The Alpha's Selkie Mate

Chapter 6

Beautiful,

Though it came unbidden to her mind, Meriwa couldn’t deny it.

This male truly was beautiful.

Especially with the moon over his shoulder, a halo of stars above his head. Blessed by the sun, but crowned by the night. An exquisite blend of the two, day and night, man and beast.

Then there was the way he held himself above her, crowding her with his hips and thick thighs. The way his arms and chest flexed, abdomen quivering under her fingers when he whipped the stark white fabric over his head. Capped with brown n*****s, his chest begged for her to sink her teeth into him.

He shook his head, spraying them both with seawater, and when he turned his head just right, the slim, grey ring of his iris caught the moonlight and blazed silver. Water beaded on his bronze skin, running down his neck to gather in the hollow of his collarbone.

Breath catching in her throat, Meriwa’s fingers still their lazy exploration of the skin just above his sodden waistband.

In her head, she heard the waves and was dimly aware of them washing against her in a sort of vague, distracted way. Frigid, it would normally be cold enough to remind her of home. But, now? With all that hot skin spread out above her? Impossible.

Time seemed to stand still: the moment hung between them, suspended on starlight and desire. For as long as that breath remained stuck in her chest.

Entranced. She was entranced.

And it didn’t escape him, either. Sweeping the hair away from where it had fallen into his eyes, he met her brazen gaze. Silver snagging on black. He quietened as though he’d been unaware of how she was staring at him.

They blinked at each other.

And then he smiled.

The air came out of her in a burning rush.

Slowly, all coiling muscles and that smile, he leaned forward. Forcing her idle hand to slide up his torso, over his ribs and sternum.

Until it rested atop his heart.

So strong and fast, she thought. It thudded beneath her fingers, demanding to be felt.

With him looking into her eyes like that, leaning towards her with a mouth soft and ready for a kiss…with his very life-force flowing under her palm…

It was too much.

Heat in her cheeks, she looked away.

Relief washed through her when his lips found her throat. Better, she told herself. Much better. Purely physical sensation – she could deal with that. It would keep her in her body, rather than her head. Those lips could have belonged to anyone; it didn’t matter that she needed this male for what she wanted, so long as she got what she wanted.

After all, weren’t they both using each other?

She wanted something new, and he, being male, wanted a quick lay.

It didn’t have to be anything more than that.

It wasn’t anything more than that.

With those thoughts to soothe her, she gave herself over to the pleasant feelings his lips were laving upon her skin. And he seemed determined to map every inch of her neck and shoulders. When he sucked on her pulse, she sighed; when he nipped the soft lobe of her ear, she dug her nails into his shoulders, and when he moved his head to kiss her, she met him eagerly.

Until something ice-cold brushed against her inner thigh and searing, bitter pain followed behind.

Hissing, she dug her heels into the sand and pushed herself away from him.

She didn’t get far.

“Sorry,” he murmured against her jaw, shoving his hand down between them so that his belt buckle no longer threatened her skin. In doing so, the backs of his knuckles brushed against the apex of her thighs.

She gasped again, bucking up into him. As much as it was still surprise, there was no lancing pain this time. Only gushing pleasure.

He froze above her, eyes wide.

How could she go from pain to pleasure so quickly? One touch was all it had taken for her to forget what had come before.

She whimpered and rolled her hips; her existence had narrowed to the point where his fingers hoovered against her flesh, too light to truly be felt. And she wanted to feel them, the rough, male calluses. With a shaky exhale, he tentatively pressed in, splitting open the petals of her s*x.

Meriwa almost choked on her own pleasure.

“Goddess,” he rasped, clearly as affected as she was. “You’re so wet.”

She shook her head, even though he knew it was true. His fingers slid against her too easily for it to be a lie.

“Yes,” he said, ducking his head down to draw the tight peak of her breast into his scalding mouth. Once again, she flailed. The only thing keeping her in place was the weight of him bearing down on top of her.

She sunk her nails into his back to anchor herself.

It was too much. The swirling, tender pressure. Every muscle in her body was working, coiling and tightening of their own accord. No—to the beat of his drum. He was the conductor and she was powerless but to obey and make music for him. Till she felt like she would snap. Her knees were up around his ribs, she was wound so tight.

It was so wonderful, so novel as it hovered on the edge of pain, that water sprung into her eyes. It gathered behind the seam of her pinched lids until they burned and escaped anyway.

She threw her head back in pleasure, and so that he wouldn’t see the tears sliding over her cheeks.

To experience something like this…she had no words.

“I—I need—” she didn’t even know how to finish that thought. She needed him to take the pressure, to increase it.

She was going to burst.

Or go mad with the feelings inside of her.

How could a person hold so much feeling at once?

“Shh,” he said, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. “I know what you need, hjärtanskär.”

She could have called him a liar when he stopped those circling motions, the tension he'd wrought trying to leak out of her.

He struggled against her nails, laughing under his breath. She was too far gone to care about how smug he was, she didn’t want him going anywhere. Taking one wrist and pulling her claws out of his shoulder, he pressed a kiss to her pulse point before laying it gently on her stomach. He did this with both of her limbs, dark eyes never leaving hers.

And then he reached for his belt, and his eyes lowered.

Her heart began to hammer.

This is it.

The point of no return.

Briefly, she chewed her lip.

He slid the zipper of his jeans down, eyes flicking up to meet hers from under the thicket of his lashes.

But he made no move to lower the fabric and expose himself.

It wasn’t a dare this time, but a question. She knew what he was asking with that penetrating look.

He was giving her one last out.

Like she would ever take it; she’d already made up her mind. She would have this.

Meriwa reached out and shoved at his jeans. Her knuckles brushed his hardened flesh and he quaked, exhaling heavily through his nose. Then he sprang into action; now that he had her permission, he couldn’t get out of the last of his clothes fast enough. Which was tricky, given how wet and packed with sand they were.

When he was finally free and pressed back against her, skin to skin – minus the dress that he’d pushed up to meet her thighs to bunch with the rest of the fabric around her waist, she purred with satisfaction.

He reached down between their bodies and she followed him, wrapping her hand around his where he gripped his heated flesh to guide it against her. He was so broad and hot, like a velvet battering ram.

When he crested against her like a wave, she cried out. There was no pain, like the females whispered about, only all-encompassing pleasure. It was overwhelming. He was overwhelming.

His scent was in her nose, his taste in her mouth, and he was moving inside her, filling her up with everything. He was everywhere, all at once.

When his fingers joined his gentle assault, she whimpered like a babe.

Too much.

Yet not enough.

She sunk her teeth into the thick muscle that connected his neck to his shoulder, and his blood coated her tongue. But it was his throaty ‘f**k!’ at her marking him, that pushed her over the edge and scattered her into seafoam.

It was the sweetest oblivion.

With a grunt, he followed her.

It was impossible not to cling to him, and he to her, as pleasure wracked them. It flowed over them again and again, slowing and cooling. Until all they had was each other and the sweat chilling between them.

Violently shaking, his elbows buckled and he collapsed on top of her.

The change of position made her very aware of the wet feeling between her thighs.

With his seed leaking out of her and his weight pressing her down into the sand, she panicked.

Her head filled with the buzzing crash of southern waves, her heart beating hard and heavy. Even her eyes went funny, hot and a little out of focus. The smell of him, of them, their combined essences was hot in her nose.

What have I done?

Meriwa had to get him off.

Now.

Sneaking her hand around his bicep, she pushed with all of her might. And rolled them, until she was on top of him, still joined as he fully softened within her. His eyes were still dark, but softer now than they had been before. Sleep was coming quickly for him, and when he yawned, she saw his flat, white teeth.

Gorgeous. Disheveled. Debauched.

Ruined.

Just like me.

Oh Goddess, what have I done? Why—why— oh no.

They would kill her for this.

Bile rose to coat her throat, bitter and burning. Nothing like the burn that had consumed her when this male looked at it. She felt sick.

She had failed Panuk again.

The panic must have shown on her face because his dopey smile faded and he pushed himself up onto his elbows, reaching out to cup her face. “Are you oka—”

She cringed back.

No!

Before he could finish his question, all the pent-up panic left her in a wave of power that kicked up the sand around them. Like a sonic boom, even the trees trembled, her vision going blinding white for just a second.

And then it was over.

She watched as his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed onto the sand, dark lashes against his bronzed cheek.