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Her neck arched when he ran the pads of his fingertips from her collarbones up her throat. She shook her head. He did it again with a loud huff.

“I-I don’t want to sing.”

He moved, and all her anxiety redoubled when he placed an arm on both sides of the ledge... with her between them. He trapped her, giving her no escape unless she was to dive. Then he traced her throat again with the smallestgrowl.

Linh, fighting through tears, hummed as loud as she could muster. It often cracked, and she struggled through her shudders.

“Can you hear me?” he asked, his voice so quiet it was almost a whisper. She nodded. “Good. Don’t stop until I say so.” He dipped his head over her shoulder just enough for her to feel the end of his snout against her cheek. “You want me to heal you?”

Linh nodded.

“No,”he said with a dark and unnerving undertone.

“Why?!” she yelled.

When he didn’t answer, she hummed again.

“I am willing to remove my seed, but not the evidence of my touch,” he answered with the tiniesthintof hostility in his tone. “You ask for too much.”

Gosh, that made her feel so shitty. “I’m sor–”

Instead of covering her lips to stop her apology, he cupped the underside of her jaw and clamped it shut. It allowed her to hum still, but it jittered from her. She couldn’t take this right now; it was too aggressive.

His voice was quieter, but no less powerful in its statement. He drew back a single arm and brought it underneath the water to glide his claws across her torso.

“This ache inside you is my ache. The pain you feel inside your pussy is one I gave you. The swollen thrum you feel is from you coming over, and over, andoveragain, as you pleaded for more of me.”

Her inner walls clamped in memory, and she didn’t know if that made her feel better or worse.

Why is he doing this?What happened to the Nathair that cared about how she always felt? The one who made her feel safe, secure, and comfortable in all scenarios? Now that they’d had sex, did he not...careanymore?

“My cocks burn from being buried inside you. My seed sacs throb from emptying myself repeatedly into you and on you. My groin aches, overused by giving you whatyouwanted. All. Night.Long.”

Linh’s nails tried to dig into crystal to get away when he buried the end of his snout into the crook of her neck. He placed his arm back on the ledge until his clawed hands rested just beyond hers.

“I told you. I will not play fair if you claim me, Linh, and you claimed me until my cocks were raw,” he rumbled with a warm pant wrapping around her skin. “So, when you are ready, little nightingale... come revel in the pain of our ravenous fuckingwithme.”

He was telling her to wait it out, as if he knew how she felt would fade after time. Linh held onto that.

She didn’t...wantto regret it. She’d loved every second of it, had adored the way he moved within her, while he touched her all around. She’d liked the way his hard scales had glided over bare flesh for the first time, and the way he released pent-up and needy groans for her.

Even when she’d been passing out, she wanted more. Linh hadn’t wanted it to end – the pleasure, the feeling, all of it lasting forever so she could live in it until the world crumbled.

She thought she would have died happy if he’d fucked her last heartbeat out of her.

So, she battled herself while he secured her in place. She continued to cry, but she gritted her teeth to unravel the knotted lead ball within. It was so heavy that it felt like a ball and chain trying to drag her to the depths she floated in. She didn’t know how long passed, if it was minutes or hours, but she weakly laid her cheek on the quartz ledge when she finally relaxed.

She sniffled and blinked lazily at the glowing world before her. It was still beautiful, even if she currently felt heartsick. Her gaze drifted to his hand, and she just stared at his glossy claws for what felt like forever.

Shudders fell past her lips as her tears continued to drip.

His hands are so big,she thought, her mind dozing.

She observed them until her right hand twitched closer to his. She hiccupped and sniffled, just as she brushed the tip of her index finger against the side of his thumb. He didn’t move, even when she braved caressing the side of her finger over the white protruding knuckle bones and the smaller black scales.

Only when her ring and pinkie fingers brushed against his thumb did he finally turn it on its side. The last of her distressed sounds grew quieter as she tickled the inside of his soft palm. He cupped the back of her hand, so both their palms were facing her, and she took in the startling differences.

His hands were unnaturally big, even for his body, and she wondered if all Duskwalkers were like that. The tips of her fingers barely went past his second knuckle, and the heel of his cushioned around hers.