn’t care about anyone who came looking for me.
At least, that’s the reason I used to self-justify leaning down to lick the chocolate off his skin. The move pressed my folds more firmly against his shaft. It felt so good, and I wasn’t the only one to think so.
He grunted, and his hips jerked. His hands shifted from my shoulders to my biceps, gripping me firmly.
When he started to pull me up, I stopped him with a soft, “Wait. I didn’t get it all.”
I could see his internal struggle play out on his face. I was getting to him. He wanted me to keep going as much as he wanted to stop me.
My tongue traced a circle around where the chocolate had been, teasing the skin before I set my lips on him and sucked gently.
A second later, I was lying in his spot and watching the bathroom door close. Or rather, partially close since he’d broken it.
That small gap made it easy to hear the squelch of lotion being squeezed out. My mouth dropped open before the rhythmic, wet slapping sounds even started.
Nav was masturbating.
Aggressively.
The sounds increased.
His exhales became more pronounced.
I grew warmer under the covers as I listened. Preservation kept me where I was, but I really wanted to spectate. Each sound fed my imagination. His forearm flexing with each stroke. His head tipped back, lips parted. His hips jerking forward to meet each down stroke. Precum beading on the head.
His exhales began to sound more like grunts and he finished with an angry-sounding groan.
I flinched.
Was he angry?
Had I gone too far?
Did he think I was a tease?
Water splashed, and I very briefly debated running before accepting that there was no point.
Even if I could dress and grab supplies before he finished, I wouldn’t make it far. He’d proven his speed several times already. And then would he be even angrier I’d tried to get away? More cautious in the future? Or would he give up on me and just wait until the rescue team showed up?
No, I needed to stick to my original plan: Keep him distracted and wait to see if I was contagious.
The door opened.
I looked up to gauge his mood.
His heated gaze locked with mine as he crossed to the bed, his cock just as hard as it’d been when he’d left.
I frowned, staring, certain it shouldn’t still be like that. Had he taken something?
“Do you want more chocolate?” he asked.
My mouth watered at the thought of eating more. It’d been months since anyone brought any to the island. But was it just the chocolate I wanted or another taste of Nav?
I wasn’t sure as my gaze lifted and searched his. He didn’t look or sound mad.
“No. I’m good with this.” I showed him what was left of the chocolate bar.
He stole it from me. I thought he’d take a bite, but he didn’t. He got back in bed and pulled me onto his stomach again.
I studied him, searching for any hint that he was upset. He didn’t look any different, which was weird, considering what he’d just done. The raw desire I’d seen before his relief session was still there in his eyes as he studied me in return. But not a hint of anger.
Testing him, I straddled his waist and inched my toes toward his thighs. He immediately lifted his hips for me.
Smack.
Heat exploded inside me even as I tucked my feet into place.
“Here,” he said, breaking off a piece of chocolate and setting it on his chest.
My gaze dipped to it.
Did he really want me to eat off of him?
Did I?
Yeah, I really did.
And not because I needed to stick to my plan. Nav had tripped my bad boy switch. I realized that’s how I was starting to see him now. Dangerous in a human way. But more decent than any questionable men in my past. And I liked the combination.
Tentatively, I nibbled the chocolate and licked his skin clean. He set down another piece. And when I finished that one, another.
And each piece was placed just a little lower than the last one until I was kissing his shaft again. Not with my mouth.
The pressure fed a pleasant throb I hadn’t experienced in over a year. It took effort not to wiggle and grind against him.
I met his gaze as I licked his skin again. His eyes silently pleaded with me for just a little movement. Anything to prove I wasn’t as disinterested as I’d been the day before. To give him hope that I was walking toward willingness even if at a slower pace than he’d like.
Lifting my hips, I rubbed my clit against his cock experimentally.
It felt good. Better than good. And I knew he thought so too.
His pupils expanded in seconds, and his hands returned to my arms, gripping them. But to pull me away from his prize or to keep me on it?
I hoped to keep me on it. Not only was I enjoying myself, but I also had him where I needed him to make another deal before the others showed up.
“Were the supplies easy to find?” I asked as I continued to slick myself against him.
He blinked twice, probably a reboot sequence to bring his big brain back online, before he nodded.
“Do you think you can get more?” I punctuated that question with a hip swivel that made his fingers twitch and his hips buck.
“Tell me what you want, and I’ll get it,” he rasped.
Men would say whatever they thought a woman wanted to hear to get their dicks wet when they were desperate, and I loved knowing he was at that point because of me. That he wanted me that much, even if it was only in the moment.
Old me would have given him what he wanted without a second thought of any reciprocation. New me had survived too much not to be smarter.
We needed to leave this hotel. The farther away from the water, the better.
“I want a real bath. Fully submerged in hot water. With soap. I want a supply of food that will last me a few weeks. I want you to rub my back until I fall asleep on top of you each night until you get me the first two things. And once I have all of that, I’ll definitely be more willing.”
A surge of moisture slicked my crack, making my slide against him obscene and over-sensitized.
His hold on my arm loosened. He stroked his hands down my sides and gripped my hips.
I knew what was coming. He would try to lift me. Tell me he just wanted to put the tip in. That he needed a little something to ensure I meant what I said.
Only Nav didn’t do any of that.
He lifted me and…slipped out of bed again.
I watched the bathroom door close and listened to the squelch of the lotion bottle.
My core clenched around nothing as I listened to him masturbate a second time. He obviously wanted to fuck. The chocolate…the grinding…there was no mistaking that as foreplay. If he wasn’t interested in me, he wouldn’t have egged me on. Why bump and bail then? He wasn’t following the norm.
But then, Nav wasn’t a normal man.
He was fey.
And I was an idiot for thinking a creature that could behead infected, a creature I didn’t even fully believe existed before saving me, would follow human rules.
I realized how clueless I was about him as he came a second time by himself.