I duck under and stand, slicking my hair back from my face and loving once again how hungrily my bride looks at me.

“Can you float?” I ask.

“Sure.”

My hands find her hips, and I tip her backward.

She gives a startled yelp, her hands flying to my upper arms, then laughs when I pull her lower body to the surface so she’s horizontal.

“Don’t sink.” I smirk at her, teasing my tusks with my tongue. “I’d hate to drown before I’m through.”

“What—?” She breaks off with a gasp as I sink into the water and spread her legs wide. Contrary to my words, my hands hold her lovely ass to help her stay up.

And to keep her right where I want her.

My bride floats without purchase, me her only anchor point, as I lean forward and lick her. Salt and tang and female burst on my tongue, and I groan, lapping like a man starved. “You’re already wet for me. I can taste it.”

She tries to lift her head to look at me, but it makes her sink.

“None of that.” I smack her butt cheek, the water removing most of the sting. “You lay back and leave me in charge. That’s an order.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Grace

Branikk doesn’t wait for an answer before licking me again, his tongue teasing along my folds over and over. God, it’s amazing! I can even kind of see what he meant about wanting to start things off without the spicy effect of his fluids.

This is all him and that talented tongue of his.

“Fuck, woman, what you do to me,” he says. “Your taste is mesmerizing. I want to do nothing but eat you for days. But my cock’s so damned hard I swear it’s going to kill me if I don’t have you soon.”

He flicks his tongue over my clit, sending a burst of tingling pleasure through me. I whine, high in my throat, my hips lifting so much that my head dips back into the water, about to go under. I fight to even out, and his rich chuckle rolls through me.

“Someone’s just as hungry as I am.” His tongue dances lightly on my clit for a moment. “I love that about you.”

I shift again, impatient for more, my body tingling as I’m assaulted with sensation. The warm water laps at my sides, a breeze cools my exposed skin, tightening my nipples into painful peaks, and Branikk licks at me, fluttering his tongue at my entrance until my heart races.

I can’t lift my hips, can’t push against a bed with my hand, can’t do anything to get closer to him. I’m caught completely in his power. Oh, I know I could jerk away and put my feet down if I really wanted to. But I don’t. I want this. I want him.

I just want him faster, harder.

So I do the only thing I can, the thing Ineverdo in bed, the thing his teasing brings me to. I beg. “Please, Branikk.”

“What’s that, my bride?” His tusks nip at my inner thigh, making me shiver. A teasing tone fills his voice. “Did you want something?”

Orc hearing is better than a human’s. I know he heard me. He just wants to make me beg.

Another nip on my other thigh makes me writhe in the water, my clit throbbing, demanding touch. “Branikk,” I sob, giving in. “I need more.”

“You shall have it,” he growls, all playfulness gone. “You shall have everything.”

His tongue plunges into me, over and over, and pleasure tightens deep in my tummy, building with every touch. Branikk shifts his hands, holding me up with only one so the other… Oh, god! The other moves between my legs, his long fingers replacing his tongue, feeling almost as big as his cock.

His mouth latches over my clit, sucking hard.

Pleasure rushes through me in a wave of delight as I shout my release to the purple and orange sky.

Branikk stands, pulling me to him so I don’t have to make any effort to float. His skin is shockingly hot compared to the cool air, and I shift closer, making a little noise of protest.