by S. E. Smith
“Damn you! You are making me want to forget about eating everything but you,” she groaned.
He chuckled. “We were taught as young men that it would take great stimulation to arouse our bond mate, that only the chemical in our bite and the connection between us could create a satisfying joining. I have only to look at you and I am on fire,” he confessed, pressing her fingers against his lips as he spoke.
Her eyes danced with wicked amusement as she skimmed her other hand down his chest and across his flat stomach. His hips jerked forward when she slipped her fingers beneath the waistband of his pants to grasp his cock.
“Well, I think it is time for a new lesson. You know, I’m really not that hungry—for food,” she murmured.
A shuddering breath escaped him when she pulled her fingers free. He wanted to protest when she released his cock, but the words died when she gripped the top of his pants, pulled them down, and knelt in front of him. His eyes widened when she gripped his cock again—and slowly wrapped her lips around it.
“Ja tasn meszk talkok!” I must be dreaming, he hissed as his body was engulfed in pleasure.
He reached behind him and gripped the counter, curling his fingers around the edge as he watched her head move back and forth. He was mesmerized by the hot warmth of her mouth surrounding him, the way she was teasing him with her tongue, and the tight grip of her fingers pumping his engorged shaft.
Core gulped when she gazed up at him with a knowing look. He trembled as he tried to hold onto his control. He might have held on a little longer if she hadn’t reached down between her legs and began to pleasure herself.
“Goddess, Avery, I need you,” he hoarsely groaned.
His guttural confession made her tighten her fingers around him. She moaned as she came, and the vibration ricocheted through him, causing him to release a raw cry as his orgasm swept through him. He was stunned by its intensity.
He reached down with a trembling hand and helped Avery to her feet, then he pulled her into his arms and held her tight. Another shudder ran through him when she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him back.
“Three days will never be enough, Avery,” he murmured against her hair.
“Core…” she started to say.
He regretted the words the moment they slipped out. She stiffened against him, and he could sense the mental wall she was erecting between them. He tightened his arms around her and tenderly caressed her as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
“But, that may be all the time I have with you if I do not feed us both,” he interrupted. “If I am going to keep up with you, I need sustenance.”
She relaxed against him as he had hoped, and she pressed her lips to the center of his chest. He smothered a curse when she nipped him with her teeth.
She leaned her head back and grinned up at him. “In that case, I’ll leave the rest of the meal preparation for you,” she replied before she pressed a quick kiss to his lips.
He reluctantly released her, sliding his hand along her back as she turned away from him, and he shielded his thoughts. She was nowhere near ready to know about their unbreakable connection.
6
Night sounds filled the air as the sun set over the mountains. Stars appeared in the sky just as twinkling firebugs appeared in the forest. A soft breeze blew across the valley.
Core picked up a light blanket in case Avery became chilled. She was sitting on the lower level open deck. He strode along the platform walkway above a thick branch. It was the only access to this particular deck. Avery smiled at him when he held out the blanket.
“I was hoping you’d help keep me warm,” she teased.
“The only way to keep you completely warm is to cover you with my body,” he responded.
She lifted the glass of wine in her hand as he tenderly tucked the blanket around her bare legs, then sat forward so he could slide in behind her. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close so she could lean back against him.
“Here’s your wine. This is incredible. I feel like I’ve fallen into a Johann David Wyss novel,” she murmured.
He took his glass and looked at her with a confused frown. “Who is he?” he asked.
“He wrote a story called Swiss Family Robinson. It’s about a family who is shipwrecked on an island. They end up building a home in a tree and fighting pirates. It was always one of my favorite stories,” she explained.
He rubbed his chin against her hair and threaded his fingers through hers. “What makes this tale one of your favorites?” he asked.
She took a sip of her wine. He wasn’t sure she was going to answer him at first. Over the last few months, he had learned a lot about Avery. She was not someone who shared things about herself, even something as innocent as her favorite story.
“I liked that they worked together, and they all survived,” she finally replied.
There was a trace of sorrow in her voice. Unable to resist the need to comfort her, he carefully pushed against her mind—seeking entry. He was surprised when he met little resistance. He suspected the combination of wine and exhaustion was the reason.
A brief wave of guilt swept through him before he pushed it away. He would do whatever was necessary to keep her—even if it meant fighting dirty. She had pushed him away for months, refusing to allow him near her. The fact that she had come here, even with her outrageous proposition, meant that she felt the same connection with him that he felt with her. He was not above using every advantage at his disposal to keep her by his side. He only had three days to convince her that they belonged together forever, and today was almost over.
He remained focused as the faces of a man and woman flashed across her mind. They were laughing. Another image started to form, but it was quickly pushed away. The icy wall that he had grown accustomed to appeared and blocked him. He remained a shadow in her mind when her thoughts changed again. This time she was remembering them making love.
“It is so peaceful here,” she sighed.
He looked across the sparkling river, seeing it through her eyes. It was easy to take for granted the things he saw every day of his life. It had always been a pleasure to live in the Eastern Mountains.
“I ran wild as a boy through these mountains. There is not a tree, cave, or river that Merrick and I have not explored. Our parents finally gave up on keeping track of where we were,” he mused.
“Are… your parents still alive?” she hesitantly inquired.
Core smiled and nodded. “Yes. My father and Merrick’s parents have traveled to Caldara Four to trade. My mother remained here with my younger sister,” he explained. “What about you? Do your parents still live?”
“No, they died a long time ago,” she answered.
He frowned when she pulled away from him and stood up. She walked over to the edge of the deck and stared out across the mountains.
He rose to his feet, his wine in one hand, the blanket in the other. She turned and held his glass of wine while he wrapped the blanket around her shoulders. She gently gave the glass back to him. For a moment they looked into each other’s eyes as he stroked her fingers, then she turned around and leaned her back against his chest.
“Tomorrow, I will show you my world,” he promised.
“I would like that,” she said.
They stood staring out at the night. She was lost in her thoughts, and he was trying to unravel the kaleidoscope of images flashing through her mind. At one point, he moved his hand down to the long scar on her left side.
She had stopped him earlier when he tried to run his lips along the scar during their lovemaking. When he had asked her what happened, she replied that she had been in an accident when she was younger.
She grabbed his hand and pulled it away from the area. A wave of protectiveness swept through him when he felt her brief flash of intense sorrow. The accident that she’d spoken of and the death of her parents were related, he could feel that much through their connection. He would have to be patient u
ntil she was ready to share with him. He lowered his head and pressed his lips against a spot near her ear.
“We still have an hour left of the day if you are not too exhausted,” he murmured with a hint of hope in his voice.
She softly snorted and turned in his arms. “Almost an hour! Well, I guess we can’t let that go to waste,” she replied, sliding her hand up his chest. “How would you feel about adding a little more spice this round?”
Avery moaned in her sleep. She stretched and smiled. This had to be the absolute best way in the world to wake up.
“I know you are awake,” Core’s deep voice murmured.
“No, I’m not. I’m having a marvelous dream,” she replied.
She slowly raised her eyelids when his hand paused on her stomach. A moment later, he was leaning over her, his soft, sexy mouth inches from hers. She ran her hand up his hip and over his firm buttock.
“It can become a reality,” he murmured.
She gave him a brief smile, then pushed him away. Before he could stop her, she had thrown the covers back and slid from the bed. She looked over her shoulder at him with a raised eyebrow.
“This is reality,” she replied.
His expression hardened at her response. Turning away, she walked to the bathroom. She focused on her morning ritual, finding a measure of calm in the routine. She had finished brushing out her hair and was winding it into a ponytail when he stepped into the room.
She released a startled gasp when he wound his arm around her waist and picked her up. She looked up at their reflection in the mirror, and their gazes locked. He gave her a sharp-toothed grin.
“I have two days left of hot, mindless sex. I think it only fitting that we start the day right,” he announced.
“I do love a man who honors his commitments,” she purred.
Looking in the mirror, she watched as he bent his head and ran his lips along her throat. A soft moan slipped from her when she felt the scrape of his teeth. She hissed when he sank them into the curve of her neck. Her body’s reaction to his bite was strange. It felt like he’d flipped a switch that heated her blood and sent her desire for him into hyper drive.
“You have no idea what you do to my insides when you bite me like this. I need to bottle whatever it is,” she moaned.
His soft, warm breath swept over her skin when he chuckled. Goosebumps formed, and she moaned again as the fire built inside her. If she thought three days was going to be enough to get him out of her system, she must be nuts. She had never felt this type of intense desire for a man before.
He withdrew his teeth and ran his tongue over the mark he had left. She would have a nice assortment of marks before he was finished with her today. Thank goodness the marks faded quickly or she’d have to come up with some serious stories to explain them away. She gritted her teeth when she felt the hot flush building and her skin became super sensitive.
“You don’t need to bottle it as long as I am here,” he promised.
“Damn you! You know that you aren’t playing fair,” she groaned with a shake of her head.
His chuckle told her that he knew very well what he was doing to her. Their gazes locked in the mirror. For the first time since she’d erected the ice wall around her heart, it was beginning to melt. The fire in his eyes and the feel of his hands and mouth against her skin were threatening to break down the fortress she had created to protect herself.
“Don’t, Core… don’t fall in love with me,” she whispered.
It is too late, Avery. You captured my heart the first moment you held your weapon to my head, his voice whispered through her mind.
She tore her gaze away from his and looked down at her hands as they gripped the edge of the sink. This is what she had been feeling inside her head—he had been there— a faint mental caress that felt so loving and masculine and… it was Core, inside her in a completely different way. She breathed in through her nose and slowly turned to face him.
The burning need inside her was growing along with the despair. She embraced the first emotion and hoped that she hid the second. Lifting up on her toes, she pulled his head down to her for a kiss that begged him to just accept what they had now.
7
Several hours later, they were standing along the edge of a meadow. He had been showing Avery more of his world, hoping that she would love it as much as he did. He watched her pile her hair up in a messy pony tail. Her windblown hair made her look wild and free, a stark contrast to the composed woman he’d first met.
His eyes darkened when the thin fabric of her blouse stretched across her breasts. He could see the dark circle of her areolas and her taut nipples through the material. She glanced at him in amusement when he moaned.
“I should have worn a bra. I decided it would be more of a hassle than it was worth because every time I put one on, you take it off,” she teased.
He grinned at her. “It is fun to remove it, but I enjoy feeling your hard nipples against my back,” he admitted.
She stopped in front of him. “Is that why you didn’t wear a shirt? I thought it was because you liked my hands on you,” she retorted with a raised eyebrow.
He reached out and grabbed her hand, raising it to his lips and pressing a kiss to the center of the intricate circles of her bond mark. Then he touched it with the tip of his tongue. Her loud gasp told him she felt what he was doing at the center of her being.
“I am not even going to try to understand what just happened,” she said with a shake of her head. “Where are you taking me to next?”
He tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear and caressed her cheek before he pulled her toward his land glider. A mischievous glint flared in his eyes.
“Would you like to control the glider?” he asked.
Her eyes lit up with delight. “I wondered how long it would take for you to finally offer me a chance,” she replied with a grin.
He laughed when she eagerly pulled him toward the land glider. The craft was a simple machine that allowed his people to move quickly through the dense forest. Avery called it a floating motorcycle. He remembered seeing a motorcycle when he was on her world. It seemed much more dangerous than the land glider.
He waited as Avery climbed on before he sat down behind her, wrapping one hand around her waist and another over her unbound breast while he leaned forward to rest his chin on her shoulder.
She tilted her head to the side and gave him a pointed look. He just grinned in response. She shook her head.
“Is copping a feel the only reason you are letting me drive?” she asked, turning her attention to the controls.
“Yes,” he replied.
She released an inelegant snort. “Well, hold me tight,” she advised.
Core tightened his hold on her as she started the transport. He should have known she had carefully watched what he had been doing all morning. In seconds, they were hovering in the air.
He slid his hands down to her waist when she leaned forward, and the glider smoothly accelerated, picking up speed as Avery became more confident in how to control it.
They wove their way through the forest, moving to a higher elevation. He gazed around at the massive trees and pride surged through him at the beauty of his homeland. The Eastern Clan had settled throughout this area when the forest was still young. His people nurtured and protected it, and it gave them plentiful food, shelter, and protection in return.
When they weren’t all crowded into Tilly’s marathon movie event, his clan moved among the trees like ghosts, and the birds and plants warned them if strangers entered their domain. He scowled at the memory of the deceitful human male, Scott Bachman, they’d found here. He had been the first to tell the clan that humans could bond with the Prime, and he had caused far too much suffering before he was stopped.
“How do you know Scott Bachman?” Avery asked with surprise.
Core blinked. It was too much to hope that Avery felt connected enough to him right now to hear his though
ts. He must have spoken the man’s name out loud. He grimaced with distaste, wishing they could talk about something else.
As Cosmos’ security officer, Avery probably knew part of this story. She would certainly know that Hannah and Tink were the eldest and youngest daughters of Tilly and Angus, that Tink had been the first human to go through Cosmos’ gateway, that Hannah was the second, and that Tink and Hannah were the bond mates of J’kar and Borj, the eldest and second eldest sons of Teriff ‘Tag Krell Manok, the leader of Baade, and his bond mate Tresa.
“He was not a good human,” he responded.
Avery shot him a quick look. “No shit, but that still doesn’t explain how you know about him. Is he here?” she asked.
Core shook his head. “He is dead. He was brought here after he almost killed Tink on your world. He killed two guards before escaping into the forest. We found him. We would have killed him immediately, but he offered us something we couldn’t refuse—hope. Not long after, he and two outcasts from our clan kidnapped Hannah. They are dead now too,” he added in a blunt tone.
“What happened to Hannah?” Avery quietly asked, slowing down the glider.
He tightened his arms around her waist. “She was hurt, but has since recovered. Borj is very attentive to her and their children. I know you think it is a terrible thing to be the bond mate of a Prime, Avery, but not all Prime are bad. It has been difficult with so few women among our kind. For years, our people have searched nearby worlds to find a mate who would complete us. We lost hope as it seemed certain our species would die out,” he continued.
“There are other planets near you with people? That’s right; you said your father was on a trip. It’s hard to wrap my head around all of this sometimes,” she mused, shaking her head in disbelief.
“Turn to the northwest. There is a place I would like to show you,” he instructed before he continued. “There are many different species. “The Prime are the most powerful because our technology is more advanced. You have only seen a small portion of my world, and the village where I live may appear simple, but it relies on very complex technology. We sustainably make the most of our natural resources to provide abundance, protection, and joy to everyone,” he shared.
