18. Under the Stars #2
The first brush of her fingers sent a jolt of sensation through Driz’s whole being. Driz had explored her own body, but this was a world apart from when she’d tried touching herself. Because this was Pearl touching her.
She rested her forehead to Pearl’s, gazing down to watch. To assure herself this was happening. At this point, Driz wasn’t certain if she cared if it was real or not, so long as it didn’t end. But she was already starting to tremble.
With only a few quick strokes of Pearl’s fingers, Driz broke. Pleasure rushed through her like a downpour of rain, strikes of lightning crackling and rumbling with the aftershocks of thunder.
She heard the tree groan and Pearl let out a breathless laugh, which stuttered into a moan.
Pearl’s hips rocked harder, her movements quickening and breaking free from the rhythm into something more desperate as her slickness covered Driz’s skin.
Whatever Pearl sought, Driz would give it to her. Anything. Everything.
Pearl’s teeth latched on to Driz’s neck. The sound it tugged from Driz’s throat was one she didn’t even recognize. She craved Pearl’s bite. She needed it.
Pearl clamped around Driz’s thigh as she convulsed, cry muffled against skin, her breath hot on the tender patch she’d just made. Driz tightened her hold as Pearl shook, and finally relaxed.
They stayed pressed together for a while, catching their breath.
Driz nuzzled Pearl’s shoulder, tasting the salt on her skin and running her fingers through Pearl’s hair.
Driz had never been so close to someone.
She was full. She had been going through life as a trickling stream and Pearl was the rain that overflowed her banks.
Pearl sighed and shifted. Instead of letting her go, Driz hoisted her higher, and Pearl wrapped her arms and legs around her like when they flew. Driz’s wings ached with the repressed need to take her into the sky right now. To mate. To claim. To give.
She tasted every bit of skin she could reach, from the place beneath Pearl’s jaw to her elbows to the swells of her breasts.
Humming, Pearl arched into her, and Driz took that as a request she meant to fulfill.
She tentatively licked over the peak of one breast and Pearl’s fingers tightened on the back of her head.
“Again,” Pearl directed.
Driz did it again. And again. Savoring her skin and the hardening nipple. When Pearl was panting anew, Driz carefully skimmed her knuckles to the splayed junction of her thighs.
“Yes,” Pearl breathed.
Driz dragged one finger up her soft, wet center, and the scent grew even stronger.
Her claws were too sharp. She hastily brought her hand up to her mouth, biting off the tips, before returning. Pearl let out a delicious sound.
Driz repeated the previous motion, careful and slow, not wanting to do the wrong thing or accidentally hurt Pearl.
But she must have been bad at it because Pearl muttered, “Oh gods,” and grabbed Driz’s hand.
Curling their fingers together, Pearl guided her, showing her how to touch her.
Pearl welcomed Driz inside her without hesitation.
Driz couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t think. There was only Pearl.
Driz did exactly as Pearl showed her. And again. And again.
Pearl dropped her head back, exposing the beautiful length of her throat. “Oh gods,” she repeated.
“Does that mean good, or bad?” Driz asked.
“Good,” Pearl panted.
“Good,” Driz agreed, her wings quaking. She needed to please Pearl. To be right for once, instead of wrong. Because this felt more right than anything else in her life.
The stars spun above, and Driz and Pearl mated in their way in the shadow of the old tree.
Pearl’s heart galloped, her scent changing. She rolled her head against the smooth bark, her body tensing with pleasure again, and Driz stifled her roar of satisfaction. Her wings snapped and jittered to fly, but she forced them to still.
“Enough,” Pearl gasped, gripping Driz’s wrist, and she ceased the caress Pearl had showed her.
“Sorry.”
Pearl laughed breathily. “You better not be sorry. Just…hold me for a bit.”
Driz ended up seated at the base of the tree, with Pearl curled in her lap, head on her shoulder and Driz’s wings draped around them both.
Pearl was still breathing hard, one hand lazily trailing over Driz’s sensitive breasts, stoking her desire. Driz needed Pearl again. She needed to make her cry out. She was about to slide her hand back between Pearl’s legs when Pearl spoke.
“Tell me about your family. Your mother,” Pearl whispered.
Driz was surprised by the question, but she would answer whatever Pearl asked. She settled her hand on Pearl’s knee instead. “Her name is Torrent. She is a paler tan than I am, with black veins on her wings.”
“Is that common? For coloring to be different? Or d'you take after your father?”
“I do not know. But Torrent did not birth me.”
Pearl stiffened. “Your birth mother died?”
“I suppose so. Torrent found me alone and took on the responsibility of mother until my fifth Meeting. She had borne young before, so she knew what to do.”
“So you don’t remember a time before?”
Driz shook her head.
Pearl shivered, nestling closer and pressing her lips to the tender spot on Driz’s neck.
“I like that,” Driz stated. “I wish it would stay. But the stone sleep will heal it. You will have to bite me every night.” The idea thoroughly delighted Driz.
But Pearl stiffened again. “It’s late. I should get home.”
Pearl extracted herself from the embrace and Driz reluctantly let her go, sensing she had just said something wrong but not certain what it was.
As if in a hurry to be covered, Pearl yanked on her trousers and threw her partially buttoned shirt over her head, her movements jerky. Driz didn’t think Pearl should ever wear clothes.
“What is wrong?” Driz asked.
“Nothing. Just late.”
Driz climbed to her feet too, pulling on her own damp clothes. Her body felt different. Lighter and almost not her own. She had never had so much pleasure. Ever.
She tied Pearl’s old scarf around her neck and thought of the necklace she’d given to Pearl. She had hoped Pearl would wear it, as Driz wore Pearl’s scarf, but Pearl’s throat was bare. Driz tried not to be disappointed by that.
“Will you help me?” Driz asked, gesturing to her shirt and presenting her back.
Pearl’s fingers were quick and efficient. Driz turned to draw her in for a kiss, hungry to rekindle the tender passion of earlier. But Pearl stepped away, busy fastening her holster.
“Are you unwell?” Driz asked, concerned.
“Fine. Ready?”
“Almost.” Driz removed the grass from the bottle so the trapped lightning bugs inside could be free.
Pearl wrapped around Driz as before, and some of the tension in Driz’s chest eased. They were both quiet on the short flight back to the ravine.
When they landed, Driz didn’t let her arms fall. She leaned down once more for a kiss, but her lips met air as Pearl slipped from her grasp.
The rejection of it tore through Driz’s fresh, fragile happiness. “Please tell me what I did wrong.” She needed to understand.
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“But you are upset.”
“I’m not upset. I’m tired.”
“Will I see you tomorrow night?”
“I’ll be busy tomorrow.”
“Then the night after?”
Pearl shrugged as if it didn’t matter. “I’ll have to see.”
“No.” Driz reached out to catch Pearl’s arm. “You cannot leave like this.”
Pearl shook off her hand. “I can do whatever I want,” she said, the harsh edge to her words slashing across Driz’s open chest.
Panic swelled, like cracks fracturing her skin. “I can fix it. Or I can do better,” Driz promised without knowing what was broken or what she’d messed up, but knowing she would make it right. “Tell me how. Let me show you—”
Pearl kissed her so fiercely Driz stumbled. Her mind spun but her heart leapt. Pearl was kissing her, and that was enough for now.
“I’m sorry,” Pearl breathed against her lips. “None of this is your fault. It’s all me. I’m just…I’m fucked up in a lot of ways, and it’s not something that can just be fixed. I’m not worth your effort.”
“You are worth everything.”
“Don’t say things like that,” Pearl muttered.
“Why not?”
Instead of answering, Pearl kissed her again. “I really can’t promise tomorrow. But I’ll do my best for the night after.”
“Then I will be here.”