Chapter 62: Inseparable

Nash

Daphne twisted her head, and I followed her line of sight to the laundry bin at the foot of her bed. The maroon sleeve of a hoodie was still sticking out under the cover. I blew out a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.

She might have disobeyed me, but she hadn’t lied to me. She’d admitted why she was out in the woods, even if it was a stupid, dangerous reason.

And Daphne hadn’t been naked in the woods. She had more than one of those stupid, raggety t-shirts from her brothers, as I still had one in my jeep, and had just peeled another one from her luscious body. God only knows how her t-shirt ended up on the trail, maybe it had just been stuck to her hoodie and she hadn’t realized she was dragging it along after her.

I was relieved, because for a minute there, I’d been thinking something entirely different.

I’d been thinking about shifters removing their clothing before they changed shape.

I slowly stroked her inner thighs and then lowered my head to her center to taste her sweet nectar. She had a taste like nothing else I’d ever experienced, a taste I couldn’t get enough of. Nor would I ever be satisfied of the small noises of pleasure she made as I lavished her body with my tongue. I slipped two fingers inside her, and began to pump into her slick center, timing my thrusts against the rhythmic rocking of her hips, that she probably wasn’t even conscious of.

“Nate…please…” her head thrashed on the pillow as she approached her peak. Her thighs tightened reflexively aorund my shoulders. “Oh,” her breathy moans became a keening cry as her body clenched down around my fingers in strong steady pulses. “Nate…”

I felt that deep, low feeling of self-hatred, even as I reached for the condoms under my bed. Daphne wasn’t lying to me, but I was lying to her. She didn’t even know my real name, let alone the real reason I was on campus. But I shoved that inconvenient thought out of my mind as I tore open the package, and rolled the protection over my member.

It was wrong, it was unfair, it was dishonorable, but I couldn’t stop myself. I felt like I would die if I didn’t sink myself into her sweetness. And the moment I slid into her still pulsing center, I immediately felt that inexplicable feeling of connection. Like we were two parts of one whole, and I was only really myself when I was with her.

It wasn’t just sex. It was a thousand times more than that.

Our first time had been rushed. We’d gone at it like two animals in rut. I still felt that driving sense of urgency, but I was determined to slow down, for her sake, as well as mine. It wasn’t easy to pull myself back, especially when she was digging her nails into my back, begging me to go harder and faster.

I slowed down and started learning her body, exploring every dip and curve, the places that were invitingly soft, like her inner thigh, and the places that were firm, like the concave scoop of her belly. I found the places that made her breath hitch, and the places that made her moan, and the places that made her beg. The inner thigh, the underside of her knee, the inside of her elbow, the small of her back, and especially the spot on her shoulder, just at the edge of her graceful neck.

When I closed my teeth over the spot, she opened her mouth to scream, I had to cover her mouth with my hand to keep her from waking up the whole house. The last thing we needed was a bunch of horny college boys knocking down the door right now. The strange thing was, it was like I felt it too, a feeling of molten pleasure spreading from my shoulder, like a different, but no less potent orgasm breaking over us.

Both of us. While I covered her mouth I had to clench my own teeth and swallow my own sound of rapture.

Our bodies continued to move together, in a sinuous dance, like we’d always been together. Her breath was my breath, her heartbeat was my heartbeat, and when her beautiful eyes, like sparkling blue sapphires bored into mine, I thought I saw myself there.

So much more than sex. It had never been like this with any other woman. And I was terrified of what that could mean.

She didn’t even know my name.

When she peaked again, I was with her, it was impossible not to release when I seemed to be feeling everything she was feeling, everything and more. I muffled her cries with my mouth, kissing her deeply as I plunged into her one last time. I had one last thought before I lost the ability to think at all.

This moment is as close to heaven as I’ll ever get.

With the last of my strength, I rolled us again, situating her over my body on the narrow bed. I didn’t pull out, but kept myself buried deep within her, not wanting to break the connection. A part of me that was still conscious hated the fact that we were doing this here, in a stupid college dorm-house, on cheap mattress on a basic twin size bed that was meant for kids, not two full grown adults. I didn’t know where I would take her, if I had the option, but it should be some place as exceptional as she was, as special as the experience was.

Something that was real.

But for now, I could only hold her body tight against mine, feel her heartbeat easing back into a normal rhythm, feel her shuddering breaths calming.

Feel the hot wash of her tears against my chest as I stroked her hair. I knew they weren’t tears of sadness or tears of pain. But tears of pure sensual overload. I knew, because I felt it too, I felt so overwhelmed and over full that I thought I might burst.

It should have been impossible to sleep after such a shattering experience, but relaxation rolled over me, filled me, drowned me like a powerful opiate. I should be worried, I should be frightened, I should be a lot of things, but my passion-drugged brain couldn’t grasp any of them. My eyelids dropped lower, and I felt Daphne’s body over mine like a comforting weighted blanket, quieting my nervous system, soothing all the rough edges, until sleep came for me.

In my dreams, we were in the forest, the path that lead to the overlook, the path where I had found her t-shirt last night. There was a full, bright moon overhead, and the air was warm and muggy, like a midsummer's night. Daphne was in front of me, beautifully, perfectly naked, her lithe body glowing in the moonlight, as she danced backwards, always just ahead of me, always just out of reach. Up above us on the ridge, a wolf howled, and my eyes followed the sound. A big, dark wolf was sillouetted against the moonlit sky. It raised its muzzle to the stars and howled again, the sound full of loneliness, sadness, longing.

Daphne’s head turned to watch the wolf too, so she didn’t see it coming. She didn’t see the black shadow moving swiftly through the trees, almost imperceptible, invisible until it broke onto the trail, huge, terrifying, much larger than a natural blackbear, mouth wide and snarling, long, sharp teeth glinting in the moonlight, claws extended like knives.

I reached for my sidearm, but my hand found nothing at my hip, nothing at my back. I was unarmed. I lunged, seeking to throw myself between Daphne and the monster-bear, but I was too slow, too heavy, my feet were suddenly mired in a swamp, sucked down deep into the mud with each step.

There was a moment, a moment when Daphne’s beautiful expression fell from joyful and carefree to complete horror and abject fear. The moment before that huge paw fell, swiping across her neck and her chest, slicing so deep I could see her heart beating behind her rib cage, just before she fell to her knees.

She looked at me, her beautiful blue eyes locked with mine, her hands moved over her chest, coming away soaked in her own blood. She gave me a small, sad smile before the bear swiped again.

“No!” I shouted, heaving forward with a great effort in my dream—

And jerked awake in real life, just as I shoved a confused and sleepy Daphne right onto the floor.