Page 36 of Moist!
chapter seven
LYRA
Nef’s body relaxes, hands tightening around my waist and back. His skin is warm, where I’d expected it to be cold given that he lives in the lake. It’s another reminder that he doesn’t belong there.
“I wish I knew how to save you,” I admit.
A soft sigh tells me he’s likely thought the same thing.
“Only she can save me,” he whispers back.
“But I have long since stopped thinking she will come for me.” He pushes back enough to put a black-clawed finger beneath my chin and lift my gaze to his.
“You are not her, little one. Her soul had a visible amethyst aura, and I think I’d know it if I saw it.
So, the lake remains my home. But I’m grateful for this either way. ”
Dark eyes drift down my face and lower, and heat unfurls in my body, spreading a delicious sizzle along my limbs. Nef’s slitted nostrils flare, and he holds me closer.
“Lyra…” His voice is quiet, almost plaintive.
I stare deeply into those dark eyes. “Yes, Nef?”
For a long moment, nothing exists outside of him and the faint chirp of crickets near the water’s edge.
Dark lashes flutter against his cheeks.
“I…” He clears his throat and releases my waist, waving to ward the food. “Should we finish your food? You haven’t eaten much and I don’t want you to go hungry.”
“Nef.” I tighten my arms around his neck, summoning enough fake confidence to say the words I’ve been wanting to say for the last few days. “Kiss me.”
He jolts, eyes flashing wide as he scans my face as if for reassurance. But his free arm comes around my waist again, fingers digging into my hip.
“Are you…I mean, are you entirely sure?” His chest rises and falls in a rapid staccato.
“Unless you don’t want to,” I clarify. “Which is entirely poss?—”
He bends and slants his mouth over mine, closing his lips softly.
It’s tender and gentle. But I’ve seen him be rough.
I’ve seen him unhinged. I’ve watched and spied and I wasn’t lying when I said I came here to be his friend.
But perhaps I lied to myself a little. It’s true that I wanted to know him as a monster first. I wanted to know if he was like he is in my daydreams.
But I’ve always wished for more. I’ve always been drawn to him.
I open my mouth and slip my tongue between his lips, curling the tip against his. Nef grunts and slides both hands up my back, deepening the kiss as he lifts me. He tips backward, using the long coils of his body like a cushion until we’re reclining with me on top, legs around his torso.
He deepens the kiss further, the next swipe of his tongue a little rougher, a little more demanding, as if he seeks full entrance into my body. And gods, I’d grant it in a heartbeat. He tastes of salt and the faintest hint of something brisk and clean.
I can’t get enough. A groan leaves me, and it sets off a heat that eats me alive as we devour one another.
I tighten my legs around him, sliding my hands up to the back of his neck to twist my fingers through his dark, wet hair.
Nef snarls and yanks at my shirt, ripping it up the back and tossing it away.
It hits the ground with a light thud and he pulls away from me, luminous eyes wide as he scans my near-naked torso. “Lyra, I…your shirt, I’m sorry.”
I plant my hands on his chest and rise to straddle him like a horse. Reaching behind me, I unclip my bra and toss it in the direction of the shirt.
Hungry eyes rove over my breasts, his lips parting slightly, a black tongue peeking out to wet the plump lower one. His gaze goes wicked and focused. “What do you want me to do with these little witch?” His tone is calm, collected, almost teasing. But beneath that is an obvious hunger.
“Whatever you want,” I say simply. “Not what you think I want. I want you to take whatever you desire, Nef. Because I don’t think you ever do what you want, do you?”
He’s on top of me in a moment, grabbing my wrists and yanking them above my head. Dirt and pebbles poke into my back but he reaches his free hand underneath me and holds me just shy of the most pokey bits.
“You don’t know the darkness of my thoughts,” he growls out. “I haven’t allowed myself to take what I really want in centuries, Lyra… you’re right about that. I’ve never unleashed what I want on the females who come to me for this.” He waves at his naked body.
“Which is why I’m telling you to do so now,” I say. “Let me be the first, Nefkenir.”
His full name seems to unleash him, and he yanks me upright, into his arms, then coils, spins, and splashes toward the lake. The last thing I see is the dark water rising to greet me before he yanks us beneath the surface.