“It isn’t pain,” Travis assured her, and it wasn’t. It was only sensation, glorious contact with his mate and an expression of his ability to make her resonate.
But he wasn’t able to hold back his own need now, and when he pressed his hungry manhood against her, she opened her legs eagerly.
She was so wet, so soaked in her own joyous juices, that Travis slipped in faster than he meant to, driving into her to the base of his shaft in one firm motion.
She cried out in ecstasy, rising to meet him and wrap her legs around his waist. “Yes, oh, yes,” she gasped.
Her encouragement was all that Travis needed to begin thrusting in earnest, losing himself in the velvet of her skin, the smell of her sex, the sounds of her enjoyment. When she came again, clawing more gently along his arms this time, he made himself withdraw, panting and fighting hard not to come too quickly himself. He gently pulled her up, kissing her, then guided her over onto her knees.
She was intoxicatingly responsive, finding fresh delight in this new angle of penetration, and Travis finally let himself empty into her, his finally shuddering thrusts making her cry out in release one final time.
Chapter 14
Jenny didn’t realize she was dozing until Travis stirred beside her and she jolted into awareness again.
The delicious languor of sex still felt like it was weighing down her limbs, but familiar doubts were re-surfacing. Was this connection all otter and none of her own self? Would she continue to feel less human if she let herself fall further in love with this man?
The smell of crushed greens penetrated her thoughts, and Jenny realized that they were lying in one of the flower beds. She was delightfully sore in unexpected places, and felt guilty.
“Is Graham going to be angry?” She asked tentatively.
“Screw Graham,” Travis said, drawing her closer into his arms.
Jenny chuckled into his shoulder.
“I should go,” she said, finally pulling away and sitting up. “Once I find my clothes.”
Travis sat up beside her, a hand on her thigh, caressing her gently in a way that made her blood stir even after all they’d already done. “I have a room in the staff house at the edge of the resort. You can stay the night there with me.”
Jenny didn’t want to admit that she had spent the night before as an otter. She found it impossible to sleep as a human, her thoughts too jumbled up and chaotic to give her any rest. Only slipping back into otter form had brought her peace, and she’d slept in a pile of leaves under a hedge. Gizelle assumed she slept nights at Laura’s cottage, and Laura stilll thought she was rooming with Gizelle.
“I… can’t,” she said, drawing away and scrambling to her feet. She found her dress with one foot, and yanked it over her head with determination. Her sandals were next to the bench, and she stuffed her feet into them.
Travis rose from the flower garden, a gorgeous slab of naked hunk even in the very faint, shivery light of stars and distant resort lights. “Jenny…”
This was the ‘what happens next’ talk, Jenny realized, and panic rose up in her throat, choking her. She didn’t know what she wanted, even if she was sure now who she wanted. This was too fast, too much, it was all otter, not herself. She didn’t know who she was.
“I’m sorry,” she squeaked, and then she fled, not even bothering to find her underwear.
You’re going the wrong direction! her otter told her shrilly.
Jenny stumbled over the path, her vision swimming as she battled otter inside her head for control over her limbs.
I didn’t ask for you, she wailed at the creature in her head.
You needed me, the otter returned, fiercely.
You can’t hold that against me forever, Jenny protested. You saved me, great. But I want
my life back.
I’m not trying to hold anything against you, her otter growled back. But I clearly haven’t finished saving you. You still need me.
I need you? Jenny was outraged. I need you like I need a hole in the head. You want nothing but pleasures of the flesh, pursuing your own selfish agendas. You don’t even care that you’ve ruined my life. I can’t do my job! I can’t read! I can’t shift without claws, or whiskers, or pointed teeth because you won’t let go of me!
She thought that the silence in response was a victory, but her otter finally came back and told her softly, Did you ever think that you can’t shift completely human because you’re afraid of losing me, that it’s you not letting go of me?
Jenny’s feet had taken her inexorably to the ocean, and she stood at the edge of the deserted beach now and considered her otter’s uncomfortable idea without flinching. The chairs were all folded up and leaning against the beach bar. The stretch of empty sand was silver, with faint gossamer waves lapping against the shore. A sign proclaimed that no lifeguard was on duty.