by Ophelia Bell
“And if she doesn’t?”
“It’ll come in waves every few hours until your fertile period passes. Some say a week, others a month.”
She let her head fall back against his shoulder, barely comprehending what he said over the steady push of his fingers into her. “Good,” she murmured, not even sure whether she meant it in response to his statement or simply how he was making her feel.
A warm, deep chuckle filled her ear. “You haven’t felt good yet, kitten. Wait until we’re really getting into it. I’m going to make you come now to ease the pain, but we’re only getting started.”
He plunged a third digit into her opening, pushing deep and causing her to writhe and buck her hips up into his hand. He cupped her jaw with his free hand and turned her head, twisting behind her enough to dip his head over her shoulder and capture her mouth with his. Their lips and tongues merged, and he shifted the hand between her thighs until his thumb found her swollen, aching clit and began to rub it in rhythmic strokes.
She let out a harsh cry into his mouth, nearly yelling a warning when the pleasure grew too great. Then she remembered this was what had to happen.
Within a split-second of that worry, she was gone, her body abandoning her to the pleasure of his touch, every cell exploding in light and sensation as the first glorious orgasm took her.
The entire time, he murmured into her ear. “That’s right, kitten. Give yourself to me. Give it all to me.”
The wash of sensation left her feeling made entirely of light, and it took several moments for her sense of self to return. As the blast of pleasure subsided, she felt less overwhelmed by the aching need, but it was still there, lingering in the background like some half-quenched flame that would soon flare again.
She let out a soft sigh, relaxing against him and twisting slightly to look up into his face. He’d resumed the Aodh mask again, which seemed odd after the conversation they’d had, but she didn’t question it. She was far too grateful for the relief he’d given her.
As the momentousness of the event dawned on her, a smile tugged at her mouth, blooming into a full-fledged grin.
“It happened,” she said, smiling at him.
He laughed and lifted an eyebrow. “It is happening, kitten. We’ve barely even begun.”
His hands rested on her thighs and he lifted one, pointing a finger at the shower head and making a small gesture accompanied by a foreign word whispered in her ear. The water gradually warmed, the heat a welcome change now that her body temperature had regulated a bit. She became acutely aware of the thick, rigid length pressed against her back in between them and her pulse picked up again.
“What next?” she asked, hoping she already knew the answer.
“Enjoy the respite while you can. The next wave will hit, and then … well, this is when one of the pair of ursa males assigned to service you might offer to stretch that lovely little snatch of yours with his fist.”
She tensed and twisted around fully to stare at him in shock.
“No! There is no fucking way you’re doing … that!”
“Don’t worry, I don’t need to. I can’t impregnate you … at least not yet … so you, my lovely kitten, get my cock. I should warn you that at full size it isn’t much different from a man’s fist, but when you’re in the throes of your estrous, that’s what you’ll need.”
Her core spasmed hard at that comment, and not in an unwillingly tense way … more like a hungry “yes, please” way. She shook her head and looked at his cock, the one she’d enjoyed sucking so much just a little while ago. Then she remembered the other night when he’d shown her his true form and the massive tree trunk of an erection he’d sported.
Her pussy quivered with fresh need at that thought and she nibbled on her lower lip. Neph brought his hand up and cupped her wet cheek, tilting her head to redirect her gaze to meet his.
“It’s all right if you like that idea. It’s also all right if you’re a little scared. We don’t have to go there until you’re ready, but we should try to move things along now that your body’s primed for it.”
Her abdomen heated and a twinge of pain spiked low in her belly, shooting between her thighs. She winced and nodded swiftly. “I’m ready. I guess you know what to do?”
He smiled and began to stand, gripping her hands and raising her up with him. “If anyone knows what to do, it’s me, kitten.”
He swooped in and kissed her then, catching her off-guard so she was forced to wrap her arms around his neck. He caught her in his embrace, his hands cupping her bottom and pulling her into his wet body. He lifted her easily, shoulders bunching under her grip as he turned them both and pressed her against the wet tiled wall of the shower.
All the while he kissed her, devouring her mouth and leaving her breathless with resurging need. The ache between her thighs grew more urgent with every slick caress of his hand down her side, over her breasts, every soft nip of his teeth at her lips. His stiff length pressed at her core and he shifted, seeming to sense how close to the edge of another wave of acute need she was getting.
He cupped his hands under her ass again and pulled her thighs wide, hitching them up over his hips.
“Are you ready, love?” he asked in a gruff, deep tone that disoriented her with the change from his true voice. He tilted his hips back, his cock sliding down her soaked folds until his tip grazed her entrance.
But this wasn’t right, and it took her a second to figure out why. Her eyes shot to his pale orbs and water-soaked white hair and she pushed at his shoulders.
“No, not like this,” she said. “Not like him.”
His white brows twitched and he frowned. “But I thought you wanted him as your first. I know that’s what he would want for you.”
“Maybe, but it isn’t what I want. I mean, I want him to make love to me, but you aren’t him, even when you’re pretending to be. I know it’s you. Please, don’t be him. The first time I make love to him, I want to know it’s him.”
Neph stared at her for a beat, then nodded. His features slowly dissolved back into his familiar dark hair and golden skin, his cheeks roughened with stubble and his eyes swirled with some unfathomable emotion, but he refused to meet her gaze for a moment as he completed the shift.
“Ready, kitten?” he asked, his tone more businesslike than before … more than she liked. But this really was about getting to Aodh, wasn’t it?
Then the pain sliced through her again, more agonizing than before, and she stiffened in his arms, crying out and grimacing as her head flew back against the wall. She dug her nails into his shoulders and nodded, unable to find breath to voice her need.
Without another invitation, he slammed deep, his thick length spearing into her.
She let out a sharp cry at the surprising pleasure of that first thrust, then moaned as the pain departed completely for the first time, replaced only by the delicious rub of his cock inside her, right in the spot where she needed him most. He pulled out and slammed into her again with fierce precision. For some strange reason, she got the sense that he was punishing her for something. Like she’d just hurt him, and his relentless pounding was meant as retaliation for that hurt. But after the first few strokes, nothing else mattered but the perfect, stretching penetration of his cock as it slid deep into her with repeated pounding thrusts. She came hard, her body shuddering as she clutched at him, but he didn’t let up.
“It’s time for us to go, kitten,” he growled. “Hold on tight.”
Beneath her hands his shoulders thickened, his neck widened, and the muscles of his already sculpted chest swelled, nearly doubling in size. She stared up at his face in awe and amazement as his features also grew, and though they were larger, they didn’t change. The only difference was the glorious pair of horns that arced back from his brow, nearly brushing the ceiling above him.
And the sensation between he
r thighs changed, too. The sense of fullness grew, and he kept pushing into her, each stroke filling her and stretching her wider until she let out a sharp gasp when the pleasure peaked and yet another orgasm loomed at the edge of her senses.
“Hold the magic, kitten. Just a little longer. Come when I say.”
“I—I can’t,” she whimpered, her eyelids fluttering closed at the exquisite pleasure that shot through her with every press of that unbearably thick shaft into her stretched opening.
“You can. Hold tight to me. Look at me.”
She opened her eyes, staring up into the fathomless deep whirlpools of Neph’s eyes. Some strange hurt spun in that cyclone, which she didn’t understand. His expression was completely at odds with the way he made her feel, even without the pleasure he’d given her the past couple days. It made no sense for him to look that way, not when they were bound together like this.
Not with the sudden, sharp understanding that she loved him.
A shudder of ecstasy washed through her, and he let out a low groan that mirrored the one she released. Their eyes stayed locked together and she surged up, grasping the back of his neck and crashing her lips against his. The movement shifted her almost all the way off his cock, but she didn’t want that just now. She wanted to look into his eyes and kiss him and tell him what he meant to her, but her body’s needs protested, her womb spasming with the need for penetration again.
This wasn’t good enough. She let out a frustrated cry and pushed at his shoulders. He stumbled backward, one big leg shifting to rebalance, but his huge, hoofed foot caught on the edge of the tub. Just as she slammed back down on his cock again, the ecstasy too overpowering to stop, the world tilted and they crashed to the floor, the shower curtain ripped, and the metal bar it was attached to came free from the wall in a wrenching twist and crack of metal against wood. Before she knew it they were falling, Neph clutching her as she let out a yelp.
He hit the floor with a crash and a grunt. The impact forced her back down onto his cock, hard. His heavy horns flew back, digging into the wood of the floor behind his head and he let out a harsh groan as his cock was forced deep into her again. Vrishti’s mouth fell open in silent rapture at how perfectly he filled her now, and she began to move again, slowly at first, then more frantically when she found the sweet spot about halfway up his dick. She braced her palms on his massive chest and pivoted her hips over that immense thickness that penetrated her, working herself on the ridged head until the pleasure swelled in her belly nearly to bursting.
His eyes flew open and he stared at her with the full power of his gaze.
“Come for me, kitten. Come all over my cock. Give me all that sweet fucking power that’s filling you now. Give it all to me.”
She gripped his head, tangling her hands in his hair, then wrapping her fists around his horns as she pumped herself on him. The pleasure crashed into her suddenly and she tightened her thighs around him while his big hands guided her hips up and down on his cock. The first wave hit like a lightning bolt and she cried out, slamming down hard onto him as liquid pleasure flooded between her legs.
“That’s right, kitten. Give it to me.”
She surged up, kissing him again. She wasn’t done yet. The climax had her in its grip and she clung to his horns with both hands, using them for leverage as she pumped herself on that glorious, massive shaft, riding out wave after wave of pleasure.
Just when she thought it might finally end, Neph’s face contorted, his fingers dug into her hips, and he thrust up into her hard. The friction sent her to another peak and she arched her back, crying out as she rode his bucking hips, no longer caring that there was a world that existed outside the joining of their two bodies.
She collapsed on top of him, panting and struggling to catch her breath. Neph slid his big arms up her back, wrapping them around her and holding her. She had the vague sense of his body shrinking beneath her, his cock stretching her less and less, but still leaving her with a comfortable fullness.
His lips brushed the top of her head and she hummed in contentment. Suddenly his torso tensed beneath her.
“Fucking hell,” he muttered.
Vrishti didn’t have the strength to move. “What is it?” she asked.
“We screwed up the temporal drift.”
Her brows twitched in confusion. “What do you mean? We didn’t go anywhere yet.”
“Yeah, we did. Just not where I mean to take us.”
She lifted her head to look at him, but movement caught her eye from the direction of the bathroom doorway. A wide-eyed little girl stood there with black hair cut into a cute bob. Her shock turned to consternation as she crossed her arms over her chest.
The little girl took a deep breath and in a surprisingly strong voice yelled, “Papa! There’s naked people in our bathroom!”
Heavy footsteps thumped down the hall, and a pajama-clad man took one look at them and immediately slapped a big hand over the little girl’s eyes.
“Emma, shut your eyes.” He reached in and grabbed the bathroom doorknob, yanking it shut with a solid bang.
Chapter Nineteen
Vrishti
“How far did we go?” Vrishti asked, glancing around the small room from her perch on the counter, marveling at the similarities along with the differences. The room looked new, the wood still clean and unblemished from years of use. The polished wood floor shone brighter, the fixtures gleamed; there was no corrosion apparent anywhere. The linens were different—the floor covered with a brightly woven rag rug and several plaid flannel robes had hung from the back of the door, two of which she and Neph now wore. A collection of bath toys cluttered the edge of the tub along with a bottle of baby shampoo.
“Not far enough. About two decades, and we didn’t change locations. It’s a good thing this cabin’s been here all along.”
“Emma … The man called her Emma, and that … Holy shit!” She’d only caught the briefest glance of the man before he’d hastily shut the door to protect the little girl’s sensibilities. But now she was sure. He’d certainly looked a lot younger, with fewer lines around his eyes and no gray hair to speak of in his thick beard. “That was Eamon Stonetree!”
“The ursa queen’s father?” Neph asked, his eyes widening. “I didn’t get a look at him, but it would make sense. He and his brother built this house.”
“Should we go out there?” she asked, staring at the closed door.
“Probably ought to at least explain our presence here.”
“Including why we were naked on the floor in their bathroom?”
A soft knock sounded at the door and a deep voice said, “If you two are decent, I’d like to open the door now.”
Neph reached out and twisted the knob, pulling the door open a crack. The opening widened and the same bearded face peeked in, eyeing them both for a second before pushing the door open all the way.
Behind him stood another man, equal in stature with slightly lighter colored hair and a clean-shaved face. They both stared grimly into the room.
“The kids are back in bed. You two care to explain why you were fucking on the floor of our bathroom? Where the hell did you come from?”
“It’s kind of a long story …” Neph began.
“We time traveled!” Vrishti said perkily. Neph shot a withering glare at her. “What? It’s the truth.”
The two men shifted shocked expressions between Neph and Vrishti. Then Eamon shook his head and stepped back, opening the way for them. “Come on out. I guess I’ll put on some coffee because I have a feeling this is going to take a good, long while to understand.”
* * *
“Are you sure you should tell us this?” Eamon asked after Neph and Vrishti finished explaining everything they knew about the future his daughter was destined for.
“Her fate is already set,” Neph said. “Knowing the path you a
ll have before you won’t change the course of events. Emma will rule the Sanctuary during the most trying period in its history. You’ll be there to guide her. I will leave it up to you how much you share with her.”
The two other men stared at each other. Then Eamon’s brother, Ted, sat forward in his chair pushing his empty coffee mug away from him across the smooth, polished surface of the table. Vrishti abstractly realized that it was the same spot she’d sat just after she’d sucked Neph off just a little while ago.
“We have your word that it’s true? We’ll get to be with them again … the Stonetree sisters?”
“Until the day they die,” Neph said, ignoring Vrishti’s sharp glance. They both knew Emma’s mother would wind up sacrificing herself for the security of the Sanctuary. Vrishti supposed Eamon didn’t need to know that—only that he would be with her before she gave her power up to her daughter.
Ted smiled brightly. “Good. I miss Mona like you wouldn’t fucking believe. Our kids are everything to me. Thank you for this. Is there anything we can do for you?”
“We need a quiet, comfortable place to finish what we started,” Neph said. “The location is immaterial, but it’s probably best if it’s secluded … where adventurous cubs won’t accidentally stumble upon us.”
Ted and Eamon both chuckled and shared an understanding glance. “Let me guess,” Eamon said. “Somehow you’re using fertility magic to time travel?”
“How’d you know?” Vrishti asked, grinning at them.
“We spent a few weeks inside the Sanctuary with the sisters. They showed us some pretty amazing things. I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised.”
“It isn’t commonly used this way,” Neph said. “But the safety of our world depends on us.”
Eamon nodded. “We have a place. An old hunting cabin a few miles from here. Remote, but comfortable. I imagine you won’t need it for long, will you?”
“A few hours … a day, at most,” Neph said, darting a glance at Vrishti that had her insides warming and fresh heat pooling between her thighs.