"Is this your home?" he asked as we stepped into the chamber.
"Yes," I told him, "I have a house, but this is where I consider myself at home. This is where I feel safe."
Bannack gave my wrist a gentle tug so that I curled back into his arms. He pressed a kiss to the top of my head and then another to my cheekbone.
"I will keep you safe," he whispered, "I will always keep you safe."
His lips touched the side of my neck and I felt a shiver travel through my body and settle between my thighs. I ached for his touch again and could feel the warmth building as my body prepared for him. The tip of his tongue grazed across my skin. The feeling made my body tremble and I grabbed onto his upper arms, holding them to give myself stability as his mouth continued to explore along the side of my neck and down into the curve between my neck and shoulder.
I felt Bannack's hands smooth down the sides of my hips and onto my outer thighs, gathering the sides of my nightgown with his fingers so that he could slip his hands beneath the hem. He moaned as he realized that I wasn't wearing anything under the nightgown and I felt him fill his hands with my flesh, kneading gently as he met my mouth again with another intense kiss.
His mouth moved across mine with depth and need, but not intensity. He moved slowly, carefully tasting me as his hands massaged into my muscles and pulled me ever closer so that our hips met and the irresistible pressure of his erection against my belly made me whimper into his mouth. His hands swept up, tossing my nightgown aside. I had been wearing nothing else, and again I was completely bare in front of him. I reached up behind my neck and loosened the chain that held the compact I had reattached to its hook. Gently placing the compact down on top of my nightgown, I turned back to him.
"You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen," he whispered.
"Let me see you," I whispered back, reaching forward to release the laces that tied up the front of his pants.
Bannack stepped back and took off his shirt, letting it fall to the floor beside my nightgown. He looked at me and I stepped closer to him, bringing my hands back to the laces on his pants. They loosened easily beneath my fingers and I eased his pants down his hips so that they fell to the floor. Bannack stepped out of them and took off his boots. Finally he was as bare as I was. There was nothing between us anymore and I indulged myself by touching the front of my body to his. The heat of his skin drew me in and I ran my hand down his chest and along the chiseled, rippling muscles along his side.
"You are beautiful," I said quietly, admiring every bit of him that my fingers touched.
"I know that I don't deserve to be with you," he said, nuzzling his face in my hair, "but if you will let me, I will do everything I can to earn you. Starting with worshiping every inch of you."
With that, he swept me into his arms so that my hips nestled against his, my core cradling his erection and my breasts crushed against his chest. I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. He was so tall that holding me like that had me several feet off of the ground, but I wasn't afraid. I knew that I was never safer than when I was in his arms.
"How did your kind choose a life mate?" he asked, his labored breath making his voice low and sultry.
He held me with such ease, seeming to need to put forth no effort to keep me nestled against him. His mouth dropped to the side of my neck again and I closed my eyes briefly to savor the feeling.
"They were tied together," I finally managed to say.
"Tied?" he asked, lifting his mouth just long enough to speak before kissing along my collarbone.
I nodded, tilting my head back to encourage his mouth to my neck again.
"The women wove braids out of pieces of cloth and a treasured friend would tie their wrists together and say a blessing over them."
"Will you do that with me?" he asked, his lips tracing along the front of my neck until they reached the soft dip between my collarbones.
"Yes," I said, leaning back a little further to grant him more access.
"Until then, can I show you how the Denynso bond?"
"Yes."
Bannack tightened his grip on me and started to walk forward. By the direction he was moving I knew he was headed toward the long, low bench that ran along the far wall. A few moments later he lowered himself to his knees and rested me back against the plush cushions, carefully drawing my legs from around his waist so that he could sit back on his feet. He gently parted my thighs, draping one leg over the side of the bench and the other over his shoulder so that I was totally open and vulnerable to him.
"This time," he said, running his hand down my thigh toward the wet heat he had been creating with every touch and every kiss, "when I touch you, I want to be looking at you."
Just those words made me feel like I was edging beyond my control and I pushed my hips closer to him, opening further to surrender myself completely to him. Bannack brought his hand the rest of the way down and drew the pads of his fingers through my core, sending shivers through my body. He pressed deeper, parting my folds so he could explore me as he gazed into my face.
I watched as Bannack dipped his fingers into his mouth, drawing them across his tongue before reaching down again and slipping them into me. I gasped at the feeling, so overwhelmed that I at once tried to pull away from it and push deeper into it. He moved patiently, easing his fingers deeper into my tight, untouched body and moving them slowly so that he massaged my upper wall. He groaned in response to my body arching up toward him and the whimpers pouring from my chest. I gripped his arm, digging my fingers deeply into him as he continued his deliciously torturous exploration.
Almost unbearable pressure was building throughout my belly, thighs, and hips and I felt the same desperate need for him that I had in the house in the Denynso compound before he left. Just before he allowed the tension to release, however, he carefully withdrew his fingers. I gasped at the emptiness and searched his face, worried for a moment that he was going to leave again. He smiled at me and drew his fingers through his mouth again, removing my slick fluids from his skin.
"Not yet," he whispered, "Be patient."
I wasn't feeling particularly patient, but I nodded, willing to give all of my trust and control over to him and allow him to guide me. I wanted to please him in whatever way he wanted, and whatever way that I could. He eased my leg down off of his shoulder at the same time that he took my hand and gently led me up into a sitting position. I moved by instinct when he stood, lowering myself to my knees in front of him. Bannack stroked my face tenderly before tucking his hand around behind my head and guiding me forward so that I opened my mouth and welcomed his erection in against my tongue.
His long, hard shaft felt incredible in my mouth, and the deep sounds rolling over me like thunder pushed me even further. I let my mouth glide along him, savoring the feeling of every ridge and vein, and the warm, salty taste of his skin. I felt like I could have continued on like that for the rest of the night, but suddenly Bannack's hand tightened on my head and he gently pulled me back away from him. I looked up at him and he eased me to my feet.
Bannack sat on the bench behind him and drew me forward until I straddled his hips much as I had in the house, but this time I was facing him rather than looking away. Wrapping one arm around my hips, he lowered me down toward his lap. I felt the tip of his erection touch my opening and drew in a breath. He paused only for a moment, then led me the rest of the way down so that I settled against him, enveloping his shaft deep within me. My head dropped back and my mouth opened to cry out, but there was no sound. The feeling of him filling me so completely was so intense I could only gasp for breath.
We sat still for several seconds as my body adjusted to holding him.
"Relax for me," he whispered.
I lifted my head so that I could look into his eyes again. Letting his beautiful face soothe me, I relaxed my muscles and let him sink even deeper into me. His hands came to my hips and he began to guide them, rolling them in slo
w circles. Bannack sat up straighter so that our bodies touched and rested his hand on my lower back. Bracing himself against the bench with his other hand, he rocked my hips into a faster rhythm. As our bodies moved and slipped across each other our sounds blended and swirled, filling the space around us until I could perceive nothing but what we were creating together.
His body nurtured me back into the sense of dizzying pressure, but this time the desperation wasn't there. I had him within me and I couldn't imagine there was anything more incredible. Suddenly, though, I realized Bannack began to grunt deeply and thrust intensely up into me, coaxing me closer to the edge of my control, and then pushing me over so that I screamed his name and contracted around him at the same moment that he cried out, throbbing and pulsing as hot streams filled me.
I held Bannack as tightly as I could, letting my tremors embrace him as he continued to pulse within my body. I sobbed for breath and clung to him, burying my fingers in his hair and rocking my hips subtly as I rode out the last waves of my climax. His mouth slowly trailed down onto my breast and suckled at one nipple, then the other, before lifting up to cover mine.
We kissed languidly as our bodies cooled and then he parted our lips to nuzzle his nose against mine.
"Come home with me."
Chapter Ten
Bannack kept his eyes closed as he asked the question, part of him worried that Loralia wouldn’t be as willing to go back above ground, and that he might have to try to get used to living down in her world. When she didn't answer, he opened his eyes to look at her. He saw her eyes widen and he smiled.
"They change color after we've found our mate," he explained, knowing that the orange of his eyes had surprised her.
As much as it had worried him that he was going to have to learn about an entirely new species in order to be with her, he realized that it felt completely natural to explain the Denynso to her and let her explain her kind to him. He enjoyed discovering the new things about her and looked forward to each new detail that he would uncover in their lives together. She still hadn't answered his question and he looked directly into her eyes, trying to make the connection that the Denynso were able to make with their mates. He didn't hear anything.
Tilting his head quizzically at her, he tried harder to make the connection.
"What?" she asked.
"What are you thinking right now?"
"What do you mean?"
"What are you thinking right now?" he repeated.
"That that was incredible," she admitted, "and wondering how long it will be until we can do it again."
He laughed softly.
"Soon," he told her.
"Why did you want to know what I was thinking?"
"When my kind find our mates and bond, our minds connect. We're able to reach each other's thoughts and communicate just by thinking. I can't hear your thoughts."
"So I'm not your mate?"
Loralia sounded devastated and confused, and Bannack felt her start to pull away from him. He held her tighter and pulled her against him again.
"No, no. You are. If you weren't, my eyes wouldn't have changed. We just can't read each other's thoughts."
"Could it be because I'm not a Denynso?"
"The human women are able to communicate with their mates."
Bannack worried that she was going to be upset, but she smiled at him.
"I guess you are just going to have to settle for trusting and loving me."
"I do," he replied.
"Which one?"
The smile had faded from her lips and she was looking at him in a way that felt like she was looking into his soul.
"Both. I trust you," he leaned forward and touched a kiss to the middle of her chest, "and I love you."
"I love you, too."
Their mouths met again and he drew her as close to his body as he could. He was still buried deep within her and he felt himself hardening again. Loralia began to roll her hips slowly, and he carefully turned her, resting her on her back and coming down on top of her.
Two days later Bannack stood in the row of warriors in the meeting hall, his eyes fixed on Creia even though his thoughts were focused on the table behind him. He knew Loralia was sitting there among the human women, gazing at his back. Even though he still couldn't listen to her thoughts or communicate with her with his mind, he could feel her. He could sense her presence and it was at once empowering and soothing. With her near him he was calm and in control, but felt stronger and more powerful than he ever had.
"Many times we have come to this room to honor the courage and bravery of our warriors," Creia said from his platform, "but tonight it is for a different reason. Our men have walked into battle without fear and have come back victorious. They have always protected our home and our kind, and have offered up their lives to ensure we can live comfortably. Tonight they prepare for a challenge that none have faced. Tomorrow these warriors will leave the compound and be the first Denynso to venture out onto Uoria. We don't know what adversities they may encounter or what threats they will find. Tonight we feast for tomorrow we watch them walk toward something even more frightening than the risk of death: the unknown. I know that each of them is prepared and that they will show the same strength, determination, and mastery that they have in everything else that they have done."
Bannack's spine straightened even further at his king's words. He dreaded leaving Loralia after having just found her, but now more than ever he understood the need for their journey. He had promised her that he would keep her safe, and he intended to do everything in his power to ensure that he kept that promise.
(To be continued in Part III…)
Book 3 – The Alien’s Surprise
Chapter One
"I think that's going to be enough, Babe," Ty said, taking another loaf of bread from Samira's hand and shoving it down into the bag sitting on the counter, "There's going to be food on the trail."
"Can you be absolutely sure of that?" Samira asked, her eyes sparkling with the tears that she was fighting to hold back, "You have no idea what's out there. Can you be absolutely positive that when you walk out of this compound that you are actually going to be able to find enough food to keep you going while you are away?"
Ty looked at his mate rushing around his bakery, gathering the loaves of bread she had baked for him, and felt his heart constrict. The truth was that he really didn't have any idea what it was going to be like when he and the Denynso warriors left the compound to go explore Uoria and find out what types of species, plants, and land existed outside of the small area of land that they had always occupied. Their kind had never left the compound and had existed completely within their small area of the planet without really considering what might be going on outside their boundaries. When they fought the wars that made them famous around the galaxy as the most fearsome and aggressive warriors in existence, it was against species that came to their planet and infiltrated their space.
It was one of these battles that had made them realize the desperate need to get outside of their compound and explore. In that battle, the final and brutal clash with their long-time enemies the KIimnu, they discovered that there was an entire realm right beneath their feet, a mirror of the land that existed above it, that had been home to a species that they had never even known was there. The idea that a species of creatures had lived right under their compound as long as they had been there without any of the Denynso, not even the king, even knowing that they were there was terrifying, and they realized that they would never be able to protect themselves or their families properly if they didn't know what was going on on the rest of the planet.
Now the warriors along with Ty, the nurturer and baker of the tribe, and Ciyrs, the healer, would be leaving the next morning on a quest that would take them into the furthest unknown regions of the planet so that they may make contact with other creatures and find out what else grew and existed on their planet. It was a frightening prospect, one that could be extremel
y beneficial to the Denynso and the humans that had come to live with them, or one that could put their entire clan, compound, and existence in danger.
Ty watched Samira draw a small paper-wrapped package out from under the counter and place it in front of her. His heart squeezed even harder as he looked at her, her shoulders trembling as she couldn't hold back the tears any longer. He knew that his mate, this beautiful human woman that had been the biggest surprise in his life and the greatest thing that ever happened to him when she appeared just weeks before, was worried about him and his safety as he embarked on this journey. If he gave himself the time to really think about it, he would probably be worried about it, too.
He needed to do this, though. It was only recently, and through the support and love that Samira poured out to him from the moment that she met him was the reason he had been able to fully embrace who he was and the power that he had within him. His entire life the large, imposing Denynso man had focused entirely on taking care of the clan. He was the one who made sure that they had the food that they needed and that they recovered after battles. He was not a warrior. He had not been born to be one. A treasured, unique power he had inherited from his father and that he had hidden deep within him from the time he was a child, had proven that he was more than just a nurturer. Through uncovering and embracing that power he was able to step into the role of a warrior and join the ranks of the others as they marched into the final showdown with the Klimnu. It was his ability to move and control objects with his thoughts that had enabled him to be a powerful and unexpected force against the slimy, disgusting creatures that had been the bane of the existence of his kind for generations.
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