He unfastened two other buttons, revealing the top of my breasts.
“More buttons,” I whispered.
He obliged, but I didn’t miss the worried expression on his face. I wanted him to stop thinking about my parents, mostly because if he thought of them, I’d think of them too, and it was a major distraction from my seductive plan.
When he unfastened the last button, I wriggled out of the shirt without thinking too much. Before he could say anything, I removed my chemise as well. I was standing half-naked in front of him. Better to remove my skirts as well. It looked too odd to stay with my breasts bare and my legs clothed.
Right when I was wrestling myself out of my petticoats, the ship decided it was a good moment to jolt. I lost my balance and staggered to the left. Rennie’s arms curled around me before I could hit the floor. His chest rose, and his nostrils flared. I waited for him to either finish what we—well, I’d started, or to blather some nonsense about the contract.
He ripped my skirts with a big yank, then he dropped me to the bed and kissed me hard and deeply. He paused only to brush my hair from my face. “There is no going back after this.”
I nodded, although I wasn’t completely sure what he meant. But he sucked at my nipple while tweaking the other, and any rational thought left my mind. His hand ran up and down my body as he kissed his way to my navel and thighs.
Heaven. I liked that so much. The first lash of his tongue shot so much pleasure to my brain I was worried it might burst. He held my legs wide apart with his rough hands while he plunged his tongue between my folds and deep inside me. His fingers joined the game, sliding in and out of me and rubbing my little nub. It was an assault of fingers, tongue, lips, and teeth. Now and then, his fingers rubbed my nipples, making me moan and jolt with pleasure.
I came with a start, his name leaving my lips with a scream. He didn’t stop but kept licking and kissing me. Soon, I was squirming again, but he paused just long enough to remove his trousers and shirt. I had barely time to admire his sculpted body and the sharp ridges of his defined abdominal muscles before his shaft brushed against my entrance.
Breathing hard, he remained still, his muscles taut with tension. “Are you sure?”
“Do it. I want it. I want you.”
He slid an inch inside me.
My inner muscles, still dizzy after the release, stretched almost painfully. Propped on his elbows, Rennie inched onwards, making me feel exactly how big he was. I bunched the bed sheets under my fists and rolled my hips, meeting his length. The more he thrust, the more my flesh burned, but the pain was manageable, and the sensation of him stretching me started a flutter of butterflies in my belly.
When he was fully inside me, he waited before starting to move in and out. Each time he entered me a bit harder, went a bit deeper. The tip of his shaft hit just the right spot inside me to make me squirm. Rennie kissed me, biting my bottom lip and then sucking it into his velvety mouth. His pace became faster, and his kisses more hungry. Quick breaths came out of his mouth as he thrust in and out of me. The pain vanished, replaced only by the head-spinning pleasure of him stretching me. Energy built up again. Another release detonated through my body. I bent my knees while he kept his punishing rhythm. Breathing hard, he pulled out of me to spill onto the bed. I lay exhausted, my body a bundle of emotions, sore and sated, filled with love.
“Oh, Rennie.”
He took a cloth and wiped me, the bed, and himself. Desire darkened his gaze. “We haven’t finished yet.”
His mouth closed around my extremely sensitive nipple and sucked at it while his fingers stroked my even more sensitive folds and nub. He massaged me gently, sliding a finger inside now and then. I didn’t think my body would respond to his ministrations after the last release, but soon wetness pooled between my thighs again. As if sensing it, he pinched my nipple hard before dipping his face between my legs. He wasn’t gentle. He ate me with a ferocious hunger that shot thrills up my back. Then he started it all over again, tonguing my nipples and thrusting his fingers deep inside me.
When he flipped me onto my belly, I wondered what he wanted to do. But he kissed my nub again before slamming inside me from behind. In that position, his shaft reached a far deeper spot within my tender flesh. He didn’t stop pumping in and out of me until he extracted two more releases from my overly responsive body.
My word, I had no idea it was possible.
He curled around me, protecting me with his strong arms and lulling me into sleep.
I woke up the next morning wonderfully sore and with Rennie’s arms around me. I lost count of how many times he’d taken me during the night. His shaft must be supernatural because every single time he entered me, my body ignited in a burst of pleasure.
WE SPENT THE next two days in bed, making love, sleeping, and watching the baby lamiae grow.
My parents were waiting for us in Ibiza, and with each mile we sailed closer to the island, a weight pressed against my chest. Rennie wanted to talk to them, tell them everything, including that he wanted to court me. I had at least ten better ideas that involved eloping and riding off together in the sunset on a docile horse, of course. Rennie didn’t show the enthusiasm I would have liked to see. I barely paid attention to Ibiza’s turquoise sea, white rocks, and palm trees as Rennie and I walked hand in hand towards the hotel where my parents had a room.
Mother hugged me. Father shook hands with Rennie. It took us a while to tell them about Oliver and the lamia. My parents’ pride for me brought tears to my eyes. Then Father and I went to the telegraph office to send a wire to London’s Royal Occult Bureau while Rennie and my mother locked themselves in a room. She was the one he had to convince.
The fresh scent of the sea lifted my mood as Father and I strolled along the narrow, cobbled streets of Ibiza Town. The white walls of the houses reflected the bright sunlight. Pots of red geraniums and roses overflowed the balconies and window sills. If it weren’t for the weight pressing against my chest, it’d be a beautiful view.
“I imagine Rennie doesn’t want to talk to your mother about the lamia, am I right?” Father said.
“Yes, you are.” My cheeks flamed.
He patted my hand. “Do you care about him?” The sweet tone in his voice caused my heart to flutter.
“Yes, and he cares about me.”
“I like him. I think he’s a brave man with a good heart, but your mother won’t be happy about having him as her son-in-law.”
