The ledge we called the shore was a shallow pool off to the side from where the river continued. The water was low enough for me to stand with my shoulders above the surface. I looked up at Andrian with a gloating face. I had finally beaten him at something.

Without warning, he grabbed my waist and pulled me in so he could press his mouth to mine. The cold water had made his skin cool to the touch, but his mouth was hot as it devoured my own. The combination of hot and cold made me lose my mind for a moment and all I could do was cling to his wet clothes and let him do as he pleased.

He kissed me so deeply that it left me breathless. Tongues tangled and breaths intermingled endlessly and I melted into his embrace. For a moment, nothing existed for me but his hot mouth and the chill of the wet clothes being pressed against my skin by his body. When he finally pulled away, my head was spinning.

“That was the victory kiss you owed me,” he whispered into my ear. He’d released me from his arms, but he didn’t move away from me. All I had to do was lean forward and our bodies would be pressed together. “I want to give you a special prize too… There’s something right nearby that I want to show you. I’ll give you your prize when we get there. Will you come with me?”

Mesmerized by his sweet voice, I nodded without thinking. In that moment, I’d have followed him anywhere. We climbed out of the water and he took my hand and led me towards the waterfall. The hot sun felt pleasant as it warmed my cold clothes. We walked around the waterfall and behind it to the side of the cliff. Above me was the entrance to a cave that we’d never been able to explore.

“I was sixteen when I finally managed to climb up there. I can’t make the jump in this form, but I can do it as a lion,” he explained. “I can get myself up there then reach down to pull you up.”

I’d spent almost an entire afternoon trying to figure out a way up there at one point, but in the end, we were both too small to get up. I was still too small now. It was about eight feet above and the cliff was smooth, with no indentations to use for climbing. Recalling how Andrian’s lion had conquered our old playground, I had no trouble believing he could do it.

He shifted into a lion and backed up a bit before taking a running leap and landing easily at the mouth of the cave. Before I could even blink, Andrian had shifted again and was holding his hands down to me, ready to pull me up. I couldn’t help but marvel at how convenient it must be to have two forms like that.

We grasped each other’s wrists and he hauled me up. What I saw when I reached the top was amazing. The cave was shallower than I’d expected, only extending ten feet into the cliff. What had amazed me was that it wasn't just a hole in the rockface. There wasn’t any actual rock visible at all except for the far edge on which I stood. The whole space was covered in a thick, soft-looking moss, and ivy with hundreds of white flowers growing out of it decorated the walls. It was like nothing I’d ever seen before.

“The moss is thick and healthy,” Andrian commented, “and you can walk on it without disturbing it. Come inside.” He gently pulled my hand and led me inside. The ceiling was higher than I expected and decorated with the same ivy. The flowers seemed to give off some kind of light, and I felt like the sun was still shining on me. When I looked behind me, all I could see beyond the cave door was the waterfall cascading down. It was as if we’d entered into a strange, magical space. Perhaps we had, since the Beastlands were full of strange magic. Either way, it was beautiful.

While I was mesmerized by my first glimpse of the inside of the cave, Andrian was watching my reaction. When I came out of my daze and found him staring at me, I felt a familiar heat creep up my cheeks.

"I had the same reaction the first time I came up here," he said with a wistful smile, "I promised myself that one day I'd bring you here and show you. I'm willing to bet that you and I are the only two people who know about this place. I can't help but think that it was left here for us to find.

I knew he was just trying to make it sound romantic, but I wanted to believe that it was true. A special place that no one knew about, a place that was meant to be ours. Our secret space.

He hugged me from behind and asked, “Do you like it?”

I nodded that I did. It was one of the most incredible places I’d ever seen.

“I had a feeling you would.” He pulled me a little closer and in a soft voice he said, “So here we are. Just the two of us in this pretty little cave.” He began massaging my side gently. “There’s no one on the other side of the door now…”

My heart jumped as he said that. I thought back to the morning and the rush I’d felt as he washed my body. It definitely wasn’t a bad feeling.

“I owe you a prize for beating me down there, don’t I?” he asked in a seductive whisper with his lips right next to my ear. His breath on my skin made me shiver and I felt myself being swayed by his words. “Will you let me give you your prize?”

He practically purred that final question and nipped my earlobe. My knees went weak for a second, but Andrian held me in place. He continued to suck and bite my lobe, making it impossible for me to think about anything but his touch.

When I didn't respond, he turned me around and asked me again, "Falyn, yes or no, do you want your prize?"

He held me spellbound with his eyes and I knew what my answer was. I just had to say it. I averted my eyes and answered in a soft voice, "Y-yes..."

As soon as I finished speaking, he stole my lips and kissed me passionately. Before my brain had a chance to process what had just happened, I was swept off my feet and found myself laying on the soft moss of the cave floor. My heart felt like it was going to explode and I felt dizzy from his intense kisses. Whenever he pulled back for a moment, I'd gasp for air and then my mouth would be seized by his insistent lips again.

Our clothes were still wet and the fabric was cold enough to make me shiver. But then I felt my shirt being peeled off and my upper body being lifted. My shirt was soon gone, tossed into a corner of the cave. Andrian laid my body back down. The moss was soft and pleasant against my skin. My only concern was the man above me, who looked at me like I was his prey. He trailed his fingers up and down my sides, watching my reaction intently. Goosebumps broke out all over my body and I writhed under his touch. It felt good, but I was nervous. Just how far was he wanting to take this?

"Don't look so nervous," Andrian coaxed me, "I won't do anything scary, I promise. This is supposed to be a prize, remember? If you don't like it, just tell me to stop."

I nodded and he observed me for another moment before he slowly leaned down and kissed me tenderly. It was sweeter than before and I relaxed into him as the kiss continued. He slowly tasted me and continued to run his fingers up and down my sides. Every now and then the fabric of his shirt brushed against my skin, sending shivers through my body. In contrast to his warm hands and hot lips, the cold wet fabric kept bringing me back to reality.

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Noticing how I jumped every time his shirt brushed against me, he pulled away for a moment to pull it over his head and toss it aside. When he came back down, he pressed his lips to my neck. He began slowly kissing his way down to my collarbone before gently biting me and working his way back up to meet my lips again. He tangled my tongue with his for a brief moment before trailing his lips down the other side of my neck.

"Nngg-aah," a strange noise came out of my mouth as he bit down a little harder where my neck met my shoulder. I bit my lip, embarrassed by the sounds I was making, and heard Andrian chuckle as he licked and sucked his way down my chest. He licked a circle around one of my nipples before nipping the nub with his teeth. I felt my whole body jerk in response to his touch. He'd touched me like this before, but it was with his hands and through my clothes. The sensation of his mouth on my bare skin was on an entirely different level.

I realized that, despite my awful introduction to such things, this was probably how it was supposed to be. Hands, lips, and tongues being used to bring pleasure to one’s lover, not pain. Beneath the surface, I felt a flash of rage towards the people who had made me view it with fear. But I didn’t have time to dwell on it as Andrian moved his mouth across my chest to the other little nub that was waiting for his attention.

It went on like that for a long time. Andrian sucked and bit tirelessly on my chest, waist and shoulders, leaving his mark on every inch of me that he could. I soon stopped being embarrassed by the noises he elicited from me quite quickly because they kept coming out, again and again, and it was easier to let myself go. Every noise I made only encouraged him, and he became more and more relentless with his touches. Time passed in a blur as I lost myself in the constant sensations that washed over me. There was only him, me, the soft moss beneath me, and the sound of the waterfall.

At some point, I began struggling with the desire for him to do something more. I didn’t even fully understand what I wanted from him but I was burning with the need for some sort of relief from the pressure I felt building inside of me. His incessant touches began to frustrate me. I liked it, but I couldn’t take any more. I’d never felt anything like this before. This intense, burning desire was new to me, and it was both frightening and delicious.

Finally, when I thought I might run out of unmarked skin, Andrian finally pulled his mouth away and looked down at me. I looked back at him, half delirious and desperate. Seeing me in that state, he smiled in a way that made my heart pound uncontrollably. His fingers traced the top of my pants, and he gave me the same questioning look he’d given me when he’d helped me wash that morning. My mouth was dry as I lifted my hips to help him remove my cold wet pants. They were tossed aside like our shirts and I was exposed to the warm cave air. I averted my eyes, suddenly shy now that I was laid bare in front of him.

Andrian didn’t move at first. I could feel his gaze on me, burning into me, and I allowed my eyes to be drawn back to him. In his heated eyes, I also saw a hint of nervousness. Was he afraid I’d push him away again?

He lifted one of my legs up and rubbed his hand over my calf and up to my knee. I shivered and returned his heated eyes. He lifted my leg a little higher and kissed my ankle, keeping eye contact as he caressed and kissed his way up my calf to my knee. I couldn’t hold his eyes any longer and closed mine as I let out a small sigh. He gently placed my leg back down and lifted the other one to rub and kiss his way up to my knee. My whole body felt like it was on fire.

He began rubbing the outside of my thighs and leaned down and softly whispered into my ear, “It’s not over yet. If you're enjoying this, I can do something you'll like even more. Shall we continue?”

Mesmerized by his seductive tone, I found myself nodding without thinking. Andrian began to lick and suck his way up the inside of my thigh, stopping to leave a mark on the delicate skin of my inner thigh. He let go of the leg he was holding and moved back to the other one, repeating his way up to my inner thigh.

As he bit down on the soft flesh, I found myself gasping and struggling against some unknown force inside of me. There was still one part of me that he hadn’t touched yet. I burned with a desire for him to touch me there as well. There was no fear, no anxiety. All I could feel was a desperate need for more. Seeing my frustration, Andrian stopped nibbling my thigh and slowly traced his finger up my length, which had been painfully hard for some time now.

“Aah…” Just that one touch was enough to elicit a small noise from me. My hips jerked as he pulled his finger away. He watched me intently for a moment before touching me again, this time using three fingers to caress me from base to tip. I shuddered and arched my back as I tried to follow those fingers as he pulled them away. I felt as if I were losing my mind, those brief touches only adding fuel to the fire.

Finally, he wrapped his hand around me and began to stroke up and down. Having never even touched myself there before, the sensation of his hand rubbing up and down my length felt so intense that I couldn’t keep myself from moaning and jerking my hips along with his strokes. I’d never felt anything like it before, this intense pleasure that I didn’t know how to handle. It was almost too good. It was somehow frightening, as if something was building up inside me that I couldn't control.

I was so distracted by the sensation of his hand that I didn't notice his head moving. When he took the tip of my erection into his mouth, I didn’t fully comprehend what was happening. All I knew was that something warm and wet had enveloped me, and it felt better than anything I’d experienced before that. He licked and sucked my tip just like he did with every other part of me before he started taking me deeper into his mouth.

He moved his hand away and swallowed most of my length in one swift motion. I had to fight with myself to stay still as he lifted his head before slowly sucking me down again. As he bobbed his head up and down the pleasure I’d felt before began building again, faster and more intense this time. My body moved on its own, pushing against his shoulders, trying to escape the thrill of his touch. It was too good. My brain wasn’t willing to accept the overwhelming sensations my body was feeling.

Suddenly that intense pleasure I felt was gone. What replaced it was the resulting ache of having been so close and yet left unfulfilled. I looked up at him with an aggrieved expression, not understanding why he’d stopped so abruptly.

Andrian laughed softly, “Did I misunderstand? I thought you wanted me to stop.”

I realized then exactly what had happened. I felt myself flush and I struggled to come up with a response. He did misunderstand, but it was somehow too embarrassing to admit I’d panicked because it felt too good. However, my shameful blush combined with my twitching lower half gave it away without me saying a word. He lifted himself up to look down at me.

“Did you like it a little too much? ...Then should I keep going, even if you try to push me away? Hmm?” He spoke playfully, but I knew he was going to make me answer the question regardless. My face burned a deep crimson as I turned my head to avoid his gaze, then closed my eyes tightly and nodded.

The next thing I knew he was taking me in his mouth again, swallowing my entire length down his throat. This time I let myself go completely, gasping and making little noises, savoring the intensity of each new sensation. The pleasure built, taking me higher and higher until it became so overwhelming that I felt like I was going to explode. I began to push against his shoulders again, struggling to escape the building pressure. Taking me at my word, he didn't let me push him away and I soon let out a ragged cry as I reached the first climax I'd ever experienced. For a moment everything went white and I felt as if I was floating. I was vaguely aware that my body was still lying on the moss in the cave, with the roar of the waterfall in the background. I felt Andrian's throat tighten as he drank what I had released when I reached my climax. Then he kissed his way back up my body before releasing me completely. I lay panting, staring at the flowers and ivy that decorated the ceiling of the cave.

Andrian lay on his side beside me, smiling lazily as I turned to look at him. His face was hazy in my vision as I gazed at him contentedly. I finally understood. This wasn't just a pleasant dream that would be over when I woke up. Everything before was just a nightmare that I had finally woken up from. This was the way it was meant to be.

"You have time to take a nap before we need to head back," he said when he saw my tired eyes. I hadn't realized it until he said it, but a nap sounded like exactly what I needed. "I'll dry our clothes while you close your eyes."

I nodded and closed my eyes, my body relaxed and cushioned by the soft moss beneath me. I heard Andrian moving around before he left the cave with our wet clothes. It wasn't long before the sound of the cascading waterfall lulled me into a peaceful sleep.