Both of them wore soft sandals on their feet and nothing else. Since Ranic was used to his enormous metal suit, he felt positively naked.
“I can do this, but I need to know…” Ranic trailed off because he wasn’t certain what was holding him back, exactly. He wanted to break with not only his world, but his entire restrictive culture. However, as much as he wanted to cut all ties, the idea of turning his back on them never to return was truly terrifying. Finoc was all he knew.
“I will never, ever leave you of my own free will.”
Ranic turned and considered Jarrett anew.
“I swear that I will stand by you always. Through thick and thin, through rich or poor, happy or miserable, whatever this massive universe can throw at us, I swear we are going to make our way through it all together.” Jarrett again lifted their bound hands, but this time he released Ranic’s, unfolded it, and then kissed the center of his palm. “I have never felt this way about anyone until I met you.”
A surge of intense passion made Ranic utter a cry of surrender. He couldn’t say no to Jarrett. Not when he was willing to commit himself so deeply, so fully. “I believe you.”
“Good.” Jarrett considered. “We can cover you if you wish, or we can have the minister avert his eyes. Which would make you feel more comfortable?”
Ranic drew a deep breath and considered. “Neither.”
Jarrett’s dark brows drew together in confusion, not anger.
“I must get used to showing my face, so I will start here, today.” Ranic drew a fortifying breath.
A slow smile of understanding and acceptance lifted the edges of Jarrett’s sensual lips. “Good. Because you have a beautiful face.”
“Do I?” Ranic was genuinely curious. All he’d ever seen was his own kind, Jarrett, and the very odd aliens at the auction house. It was difficult to compare attractiveness to creatures so different.
“You do.” This time, Jarrett stepped close and leaned in to kiss Ranic.
Ranic stepped back before their lips touched. “Oh, no. Not so fast.”
Jarrett’s uplifted brows asked the question.
“You have to marry me first.”
Again, the transformation of his features told Ranic everything he needed to know. Jarrett loved when he stood firm for what he wanted. The fact that he’d bought Jarrett but almost immediately turned around and set him free spoke volumes about the kind of man Ranic was, at least that was what Jarrett had told him. That Jarrett didn’t hold it against him in any way told him all he needed to know about his happenstance mate.
“Just show me the way.” Jarrett offered out his hand, which Ranic took along with a very deep breath.
Hand in hand, they entered the chapel.
Ranic wasn’t sure what he thought would happen, but the minister smiled at them and then some music played that was oddly discordant. Jarrett flashed him a look that Ranic now recognized as one that said his mate was on the verge of full-out laughter. Begging him to stay steady, Jarrett let go of his hand, moved swiftly over to the droid dispensing the music, whispered to him what he wanted, then returned to Ranic’s side.
Rather than ask, Ranic waited for the new music to resound through the chapel. When it did, he smiled. This was so much sweeter. “What is this music?”
“Well, I wanted something else, but since the droid is rather simplistic, I hummed Ode to Joy.”
“It’s lovely.”
“It is.” Jarrett stopped their progression down the green-carpeted aisle. “Are you certain this is what you want?”
“I am.” Ranic tapped the tiny pocket on his jacket, and he grinned when Jarrett did the same.
Step by step, they made their way to the minister who said their names, repeated the vows they’d already privately sworn to, they exchanged the rings they’d tucked into their pockets, and then they were ready to seal their deal with a kiss.
Swallowing hard, Ranic offered out his lips to his now husband. As much as they each said this was only a ceremony, it still mattered a great deal to him. They both believed in what they’d sworn to and now that their names were recorded in ones and zeros for all the universe to see, Ranic couldn’t help but feel a sense of finality. He could never go back. Not that he wanted to, but it was just so absolute somehow.
Gently, his husband kissed him.
“And so we are wed.” Jarrett turned away from the minister and cupped his hand to Ranic’s. His touch was so warm and familiar. How could that be when they were hardly acquainted?
“Now will you take me back to our room and make love to me?”
“Oh, yes.” Jarrett grinned. “I can’t think of anything I’d rather do.”
Ranic tried to control his excitement, but he couldn’t, and he knew that Jarrett knew because of the press of his cock against his thin trousers. Looking down at the vulgar bulge he made, Ranic quipped, “In my trooper suit, none knew the scope of my lust.”
“I did.” Jarrett cupped his cock then let go before anyone could see.
“You did?”
“Oh, yes.” Jarrett pulled Ranic close and kissed his neck with the promise of more passion to come. “Even below that thick shield of metal I knew that you wanted me.”
“How?” Ranic was honestly perplexed. “My trooper suit is several hundred thousand microns thick and—”
Jarrett pressed his lips against Ranic’s ear and whispered, “I knew by the way you held me.”
“I don’t see—”
“If you didn’t care for me, you would have picked me up and tossed me carelessly over your shoulder, but you didn’t. You gave me something to cover myself with and then gently cradled me in your massive, metallic arms. You pressed me against your suit with kindness and care.” After a long sigh, Jarrett added, “You told me you loved me without a word, my alien master. You never used force. You never ordered me about. All you ever had to do was look at me with your hungry eyes and I was smitten.”
Ranic melted against his mate. “I—you—please—” Unable to figure out what he wanted to say, Ranic simply shook his head and gazed at his mate. “You are everything to me.”
“I swear that you are everything to me, too.” Jarrett took his hand tighter and pulled him down the hallway.
Ranic wasn’t sure, but he thought they were returning to their room. When they ended up on a sandy path to the beach, he didn’t worry. He just held his mate’s hand tighter and followed along. When they ended up in the same patch of beach where Jarrett had proposed, Ranic grinned and he allowed his mate to strip him down to bare skin.
“You are amazing dressed, but you are so much more beautiful when you are naked.”
“Am I?”
“You are.” Jarrett wrenched off his suit and then pressed their naked bodies together. “Oh, my sweet golden alien.” Cupping his face, Jarrett tilted his chin so they were looking at one another. “I don’t ever want to be with anyone but you.”
When Jarrett’s lips pressed against his, Ranic lost coherent thought. He loved his alien mate in ways that he didn’t even understand. Ranic wanted to pick apart the minute moments of their time together and try to find the exact second when he fell in love, but that didn’t matter. Love was what he would do, what he wanted to do, what he swore to do in the depth of his heart. With Jarrett, Ranic couldn’t think of anything he wouldn’t give his mate.
Rather than lay him down on the blanket, Jarrett took him out into the water.
“I told you I don’t know how to swim.”
“No, you said you wanted to wait until the moon came up before we went wading in the water.”
“Oh.” Ranic paused. “My kind doesn’t swim, so I don’t know how to swim.”
Jarrett’s laugh was light. “I do. Hold on to me.”
Ranic put his hands on Jarrett’s shoulders, and his fears seemed to melt away under the strong, sturdy presence of his mate. Jarrett kissed him and teased his hands all over Ranic’s body until he was panting heavily.
“I swear I�
�m getting giddy.”
“Giddy?” Ranic chuckled. The word translated well enough, but it was such a strange-sounding word.
“It’s you.” Jarrett cupped Ranic’s chin. “Breathe into my mouth.”
Curious, Ranic did, and they quickly discovered that when he was in the water, he drew oxygen through his skin and breathed it out. “I had no idea.”
“See? It’s one of your cool alien tricks. You can’t drown.” Jarrett grinned.
“But why does it make you laugh?”
“Higher oxygen content in the air makes humans laugh.” Jarrett shrugged. “It’s one of our lame alien tricks.”
It was such a relief to know that he could breathe underwater that his anxiety at being in the surf abruptly faded. “Why wouldn’t my people know about this?”
“You said they don’t swim, so I guess that makes sense. Or maybe they know but didn’t see a practical use for it.” Jarrett lifted Ranic up just a bit, using his lighter weight in the water to his advantage. “I can definitely see a use for it.”
“What’s that?” As Jarrett pulled him close, Ranic wrapped his legs around his hips and let out a sigh when he rubbed his cock up between his buttocks. All his nervousness from before seemed to have melted away in the water along with his inhibitions.
“I can make love to you underwater.” Jarrett grinned, but when Ranic grasped him tighter, afraid to go under, he stayed where he was. “I won’t. I promise.” Jarrett kissed his neck, holding him close. “I won’t ever make you do anything you don’t want to do.”
Ranic relaxed, and then he felt Jarrett’s fingers teasing along the crevasse of his bottom. His hands were slippery. “How is that?”
“It’s a lube that stays on in the water.” Jarrett grinned. “I got it from the concierge. Or we can go back on shore.”
“No. Here. Somehow it’s fitting.” Ranic relaxed, letting his body float lightly as Jarrett teased his fingers around and around until he was squirming and making a plaintive cry.
“I love the sounds you make.”
“The sounds you make me make.”
“Let’s see what music I can make you play with this.” Slowly, Jarrett eased his finger up inside Ranic’s bottom.
He uttered a sound that was a cross between a cry of triumph and one of total surrender. He wasn’t honestly sure which he felt more strongly. All Ranic knew was he didn’t want Jarrett to stop.
“God, you’re tight.”
“Is that bad?”
“No. You’re perfect just the way you are.” Jarrett kissed him several times. “It just means I’ll have to work you open slowly. Surely. With all due caution and care.”
As he spoke, he slipped his finger in and out while gently bobbing Ranic in the water. His dreams didn’t come close to the reality of how good this felt. After a long time of teasing, Jarrett worked another finger inside, making Ranic lean his head back into the water. Above him, the moon glowed bright pink, and tonight it was full and round. Just when Ranic didn’t think he could take much more teasing, Jarrett slipped a third finger in, which caused Ranic to flip his head up and meet his mate’s wicked gaze.
“You are so inherently sensual. It’s like a dance almost.”
“A dance?” Ranic tightened his legs around Jarrett’s hips as he dug his fingers a little more firmly into his shoulders. He wasn’t sure what he was bracing himself for because he knew Jarrett wasn’t ready to enter him yet. In a way he wanted him to hurry so he could finally feel their bodies joined, but in another way he wanted him to drag things out forever so they would never leave this exquisite time and place.
“Each time I slip my fingers up”—Jarrett slowly did what he said—“your body arches into me. When I pull them out”—he moved his hand down—“you float away just a bit. But not too much.”
“I don’t want to get away.”
“I know.”
Their lips were so close, but Jarrett teased him by rubbing their mouths together but not kissing him. And then he gently licked Ranic’s bottom lip, making him float closer. That was when Jarrett plunged his fingers in and out at a swift pace that made Ranic gasp and wrap his arms and legs tightly around him.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes. Please.”
“Look at me.”
Ranic pushed back just enough so he could see into Jarrett’s eyes. What he saw filled him with more joy than he could have thought imaginable. Arousal marked strongly across his face, but there was a far more powerful sense of care. In that moment, Ranic felt the love they hadn’t spoken of yet. But it was there. No man could look at him like that, and worry so greatly about not hurting him, unless he was completely in love. Ranic didn’t need to hear the words because he felt them.
Slowly, Jarrett lowered his hands to Ranic’s buttocks and guided him onto his cock.
“Oh!”
Jarrett instantly moved him away. “Did I hurt you?”
“No. No.” Ranic cupped his face and kissed him. “It was just such a surprise.”
“You did realize this is what I was preparing you for, right?”
“Yes, you crazy man. It’s just I didn’t realize it would feel so perfect.”
Grinning, Jarrett lowered him down again. As his prick smoothed up inside Ranic’s ass, his smile faded, his eyes narrowed, and his breathing grew labored.
“Are you okay?” Ranic was worried that something was wrong with his mate. Maybe he was too tight and they would have to stop. He hoped not because Jarrett’s cock was several degrees warmer than his body so as it entered it quite literally filled him with heat. He couldn’t wait to feel his climax.
“Yes, I’m okay. I’m just trying not to come.”
“Oh. What can I do?” Ranic didn’t want Jarrett to climax too soon. He’d only just gotten used to feeling him buried inside. Since he’d taken so much time to prepare him, all he felt was glorious pleasure when he’d finally stripped him of his virginity.
“Relax and let me move you.”
Ranic did as Jarrett asked. By letting most of his body go limp, Ranic turned control completely over to Jarrett, who was able to bob him gently up and down, using the water and the subtle motion of his hips. All the while they held their gazes locked together.
“You’re beautiful.”
“You’ve already told me that.” Ranic smiled. “But I don’t mind hearing it again.”
“Good, because I can’t help myself from saying it. In the moonlight, in this water, you’re the glittering god that I’m so lucky, so insanely lucky, to be with.”
Touched, Ranic moved a little closer so they could kiss. It made Jarrett’s thrusts shallower, but that was okay. It would delay the inevitable and allow Ranic to get closer to release by rubbing his prick more firmly against Jarrett’s belly.
Gently swaying in the warm, sweet water, they held fast to one another as they became ever more aroused. Ranic knew when Jarrett was close because his nostrils flared and his thrusts grew more powerful. Clinging to him, Ranic buried his face against his neck because he couldn’t take the intensity of looking into his eyes anymore. Jarrett’s hands tightened on his buttocks, and he rocked him more vigorously. Each pass rubbed Ranic’s cock against Jarrett’s tight tummy, pushing him closer to the edge.
Jarrett lowered him as he lifted his hips up, filling Ranic so deeply it almost bordered on pain, but he found his release and that caused Ranic to spill against his belly. Quivering, they clung together, kissing and squirming until the last of the shakes left them. After a timeless moment to recover, Ranic moved back so he could see Jarrett’s face. He was smiling.
“Happy?”
“Very.” Jarrett kissed him gently. “You?”
“Extremely.”
“Oh, my. Look at that.”
Around them, glitters floated on the surface of the water.
“Again, I feel like I’m making love to a magical elf or something. I can’t tell you how amazing it is that your cum has sparkles in it.”
; Eventually the tide washed the glitter of his release away, and Jarrett moved back to shallower water. Gently, he settled on his butt and kept himself buried within Ranic’s ass. He couldn’t remember ever feeling so close to someone, or so blissfully happy. And then he had a moment of pure dread because he knew his joy wouldn’t last.
Ranic looked up and discovered a droid floating toward them. Before it delivered the message, Ranic already knew it wasn’t going to be something he wanted to hear.
Chapter 9
“Why do we have to go back to Krase?” Jarrett was sitting on the bed watching Ranic pace back and forth. Since neither one of them had much of anything, they were able to pack in about five minutes. Ranic was wearing his wedding suit, the jacket of which flowed away from his chest when he walked. Despite his agitation, he looked beautiful in the purple suit. To Jarrett, Ranic looked a little bit like Yul Brynner in The King and I.
“I don’t know. The message from the auction house didn’t say. Only that I had to return you.”
“Wait, what?” Jarrett had missed that part. Since the droid was meant for Ranic, and he leapt out of Jarrett’s arms and practically ran toward it, Jarrett hadn’t been able to hear everything it said by the time he caught up. “I thought it said we had to return to the auction house?”
“Yes. Well, we do, but it was clear I had to bring you with me.”
Jarrett’s mind was racing. “They can’t take me away from you. I mean, you bought me fair and square. Besides, we’re married now, so—” He cut himself off because he had no idea if he had any rights at all. Technically, Ranic still owned him.
“I’m not going to leave you.” Ranic stopped striding across the floor and came to sit beside Jarrett on the bed. “They can’t part us since neither one of us broke any laws.”
“Right.” Jarrett considered. “Or have you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your world doesn’t deal in slaves. What if they want to arrest you?”
Enslaved by a Rebel [Sold! 2] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) Page 6
