Page 294 of Pucking Feral: Part Two

I grab the hem of my thermal and peel it off.

The cold air hits my bare skin and I gasp, but Valek's hands are already there, sliding up my ribs, spreading warmth everywhere they touch. His palms are rough with callouses and old scars. They feel incredible against my skin.

He gazes reverently at my body, his full lips slightly parted.

"You're staring," I whisper.

He opens his mouth, but no sound comes out.

I kiss him again, slower this time, my fingers tracing the scar between his ribs. He tenses under my touch but doesn't pull away, his hands finding the button of my jeans.

Getting wet jeans off is a fucking nightmare and there's a solid thirty seconds of graceless wrestling that involves me kicking my legs while Valek yanks and tears, chuckling low in his throat. By the time the denim hits the cave floor we're both panting and I'm laughing into his neck.

"Good thing I brought a change of clothes," I manage to breathe as he kisses me again, nipping at my lips. He's already making short work of his own pants, lifting his hips to shove them down. And then we're skin to skin, nothing between us at all.

His cock presses against my inner thigh, hard and hot against my chilled skin. I wrap my hand around him and⁠—

My fingers stall.

There's metal. A row of small, smooth barbells running along the underside of his shaft, one after another, slightly cooler against my palm where the rest of him is burning hot.

A Jacob's ladder.

Of course he has a Jacob's ladder.

My brain short-circuits for a solid two seconds before my hand tightens around him and his head drops back against the rock wall with a rough exhale.

"Ivy."

"Mm?"

His silver eyes find mine, the composure in them cracking. "If we do this⁠—"

"We're doing this."

"If we do this," he repeats, his voice strained, "I need you to know that I…"

"Val." I cup his face in both hands. His jaw is clenched so tight the muscles jump under my palms. "Whatever you need to tell me can wait."

"When?" he manages to choke out. "If not now, then…"

I kiss him again, swallowing his words. "After," I whisper against his mouth. "After you mark me. You can tell me everything. I promise."

His hands are shaking where they grip my hips.

"But right now—" I roll against him, dragging the slick heat of my arousal along the length of his cock, and his fingers dig into my skin hard enough to bruise. "—I need you."

He surges forward and his mouth crashes into mine, one hand fisting in my wet hair, the other sliding down my spine to pull me flush against him. His tongue drags across my lower lip and I open for him, my nails raking down the hard planes of his chest. His cock twitches against my stomach, smearing precome across my skin.

"Valek," I breathe. "Please."

He pulls back just enough to look at me with his blown pupils, the thin ring of silver iris barely visible around them. His wet undercut is plastered to his face, his eyes wild behind his hair.

"Say it again," he rasps.

"I need you…"

His hand slides between my thighs. Two long fingers drag deliberately through the wetness there and my spine arches so hard I would crack my skull against the rock behind me if it weren't for his hand getting in the way to protect it.