Chapter 16 #2
He guided her hand down to the thick sheath between his legs and showed her where to press to release his cock.
It sprang free, hot and hard and just a little intimidating, the thick shaft already glistening with moisture.
He was… proportionate. More than proportionate.
Her mouth went dry as she extended her hand, her fingers trembling.
"Like that," he murmured. "Just touch me. However you want to touch me."
She explored with hesitant curiosity, learning the shape of him, the feel of him, the way he responded when she curled her fingers around his shaft. He groaned, his eyes closing, and she felt a rush of feminine power.
"Gods, Marigold—"
He pulled her to the bed then, gentle but insistent, laying her back against the soft petal-covered sheets. The mattress dipped as he joined her, settling between her legs, his body covering hers with delicious weight.
"I want to touch you, little flower," he said. "Will you let me?"
"Yes."
He started at her mouth, kissing her deeply while his hands traced her collarbones, her breasts, the curve of her waist. When his fingers found her nipples, pinching and rolling gently, she arched against him.
"Sensitive?"
"God, yes."
His lips followed his hands, moving down to take first one nipple, then the other, into the hot suction of his mouth. She gasped, her fingers clasping his horns to hold him close.
When his hand moved lower, finding the wet heat between her thighs, her gasp turned into a moan. He explored her slowly, thoroughly, until she was writhing against him, desperate for more.
"Thallos, please—"
He looked up, eyes dark with desire. "What do you need?"
"You. Inside me. I need you inside me."
The words sounded foreign coming from her mouth—she'd never spoken so frankly about sex in her life—but she meant them with every fiber of her being.
He shifted, positioning himself at her entrance. "Like this?"
"Yes. Please."
He entered her slowly, watching her face for any sign of discomfort.
As ready as she was, her body resisted at first, struggling to accommodate his size, but he was gentle and persistent, pausing to kiss her and murmur soft words until he was fully seated.
She wrapped her legs around his waist, holding him close, and felt him shudder.
"You feel…" He closed his eyes. "Perfect."
She moved experimentally, and they both gasped.
After that, there was nothing gentle about it.
He set a rhythm that had her arching off the bed, meeting each thrust with growing urgency. She felt the tension building inside her, the same tension she'd felt in the grove, but more intense now with him inside her, surrounding her, filling her completely.
His hand found her clit again, rubbing in circles that matched his thrusts, and suddenly she was coming, her body clenching around him as pleasure crashed through her in waves that seemed to go on forever.
He followed moments later, burying his face in her neck with a hoarse shout of her name, his body shuddering against hers.
Afterwards, they lay tangled together, their breathing gradually slowing. His weight was still on top of her, but she didn't mind. She liked the feeling of being surrounded by him, anchored by him.
"I'm in love with you," he said suddenly.
She blinked. "What?"
"I love you." He propped himself up on his elbows to look at her properly.
"You can't know that. We've barely—"
"I've known since the first time I saw you. I just didn't know what it was called yet." He brushed a strand of hair back from her face. "You don't have to say it back. I know you need time. But I wanted you to know."
She searched his face, saw only sincerity. "I think I'm falling in love with you too," she whispered.
The smile that spread across his face was like sunrise breaking over the mountains. "Yeah?"
"Yeah."
He kissed her, long and deep and perfect.
"I'm going to show you every day," he said against her lips. "I'm going to show you how much I love you until you believe it without question."
"I believe it," she said. "I do."
But when his mouth moved to her neck, then lower, when he showed her exactly how he felt about her, she realized that while she might believe him, she was looking forward to all the evidence he could provide.
Later—much later—she lay curled against his chest, listening to his heartbeat slow.
"I should probably go home," she said, not moving.
"Probably." His arm tightened around her. "Or you could stay."
"That seems very presumptuous."
"I prefer to think of it as 'optimistic.'"
She tilted her head to look at him. In the guttering candlelight, he looked softer than usual. Younger. The perpetual charm dimmed into something more genuine.
"I'll stay," she said.
"Good." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I wasn't actually going to let you leave."
"That sounds ominous."
"It's romantic."
"Potayto, potahto."
He laughed, the sound rumbling through his chest and into her. She closed her eyes and let herself drift, surrounded by warmth and the lingering scent of candles and wine and something that smelled like home.
This was what she'd been afraid of all along, she realized. Not heartbreak. Not betrayal.
Happiness.
The possibility of having something real, something lasting, something worth protecting. Something that would destroy her to lose.
"Hey," he murmured.
"Mm?"
"Stop thinking so loud."
"I'm not thinking."
"Liar." He shifted, pulling her closer. "Whatever you're worrying about, it can wait until morning."
"I'm not worrying."
"Then what are you doing?"
She considered deflecting. Old habits died hard. But this was Thallos. And she was done hiding.
"I'm being happy," she said quietly. "And trying to figure out if it's allowed."
His hand found hers in the dark, laced their fingers together.
"It's allowed," he said. "More than allowed. Encouraged. Mandatory, even."
"That's not how happiness works."
"It is now. I'm making a new rule."
"You can't just make rules about emotions."
"Watch me."
She laughed, helpless and happy and completely, utterly lost.
Tomorrow, she thought. Tomorrow I'll worry about what this means, about how fast we're moving, about all the ways this could fall apart.
But tonight—tonight she would just be here. With him. In this moment.