ELRETH

Elreth's mouth fell open and she cried out with pleasure, her eyes flying wide. He'd cranked her knee up, hooked it over his hip and opened her. She would have been embarrassed, but then he'd entered her, and it was as if every nerve ending in her body fizzed to life and stood to applaud.

She gasped his name as he straightened, his jaw slack, his breath tearing in and out of his throat, but he watched her face, raking his eyes over her, watching her respond to the sensation of him from this angle, the long slide and answering roll.

He wasn't even kissing her, just watching her, his eyes roving from her breasts, to her throat, then her face.

She should have been embarrassed, but she shivered with pleasure, feeling every inch of him inside her, and trembling with the desire for more. Always more.

She closed her eyes and let her head drop back against the cave wall and Aaryn groaned again. Then his lips were on her neck again and she whimpered, her skin pebbling from her neck to her knee at the onslaught of sensations he pulled from her.

"El… oh, El…

" he rasped her name like a mantra, over and over, telling her how beautiful she was, how much he loved her, how he yearned for her.

"Only you, El. It's only ever been you.

"

She wanted to answer, to tell him she'd never desired any male except him, but then he took her mouth and their tongues began to dance in symphony with their bodies, and Elreth was lost.

The rolling pressure inside and out that made her skin prickle and tingle, made her bones sing. The flutter of his breath on her skin, the soft nip of his lips and teeth, and through it all, his voice, ragged with desire, calling her name and singing her beauty.

The world disappeared. The cold stone behind her warmed and all she wanted was more. More. More of him. More time with him. More of him inside her. More, and closer.

It wasn't enough.

Then, with a hoarse,

"Hold on, El,

" he sank down to grip the backs of both her thighs and pull her off her feet, wrapping her legs around his waist, but guiding her with whispers and gentle palms to keep her knees as wide as she could, cupping her ass to take her weight, pressing her into the wall, then thrusting as if he would pierce her from within.

"Aaryn!

" she cried.

"Holy **!

"

"Elreth! Oh, El...

" he growled.

"Fuck. Hold on!

"

Skin slapped and voices groaned, and Elreth didn't know what was Aaryn, and what broke from her own chest. He had her pinned against the wall, the ungiving surface becoming leverage for his pounding thrusts that reached the limits of her until she saw stars behind her eyelids.

She groaned his name and clung, her arms wrapped around his neck as he held her, pulling her into him until she cried out at the peak of every thrust.

Then… one hand to the rock behind her, the other cupping her ass, he started rasping her name, over and over, crying for her, to her, with her, until the sound had no meaning except love, no form except pleasure. And that sparkling, glittering wave beckoned to her just out of sight.

She gasped, seeking him, pushing her shoulders back into the rock to give herself more power to meet him, and he didn't stop, still calling her name, his hips pounding. She could feel her climax approaching, calling to her, but she wasn't there, and Aaryn sounded like he was right on the verge.

She clung, so happy to see him completely abandoned, no longer weighed down, deciding that it didn't matter if she didn't reach her peak. Perhaps they could rest again later that evening—but even as the thought crossed her mind, Aaryn's eyes opened.

"Elreth. I want to… I need to…

"

"You can, Aaryn. I love you.

"

His eyes opened and their gazes locked, his mouth open and breath roaring.

"El…

"

"Come for me, baby,

" she whispered as he'd called to her before.

He took her mouth, rough and open, his tongue sliding against hers, but instead of letting himself go, he took one of her hands from around his neck and pulled it down between them.

"Find where it feels best,

" he said hoarsely,

"and press there.

"

Then he slid her fingers between them where she was slick and swollen.

Her mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide with embarrassment, but he leaned his forehead against hers, shushing her.

"You're so **ing beautiful,

" he rasped and gave an aggressive thrust.

The pressure of it pushed her fingers harder against herself and that jolt within her, the crest of that wave threatened.

"I… oh…

" She closed her eyes and…explored.

"That's it, baby… don't stop. Oh **, El, don't stop.

"

He fisted her hair, clutching her ass and thrust harder, his voice a roar and Elreth found herself, curled a finger harder until she was trembling, shaking, then crying his name as her body shuddered and shivered, washed in the glittering wave that pulled her over the edge of the cliff—and Aaryn tumbling after her.

The remained there, against the wall for what had to be a full minute, their bodies tingling, breath slowly returning to normal, but minds still in a haze of pleasure. Or at least, Elreth's was.

She slowly became aware of how heavy she must be, of the tiny cramp behind her knee, and the hard knot in the stone behind her back… but she didn't care.

Until Aaryn, who had buried his face in the spot where her neck met her shoulder, shook. A single tremble, but his scent changed.

Elreth tightened her grip on him.

"Aaryn, are you okay?

" she whispered.

She was sucked back into reality when her mate's shoulders heaved, his hands gripped her so hard they might bruise, and suddenly she felt something warm and wet on her shoulder.

Aaryn was weeping into her neck.