Huntsman by Cambria Hebert
46
Earth
She was sittingin her chair, the picture window at her back framing a breathtaking view of the beautiful parts of the city. The sun was sinking in the sky, its rays a burnished gold that shone around her as if revealing the halo I always knew she hid.
The room was silent but charged with so many emotions it made my footsteps falter. The air was thick but not uncomfortable. Somehow her small body managed to overflow and fill the room. She was nervous, scared… eager.
I practically tasted desire in the air, and it created a low chant inside me, which pounded louder than the sound of my rapidly beating heart.
Claim. Claim. Claim.
I took a breath, feeling the way the oxygen shuddered in my lungs as I told myself to chill the fuck out because I didn’t want to make the cacophony of everything she felt worse.
Somehow throughout this endless, increasingly annoying day, I’d managed to convince myself that Virginia probably didn’t know what I meant when I said I was coming for her. She was too innocent and sweet.
But oh, feeling the undercurrents in the room, just looking at her across the space, watching me with awareness, I wondered how the fuck I even believed that lie.
She knew.
She knew, and she was waiting.
The sound of my swallow echoed in my ears as I started across the room, eyes never once leaving her.
My God, she was absolutely beautiful. Far more beautiful than anything I’d ever seen, and I myself was an expert on beauty because ugly was so prevalent in my life. I knew all the faces of ugly, even the pretty ones good at pretending.
But this girl, my girl, was real. There was not one ounce of ugly in her. Her beauty reached far beneath her exterior and into her gorgeous heart.
How the hell had someone like this chosen me? How had she kept her eyes open and looked into the ugly of my world and still held out her hand?
Most people probably looked at Virginia and saw fragility.
But not me.
I saw strength beyond measure. Strength to live with the fragility everyone else saw and to find beauty in my ugly.
I didn’t deserve her, but I didn’t care. She was offering herself, and I would take. I would take and take until I owned her, but I would never make her regret.
My knees hit the floor in front of her, reaching for her hands. “You’re waiting for me.”
“You’re late.”
“Are you afraid?”
“Yes. But not of you.”
I stood, picking her up out of the chair, holding her up so it was like she stood in front of me. Her hands curled into my jacket, chin tipping back. I was a whole head taller, and I reveled in the fact that my body overwhelmed her.
Her eyes were already slightly dazed, but preventing them from glazing completely was the wariness in their depths.
I liked when people were afraid of me. I enjoyed making them nervous, and intimidation was something I didn’t necessarily practice but was good at nonetheless. It was likely because I didn’t bluff. I followed through with action, and people knew I played no games.
I didn’t want her to be afraid of me. I wanted that wariness gone. I wanted to wipe out every doubt she might ever have and be the anchor of her world.
Instead of crushing her to me, instead of reaching up the mouthwatering silky dress she wore, I ignored the instincts I usually followed and listened to the ones that loved her.
Carrying her to the window, I shifted her, pressing her back against my chest and locking my arms around her waist. Her delicate hand reached out, flattening on the glass, and we stood there in silence, watching the evening sun play a game of hide-and-seek with the tall buildings below.
She smelled of fancy shampoo and something softer, something unique to her. Leaning down, I nuzzled into the side of her neck, inhaling sharply. Her head tipped to the side, offering more access, so I nipped and kissed, dragging my tongue across her skin.
She made a small whimper, her body sagging even more against mine.
“Where’s your brother?” I whispered, voice already half gone.
“Not here.”
“Tell me yes, Virginia.”
“Yes.”
Swinging her up, I carried her bridal style down the hall going into the bedroom she indicated and, using my boot, kicked the door closed.
When she was sitting on the bed, I backtracked to throw the lock and prowled back toward her, peeling my leather jacket off as I went.
It hit the floor with a low smack, and her hungry eyes ran over my chest. I pulled my shirt off too, not even bothering to wince when I felt the tug in my shoulder from the movement. Every single stitch could rip out and blood could drip down my back, but I wouldn’t stop.
I gritted my teeth at the sight she made sitting on the side of the bed, her face level with my torso, closer to my rapidly hardening cock than anything else.
She lifted her fingers, reaching out, but then glanced up. I angled closer, silently giving permission, and then her cool, delicate fingers were slipping over me like silk. They trailed over my torso, across my stomach, and curled around my back.
My eyes closed at the way she traced my spine before dragging her nails lightly across my skin.
A low groan filled the room when her lips pressed against my ribs, and she trailed moist, tentative kisses down my stomach and over my navel. I felt her hesitate, and I made a sound of impatience, then peeked down to make sure I didn’t upset her.
My breath caught.
Her wide, luminous eyes stared up my body, pupils already blown and staring directly at me. Her wheat-colored hair framed her flushed cheeks, and the soft strands tickled my middle.
“I’m so afraid,” she confessed, not even glancing away.
Making a sound, I buried my hands in her hair, fingers sinking into her scalp. “Don’t be afraid of me, sweetheart. Please.”
“Not you,” she confessed, wrapping her arms around my waist and pillowing her cheek on my stomach. Her heated cheek felt delicious against my skin, and her breath made goose bumps race over my body. “I’m afraid of me. That I won’t be able to please you.”
I laughed. It was low and throaty, all I could manage. “Oh, I’m already pleased.”
She pulled back, a hint of the bravery she carried inside her sparking in her eyes. “Let me try.”
Deft fingers went to the button on my jeans. I sucked in a breath, all humor draining out in one second flat.
“Sweetheart…” I was going to tell her it wasn’t necessary, but then she looked up my torso with those damn brunet eyes, and I was gone.
All I could do was nod, and the next thing I knew, she was stroking my stiff cock with her gentle hands. “It’s big,” she marveled as if she didn’t realize she was speaking out loud.
Pride as well as amusement shot through me, and a little piece of my heart crumbled away. “Your hands are small,” I allowed.
“Humbleness doesn’t really suit you,” she said, still stroking.
Reaching down, I grasped her chin, allowing my eyes to meet hers. “I want to please you too.”
She smiled and wrapped her thumb and pointer finger just around the head. A choked sound ripped out of me, and my stomach muscles jolted. She made a soft sound and did it again.
My fingers found themselves back in her hair, and then her tongue was licking over the tip like I was some kind of dessert.
I whispered a curse up to the ceiling, eyes sliding closed.
Oh, that tongue of hers. Licking, gliding, tasting. I was shaking before her lips even closed around me, and when the wet heat of her mouth enveloped me completely, I nearly lost it right there.
I jolted, intending to push her off, instead, I pushed deeper.
She made a surprised sound, and I felt her gag slightly. Cursing, I pulled back, but her hands gripped my hips, and she sank over me again.
She took the entire thing. She took me until I felt the sensitive head nudge against the back of her throat.
I whispered her name and rocked a little, feeling her nails drag over my stomach.
When she pulled back, I used the modicum of sanity I clung to and slipped from between her lips. She made a sound, reaching for the slick, hard-as-granite member like she was going to swallow it again.
“No,” I rasped, rotating away.
“Did I do bad?” Her lips were swollen and red, hair mussed from my fingers.
I couldn’t even laugh because I was too busy fighting the urge to push back into her mouth. “No.” I panted. “So good, but I want to touch you too.”
Carefully, I slid the cardigan down her arms, tossing it away. Next, I slipped the thin straps on her shoulders away, allowing all access to her creamy shoulders.
I kissed across them first before using my teeth and then sucking her collarbone between my lips.
Her body melted into the palm I pressed against her lower back. When her chin fell back, all her hair fell behind her shoulders, and the long column of her neck was finally exposed. I loved her neck, and I knew there was an area there that aroused her.
I dove in, making my way to that spot at the back. The second I found it, her body arched up.
Satisfied, I eased back, making sure she could support her weight before withdrawing my hand and then removing her dress. She wore nothing at all underneath it, and my still-hard cock jerked at the sight.
“If anyone else ever touches you, I will kill them,” I growled, possession nearly boiling in my veins. She was so incredibly beautiful that my thoughts instantly turned to murder, to the most extreme thing I would absolutely do to keep her.
“I don’t want anyone else. I only want you.”
Oh, she was good. Instead of calming the beast inside me, she was encouraging him.
Slipping my hands beneath her arms, I dragged her up the bed, laying her out against the blankets and pillows and arranging her like my own personal doll.
“Okay?” I asked when I was finished, needing to know she was comfortable.
“When are you going to kiss me, Earth?”
I pounced, our lips and bare chests meeting at the same time. Both of us groaned into the kiss, but we kept kissing, lips moving together in a dance only they knew.
I don’t know how long we kissed, how long I explored her mouth and feasted on her neck, but when I finally pulled back, her eyes were pleasantly glassy, her lips were wrecked, and her face was flushed.
Her gaze strayed down to my cock, which was leaking like a faucet and flushed an angry red. My jeans were still around my hips because I’d been too distracted to take them off.
Some of the pure passion in her eyes dimmed, her teeth sinking into her already puffy lip. “I wish I was able to feel you in me.”
“Shh.” I soothed her, bringing our bodies back together. “I’ll make you feel everything I can.”
I kissed her once. Twice. Three times. And then I left her body to strip away the rest of my clothes. Her eyes were hungry, roaming over me, and I climbed onto her body, straddling her waist.
Her eyes widened at the position, but then her attention was stolen by the cock pointing right at her.
Leaning down, I took her lips, plunging my tongue deep. Using one hand, I held her open and made love to her mouth while the rest of me started to move.
Panting, I lifted my head to slide up, bracing myself over her to skim my rock-hard dick over her stomach and chest, rocking it between her boobs. I’d only meant to let her feel me, to know what it was like to have me thrusting against her. I didn’t expect it to be a test of my control at the feel of her hot little mouth running over my stomach, lips reaching up to close around a nipple. A hoarse moan floated up to the ceiling while my weeping tip basically smeared her skin with lubrication as I rocked against her again and again. It was torture at its best. The weeping tip smeared her skin with lubrication, and I rocked my hips into her again and again.
I let my forehead fall just above her shoulder as I fought for control. I wasn’t even inside her… but I wanted to release. Just rutting against her silky skin, hearing her gasp and coo at the contact, made me want to blow.
“Can you feel that?” I whispered in her ear.
“Oh, yes.”
“Can you feel me all over you, pushing you into the mattress and dragging my leaking dick all over your pure skin?”
She moaned, arching up.
It created new pressure against my shaft, and I groaned, sliding a hand beneath her to hold her body against mine.
In my haste, I slid down a little, my hips rocking into her stomach.
“Can you feel that?” I whispered. “Too low?”
“I feel it.” Her voice was husky and thick.
It turned me on.
Leaning close, I latched on to her neck, on that erogenous zone, and sucked deep. She made a keening sound and arched up again. She squirmed as I pinched and tugged at her nipple while I worked her neck.
I couldn’t rut against her and do everything else, so I finally crawled down her body, latching on to her nipples to suck and play. She whispered my name, tugging my hair, trying to get me closer.
When her nipples were swollen, I moved down her torso, swirling my tongue around her belly button before licking in deep.
“Please, Earth. Please.” She was pretty far gone, didn’t notice that she was asking for more, and I wanted to point it out, but I also didn’t want to pull her from the headspace.
Sex with Virginia wasn’t just physical. It was mental. The mind was so powerful. This I knew. Because of her injuries, she needed more mental stimulation. She needed me to map her body and find her most erogenous zones and love them.
Everything didn’t center between her legs like every other sexual experience I’d had. This was more… intimate. I had to be more patient.
Moving down her body, I pushed her legs wide, peeking up to make sure she wasn’t upset.
“Wider.” She beckoned, and I did as she asked, pushing them as wide as I was willing. Just because she couldn’t feel pain didn’t mean I would take advantage of that.
Hurting someone because they couldn’t feel it was a dick move, and I might be a villain, but I was not a dick.
Her trust meant more to me than anything ever had because she did trust me. Even though she had every reason not to.
Kneeling between her legs, I gazed down at her center, which was surprisingly bare. “Can I touch you?”
She nodded, and I instantly dragged my finger over her smooth, hairless skin.
“It makes it easier,” was all she said as I continued touching.
“Can you feel this?”
There was a pregnant silence. “I’m sorry, but I can’t.”
“Hey, it’s okay,” I murmured. “It’s gonna take a while to figure this all out, but I’m looking forward to it.”
Climbing back up her body, I kissed her, then trailed my lips down to nuzzle her center. She was slick. Dripping actually.
Reaching for her hand, I pulled it down her body, into her middle. “What are you doing?” she asked nervously, hand tensing.
“Feel, sweetheart. I want you to feel how ready you are.” Dragging her fingers up her slit, I watched her eyes widen.
“Oh…”
“Your body likes me.”
She giggled. “There’s the arrogance I’m used to.”
Her laughter fell away and her brown eyes turned deep when I lifted her fingers and sucked them between my lips. Lapping at all her silky desire, I moaned around them, sucking her digits a little deeper.
Her eyes glazed over.
“You taste so good,” I whispered, reaching for the condom I’d tossed at the end of the bed.
She watched quietly as I rolled it on, and when I was done, I caged her in with my arms. “If you want me to stop, I will.”
“I don’t want you to stop.”
“If something hurts or feels weird, anything… just tell me.”
I saw a flicker of something in her face, kind of like sadness, but then it was gone.
Leaning in, I kissed her, tangling our tongues and pushing into her body in one long stroke. I groaned the second her tight heat clamped around me, my forehead falling onto her shoulder.
“Jesus, V. Jesus.”
“Is it bad?” She worried.
“Christ, no.” I panted, then pushed up onto my elbows to stare down into her eyes. I started moving in her, pulling out and plunging back in.
She made a soft sound, gripping my shoulders and watching the emotions flicker over my face.
Leaning down, I took her breast in my mouth, and she arched up into it as I snapped my hips forward.
“Oh,” she crooned.
I snapped in deeper.
“Oh.”
Pushing up onto my palms, I glanced down, pulled out, and pushed deep. Her eyes rolled slightly back.
“I-I think I feel that.”
Elation made my heart pound, and I did it again. “So you like me deep,” I murmured, grabbing her hips and pushing.
She cried out, one of her hands grappling for the blankets.
Thinking fast, I grabbed the hand, pressing it against her stomach. “Feel me inside you, sweetheart. Feel.”
Pinning her hand there, I moved, snapping my hips over and over.
She gasped, eyes filling with tears. “That’s you.”
“That’s me.”
“I c-can feel you moving.”
I pushed her hand down harder, swiveling my hips while bending to take a nip at her breast.
She gasped and squirmed. I kept up the steady pace. Tension built in my stomach, quivering my muscles. The need to let go was indescribable, almost too much to bear.
Not yet. Give her something else.
Slapping my hand onto the headboard, I used it as an anchor and went deep.
Her mouth fell open.
Holding on to the headboard, I went rough, her body rocking with every thrust, my balls slapping against her.
Her muscles started to tighten. I glanced down, wondering if she could feel it, but her face was already blissed out.
Her walls clenched against me, and I moaned, body coming undone. Before every thought fled my brain, I slipped a hand between us and pushed down on her belly, rocking my hips.
I heard her cry out, but then my body took over. White light exploded behind my eyes, my cock nearly bursting inside her, the orgasm going on and on.
I was shaking when I finally came down from the high. My hand ached from the grip I’d had on the headboard.
With a groan, I rolled, pulling her with me, allowing our legs to tangle as I hugged her into my chest.
My softening dick slipped out and I knew I needed to take care of the condom, but goddamn, I couldn’t move. That was… amazing.
After a few more moments of my mind being blown, I realized that she was awfully silent. All my bliss turned to panic as I looked down.
“Sweetheart?”
She sniffled.
“Oh, baby, did I hurt you?” I was too rough. Too rough!
Despite the weakness in my limbs, I lifted her, her entire body like a rag doll draping against mine. “Virginia,” I said, concern making my voice firm. “Look at me.”
She looked up. Her eyes were wide, pupils blown. Her lips were well and truly fucked, and sweat glistened on her forehead.
“Did I hurt you? Scare you?”
Her lower lip wobbled, and I contemplated murdering myself. I meant it when I said I’d kill anyone who hurt her. I was no fucking exception.
“I felt it,” she whimpered, hand grabbing at my chest. “I felt it a little.”
“And it hurt?”
“No!” she wailed. “I came!”
And then she started to cry, curling into my chest, streaking it with tears.
I blinked up at the ceiling, not sure if that was good or bad. I mean, she had an O… That was good, right? That was the goal. But why was she crying?
“I’m confused,” I admitted. My hands hovered over her back as she drenched me with salty tears. “Tell me what you need.”
She looked up, eyelashes wet, nose pink. “I hadn’t hoped. I’d been so worried that I would just be this… lifeless body and you would be turned off. But it wasn’t like that at all. It was… It was everything. It was more than I could ever have hoped for.”
“And it felt good?” I wanted to be sure.
“Oh my God, yes.”
I blew out a breath. “Thank God.”
“B-but…” Her voice was wobbly, and another tear tracked over her damp cheek. “Was it okay for you?”
I laughed and rolled, caging her against the mattress with my body, letting our chests rub together.
“That was literally the best sex I’ve ever had.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
Pursing my lips, I pushed up, reached down, and pulled off the condom, tying the top. Then, without a second thought, I held it up. “See how full that is?” I said proudly. “I fucking loved it.”
Her eyes went between the condom I held up like an award and my face. A giggle slipped out, but she swallowed it down. “This is unnecessary.”
Tossing the condom aside, I gathered her up, shoving my arms under her body to hold her against me. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make you believe.”
Her eyes roamed my face, and the way she stared made me want to preen. There was awe in her eyes, happiness… love.
I kissed her nose. “No more doubts about bedroom stuff. I think we just proved we are definitely compatible.”
She smiled shyly, burying her face into my neck. “You talk kinda dirty.”
“You like it.” Mental stimulation.
“Yeah,” she confessed.
I pulled back so I could look into her gaze. “Was I too rough? It seems the more… aggressive and deeper I am, the more you can feel.”
“It was perfect.”
I pulled back and looked between her legs. She screeched, trying to cover herself with her hands. I grasped them and continued looking. It was a little late to be embarrassed. She appeared unharmed, so I decided it was okay.
The grabby hand motion she made turned my insides to mush, and I wrapped her up in my arms, settling us both into the bed. “We’ll clean up in a bit. Let me hold you.”
“What about your shoulder?” She worried.
“It’s fine.” I assured her. “You can change the bandage for me later.”
“Will you stay?” Her voice was soft, breath fanning out over my chest.
“I’m never sleeping without you again.”
“I love you.”
My heart tumbled. I wondered if I’d ever get used to hearing her say it. Knowing she meant it.
I hoped I didn’t.