Maybe Fate: A Novel (New Adult Paranormal Romance) (33 page)

Nethiun
tugged his trousers down, revealing he hadn't been lying at all. I'd
never
seen
a naked man before, true, but I knew what to expect.

Or,
I sort of did, anyway.

So
that's really it, well then. That—yeah, uh, that's...

I
covered my face, not sure what to do.

This
is worse, don't hide like you're scared of it!

But
I was... I
was
scared, and unsure, and everything but certain I was ready to take
this step.

He
didn't pull my hands away. Leaning down, he kissed the backs of my
wrists, then slid lower.

Nethiun's
mouth, a mouth that so often made smiles, now wrapped around the tip
of one pert breast.

Startled,
I groaned loudly, covering my mouth instead of my eyes. Glancing
down, catching how he looked up at me, I felt frozen.

Then
he moved his tongue, and I forgot how to think.

“
Nethiun,
that—oh, God, that's...!”

Shoving
my chest higher, trying to get more of his hot mouth, I let my hands
fall to the ground. My fingers ripped at the grass, held onto it
like it could steady me.

Rolling
against him, I cried out, not even sure how loud I was being. My
ears were deaf to me, I didn't
care
how much noise I made. The only person who seemed to care was
Nethiun, and he was keen on making my volume rise.

Soon,
I was rocking against him, panting for more. I didn't know what
'more' even was, just that I ached deep inside.

Him,
I want him.

“
Nethiun,”
I groaned, digging my hands into his back and leaving traces of
dirt. “I want—can you, I mean...”

He
laughed softly, a dark whisper that trickled down my spine. Burying
his lips on mine, I was vaguely aware that he was unhooking the top
of my pants, pulling them down the swell of my hips.

Then
went my panties, and I wished I could remember what color I had worn
that day. Right then, it was hard to remember what day it even
was
.

“
You're
sure?” he asked in my ear, making the tiny hairs on my neck
stand like needles.

Inhaling
sharply, I pressed my lower belly up into him in answer.

But
that wasn't enough, it seemed. “No,” he insisted, words
smoldering coals. “Tell me you want me to do this, I want you
to be sure, Gale.”

My
lashes fluttered, everything was a fog of lust. “God, just...
please, take me. Nethiun, don't make me ask again, please.”

Kissing
my throat, he breathed out in a rush of air. “I won't.”
He reached between us and pushed his member against the gap between
my tense thighs.

I
expected it to hurt immensely, it was what I'd always been told
would happen. Maybe I was more ready than I imagined, but when he
pushed into me, spreading me in a way I never thought possible, the
sharp sting was brief.

Then,
it was only pleasure.

Clenching
my teeth, my body took over where my mind left off. I was hungry, I
wanted all of him. Something in me was
pulling
,
like a straw trying to steal the last bit from a soda can.

My
core, my being, it wanted to inhale Nethiun and all he was. It felt
like more than sex, I
wanted
him. Wanted him in a way that felt... dangerous.

If
he noticed, it was hard to tell. He was all grunts, hard thrusts
that matched what I desired before I could even voice it.

What
is this, is this normal? I've never done this, how can I tell?

Tingles
ran through me, my toes flexing in my shoes. Squeezing him, holding
him close, I listened to the beating of our energy; of my heart, and
his very being.

It
was so close, so close to being synced. No matter what, though, my
blood seemed to thump just a hair faster than his own drumming
sensation.

Suddenly,
he dug his fingers hard into my back, pulling me against him,
shoving me into the ground, all at once.

A
thrill of fear filled me, the familiar sparks in my belly and my
skull that rang with noticing Nethiun's power.
He's
getting so worked up, why do I... why does this feel like I'm
dancing with a bunch of blades?

He
wouldn't hurt me, he wouldn't.

If
there had been a chance he would do something more than take my
virginity, more than drive me to a climax that came crashing down
and made me scream for the clouds to hear, I couldn't have been
sure.

The
overwhelming foreboding was lost as I reached my peak, twitching
with a delicious pleasure I'd never experienced till then.

Nethiun
growled, a sound like an earthquake in my ear. He, too, tensed with
what I thought had to be his orgasm. I'd never felt a guy do that,
of course, and I felt dumb as I realized I wasn't sure.

Everything
was so torrid, so liquid all over, how could I know if twaelin
biology worked the same?

Soon
he was breathing slower, his forehead pressed to mine as he rested.

That
happened, that just happened.

He
pulled out of me, then off of me, all too soon. Laying there in the
grass, thankful for the chill of it now, I watched him through half
closed eyes.

“
Are
you alright?” he asked softly, sliding his pants back up.

I
didn't know what else to do but laugh. “I don't know, I don't
know if I am. Yes? Yes and maybe more than yes,” I confided.

Smiling
wide, the twaelin slid his shirt on but didn't do the buttons up.
Following his example, I sat up enough to redress. It felt too weird
to sit there naked if he had on clothes.

He
sat beside me, the two of us snuggling against the orange tree. “Did
you expect that to happen?”

“
No,”
I said quickly, picking grass from my hair. “I didn't... I
don't know. I liked you—I mean—I
like
you, a lot. Currently,” I added, fumbling my words in my
afterglow. “But I didn't think that would happen.”

“
You
don't regret it?”

“
Not
at all,” I said quickly.

Being
a bad liar didn't matter when you actually told the truth.

Seeming
pleased, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder, crushing me ever
closer. “It was interesting, tasting your emotions during
that.”

Making
an anxious face, I tugged at the bottom of my shirt. “Oh, uh,
really?”
I
don't even want to know what I was doing.

“
Yes,”
he said thoughtfully. “Actually, there was a point where—how
do I put it? I actually felt like you might consume
me
,
how strange is that?”

Blinking,
I stared up at him. “Pretty strange, yeah.”
I
felt it too, I felt that!

Together,
we sat there in comfortable silence. My mind wandered, stuck in a
place where my thoughts were all sex and the aspects that came with
it. A question bubbled up, but one I wasn't sure how to ask.

Breaking
the silence, I looked out at the clouds. “Can I ask something
that might be too forward?”

“
Always,
you can ask me anything. I just don't always have an answer.”

Ignoring
his vague humor, I took a moment to gather my thoughts. “You...
twaelin, I mean. Uh. You can have sex with humans, but what about...
other things?”

“
Other
things?”

My
face was simmering. “Don't take this the wrong way, it's just
a question. Can twaelin get humans... pregnant?”

Should
we have used condoms? I don't even have any, I should have had some.
I'm going to end up as some PSA about safe sex with demons.

I
thought he might laugh, but he only lifted his eyebrows very
slightly. “I couldn't answer that, but my assumption would be
no. I don't think we have compatible enough biology to do such a
thing.”

Rubbing
my upper arms, I nodded rapidly. “Yeah, right. I sort of
assumed, but you've thrown some curve balls at me, so.”

Chuckling,
he looked up at the tree branches. “Curve balls, you say. I
admit, I could be wrong. However, the ability to create human life
is a very complex thing.”

The
ability to create...

His
words struck a chord, making me remember something else. “Actually,
speaking of that. When I talked to Valenforth a few days ago, I
asked him about the one twaelin source guy that I hadn't met or even
gotten a word about yet.”

Nethiun
didn't look back at me when he answered. “Ah, the Duke of
Creation. I'm unsure where he is, or why he hasn't chosen to get
involved in this like everyone else.”

“
So
you don't know much about him, then?”

“
Very
little, if I am blunt. He hasn't shown himself in many years.”

Hm,
many years. So maybe he won't show up at all, that'd be good. One
less hand in the cookie jar or whatever.

It
didn't matter, not really. At that moment, everything felt so good,
so perfect. It didn't matter who the last twaelin was, I didn't need
to know.

I'd
learned a lot, but really, what I'd learned the most about had been
something I hadn't set out to discover.

Placing
my head on Nethiun's shoulder, I closed my eyes and smiled.

And
that was when the air above us shimmered.

I
felt it before Nethiun. Sitting up fast, I jerked my eyes into the
tree, spotting Ethlyn seconds before my companion did.

Those
gold eyes were burning onto us, the anger of someone scorned,
someone who had been hurt deeply.

“
So,”
he said stiffly, “you really didn't care that I was a twaelin
when you turned me down, since you're happy enough to sleep with
someone like him.”