Page 82 of Changelings
Imogen gasped, and he watched in surprise as she took her other breast in her own hand, squeezing and pinching the nipple. Balar’s chest burst with a frenetic purr, nearly devolved into growls, as they both kneaded and toyed with her.
His thrusts became brutal, the wet slap of their bodies echoing through the cabin. He chased down her pleasure and his own, consumed with the idea of spilling inside her. His knot throbbed angrily, teasing her entrance.
Goddess, let her be ready.
He couldn’t hold on any longer.
With his hand crushing her breast and his cock thrust home inside her, Balar came apart. His roar shook the windowpanes, and after another one, two thrusts, his knot sank inside her. Imogen’s mouth fell open, his knot sealing them together and pressing her clitoris against his base.
Her legs jerked and she cried his name as she fell from her peak. It was the single most beautiful thing Balar had ever seen.
Burning with orgasm, Balar filled her up. His back arched as he gave her every last drop, his knot swelling to ensure they remained connected.
He didn’t quite know when the throes of orgasm releasedhim; it was a gradual come down, his body still twitching with aftershocks for a long while. Chest heaving as he worked to breathe, Balar got his paw beneath one of the cheeks of Imogen’s backside to guide her leg around his waist.
His beleaguered elbow screamed in relief when he rolled them onto their sides, keeping their hips tucked together.
Liquid heat soaked his cock, and Balar wanted to drown in the feeling.
Imogen’s gentle fingers found his face, and she traced the contours of his cheeks and brows. Melting into her petting, Balar’s purr was softer now, the sound of pure happiness.
“Are you all right?” he whispered.
“Yes. Are you?”
Balar huffed, too overwhelmed to truly laugh. “Oh, yes,nitlam. More than all right. I already crave you again.”
The hands stroking his face paused, and she gulped. “But your knot…?”
“Yes, that will ensure we stay together for a while yet. So rest while you can.”
Imogen’s laugh puffed against his lips. “It sounds like we’re stuck together, then.”
Balar rumbled happily, catching her up in his arms to hold tight. “Oh, yes indeed. But you already knew that.”
Epilogue
Although they’d made plans all winter long to deconstruct Balar’s cabin and use the timber to add onto Imogen’s cottage, when spring came, plans had to be delayed for a fortnight.
She didn’t mind; there were goat kids to care for and seeds to plant in the garden. What Imogen did mind was the moody way all the manticores wandered around the meadow, looking faintly miserable. Usually Soren was the only one with the thundercloud brow, but over early spring, they all managed to seem more wretched day after day.
Even bouncy Kiri and teasing Akila became unhappy souls, scratching and moaning as they shlepped around the property.
She’d noticed Akila missing a feather some weeks ago and had asked over it. Strangely, he’d tucked his wings tight to his back and scampered away. Imogen had thought to ask Balar about it, but then they’d all begun to act strangely.
Balar was affected, too; although they lived together and shared a bed, somehow Imogen saw little of him.
It was when he came out of their bedchamber one morning, covered in his big blanket and looking more sullen than a childdenied a sweet, that Imogen had finally had enough.
Pointing a finger at him so that he knew he couldn’t slink away, she demanded, “Will you tell me what’s the matter? Take that blanket off and have breakfast.”
“No,” he pouted. “I’m not hungry.”
Imogen rolled her eyes. “You’re always hungry. Sit.” She even pulled a kitchen chair out to underscore her point.
He huffed and puffed and looked like he wanted to argue, but when he saw the way she planted her fists on her hips, he sighed with the drama of a troubadour and sat. The blanket remained over his head and about his shoulders.
“What’s wrong?” she asked more gently, tugging at the blanket. “You’ve all been acting so strangely.”
