t-shirt followed, and she immediately slid her hands up his chest.
Impatient.
He wanted so much more with her, a night would never be enough. But the thought that this one night was all they had for now added urgency.
“Ivy...” he breathed against the side of her neck, lost in her scent and needing more of her body. Blindly, he walked her backwards to where he figured the bed must be.
She shrugged her jacket off, then he ripped her sweater off before lowering her to the mattress. Cupping her breast, he grazed his teeth against the nipple through the lace of her bra.
Fervently unbuckling his jeans, she yanked the zipper down. Desire raged through him like wild fire, but he caught her hands before she could reach inside his jeans, lifting her arms above her head, instead.
“Zeph, I want you...” Ivy whispered with a sweet whimper as he kissed down her chest.
He peeled off her leggings, and she slid her underwear down for him.
Letting go of her hands, he unhooked her bra behind her back, setting her breasts free, then caught the hard peak of one in his mouth again.
Touching, kissing, tasting...
Every moment with Ivy brought him more to life. The months of captivity moved further away in his mind and his memories. She was the only one real right now. He willingly let her take over all of his senses.
“Ivy,” he repeated her name, caressing her skin with his lips as he moved down her body.
A shiver ran through her when he stroked the insides of her thighs. He did it again, making sure his touch was slow and deliberate.
He then lowered his mouth to her, gliding his tongue between her slick, heated folds.
“Oh, God, Zeph...” She arched her back, bucking her hips.
Ivy trembled, and he gripped her hips tighter, keeping her in place. She would not escape the pleasure he was making her feel.
Her moans grew louder. She fisted her hands in his hair, teasing it out of the knot he had made. Set free, his long hair spilled over her naked thighs, making her gasp.
She tightened her grip on his hair, sending a shiver of pleasure from the sting at the roots all the way down his back. He groaned against her flesh.
She tensed like a string under his relentless caress, and he sucked harder, willing her to let go and already tasting her impending climax.
“Zeph...” She tugged on his hair instead, prompting him to glance up. “I want you with me this time. Come here, please.”
The achy pressure in his groin throbbed hot and urgent. A prickling sensation along his spine came with it. The spikes of his fins pushed against his skin from the inside, straining to spring free.
They were filled with poison.
“I’ll hurt you,” he croaked, pressing the throbbing bulge in his pants into the mattress, to alleviate the building pressure. It only made it worse, sending a shudder of need through his body.
“How?” She rose on her elbows. Her summer-green eyes filled with confusion and concern.
He crawled over her, bringing his face closer to hers.
“The spines, remember?”
She had witnessed him murder the bracks in Ghata’s basement. She had seen the poison from his fins bubbling in their wounds. Understanding shone clearly in her eyes, with a flash of horror that made his heart sink.
“I won’t let it happen, Ivy,” he assured her. “I’ll never hurt you.”
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she sat in bed, making him sit up, too. Stradling his thighs, she slid her fingers down his spine, following the curve of each vertebra.
Intense pleasure rippled along his skin in the wake of her touch.
“Ivy, baby, please don’t...” he begged, stifling a moan.
“They’re hidden,” she whispered, removing her hands from him.
“For now. But if I come... When I let it go, I can’t control them.” Telling her this about himself, something he had never told anyone else, felt even more intimate than sex.
“Does it mean you haven’t been with a woman yet?” She stared at him. There was curiosity, a little confusion, disarming warmth, but thankfully no repulsion or resentment in her gaze.
“I have.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Twice. That I remember.”
Both times happened after his graduation from high school. His memories appeared to be reaching further into his adult life now.
“How?”
“Very carefully, holding back, controlling every move.” The experience was more exhausting than it was enjoyable. Of course, neither of those women knew the truth about him. Releasing his fins in front of them would be unthinkable.
“I’d only ever