Rating: M | Multi-Chapter | Paced Publishing

The following chapter is rated M, but you won't miss plot, if you decide to skip over it. I'm not one for overly sexualized scenes, so I tried to stay classy about it. I don't use vulgar slang terms for body parts, but I don't get clinical about it either. Enjoy!

Chapter Two

Claire clung to him, her face pressed into his chest, laughing as the wind whipped against their damp skin with his quick movements. Jim leapt through the air, clutching his mate's body close to his own, as he sought out a refuge for them. His cargos were soaked and heavy, trying to slide down his hips. Luckily, he hadn't been a complete idiot and had thought to bring a pack of extra clothes with him when he had gone to drown his instincts in the coldness of the river.

Not that that had done much good.

It was pitch black now, at least to a human, but Jim could see around him enough to find a decent sized alcove higher up on a cliff. They couldn't see or hear the camp anymore, so they had privacy, and Jim was certain he could scent his way back when they needed to meet back up with the others. Carefully, he set her down onto the smooth, stone floor of the alcove before returning to the entrance to scent for any threats. Thankfully, other than the sounds of a few cave crickets further down the ridge, there were no other living things anywhere close to them.

"Jim?" Claire called out, her voice a little nervous. He rushed back to her side in an instant, grasping her reaching hands in his, her eyes wide, but unseeing.

"Sorry," Jim whispered, freeing one of his hands to caress her face as she calmed. "I forgot you can't see. Here, wait—"

Jim kept one of his hands grasped in hers while he reached for his pack with the other, pulling out a Glow Crystal after a bit of fumbling. He gave it a shake to activate it, and a moment later the crystal was illuminating their temporary nest with a soft, blue light. With the Glow Crystal's light, Claire's pale skin seemed like it was exuding moonlight, and Jim was momentarily entranced with the ethereal visage of his sorceress, her breasts heaving with her heavy breaths. As she sat cross legged in front of him, her excruciatingly tempting scent was heavy and dense in the air, nothing but the thin scrap of fabric that were her panties keeping her concealed from him.

"Claire—"

Jim wasn't sure who grabbed who first, but he and Claire were tangled around each other in the millisecond after his gasped utterance of her name, their hands roaming wildly across each other's bodies, their lips trailing hot, wet kisses wherever they could reach. Claire's underwear was flung somewhere off into the back of the alcove and his own remaining clothes were quick to follow. If he ripped any of them, he was in too much pleasure and love to care. The Glow Crystal clattered to the floor as Jim let go of it in order to hitch Claire's naked body higher up against his own.

"J-Jim!" Claire gasped, her hands finding leverage on his horns as he snuffled into her chest, his mouth latching hungrily onto one of her breasts. Her scent spiked again, and he growled in desire against her body, the sensation causing her to moan loudly.

"God, you smell good," Jim growled, releasing her breast with a wet pop. His arms wrapped around her waist, lifting her even higher. She was practically standing over him now, but he was the one holding her up while she panted, her grip on his horns still tight.

"No, wait—" Claire attempted to pull his head up by his horns, but he was stronger than her, and he was allowing his instincts to take over. "Let me—"

"I'm fine," he managed to mumble, but she didn't have a chance to respond before his nose was pressed to her dark curls and his tongue was tasting the source of that delicious scent.

Claire squirmed frantically in his arms, but Jim figured by the way she was pulling him closer by his horns that she was not trying to get away. He almost laughed, but her taste and scent were so overwhelming that all he could do was press himself closer, his tongue lapping at her wildly. His four-fingered hand slipped down over her bottom to grasp her thigh and lift it over his shoulder, opening more of her body to his attentions. His hand trailed back up to between her spread legs, and he only hesitated a moment before gently pressing against her entrance with his thumb, forcing his head back to watch as it disappeared into her body.

"Ah!" Claire gasped, jerking back away from him a little, and he halted his movements immediately.

"No?" Jim managed to rasp out, licking his lips as he looked up to meet her eyes.

"C-could you… at the same time?" Claire panted, her face burning red, seemingly unable to meet his eyes.

Jim chuckled, leaning forward to give a teasing lick to her bundle of nerves. "Like that?"

"Y-yeah," she replied, her whole body lurching forward at the sensation.

Jim obliged his mate's request and pressed his tongue back to her body. He wanted to watch his hand and her reaction, but he understood that she likely needed the extra stimulation of his tongue to distract from any discomfort she was feeling. He idly wondered if she realized that he was working on instinct alone, as equally inexperienced as she was. The notion that they would be each other's first and only was a thrilling thought to Jim, and Claire cried out as he growled against her body, doubling his tongue's efforts while gently moving his thumb in and out of her body, holding himself back from moving too quickly by a fraying thread of control.

Suddenly, Claire's legs seemed to seize up, the one tossed over his shoulder squeezing tightly, while the other jerked and trembled as she tried to maintain her balance on the floor by her toes. She gasped frantically and curled her body around his head. He heard an odd clacking and grinding sound, a slight vibrating sensation knocking through the top of his skull, and with an excited jolt south, Jim realized that she was biting down on his horn. He kept his tongue and hand in motion until her whole body jerked and tightened, her voice slightly muffled as she cried out again. When he felt her body tighten around his thumb, he thrust it forward quickly, breaking the skin inside, while continuing to lick and suck on her bundle of nerves. He hoped the pleasure of her orgasm overrode any pain she might have felt from the action. Claire's body spasmed from the sensation, but she moaned his name so sweetly that Jim knew he was pleasing her beyond anything else. As her body relaxed in his arms, practically going limp, he gently licked up the small amount of blood that had seeped from her before she could push his head away.

"I love you," Jim whispered as he allowed her body to slide limply down his own, and she hugged his shoulders lazily, seemingly not bothered by her own taste as she leaned forward and they shared a slow, sloppy kiss. She was hot, sweaty, and her hair was sticking to her forehead and neck, the white streak a stark contrast against her dark brown hair.

"Mi alma gemela," Claire replied against his lips, and he wasn't quite sure what she had said, but knew it must be good with the way she was now insistently pressing her wetness against where he was trapped between their bodies. "Let me…"

Jim grasped her traveling hand and brought it back up to rest against his chest, giving a shy grin at her confused expression. "Unless you've changed your mind, that's probably a bad idea right now."

"Changed my mind?" Claire questioned, cocking her head to the side cutely in confusion.

He huffed a laugh through his nose, and despite his embarrassment, leaned forward to press his forehead to hers. Finally, Jim said the words that had been insinuated at, but had been left directly unsaid.

"You wanted to make a baby, right?"

Claire's face turned red, but her confused expression cleared, and she smiled widely. She lifted her hands to his face and pulled him in for another sloppy kiss, and he laughed joyously against her lips. She began to shift her body off of his, presumably to lie down, but he tightened his arms around her waist, holding her in place.

"Don't tell me you're that sensitive?" Claire laughed lightly, and Jim smirked back at her, amused.

"I might be," he laughed teasingly, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. "You be on top. You can move the way you need to."

Claire gave him a startled look, her cheeks turning red again. "But... don't you want…?"

"Claire," Jim interrupted gently, his five fingered hand leaving her waist to caress her face, tilting her chin up to force her to look at him. "I promise you, there's nothing you could do that isn't going to feel amazing to me."

She smiled back at him, her own hand coming back up to cup his cheek as well, but she seemed embarrassed about something. "I might not… um… I mean, the first time…"

Jim smirked and leant his head closer to Claire's, giving a couple of quick licks to the underside of her jaw. He could feel the goosebumps rising on her skin as he replied softly, "I can help with that."

Her only response was to wrap her arms around his shoulders and press her mouth and tongue to his again. Jim obliged, falling into the heavy kiss, their mouths moving to other places, and he couldn't find an ounce of regret for the hickeys he knew he was marking her with. In the midst of this, she shifted in his lap again, leaning up on her knees as she straddled him. The movement brought her breasts level with his mouth, and he latched on again, licking and sucking hungrily.

His attention, however, didn't last long and her breast dropped from Jim's mouth, a strangled moan combined with a growl forcing itself from his chest. Claire's sneaky hand had grasped him lightly to line him up with her own body, and she was sinking down on him, hot and wet and — oh, Merlin, this is gonna be over quick — so, so tight. Instinctively, his hips thrust up, pressing himself deeper into her body, and she gave a short yelp, her hands scrambling to grab his scruff.

Jim flung his hands away from Claire's hips to dig into the stone floor instead. "Sorry, sorry!"

"No, I…" Claire panted through heavy breaths, and he watched her expression carefully, his body trembling with the effort of keeping still. "It hurts, but… something felt good too, when you moved."

She moved again, sinking down further onto him, and Jim squeezed his eyes closed, his head falling back, a low growl of pleasure reverberating in his chest. She paused again, panting into his chest, pressing her lips to the wound above his heart.

"Thrust again."

"Are you trying to make me lose it?" Jim gasped, laughing breathlessly.

Claire giggled, equally as breathless, her fingers buried in his scruff, tugging in a way that sent chills up and down his spine. He twitched inside of her, and she gave a gasping moan at the sensation. "That is the general idea."

"I won't last," Jim warned her, his hands already moving back to her waist.

"S'okay," Claire replied sweetly.

Claire tightened her fingers in his scruff, and he growled deeply at the sensation. Jim took a long breath in through his nose, taking in her intoxicating scent, and allowed his instincts to surface. In an instant, his hips jerked up again, and then they were pressed together fully, his tip pressed against her cervix. They both gasped and moaned at the sensation, Jim growling loudly at the way her body accepted his.

"Jesus! Oh, Deya—!"," he rasped, thrusting again, unable to resist the pleasure she was giving him. "Are you—?"

"Ah!" Claire cried out with his movements. He tried to pace himself, but couldn't help but thrust erratically, again and again. Claire's head had fallen backward, and she was gasping random words in Spanish and English toward the ceiling. "M'okay, m'okay… don't stop!"

Jim groaned, his movements increasing as she became slicker. Claire suddenly jerked her head up and shot forward, pressing her face into the juncture of his neck and shoulder. Again, she dug her teeth into his thick flesh, and that was all it took.

"Claire!" Jim yelped her name as electricity seemed to rip through his body, and he gripped her hips tightly while he thrust up once more. His stomach clenched, his legs seized, and his whole pelvis ached in pleasurable agony as he spilled over deep inside of his mate's body.

They collapsed together, a gasping, sweaty mess, and he fell backward, his horns knocking against the ground with the movement. Claire's body was limp, her legs trembling, but she remained upright, her hands pressing into his belly to help her keep her balance.

"Good?"

Jim laughed weakly, massaging her thigh with his four fingered hand. "Amazing." He sat up again, hugging her to his chest as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Are you okay?"

Claire laughed, pulling his head down to share a soft kiss, mumbling against his lips, "Amazing, mi alma gemela."

"What is that?" he asked quietly, exhaustion beginning to creep up on him. He never would have thought sex would use so much energy. "You said it before too."

She smiled sweetly and then moved to her knees, their bodies disconnecting. They both shuddered at the sensation, but Jim was the one whose breath was stolen when Claire murmured her translation into his pointed ear.

"My soulmate. My mate."

"Mate?" Jim's heart was pounding again, never imagining that she would use that word. She would have surely heard the trolls using it to refer to their partners, and he knew that Bagdwella often asked Claire "where is your mate?" in reference to himself when she was looking for him to complain about something; however, he had thought that Claire wouldn't want to use that wording, that it was too animalistic.

"Of course," Claire pulled her head back to press her lips to his, licking gently. "Forever."

Jim gave a strangled laugh, repeating the words he had said when he had sealed his fate by breaking the Amulet to find Merlin, though with far more happiness this time. "Forever and ever."

To be continued…

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