“A cabin?” Her voice caught.
My chest squeezed, worry that I’d gotten it all wrong buzzing under my skin. “Please don’t be sad, Moonflower.”
“I’m not sad.” She walked along the path the feet of the stone kin had made by flattening the tall grass, stopping when she got to the little steps that led to the door. She looked at me over her shoulder, tears brimming. “You made me a porch?”
I gestured to the beam along the roofline. “You needed somewhere to hang your wind chimes.”
She laughed, the sound a mix between humor and sobbing. I still wasn’t sure about her reaction, and my excitement had morphed into anxiety. Her hand reached out to jingle the glass, and her smile reassured me some.
“Open the door, Moonflower.”
Hailon did as I asked and stepped into the freshly finished cabin. The smell of new lumber and paint was heavy, but it would fade soon enough.
I’d asked for something slightly bigger than what we’d had in the way-house cabin, and the stone kin had delivered exactly what I wanted. It was their specialty, honestly, as most of the dwellings at the conclave were along the same lines.
The main space was a wide living room with a fireplace in the corner, a cozy sofa, and a plush rug I’d picked out myself. The living room narrowed into the small kitchen and dining area, and the single bedroom and bath were to the right of that.
I stood in the entry, watching her as she took it all in.
“There’s no running water yet, but there will be soon enough. And there’s always the springs until then. I didn’t pick anything that couldn’t be changed easily. I wanted you to be able to go intotown somewhere and pick out the linens and dishes you like. Soap. Knives.” I fidgeted, her stare making me unreasonably nervous. I couldn’t tell if what I was seeing in her face was accusation or excitement. “You were happy in that cabin, I thought. We were both happy, here, that day. I love seeing you dangerous, Moonflower. But I need you to live happy.”
“Seir.” She said my name with conviction, her head shaking. My heart pounded, the fear of being rejected riding hard on my nerves. My tail wound and unwound around my own leg anxiously. “It’s perfect.” She barely breathed the words before the tears finally won. “Thank you.” She threw herself into my arms and squeezed. “I’m not sure what I did to deserve any of this. To deserve you.”
“Same goes for me, honestly. But I promised to be a good mate to you. I keep my promises.”
“I know you do.” She nodded, laughter bubbling up.
Hailon took my face between her hands and kissed me, every doubt I had disappearing as she slowly turned the sweet embrace into something incendiary.
I stepped her around the house, never letting her out of my arms.
“Shall I show you the bed you need to buy new linens for then?” She giggled. I melted. “Actually… not yet. Let’s start over here. This is our kitchen. I’ll make you hot grain cereal for breakfast, and stew for dinner?—”
“Maybe something else. Anything else.” Her lighthearted laugh tripped down my spine, sending a bolt of lust straight to my cock.
“Fine, I’ll bake you chocolate cakes and fresh bread with honey in that oven. Roast you as many birds as you like. Though I might actually do better with those over the fire.” I pushed her up against the counter, lifting her so she was sitting on top of the slab of butcher block. I kissed her thoroughly, tangling mytongue with hers as my hands slid under her tunic and pulled it off. Her legs locked around me, the counter a perfect height for me to nestle my body against hers, my hands on her bare back. I groaned and pulled away.
“Wait,” she protested.
I carried her into the living room, kissing her face and neck, one arm locked under her ass. My tail wound around her leg, the tip teasing along the seam of her trousers. “This is our living room. The sofa is secondhand from d’Arcan but guaranteed to be far more comfortable than anything I could have found new.” I dropped her onto the cushions, leaning close so I could keep kissing her while my hands worked her trouser ties open, then I tugged the offending garment off her body. I used my hand to tease her through her underthings, finding her hot and wet beneath my fingers.
“Seir.”
“We’re not done with the tour.” I gritted my jaw against the painful throbbing in my own pants and dragged her to her feet, squatting down so she could ride on my back. “This is our bathroom. The stone kin insisted on both the big tub and this strange little rain room, but honestly, I think they’re onto something.” I slid her off my back and spun, pressing her against the smooth wall under the strange faucet in the ceiling, hiking her leg up over my thigh. Her center pressed against me as I kissed her again, hot even through my pants.
“I’m going to get angry soon,” she warned.
“I like you with teeth, beloved.”
Still, I took the opportunity to grab her up against me and carried her to the bedroom before setting her on her feet again. Her hands were frantic as they removed my tunic, then my trousers. I allowed her control until I had none remaining. Then I turned her around, her back to my front with her wrists tied upover her ass by my tail. I pressed a hand between her shoulder blades, pushing her down to the mattress.
“Seir.” Her exhale was long as she bent over in front of me. I slid my hand along one strong thigh, kicking with one of my feet to make her legs fall wider apart. Her center was fully exposed to me, glistening in the fading afternoon light. “I need you.”
“Yes, I can see that.” I ground my teeth together as I tried to maintain some calm before guiding myself to her entrance.
She moaned as I pushed inside her, and my body throbbed, her tight, wet heat almost too much in this position. Hailon tilted her hips back against me, and I groaned, grabbing them so I could keep control before I shamed myself. Again.
I started with shallow rocking, and the noises she made and the feel of her around me drove all coherency from my thoughts.
