Taming the Queen of Beasts

GAR

Gar sat in the furs with his back to the cave wall, trying not to roar.

While he'd gotten lost in his thoughts, Rika had crawled into his lap and started stroking his chest, kissing his neck, and whispering that she'd missed him. And there was no guessing what she meant by it, because her scent vibrated with desire.

His heart pattered and sank in the same moment.

He'd almost told her no, almost started the conversation about returning early, because he knew he should. But then she'd deepened the kiss and reached down to stroke him at the same time.

Every thought had left his head along with his shuddering breath that fluttered her hair.

He'd forgotten everything then, except her pink skin, the way her breasts bounced every time they rocked together, and the incredible glittering pleasure of being joined with her.

Rika… his mate. Creator's mane, she was something stunning.

Now, teeth gritted for control, and hands grasping her hips, Gar pulled her against him with every roll.

Her small hands braced on his shoulders, her fingers digging into the rigid muscles there, tightening every time he got the pressure right, until his breath was hissing through his teeth as she lost her control and he fought to keep himself in check.

She breathed his name again and again, whimpering when he shifted his hips down the bed so he lay slightly back and the angle between them changed.

A guttural moan broke in his throat as he laid one hand to the small of back and urged her to lean further away from him, which she did. Then, to his eternal delight, her jaw began to slacken, her head tilting back to bare her neck.

Unable to resist, Gar sat up, leaning her back further, one hand sliding up her side to cup her breast and thumb her nipple, while he planted the other hand flat between her shoulder blades to take her weight, then he dropped his head to open his mouth on her throat.

She shuddered. Goosebumps washed down her side, the tiny hairs on her arms standing up as she laced the fingers of both hands at the back of his neck and leaned back further, until her hair began to brush his knees, drifting back and forth, raising the goosebumps on his thighs and sending jolts of desire to places that didn't need more motivation.

Fuck she was incredible.

Gar huffed the mating call, the deep resonance echoing in the cave, punctuated as her breath caught and broke on her little cries.

Taking her weight, and whispering for her to relax, he kissed his way down her neck, curling himself to take the peak of her breast in his mouth and suck.

"Holy—Gar!" she sucked in a heaving breath and her hands tightened on his neck.

Already enthusiastic, her body began to twitch and she writhed, grinding down on him, her breath stopping at the peak of each thrust.

He gave a low groan when she tightened on him and the tendons on her neck stood proud.

"I've got you," he whispered, returning his kiss to her mouth, her jaw, her ear. "Let go, I've got you."

With a small cry, she let go of his neck, all her weight falling into his hands, changing the angle again.

Gar shuddered with pleasure, breath so heavy he couldn't kiss her anymore, only hold her weight with one hand, while he sat back enough to look down on her—on them—and marvel at her abandon.

She'd surrendered, and it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Her head back and throat bared, arms slack, trailing to the furs where her fingers curled into them, her hips rolling in time with his.

Within him, deep in his chest, at the center of his heart, something sparkled, a shining, rising light that his heart pumped through his veins, crawling reaching, as if it would slide through his limbs and erupt from his skin.

Laying his mouth to her neck again, but hovering there, his lips just brushing the curve of her throat, he called for her, again and again, her name tumbling into the mating call, trailing off into a groan. And all the while, that shining, glittering light edged further in his veins, stretching for her.

"Rika…" he whispered against her skin, letting his hand trail down her side to pull her against him again. "I love—"

"Oh, Gar! Oh… fudgeballs!" she cried, her voice high and thin as she broke, one hand clapping to the back of his neck and pulling him against her, the other grasping his waist, her fingers digging into his back.

She pressed herself into him, crying his name, jerking, seeking her release, almost bouncing against him with her desperation as suddenly, she clenched around him, moaned and her fingers clawed at his back as the wave of her orgasm hit.

Gar, taken by surprise was yanked over the edge into his own release, all thought disappearing from his head as his body was washed in pleasure, tearing the mating call from his throat, and raising the hair on his arms.

They twitched and groaned together for long seconds, until Gar slumped, reminding himself to catch her, hold her until she stopped jerking.

But when she sucked in, she threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and burying her face in his neck, her panting thundering in his ear.

Gar shifted again, pulling her with him so he could sit back against the wall and hold her, curled together while they found their breaths.

He kept blinking, trying to find his head. Because his body rippled and sighed with pleasure, but his heart…

His heart was afraid.

"That was incredible!" Rika whispered in his ear, then licked the side of his neck. "You're amazing Gar. Being with you is like… it's like ice cream."

Gar had to think for a moment. Ice Cream was the sweet, frozen milk.

Still off balance, but wanting to find his center with her, he raised his head to meet her eyes with a confused smile. "I make you feel like… frozen dairy products?"

She giggled. "Melty. You make me melty."

"Is that a good thing."

Her eyes widened as she nodded. "A very good thing."

"Then… yay?"

She snorted and dropped her forehead to his shoulder again, blowing out a long breath. "Yay is right. Very much, yay. More yay than I've ever had… ever," she said, her voice growing quieter with each word.

She tightened her hold on him, and no matter that the bond hadn't taken, no matter that he was worried, his own heart melted at the sudden desperation in her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, leaving no space between them.

"I love you, Rika. All the biggest yays I've ever had. Or ever will."

She nodded and swallowed, emotional. So he stroked her back until she was breathing normally again.

It didn't matter, he told himself. The bond would come when it came. It didn't matter how long it took. He wasn't giving up.

He just wished he understood what was standing between them, and how to reach through that barrier to her. He didn't want anyone putting pressure on her when they returned.

A thought that inevitably led to the conviction that they were going to have to return—which only started the argument in his head again.