Crux: Dragon Brides #1 (Intergalactic Dating Agency)

by Kate Rudolph

  The way his tongue moved had her moaning, even though he barely touched her. She shifted her legs so that he knelt between them, and his knee brushed up against her sex. She shifted forward for more pressure, and Crux laughed seductively at her seeking touch.

  He pulled off her fingers, and his eyes were heavy with lust. Their gazes locked.

  They'd never kissed.

  She realized it just before his lips came down on hers.

  Oh.

  It didn't feel like the lust driven kiss of a one-night stand. This wasn't the kiss of a man who'd licked her juices off her fingers. He kissed her with the kind of care he might have reserved for a princess.

  He kissed her like she was precious.

  And she kissed him back.

  Courtney didn't know how she was supposed to kiss a prince. There was probably protocol to be observed. She was probably supposed to call him your highness or something equally asinine.

  When his tongue stroked against hers, all thoughts like that melted away into a pile of lust. Courtney wrapped her arms around him and pulled him as close as she could get. She needed to get lost in this kiss, to forget all of the bad that waited for them outside the mouth of that cave.

  Here it was just her and Crux, two people desperate to feel something. Anything.

  Everything.

  His cock was hard against her stomach, and Courtney wanted to touch, but her hands were too busy holding Crux to her. It was moments like these she wished she could grow extra arms, just for a bit of help.

  But Crux was on it. He pulled away from the kiss, lips wet and swollen, hair mussed, and even more offensively attractive than he'd been the first time she'd seen him.

  He had the kind of beauty that made fashion photographers perk up and gym enthusiasts jealous. And at first, he'd seemed untouchable, but now he was pressed up hot and hard against her, and there was nothing untouchable about him.

  He dipped his head low until his lips met her breast, kissing around her nipple in the tortuous sort of play she normally hated.

  "More pressure," she said. "Do it if you're going to." She didn't want soft and gentle, she wanted something hard enough to leave marks, hard enough to make her remember exactly what she'd done and with whom.

  Crux took her at her word, and she gasped as his teeth scraped over her sensitive flesh, the sensation teetering between pleasure and pain. Courtney made a keening noise, not able to articulate anything in words. It was perfect. Any more and she'd pull away, any less and she'd need more.

  Where had this man, this dragon, been hiding all her life?

  He took his time, sucking and biting and making her body all swollen with pleasure and delight. And just when she was sure she'd had too much, he shifted to her other breast and proved that she could take so much more.

  His fingers teased her entrance and came back impossibly wet. And when she started making even more noise, he stuck his fingers in her mouth and made her lick him clean.

  From another man, in other circumstances, she might have balked. But Crux was something else.

  Some survival instinct pinged in the back of her mind, but Courtney was too high on pleasure to care.

  She reached out and stroked his cock, delighting in the sound he made when her fingers brushed against the tip.

  But Crux pulled off of her and gave a playful glare. "Don't touch unless you want this all over soon."

  "No discipline?" she teased. It was good to hear a man honest about his stamina.

  "Too tempted," he admitted before going back to his work of playing her like a fiddle.

  But he didn't go back to his breasts. He went lower and proved his mouth was experienced at much more than talking. There was no hesitance, not a hint of it as he stroked her wet folds with his tongue.

  Courtney couldn't keep quiet, and from the way he only stroked her harder as she moaned, he didn't want her to.

  When he used his fingers with his tongue, she was a goner. She said his name. She might have made promises. She begged for more, all while he wrung more pleasure out of her than she'd ever been given before.

  And he wasn't done yet.

  "Need you," he said, kissing a path up her belly and rubbing his lips against her neck. He focused there for so long, kissing and sucking, probably leaving a hickey. But there was also tension in his body, different from just the lust.

  If she was just a little more focused on him as opposed to what he was making her feel, she might have noticed it.

  Instead. she felt him nudging her with the blunt tip of his cock.

  "Yes?" he asked, not quite inside her, teasing her like a sadist.

  "Oh, fuck yes," Courtney breathed out. She needed this more than she'd known.

  He entered her and it was heaven. The stretch from his cock, the way her body accommodated him, the way she suddenly felt not alone for the first time in so long. Sex wasn't supposed to be anything but the pleasurable joining of two bodies, but with Crux it was…

  Even in her haze of pleasure, Courtney forced herself away from thinking anything that was going to break her heart.

  She gave herself over to the sensation of Crux moving within her. Her fingers gripped him tight enough to leave bruises. The hardness of his body and the hardness of the rock under her were a reminder of where they were, but at this exact moment, there was nowhere else she'd rather be.

  Crux moved faster.

  Courtney urged him on.

  She was close to coming apart. It almost felt like she'd be remade by this joining, but right now she didn't care, she just wanted to feel more.

  And Crux gave her more.

  And more.

  And too much.

  She cried out again, gasping his name and clutching him as release ripped through her. And not long after Crux joined her, hot seed spilling into her.

  She came down from the pleasure slowly and made a sound of protest as Crux slipped out of her. She wanted more. She could handle more.

  Her eyes were drooping.

  Sleep sounded good too.

  But something teased at the edge of her consciousness, something Courtney knew she should pay attention to. They were both adults, they could handle a bit of fun.

  So why was she worried that this would change everything?

  15

  Courtney woke up first. There was the first hint of light outside the cave and barely any monsters were screaming. Crux lay beside her, flat on his back, cock on display for anyone to see.

  Well, for her.

  She blushed at the memory of the night before.

  And then she turned away.

  It was just a bit of sex. People had sex all the time and it didn't change anything.

  Yes, he was probably the sexiest man she'd ever met, but that didn't have to mean anything. She forced herself to get up and felt the soreness and stretch in her muscles that was further proof of what they'd done.

  If there was a mirror, she was sure she'd see that she was covered in hickeys and bite marks, more evidence of Crux's… vigorous ardor.

  Thankfully there was no mirror.

  She splashed some water over her body to wash off as best she could and was relieved to find out that her clothes had dried overnight. Nakedness under the cover of darkness was one thing, it was something else entirely when the sun was high in the sky.

  She definitely didn't want the alien slavers seeing her naked.

  And right now, she didn't want Crux seeing her naked either.

  She'd fallen asleep almost immediately after their love mak—their fucking. They hadn't discussed it. And that was fine. She didn't need to hear him talk about how much he was looking forward to meeting his mate when his seed was dripping out of her.

  She put a hand over her stomach and said a prayer of thanks for her birth control implant. That was another bit of stupidity she probably shouldn't repeat, not that they had space condoms.

  She had just finished dressing when Crux made a noise and sat up.

  "Good mo
rning," he rumbled in that sexy voice of his.

  She really had to stop thinking about how sexy he was.

  "Morning." She made her voice all business. "Your clothes should be dry and the sun's up. We should get a move on if we're going to steal that teleporter and get out of here."

  Crux stood and stretched, his muscles… and his other bits, all on display. Courtney wasn't a nun. She looked, but she snapped her gaze away when he grinned, catching her spying. He walked across the cave without a care in the world, and as he bent over to pick up his clothes, she got a look at his ass.

  Damn. Why hadn't she looked last night?

  But she wasn't doing that. Last night had been a fluke, and it wasn't to be repeated.

  She had to keep that in mind.

  "We should move fast. Wouldn't want the slavers to teleport your mate away before you save her." He flinched when she said it. Good. It was a reminder to both of them that Crux had other duties, duties that didn't include fucking a random human.

  And it reminded her heart that she wasn't allowed to fall for this man.

  Her heart tried to tell her that it might already be too late.

  Courtney told her stupid heart to shut its stupid mouth.

  Crux cleared his throat as he pulled on the last of his clothes. "About that—"

  She couldn't let him talk. If he tried to let her down easy, she would brain him with a roller skate. "Let's go."

  Whatever he heard in her tone, it was enough to start moving.

  By the time they took down the forcefield and stepped outside, the monster screams were silent. There were two piles of bones right in front of the entrance, a reminder of their brush with death, and strange dragon powers, the night before.

  Courtney put it out of her mind. She was ready for things to return to normal as soon as possible.

  "How long do you think it will take for me to get home, do you think?" That was her goal. Get home, back to Earth. Forget about the dragon prince and his stupid mate.

  Easier said than done.

  Crux didn't answer for so long that she thought he wouldn't. Then she realized it was because he was looking out for alien slavers.

  Courtney wanted to slap her forehead. They weren't out for a morning stroll. They were in dangerous territory and could be killed at any moment, she had to remember that.

  But Crux somehow determined it was safe to talk after a few minutes. "Not too long, if we can get you a trustworthy guide. A few weeks at most."

  "My mother is likely to have called in the National Guard by then," she muttered. Not that it would do any good.

  "Your mother commands an army?" Now Crux sounded interested. "Are you important on Earth?"

  The laugh that came out of her mouth was ugly and full of all the pain that the last years of her life had rained down on her. "Important? Does that make fucking me less regrettable?" She slammed her mouth shut for a moment and then realized she had to keep talking if she didn't want Crux responding to that telling statement. "My mother is a lawyer for the federal government. She doesn't command an army, it's just an expression. And me? I'm not important, I'm just a waitress. Thus the roller skates." She held one up as if he needed the reminder.

  Crux had a comically confused look on his face. "What do wheeled shoes have to do with being a waitress? Food servers back home wear no such contraptions."

  If she was in a better mood, she might have teased him, but she didn't want to play. She just wanted this conversation over with. "Some restaurants use them. I work at a root beer stand. Cars drive up, we skate out with the food, cars drive away. It's a gimmick. And they'll hire just about anyone who won't faceplant while holding a huge tray."

  They lapsed into silence as they got closer to the cave where the slavers had hidden for the night. Courtney expected to hear noises from the group, crying women, yelling slavers, footsteps, anything.

  But it was quiet.

  Too quiet.

  And when Crux cautiously stepped onto the path close to the cave, he waved her forward almost immediately, and Courtney saw what he was looking at.

  Nothing. The slavers were gone.

  "Did they teleport away?" The words felt strange on her tongue, another reminder of just how crazy her life had become in the last few days.

  "Perhaps." Crux crouched down and examined the dirt. "But not all of them. There's a path leading this way." He pointed in a direction that they hadn't ventured before. It would take them away from the ship and the caves they'd been hiding in.

  "I'm game to follow if you are." They needed to do something. "Unless you managed to fix the teleporter we have." She'd forgotten about it after the fight with the monster.

  Crux's face went blank, and she could swear he was blushing, but it might have just been the way the light was hitting him. "I didn't fix it last night," he admitted. "I was distracted."

  Right.

  Distracted.

  "Then let's follow the aliens and steal their teleporter."

  16

  Crux had to find a way to admit the truth to his mate. Her shoulders were stiff and she held herself as if she'd been injured, not as if she'd had the fucking of a lifetime the night before.

  The thought that he'd hurt her in some way tore him to shreds, and he didn't know how to make it right. He should have told her who she was to him. He should have made that clear before he laid a hand on her.

  But he hadn't. And today he was paying the price.

  She wanted to go home. She had made that abundantly clear. And if he forced her to go back with him, he'd be no better than a slaver. If he went to Earth with her, he'd be giving up his crown. He couldn't imagine doing that for someone he'd met two days before.

  But how could he bring himself to give up his fated mate?

  He followed the trail with Courtney right behind him. The slavers had passed through some time before, and he wasn't too worried about being seen. They walked up the hill for about half an hour before winding downwards.

  "Is that a city?" Courtney asked, bumping his shoulder and pointing at a far-off point.

  Crux could barely make it out. Courtney's vision was excellent. He squinted and made out what might have been buildings. "Perhaps it's a settlement." He couldn't get too hopeful. But a settlement might have a teleporter, or a mechanic who could fix one. At the very least they'd have food. The meal bars they'd been eating would run out soon, and Crux would love real food. "Let's check it out."

  They were going that way anyway; the slavers' path was headed right toward the settlement.

  "What's your mate going to be like?" Courtney asked suddenly. The sun was high over head, beating down on them ruthlessly and making them sweat.

  Crux almost stumbled at the question. Why was she asking? Did she truly want to know? Or was this some way to torture the both of them?

  This would be the perfect moment to tell her the truth.

  And the perfect moment for Crux to truly discover how much of a coward he really was.

  "She'll be strong in the face of adversity, stronger than she knows. Intelligent. I won't be able to look at her without seeing how much her beauty grows by the moment." And she'll have a pair of wheeled shoes hooked over one shoulder. He couldn't bring himself to say that last part.

  "She sounds lovely. I'm sure you'll be happy together." Courtney's shoulders slumped even further, and she didn't speak again.

  Crux deserved to be pitched into a volcano.

  They walked in silence for hours, and at midday, Crux made them stop to take a drink from the canteens and eat the meal bars. Civilization was further than anticipated, and he couldn't help but wonder if it would be better to turn around and give up on this journey.

  But they'd gone so far, and with the short days he wasn't sure they'd make it back to the caves by nightfall. Once they were moving again, he kept his eyes open for possible hiding places if they needed to stop for the night.

  Two hours later they made it to the edge of the city, their feet aching.r />
  And more disappointment rushed through Crux.

  "It's dead," Courtney said. "Ruins."

  She was right. Where once a city might have stood, now the buildings were falling into disrepair and despair. There was no sign of the people who had once lived here.

  And no sign of the slavers.

  "Do you think the monsters ate these people too?" Courtney asked. "Maybe they woke up in their caves one day and decided it was time to take over." She shuddered.

  He wanted to wrap an arm around her to give her comfort. After all, she was his mate, that was his right. But she didn't know who she was to him, and he couldn't say. "It's possible," he agreed. The buildings were made of some kind of sandy stone and looked ready to stand the test of time. There was no way to know if they'd been abandoned a year ago or a century ago.

  The sun was starting to set.

  This day had been a waste.

  "We need to find a place to sleep," he decided. If the slavers were around, they'd need to do the same. And tonight, Crux was determined to use the things he'd scavenged to fix the teleporter and get Courtney to safety. If he couldn't do that, he was calling for help.

  They walked the deserted streets, the silence around them eerie in a way it hadn't been while walking the path to the city. Some of the buildings were falling down, others had holes in the walls. But they found a squat building that seemed defensible enough with walls and windows intact.

  It would do for the night.

  He led Courtney inside and did a sweep to make sure there was no danger lurking and was relieved to find them alone.

  "What do you think this place was? A store of some kind?" Courtney asked. There were shelves lining the walls and items covered in a heavy sheen of dust. There were even intact boxes of meal bars, and when Crux scanned them, he found they were safe to eat.

  "Might have been. And I'm thinking the people of this city haven't been gone that long," not if their food hadn't turned to dust.

  "Do you need to set up the force field thing?" Courtney pushed aside a small table to make a space for them to sit down, then she slumped down to the floor and stretched her legs out, making a sound of pure pleasure.