Page 98 of Cruel Tides

After one final look back at Leander, Claira finally popped open the button she’d been fiddling with. She inhaled a sharp breath, and the way her teeth raked over her bottom lip when she saw a peek of what was underneath had every part of me straining.

Maybe I was as savage and uncivilized as a shark. Because the thought of those teeth on me again, biting and pulling, was a thrill I couldn’t wait to relive.

Claira went for the next button, and I whimpered, not even caring that Leander was here to hear it.

I reached out, threading a hand through the back of hair as she worked her way down the line. When the final button popped free, I pressed my eyes shut and shrugged the fabric back off my shoulders.

Even though we weren’t alone and the windows were open to the entire ocean, when my shirt dropped to the floor and my vision refocused, I decided I didn’t care that my torso was bare. Not while it had Claira’s complete attention, her eyes carefully examining its every detail.

I released a slow breath, my skin heating under her gaze as her eyes dipped over every contour of my stomach, down to where my pants rested low around my waist.

This was fine, right? Completely fine.

Leander huffed, looking unamused by my display. The muscles in his shoulders bunched. “I don’t understand why spike-tails get so worked up over some fucking skin.”

“Hush, Lee.” Claira’s hands tentatively hovered over my ribs like she wasn’t sure if I would jump away if she dared to touch them. That made two of us. Leander was right—I was already so worked up I wasn’t sure what I might do when I finally felt her.

“And I suppose there’s not a single part of you that you are hesitant to let others see?” Claira challenged, glancing back at Leander. She pulled off her shirt and tossed it down beside mine. The whole room seemed to shift, the air electrifying.

“No part of my body.” Leander’s chuckle was followed by a dark, lingering look that trailed down the curve of her back. I couldn’t blame him. Seeing the front of her bathed in the light of the sunrise…wow. She was so irresistible I wondered if Leander might change his mind and pull her away from me. But even as the muscles in his folded arms tensed, he maintained his distance.

Would he really not interfere if I touched her? If she touched me? Time to find out.

The next time her hands came between us, I pressed forward so that she might brush over my ribs.

The breathy “Oh”she gave was worth it. Her fingers skimmed down my torso with a tenderness that was almost unbearable.

“Claira?” I rasped, my focus drawing up to her lips. All I could think about was kissing her again, the way we had at the airport. But first… “You’re forgetting something.”

Her lips moved slowly. “Am I?” She seemed too caught up in those slow strokes over my chest, up and down, across the dips.

“Yes, you are.” I tipped up her chin. Although she looked reluctant to turn her attention away from what she was doing, focusing on my mouth seemed to pull her back to the moment. I wasn’t smiling, not quite. That would have to wait until after her lips were on me.

“This,” I said, drawing around the lacy band of fabric wrapping around her chest. It surprised me to find this one didn’t have strings like the ones she wore in the water. Metallic clasps held it together like gnashed teeth, and the mood was nearly ruined as I struggled to pry them apart and free her.

Her laugh was so incredibly warm, as playful as fire. “I’ve got it, I’ve got it,” she said, her hands intervening.

The wrap fell to the floor, and my skin seemed to ripple with heat as I leaned into her, my body overly conscious of every point where we touched. My arms encircled her waist, one hand dipping down her bare skin. It settled at the small of her back as my lips met hers, devouring their softness in a series of slow, shivery kisses.

Her body fluttered, her arms bracing on my chest like she trusted me to have the strength to hold her upright. That thought was another shot of adrenaline, like when the stingray you bet everything on was the first across the finish line. A feeling I could become addicted to.

I felt my head tilt, my lips hardening as instinct drove me to take even more of her mouth. Claira gave a pleading groan, giving me everything I wanted, but it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough.

My mouth snapped at hers as I drew her even closer, up into my arms. My teeth slid, grazing over her sweet lips, and the way she shuddered when I nipped and tugged on them made my senses reel.

The moment her teeth took swift revenge and snapped back, a delightful pain ran through my entire body, down to the pit of my stomach. Her teeth sank further into my bottom lip as glorious flashes of white crowded my vision.

She pulled off me with a gasp. Madness was in her eyes the moment our mouths parted. “On the couch.” With her insistent push against my chest, compliance was my only option, though it was a command I could never have resisted.

I was sure I’d never smiled so wide, and when I sat down on the couch, I nearly choked on my tongue as Claira crashed right on top of me, her mouth going right back to mine in a gnashing of lips and teeth. Impatient fingers found my hair, her nails digging into my scalp, and each little prickle of pain was wonderful torment.

Pushing against my chest, Claira shifted forward until suddenly I was on my back. “Oof,” I said through our joined lips, but somehow, it wasn’t enough to pry us apart. Her lips pressed into mine, snuffing out the noise. She settled on top of me, her warmth and weight against my body, just as it was during our last round of foreplay.

I hissed through our kiss as she scooted back, landing on my aching, swollen human dick. For months, I had mourned the loss of my claspers. But now that I knew humans had their own equipment, I was beyond thankful to have a dick, even if I only had one. Her legs settled on either side of my hips, and my thoughts scattered like frags of crushed coral.

My dick pulsed against her, and the answering shiver of her hips… My mate liked the way it felt. The wayIfelt.

My desire for her was already overwhelming, but I couldn’t help pressing against her, desperate to feel more of her body’s response to mine. It might have been too much, because she broke our kiss and sat back.

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