by Kate Rudolph
“You make me sound like a brute.” His voice came out husky as his fingers found the edge of her towel and delved beneath to find soft, sensitive skin.
Andie shivered. Her worry about finding clothes dissolved and she let the towel fall to the floor. When she heard the guttural noise in the back of Xandr’s throat, she couldn’t suppress her smile. His fingers curled into her skin, tight enough to hold her in place but not too hard to leave a mark. He was usually so careful with her, as if he were worried that his intensity might scare her away. But when they got into bed, when the pleasure took him, sometimes he took over in a way that left her breathless.
He might have been her captain when they were on the rest of the ship, but no matter how intense the relationship was on either side of the bedroom door, when they were naked together they were only ever just Xandr and Andie.
“Brutes have their uses,” Andie said as she turned. Xandr stood more than a head taller than her, his purple Oscavian skin melding with some of the shadows in the dim light of the room. But his electric blue eyes singed her with their spark and she could practically feel his gaze sizzle along her skin. In her time on Ixilta she’d seen hundreds, maybe thousands, of different kinds of aliens, but it was only Xandr who she dreamed of at night. During her years of captivity she’d forgotten how to dream, how to hope, but the longer she stayed on Xandr’s ship and in his arms, the more it came back to her. It was terrifying.
Xandr’s lips crashed down on hers and Andie opened for him. For the first weeks of their tryst she hadn’t been willing to kiss, afraid it would blur the lines between casual fucks and something real. The something real had sprouted up anyway, and keeping her lips to herself wouldn’t do anything except deprive her of the excellent kisses that Xandr could give. The man took it seriously, his tongue delving into her mouth and tangling with her own, stroking and marking her, leaving an indelible imprint, something she’d remember for all her days.
She hitched a leg around his waist and moaned against his mouth as she felt the hard length of his cock press against her. She was already wet, and it had nothing to do with the shower. The way he devoured her was intoxicating, but Andie wanted to tear at his clothes until they were skin to skin and joined together. The thick material of Xandr’s pants was a personal affront to her lust and she’d tear his shirt to strips if given the chance. Instead, all she could manage to do was bunch the material in her fists and try and pull it over his head, an impossible task when she was unwilling to break their kiss.
Kissing was great; she’d been a fool to ever try and prevent it.
She let out a whimper when Xandr pulled back, but he took off his shirt, which almost had her applauding. The man had muscles for days—he looked like he could fell a tree with his bare hands—and he touched her with such reverence that she knew she could use his power if she ever got up the courage to ask.
Of course, she couldn’t quite bring herself to even ask about moving some clothes into his quarters, so she wouldn’t be using him as her own personal battering ram anytime soon.
He leaned in to kiss her again, but Andie shot a hand up and pressed him back, letting her fingers trail down to the clasp of his pants. He liked to tease, liked to get her worked up until she was writhing and begging, and only then would he finally get naked and give her what she needed. But that wasn’t what she wanted tonight. Tonight she wanted all of him and she wanted him now.
Xandr watched her with an intensity that made her shiver. She pushed his pants down and couldn’t stop from licking her lips when his cock bounced free of its confines. After weeks of fucking she still hadn’t quite gotten used to him, even if she loved the girth and texture of him. And she especially liked it when her fingers met slippery dampness as she tried to wrap them around his length. That was certainly an upgrade, along with the textured veins and ridges unlike any human dick she’d ever seen. He tapered off at the tip of his cock so he could ease into her, but that belied the fact that she’d felt him swelling inside of her when he came, felt how his body refused to retreat until he was well and truly spent.
He groaned as she tightened her grip, sliding her hand up and down and enjoying the hardening flesh. Her mouth watered, but now wasn’t the time. Now she wanted it fast and a bit rough. The job had been a little more dangerous than anything they’d done before and only now that she had Xandr in her arms did she realize that she could have lost him. If things had gone just a bit worse on his end, it might have only been Keana that returned from the mission and Andie didn’t know what she’d have done.
“Fuck me,” she said in a desperate plea. She needed pleasure to obliterate the doubt and fear that were creeping up now that they were safe and away from the mission. She’d been working with the crew for more than a month now. She’d singlehandedly bluffed the Duke of Mebion so he wouldn’t catch Xandr on their job before the heist, but for some reason today felt even more intense than that. “I need you inside me. Now.”
Xandr stared at her for a loaded second, his eyes practically crackling with electric blue. And then he straightened his shoulders and leveled her with a look hot enough to curl her toes. “Get on the bed.”
ANDIE LOOKED READY to break and Xandr wouldn’t let that happen. He’d gotten better at reading her emotions over the last week, and it was clear that the last job had taken something out of her. She needed to know she was safe, that she had a place on the ship. Other missions had gone wrong, but this was the first one where they hadn’t gotten away with the entire score. Perhaps she felt like a failure, like she’d done something wrong and was worried she’d be cast out.
But she’d played her part perfectly. It was Xandr who’d been caught off guard.
With both of them naked and panting in his quarters, he could put that out of his mind, and he was determined to do the same to his woman. Her fingers gave his cock a final stroke, one hard enough to have him clenching his fists to keep from manhandling her and plunging into her over and over again until she whimpered in pleasure. From the look in her eye she wanted something like that, but not just yet.
They had time to savor this thing, and Xandr wouldn’t waste it. There would be more jobs in the future and Andie would feel more comfortable as time went on. But today all he could give her was sensation.
And he loved to give her every sensation he could.
She backed up and lay down on the bed, the sheets rumpled around her, making her look like a debauched goddess. Her curly brown hair was a halo around her head and her brown skin contrasted with the pale blue of his sheets, her whole body his for the taking. He’d tasted every piece of her, from lips to breasts to pussy and everywhere in between and beyond. He savored her taste and the memory lay on his tongue for hours after they were done, but every time he took her he only wanted more. He couldn’t say if he’d ever take his fill of her, but already he could feel that no matter what happened in the next hour, he’d still want more.
Her legs fell apart, baring the slick heat of her sex to him, the dark, damp curls around it inviting him to take his fill and leave her satisfied and still ready to beg for more.
He pushed his pants the rest of the way down and stood naked before her, liking the way her eyes darkened and her tongue darted out to wet her lips as she looked at him. He’d never let himself have a lover for so long. Before it had been too inconvenient. The lovers he chose frequented space stations and stopover planets and an enjoyable night or two had been more than enough. Dallying with the crew had been off limits. Then came Andie and everything changed. He could have never guessed from their adventure escaping the planet that she’d been held prisoner on that they’d come to this. He’d been attracted, of course he had, who wouldn’t? But until their first explosive kiss he’d thought it would be nothing more than a passing fancy.
One taste of her and he wanted. And in Xandr’s life, both before and after becoming an outlaw, he got what he wanted. Given their tumultuous first few weeks where neither of them were willing to call the
heat between them anything else, Xandr had doubted they could get to this place full of smiles and flirting and kisses. And before he’d met Andie he wouldn’t have known what a tragedy that could be. Where he came from, the thought of loving, or even liking, his chosen life partner had been laughable. And though he wasn’t about to make any more commitments to Andie, he now understood just how bad things would have been if he’d gone through with the betrothal he’d been bound for in his youth.
That thought only led to a tangled web of other painful memories that had no place in his bed or on his ship, especially not when Andie was warm and willing and waiting.
He stalked towards her, his knees sinking into the mattress before he trailed kisses down every available piece of flesh, and when he find the tight heat of her core he feasted. She made the most carnal sounds when they were together, noises that went straight to his cock and threatened his tightly coiled control. They made him want to do uncivilized things to her, to use her body as his own playground and fuck her until she forgot how to walk and talk, covering her and filling her with his spend, marking her as his for anyone to see.
Oscavians didn’t have fated mates, not like Kiran’s Detyen brethren or others that Xandr had met, but when they chose a mate and claimed her in the most primal way, it was for good. And it was rare. Xandr wanted to go through all the rituals, chase her through the forest, bind her to his bed for days, and then vow to be hers in front of witnesses.
But that wasn’t what they were, not now and maybe not ever. Xandr knew Andie had misgivings about him and was probably nowhere near as deeply entrenched in this thing between them. If he brought up thoughts of binding she’d run—anyone in their right mind would—especially if she knew about his family.
Which she never would.
And he owed her his full attention when she was under him.
Her soft skin was a balm to every memory and worry that hung over his head; her scent pierced him to his heart and wrapped around him, tethering him to this moment. And her taste? He could write odes to her taste and the way she moved around him. Her hands gripped his hair and held him tight, as if she feared he might pull away, might call this thing off at any moment.
But Xandr didn’t have it in him to walk away from her, not anymore, maybe not ever.
Andie gasped and her fingers tightened even further as her hips stuttered and she found her pleasure, moaning out his name and begging for more. Xandr didn’t let up, no matter how much he ached to be buried inside of her. He knew there was more pleasure to wring out, to give. And it didn’t take long until Andie was no longer holding him to her, but pushing him off, her body over sensitized from everything he could do with his tongue.
He gave her a moment to recover, drinking in the sight of her pleasure-drenched body and the way her chest heaved as she struggled to get control of herself. She could have it... for a moment. But his cock was hard as stone and not even the few tugs he allowed himself were enough to take the edge off.
But Andie’s eyes followed him, and she licked her lips, her nostrils flaring. She sat up a little and pulled him close before trailing her own lips over his cock and licking the tip. What she was doing to him now wasn’t a common Oscavian sex act, but he loved his human lover’s creative and carnal mind and wouldn’t stop her. He hadn’t the first time and he’d reaped the rewards, and knowing how much pleasure he took in giving it, he could only hope that his woman felt the same way.
The way her fingers gripped him as she slid the tip of his cock into her mouth told him she did. And when her eyes flicked up and met his he could feel a connection sink deep into him and bind him to her. Maybe Oscavians didn’t believe in fated mates, but to be with this woman in this way at this moment, Xandr couldn’t believe that it was only chance.
She took him deeper and he had to clench his jaw to keep from thrusting, to keep from exploding into her. The heat of her mouth was a temptation almost too good to resist, but there was another heat he needed and if her fingers and tongue didn’t stop torturing him with pleasure, he might not make it that far.
With reluctance he pulled away, and Andie frowned up at him before he pushed her back and loomed over her, capturing her mouth with his own. Their tastes mingled and he savored it, the unique flavor that only came when the two of them joined.
“I need you,” she murmured against his lips, her voice full of pleasure. “Now. Please.”
Xandr was done waiting; if he wasn’t in her soon he’d go mad. And when he eased himself inside of her, giving her body enough time to adjust to his presence, he knew it was madness to not be joined together. When their bodies were joined, everything made sense. It was only when they let themselves drift apart that questions and worries haunted him.
But these concerns dissolved as their two bodies pressed together, moving and moaning and making love in a way he’d never thought to find transcendent. With Andie this wasn’t just about two bodies finding their release; with her he found a connection he’d never known was possible.
And when she rippled around him and gasped out his name, he let himself go, knowing that after all these years he’d finally found his home.
CHAPTER THREE
ANDIE HOPED SHE WASN’T walking funny when she got breakfast. There’d been an intensity to Xandr that she’d never seen before and while they’d been in bed she loved it, but now she was paying for it with sore muscles and an ache she couldn’t quite get rid of.
Worth it. 100%.
But the question of her clothes had fallen by the wayside again, and by the time Andie remembered the worry they were already cuddled up and drifting off to sleep. Worries had a way of disappearing like that when Xandr fucked her like the universe would implode if she didn’t get off. And this morning she was too content to let that nagging issue get to her. Instead she’d pulled on some of Xandr’s ridiculously oversized clothes, run to her room, and stuffed some of her own things into a bag before bringing them back to Xandr’s. He was gone by the time she got back, so he couldn’t tell her she’d overstepped, and after the night before she really didn’t think he would.
It might have been a celebratory fuck, but it was also so much more than that. More than she was willing to contemplate, even.
If she let herself fall for him all the way...
Who was she kidding? Like she had any control over that happening. All she could hope to do was slow her descent.
“Someone looks well... rested,” Sayevi, the ship’s pilot, teased as Andie grabbed breakfast and sat beside her in the galley.
Andie’s brown skin hid her blush even as she felt her cheeks warm, and she’d started to get used to the crew’s teasing in the weeks since it became common knowledge that she and Xandr were sleeping together. Even before they’d told everyone it had apparently been the worst kept secret on this side of universe. And while not everyone on the crew was completely happy about it, Sayevi’s teasing and good-natured acceptance made Andie feel like she really could belong here. There was no family waiting for her back on Earth, but the crew of the Seventh might be the one she’d never known she could hope to find.
“I definitely slept well,” Andie confirmed, unable to hide her grin. With as hard and she and Xandr had gone, she didn’t have another choice.
“So that’s all working out?” Sayevi looked something between hopeful and surprised, and Andie didn’t know whether that was a compliment or an insult.
“So far so good, though it’s not like we’ve been going at it for long.” A few weeks since they’d agreed that it was more than just hooking up, and a few weeks before that of just hooking up. More sex than she’d had in the previous decade, and possibly her longest lasting relationship. What did it say about her that she needed to be abducted from her home, held hostage on a shitty planet, and then taken up with a massive purple alien to find a compatible lover?
Sayvei gave her another one of those unreadable looks but before she could say anything, the rest of the crew: Taryn, Malax, Kiran, Keana,
Dr. Hayk, and Xandr filed into the room and took their places like there was a scheduled meeting. Andie wracked her brain trying to remember if she’d been told about anything, but nothing came to mind. She shot a look at Sayevi, who looked equally confused.
Andie met Xandr’s eyes and a zing of recognition arced through her. He’s mine. There was some primal satisfaction in knowing that she’d grabbed the eye of the captain and had held it for longer than anyone else. And things between them were only getting hotter, more intense. His lips quirked up to one side, and Andie’s heart flipped over while her stomach dropped. This was so much more than sex and she was scared if she didn’t pump the brakes it would destroy her when it all went down in flames. But she smiled back and knew that she wasn’t going to be the one to slow things down. She’d tried that already and failed miserably.
“Did we miss the memo?” Andie finally asked.
“What’s a memo?” Sayevi shot back. It was easy to forget that her fellow human wasn’t from Earth. Sayevi had been born on a planet many light years away populated by the descendants of people who’d been abducted from Earth. From the stories she’d told, the place held echoes of similarity to Andie’s home, but it was far from the same.
“Notification about the meeting.” She waved a finger in a circle to encompass everyone. They were quite the crew. Xandr, Keana, and Taryn were all Oscavian, but each of them had their own mysterious reasons for wanting to stay out of reach of the empire. Malax was all tentacles and height at eight feet tall, a typical Zusotid. She hadn’t known what to think of Kiran at first, who had the shape of a human or Oscavian but with gold skin and dark markings on his chest and arms. She’d since learned he was a Detyen and one night he’d told her all about how his home planet had been destroyed long before his birth and he’d lived his life drifting from place to place. Demaris Hayk was still a mystery. He looked as human as her and Sayevi, but something prevented Andie from being willing to call him one. He didn’t speak of his past and no one asked questions. She’d been tempted to see what Xandr would tell her if she asked, but hadn’t gathered the nerve. It seemed like an invasion of privacy and she didn’t want to use her position as Xandr’s bed partner to gain information she shouldn’t have.
