Surrender Complete Bundle

Chapter Two: Cuddle

Chapter Two: CuddleHe does nothing for a long while, just keep his arms around her and breathe. It's a little bit worrying, but she stays still and let him hold her tight.

There's something incredibly calming about this too. She thinks maybe she shouldn't like it so much, but she relaxes into his grip and sinks against his chest, breathing easier than she's ever remembered breathing at all.

"I have a few more questions for you," he says against her neck, his words inked onto her skin.

She feels her body reacting in ways that is utterly unfamiliar to her, a warm fire brewing in her core. She shifts, trying to make herself comfortable and failing. He's so warm too, his muscles hard. "Okay," she finds herself saying breathlessly.

"You smell really good, baby," he hums, his voice dropping even lower, his grip around her waist tighter.

She thinks this isn't how an interview is supposed to go. In fact, she's pretty sure interviews shouldn't be this intimate, but what does she know? She doesn't even know what she's applying for. Maybe her new job is as his personal cuddle buddy.

"Will you be comfortable moving in for the job?" he asks suddenly and his tone is back to that normal deep growl and if it weren't for his arms around her and the fact that she's sitting on his lap, she would be convinced they're being perfectly professional too.

Her breath stutters. Is he offering? "Yes," she says, "I mean, yes, of course I'm comfortable- um- moving in."

He nods, his nose still pressed up to her neck, just breathing, inhaling in deep and then curling his claw-like fingers around her waist. "Good, good," he rumbles. "Do you touch yourself?" he asks. The sudden change of tone in his questions makes heat fill her body.

If her cheeks get any redder, she worries it's going to catch on fire. She shakes her head.

"Any previous s****l experience?" he asks.

"Wha- um- No," she says, shaking her head again.

"Surely just a little bit," he says. "It's okay if you have," he says. "Most people your age have experimented somewhat. Tell me, Ari."

She doesn't know if it's the way he says her name or the authoritative tone in his voice, but she finds herself saying, "I um- there's not much privacy at the orphanage to um- do anything? I really haven't," she says. "And there's no time. I go to classes and then work and then I come back and help with the chores and I'm always tired after. I never really-" she chews on her lower lip, feeling rather silly and so horrible inexperienced in everything.

He chuckles. "I suppose not," he says. "Have you ever practiced kissing before, baby?" he says.

And there's that word again, 'baby', like they know each other and he's friendly with her. She doesn't know him at all and when she first stepped in here, he was all serious and scary and she had second doubts about stepping into the room at all, afraid that he was going to open his jaws and turn into a monster and then swallow her whole. Or something. But then the question clicks and her cheeks are definitely on fire now. She shakes her head. She had a crush on one of her classmates growing up, a werewolf jock that half the girls in her class is in love with and sometimes, she wonders how it would feel like to be one of his many arm candies, clinging onto him with the vague hope of being chosen as his girlfriend of the month.

"Are you afraid of pain?" he asks.

She gulps. What's that got to do with anything? Were they going to harvest her organs? Could they do the humane thing and knock her out for that? She shakes her head. "I- um, yes?" she says her voice breathless and soft.

"I'm afraid the work will require you to have some level of pain tolerance," he says. "Only a little," he says. "It'll feel good after," he hums.

She is torn between feeling terrified and aroused by what he's saying. "Um... as long as it's not- it's not excessive?" she murmurs, growing more and more worried by the second. What kind of job is this supposed to be anyways?

"Do you have any medical ailments or preexisting conditions?" Now he's back to sounding like he's reading from a script of things that he's supposed to ask, but it's clear he doesn't really care about the answer by the way he's still nuzzling at her neck, pressing his nose in and inhaling in deep. She thinks she can feel him breathing in from his mouth too, but that can't be right. Maybe she's just imagining things.

She frowns. "Not that I know of?" she answers carefully. There's a doctor in the orphanage, but she's only gotten sick a few times in the past and she's never liked going there.

"Have you been pregnant before and are you pregnant now?" She thought her admitting she's never kissed of had s*x before would make that clear, but she supposes he has to be careful.

"Never and no," she says with absolute certainty, and then blushes brightly at the way he nuzzles his cheek against her skin. She can feel his warm arms winding around her torso, pulling her closer. "I've- I've never even had s*x before," she reminds him gently. She's getting the feeling like he's only asking those questions as an excuse to keep her right where she is for a while longer.

She should be opposed to it, but it feels really nice. "Would you be opposed to it?" he asks.

"Opposed to what?" she startles, all the warm feelings in her belly gone now.

"It's important you answer the question, baby," he says.

"Um. You mean, I'll have to have s*x if I want to stay?" she asks.

He pulls back and tips her head up until they're looking at each other. His eyes seem to be searching for something on her face and she has to struggle to keep herself from lurching away. He's so frightening up close too, his eyes more wolf than man, his teeth too sharp to be completely human. A part of her hopes that he would say no, that she was being ridiculous for asking at all and of course she didn't need to have s*x with him for her to stay, but his lips part and he asks, "Would that be such a terrible thing?" he asks.

"W-what?" she stutters, embarrassed, her heart beating a hundred times a minute. It's not, really. A crazy part of her thinks she wouldn't mind it if it was him taking her virginity, but the practical part of her mind is telling her to run while she still has the chance. It's obvious that he wants her- wants all of her, and she's not sure if she should give herself to him so willingly. What if he f***s her and then throws her out into the streets? What would happen to her then?

Her panic must have shown in her face, because his expression softens.

"It's not as frightening as you seem to think it is," he reassures her, his large hand reaching up to cradle her cheek. "I won't hurt you," he says. "I take good care of what's mine," he says and she hears the bird chirping from it's cage, like it understands what they're saying and is agreeing with him.

She chews on her bottom lip, searching his face for a sign that he's lying to her and finding none. She doesn't know him well enough to be able to tell if he's lying, at any rate.

"Would you let me take your clothes off for you?"

Her bottom lip is hurting from how hard she's biting it, but the alternative is talking and she's very sure she can't form any words right now. He keeps doing this, asking something perfectly reasonable and professional, and then doing a one-eighty and asking her for something ridiculous like stripping down.

She wants to shake her head, tell him that he's being too inappropriate and should stop. Nothing about this is appropriate, really.

She's not so innocent that she doesn't know what she's feeling is arousal, but she also thinks that it's wrong to feel this way with someone she doesn't know at all, someone whose intention isn't even all that clear. She thought she was applying for a job. Now, it looks more like she's applying to be a p********e. Or his p********e?

The place feels too fancy to be a s*x house. The front garden had a giant water fountain the shape of a dragon. Maybe it's a really, really fancy s*x house.

It's that final thought that makes her struggle to get out of his grip and she's a little bit disappointed that he releases his grip on her easily, letting her slide back into her own seat and wrap her arms around herself. She kind of misses his warmth around her already.

"You- You're being very inappropriate," she says and is afraid a second later for saying anything at all, worried that he would find insult in it and be upset, but he merely bares his teeth at her in a mockery of a smile.

He looks- he looks hungry.

And she's the only thing on the menu.