Enthralled by Tiffany Roberts

Chapter 24

Ivy emergedfrom beneath the water, smoothing her hands over her face and hair. She opened her eyes and inhaled deeply, taking in fresh air that was perfumed with flowers, clean water, and earth. The sunlight shining through the broad opening in the cavern’s ceiling warmed her skin and made the beautiful turquoise pool sparkle like it had been dusted with crystals. Soft, soothing sounds created by the rippling water echoed off the cavern walls.

For the last several days, there’d been few quiet times—at least not relaxing ones.

She tilted her head back to look up. The opening in the ceiling was perhaps fifty feet wide and nearly that high overhead. The walls curved inward toward the hole, creating a natural dome over the pool. Vines and roots dangled down all around it, their vibrant emeralds and fuchsias a perfect complement to the color of the water. She could make out the boughs of a few towering trees up there, too, their leaves shimmering as they turned in the breeze, but most of the view was taken up by blue sky and soft white clouds lazily drifting by.

Smiling, she turned toward Ketahn, who was lounging on a low ledge that hugged one side of the pool. Though the sunlight didn’t reach him directly, its reflections from the water’s surface danced across his hide.

Nearby him was the break in the wall by which they’d entered—an overgrown crevice that angled down into the cavern from outside, likely carved by rainwater over thousands of years. At the moment, there was only a trickle flowing through it, creating a teeny, tiny waterfall that made Ivy think of the fancy fountains that were always put up for decoration in office buildings back on Earth.

It felt like so long since she and Ketahn had had a moment like this. Some of her favorite memories were of the times he’d taken her down to the stream so she could swim in the cool water and relax in the sun beside him.

Ivy swam toward Ketahn until her feet were able to touch the bottom. Rivulets streamed down her naked body as she stepped out of the water. Her skin prickled with awareness as Ketahn’s gaze trekked over her, and arousal flared in her core. She still felt the aftermath of their rough mating the day before, and that reminder only increased her desire, making her ache.

Once she was standing on the ledge, which was partially overgrown with vegetation, she pulled her hair to the side and wrung it out. Water splashed the ground at her feet. “How far have you traveled from Takarahl?”

Ketahn ran his claws through his loose hair. “Five days’ journey. Perhaps six. It was difficult to track time while we fought the thornskulls.”

“How far will we go?”

“Well beyond that. Beyond the Claws’ will to follow. Deeper into the unknown than any vrix of Takarahl since the first queen.” He dropped his hand with a sigh. “Until we are safe.”

Ivy straightened, tossed her hair back, and stood in the sun, allowing its rays to dry her skin. “Will we ever be safe? Will she just let you go?”

“Nowhere is truly safe, Ivy.” Ketahn shook his head. “And she will not give up. Not soon. We must go so far that they will never find us, and even then, she may look for a long while.”

Ivy worried her lip as she looked down, nudging a vine with her toe. “Do you think the others are ready?”

He snorted; the sound became a chitter that drew her attention back to him because something about it seemed like it should have been hopeless or bitter, but…it wasn’t.

“None of them are ready. They are clumsy as broodlings. Loud. Weak. Too slow and too small.”

Crossing her arms over her chest, she arched a brow at him. “Ah. So that’s what you thought of me.”

The light in his eyes pierced straight into her heart as he lifted his mandibles in a smile. “I have told you that before, female. I will not lie to you.”

Ouch.

Ivy lifted her chin. “Those don’t seem like qualities you would like in a mate. Don’t the vrix prefer their females big and strong?”

Ketahn trilled. “I like my female clever, kind, and determined. Small and soft of skin but with a heart that is as tender as it is strong. I like my female to laugh and smile.”

And smile she did as warmth spread through her.

“And I like her kisses and her soft, fleshy chest mounds. Her hips, her legs. Her ass. Her delicious slit, and the songs she makes while mating.”

Ivy laughed, that warmth turning into a different kind of heat as it burned her cheeks. She pressed a hand to her face and shook her head. “I can’t believe how much that sounded like something a human man would say.”

“You need only look upon me to know I am not human… But I am your male, Ivy. And you are my female. My mate.”

“Yes, we thoroughly established that yesterday.” Ivy’s smile slipped as a pang of doubt cast a shadow over her happiness. She dropped her arm.

Her expression must have alerted Ketahn of the change in her mood. He leaned forward, his stare intense and solemn. “Hear my words, my heartsthread—we will reach our destination, wherever it awaits. And we vrix will do all in our power to protect the humans.”

“I know you will.”

Ketahn raised a hand and curled his fingers, beckoning her. “Come, my nyleea.”

Ivy padded toward him, leaving the sunlight, and lowered herself on the bed of leaves he’d gathered for her between his forelegs.

One of his lower hands smoothed down her back as though to comfort her. Curling a finger beneath her chin, he tilted her head back until her eyes met his. Fire blazed in his gaze. “I will let no hurt come to you.”

Ivy smiled and kissed his finger. “I know, Ketahn.”

He shifted his hand up over her cheek and to her damp hair, through which he gently combed his claws. When those claws reached the back of her head, he returned them to her hairline and repeated the process, gradually easing out the knots and tangles. His ministrations were soothing, aided by the comfortable silence that stretched between them. There was only the rustling of leaves from outside, the slow trickle into the pool, and the subtle lapping of water against the walls.

Tomorrow, they would leave behind everything both Ivy and Ketahn knew on this world. But today they had a little time to enjoy peace, quiet…and each other. Today they could enjoy being two people in…in…

“Can I ask you a question?” Ivy asked, breaking that silence.

“Anything, my nyleea.”

She looked up at him. “What…does it mean to be a mate for the vrix?”

His mandibles twitched, and he cocked his head. “Explain.”

Ivy caught her bottom lip between her teeth and looked down. She plucked up one of the large leaves from the ground and twirled it by its stem. “On Earth, there are many kinds of relationships. There are friends, boyfriends and girlfriends, friends with benefits, and then there’s marriage.”

“Is that…like marry?”

“Yes. Friendship is what you and me had in the beginning. Friends with benefits are people who remain friends but share pleasure with one another without promises or commitment. Boyfriends and girlfriends are people who are in a relationship together, but there is no…no binding commitment. But marriage is binding. It’s like I told you. Two people make vows of love and promise to remain true to one another, through sickness and health, till death do they part.”

With brows drawn low, Ivy tore the leaf along the veins. “I guess…I’m just unsure where we fall. And I’m worried that maybe someday, you might…might cast me aside. That you won’t want me anymore.”

Ketahn covered both her hands with one of his, stilling her fidgeting fingers. “To vrix…a mate can be many things also. But when a male calls his female nyleea, it is more. When a male calls his female his heartsthread, it is…everything. I want only you, Ivy. My hearts beat for you.”

Ivy’s chest constricted. Tears stung her eyes and blurred her vision. She blinked, forcing them to spill. “You hurt me yesterday.”

His mandibles fell, and he cradled her chin in one hand, tilting her head back and sweeping his gaze over her. “I was too rough. Where did I hurt you?”

She released the leaf, turned her hand to take hold of his, and pressed his palm over her heart. “Here.”

An uncertain, unhappy buzz vibrated in his chest. His voice was low when he said, “Because of what I did to him?”

“No, it’s because of what you thought I wanted with him. You thought that I betrayed you, Ketahn.”

The pain that had caused her had only grown since then. She’d been restless last night, unable to fall asleep despite her exhaustion and despite being right where she wanted to be—in Ketahn’s arms. But he’d…he’d questioned her faithfulness, her loyalty. And that hurt.

Ketahn brushed his thumb across her cheek, sweeping away her tears. “Ah, my Ivy. It was I who betrayed you. I let my rage blind me to what I have long known in my hearts…that you are mine and mine alone, and I need never question it.”

He wrapped his arms around Ivy, lifted her off the ground, and pulled her against his chest. She felt his strength, felt the thumping of his hearts and the rasp of his hide on her skin. It was her soft curves against his hard ridges. Unbidden, her nipples tightened into achy points. His claspers hooked her hips as his forelegs bent around her, teasing her with their fine hairs. Once more he wiped away the tears from her cheeks before combing his claws through her damp hair.

“I ask that you forgive me, my heartsthread,” he said thickly.

Ivy trailed her fingertips along his mandibles, following them to their joints. “I do.”

“Some vrix take mates for pleasure, as Zurvashi has always done,” he rumbled. “Some take mates only to breed, to keep their blood alive, and have little to do with one another after. But some, as my sire and mother, became mates for something deep and lasting. Because they saw in each other something neither could live without.”

Ketahn curled forward, pressing his mouth atop her hair, and inhaled deeply. “I cannot live without you, Ivy.”

Ivy closed her eyes against the surge of powerful emotions filling her chest. She slid her fingers into his loose hair, clutching the long strands. “Humans call that love.”

“Love,” he echoed, stroking her with his fingers and claspers. “That is what I have for you, Ivy. And it will outlast the Tangle, the stars from which you came, even the Eight themselves. You are my nyleea always.”

“I love you, Ketahn.” She raised her head, forcing him to do the same. Her lips stretched into a smile even as her eyes brimmed with fresh tears. “And I can’t live without you either, my luveen.”

“My beautiful, beautiful female,” Ketahn rumbled. He carefully wiped another tear from her cheek. “Why do you cry? I am here with you. You will never have to live without me.”

A small laugh escaped her. “Promise?”

Ketahn made a low, rolling trill, soothingly sweeping his thumb across her cheek again. “Kir rayathi kir’ani ikarex elush ul sythal, Ivy.” I weave my word into a bond, Ivy. “I promeese.”

Ivy’s smile softened, and she ran her fingers through his silky hair. “Though I miss our nest, I can’t wait to find somewhere safe so we can build a new one together.”

He dipped his head, pressing his face to her neck, and breathed her in. His hand trailed along her jawline while the other three slid down her back. “I cannot wait to have you to myself again, my heartsthread. I tire of sharing you.”

A thrill coursed over her skin as his callused hands and the tips of his claws rasped over it. When his palms dipped lower to curl around her ass, the sensations strengthened, coalescing in her core, growing into a yearning ache.

“So you can have your wicked spidery way with me any time you want?” she asked.

One of his hands slid lower between their bodies, parting her thighs, and worked its way into the folds of her sex. Ivy gasped, her fingers curling against his back as he worked a finger over her, stroking her clit and spreading her slick.

A purr vibrated in his chest and into her. “A male must see to his female’s needs.” The pressure of that finger increased, striking her with a fresh wave of pleasure, as he scraped his mouth over her shoulder. “All her needs.”

Even as he spoke, his claspers twitched and tightened their hold on her, pressing her thigh against his slit, which parted and radiated heat. His cock forced its way out, shaft sliding over her flesh unhindered.

Panting softly and undulating against his hand, she asked, “What of her male’s needs?”

Though already hard as silk-wrapped steel, his cock stiffened further. It throbbed against her thigh, matching the rapid beating of his hearts, which she felt through his chest. His breath was hot on her neck.

“I will take all I require”—his tongue slipped out to dance along her neck, tickling her skin but leaving delightful fire in its wake—“as I give everything to you.”

Ivy caught her bottom lip between her teeth, closed her eyes, and let her head fall back as the pleasure rippling through her grew stronger and stronger. Her nails dug into his back. “There is…another way females like to…to mate with their males.”

It was so hard to concentrate on speaking as he continued to sensually work that finger around her clit, but this was something she had been curious about for some time, something she wanted to do.

Ketahn raked a sharp tooth down her neck, making Ivy writhe in his hold. He growled in satisfaction. “Of what do you speak, Ivy?”

“I…I want to—oh God, Ketahn.” Trembling, she whimpered and arched into his touch, her hard, aching nipples rubbing against his chest as she rocked on his finger. She was so wet, and so, so close. Her essence dripped down her thighs and soaked his hand.

But she wanted to do this for him. Needed to do this. And…she also wanted to know.

Ivy raised her head, forced her eyes open, and grasped his wrist. “I want to show you.”

Another sound rumbled through him, this one softer and more curious but no less hungry. His finger halted, its pad remaining on her throbbing clit as he pulled his face away from her neck and met her gaze.

Between that finger, which made her want to writhe in abandon, and his passionate, intrigued eyes, Ivy was utterly trapped.

Ketahn removed his finger from her sex, and she released him. With a slowness that made her breath catch, he raised his hand and extended his long, purple tongue, licking her essence from his fingers as though it were the greatest delicacy in the universe. Seeing that only turned her on more.

“Then show me, my nyleea,” he said, voice low and gravelly.

Ivy released a shuddering breath, torn between begging him to touch her again, to finish what he started, and her want to pleasure him. Her clit pulsed with unfulfilled lust.

“I need you to…to set me down, and then stand,” she said.

His fingers flexed, and his claws pressed on her flesh, their wicked points only amplifying everything she was already feeling and leaving her desperate for more. But she could not pursue that temptation; with clear reluctance, Ketahn set her down on her feet. His palms rasped across her skin as he shifted the positions of his hands and unfolded his legs, rising to his normal height. His glistening, violet cock twitched in the open air.

Ivy dropped to her knees amidst the piled leaves—though she wasn’t sure if it was because her legs were too weak to hold her up in that moment or if she’d done it on purpose. Either way, she didn’t care.

She wrapped her fingers around his claspers and gave him a gentle tug. He grunted and followed, moving closer. She straightened until her face was level with his shaft. The tip was weeping pearlescent white seed. Ivy looked up at him, and he stared down at her, his dark hair hanging over his shoulders.

“I’ve wanted to kiss you, Ketahn.” Ivy released his claspers and moved her hands to his cock, trailing her fingers along the shaft lightly until she gripped him at the bulging base. He was too thick for her to wrap her hand around completely. “Here.”

A tremor wracked his body, and the fine hairs on his legs stood on end. His upper hands curled into fists, while the lower pair fell to cover her hands. His mouth opened, revealing the sharp teeth inside, and his gleaming eyes were wide. “Ivy…”

Those wicked mandibles, which she knew were capable of inflicting terrible damage, twitched and fell limp at the sides of his face.

She leaned forward, and while keeping her eyes locked with his, twirled her tongue around the tip of his cock. “I want to give you pleasure, my heartsthread.”

Ketahn groaned. The sound made her pussy clench and flood with heat. His hands tightened over hers, and he drew in a ragged breath.

“Trust me.” She pressed her lips to the head of his cock in a gentle kiss. “Let me love you this way.”

Movements stiff, Ketahn lifted his hands from Ivy’s and reached toward her. He ran his fingers along her jaw and settled his palms over her cheeks. His claspers stretched forward, running lightly up the outsides of her arms. “I trust you.”

Anticipation thrummed through her, twining with her desire to please him, to get to know him fully.

With one hand clutched at the base of his cock, Ivy parted her lips, took his tip into her mouth, and sucked. He was warm, throbbing, and tasted of salt on her tongue, but there was something more, something subtle, sweeter. His mahogany-and-spice scent was stronger than ever, filling her senses, arousing her further and driving her to widen her mouth to take more of him in. But he was much too big. So, she took as much of his shaft as she could, stroking her tongue along its underside, teasing the slit at its tip, and pumping her other hand along its length.

Ketahn’s fingers flexed. More spasms rocked his body, and his breath came and went in short, rough pants. He rumbled something—a stunned curse, perhaps, followed by Ivy’s name—before sliding those clawed fingers into her hair. One of his forelegs curled around her back, trembling, before he stamped it back down on the ground beside her.

Spurred on by his reactions, Ivy closed her eyes worked his length at a steady pace, drawing upon his cock hungrily, licking and sucking, lightly grazing him with her teeth. Over and over, she teased his slit, eager to discover what it was she’d felt within her time and again.

And though she had been denied her release, hearing his pleasure as she performed this act only increased her own. Her core ached, her clit throbbed, eager to be touched, and hot slick dripped down her thighs.

She imagined his cock inside her as she sucked him into her mouth, imagined it thrusting, stretching her wide, filling her so completely that there’d be no room left between them. She longed to be part of him—to be one with him. A moan escaped her, vibrating into Ketahn.

“Ivy,” he rasped. His claws lightly raked her scalp, and his pelvis bucked forward, eliciting another low, pleased sound from him. Just like that, whatever control Ivy had held over this vanished.

Ketahn’s big, strong hands guided her to meet the thrusts of his hips, which first matched the pace she had set but soon surpassed it. His breathing also quickened and grew ever more ragged. Ivy knew the erratic, powerful pulses coursing through him; she knew he was on the cusp of his climax, and it only made her hunger all the more.

Dropping a hand between her thighs, Ivy stroked her clit in time with his vigorous thrusts. She moaned, letting him use her, wanting him to use her, uncaring about the discomfort in her jaw. All that mattered was this. Him.

She came quickly, her body tensing as her core seized and flooded her with heat. Pleasure sizzled through her, sparking every nerve, consuming every bit of her in a blissful inferno.

“Ah, Ivy. My mate, my nyleea,” Ketahn panted. Suddenly, his body went rigid. “Shaper, unmake me,” he growled as his leg swept behind her again, and, along with his claspers, drew her toward him, forcing a little more of his shaft into her mouth. It was almost too much.

The bulge near the base of his cock expanded in her hand, producing even more heat. It thrummed with tension, with pressure, and Ivy relished the imminent explosion.

Ketahn came with a roar, his hot seed filling her mouth. She hadn’t known what to expect, but his taste was a shock—a delightful one. It was spiced and rich with a hint of sweetness, and she swallowed it swiftly, moaning again at how delicious he tasted.

Until something emerged from his slit, unfurled, and vibrated against her tongue and the roof of her mouth.

Ivy pulled back abruptly. As his cock slid free of her mouth, seed jetted from him again, spraying her chest. Finally, she saw them—three black tendrils fluttering in the air, like the feathered antennae of a moth. Her breath hitched, and her eyes flared. It was those she’d felt pulsing inside her, those which had sent her to the brink again and again.

Tentatively, she reached up with her other hand, grasped the head of his cock, and brushed her thumb along the open slit and up to those tendrils. They were firm and soft at once. She stroked their lengths, following them back down to his slit.

Fresh seed flowed from his tip.

Ketahn drew in a sharp, shuddering breath, and his body shook. “Ivy,” he rasped, one of his big hands cradling the back of her head while the other clenched her long hair. His claspers quivered on her shoulders.

The tendrils were sensitive.

She grinned and, unable to resist, closed the distance between them, dragging her tongue along Ketahn’s length, licking up his delicious, spiced sweetness. When she reached his tip, she closed her mouth over it and twirled her tongue around those tendrils.

He made a desperate sound—a roar, groan, and growl combined—that became something infinitely deep and primal as it bounced off the cavern walls. His leg joints buckled, and his hips jerked back, tugging his cock from her grasp even as he sank to the ground—but not before Ivy was rewarded with a fresh eruption of his seed, which she drank greedily.

Ketahn’s torso pitched forward, stopping only when he braced all his hands on the ground. His shoulders heaved with his heavy breaths. The tips of his headcrest grazed Ivy’s skin just beneath her breasts, and strands of his loose hair tickled her belly and thighs.

Ivy sank down on her heels and chuckled, tracing the violet and white markings on his headcrest with her fingertips. “I take it you liked it?”

Ketahn chittered and exhaled; his warm breath fanned over Ivy’s stomach, toward her still throbbing sex. “I...” He chittered again, lifting his head to meet her gaze. “You have unmade me, Ivy.”

Leaning back, Ivy propped an arm behind her and parted her thighs. With a self-satisfied smile, she trailed the fingers of her other hand through the warm, pearlescent seed on her chest and smeared it over her breast, twirling it around her nipple.

The Ivy of a couple months ago would never have recognized the woman sitting here now. She would never have thought herself capable of embracing this openness, this passion, this…this wickedness. But having his essence on her body, marking her, branding her with his scent, aroused her on an instinctual level. The ache between her legs intensified, and fresh heat raced to her core.

“Did I tire you too much?” Ivy asked, moving that seed coated finger down her belly and toward her sex.

His eyes followed her finger; his gleaming gaze was that of a hungry predator fixated on its prey. It made her skin tingle in awareness and her heart quicken.

“No.” His long tongue slipped out and ran across the seam of his mouth, and his mandibles spread wide before dropping low and angling back. “You have only awoken my hunger, my heartsthread.”

He gave no other sign of his intentions before he acted—there was no tensing of muscle, no refocusing of his eyes, not even the barest shifting of his legs in preparation. One instant, he was on the ground before her, propped up on his hands. The next he was pouncing on her, a dark blur of violet eyes, claws, and thrilling power.

His upper hands caught her forearms, his lower hooked behind her thighs. He lifted her up and swung her legs out from beneath her. Briefly, Ivy felt weightless, and her stomach flipped with anticipation and excitement. She giggled.

Ketahn lowered her onto her back with unbelievable gentleness considering the speed with which he did so. The leaves provided a soft cushion to protect her from the stone. He held himself over her, his torso wedged between her thighs, his body casting a shadow over hers that made his eyes shine like eight amethysts suspended in space. His claspers teased at the tops of her thighs as though not quite sure whether they wanted to latch on or explore.

Legs spread and braced to either side, Ketahn leaned down, pressing his hard, ridged flesh against her soft body. His deadly mandible fangs brushed Ivy’s collarbone as he trailed his tongue down her neck. That downward motion continued, and his whole body shifted with it; his upper hands slid along her arms from wrists to elbows, from elbows to shoulders as his tongue crept through the valley between her breasts.

Ivy arched her back, thrusting her chest toward him when his mandible fangs grazed her budded, sensitive nipples and triggered an overwhelming explosion of need inside her.

But his head continued its trek down her body. His tongue forged a path across her belly, tracing a delicate ring around her belly button that had her quivering with want. And his hands shifted again, those rough palms cupping her breasts. He held them still for a moment; it was long enough to have her writhing in desperation, trying to brush her nipples against his hide and take whatever sensation she could get.

Ivy covered his strong hands with her own. “Ketahn… Please.”

His tongue swept over her pelvis, crossed the small patch of hair with a whisper light touch, and dipped down to tease her clit, circling and flicking it. Ivy’s breath hitched. Only then did his hands move again, kneading the tender flesh of her breasts, fingers pinching and twisting her nipples.

She hummed, smiling as her lashes fluttered, though she willed her eyes to remain open.

Ketahn drew in a deep breath and released a growl. “Now I will tend to your needs, my nyleea.”

He pulled her thighs up, hooked his mandibles beneath them, and cupped her ass with his lower hands. Before Ivy could fully register any of that, he pressed his face to her sex and speared her with his long tongue.

Ivy’s head fell back as she cried out. Closing her eyes, she gave in to the pleasure her mate bestowed upon her until, finally, he withdrew his head, lifted her off the ground, and drew her down upon his throbbing cock. Their moans echoed off the stone walls, growing into a song that enveloped them both—a song of passion and love, a song born out of the impossible odds of two souls meeting despite the unfathomable expanse of time and space that had separated them.