The Snow Leopard's Heart (Glacier Leopards 4)

Joel pulled back just far enough to position himself. Nina helped, tilting her hips up and spreading her thighs open.

She had a sudden thought of what this must look like, and blushed hard, but somehow that sense of inappropriateness, of what it meant to just spread herself open for this man, only added to the thrill of doing it.

And then they were really doing it.

Joel pushed in slowly, his breath coming in deep bursts as he tried to control himself. Nina was braced for discomfort—it had always hurt a little, even after the first time—but there was none. Just a feeling of delicious, full-body satisfaction. Of being touched everywhere she needed it, of the emptiness being filled.

Nina heard herself let out a long, contented groan. Joel looked up at her face and smiled, surprisingly sweet, considering what he was doing.

“I guess I don’t have to ask if you like it,” he said.

Nina shook her head, wordless in her satisfaction. Joel settled in, seated fully inside of her, and let out his breath in a long sigh.

“God,” he said. “You feel perfect.”

The words filled her with—what? Something more than what she’d already been feeling. Not just satisfaction, but joy.

Then Joel started to move. And oh God, Nina had thought she’d been feeling pleasure before, but it turned out she’d had no idea.

It was like—when he’d been touching her clit, the pleasure had been intense, but she now realized it had also felt superficial. Surface-level. This was deep, and primal, and real. This, Joel leaning in to kiss her as he thrust deep inside, was everything she needed.

Nina lost track of time. Everything was the rise and fall of pleasure, was Joel’s deep groans and sharp gasps as she shuddered and clenched around him. The way their bodies moved together was the rhythm of her breath, her heartbeat, her entire being.

Gradually, that rhythm increased. The rises were higher, faster, and the falls were shallow and over quickly. Joel thrust in harder, his mouth hot on hers. “Nina,” he groaned. “Nina.”

Nina came for the third time. This was like an earthquake shaking her body, spasms of pleasure rocking her down to her core, spreading out to her fingers and toes. She couldn’t tell up from down, only that Joel was holding her tight, murmuring in her ear as she shuddered and quaked.

Eventually, it lessened, and then subsided, and then she could think again.

Joel was half-over her, half-next to her, propped up on one elbow. When she focused on him, he reached out and ran his knuckles softly down her cheek. “Hey,” he said.

“Hi.” Nina blinked. “Did you—”

He chuckled and nodded. “Oh yeah. When you just...when you just came apart like that. I couldn’t hold on any longer. Seeing you, feeling you...” He drifted off, then shook his head. “I’ve never felt anything like that before.”

“Neither have I.” Nina’s body still felt like it was fizzing with the aftermath of what they’d done. “Mmm. I never went to move again.”

“Well, out here no one can make you.” Joel’s hand drifted down from her face to stroke over her side, palming the curve of her hip. “In fact, if you just stay right there, looking like that, I think I’d be the happiest man alive.”

Nina smiled up at him. She felt weirdly...comfortable.

That wasn’t quite the right word, though. The nest of blankets and pillows in front of the fire was comfortable, and her body was still shimmering with the aftermath of pleasure. But it was more than just the physical feeling.

It dawned on her slowly, as she watched Joel watching her. Because inevitably, always, whenever she was happy, she started thinking about what might happen next. And now, she realized...she wasn’t afraid.

She wasn’t worried. She wasn’t anxious. There was no frantic anticipation of what was coming. No conviction that she had to prepare herself.

She felt safe.

And with that, her eyelids started to drift close. “That’s right,” she heard Joel murmur. “Go on and sleep. I’ll be right here.”

Nina knew he was telling the truth. She let herself go, and slept.

***

Joel woke up in a sudden rush, eyes snapping open.

It was morning. The dawn light was filtering in through the cabin’s intact windows, and the fire had died down overnight. Nina breathed softly next to him, her body relaxed in sleep, her eyelashes resting against the delicate skin of her cheek.