Page 70 of Bound By the Sleeper’s Harp

His mouth lavished me, tongue licking in broad sweeps. An animalistic growl vibrated against my flesh, eager and possessive in nature. Occasionally it was fractured by words as he said naughty things, sometimes muttered to himself, and sometimes directly to me. A dart of his tongue slipping inside me, rubbing his metal piercing around my entrance, had me tightening. A pause and then—“You taste sweet enough to eat, sugar.” My head jerked up to better see him. My muscles twitched, heat searing through my core. The points of his teeth connected with my clit, gently pulling. I cried out, letting my head fall back. Above me, the stars glittered, uninterrupted, blurring together as the pleasure inside me rose.

Bastian worked me until my thighs quivered. I glanced down when he lifted his hand, biting off the sharp tips of two nails. Then his fingers were slipping inside, plunging in and out to the speed of his tongue. “Such a perfect pussy,” he purred against me, “I want you milking these fingers.”

I squeezed around him.

“Good girl,” he said, rewarding me with a long suck against my clit. My breathing turned to gasps, chest arching, fingers clawing at the cement with nothing to hold on to.

The intensity of his movements paused, the world frozen for just an instant. Then his pointed teeth nipped my clit again and I shattered over the edge. A strangled cry fell from my lips, my back arching up off the cement. His hand wrapped around my lower back, pulling me upright while his mouth continued to feast before slowing to a gentler pace.

I whined, my heart pounding, trying to catch my breath. My fingers wrapped around his head, pressing him more firmly to me, even though I’d just come. I didn’t want it to stop.

But it did, his movements eventually ceased, fingers slipping out of me. He looked up, a smug expression curving his lips. The sight of them, moistened and swollen, had me tightening all over again. I glanced below the water’s surface where I could just make out the gray head of his cock. My breath hitched.

A low, laughing grumble brought my eyes back to his. “Not tonight, sugar.”

“What do you mean, not tonight?” I pouted. “You aren’t going to let me return the favor?”

“It wasn’t a favor. I just took what I wanted.”

I gave a dismissive snort. “I seem to recall agreeing.”

“Even still.”

“That’s not fair, and you know it.”

His jaw tightened. “When I fuck you, Eleanor, it’s going to be harsh and unrestrained.”

“That’s a bullshit excuse, Bastian. You think I don’t want that?”

“You’ve been hurt before. I don’t want to hurt you⁠—”

“You won’t!” There was something else. Something he wasn’t telling me.

“I said not tonight, Eleanor. Do not push me on this—please.” The last word. The openness in his expression, the pleading I saw there, made my chest sink.

“All… All right. But you will, right? At some point in the future? Or was this it?” I hated how disappointed my voice sounded.

Bastian ran a hand over the shaved side of his head. “I’m not ready, Eleanor.”

That wasn’t an answer. I clenched my teeth, trying to ignore the unsettling flop of my stomach at being rejected. A piercing needle of anger hit me. “I thought you were all about casual sex, one-night stands and all that.” The words were out before I could stop them.

Bastian flinched, the movement subtle, but I caught it. His mouth pressed into a line, eyes tightening. “There is absolutely nothing casual about us. If I take this further, a single step further, there will be no going back.” I opened and closed my mouth. Damn it. He was right. He didn’t do relationships, and I was too scared to allow myself to fall into another one. I knew even now, after only a few days with him, that if I gave myself to him entirely, it would break my heart to end things. And yet, if I stayed with him, my heart could break just as easily.

“You see now?” he prompted.

I swallowed. “I don’t accept this⁠—”

“You don’t have a choice. I said I wasn’t ready, and you need to respect that.”

My stomach dropped. I wasn’t trying to force him, was I? That wasn’t what this was about. I just didn’t understand…

“Is this because of the human thing? Does your mistrust of humans, your dislike for them, have something to do with this?”

He shook his head. “No, it’s simply that I feel too much for you. If I have you, I will own you. If I own you, you will be mine. I warned you, did I not? I will not relinquish that which is mine.”

“I’m not property, Bastian. I’m not a possession⁠—”

“Which is exactly why we cannot go any further. I don’t do relationships for a reason. I’m a possessive bastard. I know what I am, Eleanor.”