Chapter 11

Madison

I n the end, Avar chose the relic over me. My gamble had paid off, and freedom was no longer a thing of the past. All I had to do now was get that horologe for him. Then I would go back to my old life in my old world, where I belonged.

All the pieces would fall back into place again, and the restlessness I felt inside me would finally be gone. Hopefully.

"When do you want me to go to Nerifir?" I asked Avar after the table had been cleared and the dishes had been washed. "Should I go now? I mean, why wait, right?"

His eyebrows shot up to his horns.

"Now? But it's almost night already."

"From what I understand, time doesn't remain the same when one travels across the River of Mists. So, it doesn't matter when I leave here."

He hesitated. "But it's late. Aren't you tired?"

I tossed the dishcloth into the sink. "The sooner I go, the sooner it'll be over."

He leaned back against the table, his hands gripping the edge of the tabletop.

"So impatient to leave here, are you?" he asked, then added softly, "To leave me."

The wistful note in his voice was like a punch to my stomach. I knew I had to leave Purgatory. My life back in my world wasn't over yet. It just got interrupted, and I had to do everything I could to put it back on track. But the truth proved impossible to hold back.

"I'll miss you," I confessed.

He gripped the table so hard, the wood cracked. Reaching for me with his tentacles, he pulled me closer. I stretched my arms up to him, and he lifted me into a hug.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, no longer caring if it was proper and no longer wondering how I should act. I'd be leaving soon, so what did it matter?

"I'll miss you terribly, Avar. I know that already."

The fresh evening breeze brought in the scent of lilacs from the patio, and I knew I was going to miss that scent too.

Raking my fingers through the feelers of his beard, I slid my hands up his cheeks and stroked the high ridges of his cheekbones with my thumbs.

His tentacles tightened around me. The feelers circled my wrists, trapping me.

Was it really a trap? Or a passionate embrace?

Should I try to get free? Or hold on tighter?

The feelers of his beard shrank suddenly. They grew shorter until they completely disappeared, leaving him with a clean-shaven look. I stroked along his sharp jawline, learning the unfamiliar features that had been hidden from view by his beard.

"You are so heartbreakingly handsome," I said. "But you don't need to hide the feelers from me. You don't ever need to hide any part of you from me, Avar."

With a breath of relief from him, his feelers extended again.

"Maddy, my Maddy," he repeated like a prayer under his breath. "I absolutely should not kiss you right now."

"It'd be wrong," I agreed, drawing him closer.

"Worse than wrong," he murmured against my lips, with the sweet flavor of grapes on his breath. "It'd be stupid, self-destructive..."

"Irresponsible," I echoed just before our mouths collided.

He groaned, his embrace tightening. My breath hitched. The kiss was all the things we'd said. It was stupid, self-destructive, and extremely irresponsible, considering the circumstances, but it didn't feel wrong. It felt more right than anything in the world.

Without the spell of the collar pushing me into his arms, the need for him grew subtly. Unlike the desperate passion that had overpowered everything then, I was able to savor every sensation now.

As his mouth claimed mine in a hungry kiss, the delicate corollas of his tentacles peppered my arms with far gentler kisses. The feelers of his beard caressed my neck softly. Pleasure rippled down my skin.

He might look like a monster, but wasn't it human nature to be drawn to sin? For me, the pull to Avar proved irresistible. And just this once, I didn't wish to fight it.

As he leaned with his backside on the table, I stood on his thighs. Desire curled through me like a wisp of mist, growing stronger with his every caress.

A TENTACLE SLIPPED under the shoulder strap of my dress. I moved my arm, letting the dress slide off. The feelers of his beard pushed the dress further down, caressing my chest. Curling around my breasts, they stroked my nipples with their tips.

Avar slid his hand up my leg. His thumb pressed between my thighs under my skirt, making me whimper from a flash of need.

"I want you, Avar. God, I want you so much..."

"I knew it never was just the collar," he growled with approval, shoving aside my panties and dipping a finger inside me. "Sweetheart, you're delightfully wet all on your own."

I arched my back, taking his finger deeper.

"There is your fault too."

"How so?" he rumbled before dragging his tongue over my nipple.

I moaned, pushing my chest into his mouth.

"Why are you so kind to me? So attentive? So..." I jerked my hips as he stroked my clit, making the heat of arousal spike to a new height. "Why are you so good to me, Avar? How am I supposed to not fall for you?"

He lifted his face to mine and echoed my question with his own, "How am I supposed to give you up?"

I trembled, my knees giving in. He caught me, holding me gently in his arms and the loops of his tentacles.

Getting up, he placed me on the table.

"Tonight, you're mine," he said. "Fully and completely."

I opened my legs for him in response.

A pink glow rushed through him in a bright flash. He groaned, leaning over me. He kissed my lips, then my chest. Propping his hands on each side of me, he cradled me in the coils of his tentacles.

"All of you," he said firmly, thrusting his hips forward between my thighs.

Heat coursed through my body as he entered me. Slowly, as if holding back, he slid deeper until I took him all.

He paused, hovering over me on outstretched arms.

"Take me, Avar," I urged. "Take it all. Tonight, I'm yours."

He growled like a wild beast, thrusting harder. The tip of his tentacle found my hot, throbbing clit. My toes curled; my mouth fell open as pleasure rushed me.

He took, and there was nothing I could do to resist it. I gave, unable to stop.

Gripping his forearms, I held on to him in the whirlwind of passion. Mind-blinding pleasure exploded through my body like fireworks. I dug my fingernails into his arms, riding the bliss wave after wave.

"Maddy, I can't," he groaned. "I can't hold it back any longer."

"Stay." I tried to hold on to his arms, wishing for us to stay connected for as long as we could before we had to part for good.

But he leaned back, sliding out of me.

His glow undulated through his large frame in waves of pink and purple so dark, it almost seemed black.

With my hands propped behind me, I rose to look at him. His erection jolted between his thick, muscular thighs. Smaller than my forearm at first, his hard length suddenly grew to a size bigger than my thigh as I stared, stunned.

Ripples of bright violet and magenta spread from his groin through his entire body. He tossed his head back with a mighty roar that shook the mountain. His giant frame shuddered, sending him forward. Wrapping me in his arms, he propped his elbows on the table.

Waves of every shade of purple from lavender to mauve to eggplant rolled through Avar as he panted, catching his breath.

I took his face between my hands, watching the kaleidoscope of colors changing in his eyes as well.

"It's simply stunning," I whispered in awe and wonder. "Yours is the most beautiful orgasm I've ever seen."

He smiled at me with a squint. "I wish you could see yours from my vantage point. "

"How can mine even compare? I don't sparkle or glow when I come. Or grow a dick the size of a human leg."

He grunted, straightening up and taking me with him.

"My dear Maddy, you are the most beautiful sight when you moan and tremble while overcome by passion from my touch. I love watching you come undone. In fact, I love it so much, I want to see it again, right now." He flicked my nipple, placing a kiss on my lips.

I pressed my legs together with a new spasm of warm pleasure in my core.

"Where are we going?" I asked as he walked out of the room, taking the path down the mountain.

"To my bedroom, where I can fuck you properly and watch you come again."

"But I was supposed to go to Nerifir tonight."

"You're not going anywhere until you've been thoroughly satisfied and then well rested. We'll leave tomorrow."

" We? Didn't you say there was no point in you coming since you'd be only an apparition in that world?"

"An apparition is better than nothing. I'm not letting you go alone."

Come to think of it, Avar's mere appearance was a great protection already. Anyone, even a werewolf, would run away whimpering like a puppy at the sight of Avar's glowing giant self. I would certainly prefer Avar's company to going on my own.

"Now I'm really looking forward to that trip. And to the rest of tonight," I added, snuggling into his wide, glowing chest.