Chapter 7

Tobias

Though City Mini Golf wasn't far from our train exit, the walk there seemed to take an eternity.

I did my best to keep the conversation light and noncommittal, asking her mundane questions about the kind of music or movies she liked. I had expected she'd be the typical girl into rom-coms and pop bands, but just as everything else with Arya Walker, I'd been wrong.

Her tastes were similar to mine. We both liked all genres of rock, and her favorite band—Disturbed—was my second favorite. And where she appreciated the odd romantic or slapstick comedy, she preferred thrillers and suspense movies.

"The Insidious movies were good, but I think The Conjuring world is so much better," she said as we crossed the intersection toward the golf course. "The Walkers are kinda my heroes."

I laughed while secretly clenching my fists. Could she be any more perfect?

Maybe I was thinking about this all wrong. Niko and Brett liked the same movies and music I did, to an extent. What if I just thought of her as a guy friend?

One who I wanted to fuck so badly it hurt. And cuddle while I slept. And who smelled really damn good!

Fuck!

"This place looks fun," she said as we approached the colorfully lit entrance. "I feel it's only fair I warn you that I've never golfed in any way before, so I'll probably suck."

Her giggle chimed in the wind that carried her honey scent to my nostrils, and I made a conscious effort to breathe through my mouth to avoid savoring it. If nothing else, I had to do something to make her smell less appealing.

"Let's grab a bite to eat first," I suggested as I held the door open for her. "They have a snack bar with pretty decent food. Their garlic fries are great."

She arched a playful eyebrow at me. "Really? You're recommending I eat something that doesn't contain fish or seaweed? No omega threes?"

I shrugged, charmed by her teasing. "Didn't you know that fries are vital to every shifter's diet?"

She nodded exaggeratedly. "Sure, they are."

We went to the snack bar, and I was beyond relieved that she did, in fact, order the garlic fries. I ordered buffalo wings in the hottest flavor they carried, hoping the burn on my taste buds would distract me with discomfort.

We sat at one of the picnic tables to eat, and damn if she wasn't sexy while she ate. The way she delicately placed each long fry into her mouth. The sultry way she sucked her fingers now and then. And the way she hummed in satisfaction at a particularly tasty bite. No amount of hot sauce on the planet could distract me from that.

By the end of our meal, my mouth was on fire, and I was sweating from the intensity of it, and yet my desire to press my lips to hers was no less intense than before—if anything, it had been amplified.

"Thanks for the suggestion," she said, sucking her thumb one final time—and fuck, if the sight didn't make my cock throb! "Those were delicious."

She took our empty trays to the garbage can nearby, and I was helpless not to stare at the sway of her perfect ass as she walked away. When she turned to come back, my gaze slid up her figure to her eyes, and the challenging way she met my stare told me she could sense the hunger in it. Her lips curled into a smirk, desire twinkling in her own eyes.

She put her hand on her hips when she stopped in front of me. "Ready to teach me how to play?"

My burning mouth went even more dry. I want to teach you so much more than that, little mermaid.

"Yep, let's get our sticks and balls," I said a little too loudly as I rose from the table, then headed to the clerk's desk.

Arya closed in beside me as I waited for the clerk to gather our equipment, slipping her arm through mine to place her hand softly on my forearm. The warmth of her touch was so pleasant, sending shivers over my flesh. I didn't usually react kindly to being touched uninvited, and though I told myself that I didn't want her affection, I couldn't bring myself to shrug her off.

I wanted her touch. Everywhere. Wanted her mouth. Also everywhere.

Why was I fighting those urges? This was a transaction, right? Purely physical. I could enjoy her body and any affection she wanted to give. Not doing so would only make the imprint pull me harder toward her. I just had to be mindful to keep my desire for her and my emotional feelings for her separate.

No emotions. I could do that.

The clerk handed over the clubs and balls, and I gave Arya hers, relishing in the gentle brush of her fingers on mine as we made the exchange now that I'd given myself permission to do so—and a whole lot more.

If she was going to play coy with me and be flirtatious, I was going to give it right back to her.

We strolled along the path to the first hole, which was a simple slope to the hole with no obstacles.

"So, how do we do this?" she asked. "Do I just put the ball anywhere?"

"Anywhere before the line marked in this grass," I replied with a nod.

She knelt and placed her red golf ball in the general center of the gray line, then stood back up and gripped her putter, looking over her shoulder at me.

"Any special way I'm supposed to hold this thing?" There was that same dare in her eyes, a challenge for me to come closer.

I came up behind her, sliding my hands down her forearms to her hands. Her breath hitched, and I could feel her arousal through our bond, heightening my own. She let me rearrange her grip on the stick's handle.

"Like this?" she asked, her voice heady and faint.

"Perfect," I said in almost a whisper against her neck. "Now loosen your knees and bend slightly."

She adjusted her stance, her buttocks nudging against the strain of my hard cock beneath my pants in the movement. But rather than pull away, she pressed further against me, making a low growl rumble up my throat despite my best efforts to stifle it.

"Is that okay?" she purred, a smile in her eyes as she looked sideways at me.

"You're playing with fire," I cautioned.

"Then play with me."

Tightening my grip on her hands, I guided her, pulling the putter back a few inches and then whacking the ball straight down the path. All the while, our bodies stayed just as close, touching in all the right places.

We both watched as the ball skittered down the lawn and into the hole at the bottom, although I was pretty sure neither of us was paying it our full focus.

"See, that wasn't so hard," I teased against her ear before pulling myself away from her.

"Something was," she said with a wink as she stepped aside for me, and I bit my lip on a smirk.

I set my ball and took my swing, hardly caring at this point if I made it in or not. I struck the ball a little too hard and it glided past the hole only to bounce off the border and fall into the hole anyway.

"Does that still count?" Arya asked.

"A hole in one is a hole in one," I retorted. "But I'll let you have that round."

She laughed. "Okay, but no more going easy on me. If I'm going to win, I want to win fair and square."

I chuckled. "Fair enough. No more going easy on you."

The look she gave me said she caught the double meaning in my words, and suddenly this game wasn't just about golf anymore.

The next hole was slightly more complicated, with the grass twisting in several angles before reaching the hole. Arya didn't ask for help this time, just set her ball and positioned herself in putting stance.

I couldn't be sure, but I had the feeling she was intentionally arching her ass out more than necessary. No one looked that sexy trying to hit a golf ball. She pulled the club back just as I'd shown her, then struck the ball. It bounced off the boundaries several times, surprisingly sailing right into the hole.

She cheered excitedly, jumping clean off the ground.

"Why do I have the feeling I've just been hustled," I commented.

She shrugged. "Beginner's luck. And I'm pretty good with geometry."

"Uhuh," I hummed, trading places with her for my turn.

A breeze wafted her scent in my face just as I took my swing, and I hit the ball a little too far to the left, sending it bouncing too many times and landing far from the hole.

"Didn't I tell you not to go easy on me?" she asked, crossing her arms behind me.

"Maybe you're too distracting," I said, my voice husky and betraying a trace of my dragon.

She bit her lip and skipped ahead to the next hole.

Each round got more difficult, and it was hard to concentrate with her so close. I was usually a skilled golfer. Arthur had made sure I was proficient in all forms of high-society sports. Mini golf should be child's play for me. But for the first time, I didn't mind losing. Not to Arya.

Especially when she took every opportunity to tease me with her touches and subtle innuendos.

As we neared the eighth hole, I noticed we were alone. The golfers that had been ahead of us had played at a quicker pace—probably because they weren't flirting so much—and now the path in both directions was cozily vacant. A fact I no longer minded. After all this heated back and forth between us, I was eager to have her all to myself.

"Maybe if you try closing your eyes, you'll get this one," she suggested playfully as I prepared for my swing.

I shrugged. "Okay, then."

I closed my eyes, pulled back much more than I needed to, and swung as hard as I could.

She squealed, and I opened my eyes to see the ball flying against the blade of the windmill and bouncing into the bushes.

"I didn't actually mean that," she exclaimed, and we both laughed.

I headed into the bushes to retrieve it, and she scurried behind me.

"I'll help you find it," she said.

I turned to object, but I tripped on a rock and lost my balance, inadvertently taking Arya tumbling with me. We rolled down the small grassy slope, and I landed on top of her, both of us laughing our heads off.

I braced myself above her and prepared to get up and help her. Our glances locked, and I paused and looked down at her. My laughter subsided, and my smile fell away as her blue eyes trapped me in their hypnotic snare.

She reached up to gently stroke my cheek, and just like that, all my restraint shattered. I lowered my mouth to hers, and she welcomed me with hungry lips open and tongue eager to taste. We fell into an intense and frenzied rhythm, our mouths opening and closing in sync with each other, our tongues wrestling and never getting enough.

Her hands raked my back and sides, pulling me closer against her as she pressed her body up against mine. Her legs spread to allow my hips to nestle between them, and the feeling of my dick so close to her pussy sent me wild with need.

There was no more holding back from this devastating creature. Arya was mine, and I was finally going to taste her. We were alone in this secluded part of the park, and at this point, I didn't give a damn who saw what I was about to do to her.

I kissed across her jaw to her neck, nibbling her ear once before sucking the skin beneath it. Her sweet scent saturated me, her soft hair caressing my face, and I wanted to nuzzle myself in it forever. But there was another place I wanted to bury my face in more.

I kissed down her torso, not caring that my lips pressed over the fabric of her sweater as I made my way down to my target. I gripped the creamy flesh of her thighs before hiking her skirt up to allow me access as I lowered myself between her legs.

Like a ravenous beast, I gnawed at the thin lace of her panties, savoring the taste of her wetness on the fabric and pressing the material against her clit. She moaned, putting her hands on my head and tangling her fingers into my hair as I sucked and nibbled.

Finally, I ripped the meddlesome lace apart, exposing her perfect and glistening pink pussy to every one of my senses.

"Tobias," she gasped just before I descended onto her delicious bare flesh, then she sucked in a breath that silenced any encouragement or protest she might have made.

She tasted like heaven and sin combined. Her folds were so soft, so silky, and so maddeningly wet. I lapped at her juices, sucking them off of her petals like morning dew, only for her desire to moisten them once more.

Desperate for more of her taste, I thrust my tongue into her opening, needing to be as deep inside her as I could reach. She cried out, the sound muffled, and I distantly realized that she was covering her mouth. I wanted to hear her scream, wanted the world to know she was mine. Mine .

I ate into her, pushing my tongue in and out in the rhythm I knew with every fiber of my being that she needed. Her pleasure filled my senses, mingling with my own, until I couldn't tell myself apart from her for several blurry, lost seconds. I was a slave to her needs, feasting without conscious thought, and there was no place I'd rather be, nothing I'd rather be doing—no mistress I'd rather be serving.

Her hips squirmed beneath me while her thighs clenched around my head with delicious pressure, and all five of my senses could feel her closeness. With the first intentional thought in what seemed an eternity, I slowed my pace, drawing out her pleasure as long as I could.

I wanted her to float on these sensations endlessly, to be driven as mad with lust as she did to me.

But my groan of satisfaction for her sinful taste was my undoing, and hers. She came with a tight whimper, her back arching and thighs squeezing as her climax filled my mouth with her nectar. And I drank in every drop, sucking her flesh dry until her trembling and bucking subsided.

My hunger for her was nowhere near sated. I needed to claim her in every way imaginable. Wiping my face, I climbed back up to face her, holding myself up with one hand as I struggled to unzip my pants with the other.

She grabbed my face with both hands and yanked me down to kiss her again, and my stupid fucking fingers couldn't seem to manage getting a hold on the zipper.

She must have noticed my struggle, because she slid one hand down between my legs, took the zipper and jerked it down. Then she reached inside my pants and pushed beneath the fabric of my briefs, wrapping her hand around my aching shaft.

I hissed at the perfect torture of her touch, and she took that as encouragement to stroke her grip up and down. I groaned, aching to plunge my cock inside her, but instead, languishing in her attention.

Arya, Arya, Arya…

Her name was a cadence in my mind that I wanted to hear forever.

"Fuck me, Tobias," she whispered between panting and feverish kisses.

Warmth bloomed in my chest at her sweet words, at her teasing strokes, and suddenly, I panicked.