Page 50 of Drenched

“Do you ever stop?” I whispered, breathless.

He tilted his head, smirk widening. “Why would I, when your body begs me to keep going?”

I meant to argue, but his mouth closed around my breast, and my mind shattered. His tongue flicked my nipple, heat and water mixing into something electric. When his teeth grazed the peak, I gasped, my back arching.

“Rynar...” My voice trembled.

He hummed, the vibration sinking deep, making my thighs clench. His mouth worked me, his tongue flicking over swollen nipples and occasionally biting it lightly with his sharp teeth, until I shook in his arms. My nails bit into his shoulders as I rode the wave.

He pulled back, his lips curling with satisfaction. “Perfect.”

I wanted to argue, but the words dissolved. His hands and mouth mapped me, worshipped me. The water lapped at my skin, cool and soothing, while his touch burned its way into my soul.

My body relaxed. My mind stayed restless.

I buried the doubts, the fear that I was slipping away, losing something vital. Instead, I clung to the way his eyes held mine: dark and reverent, like I was the only thing in his world.

Maybe, just for tonight, that was enough.

Rynar wrapped me in a soft fabric woven from algae, its cool smoothness clinging to my skin. His arms cradled me effortlessly, his strength a constant reminder of how fragile I was in comparison. But his touch stayed careful, reverent, as if he feared I might shatter.

The glow of the cavern shifted around us as he carried me and laid me on the bed of glowing coral, his claws brushing my cheek with a gentleness that sent a shiver through me.

“Rest,” he murmured, the word settling in my mind like a blanket. “I’ll return soon.”

I nodded, watching as Rynar slipped beneath the water. The ripples shimmered before the pool stilled, leaving me alone.

I sat up slowly, the algae fabric slipping against my skin. My body ached in the best way, every bruise and mark a reminder of him. But my thoughts wouldn’t settle. They never really did anymore.

I stared at the faint sliver of light on the cavern wall. It moved so slowly, just like everything else down here. Like time was bending, dragging me further into something I didn’t understand.

This wasn’t me. Or at least, it hadn’t been. The fact was, I didn’t even know who I was anymore.

I pulled the algae fabric tighter around myself, as if it could protect me from my own thoughts. I wasn’t weak. I’d survived losing my parents. I’d survived that horror house. I’d survived sleepless nights in New York, choking on my own regrets. I’d survived all of it.

So why couldn’t I stop this?

Why couldn’t I stophim?

My chest tightened and I realized…I hated the way he made me feel. The way his touch lit something inside me I couldn’t control. The way his voice crept into my thoughts even when he wasn’t here, soft and mocking and impossible to ignore.

And worst of all, the way I wanted it.

My gaze fell to the glowing coral beneath me. It was beautiful. Everything down here was beautiful in that eerie, otherworldly way. Even Rynar.

Especially Rynar.

The thought made me sick.

He wasn’t human. He wasn’t even close. And yet, every time he looked at me, I felt something crack open inside me. Like he saw something I didn’t want anyone to see.

I let out a bitter laugh, the sound swallowed by the cavern.How did it come to this?

I thought about Kim. Jaime. Their faces blurred in my mind, like they were part of a dream I couldn’t quite remember. What would they think of me if they were alive?

I touched my wrist, tracing the faint scars that had been there for years. They were a reminder, a promise I’d made to myself a long time ago: keep going, no matter how much it hurt.

But this... this was different.

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