Page 52 of Howling Eve

His only consolation was that he was able to arrive at the tent a lot quicker without a human female struggling to keep up. He didn’t even want to think of how miserable she would have been soaked and shivering. He would have given her his cloak if she’d insisted on accompanying him, but it was made for a troll with a much larger frame and wouldn’t have done much to keep her warm or dry. Even with its adequate fit, he knew that he had to look a mess because the oread behind the counter tutted quietly to herself and began to prepare a basket for him.

His eyes scanned the tent as he slowly approached the serving counter. As he suspected, few had bothered to leave their tents. It was no more than a handful of goblins, a lupi, and a couple of aelves sitting at the tables, but they sat apart from each other, curled into themselves as they hunched over the food they quietly ate. Their motions were quick and furtive and yet halting as their ears pricked toward every sound. Their actions were of males who expected a violent and horrific attack at any moment.

MaryAnne was not the only one haunted by what they’d all seen. Fear filled the tent like a living, breathing entity. He could smell it in the air. It filled the galley tent with a thick, oppressive weight. Their eyes darted up to him as he walked past, their fear and shock stark within their gaze, but they quickly glanced down again, their world once again narrowing to the food they hastily ate. Not one offered any attempt at conversation, which suited him just fine. The oread made an attempt at a smile at his approach.

“Good to see that you are keeping your human out of this weather,” she observed flatly. “Pleasant weather for nymphs normally, but I can’t imagine anyone else enjoying it. Hard to enjoy much of anything today, all things considered.”

He grunted in agreement as the mountain nymph’s hands moved swiftly, piling not only the usual fare of fruit, bread, and cheese that the nymphs and aelves preferred, but also hot cuts of meat wrapped separately. He wanted to ask why she would think that he would bring his mate out in this, but he kept his comment to himself. The nymph was attempting to make friendly conversation despite the grim mood and was right to worry about a fragile human. That she was concerned he actually found touching once he swallowed back his annoyance.

“I imagine Nathiel would be one of those out,” he commented dryly instead. It shocked him the first time he’d seen the male standing naked in the rain shortly after joining the carnival. “I can’t see much deterring him from his pleasures.”

The oread sighed and nodded. “There are a few nymphs who’ve mentioned needing the healing waters of the rain to help them wash this away. No doubt he’s one of them. Better to embrace pleasure than be mired in sorrow and fear for them. He’s around here somewhere, I suppose. I did see him leave his tent earlier this morning.”

“As long as he doesn’t show up standing naked where my mate or I can see him,” he muttered. “I don’t need another glimpse of that.”

She choked on a grim, humorless laugh and nodded as she neatly closed the basket with a wicker lid. “I’ll be sure to pass that along if I see him,” she replied as she wrapped the entire basket in a water-sealed skin and handed it over to him.

Raskyuil nodded his appreciation and tucked the basket under his arm. He headed out of the galley tent and back into the rain again, ignoring the eerie howl of the wind that tugged violently at him, dragging at his cape with such strength that it was nearly pulled off of him altogether. He fought it with every step, ignoring the strange, disembodied wailing within it, a singular howling voice crying out words that he couldn’t decipher. He pushed it back as he raced along the muddy trail.

He was eager to get back to his mate and felt suitably rewarded when he returned to his tent and found her waiting beneath their blanket, greeting him with a soft smile upon her lips. She rolled to her side and rose up on her elbow, the blanket slipping low enough to reveal the upper part of her breasts. Her eyes were warm with invitation as they followed him, tracking his every move as he stepped inside, the sweet musk of her rising and making his cock harden all over again.

He peered over at her as he set the basket on the table, leaving it momentarily forgotten while he lashed the flap shut again. Finally he turned to face her, propping his hip against the table as he pulled his cloak from his shoulders. He hung it over a chair to dry and tugged his tunic over his head as well. His eyes pinned her all the while, never once leaving her as he removed his wet things.

What was his female up to while he was gone? He licked his lips, drawing her flavor over his tongue and into his mouth. His chest vibrated with a resonant growl. MaryAnne’s eyes darkened with lust as her pupils rapidly expanded in reaction. She licked her lips as he kicked off one boot and then the other, and slowly peeled off his trousers. Bared in front of his mate, he tipped his head back and groaned at the scent—the scent of her desire thickening in the air.

His throat worked as he struggled for control, his jaw flexing. “Tell me that you wish for my touch. That you desire the pleasure I can bring you,” he rasped.

MaryAnne sat up in bed, her long, curling hair drifting like a soft, dark cloud down her back. The blanket pooled around her hips, her creamy breasts and taut brown nipples exposed for him.

“I was thinking while you were gone,” she murmured.

“Of what?”

His eyes dropped, following the glide of her fingers as they circled her nipple, his pulse hammering in his ears.

“Of your touch and of how good you make me feel, even when you’re just holding me in your arms,” she whispered. “And I was also thinking that maybe I’ve changed my mind.”

“Changed your mind?” he rasped.

Her smile widened. “Yeah. I changed my mind. Maybe breakfast can wait a little longer. I’m hungry for something a little different now.”

His growl deepened, and he took a step toward the bed and then another, his cock a lead bar brushing on his inner thighs with his every footstep. He descended upon her hungrily, his large body covering hers as she stretched out beneath him on the bed. Her legs opened wide, welcoming him and he settled between her thighs, his belly rubbing lightly against her wet cunt as he captured her mouth with his.

He sank into her kiss, his tongue stroking and twining with hers, his long fingers sliding along her slit and brushing her clit, working it, gently tugging it between his fingers as he lost himself in the sensual pleasure and bliss of kissing his mate. He captured her every sigh that his fingers dragged from her and drank them down, keeping them greedily for himself.

His perfect little mate. Her hips canted against him, rising eagerly and insistently into his touch. She had made herself ready for him. It was a sweet discovery. Her cunt was already slippery and open for him as he retracted his claws and prodded it first with one finger, thrusting it slowly in and out of her tight channel before pushing in a second. Her cunt swallowed them eagerly, her hips rising to meet his thrusts, driving his fingers deeper.

Her slick gathered and ran down her inner thighs, her scent thickening further in the air until all he could smell and taste was her. He was drowning in her, the very essence of him tangling with her as every barrier disappeared between them, and it was the most erotic and blissful experience of his life.

His fingers slipped free of her cunt, and he squeezed her hip, his finger kneading the lush flesh there as he ended their kiss with one last stroke of his tongue and rose above her, her sex leaving a wet trail to his groin until coming to rest against his prick. His cock jerked, releasing a stream of precum against the lips of her sex, mingling their scents even more intimately together. He groaned, rocking his hips back and forth, enjoying their mingled gasps as they both briefly became overwhelmed with the sensation, smearing her arousal over every inch of his sex. He shifted his hips forward again with a low growl, positioning the head of his shaft at her entrance, and shivered as it immediately began to suck the head into her hot depths.

He clung to her, his grip growing a little more desperate even as he continued to wield tight control over his every movement. He had been more of a brute in their first mating, unable to help himself with the consummation of Ha’shena, but he was determined to do better now and worship his female as she deserved.

He pressed forward, sinking into her as she opened further for him, her ass rising off the bed. Her arms circling around him, MaryAnne held tightly to him, her body rocking in time with his, the rhythm kindling something wild within his blood. It strained his control as she writhed beneath him, urging him on, battling him for control and dominance. He trembled with the force of the need that rose up in him, his cock thickening within her hot sheath, aching with a silent demand to slam into her, rutting freely as he pleased.

Raskyuil clenched his jaw, fighting back the urge and bringing his instinct to heel. He nearly shook with the effort as her body arched against him, sending erotic signals bursting through him. He knew that she felt the same—he could taste it in her scent and hear it in her moans—but that didn’t mean her little body could safely take his rut, and that was what ultimately helped him regain control of their fucking before he slipped into a mindless rut.

Keeping his weight firmly balanced on his one elbow and forearm, he pressed against her middle, holding her firmly in place against the mattress beneath him. Her dark eyes blinked rapidly up at him with clear confusion, but he didn’t give her time to dwell upon his sudden exertion of control over her movement. He rocked forward in a slow, perfectly timed move, pressing deep enough to make her eyelashes flutter as she cried out her need. Those tiny cries grew louder and more insistent as he continued to ride her, his own eyes closing at the electric pulses of pleasure that flowed through him and tightened in his back and behind his sack.

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