They looked at me and ran their palm along my cheek. “I’d walk you up to your room…”
The unfinished sentence lingered in the air, dropping my mood slightly. But we couldn’t get caught. Frederick, Arielle, and who knew which other Tritons lurked around the house tonight, and after what we’d gotten up to, our interlude would be too obvious if Ursuline escorted me back up.
“Right,” I murmured, the disappointment rising up in me regardless.
Ursuline pressed a kiss to my forehead, and the mere touch, the mere act of tenderness banished the negative feelings. I basked in bliss once more.
“I won’t stay away,” they promised, their palm cupping my cheek as they stared into my eyes. I believed them. Ursuline lived by their word.
I swallowed hard and bobbed my head before pushing off from the bench. I took my time tugging my clothes back on, Ursuline helping the process along as they yanked my shirt down, buttoned my pants. The whole process felt intimate, their care shown through every motion, every lingering look.
With my clothes on, I was ready to return to my room—even if my heart wasn’t. The exhaustion slammed into me something fierce, and my eyes kept trying to slide shut. I needed to sleep for a week after the way they’d fucked me. I turned toward them and met their gaze. Their lips were right there, so close, and I longed to reach out and taste them once more. I licked my own, and their eyes flared.
Ursuline let out a low curse and leaned in. They claimed my lips with a surety I’d sorely needed. They drove their tongue intomy mouth, and I melted into them at once, kissing back for all I was worth. Not wanting to let go.
When I drew apart for breath, they let out a heavy sigh. “You need to get some rest.”
I bobbed my head, even though a lump formed in my throat.
“I’m not going to disappear,” they reassured me.
“Famous last words,” I teased. The promise did help, though. Because even though they kept secrets like a shroud, they’d proved themselves trustworthy by their actions. I hated to do so, but I pulled away and strode toward the door. I didn’t look back when I walked out, otherwise I’d never leave.
I believed I’d feel nothing but emptiness as I traveled up the stairs and down the corridor toward my room, but the twinge in my hole, the lingering sensation of their cum inside me, offered the reminder that this was real.
That Ursuline had taken me tonight and fulfilled me in every way I’d hoped.
A slow warmth spread through my body as I reached my bedroom and stepped inside. I collapsed onto my bed, the heat still glowing inside me, a small flicker of a candle for now, but one that promised to last throughout the night.
Chapter 16
My whole body ached like I’d swum an entire day in the sea.
I lay in the bed and rubbed my eyes, basking in the slight soreness in my hole, the lingering rasp in my throat too when I coughed. I wasn’t sure what time it was, but the sun streamed brightly through the windows, suggesting it was a good way into the morning.
Not like anyone would be waiting for me, though.
After being locked into a corporate environment for years, this stark shift to joblessness had thrown me for a loop, but I’d burst at the seams with inspiration for new art pieces. After years of restraining it, the colors and strokes on the canvas exploded out of me.
I should get downstairs and make some tea.
Except that required moving.
I heaved a sigh. All I wanted was to see Ursuline right now. To get the reassurance that they didn’t regret what we’d done last night.
A knock sounded on my door, and I popped upright. With a groan, I pushed myself up from the mattress.
Before I could reach the door, the knob twisted open, and the person I’d wanted to see most slipped inside.
Ursuline shut the door quietly behind them. I was a rumpled mess, my hair askew, my clothes half on, half off my body after falling asleep in them. Unlike me, they were pristinely put together, this time wearing a black tunic with a stiff collar that circled their neck. Their bare arms were exposed, the muscles defined and delicious, and they glided farther in on their tentacles. Saliva gushed in my mouth at the memory of their mating tentacles inside me, bringing me to completion.
“How are you feeling?” they asked, scanning over me. The sun highlighted the sharp angles of their chin, their long neck, their clavicles.
“Tired but so damn good,” I responded, a grin rising to my lips. My heart thumped hard. They’d come to check in on me.
“Everyone’s stepped out for the day,” they said with a glance back to the door. “So it was safe for me to swing by.” They stepped closer and ran their thumb along my cheek. “I promised I wouldn’t stay away.”
I swallowed hard, my eyes heating up. “Thank you.”
