“One of the differences,” he said, gaze dipping meaningfully, “is that you have a?—”
She narrowed her eyes. “Finish that sentence carefully.”
“A butt,” he finished innocently.
She splashed him lightly. “You are impossible.”
His grin widened, unrepentant. “I’ve been wondering,” he continued, voice lowering, “what that feels like.”
Her breath hitched despite herself. “How it feels?” she shot back quickly, cutting him off before he could say anything worse.
His expression said he had absolutely meant something worse.
Instead of arguing, she took his wrists and guided his hands around her waist and lower, under her panties, pressing them firmly where she knew he’d been curious.
“There,” she said, chin lifted. “Research.”
He blinked once, then his fingers flexed. Slowly. Experimentally. And the pleased sound he made seemed entirely involuntary.
“Oh,” he said under his breath, thumbs tracing the curve of her ass before settling more firmly. “That is…distracting.”
She smirked, even as warmth flared through her at the way his grip tightened just slightly.
“See?” she teased. “Not so scary.”
His tail shifted beneath the surface, drawing her closer again until her body brushed his fully this time, no careful space left between them.
“Scary?” he murmured, hands still very much occupied. “No.”
His forehead dipped toward hers, smile turning something darker, something heated.
“Tempting,” he corrected. He smiled against her skin, slow and knowing.
“I think,” he murmured, voice dropping to something softer, more intimate, “there are some things that are the same.”
Before she could ask what he meant, his lips brushed just below her ear. The contact sent a sharp, unexpected shiver down her spine. She inhaled, the sound escaping her before she could stop it.
He stilled for half a second, then gave a quiet, satisfied hum. “Yes,” he said, voice thick with amusement. “That’s the same.”
“Oh, you are full of it,” she breathed, but she didn’t move away.
Instead, his hands slid more firmly to her hips, and with slow, deliberate pressure, he turned her in the water until her back met his chest. The shift was fluid, effortless, his tail adjusting beneath the surface to keep them balanced.
His mouth found the pulse at her neck. A soft kiss. Then another.
“Same?” she managed, though her voice had lost some of its teasing edge.
“Yes,” he answered simply against her skin.
His fingers tightened slightly at her hips as he drew her back against him, the solid warmth of him pressed to her spine, undeniable now.
“This,” he added quietly, brushing another kiss along the curve of her neck, “is very nice.”
The water lapped gently around them as his mouth traced a slow path downward, unhurried, attentive.
Liora let her head tip back against his shoulder, breath unsteady.
Maybe there were differences, but in this moment, with his hands steady at her hips and his mouth exploring her skin, some things were definitely the same.
