I took full control of her head and plunged into her mouth like I did in the tub, reveling in the scrape of her teeth against my tongue and the helpless sounds coming from deep in her throat. As soon as her hand left the leather on my body, it was in my hair—pulling hard. I was almost too far gone to stop, but I also didn’t want a bald patch on the side of my head.
“No, sorry,” came her cry as soon as I lifted off her again. “I didn’t mean to…”
Is this what she was worried about? I was on the verge of laughing at her silly fears. That idiot in her village obviously didn’t understand how to empower her. My mate was passionate but about as coordinated as a new colt. It would be my pleasure to soothe her and teach her how to move with me.
“I can smell what you mean, mate.” Her orange and whiskey scent saturated the room as her arousal came and went. “I’m going to keep these safe up here.” Clutching her wrists in one hand, I nuzzled her face aside to get to her neck and lick across it. I was right—she tasted better than she smelled.
“Ward. I’m not very…”
“You’re perfect, Evie. So unless the next words out of your sweet mouth are ‘more’ or ‘yes, please’, we’re going to reserve comments on what you can and can’t do until you’ve come so many times you can’t hold yourself up.”
Her trembling finally stopped when I caught a nipple in my teeth through the fabric covering her. Evie’s knees jerked up to my sides, squeezing. I ran a knuckle through her soaked folds and her knee dug hard enough to crack a rib. I sucked in a breath, the pain distant in the haze of pleasure around me.
My mate must have felt something give because she stiffened all at once, fear in her eyes and across the bond. My bear was already repairing the rib. He acted even more excited, Evie was so strong. The animal was magnificently deranged. He rolled on his back in my mind, paws waving in the air. The only thing keeping him from shifting in the moment was the fact we would probably crush our mate to death in this ridiculous room. He chuffed his silly song at her, and it slowly relaxed her whole body again. I would find him an entire elk if he kept that smile on her face. It released my dread of hurting her. If my bear didn’t react to a fractured rib, he would never harm Evie.
“Knees spread, viper,” I ordered.
She complied so fast there was a breeze. Still, she stuttered out, “We don’t have to keep going?—”
I didn’t want to give her any more chances to overthink this. “Hands on the edge of the cot or I stop.”
It was a tight fit against the wall to wedge between her legs, but nothing would keep me from proving to Evie we belonged together, no matter her fears or mine. One long lick and I had to stop my bear from marking her right then.
“Ward, you don’t have to?—”
I sucked hard on the cherry of her clit before grumbling, “Stop interrupting my meal.”
Licking into her passage, her thighs came for me again, but I was ready this time. I clamped a hand on each of them, sinking into her ripe flesh, and nipped each one for good measure before returning to my treasure. Evie’s pants and moans rivaled anything that would come from the other side of the wall. I wanted her hands in my hair, pulling me closer, but not tonight. We would get there. Her writhing like the best sort of prey only made my bear hungrier to see her come undone. Pumping a finger into her, I fished for that glorious soft spot as I sucked hard on her clit. I struck gold on my third try. Riding her orgasm was like taming a bronco, but I was ten times as strong as she was and I would keep her safe with my last breath.
I let her close her legs and regain her strength, hiding her face in her arm for as long as she liked. I whispered the structure of a spell for water, directing it into the jar in the corner.
I think she murmured “Oh my Godds” but it was hard to hear over my own thundering heartbeat. My bear sat incredibly smug in the back of my mind, still licking his chops. I took a swallow of water for myself, loathe to wash off any of her scent, and then dragged her upright on the cot.
“Sit up, drink up, viper. I need you hydrated for round two.”
She blinked blearily at me. “Round two? I think I broke your rib, Ward.”
I patted her hand against my side where she had, in fact, cracked my rib. “I don’t think so,” I said innocently.
I didn’t have to fake a lack of pain as she pressed a little more firmly. I was never so glad for shifter magic. Sitting down fully on the floor, my feet touching the other wall, I put her on my lap. The closet was already steaming hot with our round one, so I was confident she wouldn’t mind if I peeled off her kaftan. Her arms came over her stomach and breasts, but I gave her hands something to do when I passed her the water, exposing her sweet flesh to my gaze.
“Thank you,” she said.
“Drink while I get my fill of these perfect breasts.”
I occupied my hands with them as her chest heaved at my touch. Evie’s pert nipples beaded as soon as I brushed them, her hips moving in small, painful circles over my lap. I was never going to last in this position and this was definitely about making sure we both knew chains of any kind would never figure into our relationship.
Licking under each creamy globe, I dragged my tongue over her rosy nipples. My teeth were made for her tender skin. I latched on to a nipple, shaking her breast with my teeth, letting them drop and bounce in a way that made me long to see them do the same when my cock was slamming into her. My bear moaned his confusion why we were not putting cubs in her belly right this moment. We would go at the pace my mate wanted. Judging by her abandoned water and the increasing pressure on my cock, she was ready.
“You weren’t kidding about round two,” she said.
“I never kid about your pleasure, mate.”
“I…” She stopped her torture with her hips. “Never mind.”
“I’ll hear it if you want more. You can always tell me anything.” I combed her hair back from her face.
“I’ve never gotten much past missionary in the dark. I’m not sure why we’re not rolling over and going to sleep.”
