by Aria Winter
She pulls back and looks up at me, a small frown creasing her brow. “Do your people not kiss?”
“Kiss?” I ask, touching my lips. “Is that what this is?”
She nods.
“Is it part of your mating ritual?”
She flushes a deep red. “Sort of. But do you mind if this is all we do?”
My brows shoot up to my forehead. Do I mind? I would give anything to feel her mouth on mine again. “I do not mind at all. I am just unsure of what to do.”
“Luckily for you,” she smiles, “I, at least, have some experience with this.”
A growl threatens to rise in my throat at the thought of another male touching her in this way, but I force it back down. That was before she met me. Now that I am here, I will endeavor to kiss her so often and so well, she will never think of any male who came before me.
She cups my face, leaning closer to touch her mouth lightly to mine. Her lips are soft and warm. I gasp as she runs her tongue along my lower lip as if asking for entrance. I open my mouth and when her tongue finds mine, I am lost.
It is soft and smooth like the rest of her form, whereas my tongue is ridged. She moves her tongue along mine and I groan low in my throat at the delicious sensation. How have my people never discovered this custom?
Her taste is exquisite and as her tongue curls around mine, I want more. I want to possess her as she has possessed me—mind, body, and soul. I cup the back of her neck and hold her in place as I deepen our kiss, plunging my tongue into her mouth as I long to sheathe my stav deep in her channel.
A soft moan escapes her and I pull her even closer. She climbs into my lap while my stav extends, seeking the warmth of her center. The scent of her arousal thickens the air. Only the thin barrier of her robe separates us, her wet heat soaking through the fabric as she moves her hips insistently against mine.
I release a tortured groan. It would be so easy to pull back her robe and bare her to my eyes. I ache to bury myself inside her. To fill her with my seed and claim her as mine. My nostrils flare as the scent of her need strengthens.
Though she claimed her people do not go into heat, when she grips my shoulders, digs her nails into my back, and rolls her hips against mine, it is obvious she desires me as much as I do her.
I love the feel of her petal-soft skin beneath the tips of my fingers as I trace them down her form. When I reach the curve of her breast, I am surprised by how easily the soft flesh gives beneath my touch. Drakarian females do not have any softness here.
I brush my thumb across the peak and she gasps, her kisses becoming more desperate as her nipple becomes a hard beaded tip beneath my palm. When I roll the stiff peak between my thumb and forefinger, she gasps and arches into my palm as if begging for more.
“This is,” I gasp between kisses, “sensitive?”
“Yes,” she breathes into my mouth. “I want your hands all over me.”
Encouraged by her response, I cup her other breast to give it the same attention.
She takes my hand and moves it down her body. My heart hammers as she guides me to her center. “Touch me here,” she whispers with a half-lidded gaze.
I dip my fingers between her soft folds, pleased to find that she is already slick with arousal. She guides me to a small pearl of flesh at the apex and as soon as my finger brushes against it, she moans and her entire body seems to light up with pleasure.
“Right there,” she mumbles against my lips.
I continue to tease at the sensitive flesh as she writhes in my lap. I groan as the hard length of my stav drags through her warm, wet heat.
I explore her body, and as soon as I find the entrance to her channel, she arches into my hand. Carefully, I press the tip of my finger into her tight heat and she gasps.
Heavy-lidded eyes meet mine. “Raidyn,” she pleads. “More.”
My entire body is tense with need. I’m desperate to claim her, but she is not ready for a full mating yet. However, she desires my touch, and I will take anything she is willing to give me. And even if we never fully mate, holding her in my arms, her body pressed against mine, is enough. I hug her tightly and drop my head into the space between her neck and shoulders, inhaling deeply of her intoxicating scent as she kneads the muscles along my back and grinds herself against me.
“I long to taste you on my tongue,” I whisper against her skin.
She stills and I worry that I have said too much; that I have asked for more than I should. But she pulls away to lie on her back. I watch as she undoes the fastening of her robe and it falls away, revealing her bare form to my gaze. She is perfect; I have never seen a more beautiful sight in my entire life.
She reaches for me and I surge toward her. Curling her hand around the back of my neck, she pulls my lips back down to hers. I worry my weight could crush her beneath me, so I brace my elbows on either side of her body as she deepens our kiss.
The tip of my stav bumps against her entrance and she inhales sharply. Her tongue curls around mine and I long more than anything to join our bodies as one. But when I pull back just enough to search her gaze, hesitation is evident in her eyes. I will not fully claim her until she is ready, but I want to give her pleasure. “Please, allow me to taste you, my beautiful mate.”
She nods and I move down her body, trailing a line of soft kisses down her petal-soft skin. I run my hands along her inner thighs to part them, baring her fully to my gaze. The hesitation spreads across her features, and she starts to close her thighs. I remove my hands and gaze up at her. “We will do nothing you do not wish.”
She sits up, pulling her robe to cover her body, then nestles against me.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “It’s just… I’ve never done this before and I—”
I press a kiss to her forehead and cup her jaw, tipping her head back to look up at me. “It is fine, my mate. We can wait.”
I hold her tightly to me. She is perfect, my Skye. I will wait as long as she needs me to. This night, she has allowed me to touch her more intimately than I could have ever dreamt.
Chapter 16
Skye
As I nestle against him, I notice his scales glowing much brighter than they ever have before. I trace my fingers over the swirling pattern, curious. “They’ve brightened. Why is that?”
“Because you are so close to me,” he replies. “When fated mates complete their bonding, joining their bodies as one, the pattern will remain steadfast and glowing so all may know they are a fully mated pair.”
I think about his father, remembering the same pattern on his scales. “I saw something similar on your father’s chest, but the glow had gone dark.”
He nods. “Because my mother is dead, it will never glow again.”
Only now do I realize that I did not see this pattern on any other Drakarians. “Does everyone wait to find their linaya? Or do some mate simply because they fall in love?”
“Not all find their fated mate. And now that there are so few females, the bond is even rarer.”
I remember he told me about the Great Plague that killed many Drakarian women and rendered the rest infertile. My mind drifts back to the flu that burned through our ships three years ago, the dark memories returning like a tide to the shore.
“I’m sorry your people have suffered so much loss,” I tell him. “We lost many as well during the viral outbreak that took my parents a few years ago. A strain of the flu swept through on our colony ships. We lost almost half our people during that time.”
“My hearts grieve with yours,” he whispers into my hair.
“Thank you.”
“Before the Great Plague, nearly as many females as males lived on Drakaria; most waited until they found their fated one before forming a pair bond. Now, we are so desperate we have begun negotiations with other Clans to discuss the possibility of intermating.” He looks down. “Some of our Healers predict that due to the lack of females, we may be facing the extinction of our race.”
“What ab
out mating with other species?”
“We have been a spacefaring race for hundreds of cycles, but ever since the plague, we keep mostly to ourselves. Our Healers believe that one of our trading ships brought the virus that devastated our population. After the plague, we did search for other species who may be biologically compatible but found none. So, we gave up on searching.”
Listening to the history of his people, I realize how desperate they are for females, which concerns me. I fix him with a serious look. “What if our two species are not capable of having children?”
He cups my cheeks, his deep-blue eyes staring into mine. “It would not matter to me. I would still desire you. The Gods have gifted you to me and I will not ignore or turn away such a perfect blessing.”
His words fill me with warmth, and I smile.
He returns a tender look. “After my mother died following the Great Plague, I was angry at the Gods. I blamed them for my people’s every misfortune. I turned my back on their teachings.” He shakes his head softly. “I was shunned by many females because of my disfigurement, which only added to my resentment. But the moment I found you, I rediscovered my faith. The Gods had not deserted me after all—they gave me a fated one. A gift that not everyone receives.”
I swallow against the lump in my throat as doubt begins to creep in once again. I slowly untangle myself from his arms and sit back. “So it is the bond that makes you love me.”
“No,” he denies vehemently. “It is you that makes me love you. I want you and only you, Skye. For the first time, I am grateful to the Gods for giving me my scar. In giving me this scar, they made sure that the right female would find me. One that could look beyond it and see me for who I am instead of my title. If I had not had this scar, I would likely already have been mated. And if I had been mated to another and then discovered you after, it would have been the most devastating tragedy of my existence.”
He reaches out to cup my cheek. “When I look at you, I feel as if I have found the other half of my soul. I have told you more in the past few days than I have told even those closest to me. I can open my heart and bare my thoughts to you in a way that I never could with others.” His brow furrows softly. “Do you not feel the same?”
His words touch me deeply because this is exactly how I feel. I take his hand, lifting it to my chest as I entwine our fingers. “Although I still don’t understand it, I know that this,” I gesture to our joined hands, “feels right like nothing else ever has.”
He flashes his devastatingly handsome smile and I can feel my tower of logic crumbling all around me as my heart insists that I allow myself to fall for him.
I continue. “But it scares me a bit, too, Raidyn. I… I’m new to all of this. I’ve only ever read about love in books. I never thought it would ever happen for me in real life.”
He pulls me back into his arms and wraps his wings around my form. He lifts my hand to his chest, resting my open palm over the luminescent pattern on his scales. “This is proof that such love exists, but I can understand your hesitation because it is not natural for your people. There is no rush, my Skye. We can take as much time as you want. We have the rest of our lives to get to know one another, and I will wait for however long you need to decide whether you want me or not.”
A tear slips down my cheek. How many dates have I gone on, hoping and praying to meet a man like Raidyn, only to find out they were only interested in one thing? I never thought I’d be so lucky, and I’ve never felt more loved as I do in this moment.
But even as happiness blooms in my heart, I feel incredibly selfish. Here I am, making out with Raidyn, while I have no idea how Lilliana is doing. Is she happy? Is she safe? What about the rest of our crew?
Raidyn gently nuzzles my temple. “What is wrong?”
“I was just thinking about my friends. Especially Lilliana,” I tell him. “I know you said Varus would never hurt her, but I need to see for myself that she’s all right. She has always been like a sister to me, and now that the rest of my family is gone, she is all I have left.”
Chapter 17
Raidyn
As we fly back to the house, myriad thoughts flit through her mind. Her tangled emotions are so complex, I am unable to discern what they mean. She cares for me, but she is conflicted. And she worries about her friend and the rest of her people.
I am worried about them, too. The Fire Clan has no doubt discovered them by now, but I must be certain. We will have to search the desert near the site where I found Skye. Even if we do find them, I cannot take them back to the Wind Clan. I would have no choice but to take them to Prince Varus. He is not dishonorable like my cousin who whispers poison in my father’s ear.
When I set Skye down on the balcony, she lingers by my side. “What are you thinking about?”
“My father,” I reluctantly admit. “He and my cousin are wrong to think that they could present your people with eligible males and tell them they must choose a mate from among them. I know your species could be the answer to our problems, but it would be wrong in so many different ways to force them into making a choice they may not be ready to make.”
She studies me curiously. “What do you mean?”
I place my hand on my chest. “I know you are concerned we may be unable to have fledglings, but I do not believe the Gods would have fated us if we were not biologically compatible. What if some of the other unmated human females are destined to others of my kind?” I shake my head softly in frustration. “And my father and cousin would insist they take only members of the Wind Clan as their mates, keeping them all for themselves, denying the males in other Clans the opportunity to find their linaya. What a horrible thing it would be if a Drakarian mates with another’s linaya and later discovers the mistake.”
“Has that happened before?”
“Never. At least, it has never been recorded.” I look to the stars. “Who knows what happens in the other Clans? We have been separated for so long. We hardly share information with one another anymore.”
“Don’t you think that weakens you as a people?”
I study her, curious to hear her outsider perspective. “How so?”
“If the Clans are so separated, it only creates a further divide between your race.” She tilts her head to the side, something I notice she does when she is in deep thought. “How can your species remain strong? If something drastic, like another disease outbreak or an invasion, were to happen, how would you coordinate an effort to fight it? Don’t you see how much trouble your division could cause?”
She speaks truth. The Clans have been acting like our ancestors, the four brothers—treating our brethren like enemies.
We are the same species, blessed by the same Gods, despite the slight differences in our appearance and abilities. Instead of widening the gap between Clans with fighting and mistrust, we need to overcome our differences and unify our species.
Perhaps the humans were sent to us not only to be our linayas—our gifts from the Gods—but to teach us how to unite once more.
“You are right,” I sigh. “Though I don’t know how to even begin improving relations with the other Clans.”
She sends me a look I cannot quite discern, but her faint smile doesn’t reach her eyes. It seems my words have upset her. Probably because she is thinking of her friend and wondering if she will ever see her again now that she knows our Clans are so divided. “Someone has to be the first to try,” she says. A yawn escapes her before she can cover her mouth. Her cheeks darken in response. “I think it’s time for me to go to bed.”
“I will join you.”
She looks over her shoulder. “I think I’ll sleep on the couch tonight.”
My brows draw down. “You wish to sleep alone?”
She nods.
Part of me hopes she merely wants to take things slowly, but another part knows that something is wrong. Has she already made her decision? Is she rejecting me after all?
Even if she does not want me, I am not
a male who would ever put his comfort above a female’s. “You take the bed,” I tell her. “I will sleep on the couch.”
“You don’t have to—” she starts to protest but I raise my hand in a bid to allow me to speak.
“No. I insist,” I state firmly. “I will sleep on the sofa.”
She nods and heads for the cleansing room. “I’m going to bathe first.”
As soon as the door to the cleansing room closes, a terrible thought fills my mind. I have not bathed since we arrived, since my scales naturally repel water and dirt. Drakarians do not bathe but every three or four days. She, however, has bathed twice now in two days, so human skin must need more frequent washing.
What if she finds my odor offensive? Her sense of smell must be very acute.
I must remedy this at once.
When she is finished, I make use of the cleansing pool as well. I take great care to scrub and thoroughly buff my scales to a pearlescent sheen.
Why did I not think to do this earlier?
What male does not groom to impress a female? I have been a fool, simply assuming she’d run into my arms because of the bond when all this time she has insisted that she does not sense its pull as I do. I have been expecting her to accept me without making any attempt to court her and entice her to become my mate.
As soon as I return to the bedroom, I find her already asleep. I’m disappointed since I wanted to see her reaction not only to the soap I used but to the polished finish of my freshly buffed scales. I checked my appearance several times in the mirror and am certain she will find my efforts pleasing. But that will have to wait until tomorrow, for I refuse to wake her now. It has been a long day for my mate; I will leave her to rest.
With a heavy sigh, I curl up on the couch and close my eyes, attempting to drift off to sleep.
My arms ache with the urge to hold her as I did last night, but she does not want this, and I will not push for anything she does not want.
