Page 28 of Misbehaving With Minotaurs (Haven Ever After #8)

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

MANORIN

C atherine clings to my neck as I gallop over moonlit fields toward our destination. She’s quiet, her thighs gripping me tightly as she rocks along with the rhythm of my easy lope. It's a solid half-hour ride, but it’s fun.

More than fun. I want her to ride me everywhere, because there’s nothing better than running across the rolling hills—my hills—with this woman on my back.

When dark forest comes into view, I slow down and slip her carefully off me. Her hair’s wind-whipped and wild, her cheeks ruddy as she beams up at me.

“That was exhilarating!” She plays at the bird’s nest of her waves. “There’s truly nothing like being on your back.”

I sweep her into my arms as I carry her toward the dark of the forest. “What about my front, Sunshine?”

She rolls her eyes and lets out a groan. “Gods, I walked you right into that one. That was terrible, Manorin. Are you a young bull again?”

I chuckle as I stalk between the trees, moonlight reduced to faded shards as the forest envelops us .

She smiles up from my arms. “We headed to the ward? That was very hot.”

I shake my head. “Nope. This is my land, land I bought when we were together before. It’s the land I thought I’d eventually build a house on and bring you home to.”

She goes utterly silent, her playful smile falling. “What?”

I jerk my head toward a spot in front of us.

“I started building, and then we parted ways, and I never finished it. I knew my brother would get our family plot and that was fine. I wanted something new for us. But when I need to think about anything important, I come back here. The only thing I did finish was statues to the minotaur gods. Want to see?”

She slips out of my arms as I halt in a clearing, the four statues standing in a circle facing each other.

Cath looks up at me. “I never knew, Nor. I?—”

I press the pad of my thumb to her plump lips. “It wouldn’t have changed anything if you did, Cath. It wasn’t our time then, but I prepared for it anyhow.”

I walk her to the first statue, noting the minotaur’s long horns and the water droplets dripping from her fingers.

“Viya, Goddess of Rain. Her mate, Ratek, God of Wind, stands across from her.” I point to the next statue over from Viya.

“Vejoom, Goddess of Earth, with Firbell, her God of Fire, across from her.”

Catherine’s gray eyes fill with tears. “I can’t believe you bought this for us.”

Brushing my knuckles along her high cheekbones, I smile.

“I assumed a lot in those days, brash and young, as you’ve noted.

I assumed you’d be okay coming here. I assumed you’d remain mine.

And I didn’t put in the work I needed to put in to keep you.

I’m not making that mistake twice, and I’m not trying to convince you to come here.

I know you don’t want to leave Ever. But this place is special to me, and I wanted to share it with you. ”

She rubs her cheek against my palm, closing her eyes as a tear slides down her face. Pulling her closer, I press my snout to the top of her head, breathing her quietly in.

“It’s beautiful,” she says in a shaky voice. “So beautiful, Manorin.” She steps back and looks up. “If I remember correctly, you’d traditionally put the house about a hundred yards that way, right?” She points to the west.

Nodding, I take her hand. “Yeah. We’d have had a killer view, Sunshine.

Gorgeous sunsets.” We walk quietly through the forest until it opens again onto the edge of a cliff.

Every star in the sky’s visible from this vantage point.

I take her close to the edge and point at a wide river snaking through the valley below.

“I planned to build the main quarters underground so we’d have a view from the front of the cliff below.

We’d stare right down at the river all the time. ”

Catherine tucks herself against me. “You’ve really thought this through.”

I wrap her up in my arms. “Like I said, I daydreamed a lot, and I made a lot of assumptions.”

A faint noise echoes up from below.

Catherine tenses. “What’s that?”

I kiss the top of her head. “Don’t worry, Sunshine; we’re remote and safe here.

There’s a band of wild mustangs that live in this valley.

They were here long before this was ever a haven.

It’s a minotaur’s belief that we should honor the land, so I come back once a year to help Furyon take care of them.

Dewormer, hoof trimming, stuff like that.

They nicker up at me when they know I’m home. Usually, they crowd me for carrots.”

Catherine looks up at me, brows bunched and eyes wide. “Seriously?”

I laugh. “Yeah. Now that it’s easier to get here, I’ll come back to care for them more frequently.

Once a year’s not really enough to keep them in optimal health.

I try not to disturb them more than I need to, but there’s a great little spot down there to take a dip in the river, if you’re inclined. ”

She laughs. “Wouldn’t it be cold?”

I slide my hands down her body, groaning softly. “Yeah, which means you’d have to be all over me to keep warm.”

“I’m feeling a little cold now,” she says with a playful wink. “Will you warm me up, Manorin?”

“C’mere, Sunshine.” I reach down and haul her into my arms. “Every time, sweet thing.”

The walk to the river takes us another quarter hour, and Catherine peppers me with questions about the land and the horses and my vision for the house.

But it’s clear in the wild beating of her heart that she’s anxious about it too.

I might’ve told her too much about what I planned for in the past, but I lost her once when I pushed for too much, too soon.

The wild horses join us on the riverbank, shoving and jostling. The herd stallion comes toward Catherine, nuzzling her carefully.

“No carrots today,” I tell him, keeping my tone low and soft. “Come back later, though.”

The black stallion snorts and bumps me with his nose, snorkeling around my pockets as he hunts for the carrots I’m usually good about remembering.

When he doesn’t find his prize, he lets out an angry squeal and tosses his head.

He’s elegant and wild and when he squeals again, the mares trot off into the darkness.

Cath watches them go, gray eyes wide as her heart pounds behind her breastbone. She turns to look up at me. “That was so thrilling, Nor. Gods, they were beautiful.”

“You’re beautiful,” I murmur as I slide her clothes off her. Then I remove mine and pull her into my arms. She gasps as I stalk into the cold river, chilly water splashing up to coat her feet and lower legs. The gasp turns into a yippy screech when I duck down and submerge us in the water .

“Godssssss,” she cries out, clinging to my neck. “This is so fucking cold, Nor!”

Wrapping my arms around her, I hover my mouth over hers. “Let me warm you, woman.”

Gray eyes flash golden momentarily before returning to their usual storm-cloud shade. With a smile, Cath tilts her head to the side, giving me access to that slim, elegant neck. I grin as I dip forward to nuzzle and lick my way along her neck and shoulder, then back up.

She squirms in my arms, rocking her body against my core.

My cock extends from my sheath, eagerly seeking her heat as my bites grow harder, more insistent.

Catherine keeps one arm around my neck and reaches down with the other, guiding me to her channel.

The warmth of her pussy lips is a delicious shock against the freezing water.

But when she grabs my nose ring and hangs on, using it for leverage to impale herself on my cock, the only thing I can do is let out a desperate, needy low. “Fuck, Sunshine,” I manage. “I love it when you handle me like this.”

She’s lost, though. Lost in chasing her pleasure. Eyes rolled into the back of her head, she sinks on and off me in the freezing water until I don’t feel the cold at all. There’s nothing but her sheathing me inside her, taking every inch of my substantial cock and milking me for all I’m worth.

I let her keep control until her cries ring out over the water.

Then I bring both hands to her hips and thrust, jolting her off my cock and slamming her back down.

She clamps tight around me, her pussy sucking at my dick until I see stars.

Her pleasure unleashes me, and I ravage her, obsessed with how her breasts rise and fall in the water with every thrust.

I fuck her until she tightens and pauses, a low moan tumbling from her lips.

Then they curl back into a vicious snarl as she draws in a breath, then two, then three, rapid-fire.

And then she explodes, arching high and hard against me as she thrusts her breasts into my face.

Her pussy flutters in great big waves, dragging an orgasm from me that has me roaring my pleasure into the scant space between us.

Pleasure drags on as the rollercoaster of her bliss milks seed from me until I’ve got nothing left to give. After what seems like an hour of coming, she slumps against me, forehead pressed to mine. Her fingers slip from my nose ring as she groans in my ear, her breathing harsh and ragged.

“Nor, I…” She falls off with a laugh as her teeth start to chatter. Shimmying a little, she plants a string of tender kisses on the end of my muzzle. “That damn cold crept back in faster than I expected.”

I was seconds from telling her that I’m fucking falling for her.

But I can’t have that conversation when my woman’s freezing.

Grinning, I reach down and pull my cock from her slippery, hot channel.

I run my fingers through her folds, cleaning her even as she hisses.

Then I carry her back to the rocky beach and tongue-bathe her dry until she’s grabbing my horns and commanding me to put my tongue somewhere else.