Page 42 of Blood on the Tide

She sighs into my mouth and I guide her back against the side of the tub. It’s the most natural thing in the world to press my thigh to her pussy and cup her hips, urging her to grind against me. I want to feel her come apart, I want the abandon of her orgasm and to know that I’m the cause of it. I need her surrender more than I need my next breath.

Maybe drowning really is the sweetest way to die.

With that in mind, I kiss my way down her chest, taking the time to lavish her breasts with all the attention they deserve. Her fingers are in my hair, but Maeve makes no move to guide me. It’s as if she knows that I need this. But then, she always seems to know what I need almost before I do. I draw in a slow breath and then descend below the surface of the water, nipping and kissing her stomach and then settling between her thighs. A short time ago, the pressure of air in my lungs, knowing that my next breath was not assured, was a nightmare. Now it’s something significantly more dreamlike.

This is how I reclaim myself. By claiming her.

Even with the bathwater all around us, she still tastes like the sea. I lick her, enjoying the way that her thighs tense on either side of my head. Our first time together may have been a frenzy, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t paying attention. I know exactly what gets my little selkie off.

I give it to her now. I press two fingers into her and focus on her clit, using the flat of my tongue to stroke her just the way she desires. Who needs breath? This isn’t terrifying. This is a choice I’m making, one I will happily make again and again. She’ll come before my breath runs out. I’ll make sure of it.

It doesn’t take long. Maeve moves against me in long, graceful motions, grinding against my tongue as she chases her pleasure with the same fervor that I do. The only thing I mourn is that I don’t hear her cry as she comes. I certainly feel it, her pussy clamping around my fingers tightly enough to bruise.

And then I bite her.

Her whole body goes tight and tense, her blood salty on my tongue. I don’t take much, just a few pulls, just enough to ensure that her orgasm keeps going and going.

Just enough to ensure that she’ll never get over me.

I don’t know where that thought came from, and I refuse to examine it as her hands tighten in my hair and she wrenches me back to the surface to kiss me, hard and messy. I can’t stop touching her, gripping her big ass, stroking up her spine to clasp the back of her neck, hooking her thigh around my waist so we can get closer. Did I really think one orgasm was going to be enough? Normally I’m not such a fool.

“You make me crazed,” she says between kisses. “I’m trying to comfort you.”

I smile against her lips. “I’m feeling incredibly comforted right now. Aren’t you?”

“Lizzie.” Her growl makes my nipples tighten. And then her hand is between my thighs, stroking my pleasure the same way I stroked hers. It’s hard to tell because her eyes are naturally so dark, but I swear they darken further. Her lips curve as she relaxes against the side of the tub. She tilts her head to the side, baring her neck to me. “Bite me again.”

“Maeve.” Since we came aboard the Serpent’s Cry, she’s been eating better than she was in that little sad excuse for a sailboat, but that doesn’t mean she’s at full strength after going days without food and water in the wake of the storm. She doesn’t heal the way a vampire does. If I drink too much, I will harm her.

“Please, Lizzie.” She presses a third finger into me, scrambling my thoughts. “Do it when you’re right about to come. I want us to go over the edge together.”

I make a sound that’s almost a laugh, but it feels like desperation. Does she understand what she’s doing to me? I can’t focus enough to ask. I kiss her hard, even as her clever fingers tease me closer and closer to that edge she promised. Apparently Maeve learned my body just as quickly as I learned hers. Enough to ensure that she knows exactly what I need to orgasm.

She presses her thumb to my clit. Hard. The barest edge of her nail causing a spike of pain that sends me hurtling into oblivion. In that moment, when I’m poised before falling, I strike, biting her neck. Too hard. Too deep. But I can’t control myself as I’m spasming through an orgasm. I try to unclench my jaw, but she just keeps stroking me, her cries of pleasure ringing in my ears.

On and on it goes, one orgasm bleeding into another and another. Finally, I’m able to wrench my mouth from her skin, but not before her blood colors the water around us. Too much. Far too much. The cleaning spell can’t keep up with it.

What have I done?

“Maeve.” Her head lolls as I gather her into my arms. There’s a smile on her face, but what the fuck does that mean? “Maeve. Maeve, talk to me.”

“Too loud,” she murmurs, her voice fading fast. “I’m fine. Everything is fine.”

I don’t believe her for a minute.

chapter 21

Maeve

I’m having a hard time keeping my eyes open. My body is heavy and there’s a faint throbbing in my throat. I can feel Lizzie’s distress, and the fact that she’s not even trying to hide it indicates how bad this situation is. Worry barely penetrates the lethargy permeating my limbs. “I’m fine.” Did I say that already? I’m not certain.

“Godsdamn it,” Lizzie mutters under her breath as she sweeps me into her arms and lifts me out of the tub with no apparent effort whatsoever. Vampire strength truly is nothing to underestimate.

She carries me to the bed and lays me down on the newly cleaned sheets. “Maeve. Talk to me.”

My neck aches in time with the slow thud of my heart. I’m aware of what went wrong. I knew what was happening while she was biting me, and I didn’t care. I didn’t want the pleasure to stop. Not mine. Not hers. But last time she bit me, I don’t think she took more than a mouthful or two. This time was different. My pleasure went on and on, cresting repeatedly as she took my throat. “Just give me a few minutes. I just need to close my eyes—”

“Maeve.” The snap in her voice forces my lids open despite the exhaustion weighing them down. She crouches next to me, naked and glorious and absolutely perfect. If not for the panic flaring in her dark eyes.

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