She pushed off the bank away from him, twisting through the water in a little, graceful movement that made his heart flutter a little. He hadn’t been prepared to see how perfect she was underneath all her layers.
She pulled herself up on the mossy rocks that lined the bank.
He tried valiantly, not entirely successfully, not to notice too much about her bare tits, the water dripping off them. They had a conversation to finish.
But his eyes, the rising Blood Fever in him, and his stirring cock were all too focused on her. The way her breasts were not quite perfectly round, the dark, gleaming wet of her nipples against the full morning light, how they tightened into peaks in the cold air.
Then there was the way her hips, the way they rounded into her ass, her soft, heavy thighs, the little triangle of hair tucked into them. Everything about her body that has previously been too covered in too small a space to properly enjoy.
He needed to close his eyes or look away if he wanted to be able to hear what she was saying.
“If it doesn’t bother you,” he shrugged, quickly and pointedly looking away. He needed to explain it to her. To let her know fully what it meant. He couldn’t expect her to want to give up her life to stay in the Whispering Wood with him, as unlikely as his leaving would be.
“How’s this going to work?”
“It’s um. A little complicated. Usually there would be meetings with families, celebrations…”
“No, I mean. Maybe you can finger me a little first,” she interrupted. When he stared at her, she rolled her eyes. “Y’know, to get things started.”
The gaze of the Blood Fever in his body seemed to thicken, heat spreading through his middle.
“You did promise me a good, hot bath with you,” she murmured, as she leaned over to stroke his cock through his pants. In moments it was achingly hard, getting harder with every stroke of her light teasing fingertips.
Tanis tried to hold back a groan, glancing over his shoulder to make sure they truly were alone.
She giggled, pushing herself back into the water. “Take off your belt.”
The way this halfling made him feel like a scandalized crone.
“And your shirt.”
Still, a smile started to creep up around his tusks, and he did as she said.
“Now the pants,” she commanded, and he watched the way she leaned back, her hands disappearing under the waves, the ripples hinting at the way she spread her legs for herself.
Gods, she was breathtaking. What had started as an idle curiosity had already taken root in his chest. He was here entirely, without reservation.
Tanis stepped into the spring, and in a few strokes crossed it to her side.
She bit her lower lip, her eyes growing wide as his shadow covered her. He couldn’t help but grin as he crowded her against a rocky wall, taking her hands and pinning them over her head.
He pressed a kiss to her mouth, gentle at first, but with the way she nipped at his lip and invited his tongue into her mouth, it quickly became more feverish.
He held her wrists in place with one of his hands, the other dipping below the waves, skimming up her thighs. She gasped and bit her lip when he delved a finger within her, stroking until he could fit in another. She felt so perfect, hot and tight and slick. He hoped he would be able to fit his cock inside her.
“Everything just feels so much… more,” she panted as he curled his fingers into her again, hitting that spot that made her brows draw tight together. Bianca’s face was flushed with pleasure, her soft tits perked towards the sky. “Is that what this whole mates thing is about? Are we… bonded, then? This is it?”
Tanis nodded. "Something like that. But you should know, you don’t have to be. You don’t have to stay if…. if you don’t want this.”
The words were hard to force out, nearly as hard as holding himself back from licking her to both their completions while she was so tantalizingly spread before him. But she had to know what she was getting into.
She was quiet many moments, before she offered quietly, “Do you want me to stay? You were trying to avoid this kind of situation when we met.”
Tanis sank back into the water, cupping her face in his hands. “I’m happy that it was you. But I wanted you to know. You don’t have to. You didn’t ask for it, and it’s not your way. I will… understand.”
Maybe his head would, but his heart wouldn’t. His heart would grieve and bleed for every moment that she was gone. But he tried not to show that, because he couldn’t keep her here if she didn’t want to be here. Too many bugs, or something.
She watched his expression intently for a moment, before rolling her eyes and breaking out into a grin. “Oh please. You were flirting with me before this whole Fevery Blood and mates thing.”
