26. Morelle

26

MORELLE

A s Morelle lay on top of Brandon, her body still tingling from the waves of pleasure that had crashed through her, she thought about her mother and how right she'd been to urge her to wake up and experience what life had to offer.

The physical sensations were incredible, but even more amazing was the emotional connection she felt with Brandon following those moments of intimacy.

There were only two things missing from what should have been a perfect completion.

Brandon hadn't reached his own release, and he hadn't bitten her.

She'd expected the bite, had yearned for it even, knowing it was supposed to be the ultimate pleasure to be had with an immortal male or god. It wasn't anything she had learned from the head priestess, of course, but she'd managed to have a couple of discreet talks with Annani when Brandon had been otherwise occupied.

The head priestess had exalted the merits of biting, which was mutual between Kra-ell males and females, and she had told Morelle on more than one occasion that she was lucky to be a celibate priestess because her lack of fangs would have prevented her from deriving any sexual pleasure during the dominance games the Kra-ell engaged in.

In contrast, Annani had explained that only male immortals and gods had fangs and females didn't and that the venom bite was one of the best parts of the sexual act.

Brandon's hand ran up and down her back, and she regretted having the nightgown still on, bunched up around her middle and creating a barrier that Brandon's hand had to skip over to get from her back to her ass.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

"I'm more than okay," she said, still catching her breath. "I'm liquefied, and I can't move."

He chuckled. "Stay as long as you want to. I love being your cushion."

She lifted her head. "You are not soft enough to be a good cushion, but you are warm." She put her head down on his chest. "Thank you," she murmured, wondering if it was okay to say that.

Her talk with Annani didn't cover intimate conversation etiquette.

Brandon kissed her temple. "You don't need to thank me, sweetheart. Bringing you pleasure was the greatest gift. As far as I'm concerned, this was the best night of my life."

She lifted her head again to look at him. "You didn't get to culminate." The words came out more accusatory than she'd intended. "And you didn't bite me. How can you say it was the best night of your life when you denied yourself both? Denied us both?"

"Because watching you come apart in my arms was all I needed." His blue eyes were so sincere that she almost believed him. Almost.

"I don't need coddling, Brandon. I want you to tell me the truth just like I'm telling you the truth. I loved every moment of the incredible pleasure you gave me, but I regret it being one-sided and missing out on the venom bite." The lingering effects of her pleasure made it difficult to maintain her indignation. "Still, after what you just gave me, I can't complain. Just know that next time will be about your pleasure."

He chuckled, the sound vibrating through both their chests. "We'll see about that."

"No." She rolled off of him and pushed up on one elbow to look at him. "There will not be a next time unless you achieve completion first. That's not negotiable."

His laughter grew stronger, and he wrapped his arm around her waist, trying to pull her back to him. "Put your head on my chest, Princess."

She resisted, keeping her position. "I'm serious, Brandon."

"I know that." His expression sobered, though amusement still danced in his eyes. "That's exactly why I'm laughing. I love how assertive you are, how you know what you want and aren't afraid to demand it. But you need to understand something—you can't force me to do anything that I believe is not good for you."

Morelle opened her mouth to argue, then closed it again. She hadn't considered it from that perspective. They were different people, and each had their own wants, desires, and preferences. Neither of them should be forcing the other to do anything.

"We need to learn to compromise," she said. "Though I suppose it's mostly me who needs to learn. You already know how to do that." She settled against his chest, letting out a long breath. "I'm still like a child in so many ways, learning how to interact with people in this world."

His hand stroked up and down her arm in a soothing rhythm. "We have more in common than you think. We are both entering new phases in our lives, trying to find our footing."

She tilted her head and frowned at him. "What do you mean? You've lived here your entire life."

"I've been producing movies and television series for so long that I barely know how to do anything else." His voice held a note of uncertainty she'd never heard before. "I've studied the effects of media on society, but I'm not sure how to actually create meaningful change anymore."

"I hate to repeat myself, but what do you mean?"

He shifted slightly, getting more comfortable. "The world is changing faster than ever. Traditional media doesn't have the same impact it used to. That's why I've been focusing on the InstaTock project."

"You mentioned that before," she said, remembering fragments from when she'd been trapped in twilight. "While I was sleeping. But the details are hazy."

His hand continued its soothing motion on her arm. "The idea is to create content that helps young humans develop critical thinking skills. I want to teach them how to distinguish fact from fiction and how to question what they're told instead of just accepting it, but the problem is their nearly nonexistent attention span and their gravitation toward the nastiest content. I refuse to fight nastiness with more nastiness, but I don't know how to reach them."

"It's like the Kra-ell teaching their young to recognize weakness in an opponent."

He chuckled. "Similar concept, different application. Instead of physical weaknesses, we want them to recognize logical fallacies, manipulation tactics, the ways people try to influence their thoughts, beliefs, and actions."

"Because the gods made humans susceptible to influence." She remembered him saying that earlier.

"Exactly. But it's not enough to just tell them that. We need to make it engaging, make them want to learn these skills." His voice grew more animated as he explained. "That's where InstaTock comes in. I'm working on developing interactive content, challenges, games—all designed to make critical thinking fun and rewarding, but I'm not sure any of it will draw enough engagement."

"I wish I could help you, but I know almost nothing about humans, young or old. I need to start learning." She stifled a yawn. "Can you give me an example?"

He chuckled. "I'm sorry. This is definitely not the kind of talk a couple should have after a wonderful intimate moment."

"I like hearing you talk about things you are passionate about," she murmured against his chest.

"Well, in that case, one of the ideas is to present scenarios where participants have to identify different types of manipulation tactics. Another is..." His voice faded into a gentle murmur as sleep claimed her, his steady heartbeat under her ear becoming her lullaby.