by Lee Savino
“I will,” he replies. “Alice Hernandez, it was a pleasure meeting you.”
He clicks off, as do the others. “They seem nice,” Alice says.
Nice? I’d love to see their reactions to that description. “They’ve never been called that before.”
She grins. “I bet.”
She’s so vibrantly alive. Had Kravex’s aim been better, I would have lost her. “The Draekons want you to go back to the rebellion headquarters with them.’
“Yeah, Olivia told me.” She shrugs her shoulders. “I’m coming with you.” She gives me a mock sympathetic look. “Sorry, buddy. I know it cuts down on the amount of brooding you can do, but think of how much fun you’ll have ordering me around.”
I’m coming with you. There’d been no hesitation in her tone. My heart swells with emotion. “I don’t brood,” I protest.
She rolls her eyes. “Whatever. Shall we get out of here?” She makes a face. “I’m not looking forward to the tunnels. I’m mildly claustrophobic.”
“I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She smiles up at me. “I know. If anyone tries to abduct me, you’ll just snap their necks.”
Her words banish the unease I’ve felt ever since we landed in Kosagash. She’s not afraid of me. There’s no fear in her emotions. Her trust warms me from the inside, acting as a barrier that even the rathr can’t penetrate.
16
Alice
We don’t return to the Bikana. No, we still need to find Tanya, and as far as we know, Bad-Breath, Suhas, and Zelae are still in Kosagash.
So, once we get out of the tunnel—and the less said about that damp underground hellhole, the better—Kadir leads the way to another inn.
This one is a lot nicer than the one on Calis. I keep my hood down so everyone can see I’m not a child because this is the kind of place that will call the cops—alien cops, they’ve got to exist, right?—Kadir asks for two connected rooms, money is exchanged, and then I’m in a room with a mammoth bed, soft carpeting on the floor, and, best of all, a magnificent view of the ocean.
Kadir follows me into my room because he’s paranoid about security. I turn to him. “Should I be worried about the window?”
He examines it and shakes his head. “It’s wired. If someone tries to break the glass, the filaments will slice them to ribbons.”
Good to know. “I won’t stick my hand out the window then.”
He looks at me. There’s an expression of need in his eyes, one that quickens my breath. Today’s been a shitty day. Finding the corpses in a sea of blood and limbs, almost stepping on a hand. Then Olivia and her dire warnings about Kadir.
There are good reasons I should stay away from the alien. Right now, I can’t remember any of them. I take a step toward him. He draws in a breath. He reaches out to me. Touches my chin. Tilts my face up.
He’s going to kiss me. My pulse starts to race.
Someone knocks at the door. I muffle a curse. Kadir blinks, and then his expression becomes carefully neutral. He opens the door, takes a package from the man standing there, and sets it on the bed. “Get some rest,” he says tersely. “Tonight, we lie low. Tomorrow morning, we’ll resume the search for your friend.”
He leaves through the door that connects our rooms, shutting it behind him. I sigh and head to the shower.
Kosagash is next to the ocean; water isn’t a prized commodity here. I let the hot water cascade over me for a very long time. My thoughts are a confused tangle.
Olivia’s warnings dance through my head. He’s been through hell. He could snap at any moment.
Kadir’s a soldier. No, that’s not quite right. One minute, Kravex was breathing, and the next minute, he’d snapped his neck. Kadir is a predator.
Ask him why he came to look for you. Ask him why his squadron accepted this mission.
When my skin turns pruny, I turn off the water and towel myself dry. Wrapping it around me, I walk to the bed and open the package.
New clothes. Robes whose hems aren’t stained with blue blood. Shoes whose soles aren’t encrusted with bits and pieces of torn flesh. Kadir must have arranged this when he was paying for our rooms.
He arranged a bath to wash away the horrors of captivity.
He bought me clothes that don’t reek of carnage.
He called me beautiful. He told me his name. Olivia didn’t know it. She kept calling him Second. I hug that thought to myself.
I stay rooted in place for a long time, and then I make my decision. I’m a grown woman. I’ve wanted Kadir from practically the first moment I saw him. With heroic restraint, I’ve managed to wait four days.
No more.
I wrap myself in a robe on autopilot. He thinks he’s unworthy because he was created in a lab. He’d more or less said that to me this afternoon. Was that really just a few hours ago? It feels like the distant past.
Kadir is bossy. Arrogant. Infuriating. But he’s not unworthy. He’s the furthest thing from that. He rescued me. He’s wandering all over this star system, trying to find Tanya.
He thinks no woman would want him. He’s so wrong. I want him with a desperation that I’m done trying to fight.
The door that separates us is unlocked. I open it.
Like me, he’s showered. A towel is draped around his waist. Drops of water cling to his golden skin. He’s so perfect. Broad chest. Powerful muscled sleekness. I want to run my tongue all over him, over his pierced nipples, down his hard slab of a belly, and then still lower.
I’ve never slept with a guy with this perfect of a body. And face. It’s more than a little intimidating.
He looks at me, his expression warm and wickedly inviting.
Be brave, Alice. You want him. You’re pretty sure he wants you. All you have to do is take a step forward.
I take a step forward. “So,” I say. “I’m pretty sure that seeing a roomful of dismembered Draekons isn’t going to help the nightmare situation. I think I should stay here tonight.” I swallow my nerves and wipe my palms on my robe. Kadir can read my emotions, but I want to make things crystal clear. “Naked.”
Need flares to life in his eyes. “You’ve been hurt.”
“It was barely a scratch.” I take another step into his room. Another step closer to him. “I’ve cut myself worse cooking dinner.”
“You’re in shock,” he says. “You’re not in any state of mind to make major decisions.”
He’s grasping at straws. Relief floods through me, and I laugh out loud. “In shock? Then why did you let me decide whether I should come with you or go back with Olivia? That seems like a pretty major decision to me.”
He opens his mouth and then closes it.
Now or never. I unknot the robe and let it fall. His eyes widen, taking in my naked body. I’m scrawnier than I used to be. But the lust in his eyes goes a long way in increasing my self-esteem.
“If we do this,” he rasps. “it changes everything.”
I tilt my head. “How so?”
Eyes fixed on my face—bonus points for not staring at my breasts—he prowls forward. I force myself not to back away. It’s been a long time since I’ve chosen to be naked around someone. I trust Kadir, but my body recognizes in his stare and stalking steps the intensity of a hunter. Predator.
“If I take you, I can’t promise I’ll keep control.” Holding my eyes, he threads strong fingers through my hair. My spine softens at his touch. I want to purr.
“I’ve never seen you lose control before.” I arch my neck into his hand. “I might like it.”
“Alice,” he sighs. He wants this, probably more than I do, but he’s trying to be a gentleman. Gentle-alien. He’s still giving me an out.
I don’t need it.
“You wouldn’t be taking me. I’m giving myself. To you.” Umm, is that going to freak him out? “For a night.”
His eyes close as he inhales deeply, taking in the scent of my hair. My neck prickles, and goosebumps break out all over me. His own scent w
ashes over me. Smoke and spice.
My insides tighten with need. I slide a hand over his shoulder, admiring his bulging muscle. Kadir’s skin is hotter than mine. He glows like his heart is a sun. The thought of all that warmth, all that heat, pressed down on me makes me shudder with want.
He still doesn’t make a move. “Don’t worry,” I whisper with a teasing smile. “I’ll be gentle.”
His lips curve into a wicked smile. His fingers in my hair give a warning tug. “You will not be in charge.”
I arch a brow. “You try to tell me what to do outside of the bedroom. How does it work out for you?”
“Oh, but I will not be telling you anything,” he murmurs in my ear. His teeth catch my sensitive lobe with a tiny nip that shoots lightning into my limbs. My knees buckle. “My lips will be busy... doing other things.”
Oh God. Kadir’s supporting all my weight now, his mouth is on my neck, his lips pressed against my pulse. I’m melting into him. I should be fighting to take back control, but I’m not. My body knows Kadir is safe.
His tongue rasps against my skin and my core floods with lust.
I cup his iron-hard jaw, tugging his lips to mine. “Kiss me,” I beg.
A snarl rumbles in his enormous chest. His mouth covers mine, and he sucks my lip between his teeth. Desire punches me in the gut. I moan and kiss him back with desperate abandon.
The scent of smoky incense intensifies. The rumbling grows until his entire torso vibrates. “What is that?” I gasp against his lips.
He pulls away to answer, lifting me away from him for an agonizing moment. I give a growl of my own and tilt my head up to continue our kiss. My breasts ache. I writhe against his chest, my mind whirling, foggy.
“I’ll tell you later,” he promises. He lowers us both to the bed with a curse. Another growl, and he rips his towel off and tosses it away. My hands roam over his golden chest, tracing his tattoo and the strange subcutaneous pattern of scales, tugging the bars of his nipple piercings lightly until his groan matches mine.
He pushes himself up so he’s hovering over me, his big body braced inches away from mine, his gigantic biceps bracketing my face. Stretched out below this huge warrior, I should feel frightened. Instead, I feel small and safe. He’s breached all my defenses.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Slowly, with the patience of a hunter, he nuzzles my jaw and claims the corners of my mouth. His lips work their way downward, trespassing over my fluttering pulse, nipping the tips of my collarbone with a limb-weakening warning when I try to guide his head to my nipples.
“Slow,” he purrs, trailing kisses between my breasts.
“Please.” It’s my turn to knot my fingers in his thick, dark hair. “I need—”
He rears over me, his eyes ablaze with dark need, and pins my hands above my head. I squeak but my pussy throbs. Oh, hell yes.
“Slow,” he commands before lowering his head and nibbling on the inside of my right arm just below where he grips my wrist. My toes scrunch as he continues down my arm. Up until this moment, I would’ve sworn that there was nothing sexy about my elbow. I stand corrected. He switches to my left arm, tasting it thoroughly before jumping back down to my chest. Finally.
“If you go any slower, I’ll explode.” My hips jerk as he kisses along my collarbone. He ignores my breasts in favor of exploring between them, taking care to tongue a tiny birthmark. He releases my wrists, but I keep my arms where he placed them.
Each rib gets examined. My belly button is rimmed and tongue-fucked slowly—another area I’d swear wasn’t erotic at all. With every new part of my body he worships, I feel more and more charged with energy. More alive. He puts me back into myself. I didn’t realize I was gone until he brought me back.
But I’m not grateful. Not now, anyway. If he doesn’t pay attention to my pussy or at least my breasts, I’m going to explode. “Kadir,” I whimper. “I will die if you don’t move faster.”
Another wicked grin. “That would be unfortunate.”
“Kadir, pleeeeeease…”
He pins me with a stare. “Who’s in charge?” he asks, his voice silky and dangerous.
“You are, you are.” I’ll tell him anything he wants to hear if he’ll just fuck me the way his tongue promised when it breached my belly button.
“Very good.” He rewards me by squeezing my right breast and sucking my nipple into his mouth. Pleasure rockets through me, sending me into orbit.
My legs wrap around his middle, clamping tight, trying to pull him down. My core pulses, anxious to cradle his full delicious weight.
“Slow,” he says again.
“If you say that one more time—”
He grins wickedly. “What will you do, Alice? Will you knee me in the groin?”
He’s laughing at me. Jerk. If I wasn’t so turned on, I’d storm off in a huff. Oh, who am I kidding? I’m not going anywhere.
Kadir reaches back and breaks my leg’s hold, gently spreading my thighs wide. I’m bare to him, totally exposed to his gaze. My pussy clenches. All the blood has pooled between my legs. Kadir stares and licks his lips, and I am scorched by his obvious need.
“You smell addictive…” He grazes the outer edge of my pussy, his touch frustratingly light. I tilt my hips in an obvious hint. Slowly, too slowly, he drags his fingers through my folds.
A shockwave of desire shoots through my body. My back arches off the bed. Kadir holds my eyes in his and licks my juices off his fingers.
“Spread your legs,” he orders. I comply, my legs flying apart so fast I nearly dislocate them. “Good,” he purrs. “Now hold still.”
Not so easily done when he dives in, mouth on my pussy—right on it—and he’s licking—oh God—and sucking and nuzzling me. He uses his lips, his tongue, his fingers, his entire face in ways that should be illegal on several planets and probably are. I’m writhing, my limbs shaking, my head thrown back like I’m possessed.
His tongue circles my clit, and he sucks it between his lips. My insides twist and clench, and it’s everything I can do to refrain from trapping his mouth between my legs. My head rolls from side to side as his tongue swipes through my folds again, and once again ghosts over my clit. “Kadir,” I whimper, almost drunk with heady lust. “Oh God, yes please. Just like that.”
He resumes licking me, his strokes long and steady. I’m lost in a delirious haze. My breasts ache and my nipples throb as Kadir feasts on me as if I’m a rare delicacy to be savored.
My muscles start to clench. Kadir pushes two fingers deep inside me, and my muscles stretch in the most delicious way. His tongue swirls tight circles around my bud. I’m so close. His mouth and his fingers are forcing me to climax.
“Yes, Kadir, yes,” I chant, my teeth chattering as an orgasm sears me. My brain burns with white-hot pleasure. My hands claw his shoulders, desperate for more.
Then one of his fingers trespasses lower, stroking the sensitive skin between my pussy and ass. Kadir kisses me there, dangerously close to my asshole. I squeeze my cheeks together in instinctive protest.
“No,” he says. “Open for me.”
“I, um…” I’ve never done this before, but Kadir’s acting like this is all perfectly normal. He spreads me open and licks lower, and I squirm in the sheets. “Kadir…”
“Trust me, beautiful.” His voice is raspy with desire. He kisses up the bottom of my right thigh, his lips sending waves of heat through me. His thumbs spread me open, and he breathes on me, his breath warm and slightly ticklish.
He wants to lick me down there. I guess I could tell him to stop—but do I really want to?
“Fine.” I stare at his bent head and try to relax. Or at least not shrivel with embarrassment. He kisses down my left thigh and nibbles the curve of my bottom. When he finally pulls my ass cheeks apart and tickles my anus with the tip of his tongue, I squirm not with embarrassment, but for a very different reason.
This is really, really hot. It feels wicked and a little forbi
dden, and I can’t believe how much I’m enjoying it.
“You like this,” he pauses long enough to tell me, swiping through my folds to prove it. My pussy is wetter than ever.
Aggravating, smug alien. I scrunch my nose. “It’s naughty.”
His dark chuckle is delicious. His tongue delves between my clenching cheeks, testing my tight pucker. I tense and try to pull away, but he grips my ass and forces me to stay still as he rims me. One of his hands shifts higher to stroke beside my clit. My arousal builds again, despite the tongue swirling over my anus—or perhaps because of it.
“Kadir,” I pant. “I... uh... I—”
His nose brushes my clit. It sends me spiraling into release. When I look down, Kadir wears a wicked grin. His thick finger penetrates my bottom hole, slipping inside the ring of muscle and sending me higher. I cry out louder, rocked by the intensity of the orgasm that hurtles through me.
When I come to my senses, my cheeks burn red. Kadir removes his finger with a wicked smirk, and rears over me, his eyes fiery with need, and uses his other hand to cup my pussy. “You’re so wet.”
“I need you.” My pussy aches for his thick cock. I want Kadir inside me. I want to feel his hot body over mine. I want him to pound into me, to impale me, to possess me. I’ve never needed anything so much in my life.
He nudges my legs further apart. He positions himself at my entrance. “Slowly,” he reminds me with a wicked grin.
This time, I nod frantically. Slow is good. I haven’t had sex in a long time, and Kadir is not small. On the spectrum of penis sizes, his tops the high end.
He slides in a fraction of an inch. Oh God. His cock is off the charts. He’s so big that they’d have to redo the entire spectrum.
Another fraction of an inch. Oh, God, will it fit? Logically, I know it will—I’ll stretch—but I still stiffen. Kadir murmurs something in my ear in a language I don’t understand, his deep voice soothing and reassuring. He pulls me closer, the heat of his skin blanketing me. He rains kisses down my neck until I relax.
I run my hands along the hard muscle of his back and let his heat sink into my flesh. He slides into me, agonizingly slowly so I can feel every inch of him. My muscles burn for an instant as they stretch to accommodate his thickness. It helps that I’m soaking wet—wetter than I’ve ever been in my life.
