But there was an untethered impatience lingering in his eyes. “You told me to give you the Beast,” he said firmly. And she heard the unspoken word in his tone: betrayal. Even though he’d never admit it, right now, she was just another person who let him down.
Holly nodded, then drew both hands over his face, fingers tangling in the curls of his beard. “I did,” she said evenly. “And I meant it. But I think there’s more to your bear than claws and fangs.”
His eyes watched her and she could see the inner cogs of his mind spinning. Then he took her in his arms and lifted her up, like she weighed nothing, despite all her curves. He was still forceful, but there was a deliberate gentleness in his touch now and she hooked her legs around his hips as he carried her through the room. “I need stars,” he said, snagging the quilt off the couch as he went.
Holly hooked her arms around his neck and nodded. “Okay.” He carried her out the door, past the porch, and into the thick of the woods. It was a crisp summer night, and the breeze felt good on her skin. The woods were dark, thick with trees, and Holly could hear the sounds of owls and crickets over the crunch of Jacob’s boots. Normally, being in the woods at night like this would have scared her, but Jacob walked with such purpose that Holly felt at ease here. He’s the king of the woods, she thought to herself. And I’m the queen. There’s nothing to fear here.
They walked a little further until they got to a clearing. Holly could hear the bubble of a stream nearby though she couldn’t see it. She kept her head tucked against his shoulder and felt a strange peace seep into her bones, like she was in a dream and she just knew, somehow, that everything was going to be alright.
Jacob laid the quilt down on the grass and then eased Holly down on top of it. The trees broke here and she could see the sky clearly, dark above her. The moon was swollen—nearly full—and it hung heavy and bright in the sky, milky stars illuminating the shadows around them.
Jacob settled down on his back beside her and, for a moment, they both just watched the sky. Holly snuggled up with her head on his chest. She could hear his breath beside her, deep and easy, as though a lock around his lungs had finally unhinged.
“Shooting star,” she said after a moment. “Do you see it?”
“Make a wish,” he murmured.
They lapsed into silence again, though the trees seemed to talk enough for both of them—leaves whistling, nighttime animals humming and chirping.
“We’re going to be parents,” she said, like she couldn’t believe it.
He flashed her a grin. “You’re going to be a great mom.”
“You think so?”
“I know it.”
His lips covered hers then, in a soft, warm kiss. His eyes still shimmered with flecks of gold, but he felt less frantic against her now. More like marble, hard and smooth and dangerously beautiful.
Words caught in her throat and she nodded. When he kissed her again, his tongue swiped over hers and it felt as though he filled a void she hadn’t known was empty. She wanted to feel him everywhere, wanted him to fill all of her, and she made that apparent, wrapping her legs around his hips. Jacob didn’t need much more encouragement—he took off his clothes, then hers, peeling back each layer until they were naked underneath the blanket of moonlight. The quilt felt rough on her back, but Jacob was warm on top of her. She felt his wiry chest hair catch on her hard nipples, making them ache, and she felt completely intoxicated, drunk on this man on top of her and the nighttime that covered them both. It was like it had gotten inside her, somehow, and when Jacob’s calloused fingers pressed between her legs, opened her slit, and curled inside of her, it was warm moonlight that came pouring out.
Moonlust. She understood the term suddenly, so clearly, and she wrapped around Jacob with both her arms and legs as he buried himself deep inside of her. He was hot and hard and she arched into his hips to take more of his velvet cock. Her fingers dug into his skin, grabbed handfuls of his thick hair, and clung to him tightly as he moved on top of her in rolling waves. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t find the words to describe how she was feeling, this peaceful euphoria and maddening pleasure, so she dissolved into gasps and whimpers and moans as he mounted her. He was forceful and, when she grabbed at him, she could feel his strong arms working, the lean muscles in his back coiling and flexing as his hips drove repeatedly between her legs.
Already, Holly could feel the intense pleasure building to a peak inside of her. Her pussy clutched his cock as it pummeled her mercilessly, until she whimpered through the first waves of her orgasm, fluttering around his hard organ. But he didn’t stop there; he continued to push against her, his breath pattering against her sweat-soaked skin. Holly felt her body suck his, and her legs trembled, helpless underneath him. Her powerful man. Her beast of a man. Hers. Heat rose between them, unrelenting. She felt him shudder over her, his breath caught on a grunt, and he broke his steady, pounding rhythm as he lost control and shot—hot, thick—inside of her. The sensation brought another sharp throb from Holly and she thrashed, suddenly feeling just as animal as he was, as cried out, loudly, into the empty night as she came with him.