by S. E. Smith
He had to find some way to convince Avery. All he needed was to touch her once. If the mark of the mating ritual appeared—and he felt sure it would—there would be no denying that they were meant to be together.
He was so lost in thought that the sudden splash of water over his face startled him. He whirled around, briefly submerging, then kicking upward. He broke the surface and wildly looked around.
The sound of a husky laugh drew his attention. His eyes widened when he looked into the vivid blue eyes of the woman he had been daydreaming about.
“You know, for a Prime warrior who is supposed to be so big and bad, you really aren’t that difficult to sneak up on,” she teased with a mocking smile.
Fire licked through Core’s veins. His eyes glittered in response to the challenge in her eyes. He slowly swam toward her, and she didn’t move away.
“Why are you here?” he demanded, pausing less than a foot from her.
They both treaded water, maintaining the distance between them as they moved in a graceful circle. Her expression was determined. A glimmer of suspicion coursed through him. She was not here to admit that they belonged together. He could still see the unmistakable wall of reserve in her eyes.
“I have a proposition,” she announced.
A frown of confusion creased his brow. “A proposition? What type of proposition?” he warily asked.
“Three days—no strings, no demands, no expectations beyond those three days of mindless sex and each other’s company,” she calmly replied.
A fierce, swift denial rose to his lips. He stopped the words before they were uttered, replaying her words in his mind. His focus returned to the words ‘mindless sex.’
“And if I refuse this proposition?” he asked.
She shrugged her shoulders and looked away. “If that is what you want,” she replied.
Before he could say anything else, she slipped beneath the water. He looked around him, trying to find her, then turned when he heard her draw in a breath. She was several yards from him.
As Core watched as Avery cut through the water with strong strokes, it suddenly dawned on him that she thought he had rebuffed her. He kicked out with powerful strokes of his own, and reached the shallow edge of the water just as she was wading onto the sandy beach.
He stood up in the waist-deep water as she paused to pick up a colorful piece of cloth from the top of his pile of clothing. Her lithe body was extremely distracting. He noted her slender shoulders, long waist, and smooth buttocks before taking in her long legs. He frowned when his gaze reached her ankles.
“Are you wearing a blade?” he asked, wading out of the water.
She looked over her shoulder at him as she tied the fabric around herself. There was just a slight curve to her lips. His body immediately hardened when she gazed at him with an appreciative expression, pausing on his groin. He might have maintained a portion of his dignity if she hadn’t licked her lips. A soft groan slipped from him as his cock responded to her tease. Damn that recording of Tink telling J’kar’s crew about oral sex! Now he wanted to know if one of the things J’kar’s mate had shared was true!
“I did not say that I would not accept your proposition. I merely asked what would happen if I did not. What if I wanted to add some conditions?” he demanded.
She turned to face him. “What kind of conditions?” she asked.
He stopped a foot away from her. “Touch my hand,” he instructed.
Core held his hand out to her, palm up.
She lifted one delicate eyebrow before she reached out. Her hand hovered above his for a moment before she pressed her palm to his. A startled hiss escaped her, and she jerked her hand back with a scowl.
“Static electricity,” she muttered, clenching her hand and holding it against her chest.
He looked down at his own hand. A sense of awe swept through him when he saw the intricate patterns forming in the center of his palm. He looked up at her and shook his head.
“No, not static electricity,” he contradicted with a wry grin. “This is something far more powerful.
He turned his palm toward her so she could see the mark. “I knew we were destined to be together the moment I saw you,” he quietly said.
She looked at his palm and frowned, then slowly uncurled her fingers and stared at her own hand. Her jaw tightened, and her lips pursed together.
He waited for her to respond.
“This was a mistake,” she finally replied, looking up at him.
He watched in stunned disbelief when she turned and started walking away. Bending, he grabbed his trousers and pulled them on before gathering the rest of his clothing and his boots. It didn’t take him long to catch up with her.
“That is all you have to say? That our bond is a mistake?” he demanded.
“There is no bond,” she retorted, pausing briefly to slip into her shoe.
Core skidded to a stop. He reached out and wrapped the hand holding his clothing around her waist to keep from knocking her over. She turned her head and glared at him. He couldn’t stop the crooked grin that curved his lips.
“You need to call out a warning before you stop,” he teased, trying to lighten the moment.
She released an inelegant snort and finished slipping on her other sandal. “You should not follow so closely behind me,” she snapped.
He released her when she pulled away. With a soft curse, he bent over and picked up the vest that he had dropped, then strode after her, his narrowed eyes focused on her stiff back. The sheer wrap did little to cover her. He could clearly see every detail of her delectable body underneath.
“What are you planning to do?” he asked when he realized that she was heading straight for his home.
She glanced over her shoulder at him before she refocused on where she was heading. Her expression was regretful… and haunted. His stomach tightened in response. She shook her head and stepped onto the path that led to the front of his home.
He reached out and grasped her arm, uncaring that the items in his hands fell to the ground again. This time he used both hands to gently turn her around so she was forced to look at him. She tilted her head and stared up into his eyes.
“I’m going to gather my clothes, get dressed, and return to my world,” she quietly stated.
“What about us?” he demanded with a frown. “You cannot ignore that we are bond mates, Avery. The mating mark would not have formed if we weren’t.”
“I don’t believe in mating marks, bond mates, or the boogeyman. I don’t do bonding. I came for sex—three mindless days of anything-goes-before-we-go our-own-way sex. Obviously that isn’t something you are interested in. It was worth a try,” she said.
He tightened his grip on her arms when she tried to turn away, realizing that she meant what she was saying. She had no idea that their being apart would be impossible from now on. There was no going back now that they had been matched. She would feel the intense need to be near him as much as he would. He had to make her understand.
“Avery…” he began.
“Let me go, Core. This was a mistake. I should have listened to my gut,” she ordered, stiffly pulling out of his arms and turning away.
“I agree to your proposition,” he said.
She froze before slowly turning to look at him again with a suspicious expression. “You agree?” she repeated.
He gave a sharp nod of his head. “Yes, three days of mindless sex,” he quietly said.
The look of suspicion slowly melted from her eyes and a surprisingly excited smile lit up her features. Her gaze ran down his body. His cock immediately reacted to the hungry look in her eyes.
“Starting now,” she murmured, walking toward him.
Core groaned when she pulled off the strip of material from her body and let it fall to the ground. He immediately reached for her breasts. This was so different from everything he had learned. Females were supposed to be indifferent, accepting of a male, but not aggressive, and not pass
ionate until she had been driven mindless by the bite and her lover’s skill. This was more like what Tink and Tilly had talked about.
It was definitely much more exciting this way. Core slid his hands along the sides of her breasts before he held them in his palms. They fit perfectly. He brushed his thumbs across her swollen nipples. She softly moaned and stepped closer to him.
“It’s a good thing everyone loves Tilly’s romantic weekends, otherwise this could be a little hard to explain,” she chuckled, sliding her hands down his chest to his pants. “You are way overdressed.”
“Sweet Goddess! How can a warrior ever be this honored?” Core hissed when she released his trousers and wrapped her hand around his engorged cock. He tightened his hold on her breasts.
He had discreetly watched the affection the Bell women bestowed upon their Prime mates, especially their curious habit of pressing their lips together in what they called a kiss. Now, he was experiencing the unimaginable rush of pleasure when Avery leaned forward and pressed her lips to his.
He parted his lips in surprise when she ran her tongue along his lower lip. She immediately slipped her tongue inside his mouth, deepening the kiss as she stroked him with one hand and wrapped the other firmly around his neck.
He rocked his hips in rhythm with her movements. As the haze of desire and pulsing need thundered through his body, he impatiently kicked off his trousers. He slid one arm around Avery’s back, the other behind her knees, and picked her up.
She leaned her head back against his shoulder and wickedly smiled up at him. His silver-colored eyes flashed with suppressed emotion. His body was taut with the need to join with her.
“Please note that I like my sex hot and often,” she murmured, pressing open-mouthed kisses to his neck.
“Sweet Goddess, you’ll have me coming before I reach the lift,” he growled.
She leaned back and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Have you ever made love in a lift before?” she inquired.
He paused in front of the entrance to his home and looked down at her. His body was demanding that he take her, yet his mind wanted to treat her with the respect that she deserved. The doubt raging through his mind disappeared when she reached up and bit his neck.
“How often do you want to make love?” he demanded in a strangled tone.
“That is a loaded question,” she teased. “I think it depends on how fast you can reload.”
It took a second for her double meaning to sink in. This was a side of Avery that he’d never expected. The Ice Queen hid a woman that captured his imagination with her fiery passion.
“I hope you can keep up,” he bit back with a challenging gleam in his eyes.
“Open the door and find out,” she dared.
Core shifted her in his arms and pressed his palm against the panel next to the door. He stepped inside the moment it opened. Before the doors closed, he was pressing her up against the wall of the lift.
5
Avery threaded her fingers through Core’s hair as he lowered her feet to the ground and pressed her up against the wall. She pulled his head toward her, hungrily capturing his mouth in a deep, desperate, passion-filled kiss.
She explored his mouth with the same attention to detail that she did everything in her life. She noted his sharp teeth, his firm lips, and the pure pleasure of tasting him. She pulled back when her tongue swept along his teeth again. A shiver ran through her when the tip touched his canine. It was much longer than it had been before.
She heard Core release a shuddering moan when she ran her tongue along his elongated tooth. Curious, she touched the other one. It was elongated as well. It appeared that there were some things she needed to learn about her alien soon-to-be lover. There was nothing in the database about the Prime’s sexual habits—only their fighting capabilities.
Her breath caught when he suddenly lifted her by the waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her long legs around his hips. He gripped her thighs, holding her in place before he slowly relaxed his grip. She felt his cock press against her heated entrance. The thick bulbous head pushed through her wet folds and slowly penetrated her.
Avery tightly held him as her body adjusted to his large shaft. Their breath mixed as they joined. For a brief moment the thought that Core wasn’t wearing any protection swept through her mind before she pushed it away. It didn’t matter. She couldn’t get pregnant, and according to the information she had obtained from RITA’s database on Prime Warriors, they did not have sexually transmitted diseases like humans did—probably due to the limited number of available women.
Avery let go of all rational thought after that and focused on the overload of sensations swamping her body. A soft hiss escaped her as she relaxed around his cock. She reluctantly broke their kiss so she could watch his face. A tender smile curved her lips when she saw his intense expression and closed eyes.
With one arm still looped around his neck, she reached up with her right hand and caressed his cheek. He slowly opened his eyes and stared back at her with twin silver flames burning in his eyes. That look was so powerful it felt like her heart actually skipped a beat.
“Core…” she murmured, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth.
“You have no idea how long I have dreamed of this moment, Avery,” he said in a harsh voice. “There have been so many nights when I dreamed that I was holding you in my arms but woke with them empty.”
She leaned her head back, tightened her thighs, and lifted her body just enough to feel his long shaft slide along her slick channel. A shudder ran through him at her deliberate tease of his senses. The flames grew in his eyes as she lowered herself back down.
“I’m here now. That’s all that matters,” she said, capturing his lips again.
He kissed her back with a possessiveness that turned her on, and rocked his hips in a fast rhythmic cadence that heated her blood. When he released her lips, she tilted her head back against the side of the lift. He thrust faster, his fingers curling into the flesh of her thighs. She clung to his shoulders, trying to keep from completely melting. She felt his hot breath against her neck and turned her head slightly to give him better access.
“Oh, yes. Oh, baby, yes, just like that,” she breathlessly murmured.
Her muscles tightened, and she could feel the tingling beginning of an orgasm. The fact that her sensitive nipples were brushing against his chest as he moved helped her arousal peak.
Avery dug her heels into Core’s buttocks as she climaxed. His savage snarl echoed in the lift a second before she felt a sharp prick of pain on her neck followed by a wave of heated pleasure.
Her passionate cry drove him crazy. His grip on her thighs tightened, and he lifted her up enough to pin her firmly between the wall and his body—her grip on his shoulders holding her upright as he took her with an intensity that left her gasping.
Her muscles clamped down on him as she came hard. She closed her eyes as wave after wave of pleasure scorched her. She trembled and curled her fingers into his flesh, leaving the imprint of her sharp nails.
Avery swore she could feel every succulent inch of his cock as he moved within her swollen sheath. She focused and her inner muscles squeezed him harder until she swore it felt like they would never be separated again. His low, guttural groan was muffled against her shoulder as he found his release.
He slid one arm under her buttocks while his other wrapped around her back, and leaned forward, his teeth still buried in the curve of her neck. They stood like that for several minutes before he carefully released his grip on her neck and ran his tongue over the marks to speed up the healing process. She leaned her forehead against his shoulder. She could still feel his cock pulsing inside her.
“You do realize that you never started the lift, and we are still on the ground,” she said with a chuckle.
“That will give you time to be ready for the next round. You’ve given me the pleasure of your company and mindless sex for just three days, and I p
lan to take advantage of every second. I will be recharged by the time we get to our bedroom. You’d better be ready,” he promised.
Avery lifted her head and looked at him with wide, astonished eyes. He was serious. The grin on her face widened.
“Well, damn. I do believe this is going to be one hell of a vacation after all,” she muttered before capturing his lips again.
Core kept looking at the faint mark on Avery’s neck where he had bitten her. She softly hummed under her breath as she sliced some of the bread his mother had baked for him the day before. Her hair was still damp from the shower they had taken a short while ago.
He still couldn’t believe that she was here. The past three hours had been incredible. His body pleasantly throbbed, and for now he was content just looking at her. One pale shoulder was exposed where her sleeve had slid down. Her shirt stopped at mid-thigh, revealing her long, slender legs. He itched to remove the soft, oversized shirt from her body.
“You’ll never finish cutting up that fruit if you don’t stop looking at me,” she teased.
He grinned. “I am afraid to take my eyes off of you in case you disappear,” he admitted.
She walked over to him and picked up a piece of fruit. The expression in his eyes darkened when she took a bite, then lifted the other half to his lips. His mouth instinctively opened, and he leaned forward, taking the juicy offering from her fingers before he wrapped his fingers around her wrist. He kept his gaze focused on her face as he drew her fingers to his lips. In a slow, deliberately seductive move, he ran his tongue along her fingers, licking the sweet juice from them.
Her gaze followed the movement of his tongue. He could sense her body’s reaction, and the evidence of his arousal was clearly visible in the lightweight trousers he had slipped on after their shower.
