Page 13 of Below the Shadow of the City

CHAPTER 13

H is head drunkenly lolls back and he stares at the ceiling for a second. “Well, guess I’m going to have to eat you now.” He says it so casually I have to replay the sentence in my head.

The happy buzz pinging around in my brain abruptly stops. “Wait, what?” My fingers curl around the stem of the wine glass so tightly I could practically shatter it. Two bottles had turned into three now, Maddox was able to far outpace me in drinking them empty.

“Sigrid,” he flips his head back up and turns to me. “I’m kidding, unless, of course, you’re going to let me eat you out tonight.” His boyish nervous voice has slipped back in, the strains of cute squeaky awkwardness cut through his deep tones.

It takes a moment for me to process his proposition, still antsy from his insinuation that he could very well kill and eat me if he wanted to. Which until now I didn’t realize is something I find incredibly hot. He’s so much larger than me or anyone I’ve met, he could overpower me in an instant, but instead of being some vicious carnivorous creature we’re cracking jokes on his couch .

That’s the exact moment my dams burst open. All the pent up tension and stiffness I’d held up in a tight, neatly packaged ball exploded into girlish, raucous laughter. I can’t ignore the persistent desire in my core any longer. Even as I try to think of things to tamp it out, the flame reignites, somehow stronger than before.

“Fucking finally ,” I exclaim, maybe a little too enthusiastically. His eyes crinkle as similar laughter erupts from his throat, when his head tilts back all I want to do is burrow my face into the column of fur between his chin and shoulder. I realize, I actually can. The wall has been broken down enough for us to take the leap here.

I try to subtly unbutton the first few buttons on my flannel without him noticing, but my fingers are shaking and maneuvering far less gracefully than I’d like them to be.

Maddox scoots closer. “Need assistance with that?”

My cheeks burn, they’re practically the same color as the half empty glass of rosé sitting on the coffee table. “Yes, please,” I answer.

His fingers breach the empty space between us and nimbly unfasten each of the plastic buttons. His motions are dangerously slow, he’s treading carefully. My shirt falls open, framing my torso in red and black plaid to reveal a black lacy bra that I definitely wore with the teeniest hope of him seeing it.

A devious smile spreads across his face. Maddox holds his hands a few inches above my bare skin, and looks back up at me for confirmation that he can touch.

“For fuck’s sake, yes.” I rasp.

Two rough palms wrap around my waist, and he pulls me closer to him, his knee is postured between my legs. I’m abuzz, internally I feel like I’m practically vibrating like the little pink device sitting in my nightstand.

A quick gentle pull and our lips meet for the second time tonight. The sweetness of the wine is all over his mouth, and I inhale each alcohol-laced breath. Our second kiss is far easier than the first, our mouths know how to interact with one another. Any difference in biology has been completely cast aside, this strange mouth of his is somehow meant to be pressed against mine. I bite at his lower lip and run my tongue over one of his fangs. A flat, wide tongue pushes into my mouth, entangling itself with mine in a small wrestling match. There’s power behind each of his movements, but a clear restraint. He knows how strong he is and what he could do to me if he doesn’t hold back. Our size difference is all the more obvious as our bodies press together. His knee grinds deeper between my legs, the pressure hits perfectly. I grind deeper onto him, each rub is a flint sparking deep inside my core. Every jut of my hips and grasp of his hands on my skin is intoxicatingly perfect.

My hands move down his waist towards his belt and I feverishly try to undo the clasp. He quickly places his hand over mine. “Not yet,” he growls into my ear. “We’re going to savor this.”

We continue to make out like we’re both at our first college party, and every exploratory hand that slides beneath the lace of my bra, every bit of hot breath that he exhales, and every grind of myself against his leg makes me want it more and more.

My jeans are soaked through already, and I feel the slickness build between my legs. It’s been so long since being in the presence of someone else has made me feel like this. I hardly remember what it’s even like to be filled with a lust that’s practically insatiable.

“Do you remember what you said to me, that first time on the phone?” He asks as he dots kisses up and down my neck. I don’t, and for a moment I feel guilty that I don’t.

He doesn’t wait for an answer. “You said it might kill you if you don’t get the real thing soon.” Another exhale and his hand is sliding up my waist, slowly, longingly. That phone call feels like a lifetime ago, but this morning feels like a lifetime ago. I have to remind myself that the same voice that made me fall apart in my own bed laying next to my vibrator is here with me, right now.

My past sentiment holds true. Even tonight, the waiting has been torturous. “I need to make up for lost time,” he breathes into me. “I need to fuck you like it’s the only chance I have.”

I nod. “Please.” knowing this very well would be the only chance I could allow us to have. He stands and pulls me up with him.

He stoops low to continue kissing me. He has close to two feet on me in height. He’s bound to be large everywhere. A thought that is both intoxicating and unsettling.

I’d anticipated this outcome, I wanted us to be doing this right here, right now. The reality of our present circumstance forces me to take pause.

I haven’t had sex since January, and that was with Perrie. We had our routine together, I can’t remember what anyone else feels like. I don’t remember precisely how to pleasure someone with a penis. What if this all backfires and goes horribly? “Wait,” I bark. He stops immediately and raises his hands up, there’s a look of panic on his face, his brows nearly reach the base of his horns.

“We don’t have to do this,” he says calmly, “if it’s not what you want?—”

“No,” I slap my palm to my forehead. “I do, I just, I haven’t been with a cis man in years, and I haven’t been with anyone at all since January. I’m not on the pill, I’m not waxed, I?—”

“You really think I care if you’re waxed or not?” He says it with a completely straight face but I spit out a laugh. “I have condoms and I’m completely negative for everything,” he continues .

I blink at him a few times and stare like a deer in the headlights, he’s checked all the boxes, of course he has.

“I’m going to take things slow here,” he assures me. “I don’t want to hurt you, or for you to not enjoy this as much as I know I’m going to. Your pleasure is a priority of mine, Sigrid.”

“Carry on, then.” I answer. He slides his hands onto my ass and lifts me. It’s effortless for him, like I’m a bag of flour. It is, unfortunately, incredibly hot.

As I’m draped over his shoulder I playfully slap his ass and he lets out a snort of a laugh.

He tracks to his bedroom and and flips me over onto the bed. He’s above me now, and firmly holding me in place with little effort. He sucks in a deep breath, wild eyes roving over my body as I lay splayed on his bed. What is he thinking right now?

Maddox leans in close and his fangs brush against the shell of my ear. “Are you willing to let me take the lead here?”

“By all means.” I can barely get the words out without them sounding like a needy whine. I’m trying to play it cool but I’m failing miserably. Stupid hormones betraying me.

“I need a yes, Sigrid.” He growls my name.

“Yes. Fuck yes.” His grip around me tightens with my answer and I tremble.

In any other circumstance being pinned down by a beast as large as he is would be something from a horror movie, but instead it’s the hottest thing I’ve experienced in my twenty eight years thus far.

Feeling the heat from his core, smelling his all encompassing pine scent, and sensing his erection pushing through his jeans as he grinds against my waist is about the hottest thing I’ve experienced. Even the sensation of his dull claws pricking my skin as he holds tight onto me sends a strange pleasure straight between my legs .

Two clawed fingers slide my jeans down my thighs as he lets out ragged growls that he’s trying to stifle by biting his lip. All night, Maddox has been a perfect gentleman, kind, sweet, upstanding. But this animal that’s slipping through is so fucking arousing. My stomach is twisting, my underwear is soaked through, as are my jeans that he casts aside before burrowing his head into my thighs. He’s hungry. Wanting. Exactly like I am.

The roughness of his tongue felt delicious when we were kissing, but as it drags across my thin cotton underwear it brings about a nearly unbearable pleasure that. I lean into his claws digging into my skin, the pain swirling with pleasure in the best possible way.

I hear a ripping of fabric and feel a cool breeze between my legs. I prop myself up slightly as I watch Maddox’s head emerge from between my thighs and fling the small piece of fabric across the room. “Did you—did you just rip off my underwear with your teeth?” I pant.

Maddox cocks his head to the side. “It seemed like the quickest way to get them off of you,” he emits a sound that’s a combination of a laugh and growl. “Now lay back down,” he waves me off and I oblige.

“So good,” he groans, muffled by my thighs. His tongue loops around the swollen cherry of my clit and sucks with a reverence like it’s his last meal. The heat of him between my legs is almost too much to bear, my thighs are already trembling from his ragged breathing and fervent licks. The tip of his nose presses into my clit and every time he moves his face against me it sends fireworks to that little bundle of nerves.

My hands splay across his bedspread while I search for a place to rest them. My hands desperately grasp for something, anything. His headboard is hilariously flat against the brick wall and made of wood more expensive than I could likely fathom. My eyes flash to him, he grunts a smile and his eyes warm to mine. I track them to the top of his skull, where nature-made handlebars are sticking out. I couldn’t…could I?

They’re not too far above his shoulders, and I mean, they’re kind of perfect.

“Grab ‘em,” he briefly grunts when he emerges from my core, watching my eyes flick back and forth between them and his eyes. Save a horse, ride his face.

I wrap my hands around their base. They’re cold to the touch, which I find myself surprised by, not that I have any experience gripping horns. I hook my legs over his shoulders, spreading them apart further. He tilts his head back in bliss and partially pulls me with it. I’m quaking with bliss as he tastes every millimeter of me, his tongue thrusting deeper than anyone’s has.

Coursing over me in hot waves, I orgasm. Whimpering moans escape me without any control, and I twitch and shake and sob like I’ve never been touched before. Maddox crawls on top of me, letting his body drag over mine. He braces a knee on either side of me and grabs the sides of my face, pulling me into a kiss. I taste the remnants of myself on his lips.

“I’d give you the moon right now if it means I get to keep seeing you like this. God, Sigrid, you’re going to be my downfall.” He whispers and brushes my flushed cheek with the tip of his claw. “So tell me, what do you want?”

“You,” I shakily say, still coming down from the orgasm. “I want all of you.”

“I’ve been dying to hear you say that,” he growls. “Ever since I heard your voice the night we met you’ve been haunting me.”

He stands before me and I’m aching for even the smallest touch from him. My hips involuntarily twitch in his direction, I need him so badly it’s painful. He snarls and pulls his shirt off in one swift motion. His chest is covered in the same dark fur that spreads across the rest of him, but is notably shorter here than it is on his arms. I can see the outline of tight abdominal muscles beneath it. The fur swirls into little tufts on his chest, hardly obscuring two dark nipples.

I push myself up onto my elbows to get a good look at him as he slides off his jeans, then his black boxer briefs. I could feel how big he was through his pants as we were grinding against one another, but seeing it now, I’m almost taken aback.

His cock is thick and a dark brown, much like his fur, which spreads at its base. There’s a large swollen bulge at the bottom, which is something that makes me mutter, “oh, oh ” at the very sight of it.

“That is…my knot,” he says, waiting for a reaction. I’ve read enough omegaverse fanfiction in my lifetime to know exactly what I’m looking at. “You don't have to take it, if it’s something you’re not ready for or…” He trails off.

“Will I be bound to you through some ancient mating ritual? Or be bred by you if I do?” I chuckle. I’d asked him in jest, but there’s truth behind my questions. Yes, I want to climb all over him. Yes, I would let him do anything to my body. Mate bonding and kids though? Definitely not something I’d want out of a one night stand.

He nervously runs his fingers through his mane. “No—No. It’s, um, added pleasure…for me.” His eyes darken as they look me up and down, “and for others, so I’ve been told.”

The way he speaks sends a flood between my legs. I’m quivering at the thought of his cock deep inside of me. If his tongue brought me to orgasm so quickly, I could only imagine what the whole experience would bring me.

“Then I definitely want all of you. I want you to stuff me to the fucking brim until the only thing I can think of is the feeling of your cock inside of me.”

“Oh, Sigrid,” he rumbles, “when I’m through with you the only words you’ll be able to utter are ‘fuck’ and my name.” Fuck. He’s good.

He pushes me back down onto the bed and spreads my legs apart. I’m completely soaked thanks to my own lubricant coupled with his saliva. He tears the condom open with his teeth in a swift motion and I’m nearly starstruck as I watch him slide it on. It’s flared at the base, covering his knot entirely. I'm impressed by how they’ve modified birth control methods to accommodate more unique physical traits.

Maddox rubs the tip of his cock along my opening. I whimper as he runs the rest of his massive appendage between my folds, giving a hint of what’s to come. The preparation alone is incredible, feeling something so large that is threatening to rip me apart.

He pushes in, only part way and I gasp at the sensation. This is hardly the beginning and…holy shit.

“Are you sure you can take all of me?” he asks, maintaining his sultry tone, but I sense the apprehension.

“Yes,” I answer, what I’ve experienced thus far is a lot , but not overwhelming.

Pressure builds, and it’s almost uncomfortable, but right when I’m nearly at the brink, he adjusts and it turns into immense bliss. My body works itself around him, knowing exactly how to react to him in something that feels nothing short of magical.

“Fuck, Sigrid, you take me so well,” he groans. He says my name like it’s a pet name and I whine like a pathetic puppy as he sinks himself into me again. My hands grip his shoulders and my own blunt nails dig into his fur.

“You’re so good. So perfect.” He bites his lip.

We move in sync now. My hips grind deeper into him, I want to take every last inch of him inside me. With a bucking of his hips, he bares his teeth and lets out a primal grunt as his knot teases my entrance. I gasp with a quick inhale when it does, it feels foreign. And so, so right .

With shuddering breaths, my thighs tremble around him. My bare skin is brushed by his fur across every inch of my body and the sensation is maddening.

I begin to moan his name, but my lips get stuck in the “M,” trilling out in a hum like a bumblebee. He huffs a hot breath through his nostrils, and his right palm covers my breast. His fingers are seeking the taut skin of my nipple, and when they find it, his coarse thumb runs over it.

The pressure from the swollen bulge at the base of his cock is sending my mind into a completely different plane of existence. His entire length slides out and continues to swell at the base, and when he thrusts back inside it stretches me even further.

“Are you sure you can take my knot?” He groans out. I don’t know, can I?

“Yes,” I answer before rational thought catches up with me. His chest vibrates with a roar and I practically come apart right there.

I let out a soft cry and his hips rut deeper into mine. His fingertips move off of my breast to work around my clit, circling it hastily. I look up at him and he’s baring his teeth again with a wildness in his sapphire eyes.

I swear I feel every inch of him inside of me, reaching into the depths of my center, threatening to touch the pieces of me no one else has.

My eyes tear involuntarily, like the immense pleasure is becoming almost too much to bear. I weep and whimper and grasp at his fur listlessly, my body is dissolving into a puddle of Jell-O.

“Fuck, Sigrid,” he whimpers, and it’s the sexiest sound he, or anyone, has uttered.

He growls in thick release, and I feel the knot swell. I sense him coming inside of me, like our bodies are truly joined together as one. He slumps and shakes from an aftershock and takes short breaths that sound like laughing .

“What?” I breathily ask. Stars are fading from my vision and I’m beginning to remember where I am and who I’m with. I’m currently locked to a monster’s dick. For god knows how long. What the fuck did I just experience?

Oddly, I don’t feel the panic that I likely should be feeling in such a state. His body wrapped around mine like this brings about a security that is entirely unfamiliar. Especially for a one night stand. With a beast.

“That was so fucking…nice,” he chortles, breaking the breathy silence. Definitely not a typical monster by any means. Whatever animal came out while we were having sex has disappeared. Instead of growls and grunts he’s…giggling?

I quirk an eyebrow at him. “The sex was…nice?” More than nice, that was fucking unreal.

“I’ve forgotten any real words.” He tracks his hands down his face. “Give me a minute.” I don’t know what to make of him, and maybe I never will. But for now, I’m settling down from an incredible orgasm. Our breathing syncs as we coast down from the high together, my fingers fumble for his hand and he clasps it in mine.

“Wait,” he jerks up to look at me, “you’re okay, right?”

I blurt out a laugh. “You didn’t rip me in two.”

“It’ll take some time for this to come down enough to pull out of you, better get comfortable,” he chuckles after he gestures to his knot still inside me. I relax on the pillow beside him, feeling oddly content with my predicament for now.

Time seems to have lost any meaning now, it’s only been a minute or two since we finished, but I may as well have been here for a few hours. There’s still so much to process, and so many questions that I’ve stuffed away in a closet to evaluate later. Right now I’m absorbing this sickly sweet afterglow of whatever just transpired. I’m laying on my side in Maddox’s brick walled bedroom, a place that didn’t exist to me this morning, with him, who existed as only a phantom until now. We’re locked together in some sort of strange biological impossibility that has possibly ruined all other bodies for me.

I adjust myself and prop my head up on my elbow, he responds in kind and we’re staring at one another. Piece by piece, I take in each of his features. Every glance before had been merely passing, at first I’d averted my eyes at the sight of him, then I saw him with a primal lust. Now I was looking at him with a studious gaze.

His horns, black as obsidian, jut from the top of his skull, and when they catch the light right they reflect with a polished sheen. Below them sit floppy cat-like ears, which I notice now flick and twitch with curiosity when he listens. His eyes are the most human-like part of him. Mesmerizing as they’ve ever been, oceanic and practically glowing with brightness in contrast to the dark fur that covers the rest of him. When he smiles I notice a crookedness to his mouth, one fang extends a hair higher on his cheek than the other.

As I gaze longingly I realize there’s a beauty to him, he’s truly quite remarkable looking. Gloriously striking, in fact. In hindsight I wonder if my fear originated more from a place of surprise rather than true horror.

He sees my eyes narrow. “What?” He asks with playful interest.

“Nothing,” I flush and smile meekly. “I’m just taking you in.”

“I think you already took quite a bit of me in,” he chuckles and gestures to his cock that is still firmly placed inside of me. My legs tighten around him and he pulls me in close.

I turn and bury my head into his chest to cover the rosy blush that’s now spread across my entire body, trying to remember the last time someone has ever made me feel giggly and shy like this .

It’s like he was designed in a lab to bring out a side of myself I’ve never seen before. Surely my past relationships haven’t been so horrific that it takes a few weeks of talking and one sexual encounter with a literal monster to melt some of the ice that guarded my heart.

He’s slightly ruffled from our activities, and it’s oddly endearing. I reach to smooth out some of the fur that’s gone askew on his arm, but then hesitate. I don’t know the etiquette, are such things patronizing? His eyes follow mine and he smooths it out himself, then reaches for my hand and places it on his shoulder.

His eyes narrow. “You don’t have to be reluctant to touch me. Not now, not ever,” his tone has changed from bright and flirty to something rumbling and sincere. He lays his hand over mine and guides it across his shoulder, my fingers graze along his clavicle, then across to his neck and down his sternum. His heart thuds under my palm and my breath hitches. He feels incredibly soft. I want to burrow into him forever, then bristle at my own thoughts. One night stand, one night stand, I repeat like a mantra, don’t fall in love .

Touching him before was instinctual. My hands grazed across every inch of his exposed body, I was exploring it with the fervent curiosity of an archaeologist. My body somehow knew how to react to him on top of, beside, and inside of me. This is far more intimate. We’re still safe in the confines of his bedroom, it’s an island we’ve traveled to together. There’s new territory to explore now that the storm has calmed. I place an exploratory hand on his cheek, his mouth twitches into a smile.

“Even the lightest touch of yours is fucking intoxicating,” he speaks low, a shared vow between us. “I swear you might kill me.”

I feel his knot expand again, extending the time the two of us will be joined. This needs to last as long as possible, because once I leave here, I know it’ll kill me to not come back.

His easy boyish charm takes a step back for this stronger, bellowing version of him. His words are self-assured. My touch takes on a steady confidence as a result. I move my face closer to his and track roaming fingers along his head, circling my thumb around the base of his horn.

My fingers move on and linger on the velvety fur of his ears, his eyes roll back slightly as I rub them between my thumb and forefinger. They are impeccably soft and might be my new favorite part of him. I inch along, digging my nails deep into the thick mane tumbling out behind his head.

“You are a marvel,” I whisper.

He’s incredibly gentle with me. I wonder if he’s done this before. It’s far easier to believe that I’m just another human woman he’s brought down into this room for one passionate night. Even though deep down I tense at the thought, and silently pray that this will be the exception.