Page 29 of Crossing Between
Blinking my eyes a few more times, I looked over my shoulder just as Elias pushed the blankets off his face and sat up on his left elbow, a large yawn taking up his face for a brief few seconds.
Oh!
That was right! I'd slept next to him last night. He'd been cool against my back; it had to be because he was a kraken, but it'd been pleasant. I'd been too tired, but I hoped it wouldn't be the last time I woke up next to the healer.
"Damn. Varon has good taste in mattresses. Now I feel even worse for destroying my room." Elias gave a throaty chuckle as he looked at me. "Good morning, Zoey." His gray eyes were kind and soft as we looked at each other. "Your bedhead is adorable."
"What?!" Embarrassment shocked me as I clamped my hands over my hair. "Bedhead?" I stood up but squeaked slightly as a tentacle wrapped around my waist to drag me into the bed with my back up against Elias' chest.
His face nuzzled against my hair from behind as his tentacles moved down my arms in a caress that brought goose bumps along my skin. Who knew tentacles would feel so good?
"I like it. You're even more beautiful in the morning light." His voice had deepened with power, his kraken slipping out more.
I tilted my head back to look at him. His eyes had changed to a bright yellow with a pupil that reminded me of a cat's eye. His kraken met my gaze while pressing his hips into my back.
"Elias?" I pressed my thighs together to stop spreading them as I became turned on by the way his touch ran down my body and as the suckers just lightly pulled skin in a teasing manner.
"Mate." He grunted as a tentacle tip brushed along my lips. "Mine. Marked."
I opened my mouth to ask what he was talking about when there was a knock at the door, and we both froze as if we were caught with a hand in the cookie sex jar.
"Darling," Quilith's voice rang out through the door, happy and annoyingly bright. "It's time to wake! Tea has been made with some food. We have lots to talk about!" The door started to open, and I scrambled out of the bed with a shout.
"I'll be there in just a minute. Don't come in! I'm, uh, naked!" I glanced back over my shoulder to see Elias climbing out of the other side of the bed quietly.
"Oh, don't tempt me with a good time, my dear!" Quilith cackled, but their voice faded as they walked away. "See you in a little bit."
A huge sigh of relief escaped from me as I slumped against the edge of the bed frame.
"That could have been awkward." Elias laughed low, sending a thrill through me. He looked relaxed for the first time since I'd met him. "Although knowing Quilith, they would have enjoyed seeing us in that predicament."
"They would have called everyone to come see." I snorted before rubbing my arms. "Um, Elias, about what you said right before Quilith knocked?"
He froze as he had been putting his hair up in a half bun. "Oh. Um, my kraken came out and he was staking his claim on you?"
I raised a brow. "His claim? Like I'm a possession to be claimed?"
He visibly flinched and rounded the bed to my side quickly. "No. Of course not." He gripped my arms and pulled me into a hug. "It's complicated, and I'm not sure today is the best day to explain with everything else that we're about to learn today." He tipped my chin up and placed a finger on my lips as I opened them to say something. "Babe, please give me a few days. My kraken jumped the gun, and I don't want you to overload on information again."
I wanted to grumble and disagree with him. Making me wait after I knew something was being hidden? It would be torture, but I also understood wanting to be able to have the power to reveal information on one's own terms.
"Okay. Fine." I sighed as he moved his finger from my lips, and his thumb rubbed my lower lip. "But I want something to hold me over."
"Oh?" His kraken came through briefly before his gray eyes sparked with mischief. "What would that be?"
I was starting to like this playful side of him the more he opened up.
"A kiss."
"How about multiple?" His growl went straight through to my pussy and I held back a gasp as his lips clashed with mine.
This kiss wasn't soft and gentle like our first one had started out. This kiss was rough with teeth and tongue as his hands gripped my hips, fingers digging into the flesh hard enough to leave marks while he pulled me flush against him, the barrier of our clothing suddenly maddening. A desperate thought flashed through my mind that our garments might combust, reduced to nothing but ash between us. My pulse thundered in my ears as his tongue swept against mine, demanding and possessive, making the room tilt and sway around me.
His right hand traveled up my side with deliberate slowness, each inch of contact raising goosebumps in its wake. When his fingers brushed over the mark beneath my shirt, electricity jolted through me, a delicious burning that made me arch against him with a gasp. He cupped the back of my head, strong fingers tangling in my hair, tugging just enough to expose more of my throat to him. The hard ridge of his cock pressed insistently against my lower belly, and I couldn't stop the broken whimper that escaped me, the sound seeming to bounce off the walls as we reluctantly broke the kiss, both of us breathing heavily in the sudden quiet.
"We need to stop or I won't be able to." Elias rested his forehead against mine with a soft sigh. "I don't want Quilith to come back and ruin our morning because they'll go blab this to the others."
"They wouldn't do that." I paused. "Okay, they totally would go tell the others." I stepped out of his arms even though it felt like I was tearing away a limb. "I hope we can do more of that later."
