Page 223 of Evil Hearts

“Damn you,” he snarled, his voice thick with lust.

I pulled the pants off my ankles and draped them over some brush. “That’s not an answer,” I said, pivoting to saunter towards him. The first step into the cold water sent a pleasurable shock through me, making me shiver and lifting goosebumps on my arms.

My soulmate panted, saber-teeth forward in aggressive need and ears lifted in high focus, his gaze locked onto my hips. Despite the cold of the water, he was fully aroused, the thick length of his cock erect and the tip flexing into a curl. At the base of it, he had a crest of smaller tentacles, about the length and width of a finger, all the same deep black color as his tail and the markings along his ribs and throat.

A pulse of desire throbbed in my core. Fuck, I wanted him. I had no idea whatthatride was going to be like, but I sure as hell was looking forward to finding out.

“Ru?” I asked, stepping deeper into the water. It lapped at my thighs. One more step had me in the deep pool, the stone too farfor my toes to touch. “Don’t you think I should know my options before I pick?”

He dragged his eyes up to my face as I swam over, a look of desperation taking hold as he all but hyperventilated. “Avalon. Paradise. Don’t do this to me. Don’t make me be someone else,” he begged, his mouth open and ears dropping down. “I have to— I have to hold true to my word, but I don’twantto, I— Gods help me, I want to be yours more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my gods-damnedlife—”

I draped my wet arms over his shoulders and let my body sink against him, melding my form to his. A sense of inevitability settled onto me, the breathless anticipation of getting onto his back transmuting into a tangible thing, as if the whole universe was waiting for me. “I’m only playing with you, Ru,” I said softly, nuzzling my nose along his as he shuddered against me. “Why would I choose anyone else? Of course you’re the one I want.”

Ruven exhaled sharply, almost a sob. “I am?”

“You are,” I said, the world standing still for me. For us. “I wantyou, Ru. I want you exactly like this, and I want you forever.”

“Are you certain?” he asked, like he couldn’t trust it.

In answer, I slid my hand down and wrapped my fingers around his cock, one at a time. The shorter tentacles at the base curled against my hand in a demanding caress. “Of course I am. Can I vote for not the middle of the river, though? The aesthetic’s nice, but the chafing won’t be.”

“Your options appear to be river, pebbly sand, sharp rocks, or that pile of driftwood over there,” Ruven said, breathing hard but still managing to put a bright lilt in his voice. “What’s your preference, my dear? They’re all probably going to be uncomfortable, but I’m hoping you’ll let me make it up to you in a scandalous fashion.”

“Oh, that’s not a problem. It’s not going to bemyback getting intimate with the scenery,” I said, sticking my tongue out playfully. “I’m not the one getting ridden.Youare.”

He froze in place for a heartbeat. His nostrils flared once, and his fingertips dug into my sides. “Right,” he said with a panting exhale. “Beach it is.”

What You Bargained For

Ruven didn’t waste any more time. He snaked an arm around me and hauled me into the shallows. We didn’t even make it all the way onto the beach before he had his fingers in my hair and his mouth on mine.

I moaned from the flash of heat as his tongue gripped mine. The powerful length of his tail wrapped around my calf and his thick cock flexed in my hand. Every tiny, needy sound from his throat sent reckless desire skidding down my spine. He wasmine. There was no reason to deny him what we both wanted.

I sat up and straddled him, thighs splayed across his hips, and seated my wet heat against the pebbled length of his prehensile cock. Ruven let out a sharp cry of need, his head thrown back and horns digging gouges into the sand.

“Av,” he gasped.

“Hmm?” I started rocking against him, the movement sending sparks into my blood. His hips bucked, driving his length against my folds with a blaze of need.

“Av—”

“Aw, where’s that clever tongue now?” I asked in a teasing lilt, my skin buzzing with desire, my eyes focused on his open mouth and slanted brows. I lifted myself up off of him, which got me a desperate whine, and stroked my hand down his length.

Ruven’s fingertips sank into the flesh of my hips. “Gods, ride my tongue or ride my cock, paradise, but please fuckingrideme.”

As much as I enjoyed the begging, I couldn’t bear to wait any longer. Nothing else in the world mattered but the man underneath me, the sound of his need, and the cock in my hand. I didn’t even have to guide him into me. All I had to do was to tilt my hips for him, pressing him up against me, and that prehensile length curledjust right, the tip hooking my entrance and pushing deeper.

I sat down onto him with a moan that was more than halfway to a whimper. He could have dragged me flush to his hips in an instant, but Ruven let me set the pace, an expression of raw pleasure on his face while the thick shaft of his cock flexed inside me. He was sobig, stretching me open. The ache and burn of it warned me to go slow, but the reckless lust of months of teasing demanded I take himnow.

“Oh, fuck, Ru,” I panted out, rocking him deeper into me. “How the fuck did no one take you up on this?”

He groaned, his arms shaking and eyes glazed. “May-maybe I was— I was meant to be for you— Gods, I’m foryou, I’m yours—” His voice broke into a harsh moan as the rest of his shaft slid in, my soulmate seated deep inside me.

The shorter tentacles at the base of his shaft writhed against me, rubbing against my skin. Without thinking, I ground down against them, chasing my pleasure.

They startedvibrating.

I let out a surprised whine, and Ruven went tense underneath me.

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