Page 91 of Bound By the Sleeper’s Harp

“You on the pill?” he asked, his breath tickling my ear.

“Mmm,” I managed.

“Answer me.”

“Yes. And I’ve been checked.”

“Wouldn’t matter—I’m a supernatural. Don’t get sick.”

Oh, right. Well, that was convenient.

“But I can get a condom⁠—”

“No,” I cried. I wanted to feel him. All of him.

“Thank fuck.” The head of him pushed at my entrance. I gasped as he filled me slowly, in and then out. It was a gentleness I hadn’t expected. Halfway there, that changed. He pulled out and then slammed into me with one final sweep, burying himself to the hilt. My eyes widened and I gasped at the intrusive feel of his piercing. From this position, it wasn't hitting my clit like I'd expected, but pressing against somewhere else entirely.

“Oh, God,” I groaned.

A feral growl sounded against my ear, sending shivers racing down my spine, straight to my core. My walls fluttered around him, stretched tight. He was bigger than I was used to, big enough to create a sense of invasion. I took a deep breath, attempting to steady myself. With each passing moment, the uncomfortable stretch turned to liquid heat.

A dull ache began to build. I tightened around him, wanting more. Wanting him to move.

“Fuck,” he groaned. “You take me well—so well. So tight. Damn it, Elle. I need to move, baby girl. I need… Are you okay? No pain?”

“What? I… No. It’s…” I tried to catch my breath. “You feel good.” It was an understatement.

“Mmm.” He moved slowly at first, pulling out to the tip. It felt like he took all of me with him as he did that. There was a slight hesitation, then he snapped his hips forward, surging back in. My stomach fluttered, sparking with sensation. I cried out, the sound of it mixing with Bastian’s hiss. His fingers around my wrists tightened. Again, he retreated then advanced, pistoning his hips until I was bucking wildly beneath him. The ache between my legs turned to molten lava. The piercing at the base of his shaft created a whole set of sensations I was embarrassed to consider, because I loved the feel of it so much.

A set of teeth found the base of my neck and clamped down.

My head lowered and a whimpering cry fell from my mouth. A numbing tingle spread over my body, trickling to my extremities, curling my toes. I could do nothing but fall into my pleasure, like being swept away in the current, as my body reached its peak, clenching and unclenching around him.

Our movements were erotic, indecent. The sound of our mingled breaths. The wet slap of his skin against mine.

He swelled inside me, growing even larger. My impending orgasm rose higher in response to the tightness of him. He made sounds I’d never heard from him, swallowed up by my skin where his teeth remained latched, pinning me in place, moving with me. Claiming me⁠—

I erupted. My entire body went rigid, then exploded with the pulse between my legs, slamming into me and radiating outward. Bastian’s mouth released me and he roared, burying himself a final time before grinding against me.

I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t hold myself up any longer, couldn’t move. My arms collapsed, right as Bastian released my wrists and braced me in place, then gently lowered me to the bed, his body lined along mine, still buried deep. I pressed my face into the comforter, practically moaning with each breath I exhaled.

A long silence stretched between us and then⁠—

“Elle? Baby? Was I too rough?” His voice held a measure of hesitance, uncertainty I hadn’t expected. “I should have been gentler.”

“No,” I whispered, trying to find my voice. “No. I wanted that. Just like that.”

We lay panting as minutes slipped by. Our orgasm haze began to clear, replaced by something softer, more intimate. This was the part I'd never experienced before. The quiet aftermath, the gentle touching, the way he looked at me like I was precious.

At long last, he pulled himself free of my body. I could feel the evidence of what we'd done, warm and intimate between my thighs. He nestled me against him, turning me so that we lay with our foreheads pressed together. His hand splayed over my backside, thumb stroking.

“Your eyes are so pretty,” I murmured. “Like onyx. I never realized goblins didn’t have irises or anything.”

He hummed in response. “I don’t frighten you? My appearance?”

“No.” I tried to shake my head and found I was too bone-limp to move.

“Fascinating.”