TWENTY-SEVEN
Shortly before sundown, Jade and Emé dropped off groceries, so Layla and Quin ate a quick meal then went to bed early. They fell asleep within minutes, still worn out from their travels and rocked into dreamland by the distant whoosh of the waterfall, but Quin awoke as soon as sunlight crept into the cavern, and he did so with an uncomfortable hard-on.
Layla’s legs cuddled his groin, increasing the pressure, and it was all he could do to resist the urge to pin her to the mattress until she let him love her like he wanted to. Instead, he swept her hair back and lowered his lips to her ear, lightly tugging on the lobe with his teeth before kissing her neck. Her aura picked up speed as she stretched, and he lost contact with her legs while gaining access to what he really wanted.
“Morning,” she mumbled, steaming up his shoulder.
He let his hand venture down her side while kissing again. “Let’s make it a good one,” he whispered, trying not to sound as desperate as he felt.
She didn’t say anything or move away, so he slid his hand under satin panties, squeezing her ass and pulling her closer. “It’s been too long.”
She drew a shaky breath, her body trembling as he pressed it to his arousal. “But… I’m still on my period.”
“Does it feel like I care?” He throbbed against the warm V between her legs. “Come on, love. I’ll make you feel so good you’ll forget what a period is.”
“We’ll make a mess.”
“I’ll clean it up.” He slid his kisses to her forehead and nose then stopped them on her lips. “Please, baby. Just try it with me. It will be new for both of us. If you don’t like it, we’ll stop.” He continued kissing, letting her think it over, and his hand tempted her by squeezing and rubbing her upper thigh. “I’ll beg on my hands and knees if I have to.”
“Okay.”
His vitals faltered as he looked her in the eye. “Okay you want me to beg? Or okay you’ll give it a try?”
She giggled while running her fingers into his hair. “I’ll give it a try. Just… if it turns out it disgusts you, downplay it for me. I hate the thought of my body turning you off.” She bit her lip and glanced across the room. “I’ll need to use the bathroom first.”
His heart sang as his erection rejoiced. Then he squeezed and kissed before letting her go. “Hurry.”
While she used the cavern washroom, he flew to the one upstairs and returned with time to spare. Summoning water and coffee to the nightstand, he spread out one of his own blankets on the bed, trying to ease her discomfort. Then he spun around in time to watch her enter the room.
“You took time to fix your hair?” he teased, sweeping her off her feet.
“It was a mess,” she excused, “from all those twists and braids Bri put in it.”
He laid her down, but he stayed on his feet while stripping off her underwear. “I’m just going to mess it up again.”
She giggled despite her blushing body. “You’re so excited.”
“You have no idea.” He opened her thighs and moved to the space between them, burying his face in her breasts. “It feels like it’s been months since I had you all to myself.”
“I guess it kind of has been months. Even when we were alone, part of me was still theirs.”
“Particularly this part,” he added, steaming up her cleavage. “But they’re all mine now.” He slowly shook his head, rubbing his face over soft flesh. “Are they still sore?”
“A little tender, but that’s probably because I’m on my period.”
“Is my scruff bothering you?”
“No.”
He rested his forehead on her chest while drawing a deep and calming breath. Then he abandoned her breasts and moved to her lips, kissing as his hand headed south.
“Nuh-uh,” she objected, grabbing his arm. “No fingers.”
He leaned back and glanced down her body. “We haven’t had sex in weeks.”
“Then I’ll be nice and tight for you.”
His blood warmed and thickened, swelling his veins. “You’re always tight, and if you don’t let me loosen you up, it will hurt.”
“Just at first.” She pulled his knuckles to her lips and sensually kissed. “That’s the deal. If you want this, no fingers.”
His gaze flitted from her mouth to her eyes. “Do you want this?”
“Yes.” She opened her legs wider. “So stop making me wait.”
He didn’t even know if she was wet, and every instinct told him to reach down and prep her body for what he was about to do to it, but he refrained, too desperate for his heaven to blow his chances of getting there. “Okay.”
Her cheeks pinched with an indulged smile. Then she pulled him into a deep kiss that almost made him forget he was about to hurt her.
He took his time with her lips and breasts, enjoying every step he took in his attempt to warm her up, and by the time he slid through hot folds to her entrance, it was slick.
She gasped and held her breath, so he kissed his way to her ear while playing with her hair. “You have to relax for me, angel.”
She exhaled and went limp, but she tensed back up as soon as he pressed inside. He froze, and she took a few quick breaths as her fingers curled in his hair. “Don’t stop. You’re almost there, right?”
“No, my love. I just started.”
“Not even halfway?”
“No.”
“Okay,” she breathed. “I’m okay. Keep going.”
He did, triggering another sharp intake of breath, but he pushed through her pain until he was buried deep inside flexing flesh.
A groan vibrated his bones as chills rippled through his core, alerting hair follicles while blurring his vision. “There it is. Damn…” He blinked and attempted to calm his pulse. “I’d forgotten just how sweet it is.”
She’d squeaked through the process, but she didn’t object or squirm, and a glance at her face found her cheeks dry.
“Still okay?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
He backed up and slowly reentered, encountering much less resistance, so he did it again while eyeing her aura. If she felt pain, it wasn’t intense enough to show up in the haze around her.
Leaving her ear, he gave her a kiss. “Thank you.”
She laughed as she peeked at him with one eye. “You’re silly. It feels good for me, too.”
He moved inside her, but now that he was exactly where he wanted to be, he stayed gentle and kept his pace unhurried.
Her nails dipped into muscle as her fingers curled, but she kept her feet planted on the mattress, and her gaze stayed on him and his lights. “Does it feel different?”
He could barely think, let alone draw sound comparisons, so he slowed to a halt and attempted to unscramble his brain. “Not that I can tell. Maybe a little wetter. Is it different for you?”
She chewed her lip while giving a timid nod. “Kind of. Not the way it feels, just the way I feel.”
He glanced at her aura. “You’re still embarrassed.”
“I just feel self-conscious about moving around. It makes it difficult to forget where I am and lose myself in you.”
His pulse took a dip, but he stayed achingly hard and couldn’t muster the willpower to withdraw. Returning his lips to her ear, he pulled her thighs to his hips and confessed. “I don’t want to stop.”
She tightened her hold. “You don’t have to. I want this. I swear I do. Don’t mistake my insecurities for unwillingness. It feels good. I’m just awkward.”
He grinned, still hidden in her curls as her blush warmed his cheek. “It’s cute.”
“My awkwardness?”
“Yes.” He rose and braced himself over her. “I love unwrapping you, showing you something new and watching you learn to own it. Every step is stunning, even the insecure ones. You don’t have to be a professional bull rider your first time out of the gate.”
A smile stretched into her eyes as her body tightened. “Are you my bull?”
“I’ll be anything you want me to be. I’d give up my soul to finish inside you.”
“Mm…” She wiggled, making him grow and groan. “That’s a little extreme. I’ll let you keep your soul.”
“I don’t care as long as I have access to yours.” He lifted her ass off the bed and rocked his hips. “So, your hesitancy to move, is it less about the mess than it is about you being the one who’s making it?”
“Um… yeah, I guess it is.”
“So I can move however I want?”
“Yes.”
He eased back while steadying his lungs. Then he lowered his lips to hers and thrust deep, inhaling the yelp that jumped off her tongue. Her eyes closed as she shivered and stretched, and he quickly scanned her aura, finding far more pleasure than discomfort, physical or otherwise. She’d told the truth. She wanted this. Despite her anxiety, she was all in, and in her naïve stillness, she’d surrendered her body to him. She was his to bend and shape and take any way he wanted, releasing her from the shame of the consequences.
“Keep your eyes closed,” he instructed, reaching between them. Then he pulled free and looked down.
The mess she feared was barely noticeable, so he slid his shaft down her clit and pressed back in. Moving his hand to her inner thigh, he splayed her open while burying his full length into wet warmth. Then he swiftly retreated before plunging back in.
She squeaked and attempted to curl into a ball, but he grabbed her wrists, pinning them over her head with one hand as the other hooked the back of her knee and anchored it to the mattress, his hips still moving as if they had a filthy mind of their own.
Her chest rose as her back arched, her uncaptured leg digging into the blankets as her fingers stretched, but he maintained a firm hold, spurred by her sexy whimpers and the frantic flexing of her muscles. His ears buzzed, his veins swelling every time he entered her. Then it was there – his peak. It came out of nowhere and showed up way too early.
“Fuck.”
Releasing her leg, he pulled free and gripped himself, attempting to hold off, but the pleasure had surged and sent him toppling over the edge. His chest rumbled as he let go of her wrists and hugged her waist, lifting her ass onto his thighs. Then they both looked down as instinct compelled him to rub the underside of his erection against slick skin. She quietly gasped when the first shot hit her, and he flipped his gaze to her face, watching the impassioned spark in her eyes while unloading on her clit.
Once he’d made a sticky mess of things, air rushed from his lungs, and he squeezed his eyes shut while shaking his head clear. Returning his focus to her face, he found her staring at what he’d done, her lower lip tucked into her teeth, and one of her hands absently caressed her breasts while the other clutched the blankets, as if it yearned to go somewhere it shouldn’t.
Taking a chance, he pried her fingers from the covers. Then he gave them a kiss before lowering them to the object of her fascination, forcing her to feel it while rubbing herself. Her flesh flamed with a blush, but her nipples tightened as her breasts rose with quick and shallow breaths.
He licked his lips, already growing again, but with such a sublime view available, he didn’t rush to dive back in. Using one hand to press his hard-on to the back of her slit, he kept the other on her fingers and urged her to add pressure.
She purred as goose bumps textured her soft skin, and sparks skipped through her bonded light to his, igniting his thickening blood. His lungs expanded and emptied, and his arousal steadily grew, nuzzling its way into her heavenly body.
She gripped one of her breasts as her fingers moved faster, her rapt gaze on their hands, her lips seductively parted, panting in rhythm with the waves of consuming pleasure that manifested in their lights. He no longer forced her to touch herself. She’d taken control, and she didn’t portray so much as a hint of insecurity until she flashed her gaze to his, searching for approval.
He winked and wedged one of her thighs in his bicep, tugging her closer while stroking himself. “It’s perfect, baby. Keep going.”
A smile pinched her flushed cheeks as she laid her head back and closed her eyes. Then a hum built in her fluctuating chest, rising to a crescendo as she tightened through the rush. He held his breath, postponing his climax so he could commit every detail of hers to memory. But the moment she relaxed, he filled her up while hooking her thighs with both arms, keeping her from squirming away.
She attempted to relax and endure the heightened sensations, and he took her legs with him as he leaned forward, nearly folding her in half while kissing her quivering lips. “I’m just getting started.”
“Oh,” she breathed, her hand twitching between them.
“I didn’t mean to get off,” he admitted. “I should probably be ashamed, but it felt too good to regret.”
She giggled and found him through fluttering lashes. “I liked watching it.”
“Me, too.”
“You made a much bigger mess than I’m making.”
“Yours is all but invisible, and mine’s stickier.”
Her fingers curled into the evidence as she breathlessly continued. “I like touching it.”
He throbbed, hitching their lungs and stuttering their hearts. “I’ll remember that.”
He gave her one more kiss. Then he leaned up and shifted her legs in front of him, pressing her knees to her chest while restraining her ankles. Only he could see their mess now, and it was enticingly framed by her gorgeous ass. He squeezed and jiggled one butt cheek. Then he stretched his hand over the other while using his thumb to spread her open. Glistening skin swelled around his shaft, but he was too hard to grant any give, and the fit was tight enough for him to track her pulse.
She took over the task of holding her legs, freeing his left hand, which gravitated toward her ass like a magnet, joining his right palm to steady his target. “Are you sore?”
“Not yet.”
His vitals celebrated the prospect of a longer session as he eased out and pushed back in. “Tell me when you get there.”
Hidden behind flexing calves, Layla smiled to herself, once again at ease in his commanding embrace and confident in his passionate reactions. She was confident in her body, as well. Her period wasn’t causing any of the problems she’d feared; she was well rested for the first time in months; and her breasts no longer doubled as udders. They were different now, but they were hers again, and they had healed enough for her to enjoy them. At the moment, they were squished beneath her thighs, but she was feeling too good to care. The way Quin had her folded gave him precision control, and he used it to find the spot that made her tummy flutter and her toes curl. He hit it again and again, his fingers digging into her thighs and ass, keeping her from scooting across the bed, and he didn’t stop until she was crying out and pushing at his shoulders with her heels. Hugging her legs to his chest, he growled and stretched, planting himself deep inside. Then he held her there until she stopped twitching and started shaking.
When he lowered her feet to the bed and freed himself, she assumed he was ready for a break, but he flipped her over, lifted her ass and pressed back inside. He took it easy for a while, letting her catch her breath. Then his force intensified as he gathered her hair and stretched his teeth over the back of her neck, biting just hard enough to shock her languid muscles and send chills down her spine. Her shoulder blades pressed into his hard pecs as she braced herself on her elbows, and one of his hands firmly closed over a heavy breast, cradling it as he took her from behind with resolute thrusts.
A string of curses muffled into the nape of her neck as his grip tightened, but just as his touch became painful, he released her breast and took her throat, hugging her with his forearm as he let loose inside her. She tingled through the rush, their blinding lights electrified and racing. Then he moaned and trembled, relaxing in and around her.
As his fingers stroked her throat, his softening shaft twitched, and his warm lips trailed sloppy kisses across the back of her neck, keeping her submerged in their heaven a little longer.
When his lips reached her ear, he drew a steadying breath then tickled her with a sigh. “I say we shower and eat breakfast then do it again.”
“Okay,” she agreed, and she was rewarded with a sparkling rainbow and throbbing veins.
He took her with him as he rolled onto his side. Then he nosed her curls out of the way and kissed her cheek. “My perfect angel. Days like this make the bad ones feel like distant dreams.”
“It’s like therapy.” She hugged his forearm and pressed her lips to his fingers. “It puts the crooked world back on its axis.”
Her gaze fell on the nightstand, and only then did she notice he’d summoned water and coffee. The mugs sat next to a family photo and her stickman bouquet, which now shared a vase with the silver goddess wing she’d gotten in the Avasummus market. Everywhere she went, Quin tried to make her feel at home, and being wrapped in his arms and lights got her closer to where they both wanted to be. She probably wouldn’t see her house or family for months, if ever again, but if home was where the heart lingered, she was already there.
When Quin caught her eyeing the coffee, he pulled himself from her body and summoned the mug. Then he carried her to the shower before spoiling her with breakfast in bed. The moment she swallowed the last bite of fluffy pancakes, he vanished the mess, and she was still licking her lips when he tackled her to the mattress for a long make out session.
Around noon, someone knocked on the frame of the front entrance, but Quin ignored it. Not even a twitch of his eyebrow proved he’d heard it. He just kept kissing and rubbing and breathing her in.
“Was that the door?” she asked, struggling to speak while so exposed to his roaming hands.
He answered while lowering his mouth to a hard nipple. “Yeah.”
“Who was it?”
“Who do you think?”
“Drexel?”
“Mm-hm…”
“What did you tell him?”
He flicked sensitive flesh with his tongue then headed for the other breast. “To go away.”
She giggled and ran her fingers into his hair. “It turns me on when you get bossy.”
“I know.”
“Of course you do.” She glanced at the time. “Will we be facing any of our problems today?”
“I hope not.”
“Do you think it will make things worse?”
“There’s no way something this good will make things worse. It’s one day, love. One day out of months. For the next twelve hours, you’re mine. The world can have you back tomorrow.” He stopped kissing her stomach and rested his forehead where his lips had been. Then his aura flowed inward as his hands tightened on her hips. “Please, Layla. I try not to ask for more than you give me, but I would do just about anything for this. I haven’t had you to myself for an entire day since before you had the triplets, I don’t know when I’ll get you back, and I’m not ready to give you up. Just one day.” He looked up, revealing shiny eyes, a testament to his desperation and shame, neither of which he deserved. “Give me this, and I’ll follow you to hell and back.”
As candid as he was, she knew there was more left unsaid. Stepping into the role of earth angel took her out of her role as his angel, forcing him to the sidelines while she focused on saving the world. He rarely complained, sticking with her no matter how distant he felt, but there, in the echoing silence of an undersea cavern, he’d exposed his wounded soul, the jagged edges of jealousy and the crushing weight of pain. Now he was looking to her to soothe the sting, and all she had to do was say yes to twelve hours of his tender love and care.
Sliding a hand to his face, she touched a hidden dimple, knowing the sexy characteristic was about to appear. “I’m all yours ’til morning.”
Sure enough, the skin beneath her thumb dipped toward a chiseled cheek, but then he turned his attention to her body, keeping it there long after she fell asleep.