She leaned back, grinning at me, curls a riot from where I'd clutched and tugged on them as she'd licked me and played with my ass. "Fine, you were right. Itwasmore fun to play physician than psychologist."
I nodded, trying to restrain some of my smug satisfaction. "Much more hands on."
Victoria rolled her eyes, but her sigh was sweet, ruffling my mane as she curled against me once more.
"Congratulations," I whispered, squeezing my arms around her waist. I would lift us off this examination table in a moment or so, carry Victoria up to our personal suite and start her a bath, but my favorite moment of sex with my partner was directly afterward, when she was entirely at ease with herself and me.
Victoria was like all the city's stray cats she loved to care for—her trust was slow earned and the sweeter for it, but my patience had been well worth the wait, and every month I discovered a new facet to her affection. She'd recently discovered she liked having painted toenails in strange colors—vivid blues and acid yellows and a truly atrocious mouldering purple—and after a long soak in the bath, she would offer me her delicate feet for whatever new shade she'd found discounted at the nearby pharmacy.
"It doesn't feel real yet," Victoria said, sighing and then barely breathing the words, "Doctor Dempsey."
She'd defended her dissertation on monster sexuality and the role societal taboos and shame play, both for and against sexual satisfaction, to resounding success. I'd known she'd pass, rare as that was on the first try, but she'd planned our little session tonight as a balm to potential revisions. The triumph had made her especially sexually aggressive, and I was already considering how I might achieve similar results for her in the future. It was fun to behertoy for once.
"MSA will have to give you a raise for your consulting work," I said, and Victoria snorted.
"We both knowthatwon't happen," she said.
She was starting to float back into her head. I shifted and sat up. "You could come work with me for Astraeya."
It wasn't really an offer I could make, except that Astraeya had dropped some hints about being interested in Victoria's new studies in human and monster relationships.
Victoria's arms looped around my neck as I stood from the table and headed towards the door. I would clean up the mess we'd made of our torn and tossed clothing in the morning.
"I'm always happy to help Astraeya, you know that. She's the reason I have you, not to mention my doctorate now," Victoria said with a kiss on my cheek.
"I'mthe reason you have me. I found that sticky note!"
"Mmm, but aren't we lucky she wrote it?"
I huffed, hiding my smile. "I suppose so. I take it you still prefer the idea of your own sex therapy practice?"
Surprisingly, Victoria was quiet. I waited until we reached the attic suite, setting her down on the bed and searching her eyes.
"I do," she said slowly, chewing on her lip. "But I think I want to focus on the new study more first. Less lucrative?—"
"Not a concern," I reminded her, and she glared at me.
"—but I can look into publishing my dissertation now, which will bring in income?—"
"We have plenty of that," I continued, and she pressed her lips flat in stubborn irritation. I sank to my knees in front of the bed, and Victoria blinked. "Darling…"
"Elias," she said, her tone warning me against pushing the topic of my finances as a means of supporting her work.
"What are we?" I asked her, and she sat up straighter, her blouse askew and her lips swollen from my kisses.
But she knew the answer. "Partners," she said softly.
"In what way?" I prompted.
Her shoulders lowered and her lips curved, then her hands covered mine at her sides. "All the ways we can be," she answered, leaning forward.
I grazed my mouth over hers but didn't give into her pleading kisses for more, sitting back on my heels. "You got me through a summer of social events planned by Sunny and Natalie,strangers tromping through my house and ruining my beautiful lawn with kitten heels and wedding archways. I fed and clothed and fucked you to sleep through the past few months of prep for today." Victoria laughed and her cheeks blushed, but she didn't deny the claim. "Besides, you know how I feel about this new study."
Victoria arched a brow. "You think it's your idea."
"Itismy idea. But I'm not as brilliant as you, and so I fully plan on playing my role as your assistant to the fullest once more. Agreed?" I rubbed her hips, tugging her closer to the edge of the bed, her already rumpled skirt rucking up to reveal where I'd torn her hose in my eagerness to get inside of her.
"Agreed," Victoria said, leaning in for a nibbling kiss on my lower lip. Her voice lowered. "If you promise to still let me play your role as your good little toy."
I growled, rising up, leaning in so she had to brace against the bed to keep from falling backwards. My claws found the edge of her skirt and slipped beneath the fabric, stroking up her bare hips. We were lucky she'd passed on her first defense, because my mating season was just around the corner.
"Oh, my darling love," I hissed, bucking between her legs, drawing out a husky, pleased laugh. "Always."
THE END
