YOU'RE ALMOST AT 5 CHAPTERS FOR THE MASS RELEASE! Your support has been so amazing I've decided it will be a lot more fun to celebrate a couple times a month. So look forward to a 5 chapter mass release sometime this week when we pass that 1000 Golden Tickets threshhold (we need about 75 more at the time of this chapter release.)

Thank you, deeply, for everything you're giving me and my books. I am so grateful!

*****

GAHRYE

He and Kalle had pored over the hidden histories until well after midnight, then fallen into bed and into each other's arms.

Gahrye still marveled at her passion for him, the way her breath quickened at only one kiss. The way she shivered when he kissed her breast. The gooseflesh that rose when he stroked her legs.

The news they'd received, his conviction that he had to get Elia back to Anima, and Kalle's certainty that he could… it all conspired to make them both desperate.

When he entered her that night he felt it in his skin. Head to toe, he shuddered, the mating call groaning in his throat in waves, over and over, and Kalle whispering his name in reply.

He swung between clinging, covering her with his body and pulling her in until neither of them could breathe, to arching back and pounding his love into her.

And through it all, she sighed, and gasped, and cried out in joy, her hands exploring every ridge and ripple of his body, her lips on every piece of his skin she could reach, her tongue laving his throat until he fought against the climax.

It was too soon. Too soon to lose her. Eternity was too soon to lose her. But lose her he would, and he didn't know how much more time he had. He had to savor her, burn every moment into memory, every sensation into her skin.

When he sat up, pulling her with him into his lap, she gasped and he took her mouth again while it was open, grasping her hips and pulling her down onto him as he rolled into her again and again. Her kiss broke as she gave over to the sheer pleasure of where they joined, her head tipping back to bare her throat and he leaped on it, tasting, sucking, laving it with his tongue, committing the specific flavor of her throat, the cord of her neck, that triangle of skin between her collarbones to memory.

Then, still rocking into her, he let his hands slide down, over her ass, then to the soft skin at the back of her thighs, trailing his fingers slowly up, up, up to the back of her knee where he grasped her beautiful legs and began to pull her against him.

"Oh… Gahrye…

" she whisper-moaned. She leaned back to change the angle and he groaned as he felt himself reaching the depths of her at the same time her breasts were freed to bob and bounce in time with their lovemaking. Then she leaned back on her hands to deepen their contact still more, and he panted through his teeth to stop himself from coming.

The sight of her, laid out like that for him, unashamed, her body rippling with the impact of his thrusts, her head thrown back, his name on her lips.

"Shit… Kalle… Shit…

"

She groaned and arched, bracing herself against him, her breath coming in short, sharp pants, held in between as she sought her release.

"Gahrye…don't… don't stop… please…

"

Hands slapping in his desperation, he grasped her at her lower back so she arched over his arms, and then he began to pound. Teeth gritted and chest heaving, he pulled her into him as he thrust. Her breath stopped though her mouth opened and closed, and her eyes flew wide.

With the rest of her body arched away from him, she lifted her head, mouth open and seeking, and locked eyes with him.

He cursed and pulled her in harder.

"I l-love-you… Gahrye,

" she gasped.

As his pleasure rose, beating at his control, threatening to break over him, her nipples stood higher, her skin pebbling from head to toe. Cries broke from her throat, pleas. She lifted one hand to his shoulder to pull him in and the shift changed something.

Her fingers dug into his shoulder, her nails almost breaking the skin, as her eyes rolled back and she called his name, her body tense and fluid in the same breath, her skin washed in prickling waves.

She clenched around him and he lost hold of the tether, his own release hitting him like a wave in the sea, pounding through him in shuddering jolts as he groaned her name, then sucking slowly away.

Her orgasm seemed endless, her body shuddering, then suddenly she sagged. With a groan, she pulled herself up, into his chest, taking his mouth, frantic and whispering his name as he pulled her in tighter, their bodies still trembling with the force of their releases.

Moments later, she sat in his lap, her face buried in his neck. His arms wrapped her so tightly they crossed her body completely and he gripped her sides with his hands. Neither of them moved. The only sound in the room was their twin breaths, panting, slowing, easing back to normal one step at a time.

She'd wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled herself into him, her lips against his throat.

"Oh, Gahrye,

" she whimpered.

He lifted one hand to stroke her hair, and shushed her. But she'd broken open.

He felt the first tear slide from her cheek onto his shoulder, drawing a thin, cool line down his chest.

"Baby, don't cry,

" he whispered, screwing his face up against the pinch that wanted to start in his own throat at the thought of her tears, at the thought of leaving her alone.

"I can't help it,

" she murmured, her voice high and thin.

"You are… the most precious thing in the world to me, Gahrye… you need to know that.

"

"I do,

" he rasped.

"Because that's what you are to me.

"

"No matter what happens…

" she trailed off, gulping, trying to get herself under control, then she sat up and took his face in her hands, her eyes shining silver with her tears.

"No matter what happens to Elia, no matter what they say about you… you are precious. Do you hear me?

" her words were fierce and forced through her teeth.

Gahrye cupped the back of her head and pulled her into a kiss.

"I'm serious, Gahrye.

"

"I know,

" he breathed, his heart aching both with love, and with fear.

"I know.

"

"Promise me you won't listen to them.

"

"I do.

"

"Promise me!

"

"I promise, baby. I promise.

"

*****

HELP! Please jump into the feature page on the app, hit that bright orange

"When there's nothing to read

" title and scroll down. Directly below the title is a survey asking readers where they want

"Love Triangle

" or

"Human and Beast

". Now, obviously our crew in Anima will qualify for the

"Human and Beast

" category! Help an author out and vote? The votes are currently neck-and-neck!