Chapter 20
His claws caressed my skin with gentleness that was startling. The rough skin was a sharp contrast to the careful touches. Mixed emotions tangled inside me, until they blended together in a web of anger, hurt, and desire.
I froze, unsure of which emotions were mine and which one should win. One claw traced under my eyes.
The knowledge that they were just like Levicy’s and yet so different. Fiery instead of a chill that he never managed to shake out of his bones. Even after all this time.
“Can you feel me the same way I feel you?” I asked.
“You hide behind a calm mask, but fear and resentment consume you.”
I swallowed heavily at his assessment, knowing it was accurate.
His webbed claws slid under my shirt with slow simple movements, like he was memorizing me. Like if he let me go, I’d run away and leave him alone again.
His wandering hands let me pretend that he’d care when I did. That he accepted and loved me in a way I’d never experienced.
But he doesn’t love you, the rational part of me whispered so softly I almost didn’t hear it.
That was fine. This moment could be enough.
It was more than anyone had given me before.
He pulled me further into his lap with a guttural groan, as if he sensed the shift inside my heart.
His nose buried into my throat, and I could swear I tasted myself on my tongue.
It reminded me of how beautiful he thought I was, despite how much he hated me.
My face warmed at the reverence wafting off him.
I was more prepared for his growling and snarling than softness. It disarmed me more than I cared to admit.
His desire shot down to my core, making me throb with need, too.
“I’ve been wanting to fuck you senseless in this nest.” His deep voice dropped an octave, making the sound roughly caress down my spine and dragging my dream from last night into sharp focus. My nipples hardened as goosebumps rolled over me. “It’s been haunting me mercilessly.”
His hands went up, taking my shirt with him to graze my breasts. A snarl left him, and his fingers tightened on my skin, no doubt leaving the ghost of bruises behind. But I loved the way the pleasure hurt.
He was more familiar that way.
His hands continued trekking up, and I found enough energy to help him remove my shirt. I shivered from the sudden cold, but he pressed his front to me, sending a cozy wave of heat over me.
He tugged at my pants with a purr that sounded like a soft beg that would turn into ripped fabric if I waited too long. Part of me shamelessly wanted him to. Just for the joy of being his damsel in distress for a moment.
Of being needed so much that he’d go feral for me.
Either his patience was shorter than I thought, or he sensed what I wanted and shredded the fabric away, leaving a trail of shallow claw marks down my thighs that made me moan. Leaving me in nothing more than my panties and boots.
Like my panties had a chance in hell.
He dragged the fragile cotton, making each inch of fabric pop and rip. His head hung over my shoulder, watching as his hand brushed over my folds. His nails were a delicious threat as they went over my thighs and through my folds.
I didn’t dare move, knowing I’d end up shredded like the useless scrap of black cotton on the ground in front of us.
Even with lust soaking every cell in his brain, he was dangerous. It helped to keep me rooted, without drowning under the desire to let him see deeper than I’d ever dared.
He spread my folds to get a better look at me, and the needy growl vibrating my back made me tremble. Not with fear, like it should have, but with hunger for his approval.
Need rampaged through me like a wildfire. Could I stop myself? I knew I should.
Instead of focusing on how to halt the situation, I wondered how he ever fit inside me, but the bigger part knew if he could do it once, there’d be no issue doing it again. His tail caressed the inside of my thigh, creeping closer and closer to my core with each pass.
The sudden desire for it to slide inside me made my chest and face hot. Surely, I was going insane, but I couldn’t get the image out of my head. What would it feel like?
How good would the hardened scales rubbing inside me feel?
As if to answer my question, his tail slinked closer, rubbing against my clit before moving lower. Every inch down rubbed across my clit, making me thrust against it to get more of that delicious friction.
His tail paused a painful centimeter away from my entrance. A heathen part of me was ready to beg and make promises I wouldn’t keep to get him to do what I wanted. A whimper that I hated still left my throat.
That confirmation seemed to be all he needed. He entered me slowly, and it was everything I knew it would be. Hard and rigid, scraping across my G-spot in the perfect way.
Inch by inch he stretched me a little more. My eyes rolled back as a fullness I didn’t realize I was missing settled something inside me. The moan I released as I thrusted against the appendage, made him growl with need.
I’d be absolutely ruined after him. That was why I had to be tied forever. No one else could fuck me like this, and it was the universe’s way of making sure I never went without again.
This wasn’t sex to make a problem go away or coerced. This was pure passion of the moment, dripping with a forbidden desire that I shouldn’t crave.
“More,” I begged, and his tail sunk deeper. Yes!
He brought my hand up to his mouth, letting his tongue wrap around my fingers and sucking them into his mouth.
I gasped at the sensation of his tongue thrusting around my fingers and made me vividly remember exactly what that tongue was capable of. Then he took my hand, squeezing our combined hands between me and the bulk of his tail, and ran my fingers suggestively over my clit
His claws pierced my hand, lifting me even higher. I followed his silent command and tapped my clit.
“You like it right there.” The gravel in his voice almost did me in. My insides clenched, overloading my nerves. I went to snap my legs closed to reduce all the touches, but the clear mental command stopped me in my tracks; Don’t you dare.
Like he had my puppet strings in his hand, I was powerless to resist. What was worse, I didn’t even want to.
The claws of his free hand scraped teasingly along one of the shallow cuts. One nail dug into my skin, but pulled back last minute. A soft hesitation radiated from him into my heart, but the constant tightening of my oncoming orgasm distracted both of us.
The entire swamp could probably hear my moans, but I could not give a fuck. Let them hear.
My toes curled and every muscle locked as my pleasure peaked. Just in time for his claws to dig into my thighs with deep intention, somehow amplifying my orgasm until I was screaming my ecstasy.
I wasn’t sure which shook harder, by breath or my thighs as I came down. That’s when I realized what he’d carved into me. A rough D3R with deep slashes that would probably scar forever.
Defect #3: Rot
Wait, a second…
I should be mad.
Why did I not care that he marked me with his name? I stared at the carving and couldn’t muster up even an ounce of outrage I knew I should have felt.
Mine, his thought resonated in my ear like a roar, erasing even the concept of anger.
The angry gentleness shattered like thin glass. His thoughts were morphed into nothing more than wild snarls. He adjusted me with a bruising force that made me fall onto my hands. My thighs remained straddled over his hips.
I glanced back to see something wild and hungry in his eyes. He was feral.
“Wait,” I gasped, trying to crawl away.
But he anchored his arms over my thighs, holding me in place.
“You’re going to hurt me!” Panic threaded my voice, but a sliver of me was aching for what he could give me.
I was okay with him as a beast, but not while I was on full display.
“My mate.” I could barely make out the garbled words over his snarls.
His tail kept thrusting as if to lull me back into the blissful calm I’d been before. Weak as I was, my body was already begging for more.
He nuzzled his chin on my neck as his purr forced my elbows to give out. I held my breath in anticipation for what I knew was coming, but when seconds passed without him taking action, I relaxed into his tail again.
It wasn’t until I was completely melted into the soft pelt floor that he suddenly filled me with one savage thrust that ripped me apart and put me back together again. I gasped as the sensation of being completely full washed over me.
He must have felt it too, because his weight grew heavy on top of me as he covered me like a blanket with his top half. Warmth. Safety.
Tears pricked my eyes. Home.
Every motion of his unrelenting hips reaffirmed that I was his. That I couldn’t go anywhere, and neither could he.
Despite everything. We were one.
We were all that the other had.
His orgasm filled my mind, and I fell off the precipice right behind him, as if I were experiencing it for myself.
The growled groans in my ears rolled safety and warmth over me.
My heavy breathing was in perfect harmony with his. We laid there in bliss for what felt like forever. As if time stopped around us, so we could stay in our bubble of peace.
My eyes went to the mark on my thigh and knew that eventually this fantasy bubble would pop.
What would the price be when it did?