20. Kaia

His mouth is on mine in an instant, his emotions flooding through the kiss so strongly it takes my breath away. He’s admitted he doesn’t want me to leave, and I’ve admitted I’m not totally sure I want to. It’s not a declaration of love, but it’s definitely something.

I kiss him back, moving on his lap to straddle him, not caring about who can see. But just as I settle back onto his lap, his wings spread, blocking out any wandering eyes that may look our way. He’s hard beneath me, his cock straining against his pants. I can’t help myself. I grind against him, rolling my hips as we continue to kiss and kiss and kiss. He groans and nips at my lips, then moves down along my jaw to my throat. His beard scratches at sensitive skin, and I can feel the flood of arousal between my thighs.

“I want you.” My voice comes out needy and low between heavy breaths.

“We can’t,” he groans. “Not here. I would hurt you.” His hands begin to work their magic, though, tugging the cream linen smock off my breasts, exposing them to the chilly air between us. He tugs on my nipples, and the sharp bite of pain goes straight to my clit. “But I can help you.”

He makes quick work of my skirts, pushing them out of the way so that he can get his hands on my bare skin. His fingers move deftly, pushing my underwear to the side to find me wet and needy. I whine, closing my eyes and dropping my head forward to rest on his shoulder. The second he touches my clit, I bite down hard where his neck meets his shoulder. I don’t want to make a racket and draw attention to our little midday tryst in the middle of a public fucking park.

“Does my mate want to come on my fingers?” he asks, his voice low and breath hot on my hair. His fingertips slide around my arousal, coating his fingers before he dips them inside of me. I’m sore from last night, but I barely register it as he curls those thick digits deep inside of me.

“Oh, fuck,” I groan, tugging harshly on his hair as I ride his fingers like a wanton hussy. Obscene noises fill the air between us as he continues to work me closer and closer to another life-changing orgasm. “Thoren, my god. You really know what you’re doing with those fingers.”

I laugh lightly, trying to bring some lightheartedness to the situation. I’ve always felt a little awkward in sexual situations, and the fact that we are doing this in the middle of the day around strangers has my anxiety knocking at the door. Sure, he’s made sure they can’t see us, but if anyone were to look over at us, I think it’s pretty obvious what’s going on.

“I know what you like. I know how to read my mate’s body.” He nudges my head with his shoulder, and I look up to find him grinning down at me. When he smiles like that, the hint of a dimple showing behind his beard and a sinful look in his eyes, my brain gets all foggy. “You look stunning when you need me.”

I kiss him again and bask in the moment. His thumb grazes my clit and then begins to gently circle it when he realizes it’s bringing me closer to my release. I pant against his mouth as our tongues twist and teeth clash. I grab hold of one of his horns as his soft tail wraps around my right ankle. In the back of my mind, I wonder if we could use that tail for other things…

“Can you come for me, my mate?” he asks as his other hand wraps around my throat. I love it when the dominant side of him comes out, and when he grabs my neck like this, I feel like I’ve been thrown into my own romance novel.

“Keep doing that,” I beg him, taking his thumb between my teeth when he runs it over my bottom lip. I suck it into my mouth and twirl my tongue around the tip. He hardens even further beneath me.

“You’re going to make me finish in my pants again, sweet mate,” he growls as his fingers pick up their punishing pace.

My eyes widen.

“You couldn’t tell?” he asks, those sweet fingers curling again and again against that sweet spot inside of me. “I came with you. Yesterday. On the horse.” His voice is breathy and rough as gravel as the orgasm builds deep in my belly. Not long until I can’t hold it back any longer. “All I need for my pleasure is to make you feel good. And to see you come apart for me?” He shakes his head and kisses me quickly. “It is the best feeling a male can experience.”

“Thoren!” I cry out as the orgasm rushes through me, my pussy squeezing his fingers until they can no longer move in and out of me. He holds them there, just barely pressing on my G-spot while his thumb teases circles around my clit. I know I’ve soaked his hand, and others around us probably heard me shout his name, but there was nothing to be done about it. This man has me in the palm of his hand.

Literally.

His fingers slip from between my thighs, and he carefully adjusts my dress back over my legs. He licks his fingers clean again, like he can’t get enough of my taste. He doesn’t want to miss a drop of it, and I can feel my body reacting all over again.

“That was embarrassing,” I whisper, laughing as I let my head fall back onto his shoulder.

“Why?” He grabs my ass and pulls me against him until we are flush, and I have no choice but to look him in the eyes. “Why are you embarrassed, Kaia? Of me?”

“Oh, my god! No, never!” I frame his face with my hands and kiss him fiercely on the lips. “I would never be embarrassed of you. If anything, you should be embarrassed of me.”

His face turns serious, and he grabs my jaw, not so tight it hurts, but he’s definitely getting his point across. “You could never embarrass me. I never want to hear you say that.”

“It’s just…” I gesture at my body, my insecurities getting the best of me today. “I’m fat.”

His eyebrows tug together, confusion written clearly on his face. “You have fat,” he says, his thumb running up and down my jawline. “As everyone does. But you are perfect to me. Your body is everything I could have ever hoped for. Since the moment I saw you in that lake, Goldilocks,” he says, kissing me gently as his words sink in, “I’ve been in pain with how much I want you.”

I open my mouth to speak, but he places a finger over my lips and shakes his head.

“It’s not because of the bond, Kaia. I want you because of who you are, how you laugh, and how you treat the people around you. I want to make love to you every second of every day because your body calls to me like a shining beacon in a storm.”

“I’m sorry.” I wipe the stray tears that have fallen. I’m normally not this person. I’ve worked hard on myself over the years, coming to terms with how my body looks. But today has been one of those days where my brain doesn’t want to listen. “I’m normally much more confident,” I tell him. “But being seen with you by so many people today, in this revealing dress of all things, I’ve felt…” I pause as I think of what I’m trying to say. He’s patient and gives me time, drawing circles on my sensitive skin with the tips of his fingers.

“I’ve felt inadequate. Look at you — handsome, tall, and fucking strong. And then there’s me, your mate who takes up too much space.”

“You take up the exact amount of space you are meant to.” He says it with such certainty that it leaves no room for rebuttal.

“Sorry, sometimes I just have off days. But that was really fucking sweet, Thoren.” I give him a small smile.

“Stop apologizing so much, Goldilocks. You never have to apologize to me for having emotions. Just promise me you’ll always come to me when you are feeling so down?”

Always. That’s what he asks of me. And while I still haven’t fully decided to stay, I feel like there’s no other response I can give.

“Always,” I agree. Even if that always is just for another day.

His wings fan out and tuck back behind him. I look around and notice not a single person is paying us any mind. We’re pretty far away from them, but still. They all look like they couldn’t give any less of a shit. So I let it go. My mate thinks I’m perfect the way I am, and I’ve come to love my curves over the years. So why let my anxieties get to me? Why care what others might think?

“Do you feel better?” he asks, rubbing my arms. “Sometimes I cannot read your face.”

I laugh and crawl off his lap and back to where I was sitting next to him, a bit closer to the food. “Yes, Thoren. I feel better. Thank you.”

“Good to know all it takes is an orgasm to have my mate be in a better mood.”

I almost spit out the bite of cheese I had taken. He said that so fucking loud.

“Thoren!” I whisper-yell. “You don’t have to announce to everyone that you gave me an orgasm.” He laughs at me. “But it’s not just that. It’s you. You did a good job.”

“I am very good with my fingers.” He wags his eyebrows, making me swat at his arm.

“You know that’s not what I meant. You reassured me, made me feel like I’m worthy, like I’m not less just because my body has a little extra fat on it.”

“As it should be,” he says with a firm nod. “It must be a human thing,” he continues. “I’ve never heard women here talk about their body in that way, and I have met many women. Ogres, witches, demons, and the like. All different shapes, sizes, and colors, and it’s just not something that is thought about.”

“You’re not a woman, though,” I remind him. “You wouldn’t know what they say about themselves behind closed doors.”

“I guess not, but I have a lot of sisters, and they’ve never discussed these things.” He shrugs and throws a biscuit — a whole biscuit — in his mouth. I watch him, biting back laughter as he works his jaw to chew the dry thing over and over again. Crumbs get in his beard, and when I brush them away, I’m rewarded with a messy smile. “And I love food. So I want a mate who will eat with me. And a mate who likes to be eaten.”

My god, this gargoyle. I’m in a constant state of blushing around him. He’s always giving me sultry stares or saying something so out of pocket that I can’t believe my ears. And when he touches me, good lord. I am so smitten with him.

It makes me realize just how badly I’m beginning to hope Feryn doesn’t have the answers I’ve been seeking. Because I would be the stupidest woman alive to leave a man who cares for me this much. And when that thought registers with my heart, that final piece of the puzzle seems to slot into place. A warmth spreads through my limbs, and my heart speeds up. I can feel it thumping in my chest as he plays with the chain around his wrist, completely oblivious to my internal monologue.

Oh, shit. I snort out loud at the absurdity of the thought, but I think I’m going to stay.