Only exquisite pleasure.
He worked himself deeper with slow, shallow thrusts. Each more delicious than the last. Until he was seated inside her, the dark curls at the base of his cock pressed against her pubic bone, her body spasming as he stretched her wide.
“Good?” His voice was that low, lethal rumble that had once terrified her, but now only aroused her more.
“Yes. Good. So good.” She wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled him deeper. He might be the more forceful of the two of them, but she was learning.
“Ah, hells, wild thing.” He nipped at her neck, dragging his teeth along her tendon. “I love when you show me what you like.”
“I like all with you.”
He pressed his mouth to her ear, running his tongue along the sensitive pointed tip. “You ready for more?”
“Yes.” She was certain—and unafraid.
He pulled back. Thrust deep.
“Again.” She threw her head back. Moaned. The way he filled her better than she could have imagined.
Rough or gentle, he made her come alive.
With every thrust, with every caress, with every wild claiming of his fingers and tongue she was remade. Every bad memory erased as he reshaped her body and reformed her soul. Uncovering a female who was alive, worthy, and no longer mired in dirt and shame.
“Grif.” She could barely breath, her body winding tighter with every rough thrust.
“Let it happen, wild thing.” His command was a near snarl. “I want you to fucking soar on my cock.”
She shattered, splintering into a thousand white-hot particles as he thrust faster and came with a roar of his own, warm liquid sealing them tighter together. The two of them flying so high and bright they blazed like two stars in the night sky.
“I’ve got you, wild thing.” Strong arms circled her, wrapping her close, as his knees folded and he brought her down to the ground so she was sitting in his lap, her legs straddling him, his shaft still buried deep inside her.
Again, he had kept his promise.
The beauty of what he’d shown her pulsed through her, along with awe.
From here on out, no matter what the Ancients had in store, she would always know what it was to be this close to another soul.
Even if the faint voice in the back of her mind whispered that it couldn’t last.
34
She woke before dawn in a nest of coverings. A big warm body curled around her, one thick, veiny forearm slung over her hip and stomach, an insistent bulge pressing into her bottom. The campsite was quiet. Even Sharluff, who Grif had given a makeshift pen and tied up tight, was still sleeping from the sound of the low, mewling snores just audible through the tent flaps.
She had never woken up in anyone’s arms before.
As quietly as possible, she turned. He was so beautiful to her now. His dark fierceness and blatant strength no longer frightening, but comforting.
It was still hard to believe it had only been a short time since he’d first trapped her in his pit. It felt as if she’d been an entirely different person back then. Someone who knew so little about the universe, Others, herself.
Now a world of possibilities loomed before her—and so much potential for even greater heartbreak.
“Morning.” His voice rumbled through her, surprising her. She’d thought him asleep. “You nervous about today?”
“Yes.”
Grif had left her briefly last night to pack, shoving bars and waterskins as well as rope and various other supplies into the Other pouch he’d called a backpack in preparation for travel along the water currents. She had nothing, so her preparation had been minimal.
“I understand.” He rolled to the edge of their nest of coverings and she thought the matter ended.
She turned to leave the warmth herself.
“Here.”
She blinked in surprise. A fur pelt of red and tan hovered just in her line of vision, gripped tightly in his hand.
She looked at it, question in her gaze.
“You will use it as covering.”
Pain sliced through her. The thin healing tissue just beginning to blanket her wounds ripped wide.
She should have known. Her hands trembled as she shook it out, looking for the opening to put over her head.
A firm hand gripped her chin, tilting her gaze to his. “It’s an old cloth of mine for your hips. And another you can use as a wrap around your breasts.” His eyes darkened. “It’s not another anazi.” His grip tightened. “You are never covering yourself like that again.”
She swallowed hard. Trembling. Wanting so badly to believe.
As always, he knew. “You’re fucking beautiful.” Each word staunched the bleeding. “Looking at you brings me as much pleasure as touching you. Believe it.”
A part of her had been holding her breath since he’d held back from killing Sharluff. Even though she’d agreed to join him, a part of her still believed it could be a trick. That soon his words would be exposed as lies.
But with every word he uttered, her fears disappeared.
She was truly beginning to believe. A new life—the kind she’d always longed for—might truly be in reach.
“You are welcome to use my shirt as long as you like. It’s yours forever. But I wanted you to have these, too.” His gaze dropped to her breasts before returning to her lips, lust in his gaze. “Of course, the thought of keeping you naked has my dick hard and cheering.” He reached out, his finger skimming along the slope of her shoulder. “But this perfect, silky skin is delicate—and I want it protected from the suns and rocks, and you’ll need something hardier than the shirt for what’s ahead.”
“Th-thank you.” She could not have stopped her lips from tilting upward if she tried, the soft coverings pressed tight to her chest, so precious to her. Because they were from Grif. And he’d given them to her because he cared.
He smiled back. “I brought you these as well.”
He rolled back to the other side of the nest of coverings and pulled something from his pack. Her feet coverings. Rumpled but still wearable. He held them out. She clutched them to her. “Thank you.” She decided not to ask about her spear.
“The pieces of your spear are with Bain.” As always, he knew her mind. “If he can get it to work and make others, it will be returned to you when all this is over.” His stare turned determined. “When. Not if. Trust me, wild thing.”
She nodded.
When, not if. He truly believed they could find a way for their people to be more than enemies.
Unable to help herself, still clutching the soft coverings to her chest, she leaned forward, rubbing her nose against his collarbone and breathing in deep.
He sucked down a sharp inhale. Every muscle in his massive body suddenly tense as he growled low.
She skittered back, fearful she’d gone too far.
“Whoa. Where are you going?” A massive hand wrapped around the nape of her neck and dragged her back into place.
Still, uncertainty sifted through her. “I-I sorry. I should not have done that. I just…” It was a common pack gesture of affection. Another act she’d watched, but never engaged in. Like all her important firsts, she’d wanted it to be with him. “I move too fast.”