Chapter 12 His and Hers #2
Rubbing harder, my muscles tighten and my breath shortens as the anticipation of climax materializes under my moving fingers.
Close to the edge, I moan, shoving my heels down and lifting my hips into the weight of the hides above me, pretending they’re a lover.
When my orgasm erupts, I hitch in a breath, turn my face to the side, and cry out, bunching the hides between my thighs, gathering them against my sex.
I ride it out, purring in pleasure, undulating in the waves of release.
Thrusting my hips into their softness, I make it last as long as I can, using both my hands to grip the bedding beneath me as the pleasure gradually fades.
I come down, huffing in the middle of Darolus’s nest.
Sitting upright abruptly, I make sure the boulders are still in place and he’s not there.
With a sigh of relief, I peer down at the mess I’ve made. Everything is wet. Way, way too wet. “Fuck.”
He could return at any moment.
Jumping out of his nest, I gather the ruined hides to dunk them in the pool.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Then, as if I called out to him mid-orgasm, I hear shifting rubble from inside the tunnel. I always hear him before he arrives; the pebbles his tail dislodges each time always herald his arrival behind the boulders. It’s nice to have those few seconds to prepare.
My heart beats faster and I curse, dashing back to his nest and spreading the hides over it instead of plunging them into the water.
Quickly I cover the few I used with a bunch of others, hoping to at least mask my scent.
That done, I grab my pants and shove them back on.
When I turn around a moment later, he’s pushing out the first boulder with his tail.
I scurry back to stand by my own bed as he enters the room.
“You’re back,” I say, trying to act calm when my pussy is still fluttering from an incredible orgasm.
Darolus pauses and blinks at me. I stare back at him, noting the unreadable expression on his face.
Pulling my lower lip into my mouth, I bite down on it as my gaze drops helplessly to the corded muscles of his neck and shoulders—and lower still, to his massive chest, rock-hard abs, and flat stomach.
He’s got the physique of a god. Any man would be jealous and intimidated by him. Releasing my lip from my teeth, my gaze drops farther, to his tail and the faint patterns on it that my fingers twitch to trace.
Are his scales as smooth as they look? As soft as his hides? Are they cool to the touch? Or warm and textured? I shake my head, confused by my thoughts and the sudden desire to reach out and run my hand down his chest.
Without a word, his gaze trails over my face, down my body, then back up it. I stiffen. His nostrils go wide and, as his gaze hones in on my crotch, my lips part in slow horror.
In his hand he’s holding a ragged piece of paper, but instead of coming closer, he coils his tail into the room and around him, flexing it the way he always does when he’s thinking hard.
“Darolus, what’s wrong? What’s that in your hand?” I say, trying to distract him.
He smells it. I know he does.
He smells my orgasm.
Or I’m paranoid.
I’m always paranoid.
Then he’s in motion. Heat races up my body to bloom across my face. I hurry to step in front of him but he’s already beside his nest before I can get between it and him. “Wait—”
The end of his tail wraps around me, stopping me in my tracks as he leans over his nest and narrows his eyes.
“I can explain,” I say. “I crawled into your nest to lie down…” Watching him, I trail off, his fierce reaction making me more nervous by the second. He’s fixated on the hides, searching them like he’s trying to find the source of my smell. But the way his eyes keep flicking to me…
I think he knows where the source is.
I push against his tail, trying to escape the clinch, so embarrassed that I’m ready to end my life and jump into the water. It doesn’t budge. After a strong sniff, Darolus straightens up, every muscle in his body suddenly tense. The paper in his fist is crumbled between his fingers.
I swallow.
Damn.
“I’m sorry,” I squeak.
“You smell,” he says, his voice gruffer than usual.
Ugh. Fuck, I fucked up. The flush in my cheeks burns hotter as his icy gaze moves over me once more and he clearly notices my blush.
What do I say to that?
“Why?” he asks.
Realizing I may have made a bigger mistake than just touching myself to relieve my boredom, I try not to let my deepening embarrassment show. “I had to let off a little steam and so I worked out for a while. It’s probably my sweat that you’re smelling.”
His nostrils flare again with his next breath, and his bright blue eyes sharpen on me like twin knives. “I know the smell your skin gives off when you are overheated. This is not that.”
I wriggle against his hold, but he only tightens it and slides forward. There’s nowhere I can go or even look to avoid him.
Suddenly annoyed by my lack of freedom, I drive my elbows into his scales, wrenching the circle of his tail loose enough to swiftly duck out of and put some space between us.
As he hmphs, I shake my hair out and cross my arms. “You don’t get to corner me and question me about my body like you have some right to it!
Back off.” I place my hand on my knife. “So what if I smell? Sometimes I will, and you’re going to learn that the longer you keep me here. ”
Baring his fangs at me, he does as I say and draws back as well. “I am sorry.” Some of the sharpness in his eyes vanishes. “The smell is strong and…” A strange look clouds his expression as he turns away.
“Darolus?”
He shoves the paper toward me. “Here, I think this is for you.”
Startled, my eyes widen as I step forward and take it from him. I start to smooth out the crumples, confused. What could possibly be for me?
I discover a note scribbled in Annora’s handwriting.
Sabrina, if you find this… if you are still alive… Please know we searched for you. For days we did nothing but search for you. I tried to convince Weston to stay longer… I’m so, so sorry. -Annora
Heart pounding, I read the note several more times.
“I found it where the ship had been, lying on a nearby rock with this.” Darolus heads back to the tunnel, reemerging with a frayed, black satchel covered in chains and little closed hooks.
I run over to him and take the bag from his grasp. “It’s my stuff!”
Bringing it to my hides, I open it to find some of my clothes, makeup, and a few of my belongings that had been stored on The Wreck. Shifting through it quickly, I squint up at Darolus. “This was it? And the ship was gone?”
“Yessss.”
I let my hands drop in my lap, mind nearly blank, too overwhelmed by emotion to really feel anything.
It’s true. They are gone…
I pull my bag into my arms and hug it close, letting the sudden rush of sadness roll over me. It’s there and gone and then the familiar numbness takes hold again.
“Are you okay, Ssssabrina?”
Shuddering, I hide my face from him. “Yeah. I’m fine. I’ll be fine. Nothing’s changed.”
“I will give you some space.”
I hear him start to turn for the tunnel and the urge to stop him overcomes me. “Wait!” Surging to my feet, I dart to him. But unlike the other attempts I’ve made to keep him here, this time I reach out and take his hand in mine.
He freezes, his body no less tense than earlier, and looks down at our clasped hands: his huge and blue, mine tiny, pale, and delicate in comparison. Both scarred, though. Neither of us has had a life without pain.
“Thank you,” I say quietly.
His hand flexes under mine and his brows furrow. “For what?”
I lean up to cup his cheek with my other hand, and, rising on my toes, give him a kiss. For a moment, our lips touch, his warm and soft against my own.
My bare feet flatten out on the stony floor as I pull away. “For bringing me my things and the note,” I explain.
I walk away, back to my hides, sitting down upon them and facing away from him. I’m no longer bored, but disappointed and… betrayed instead. And tired, so tired. I lie down and pull my bag to me. Embracing it, I close my eyes.
I knew they would leave and all this does is confirm it. Nothing more. Still, I can’t shake the emotion, not even back to embarrassment for the state Darolus found me in.
His scent fills me and I let out a jagged breath.
I listen to him leave before I let sleep take me away.