“I knew Thalassa had power. Always kind of guessed she purposefully undersold what she was capable of. But what happened that night…it wasn’t something that should’ve been easily carved from our minds. It was too big, too important. And yet, somehow, she did it. Then buried the pieces for us to uncover years later…” His words die off again, but this time it’s not caused by simmering anger, but awe.
“She was extraordinary.”
“She was terrifying,” he counters on an exhale, guiding us back until his spine meets the white oak built-ins along the closet wall. I stay nestled on his lap, head tucked under his chin.
“Men have always been quick to call powerful women dangerous instead of just admitting they’re afraid,” I mutter, dropping my hand from his face to rest it over his sternuminstead. His heart rate has calmed. It now thuds steadily against my palm.
I know it’s a little ridiculous to feel defensive of Mom after watching what she did to us. But the instinct is rooted deep, and it won’t disappear just because I’m reeling from her actions. She hurt me. But she also loved me. Both truths live side by side, and I’m only just learning how to hold them without my hands shaking.
She had a good reason for what she did,I remind myself, because I have to cling to this belief to keep upright.
“I was more scared of that wolf,” I admit quietly, taking the spotlight off Mom’s power. “The one made of shadows.”
Rennick hums his agreement. Then his whole body locks like something short-circuits through him.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“It’s something your mother said in another dream,” he answers slowly. He sounds distant, like he’s half here with me and half there, reliving it. “She told me I hadn’t been ready to protect you back then. Not from whatever danger she believed was here. Said I needed time to learn who I was without…without theshadowlooming over me.”
My head tilts as I try to process that without giving in to the inappropriate hysterical laugh bubbling in my throat. None of this is funny, Goddess no, but I think my mind might be close to breaking, along with my body, with the absurdity of it all. My mother was never this cryptic in life, but apparently death has given her a flair for half-truths and vague-as-fuck hints. Inconvenient, sure. Also painfully on brand for my life lately.
“Shadow,” I repeat under my breath. “Who was the shadow?”
The question hangs in the air as my mind drifts back to the beast from the nightmare. That massive, shifting body made of inky smoke and mist. The way he laughed cruelly. The way his eyes looked. Pitch-black. Empty. Devoid of any warmth.
A shiver crawls through me as something old begins to stir at the edges of my mind. Not another message left by Mom. No, this is mine. Whatever my subconscious is trying to uncover hoversrightthere, but every time I reach for it, it slips through my fingers like sand.
“I’m not sure,” he mumbles, resting his head against mine. But the way he says it makes my stomach knot. It’s not uncertainty, it’s hesitation.
Because he has a guess.
And so do I.
Chapter 31
Noa
Isurface from sleep already warm, already pliant, my body lingering in that drowsy afterglow where everything feels good. Consciousness comes back in fragments, unhurried, while I float in the simple fact that I feel good. No pain. Just pleasure. It’s the slow, deliberate lick through my pussy that has whatever fog remains in my head burning away at once.
Gasping, my hips jerk before I can stop myself, and the need to see him has my head lifting from the nest. There’s just enough morning light coming through the cracked closet door that I can see properly.
Rennick lies between my thighs, completely at ease, as if this is exactly where he belongs. One corded arm rests over my stomach, his wide palm pressing firmly on my chest while his broad shoulders brace my legs open so nothing can keep him from accessing all of me.
Any chance I imagined that earlier lick disappears the moment his mouth moves against my wet cunt again, his tongue teasing my clit in that lazy, unhurried fashion that drives me fucking crazy.
He started this—devouring me like a man starved—while I was fast asleep.
This understanding settles with a jolt, hitting heavier than his touch,my blood heating as arousal rises alongside any hesitation.I know there’s a line here, one that many wouldn’t crave to ever cross, but my body skips over it before I can fully decide how I feel
I press into his mouth, greedy for whatever he’s willing to give me. A broken sound tears free that I don’t even try to swallow back. Any plan I had to stay quiet, to see how far he’ll take this before realizing he’s dragged me from sleep, going out the window instantly.
His breath stutters against me before he hums appreciatively, the sound low and vibrating against my already too sensitive flesh. My core clenches around nothing, aching, almost weeping for the fullness that isn’t there.
“Good morning, sweet Noa,” he murmurs, satisfaction vibrating through his voice that’s still rough with sleep.
“G-good morn—” I try to greet back, but the ability to speak is momentarily stolen from me when he sucks hard on my clit and his other hand joins the party.
One thick finger sinks into me and curls up, pressing against that spot on my front wall. I suck in a sharp inhale, jerking as my body works through the flash of discomfort that comes with the stretch. I’m still tender from last night, from taking his thick cock for the first time, but asking him to stop touching me now isn’t something that even crosses my mind.
