Garnet was afraid it was too much for hernow. But she didn’t stop him when he leaned down to kiss her again. She just touched his face with her still bound hands, eager to accept it. To accept him. And now that she knew for a fact that it wouldn’t hurt, she was even more eager to feel him inside her again.
Chapter 31
Tanin
In the past, when Tanin indulged in exchanging pleasures with a female, it was done quickly and roughly, and they parted ways soon after. Lingering begged for trouble, and he didn't trust anyone enough to sleep beside them. Before, he’d take his partner from behind, and when he came, he’d hold her down and keep her from moving until his barbs retracted. And she’d let him, because she knew it would hurt if they were ripped out early. After that, however, they’d part ways, satisfied.
Well, he thought he had been satisfied.
The difference between the quick sex he had with those faceless females of his past and Garnet was incomparable. Like a starving man who’d survived off gruel thinking that was the best he’d ever get suddenly being offered a feast fit for a king. Tanin didn't think he could ever go back to the frantic, unsatisfying fucks anymore.
So, while it was not his first time having sex, this was his first time cuddling a female. Letting her linger around him. Letting her doze off on his chest, her breaths sweeping past her open lips, making a little strand of hair curl in and out with each push and pull of air.
Garnet was beautiful when she rested like this. She was beautiful when she was needy for him. When she was desperate and crying for more. When she was lost in the height of her pleasure. When she was needy and pouting afterwards, holding him so tightly.
They had been locked in his room for a couple days now, learning and exploring each other. Tanin was insatiable for her. Wanting her beyond reason. Beyond her capabilities.
She was exhausted from his attention. It wasn’t the first time she’d fallen asleep, but it was the first time she’d done it before he could even pull out. But after that last time, she’d been too exhausted to move and had passed out even before he got them comfortable.
Before, when she fell asleep, he’d leave her side. To get her food, to get her water, to get something to clean up the mess he made of her. He’d not gotten much sleep though, because he was too busy being obsessed with watching her. With needing her. With waiting for her to wake up so he could have her again and maybe ease some of this burning need inside him.
But it never eased. He never had enough. And now, still connected to her, he was just watching her sleep. Fatigue pulling at his mind, trying to tempt him down as well. But he refused it. He’d been forced to stay awake for days on end before, usually to preserve his own life. He could do it now for something he treasured more than that.
His cock had softened some time ago, the barbs once again lying flat in position. But he remained inside her. One hand firmly on her ass, keeping her hips tilted so he remained that way. He wasn’t yet ready to leave her warmth, even as their combined fluids trailed down between his thighs.
They’d made a mess. Again. But he found he didn’t care. He’d clean the bed later. Right now, however, he liked the idea of his seed dripping out of her.
This female was a threat to him. The very fact that he didn't want to let her go made her a weakness he never would have allowed before.
On Rik-Vane.
And that was it. Everything always came back to Rik-Vane. He compared his entire life to how he had to live there. The precautions he needed to take, the trust he couldn’t afford to give, the terrible things he’d done to survive – none of which he’d ever let Garnet know about. She already knew he was a killer. She didn't need to know details beyond that.
More blood he’d never put on her. No matter how willing she was to be stained with it.
Tanin would carry the weight of his crimes all his life. And it was a burden that didn't pull him down. He didn't regret a thing he had to do on Rik-Vane.
But he wasn’t on Rik-Vane.
He told Garnet he’d put his past behind him, and she’d called him a fool. And he thought that maybe she was right. Because he clearly hadn’t. He still compared everything in his life to Rik-Vane. He still lived how he would have on Rik-Vane.
He couldn’t put his past behind him. It was the foundation holding his weight.
But he could build on that foundation. He could rise above it. Make a better past for himself to stand upon so he wasn’t always saying ‘on Rik-Vane…’
‘On Rik-Vane…’
‘On Rik-Vane…’
He wasn’t on Rik-Vane!
And he should stop living like he expected to be there.
Garnet made a cute little sound. It wasn’t quite a snore, but she wasn’t talking either. It was a tiny little sound in her throat. Adorable and quiet. As he watched, the hair strand that had been dancing with her breath tickled her nose. She rapidly shook her head, dislodging more strands, but clearing that one from her face. She then nuzzled right back against his chest, sparks from his skin lights exploding with each movement, popping steadily where she rested.
He wanted to pose for her. To tempt her in with his mating dance. To have her respond to him. To bond to her in that way. A powerful dance turned sensual, turned sexual as their movements joined them together. Forging a mating bond that would never break until the day they died.
On the Humility, he could have that. He could have her.
