Page 43 of Gravel and Grit

“Okay, okay,” she panted, giving him a mock glare through her curls,

“you win!”

With that she quickly crawled back up his body and positioned herself over his cock.

Hovering there for a moment, she gazed down at him and had a moment of feeling like she was about to step off a cliff. It was a scary feeling but breathtaking and electrifying at the same time.

She searched his face, but for what exactly she didn’t know. His bright orange eyes were alight with a mix of lust and urgency, but there was tenderness there, too, and real affection. His harsh face was taut with need but his lips were curled, just at the corners, in a smile. He looked happy, and ravenous, but it was the happiness that really struck her.

She still didn’t know what she’d been looking for, but something in his expression made the tight feeling in her chest relax. The intense arousal, excitement, and eagerness came back as if they’d never been gone.

2 9

MIRA

Biting her lower lip, Mira reached down and wrapped her fingers around him then aimed him at her opening.

Zaek’s breath exploded out of him and he went perfectly still.

His fiery eyes, so striking against his dark grey skin, caressed her face, her hair, down her body to where they were so close to joining. It was like he wanted to witness everything, like he was committing this to memory and didn’t want to miss a single detail. His intensity heightened her arousal until she was so wet it slicked her thighs.

Sucking in a sharp breath, she rocked her hips in a circle, spreading that wetness over him, then slowly, carefully lowered herself down. His abs tensed, and they both moaned as he entered her. His thickness stretched her so that every one of those bumps and ridges rubbed against every single nerve ending, setting her on fire.

Mira curled her fingers against his chest while he gripped her hips in his huge hands. He didn’t rush her, didn’t pull her down over him. He supported her and let her take him at her own pace as she sank down one deliberate inch at a time. She could see the strain in his face, his clenched jaw and furrowed brow telling her he was holding himself in check with no small amount of effort, but there was patience in his eyes.

She was panting by the time she took all of him and the warning flutters of an orgasm were already pulsing through her. He felt heavy between her legs, but the sense of fullness was good. Better than good. Leaning forward,

she slowly lifted herself up. Her eyes rolled back and her lips parted on a throaty moan.

“So good,” she breathed.

He growled under her. The sound was deep and vibrated into her through her hands against his stomach and his cock inside her. It was low, hair-raising, and probably should’ve been terrifying, but it wasn’t. It was electrifying. He was so big, so fascinatingly fearsome, and she was so small in comparison, but it felt like he was at her mercy.

She tried to set a slow rhythm. She wanted to savor the feel of him inside her, but she didn’t have his patience. As soon as she adjusted to his girth, she sped up, rocking over him, every drop accompanied by a cry and every slow rise by a shuddering sigh. It didn’t take long before those warning flutters turned into trembles. She was right there, right on the edge. Her pace stuttered and she gasped, her eyes opening wide and locking on his.

“Zaek, I’m… ”

He bared his sharp teeth in a snarl and surged upward. He pulled her hips down, shoving his cock deep so they were pressed tightly together, then flipped them over. He rose above her.

His massive body was a wall of dark grey skin, huge, hard muscle, and glowing orange eyes. His wings snapped opened and curved around them, shrouding them both in darkness. All she could see was him. All she could feel was him. He surrounded her, enveloped her, but it wasn’t imprisoning.

He was a shield.

Being small had always been a sore point for Mira. But, imagining what they looked like—him a giant, menacing beast, her all but hidden under his bulk, impaled on his cock, stretched wide around him—was almost painfully arousing.

For the first time in her life, she understood what it felt like to be protected, to have someone bigger and scarier than you ready to defend you against a world that preyed on the weak and small.

“My Mira,” he rumbled, his voice low like thunder.

He pulled his hips back then thrust forward, making her cry out in pleasure and rocking her body against the floor, but he froze there, his panting breaths ending on growls. She felt the shudder that traveled down his spine and knew his restraint was fraying. She wanted that, wanted to feel him lose a little of that control. She trusted him not to hurt her.

Wrapping her legs around him, she dug her heels into the small of his

back to spur him on.

“Don’t stop,” she whispered, her head tilted back to gaze up at his face.

That was what he needed. He dropped to his forearms, cradled her head in his huge hands, then fucked her. He stared at her as he surged in and out, each thrust a little harder, a little faster than the last.

---