Page 18 of Ogre on Patrol (Monsters, PI #5)
Chapter 18
Thain
H er scent consumed me, that perfect mix of clean skin and something sweeter, uniquely hers, that I could never quite name but had missed like a part of myself. Seeing her sprawled across her bed, her hair a tangled halo against the pillows, made my chest ache—for what we’d lost and for the unshakable hunger that had only grown stronger by the day. She was smaller than I remembered. Or maybe it was I who had grown, my frame honed beyond what it once was. But she still fit into my arms like she had been crafted just for me.
I crawled over her slowly, my weight sinking into the mattress as I planted a hand on either side of her shoulders. My tusks brushed close to her cheek as I bent to kiss her again, soft at first, a teasing nudge of lips. But the quiet, breathless sound she made roused something feral inside me. I kissed her harder, deeper, letting the edges of my tusks graze her jaw and neck. She shivered beneath me, her legs tangling around my hips, locking me against her body.
Her touch was driving me mad. Every time her fingers slid over my shoulders, down my arms, or into my hair, the heat building inside me roared hotter, louder, demanding I take more of her. My hands trailed over her like I was starving for the feel of her all over again, memorizing the soft, perfect warmth of her skin. My palms settled at her hips, spreading across the curve of her waist as I toyed with the hem of her shirt, my fingers brushing the bare skin underneath.
“Say yes,” I rasped against her lips, barely pulling back enough to speak, my voice gone low and rough with need. “Say I can take this off and taste you.” My thumb grazed the sliver of bare skin just above her waistband, and the way her breath hitched, the way she arched into me, nearly undid me.
“Yes, Thain.” Her speaking my name during a moment like this broke me. I’d waited so long, longer than I ever should’ve, and now, here she was, saying my name on her lips like a promise I didn’t deserve.
I pushed her shirt higher, baring more of her to me inch by inch. My lips followed the path my hands made, scattered kisses trailing over the swell of her stomach, the line of her ribs. When I tugged the shirt over her head and tossed it aside, I raked my gaze over her, drinking her in like a male starved. She was stunning, more so than I remembered, and the soft rise and fall of her chest only fueled the fire raging inside me. I paused, my hands braced on either side of her, just to look at her, to truly see her. My heart thundered in my chest, loud and furious, as the significance of this moment crystallized.
“What?” she asked, her voice soft, uncertain.
“You.” My voice was hoarse, almost unrecognizable. “You don’t even know, do you? How perfect you are. How much I—” The words caught in my throat. “How much I’ve dreamed about this. About you.”
Her expression relaxed, her gaze searching mine as her fingers reached for me, tangling in the strands of my hair. She pulled me back down, her lips finding mine again, and any words I’d planned to say were lost in the heat of her kiss. This wasn’t about words anymore. It was about feeling, about rediscovering each other after so much time and so much loss.
I kissed her like she was my salvation, like she was the only thing that mattered, because in that moment, she was. My tusks grazed her jawline as I trailed my lips down the curve of her neck. My hands mapped her body, rediscovering every bit of her. The heat of her skin burned against my palms, driving me to explore further, to take more.
Her soft moans spurred me on in a way I'd almost forgotten. My lips found the hollow of her collarbone, and I lingered there, teeth and tusks carefully teasing her sensitive skin. One of my hands settled at her waist, the other sliding beneath the band of her bra, brushing against her velvet-soft flesh as I leaned back to look her in the eyes again.
“Is this okay?” I asked, my voice subdued but rough with restraint. Her face flushed, her lips parted, her breath tumbling out in sweet, uneven gasps. Yet her gaze held mine, her answer in her look before she even said it aloud.
“Yes,” she whispered, her voice a trembling exhale.
“And this?” I slid my finger tip beneath the waistband of her shorts.
“Yes. Please.”
Her words were my undoing. The gentle plea in her voice sent a shudder through me as I hooked my fingers under the waistband of her shorts and slowly drew them down, the fabric slipping over her hips, her thighs, baring skin I had dreamed of for too long. My breathing was uneven, my pulse thundering, and I watched her for any sign of hesitation. But she didn’t hold back. Her eyes stayed locked on mine, full of trust and something deeper that made my chest ache.
Sliding her shorts and underwear down her legs, I let them fall to the floor in a heap, and then I took her in fully. My jaw tightened as I fought to rein in the storm raging inside me. She was exquisite, every part of her calling to every bit of me. Her beauty, her vulnerability, and the way she looked at me. It was all too much, yet exactly what I needed to feel whole again.
Her legs parted, and her lips twisted into something like a grin. A low growl vibrated in my chest as I lowered myself down, pressing fevered, open-mouthed kisses to the inside of her knee. The way she gasped, the way her breath jerked every time my tusks brushed her skin, fueled me, guiding me higher, where I could taste her bit by exquisite bit .
Her thighs trembled as I reached the place where her scent was strongest, intoxicating and utterly her. My grip on her tightened, my thumbs spreading along the curve of her hips before sliding lower, parting her as I kissed the most fragile, sensitive part of her. She cried out, and the sound sent fire racing through my veins, obliterating any trace of restraint I had left.
I teased her, sliding my tongue along her seam, savoring the way her body answered to me instinctively, arching, pressing closer, chasing what I would give her. Her fingers slid down, tangling in my hair, tugging enough to shoot pleasure and pain down my spine.
Her quiet moans grew louder as I explored her, licking and tasting. I was relentless, dragging her toward the edge again and again, but never letting her fall, a selfish part of me wanting to keep her like this forever—breathless, desperate, mine. The need to have her completely, to see her come undone beneath me, was all-consuming. I wanted her to know, in every way possible, that she belonged to me, just as I belonged to her. That no matter how much time had passed, no matter the mistakes and the years between us, this was inevitable.
Her cries became incoherent, raw and pleading, and they undid me in a way nothing else could. I tightened my hold on her hips, pulling her closer as I tasted her deeper, losing myself in her softness, her surrender, the way her body responded to every flick of my tongue. When her thighs trembled around my shoulders, and her hand fisted in my hair with almost bruising desperation, I knew she was close.
“Thain,” she whimpered. The sound shattered something within me. I couldn’t hold back, couldn’t stop even if the world outside this room fell apart.
“Come for me,” I growled against her skin, the heat of my breath making her hips jerk against my mouth. “Let me have it all.”
When I stabbed my tongue inside her, she shattered. Her cry pierced the air, and her body tensed, bowing off the bed before shaking beneath me. I held her through it, stroking her thighs and waist as I drank her in. Her pleasure was as vital to me as the air in my lungs. She was wild and beautiful, every gasp and tremor showing the trust she gave me in the way only this woman ever could.
There was no holding my own body back. I gave way, shooting off inside my sweatpants.
And damn, was it ever sweet.
When her breaths evened and the trembling in her limbs stopped, I pressed a kiss to her inner thigh and moved up her body. Her skin was flushed, glistening, radiant. The sight struck me numb, stopping me in place.
She opened her eyes, her heavy-lidded and hazy gaze meeting mine. She reached up, her fingers brushing my jaw. “You . . . That was perfect.”
A low, growling chuckle slipped up my throat as I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips. “I can't be, because that's you.”