by Kamryn Hart
How did she want me?
I took a step forward, forcing her back. I repeated this action until I had her back against a tree, so I could press into her. She grabbed the back of my neck, and I propped her up against the tree trunk. She wrapped her legs around my waist, and I pressed into her harder. We were hardly moving, but we were both breathing heavily. My body shuddered with anticipation as I rolled my hips forward, hitting in between her legs. She gasped, eyes fluttering. We were perfectly aligned. If not for our clothes, I would have been fucking her right this moment. And there was nowhere for her to go. I could punish her like this.
She whimpered as I continued to rock my hips. Her legs tightened around my waist, and her whole body trembled. Gods, she was beautiful, the most beautiful creature I had ever laid eyes on. This was how she wanted me.
I wanted her.
I gritted out through clenched teeth, “I need you.” My gums started throbbing, like my moonlight form was ready to push through. Moonlight was bursting in my mouth, only my mouth, but I snuffed it out.
I ground into her again. My dick was aching and uncomfortably hard in my pants. I had to bring her to the peak with me. I needed the release. No more thinking. Just feeling. I needed this. It seemed she was the one punishing me. I couldn’t seize control with this werea. She held all the fucking cards all the fucking time.
But then a memory flashed in the back of my head. When Sorissa first kissed each member of Phantom Fangs, was it really like a claiming bite? Would sex with her seal the deal? Where did that leave the others? Did I want this? Did she want this? Could this fucking work with a tethered? Did a werea’s body work and respond the same way as a woman’s? I growled out my frustration. I was about ready to bash my own fucking brains in.
“You’ve never done this before,” I said in a low rumble. “If you want to stop at any time, you tell me.”
She hummed, eyes half closed as she pressed her head back against the tree trunk.
“I need you to use your words, Princess. Do you want me to continue or do you want me to stop right now?” Gods, I meant what I said, but that persistent moonlight in my mouth was flaring to life again. My dick was probably as hard as a fucking rock. I didn’t know what was happening to me. I hadn’t had sex since I had become tethered. And it didn’t make sense. I was tethered. Lureine, you sick God, why do I want to bite her?
“Don’t stop,” she quickly whispered. “Keep going.”
I brought my arms under her ass and moved her away from the tree. She grasped my shoulders for stability. Then I carefully set her down in the soft grass of the clearing, nearer to the trees than the big stone in the center. She lay quietly and gazed up at me with her dark-brown eyes, glinting red like a sunset. Her curly hair fell out of her ponytail and fanned out around her, reaching every which way, soft and beautiful. I brought my hands down to the edge of her shirt and slipped one hand inside to cup one of her perfect breasts. Just as I figured would be the case with her tomboy attire, she was wearing a binder. Unacceptable.
I grabbed the edge of her shirt and worked it over her head with her compliance. The binder was next. My breath was nearly knocked out of my lungs when her top was bare before me. I had glimpsed her naked before, but now she was underneath me, glowing in the moonlight, the moon positioned above us. Her breasts were the perfect size for my big hands. I confirmed that thought by cupping one. Her eyes fluttered when I circled her nipple, easily coaxing it to a hard point. I moved and gave her the same treatment on the other side. Her eyes were dilated. Whenever I met her gaze, it felt like an electric shock, my hair standing on end, energy coursing through me.
I ripped off my shirt and pressed my chest against hers. I didn’t crush her because I held myself up with my hands, but I needed to feel her skin on mine. I needed to kiss her again. She met my mouth eagerly and dug her fingers into my back. I could have sworn our hearts were beating at the same rhythm.
I broke our kiss and ran my tongue over her breasts, teasing. She let out a little yelp and her fingers flew into my long hair, yanking out the tie holding it out of my face. I caught one of her nipples in my mouth and sucked hard as my hair fell around me and blanketed her body. I relished her gasp and the way her back arched.
“Rodrick,” she pleaded. I got a charge out of the way she said my name desperately like that, too. Maybe I was dishing out some punishment after all.
This time, I placed my fingers on the edge of her pants. She suddenly went stiff, and her grip on my hair tightened. I grabbed her hands and worked her fingers out of my hair so I could discard her boots. Then I slowly worked her pants down, a surprisingly difficult thing to do when her hands were back in my hair and she didn’t seem to want to let me go, but I ended up coaxing her to follow me again, to allow me to remove her pants and underwear entirely. The first thing I did when she was completely bare before me was cup her pussy. I grabbed her ass with my other hand to get a better angle as I focused my attention on her clit.
She writhed. I thought she might curl up and try to grab my hair again, but she couldn’t get up. She spread her arms out wide to either side of her and tore out clumps of grass instead, digging deeper into the earth with each move I made.
I dipped a finger into her folds. She was so fucking wet, so ready. Her chest rose and fell with quick breaths and the noises she couldn’t contain. I circled her clit one more time before dipping a finger deep inside of her. Her pleasure points were just like a woman’s after all, so my previous experience certainly came in handy. That was a big relief. I wanted to make sure this was good for her. But she was really starting to get to me. And I needed to make a decision. My dick was throbbing. I could hardly contain myself. I needed to come.
I ignored my own persistent needs, held back the moonlight burning my mouth, bent down, and licked her wet folds. She let out a shriek that she silenced as quickly as it had escaped her lips. Her hands were in my hair again, digging into my scalp, urging me on.
“I want you to come on my hand,” I said as I stayed low against her sex, pushing her legs wider and wedging myself in between so I could lick her clit and enter her with my fingers. I ignored and worked around my wild hair as I gave her a few more licks, savoring this oddly sweet taste of hers while preparing her for what I was about to do. Then I moved my head back and pushed two fingers deep inside of her tight pussy.
Sorissa screamed and her hips bucked upward. She sucked in a short, labored breath as I eased her wider. She was covered in a thin sheen of sweat that looked silver in the moonlight. She trembled and shuddered with each breath she took. I wanted my dick inside of her, but I made my decision.
“Come for me, Sorissa,” I commanded. I pushed three fingers inside of her, creating a constant rhythm, doing my very best to send her to the edge and straight over it.
She kept bucking her hips up helplessly as she cried out and whimpered my name. Then she finally came. Her pussy clenched and pulsed around my fingers. I agonized over the thought of how this would have felt for my engorged dick. Her orgasm would have massaged away all the tension that was just about to kill me. I ignored my needs again—and this fucking ridiculous need to bite her—and kept pumping my fingers inside of her. I refused to let her fall down from the peak just yet. I was relentless, savoring each time she screamed my name, and she came again. Her pleasure was bringing me closer to the edge, consuming me, and then I couldn’t take it anymore.
I released her and easily got out of her death grip on my hair since I had brought her down to the point of utter exhaustion. Her limbs lay uselessly at her sides as she rolled her head back and forth, sucking in breaths of air.
I stood and unzipped my pants, freeing the craziest erection I had ever had in my life. I was so hard, I was just the tiniest bit terrified I’d never get soft again. What a strange hell that would be. But damn. This was not how I wanted to come, but I wasn’t ready to commit to whatever having sex with her might mean. It wasn’t like I could get her pregnant or whatever, but the w
hole Mate Claim thing was a wildcard. I couldn’t do it. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
Wrapping a hand around my thick shaft, I gave a quick rub. It didn’t take more than that. My entire body seized, my balls drew up tight, and I came. The relief was instant, but it wasn’t the relief I had hoped for. I ached worse in my chest as I stared at the grass glistening with my cum. So much for not thinking. So much for sex-play fixing my wrecked brain. Apparently, this wasn’t what I wanted at all.
When I finished, I zipped my pants back up and looked behind me to see Sorissa sitting up now. Her legs splayed. She was still panting. “What did you do to me?” she asked, eyes half-lidded.
“I pleasured you,” I said incredulously. “If your moans and the way you cried my name are anything to go on.”
Her eyes were on me, dark and coherent, wide and questioning. “We didn’t have sex,” she said.
I smirked. Then I raised my hand and licked my fingers, still wet with her juices. “You had sex with my hand.”
“We didn’t have sex,” she repeated.
I scowled. “You shouldn’t be so eager to have a guy’s dick inside of you. That leads to babies. You want one of those? But you’re in luck here. If you and I did have full-blown sex, there’d be no chance of that. It’s one of the many things a tethered is good for. You can fuck without adverse consequences.”
I couldn’t believe the words that just came out of my mouth. I had never felt so hateful. I didn’t operate on hate. Not really. I wondered if this was how Aerre felt on a daily fucking basis. Then I was angry at myself for getting all moody.
Sorissa’s gaze wavered and she frowned.
Don’t look at me like that.
I took her hands and pulled her to her feet. She was unsteady and fell forward into my chest. I continued to hold her there, waiting for her to find her legs again before making her move. She rubbed her nose against my chest.
“So why exactly did I have ‘sex with your hand’?” she asked. “Why did you stick your fingers inside of my vagina instead of your penis?”
I choked on a laugh and shuddered when she abruptly cupped the front of my pants, feeling me up. I was pretty sure I could get hard again in no time flat if she kept that up.
Dangerous hands. Dangerous werea.
“Call it my dick or my cock or something because ‘penis’ is so not sexy,” I said as I took her hand in my own to make her stop. As nice as that might have been, I was not in the mood. Not anymore. “Same goes for vagina. Call it your pussy, your sex, something. Really, little fighter. Penis and vagina? You sound like a scientist analyzing the mechanics of sex instead of enjoying it.”
“Fine,” she said with a raised eyebrow, “but you didn’t answer my question.”
“We should head back.”
“Are you upset?”
“Not a chance, but we need to get back to the lair before the others worry.”
I thought Sorissa would persist—she was stubborn like that—but she let it drop. She pushed against my chest and walked away from me, snatching her portacomm from her pile of clothes in the grass. “We can call them.”
Then the thing started beeping. I took it from her and answered, “What’s up?”
“Where’s Sorissa?” Caspian asked.
“Nice to talk to you, too. She’s with me. We’re heading back.”
“Good. Then you better fucking explain yourselves. We were getting worried.”
“Will do, fearless leader.”
Sorissa grabbed the portacomm. “There’s nothing to worry about, Caspian. Tell the others, too,” she said.
“If you say so, Sorissa… Keep Rodrick in line and head straight back here.”
“I will. See you soon.”
Sorissa ended the call and looked at me questioningly. Did she want to get back to the conversation we were having? Well, I didn’t. I went over to her clothes and held out her underwear. “Feet in,” I said.
She sauntered over to me with a mischievous smirk. I wondered if she knew how the sway of her hips got me hot. I had a feeling she knew more than I was giving her credit for in this situation. Maybe she understood her position and power perfectly.
She steadied herself by holding on to my shoulders, placing one foot inside and then the other. I pulled her underwear up, teasing her by deliberately brushing her pussy with my fingers. I couldn’t resist the way she shuddered at my touch. Then I grabbed her pants and started the process over again. When she was fully dressed, boots and all, I looked at my ripped up, bloody shirt. I decided to leave it where it sat. There was no saving it.
I glanced at the large stone and the note sitting on top, sitting underneath a fist-sized rock. It was time to get rid of that shit. I had just barely moved the rock when a random gust of wind shot through the trees and lifted the note off into the night sky. Up and up and up. It wasn’t coming back. Forget it.
“What was that?” Sorissa asked.
“Nothing. Let’s get the hell out of here.”
She took my hand. “I can feel it, kind of. Your frustration. Those humans are important to you, right? But you decided to stay with me instead. You aren’t convinced that was the right choice.”
I couldn’t speak because maybe she was right. I did just throw away my entire life up to this point, everything that drove me, that gave me purpose.
“No matter what you think, whatever inadequacy you’re feeling, know that I’ll fight for and protect you,” she said. “Always. Just like you do for me.”
The quiver in her voice shot through me like an ice pick. I stopped, forcing her to stop with me. “I am honored,” I said. I continued holding her hand and kissed the back of it as I knelt down in front of her. “Will you give me some time to pull my head out of my ass? My head’s a mess tonight, but I’m sure it’ll be working again by morning. Gods know you don’t need another Aerre to deal with.”
Sorissa smiled and let out a little giggle. She shook her head. She touched my face with her hand, fingers scratching at my beard, tracing my lips.
“Okay, Rodrick.”
CHAPTER 16
SORISSA
MY BODY WAS ALL kinds of mush after what Rodrick did to me. I was sore, aching, and each step was a challenge, but I was able to make it because I was holding his hand. He grounded me just as well as he offset me. I decided I would drop as soon as we got inside of the lair. It had been a long walk from where we were, but I was relieved to finally be in front of its wooden door. Rodrick opened the door and we just made it inside when the others rushed to their feet as soon as they saw us enter.
“So, where were you?” Caspian asked. “Where’s your shirt, Rodrick? And why do you too look like you’ve been rolling around in the dirt? A-are you bleeding? I knew we should have been watching the monitors more closely. How did you miss them, Todd?”
“I didn’t. I saw them way before they got here. I just didn’t say anything because they’re fine.”
Caspian gaped and him, and Aerre wearily shook his head.
Rodrick’s hand grew slack in mine, almost like he wanted me to let go, but he didn’t take his hand away. He was quiet. I squeezed his hand to reassure him. I knew he needed to say this himself, so I stayed quiet.
“Not bleeding anymore. The blood on Sorissa’s shirt is old and mine. We’re fine. I left to give the rebels a note, to cut ties,” he explained. “Things got a little complicated, but it’s safe to say I’m no ally of the rebels anymore.”
Silence fell over us like a blanket. I tried to reach out to the silvery strings I could see in my mind’s eye, the thing that connected us. I couldn’t quite grasp them. I was trying to understand what each of them felt, but the strings were tangled, and I was having a hard time differentiating them. But I knew Rodrick was sincere.
“It’s true,” I said, backing him up.
Caspian walked forward and punched Rodrick in the arm. It was hard enough that Rodrick rubbed the area right after, though he didn’t complain. “Sounds like you had a night.”
“Yeah, I hadn’t planned on the rebels actually being there and ended up saying everything in person,” Rodrick said. “It all worked out, though. More or less. Nobody died, but I doubt they’ll be back here anytime soon.”
“You don’t think they’ll retaliate?”
“How? You know how little they have. I told you. If they’re smart, they’ll keep to themselves and wait out this war. They’ll let Wolf Bridge, Paws Peak, and Crimson Caves destroy each other.”
“That’s not a very cheerful thought, Rodrick, but fair enough. The rebels probably are the least of our problems at the moment. And it’s late. We should all get some sleep. We have a few more things we need to do bright and early before hitting the road for Howling Sky.” Caspian studied me and Rodrick for a moment, assessing our appearance. Dried blood, dirt, grass, leaves, wild hair. We did look like a mess. “I’m glad you joined us,” Caspian added. “Officially. I’m glad you chose us. I said it before, but I mean it.”
Rodrick nodded his head. “I think I will go to bed after taking a quick shower. Later.” He took his hand from mine and the rest of us watched him go.
Aerre watched him the longest, but then he turned to me, blue eyes shimmering like the surface of a lake in the bright sun. “Your hair. I’ll be right back with a brush.”
Caspian pulled Todd to the side and asked, “You good on any tech we’ll be bringing to Howling Sky?”
I heard water running through pipes as Rodrick showered, and then Aerre returned with a brush. “Take a shower after this,” he said and sat me down on a chair at the kitchen table. He worked through the knots without a word. I winced once when he took out a rather big snarl, but he was gentle, getting the rest of the snarls out the least painful way possible. I tried to feel his emotions, to work through the mess of silver strings. While he made quick work of the tangles in my hair, the tangles in the silver threads connecting us knotted worse. I couldn’t sort through them.
I wondered if Aerre wanted details. My face heated up at the thought of Rodrick and what he did to me. Should I bring it up, too? I would have. I didn’t feel like I had anything to hide. But I was remembering Caspian’s words before, about not wanting to break things, about how all of this was unheard of, about not being ready to take the next step. I wanted all of them in the closest way possible, and maybe I didn’t know what that meant exactly, but I liked what Rodrick did. I was craving more than what he gave me. I needed it. I ached worse for it.
