Chapter 195 - On The Edge

LIMITED EDITION PAPERBACKS available in giveaway only! In light of WebNovel's move towards offering books in other formats (we'll see if we get there!) I have a very limited number of approved paperbacks for giveaway ONLY, and no more will be coming. So, this month, if you purchase the top tier of privilege (50 chapters for King of Beasts, or 45 Chapters for Queen of Beasts) then comment on the last available chapter "I want a paperback!" You will be entered into the draw. Check out the comments where I've posted a picture of the books!

*****

ELRETH

The furs here were the old-fashioned type, thick and slightly stiffer, but made from the hides of the shaggy mountain goats that inhabited the mountains around her. They were plush and thick, embracing her skin a soft cloud that sent delicious prickles up and down her back.

When he laid her down, her legs still wrapped around his waist, she'd been about to push herself back, to give him room to come up with her. But he stopped her, his eyes so dark the pupils had nearly overtaken the startling ice-blue of them and he smiled a smile that, had she been prey, would have made her blood run cold. But as it was, she shivered for an entirely different reason.

"Let me show you," he whispered, stopping her from moving.

She swallowed and nodded, then with a quiet moan, he took her mouth. She'd barely sunk into the kiss when she sucked in, her skin pebbling. His hands everywhere—sliding up the back of her thighs, cupping her knee, thumbing her breast—and the joint sensation of his strokes sandwiched with the soft plush of the furs beneath her lit up her skin with crackling, electric rushes. 

Instinctively she began to roll against him, bringing pressure to that place where they joined that gave her yet another reason to prickle and sigh. 

"Aaryn, I—"

"Relax," he whispered, kissing his way down her neck. "Relax, I've got you."

Her kiss turned desperate when he returned to her mouth. Aaryn's breathing was heavy and growing faster. She'd locked her ankles behind his back and was pulling him closer, urging him to cover her, to join her on the furs. But he chuckled and stroked his fingers through her hair, then gently down the side of her jaw. 

"Don't worry," he whispered and even with her eyes closed as she focused on the shimmering sensations he was building in her skin, she could hear the smile in his voice. "Just let me take you."

"That's exactly what I'm trying to do," she whined. "But you're down there and I'm up here and—oh!"

Bracing his hands on the furs right behind her shoulders, he rolled quickly against her, the steel velvet of him finding all the right places on her. He relaxed, then did it again, rubbing himself against her hard until her mouth dropped open.

"Relax, El," he said, his voice shaking a hair. "Let me show you."

Understanding dawned on her and she opened her eyes. 

Aaryn was still braced on the furs, his wide chest tense, veins popping as he held himself in check. A sheen of sweat made him glisten in the dim light because they hadn't lit a lantern yet, so the only light came from the door, and the natural chimney. 

But even in the deep shadows, he looked carved from marble, his normally warm-brown skin looked almost white—though not as white as hers when she lifted her hands to his chest, gripping his pecs and stroking her thumbs over his nipples.

He growled and leaned over her, kissing his way down her neck, to her breast, opening his mouth wide, to take as much of it in as he could, and sucking in a slow rhythm to match the way he rolled his hips.

Elreth trembled, jangling currents zapping between her breast and the apex of her thighs in time with the music he played on her skin. 

She shoved a hand into his hair, pulling him tight against her breast and arching up—even has he rolled against her again.

For an endless minute, all she could feel was the slick pressure of him against her, the warmth of his mouth on her, and the flutter of his panting breath on her cheek. 

Then he pushed himself up, his mouth coming off her breast with a soft 'pop'. She grabbed for him, not wanting him to leave her, her hand slapping as she clapped it to his neck, and he growled. 

"Relax, El."

"But—!"

"I said, let me show you."

The rhythm of his hips was slowly picking up pace, slowly, slowly. She arched against him, trying to catch him as he rolled, trying to bring him into her where she ached. 

Aaryn chuckled and eased back to put space between them, the sudden cold a shock. 

Elreth groaned. "What are you—" 

"Remember, El," he said, his voice a dark silk. "I submit to you in public, but in private…"

She shivered at the look on his face—the power of the Alpha in him, the rock-solid certainty, and he raked her with his eyes, savoering every inch of her skin—dropping his head to examine even where she was open to him.

She put a hand over her eyes, half-delighted, half-appalled.

"Don't do that, you're beautiful," he whispered, taking her hand from her face, then catching the other one as well, entwining their fingers. 

Then he gripped her hands and pulled them up, placing them over her head and pressing them into the furs. He caught both wrists in one of his hands and locked on, like manacles. 

She shivered. The last time he'd done this they hadn't been able to complete the bond, but now… now…

She arched, her elbows pressed up, until only her shoulders and bottom were on the furs—and the hands he held so tightly. "I want you, Aaryn," she whispered. "Please. I submit. I'm asking. Please…"

He chuckled, one arm locked and braced over her head to hold her hands, she got the perfect view of his flexed bicep, the beautiful roll of muscle and tendon that curled around his arm, then up to his shoulder. The steel strength of him wrapped in warm, welcoming skin. 

Then he stroked his other hand down her neck, over her collarbone, let his fingers catch on the peak of her breast. She gasped, but he'd already moved on, his eyes following the progress of his hand down, to stroke across her belly, to the hollow of her waist where he slid his long fingers behind her, clasping her. Then he brought himself against her, sliding up and down until he found her there, and ready. So ready.