Page 43 of Shae’s Bounty
My knees give out, and I sink to the cool tile as my shoulders shake with each racking sob.
“Shae?” I hear Volethos on the other side of the door, and I clamp my lips together, trying to stifle my cries. “Are you alright?”
I can hear him fumbling with the door, trying to bypass the lock when I don’t answer. Then there is a loud thud, like he just tried to put his shoulder into it.
“Shae? Answer me!”
Instead, I only cry harder. My vision goes blurry through the tears, and my lungs burn from trying to stifle my sobs. I want to scream at him togo away!But I can’t manage to squeeze the words through my locked-up throat.
There is an ear-splitting roar, and then suddenly the door is forced open. I barely have enough time to register that he broke in before he’s crouching over me.
“What’s wrong?” he wheezes. His hands cup my face, and his eyes—those beautiful pale-yellow eyes—scan my body. “Are you hurt?”
“N-n-nooo,” I cry as I try to bat his hands away, but his grip on me is solid.
“Shae, what’s wrong?” he asks me again.
“N-n-nothing,” I growl, struggling against him. “L-leave me a-a-a-lone!”
“This is not nothing, female!”
I pound my clenched fists against his solid chest as more sobs tear themselves through my throat. “Go away!” I scream hysterically. I try to shove him away, but instead his arms band around me, and he pulls me against him.
“Shh,” he soothes against my temple.
My fists pound against his back uselessly, my face pressed into his chest. He’s solid and warm, and smells earthy and familiar. Before I realize it, I’m gripping him tightly and letting my tears soak his shirt as my sobs roll through me into him.
I’m not sure how long we stay like that. Minutes. Hours. Days. My sobs finally settle into hiccups. I’m a limp noodle curled in his lap when he gracefully lifts me in his arms as if I don’t weigh a thing and carries me back to the bed. This time he climbs in with me and curls himself around me. His hands rub soothing circles into my back while a rumbly purr vibrates from his chest into me. The sound is more than soothing. It’s hypnotic. Calming. It’s exactly what I need, and even though I just woke up, I feel my eyes growing heavy and sleep pulling me back down into its warm embrace.
* * *
The room isdark when I wake again.
Not pitch-dark, but dark enough to know it’s the equivalent of the middle of the night. Volethos is still wrapped around me. He’s fast asleep, his soothing purr gone silent.
I squint through the darkness and can just make out his face. His breathing is slow and deep, each inhale through his nose starting with just the slightest little snore. The exhale puffs through his slightly parted lips.
The way his face is relaxed in sleep, he looks peaceful. Younger, maybe. Or at least like he hasn’t been dragging the weight of the universe around with him for years. He’s… handsome.
Slowly, so as not to wake him, I wiggle my arm out from between us and gently stroke my finger against the slight clef in his chin. His skin is soft here. Like velvet. His bottom lip is plump, and I remember how his mouth felt on mine. Soft, but also firm and demanding. Remembering the thrust of his tongue has my breath going shallow and heat pulsing between my legs.
Something tells me this vulnerability isn’t something he lets many see. He’s a rugged male. I have a feeling he loves like he fights—without mercy. I also have a feeling love isn’t something he has much experience with.
My own tongue darts out to wet my lips, remembering his warm taste, and then I pull my lower lip between my teeth. Capturing it. Worrying it. Biting just hard enough to feel the sting of my teeth.
That sting reminds me of kissing Volethos.
“What are you thinking of?”
I jump and bite down hard enough on my lip to draw blood. “Ow!” I gasp, bringing my fingers to my mouth.
“Vittu, I’m sorry.” Volethos’s hand covers mine, pulling it from my mouth so he can examine my bite. Before I have a chance to tell him that I’m fine, he dips forward and sucks my bottom lip between his, laving his tongue over the small cut, soothing the sting and causing the building heat between my legs to flare.
With my lip still between his, he groans. The mattress shifts, and then he’s on top of me. His hips settle between my legs. His cock is hot and hard against me, and I can feel every inch of him through his pants. And I’m still naked.
He lets go of my lip slowly, pulling back and letting it slide from his mouth. His slitted pupils are flared, nearly round in the darkness, making him look predatory the way he’s leaning over me. When I swipe my tongue across my lip, tasting him, he groans again, and his hips flex, rolling into the cradle of my legs.
“I can’t seem to control myself with you.” He grinds into me again, and then his mouth is on mine once more.