36. I Need to Taste You
I NEED TO TASTE YOU
WREN
Iforgive you.
Tension crackles between Gabriel and me, my words swirling around us. The fire that was ignited in the study is still present, simmering in the background.
I am aware of every inch separating us, every rise and fall of his muscular chest, every minuscule facial movement. His eyes, shades of a forest at dusk, hold mine.
Maybe I caught him off guard. I’m not entirely surprised—his question did the same for me. Only, when I started thinking about what he was asking, I realized I’d forgiven the Hunter weeks ago. I just hadn’t been ready to admit it.
I feel lighter now, as if a weight I hadn’t known I’d been carrying has been lifted off my shoulders. I can breathe more easily. Suns, if I’d known forgiving Gabriel would feel this good, I probably would’ve done it earlier.
Several long moments pass, and tension is a living, breathing creature in the room with us. Each heartbeat seems louder than the last, until they’re ringing in my ears.
When I can’t take the quiet any longer, I whisper his name. “Did you hear what I said? I forgive you.”
He exhales raggedly, and the rough sound has heat pooling in my core. “Yes, Birdie. I heard you.”
“I mean it. The past is in the past.” I don’t want to focus on it any longer. “I want you, Gabriel.”
Not just physically, although the suns only know how badly I yearn for him. Seeing the Hunter on his knees and hearing him ask for my forgiveness has only solidified what I was already feeling.
I lick my lips. “I know we have a lot to work through, and this fated bond is complicated, but—”
Gabriel’s mouth collides with mine, and he swallows my words with a rough kiss. Flames reignite in a rush of heat in my core, and all I can do is clutch his shoulders, desperate to hold on.
“We’ll talk about that later,” he growls against my lips before reclaiming them.
“Okay,” I agree breathlessly, mumbling against his mouth, because what else can I say?
His lips are hot against mine, and he nibbles, the slight nip of his teeth sending a rush of heat through me. I brush my tongue across his lips, and he moans, the sound filled with desperation and desire and relief.
Perhaps he needed to hear I forgave him as much as I needed to say it.
He draws me flush against him, his hardness pressing against my stomach. I slip my hand under his tunic, tracing the hard lines of his torso, and he groans. That sound . . .
I’ve never heard anything better.
Our kiss deepens.
I gasp, and his tongue delves inside my mouth, dancing with mine. Tasting. Devouring. Needing.
Forgiveness tastes better than I’d ever imagined. Who needs things like food or water or air? I’ll survive off Gabriel’s kisses from now until the end of time.
His mouth moves against mine, and liquid heat gathers in my core.
Pulling out of Gabe’s grasp, I perch on the edge of the table, spreading my legs before snaking my hand around his waist and pulling him closer. He keeps kissing me even as he steps into the space I created.
His hard cock presses against my core, and I rock my hips against him. And . . . Oh.
This is . . .
He is . . .
Oh, gods.
I didn’t . . .
I didn’t know . . .
The last time I was with a man—the only time—it wasn’t like this. It wasn’t bad, but also, it didn’t leave a lasting impression. Even when I touched myself, seeking release, it never felt this way.
There is a fire within me, hotter than my Mark has ever been, and I cling to Gabriel, chasing the friction that has me gasping for breath. Our kisses grow more desperate, as do our actions. I tug on his waistband, holding him close, needing him right there as I wantonly seek relief.
Sounds I’ve never heard myself make escape my lips. Our clothes are the worst of barriers, and I want them gone.
“Gabe,” I whimper against his lips, yanking on the hem of his shirt. “I . . . I need . . .”
“I know,” he says gruffly.
The Hunter slides his hands down my hips, cupping my bottom. He lifts me effortlessly, his mouth finding mine once more, and my arms fly around his neck. He holds me close, kicking off his shoes as he strides towards our bed.
He lowers me onto the mattress with care, crawling up over me before I can mourn the lack of his lips on mine. He cages me in with his arms, eyes smoldering as he looks at me.
This Hunter is rugged and rough, and he is mine.
I say the last part out loud, and a low growl rumbles through him. “You’re right, I am yours.”
His name leaves me on a whimper, and he groans, pressing his forehead against mine. “Fucking gods, Wren. I will never get enough of hearing you say my name while you’re in my bed, flushed because of me.”
His hand crawls down my side, moving towards that spot between my legs where I need him most. He trails a finger over my waistband, my skin pebbling in his wake. “I want to taste you, Wren.”
My breath catches. “You mean . . .”
“I want to feel you come apart on my tongue.” His mouth brushes mine. “To hear you scream my name.” He kisses my jaw. “To feel you break apart for me.” A kiss to my neck as he slowly moves down, his thumb slipping beneath my waistband and brushing my skin. “Can I take off your clothes?”
I lick my lips, staring at this Hunter who has changed my world, and I nod.
“Out loud, little bird,” he says.
Part of me can’t believe this is happening, that we’re here together, and yet my agreement comes easily to my lips. “Yes.”
He flashes me a crooked smile before sitting up, his legs straddling me as he relieves me of my tunic. It lands somewhere on the floor, leaving my top half exposed to him, save for the band holding my breasts in place. His appreciative gaze roams over me.
“Suns save me, Wren.” He undoes the fabric, and cool air rushes across my chest.
Except for my necklace and bracelet, I am bare from the waist up.
I should feel nervous about him seeing me like this, right?
If anyone else saw me like this, I’d hasten to cover myself up.
But when Gabriel is looking at me like I’m the most beautiful being he’s ever seen, all I can do is bask in the heat of his attention.
And then Gabriel chases any lingering fears I might’ve had by whispering, “You’re fucking stunning.”
He draws my nipple into his mouth, and I cry out as a flurry of sensations runs through me. He looks up and smirks as if he knows I’ve never felt anything like this before moving to my other breast, repeating his actions.
I can’t contain my moans as he continues, paying attention to my breasts until I am a desperate, needy mess beneath him.
Blessed, burning suns. I may not survive this version of the Hunter.
After another few minutes of delicious torture, Gabriel rests his chin on my stomach, his eyes burning into mine.
“You never answered my question, Wren. Can I taste you?”
I inhale sharply, my pulse racing. It’s not that I ignored his request earlier, but I wasn’t sure how to answer him.
I’m still not.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I squirm. “Gabe, you don’t have to . . . I . . . No one has ever . . .” My cheeks burn, and suns save me, this would be a great moment to disappear into the mattress. “I’ve had sex before,” I blurt. “But no one has ever . . . Oh, suns take me.”
This is, without a doubt, the most awkward moment of my entire life.
If I still believed in the gods, I’d pray for them to come and strike me dead.
That would surely be better than this. Is it possible to die from embarrassment?
I don’t know, but from the way my heart is racing, it seems possible.
After everything I’ve survived, wouldn’t that be something?
I’m not sure how much time passes before Gabriel’s lips ghost over mine. The kiss is brief, but it draws me out of the panicked spiral I was falling into. He shifts, resting his weight on his hips and brushing a hand down the side of my face.
“Look at me, Wren.”
It takes me a moment to do as he asks. I’m not sure what I expected to find in his gaze, but it wasn’t a look of pure hunger.
“There you are.” His eyes shimmer with deep emotion as he trails his hand down my chest towards my core. I’m frozen, ensnared by him, and I don’t move as he cups me over my pants.
“Are you telling me no one has ever kissed you here?” He brushes his thumb over my clit, and my hips jerk into his touch.
My cheeks burn. “No,” I whisper.
A smile, satisfied and purely male, spreads across his face. “Good.”
“What?” That’s not the answer I was expecting.
“That means I get something no one else has had.” His lips slant over mine, and gods help me, I could melt under his attention. “Did you think that would make me want you less, Wren? Because you’re wrong.”
“I—”
He rolls his hips, the evidence of his arousal pressing into me.
“Do you feel that? I want you more than I’ve wanted anyone.
I want to taste you, to feel your beautiful thighs quivering around me as you break apart.
I want to feast on you until your voice is hoarse from screaming my name for hours on end. ”
I stare at him, mouth agape. Am I supposed to be able to formulate a response after a declaration like that?
I barely manage to murmur, “O-okay. You can do it if you want.”
“Thank all the gods.”
Gabriel moves down my body, leaving a trail of kisses in his wake, and he makes his way towards the apex of my thighs. He kisses my stomach, tracing with his tongue the stretch marks that have been there for as long as I can remember.
“Beautiful,” he whispers. He hooks his fingers in the top of my pants. “Lift your hips, Wren.”
I do, and he slides the last of my clothes off. His eyes darken, and there’s something erotic about him being fully clothed while I’m like this. I don’t hate it.
“Fuck, Wren,” he murmurs reverently, his eyes rising. “You are so gods-damned gorgeous. And you are mine.”
My breath catches in my throat as he lowers his head. At the first touch of his tongue against my clit, my back arches off the bed.
A sound of male satisfaction comes from his lips, rumbling against my core as he laps at me. Slowly, at first, as if he really is tasting me. Then more urgently. His tongue sweeps over me, and I cry out.
He rumbles again, the sound one of pure want, and draws my clit into his mouth and sucks.
And I am . . . done. Nothing exists outside this moment; nothing could ever come close to this right now. There is just me and him, and it is good.
I never knew being with another person could be like this.
Threading my fingers through Gabriel’s hair, I hold him in place as he shows me what I’ve been missing. Each pass of his tongue, each movement, seems to exist solely to please me. He teases me with his fingers, tracing my most intimate of places as he stokes the fire burning deep inside me.
He doesn’t merely kiss me—he lavishes me with attention. He delights in me in a way that no one else ever has.
Words slip from my lips, an unintelligible mess as my core coils tighter and tighter. He continues until it feels like I cannot possibly take any more. The fire inside me is as hot as the brightest star.
He slides a finger inside me. Then two.
“Gabriel,” I whimper.
His eyes are dark jewels as they sweep over mine. “Yes, little bird?”
I’m standing on a cliff, ready to fall into oblivion. “I . . . I need.”
“I know,” he says softly, kissing my inner thigh. “You can let go, Wren. I’ll catch you.”
And I’m not sure whether it’s his words, the way that he returns his mouth to my clit, or the fact that he slides a third finger inside me, moving it just so, but I do.
I careen over the edge of the cliff, giving in to the desire racing through me.
I’m pretty sure I scream Gabriel’s name so loud the whole camp can hear it as pure pleasure rolls through me.
For a moment, my entire world goes white. There’s just me and this feeling of utter bliss, and it is everything.
I’m not sure how long I remain in that place, but when my vision returns, Gabriel hasn’t moved. He places a gentle kiss inside one thigh, then the other, before he slides his fingers out of me. He crawls up beside me, drawing me in for a slow, leisurely kiss.
I taste myself on him, and the moment is so deliciously intimate that I close my eyes, wanting to seal it in my memory forever.
“See?” He brushes his hand down my hair, holding me against his chest. “I told you I’d catch you.”
“Yes, you did.” I rest against him for a moment, my mind settling back into my body before I reach for the erection tenting his pants.
I want to show him the same kind of pleasure he gave me, but he catches my hand. “Not tonight, little bird.”
“Why not?”
He draws the blanket up around me, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “Because there will be plenty of time for that in the future.”
Gabriel rolls off the bed, strolling into the bathing room and returning with a damp washcloth a moment later.
He cleans me, and by the time he’s done, my eyes are heavy.
My limbs feel pleasantly weighted as I lift them, and Gabriel helps me into my nightgown before he tucks the blanket under my chin.
There’s a scratching sound at the door, and a soft meow.
“Sleep, Wren,” he murmurs, lips ghosting over my forehead. “I’ll be right back; I’m just going to let Mist in.”
I drift in that space between waking and sleeping until the door opens once more.
Mist pads into the cabin on silent paws, followed by Gabriel.
He closes our door and locks it, pausing to scratch Mist behind her ears, murmuring something too low for me to hear.
The panther’s purr fills the air, and then she settles at the foot of our bed.
The last thing I remember is Gabriel sliding in behind me, curling his arm around my stomach and drawing me against his warmth. That night, I’m not plagued by a single nightmare.