Page 24 of The Rhino's Rose

He has to be teasing.

“What kind of supplies?”

“Crochet and modeling clay.” His mouth curves up at the corners when my bottom lip drops. “I’m not great at either, but better at crocheting. I mostly make balls with the clay.” Chuckling, he shrugs. “Rolling clay between my palms is very relaxing.”

“And the crocheting? Do you have one incredibly long chain stitch going?”

“I’ve progressed from the single chain.” A twinkle lights his gray eyes. “I made the blanket I threw over you when you flashed me on the couch.”

An indignant huff bursts from my lips. “Thatwas an accident. Out at the pool,thatwas flashing.” Memories from last night play in my mind, melting away the nervousness from a few minutes ago. I know tonight will be amazing because he’ll make it that way. “It’s a beautiful blanket. I never would’ve guessed you made it.”

“There’s a lot we don’t know about each other yet,” he says, leaning against the doorframe. “And we have many decades to learn it all. There’s no rush, Rose.”

I know he’s not referring to our hobbies and interests. Not really. He’s letting me know it’s okay if we take our time in the bedroom. Or bathroom, since that was first on tonight’s list.

“I’d like to learn how to crochet if you’re willing to teach me, but not tonight. Tonight, I want you to teach me other things I’ve never done.”

“Anything you want.”

“I want you to drop the towel.” The words have barely left my mouth when the towel falls to the floor, leaving him fully naked in front of me. “Come closer.”

As big and heavy as he is, his footfalls are practically silent on the hardwood floor as he closes the distance between us, leaving enough space for me to see everything in clear detail.

“I don’t know where to look first,” Isay, and he chuckles again. My face heats like I’m too close to the fire. Which makes sense, because Cornelius is the hottest man I have ever seen.

Gray all over—except for his cock—even the smoothest areas of his skin are textured, while other areas have a more pronounced bumpiness, and the skin on his shoulders and chest has a heavy, almost structured look. Heavily muscled, even in his thick middle, he exudes power.

I know he’s incredibly strong; I’ve seen him lift ridiculously large rocks with his bare hands. Even without all his muscles, he’s huge. The thought of him on top of me, pressing all that bulk against me while he fucks me, sends sparks racing between my legs.

Watching me with patient eyes, he waits for my gaze to drop below his thick middle, then opens his stance. His cock bobs with the shift in position, the hard length of it slapping against his midsection.

The tip isn’t a smooth taper, it’s almost blunt, with a ringlike shape at the top that has rounded bumps, sort of like a smoothed-out crown. Below that is a heavily veined section about the width of my hand. Then there are…I don’t know what exactly. Fins? Wings?

An audible gulp escapes before I can swallow it down.

He reaches for me, his big hand slipping under my chin, tipping it up so I’m looking into his kind eyes, not at his one-eyed monster. “Spending my life with you is all I need to be happy.”

I curl my fingers around his shaft. “I want to raise the bar for ‘happy.’”

He groans as I trace the smooth, bumpy ring with the pad of my thumb, then slide my hand down, exploring the textured, protruding ridges on either side. “Consider it raised.” His enjoyment of my simple touch is exactly what I need to feel like a siren instead of a nervous little virgin.

“Tell me if I do something that doesn’t feel good,” I say, backing up carefully and settling on the small bench at the end of the bed.

“Anything you want to do is going to feel amazing to me.” He draws a deep breath when I take his cock in both hands, moving them up and down the thick, silky, lower portion before gripping the two protruding ridges like handles. “Really fucking amazing.” He groans again when I guide him to my mouth and trail my tongue over the crowned tip, then scoop the milky bead of precum at the center.

Another bead quickly takes its place, and I lap that one up too,mmmingat the fresh, sweet taste of him on my tongue. Looking up his body, our gazes lock, and I open wide, encircling the head of his cock with my lips.

His breath rushes out in a husky rasp as I guide him deeper into my mouth. The ridges I’m holding bump against the corners of my mouth, preventing me from taking any more of him.“Gods, Rose,”he rasps when I swallow the ambrosial precum dribbling down my throat. Then he threads one hand through my hair and gently eases me off his cock. “What you’re doing feelsamazing, but I don’t want to come in your mouth the first time you give me the privilege of being inside it.”

Butterflies flap wildly in my belly as he scoops me into his arms. Placing my palms on his chest, I feel his heart racing, too. “I want you,” I say softly, sliding my hands over every inch of skin I can reach. It’s like leather and concrete combined, and as he carries me to the bathroom, the subtle abrasion of it against my nipples tightens the longing building inside me. “I want to be with you, to feel you inside me.”

“Whatever you want, Rose, it’s yours.” After gently setting me on my feet, he tugs the bow at my waist and slides the silky robe off my shoulders, letting it flutter to the floor. “You’re so beautiful,” he says, lifting me again, then setting me in the tub. “How’s the temperature?”

“Perfect.” I curl my legs to my chest to make room when he doesn’t join me. “Is the water too hot?” It’s to my liking, but he told me rhinos prefer it cool.

“I’d get into boiling lava for you.” The water level rises from half to full when he settles his huge, mouthwatering body across from me, his arms along the curved backrest and his legs fully extended, one foot gently stroking my hip. In this position, the wavy motion of the water makes his cock look like a submerged marble statue.

When I look up, he’s watching me. Calmly. Patiently. But also, hungrily. He crooks a finger at me. “Come here, beautiful.”

---