Page 17 of Dweller of the Mists

Her fingers flew to his lips and brushed over them in a gentle caress, not wanting to spoil the moment with their regrets for the future. “Shh. Just show me.”

He growled softly and kissed her long and deep until he broke away with a hiss as his hips pressed forward. Noelle glanced down and her eyes widened as something long and thick extruded like a shapeless rod of flesh from his genital pouch, parting the softer folds along the seam of his sheath. It was hot and wet and whipped against her belly with its own rapid little movements as he slowly drew back, dragging it across the top of her vulva. She stared at it a little uncertainly, all the warnings fed to her over the years playing through her head. It was ridiculous, though. It was just his cock and, while an impressive size, wasnot one impossible for her to manage. Unnerving as it appeared with its unfamiliarity, she wanted this. She wanted to share this with him because it was him. And, gods, he smelled good.

Spreading her legs wider for him, she gasped a moan when his cock slicked against the sensitive flesh of her sex. Gwum hissed as a tremor ran through him, but his cock quickly worked its way down and found her entrance. It dipped tentatively into her as it lashed against her most intimate core between her thighs, but in the next breath it was pressing into her, wiggling slightly as it worked its way into her only to stiffen and pressed into her in one smooth and excruciatingly slow glide.

They panted together as he worked his cock into her and cried out as one when it finally reached the mouth of her womb. The groan he gave almost sounded pained as his hips rocked back and drove forward, and he repeated the motion, withdrawing and driving into her again so that their bodies arched together with every thrust. It was a dance of primal choreography as they rocked together. His claws skimmed over her skin at one moment, the webbing between his fingers gliding erotically as his claws pricked her deliciously and shredded the bedding beneath them in the next breath as he speared her with powerful thrusts as his cock sank into her over and over.

He caressed her, breathing a quiet litany of words too low for her make out as his pace quickened, his body growing tauter as his strokes became harder and more desperate. Her cunt squeezed him enthusiastically as her orgasms rippled through her in tingling bursts that preceded the dizzying surges of pleasure. He thrust through them, growling softly in her ear. His eyes rolled and he lowered his head to pant against her skin. His breath teased her skin as it fanned over her, but she startled at the sight of his tongue as it slipped from his mouth and continued to extend longer than humanly possible as he lowered his head. It trailed along her breasts and kept extendingas it dragged down the length of her body, finally finding its place between her thighs. Noelle grunted and then immediately moaned loudly in shock and exquisite pleasure as it lapped at her clit in time with his thrusts. The sounds of his pleasure increased in frequency and volume, and his thrusts grew more eager as his cock thickened inside of her.

Noelle clung to him, riding the wave of pleasure with him as it rose higher and higher. She could feel the sweet tension rising through her back and thighs and belly as a frisson of pleasure swept over her entire body in prelude to the main event. Throwing her head back, she gasped and cried out with the first convulsion within her sex squeezing the rigid length of his cock rutting into her.

And rutting was the only way to describe it. His urgency was peaking, his hiss of pleasure dropping lower into a crackling growl as his pace picked up until he was thrusting into her with abandon, his cock plunging in as he gasped and growled against her ear. It shouldn’t have excited her as much as it did, but the tension wound tighter and tighter within her belly, releasing fresh floods of her arousal until it expanded, flared, and burst on a scream of hot pleasure that tore from her throat as the entire world broke around her, shattering with the force of her release.

Gwum bellowed and quickly followed her over the edge, his cock throbbing and jerking. He gave one last hard thrust, pressing the tip of it firmly against the mouth of her womb as it sprayed load after load of his hot cum following every powerful convulsion of her sex gripping his shaft. They spiraled together and clung to one another until they lay spent on the bed. His tongue continued to lap at her until his cock withdrew from her channel. Only then did it retreat back up the length of her body before disappearing between his lips as he rolled onto his back to lie gasping at her side.

“That was… everything I could have imagined and more,” he rasped, breaking the silence of the room.

Turning her head, she regarded him tiredly with wonder. “Yeah, you’re right. You also have an incredibly long tongue. Emphasis on incredible.”

“An evolutionary trait among Bia for collecting nectar. I never believed it could be so useful,” he agreed, a wide smile breaking across his face as she giggled helplessly at his side.

Noelle was still smiling as she snuggled into his side. For tonight and all the nights he offered her, she would pretend that her heart would not soon be breaking. That time felt far off at the moment, but she knew that it was coming up on her all too soon.

She would greedily enjoy it while she could. That was all she could realistically do. This life and this male were not hers to keep, no matter how much she suddenly wanted to.

Grandma, what am I going to do?

Chapter

Thirteen

Noelle didn’t mention their night together when they started out in the morning. Neither of them spoke at all, though they exchanged quiet smiles and frequently touched each other with little butterfly brushes as they got ready and departed the maternal pond. For this purpose alone, their silence was necessary, as was the reason that they were quietly leaving just as dawn broke over the swamp. They were avoiding uncomfortable questions and truths with his family. She was avoiding the painful goodbyes even as she felt it echo through her with every step as she walked through Gwum’s home and emerged from its entrance into the early morning air.

The early hour was beautiful as nightglow insects still drifted over the surface of the water in a leisurely dance of light. Normally she would have paused to appreciate it, but looking upon it just made her sad even though she exchanged an appreciative smile with the male by her side. She would fake it until she made it and hoped that pretending she was okay would eventually come true and the pain of leaving would fade.

She had never actually believed that a broken heart could cause physical pain, but it quickly became obvious that she was wrong. Her heart was heavy with a deep, gnawing ache asshe followed him across the large root system that protected and formed the walls and foundation of his home, and it grew heavier with every step that carried them farther away. And she nearly wept with unhappiness when the wild beauty of the swamp resumed as the cultivated beauty of the pond gave way. It was foolish because she had known from the beginning, and there had never been any plan for forever with Gwum, but all the same Noelle was unable to resist looking back, hoping to catch one last glimpse of it to keep with her as the swamp brightened, casting its golden glow over the fog.

Her lips parted in dismay, her heart clenching miserably. She couldn’t see it. All she could see was the wild tangle of the Shoowilp swamplands and not even a hint of where Gwum’s maternal swamp rested with its vibrant flowers cultivated over generations of his family dwelling there. Her eyes scanned the trees desperately, looking for the deep purple leaves of Gwum’s tree brightened with a tapestry of flowers and colorful plants rising up along its side in a colorful garden planted among the tree’s natural dips and hollows. And yet she couldn’t even pick which tree was his among the many rising from the swamp. It was like everything was being snatched away the moment she wasn’t looking—before she was ready.

Frustrated tears filled her eyes, but she wiped them away before Gwum noticed them. The last thing she wanted was for him to feel bad about their parting. He was quiet as he moved ahead of her, and though he frequently glanced back at her, his expression was unreadable. Did he already have regrets?

She bit her lip uncertainly as she watched him walk ahead of her. “You are going to be okay, right? With everything that happened between us, I mean.”

He halted and glanced back at her, his brows rising in surprise. Turning, he walked back to her and took her hand in his, a warm smile on his lips. “What happened between us issomething that I will always treasure. I will keep it here and here,” he said quietly as he brushed his claw against his brow and then over his chest. He paused as he considered her and cocked his head. “Do you have regrets, jymlina?”

She sniffled but gave him a teary smile as she shook her head. “Never. Tell me, what does jymlina mean? My translator isn’t helping me.”

Sadness crept into his eyes, but his smile widened as he stroked his thumb over the back of her hand. “It is a common term of affection among the Bia. It refers to a flower that is highly favored for its beauty, but now that I think of it, it would be better to call you saroongna. The flower may be common in its swamp, but it gives life and beauty to everything. Just like you do.”

She dabbed at her eyes and grinned. “Saroongna, huh? I kind of like that.”

“Then that is who you will be, forever my saroongna. I will never be able to survive the blooming season because my thoughts will be only for you.”

“Wow,” she whispered in a choked voice, and he squeezed her hand, his gaze softening. Sighing, she glanced around them with the pretense that her longing and grief were for the swamplands they would soon be departing. “I don’t know what I will do without this.”

Gwum’s eyes swept over his swamp, and he nodded as he breathed deeply. “There is no place on Kren that is like Shoowilp territory, but all of the vast swamps of Kren hold a special beauty and bounty that the mountains cannot rival.” He glanced at her, worry darkening his eyes. “I will worry about you being on the mountains, far from this comfort.”

She nodded miserably. She worried about that too.

---