Текст книги "Berries and Greed"

Автор книги: Lily Mayne

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Текущая страница: 15 (всего у книги 33 страниц)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Beryl

As I left work the following afternoon, I tried not to double over from the intense cramps stabbing through my entire lower abdomen.

They’d started about an hour ago, which I knew meant I probably had minutes before my period officially arrived. I hoped I managed to get home before I bled through my pants, but at least they were black and hidden by my coat.

I’d had the morning shift today, so it was only four, still light as I began walking down the street. I didn’t ask Greid to stop work to come and meet me when I finished at this time, even though he constantly offered.

At least I’ll be able to wallow in pain and misery all night without having to come back out.

By the time I got home, I was sweating from the pain. The first day of my period was always an utter bitch. After shedding my coat and boots, I hurried upstairs to my bedroom, shouting a hello to Greid in his workshop, and rifled through my bathroom cabinet for pads.

Shit, I only had one left. I’d just been coming off my period when I left the compound, and I hadn’t thought to grab more. Shoulders slumping with the realisation that I would have to go back out, I used the toilet then went to leave my room, but instead curled up on my bed in a moaning ball for a while. Hopefully the cramps would ease up in a few hours, so I’d go out then to get more pads, I decided, sitting up and reaching for my pyjamas and onesie.

Greid found me about ten minutes later, curled up on the couch in the living room. I’d covered myself in the blankets he normally used so I could breathe in his scent as I lay there staring vacantly at the TV, which was showing some daytime show about humans having to guess the values of demiurgus artefacts and creations.

“What’s wrong?” he asked straight away, coming to crouch in front of me.

“Period started,” I said, grimacing through another wave of cramps. His yellow eyes softened in sympathy.

“Want me to get you some painkillers?” He jumped up. “I’ll go find that hot water bottle too. I know I have one.”

I made a weak move to pull the blankets off me. “I can get them—”

“No, you stay there.” He raced out of the room and I heard him thumping up the stairs.

When he came back, he was carrying a glass of water and a packet of ibuprofen, with a big hot water bottle tucked under his arm. I smiled at him as I pushed up onto one arm to swallow the pills with a sip of water.

“Want me to go get you some snacks?” Greid asked as he handed me the hot water bottle and set my glass down on the coffee table.

I sighed. “I’ll go. I have to go buy more pads anyway.”

“I can get them,” he said instantly. “And I’ll get snacks. Just tell me what kind. Of pads, I mean.”

“Um, any, I guess.” We’d always just got the same kind at the compound. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”

“Of course not.”

I smiled up at him as I flopped back down onto my side. “Thanks, Greid.”

He hesitated, then gently reached out and tucked the stray curls that had flopped over my face behind my ear. My heart spasmed, and I almost reached up to grab his hand and press a kiss to it.

Snatching his hand back, he jumped to his feet and mumbled, “Um, okay, I’ll just get changed and go.”

“Thank you,” I said again, watching him stride quickly out of the room.

A few minutes later, he ducked his head back in, now dressed in jeans and a sweater. “Any snacks in particular?”

I thought about it. “Potato chips, please. And an iced tea.”

“Okay.” His fingers flexed against the door jamb. “I’ll be back soon. Then we can just hang out all night doing nothing.”

Once I’d heard the front door open and close, I exhaled and shut my eyes, but that only made me focus on the cramps more, so I opened them again to try and concentrate on the TV. When I felt my phone vibrating in the big front pocket of my onesie a while later, I pulled it out and saw a text from Greid.

I chuckled when I opened it and saw the picture he’d sent: shelves and shelves of period products. Then he sent, This is confusing.

Smiling, I texted back, Just grab any! Pads, though. Not tampons.

Ten seconds later, a video call came through. I grinned when I answered and Greid’s narrow, dark face filled the screen, an earbud in one ear.

“You’re gonna have to show me. There’s too many options.” He flipped to the back camera, and I heard his knees crack as he crouched down. “Okay, so you want the ones with wings, right? A lot of the ones called pads seem to have wings.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, please.”

“They have organic ones here.” He zoomed in on a box. “Is that important?”

Laughing, I said, “I don’t know, but I don’t need organic ones.”

“What about night-time ones? Do you need those?” Greid picked a box up. “How are they different?”

“Um, I think they’re just bigger. More absorbent.”

“So the manufacturers don’t claim that they have, like, special night-time period-fighting powers through absorbing moonlight or something?”

I snorted a laugh. “Wouldn’t that require people to go outside and present their underpants to the moon?”

“I dunno, maybe some people do. This may come as a shock to you, Beryl, but I’m not actually an expert on human periods.”

Through more laughter, I said, “Just get those ones there, in the blue box. Regular.”

“’Kay.” He picked two boxes up, then focused the camera on something else. “Oh wow, look, they have underwear with, like, built-in ones. That seems environmentally friendly. Do you want some of those?”

My belly was cramping up from chuckling. “Just the pads is fine, Greid.”

“And chips and iced tea, right?” He put them in his basket and flipped back to the front-facing camera.

I gazed at him, still grinning, as he walked down the aisle and glanced up, tracking something that passed him. If his nose hadn’t been so flat, I would’ve been able to see right up it.

“Beryl?” He looked down at the camera again as he walked through the store. “Chips and iced tea, yeah?”

“Oh.” I flushed. “Yeah, please. Are you getting anything?”

“Nah.” He grinned down at me slyly. “I don’t want to ruin my dinner.”

I snorted, rolling my eyes, then listened to him load some chips—multiple bags—into his basket. Then he made a face and grabbed something else. Then, as he walked down the aisle, several more things.

I laughed. “What are you getting?”

“Just snacks.” He picked up something else and looked down at the phone again. “What are we having for dinner? It’s your night to pick.”

“You’re thinking about dinner while you’re picking snacks?”

“Well, yeah. What we have for dinner dictates my snack choices.”

“Does it?” I said dryly. “Because you already seem to have grabbed a lot.”

He grunted. “Those are universal snacks. They go with everything. Is the hot water bottle helping?”

I smiled and pressed it tighter to my lower belly. “Yeah, it is. Thanks.”

“Good. I’m just grabbing your iced tea, then I’ll be on my way home.”

The camera shifted as he opened a refrigerator and reached in, angling down a little to show me the prominent bump in his throat. I stared at it. My tongue pressed against the back of my teeth as an entirely inappropriate image popped into my head—of me fisting Greid’s long hair and yanking his head back, exposing his throat so I could nibble on that bump and feel it bob against my teeth with his moans.

I went hot all over, blinking rapidly when I realised Greid had looked back down at the camera and was staring at me expectantly.

“What?” I said numbly. “Sorry, I didn’t…”

“I said I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

“Oh!” My laugh was strained. “Yep, see you soon. Bye!” I blurted it too loudly and hung up.

“Beryl,” Greid said, the moment I stepped back into the living room after going upstairs to change my pad. “What is this?”

He was staring down disdainfully into a big plastic bowl with a clear lid. I’d heard the doorbell go while I was coming back downstairs, and he’d already unpacked the containers of food.

I frowned, walking over to the couch. “What is it? Did they get our order wrong?”

When I reached him and saw what was in the bowl, I relaxed and chuckled. “Oh. No, that’s mine.”

“It’s salad.”

“Yeah.” I settled back under my blankets beside him on the couch.

“Is it a side for something?” He glanced over the other containers. “Like the garnish you don’t eat at restaurants?”

“A side?” I choked out, gesturing at the bowl. “Greid, it’s a huge chicken Caesar salad. That’s a main meal. Look at it!”

“It’s salad.” He held the bowl out to me, casting it one final look of mild disgust. “Enjoy.”

“Do demiurgus not really need to eat vegetables?” I asked with interest as I watched him peel the lid off his enormous portion of fettuccine alfredo.

He grunted. “We do. I should probably eat them more. According to my mom, anyway. But…” He gestured at his pasta as if that explained everything.

I laughed. “I get it.”

After years of living on a strictly controlled diet, I still wasn’t over the novelty of being able to eat whatever I wanted.

Settling back with my bowl, I watched Greid grab a fork and slump back on the couch, already twirling up his first big bite of pasta. His first enormous bite. Those smile lines cracked open, showing me every single one of his sharp back teeth as he opened his mouth wide and stuffed it in.

My lips twitched. “Good?”

“Mhmm.” He chewed, eyes fixed on the TV.

Deciding to leave him alone to enjoy his dinner, I started eating my salad. We were on a real Gloom Falls kick now. Even though Greid had seen it before—probably several times—he still paid rapt attention and reacted to all the ridiculous things that happened on the show. Gasping and nudging me when Ashi slapped Huna. Snorting in disbelief when Golir told his lifemate Pana that he was still at work when he was really next door in Ashi’s bed. Going “ooooooooh” in a foreboding tone when Loty discussed her lifemate Marish’s life insurance policy with Huna.

He was so ridiculously cute.

I’d already noticed that he ordered less food when it was my turn to get dinner, so when he’d passed my phone back after adding his pasta to the order, I’d tacked on some garlic bread for him. But it seemed like the fettuccine alfredo may have actually beaten him, because he didn’t even go for the garlic bread after setting down his empty container.

“You cannot be full yet,” I said. “Unless you secretly ate some snacks on your way home from the store earlier.”

He refused to look at me, appearing very engrossed in the TV. I burst out laughing, leaning to the side until my shoulder rested against his arm.

“Wait, is it because you didn’t smoke before dinner?” I asked. “Why didn’t you?”

“I didn’t know if the smoke would make you feel ill when you were already feeling shitty.”

I softened, briefly resting my head on his shoulder. “You’re sweet.”

“Nngh,” he mumbled, fingers fiddling restlessly with the blanket over his lap. “How was your gross salad?”

I laughed. “Really good. Want to try a bit?”

He side-eyed me. “No, thank you.”

“Aww, come on.” After setting my bowl down on the coffee table, I fished out the last piece of lettuce, soggy from having sat at the bottom in a puddle of dressing. “Will you try one piece of lettuce?”

“Don’t you dare come near me with that thing, Beryl.”

“Sure you don’t wanna try it?” I held it up in front of him. He tried to bat the dangling piece of lettuce out of my hand, which made me laugh and bring it closer again while making a spooky ghost noise.

“I’m not scared of it!” he griped, wriggling away. “It’s just gross!”

Of course I wasn’t actually going to force him to eat it, but he was laughing as he tried to squirm away from me, so I kept pretending, loving how little wrinkles would appear on the shallow bridge of his flat nose as it scrunched up with his laughter.

“Beryl!” He was gasping for breath between laughs, trying to dislodge all the blankets so he could get away. I wasn’t even holding the piece of lettuce anymore, having no idea where it was, but neither of us seemed to care.

Greid ended up flat on his back along the length of the couch as I sat on one of his thighs to keep his legs from flailing. Cackling, I grabbed his wrists and pinned them to the armrest either side of his head.

“Ha!” I grinned down at him in triumph, then blinked. “Oh shit, where’s the lettuce?”

Greid let out a last gurgle of laughter, his chest heaving, then tried to move one of his wrists and finally seemed to realise I had him pinned. His breath caught, wide eyes darting up to mine. Something in that look made me go still. It was like I could see the sudden shift in his mood.

And then he kind of… melted. He went totally lax beneath me, eyes growing hooded and lips parting around his shallow breaths. Shallow, excited breaths, I realised, noticing his dilated pupils and the way his face spikes were flexing languidly around his hairline.

His long fingers twitched on either side of his head, but he made absolutely no attempt to break his wrists free from my hold, even though he could have overpowered me easily. Laughably easily.

But he didn’t. He lay there in total submission. Not moving. Just waiting to see what I would do.

Arousal throbbed through me, chasing away the last of the fading cramps in my womb. And before I fully knew what I was doing, I lunged down and crushed my mouth to his.

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Chapter Twenty-Six

Beryl

Greid froze, before letting out a plaintive moan and kissing me back with desperation. My belly lurched with pleasure, especially when his thigh flexed between my legs and pressed briefly against my pussy.

Oh god. I moaned into his mouth, arousal rushing over me in a wave. But I needed more. More pressure. Releasing his wrists, I frantically hitched up my stupid onesie and clambered up to straddle his waist, still kissing him feverishly, unable to stop.

Our lips parted, tongues meeting in a rush. Greid’s breath hitched, hands finally lifting from the armrest to tangle through my hair, long fingers clutching the strands tight. I pressed my hips down, and both of us moaned when my pussy came into contact with something big—really big—and hard through layers of fabric.

Greid made a garbled sound into my mouth when I rocked my hips. I forced myself to go still, breaking the kiss to stare down at him, already panting.

“Do you want to stop?” I asked hoarsely.

“No,” he breathed straight away. “Please.”

I crushed my mouth back to his, immediately thrusting my tongue inside. My hips started rocking again, clit pulsing as it rubbed against the clean pad, which was quickly growing slick. I could almost feel his cock throbbing, but god, there were too many fucking layers between us. At least the blankets had been shoved aside during our tussle, but Greid’s onesie was frustratingly thick, and I couldn’t bring myself to tear my mouth away from his and sit back to shove it out of the way.

I didn’t need to anyway, I realised, my breaths quickening as I ground my hot pussy against his trapped cock. Breaking the kiss to suck in some air, I looked down between our bodies and felt my eyes bulge when I saw the enormous outline of his cock through the fabric of his onesie. Christ, that had to stretch way past his bellybutton.

Greid was panting beneath me, tiny sounds escaping him as his hands trembled in my hair. I was hot and flushed all over as I lifted my head to look at him, chest tightening when I saw the desperate, pleading look in his eyes.

“Beryl,” he croaked.

I kissed him again, cupping his face and grinding my hips harder and faster. He moaned helplessly into my mouth, hips twitching as he tried to keep them still. I had no idea if he’d be able to come from this—I was rubbing against the base of his cock, the rest left untouched—but suddenly, I didn’t care. Because I was about to come from this.

“Greid,” I gasped against his mouth, our kiss growing messy as the tingling throb in my clit began to spread, heat racing through my lower body. I bucked my hips faster and faster, unable to stop, no longer kissing him, instead just panting into his mouth. “Fuck, Greid—”

Bliss exploded, making my head crane back as I cried out, my hips jerking hard with every throb of my clit. Everything was hot and wet, my entire body sweating beneath my clothes, the heat between us searing from the friction of our bodies rubbing together.

I shuddered as the pleasure began to fade, seeking out Greid’s mouth again and moaning into it in utter relief. He was shaking beneath me, breaths hitching as his tongue thrust feverishly into my mouth.

He broke the kiss, panting and clutching my hair with trembling fingers as he gazed up at me, eyes desperate. “C-Can I—”

“Yes,” I rasped, still grinding against him even though it wasn’t feeling quite as good as it had before now that I was so sensitive. “I want you to come.”

As if he’d just been waiting for my permission—the thought of which was almost enough to make me come again—Greid bit his lip to muffle his desperate groans, eyes scrunching shut and head tipping back. He shuddered, gasping as his hips jerked beneath me. I could feel the base of his cock flexing against my tingling pussy. I could see the enormous outline of it, under the layers of fabric covering him, as it kicked up with each spurt of cum, stretching ridiculously far over his belly.

I moaned at the sight of him coming. Holy shit, I was watching Greid have an orgasm. Greid. Have an orgasm. I was seeing him at his most vulnerable, his features drawn tight with pleasure, his sharp teeth flashing and his throat bobbing with his hoarse moans.

He finally sagged beneath me, throat clicking as he swallowed around panting breaths. Dazed, bleary eyes blinked once before slowly lifting to meet mine. I heard his breath catch, and my insides cramped up when a hint of fear crept into his gaze.

“Are you okay?” I asked, worry flooding me. He nodded quickly.

“Yeah, I’m—” He swallowed again, brows pinching when I sat back and moved off him. Sitting up hurriedly, he reached for me but let his hand drop as he said, “Sorry, I—Was I supposed to…”

I frowned, thoroughly confused. “Supposed to what?”

His ears fluttered wildly as he scrubbed his face. “Was I too… Should I have…”

When he trailed off again, I gripped his knee and asked, “Should you have what, Greid? Stopped?” I guessed. “No. I didn’t want you to stop. I would have told you if I wanted you to stop. Did you want to stop?”

Dread flooded my belly like acid at the thought, but he quickly shook his head.

“No. Definitely not. I didn’t want to stop.”

“Okay, so…” I sat back and fiddled with the blankets, feeling strangely self-conscious. “What did you mean? Should you have what?”

He groaned and covered his face with his hands. “I don’t know. I just… Agma hated it when I was… like that.”

I flinched at the sound of his ex’s name mere moments after what we’d just done, but I still didn’t understand what he meant.

“No, I’m sorry,” Greid blurted out, shifting to face me and touching my arm. “I wasn’t thinking about her, Beryl. Not while we were—I just meant… she—she hated it if I was… You know.” His throat bobbed, and he whispered, “Submissive.”

I stared at him in shock. What? She’d hated it when he went all pliant and eager and desperate? How the fuck could anyone hate that?

Was that what he’d meant, when he said they wanted different things? And had she made him feel ashamed for it? He was acting like he thought he’d done something wrong. Fury boiled up, making my hands clench into fists.

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with you being submissive, Greid.” My voice trembled with emotion. “I liked it. I loved it. What we just did… You were amazing.”

He still looked so uncertain, hunched over and staring down at his hands. Not letting myself think too hard about it, I knee-walked closer and wrapped my arms around his head, pulling him into my chest.

He sagged against me, wrapping his long arms around my middle and clutching me tight. “Really?” he asked in a tiny voice.

My throat closed up. I pressed my lips to his hair and murmured, “Yes. It was perfect. You were so good, Greid.”

He shuddered, fingers clinging to the fabric of my onesie. Leaning back a little, I cupped his face and tilted his chin up so I could look at him.

“I told you I like being in control,” I said with a little smile, though it stretched into a grin when his eyes flared with renewed heat.

He licked his lips. “Y-Yeah. I remember.”

Stroking my thumb over his sharp cheekbone, I let my gaze drift down to his mouth. “Can I kiss you again, Greid?”

“Yes,” he said immediately, eyes turning pleading. “Please.”

His mouth was so wonderfully eager as I pressed mine to it, his long fingers clutching me tighter and a shudder wracking his frame when our tongues glided together. I gently urged him to lie back down, and he went willingly, shivering with pleasure as I lay down on top of him. For the first time since getting it, I wished I wasn’t wearing this giant hoodie. I wanted to feel his hands on me. Maybe if I hitched it up enough, he could get his hands under my pyjama top—

“B-Beryl.” He tore his mouth from mine, breathing hard and staring up at me with wide eyes. “I don’t—I don’t want you to think that I… planned for this or anything, when I went to the compound and asked you… I really didn’t. I promise. I didn’t ever expect to… I like you so much, but I didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable or like I’d go back on anything if you didn’t want the same thing.”

I softened, cupping his cheek. “I know, Greid. And I know you wouldn’t do that.” Kissing him again, I murmured against his mouth, “I really like you too. I’ve wanted to do this for a while.”

He let out a shuddering breath. “Me too.”

“Shall we just see what happens?” I smiled down at him. “I think it could… I think we could be really good. Together, I mean.”

His eyes filled with fragile hope. “Me too,” he said again, then exhaled softly as his body went lax beneath me. “Beryl.”

I kissed him again. Now that I’d done it, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to stop. The TV droned quietly on the other side of the room, forgotten as our tongues glided together. Greid’s was longer than a human’s. It had soft ridges down each side and felt almost rippled along the centre. I shuddered, imagining what that would feel like on other parts of me. Every other part of me.

I finally lifted my head when he squirmed and made a muffled sound against my mouth long minutes later.

“Shit.” He winced, lifting the neck of his hoodie and peering into its depths. “There’s, um, there’s jizz everywhere in there.”

I snorted with laughter and sat back on my heels so he could shift upright. “Are you not wearing a shirt underneath?”

“No, which was a mistake.” He ducked his head, ears fluttering. “Not that I knew we were gonna… That I was going to be… You know. Coming.”

My mouth stretched into a wide, slightly filthy grin that made his face spikes twitch as he glanced over at me sheepishly. “Well, good job you have more than one, huh?”

He had two giant onesies that he wore in rotation, so he wouldn’t have to go without while one was in the wash.

“Yeah.” He climbed off the couch. “I better—I’ll just go take a quick shower and put this in the laundry.”

“Are you coming back?”

“Yeah, of course,” he said hoarsely.

I grinned at him. “I’ll rewind the show back to where we, uh, stopped paying attention.”

Which reminded me—where was that piece of lettuce? I looked around in the blankets, glancing up just in time to see it stuck to the back of Greid’s onesie as he left the living room. I bit my lip around a smile. He’d see it when he took it off. Maybe. Or it might end up disintegrating in the washing machine.

My thighs still felt a little trembly from my orgasm as I rearranged our blankets and leaned forward to grab my water, gulping it down. The cramps had faded for the time being, so I was able to get comfy under the blankets as I rewound Gloom Falls and waited for Greid to come back.

I couldn’t stop the huge smile spreading over my face when he shuffled back into the living room a while later in his other onesie. He gave me a shy smile back, ears fluttering as he made his way over and went to sit down.

I grabbed his arm before he could. “Do you want to… Um, shall we lie down?”

Greid gulped but nodded. He awkwardly lay down along the couch, breath catching in his throat when I snuggled into his side, draping an arm and a leg over him and resting my head on his chest.

“Is this okay?” I asked. God, he smelled so good, and he was so warm, the faint scent of whatever body wash he used rising from his skin.

“Yes,” he said immediately. “Yeah, this is…”

Letting out a shaky breath, he dragged the blankets over us and wrapped his arms around me. When I felt him press a tentative kiss to my hair, I grinned so wide my cheeks hurt, squeezing my eyes shut to savour it.

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