Chapter Ten

 

Whisper’s entire body was burning, and fire had never felt so good. The very first moment that Axel had kissed her, her entire being had gone up in flames. She had been caught completely off guard at first, and had pulled back in surprise. She had almost expected to see laughter in his eyes. He had spent so many years teasing her that she thought this was just another one of his jokes.

Until she saw his eyes. She would have had to have been blind to have denied the passion with which he looked at her. And from that moment, against all her better judgment, she was all in. She kissed him back, and then, she was lost. They were both lost. They shouldn’t have been doing this for so many reasons, the biggest of which was that there were no guarantees that the Gilt Hollow soldiers were not still out there searching for them. Anyone could have snuck up on them and they would never have noticed. They were far too wrapped up in each other.

Whisper had decided she would take her chances, and apparently so had Axel. He kissed her long and deep, his tongue pushing past her lips and into her mouth, until both of their tongues were dancing together. Whisper felt his arms wrapping around her body, and his stiff erection pushing against her thigh. She could hardly believe how big he felt. Sure, she had seen him naked before, but she had never quite noticed how well-endowed he was. She had always politely looked away. But she was noticing now, and she was trembling with the realization of how that huge erection would feel inside of her. Were they going to take things all the way out here?

She hoped so. And Axel certainly wasn’t showing any signs of slowing down. His hands had reached down to grab her bare ass now, and he squeezed tightly. Whisper moaned slightly, but the sound of it was drowned out by his mouth, which was still kissing her.

This was heaven.

How had she known Axel all these years and never realized how amazing his body felt? She had felt an increased attraction to him over the last few weeks, but even then she had never stopped to consider just how hot he was. And damn. He was blazing.

He moved his tongue from her mouth and traced a line down her neck with it. Then he moved back up to her ear and nibbled, sending little tremors of delight down her spine. His hands came around and cupped her breasts, instantly turning her nipples hard with desire. Whisper felt herself growing wetter and wetter between her legs. The moisture was so much that it was starting to drip down onto her legs, and she wondered if he was going to notice. His lower body was so pressed against hers that part of him was sure to come in contact with her wetness at any moment, a realization that made Whisper feel slightly embarrassed. Would he think she was crazy for being so turned on so quickly?

Her embarrassment passed as she realized that he must be just as turned on as she was. They both must have been fighting these feelings for far too long. His dick pressed harder against her leg as he slid down so that his face was even with her breasts. He put his face in between the two breasts and slid his cheeks back and forth against the soft, sensitive skin for a few moments, moaning as he did.

“You’re perfect,” he whispered. The slight stubble on his cheeks tickled her skin, and she laughed and shuddered all at the same time. The intensity of feelings running across her body was leaving her powerless to say or do much of anything except enjoy the ride. And that ride, it turned out, kept getting better and better.

He moved his mouth to her nipples, sucking, licking, and chewing, and generally causing the inferno inside of her to blaze even hotter. Tingling pleasure radiated from her nipples all across her body, and the cool wind blowing through the trees actually felt pleasant now. Whisper definitely wasn’t cold anymore. In fact, she felt such a hot pressure building within her that she wondered for a brief, ridiculous moment if it was actually possible to spontaneously combust from passion. She wouldn’t have thought so before tonight, but now she wasn’t so sure. Every touch and kiss from Axel only made her burn hotter from within. She was on the verge of begging him to just make love to her already before she exploded, when he pulled back from kissing her nipples and reached a palm up to cup her cheeks. Whisper opened her eyes and looked back at him, confused as to why he’d paused.

“I want you so badly,” he said, his voice husky and low. The desire in his tone sent shivers of delight through Whisper’s whole body. She wasn’t sure what she’d done to be lucky enough to have a man like Axel desire her, but she was savoring every moment of this.

“I want you, too,” she whispered back. “I’m yours.”

“Are you sure about this? You know once we do this, there’s no going back. It forever changes things between us.”

“I know. But I’m sure. To be honest, I’ve already reached the point of no going back. My heart is yours, Axel. I think it has been for quite a while, actually. But now that I’ve admitted to myself how I feel about you, I’ll never be able to look at you the same.”

He smiled and kissed her nose. “I feel quite similarly. And so, with your permission, my lady, I would be honored to make love to you.”

Whisper smiled back at him, her heart pounding in her chest. “Permission granted.”

He didn’t waste any time taking her up on her invitation. With one smooth movement, he pushed her onto her back and positioned himself right above her entrance, which was slick with her desire for him. With a low, sultry growl, he slid into her, and Whisper felt like her entire body exploded into a series of fireworks.

She’d thought he felt enormous when he was pushing against her leg, but having him inside of her made it clear that she’d had no concept of just how big he was. He filled her completely, pushing and stretching her inner walls as he slid deeper and deeper. She closed her eyes and drank in the wondrous sensation of him. The pressure and heat inside of her grew, the tingling intensified, and Whisper had the brief thought that this must be what heaven feels like.

Then Axel started sliding back and forth, thrusting his hips forward and backward as he moved inside of her. This deep movement quickly brought Whisper to the brink of release, and she happily tumbled over into the deepest pleasure she’d ever known. Her whole body began to tremble and spasm as her inner muscles clenched around Axel’s erection. She arched her back to push herself even closer to him, and she moaned as the heat within her grew hotter still. She felt powerless over her own body, and all she could was let the wonderful tremors of passion wash over her.

Axel followed not far behind. He threw back his head and roared, long and loud into the silence of the forest. A ridiculously stupid idea considering there might be soldiers hunting for them, but neither Whisper nor Axel could bring themselves to care about that right now. All they cared about was each other, and in that moment Axel gave himself over to Whisper completely. He groaned with pleasure as he pulsed into her, and Whisper opened her eyes just so she could see the intensity on his face. His eyes were scrunched closed with concentration and passion as he made deep, sweet love to her.

He collapsed onto her and then rolled onto his side, pulling her along with him. His arms were wrapped around her and his erection was still inside of her, and Whisper closed her eyes again as she marveled at the pleasure of having their bodies connected. It took a long time for Whisper’s body to return to anything resembling a normal state, but after a long time she and Axel both disentangled themselves from each other and sat up. She gave him a shy smile as he reached over to push a stray strand of hair behind her ear. The night air felt cool on her skin, but she was still warm enough that she didn’t feel cold.

“Good thing the soldiers didn’t come looking for us in the middle of all that,” she joked. She wasn’t sure what else to say, but she felt the need to break the silence.

Axel smiled but shrugged. “I knew they wouldn’t come. They’re so lazy. It’s a wonder actually that the whole Gilt Hollow regime hasn’t collapsed long before now. I guess the Emperor and the nobles manage to hold things together, and threaten the soldiers into getting stuff done.”

“Do you think it’s safe to go back yet?”

“To Bear Hollow itself, no. But we can cross the river and get back to the Bear Hollow side of the forest at least. That is if you’re up for a swim.”

“Let’s do it. Anything to get closer to home.”

Axel nodded in agreement and stood, offering Whisper a hand to help her stand as well. Once she was on her feet, he traced a line affectionately down the side of her face with the back of his hand. “Are you cold?”

Whisper shook her head. “No, not really. I still feel warm from being with you.”

Axel nodded again, as though he’d expected her to say that. Then he leaned in and kissed her forehead. For a moment, he looked as though he was going to say something else, but then he changed his mind and reached down to take her hand. He held on tightly as he began walking north, the direction the river should be in. It would take them a little while to reach the river, but they should run across it eventually. And this far downstream the odds of the soldiers watching it would be close to zero.

“We have a lot to talk about,” Axel said, his tone husky once again. “But for now let’s see what we can do about heading back toward home.”

“Okay,” Whisper agreed. She desperately wanted to talk about everything that had happened between them, but Axel was right. They needed to start moving. Besides, Whisper wouldn’t mind walking into Bear Hollow while holding Axel’s hand. Now that she’d made love to Axel and he had claimed her as his own, she was never letting him go, and she wanted everyone to know that.