“My armor suffered no major damage, so I should be in one piece,” he said. “Not that I don’t mind your checking, kitten.”
“I need to check,” she said.
She worked the soap in his lower back, stopping at the base of his spine, where his tail sprouted. “Can I?”
“Always. Pull my tail whenever you’ve the mind to,” he said, voice growing thick. He waved his tail, inviting her.
“Is that a thing? I know it’s rude to touch a tail.” Her hand wrapped around the base and slid down in a firm stroke.
His eyes rolled to the back of his head with pleasure. She was a natural. “It’s flirty. Only pull a tail if you’re interested.”
“I’m interested,” she replied. She made a few more passes, lathering thoroughly, and it was all Merit could do to swallow his moan. She continued down, massaging his ass and then crouching down to do his legs.
She stood and patted him on the shoulder. “Turn around.”
Kalini
Water glistened on the top of her head and the swell of her breasts, but as he blocked the water, she remained mostly dry. It was lukewarm at best, so she didn’t mind. Biting her lower lip in concentration, she worked her way down his front, giving it the same attention to detail. She frowned at his hands.
“My claws,” he started.
“No, not that,” she said. The claws were impossible to ignore but the scrapes and cuts on his hands drew her attention. She turned them over, gently rubbing with soap. “We’ll need to get an ointment on these.”
“Don’t bother. I heal quickly.”
“You can pick up an infection,” she said.
“I treated it in the field.”
Kal moved on in her inspection. Her fingers skated along the amber striation across his abs, admiring the dips and grooves, until she came to his hips. A lattice of jagged, thick scars traversed from his left hip down to his knee.
“It looks worse than it is,” he said. His body tenses, as if waiting for a rejection.
“You treated this in the field, too?” She went to her knees, very conscious that she was inches from his very hard, very hard-to-ignore member.
One thing at a time.
She worked the soap down his thick thigh. Whatever injury he suffered in the past, he felt whole and hearty underneath her fingers.
“Saved my life and my leg. The knee is a replacement, though,” he said.
“I approve.” She glanced up at him, through her thick lashes. Water droplets sprayed her in the face, but she would suffer worse to have him stand over her, powerful and so very attuned to her touch.
She continued her ministrations down to his foot, enjoying the feel of his solid muscle and enjoying the way he shifted and his muscles flexed even more. The other leg received the same treatment. Finally, only his cock remained. Really, it deserved its own name.
Or its own postcode.
The first feature she noticed was the size. Massive. The second was the lack of a bell-end. Dark amber at the base, the shaft terminated in a blunt end, rather than a mushroom-shaped dome like a human penis. A vibrant magenta, the blunt tip angled up and raised nodules radiated around the edge. Kal knew the nodes were cartilage and flexible but seeing them in person was completely different from clinical, anatomy diagrams. She swallowed at their fierce appearance. A thick vein ran along the underside.
She licked her lips, admiring the girth and the hardness. “For me?”
“You don’t have to,” he said, sucking in his breath as she cupped his balls.
“But I want to,” she said.
She ran her tongue along the underside of his cock, loving the way it pulsed and twitched. She licked the blunt tip, where pre-cum already leaked. He was salty but not unpleasant. Enthused, she gripped him at the base and swiped her tongue again, eliciting a growl.
She paused. “Is that too much?”
He braced himself against the tiled wall with both hands and shook his head. “More.”
She took him in her mouth, going as deep as possible. Keeping her tongue flat, she worked his length with her hand. She hummed with pleasure, loving the taste of him. Water fell in rivulets down his body and splashed on her head. His tail wrapped around her wrist.
Kal relaxed her throat, taking him deeper. Her jaw would be sore in the morning.
Merit fisted one hand in her hair, holding her in place as he thrust forward, ramming himself as deeply as possible. The other hand pounded the tile wall, as if he were a primal beast barely holding on.
She hummed with pleasure, watching him come undone through wet eyelashes. He snarled down at her, baring his teeth in a command to not stop.
Pride flared in her chest. She did this to him. She affected him so much that he lost the veneer of civility.
Merit dug his fingers into her hair as he reached climax. The tips of his claws pricked her scalp. His hot release poured down her throat and she, being a greedy creature, swallowed every drop. He held her there as shudders racked his body. Eventually, his grip loosened and he pulled away.
Kal licked her lips, ready for more.
Merit
“Bed. Now,” he growled. He pulled his mate to her feet as the water shut off. Using a towel, he tried to calm his hastiness and enjoy the sensation of drying Kal, letting the soft cloth glide over her curves. She had the opportunity to explore him; he desired the same.
He also desired to taste her. The last night he spent with his mate, he licked his fingers clean. She lingered on his tongue, and that helped pull him through the red madness of his bloodlust.
His hands paused over her soft, full ass. He wanted to experience his mate in their bed, but the beast inside him did not want to delay. Waiting even a few moments was too long. It urged him to bend her over the counter, stick the perfect round ass in the air, and lick her cunt clean.
“You look conflicted,” she said.
“I’m deciding what to do to you,” he said.
She shivered at his words, and her pulse raced at her throat but, he believed, not from fear. “I want you to do everything,” she replied.
She climbed into the bed on all fours and tossed a coy look over her shoulder.
Just like that, with her round ass presented to him. He brushed her hair to one side, exposing her neck.
“Don’t move,” he ordered. She shivered in response to his command. “I need protection.”
“Oh, well, I got the birth control shot,” she said, biting her lower lip. She sat back on her heels. “That’s good a year. We were tested when we submitted our applications. I haven’t been with anyone.”
A warning growl rumbled in his chest. He detested the idea of another male touching his mate.
Her eyebrow rose, but she did not comment. “Unless you’ve been with someone since then, we don’t have to use a condom.”
He hadn’t been with anyone since he left the military. “I meant claw caps. Do you want to use a condom?” He had an old bottle of the spray-on barrier, unused. He bought it once in a fit of optimism that he might enjoy a violence-free sex life. He never tested that optimism.
“What are claw caps?”
Opening the nightstand drawer, he withdrew a flat black box. He lifted the hinged lid and showed Kal the contents. Ten black rubber tips of various size rested in two rows. “When a Tal becomes excited, he–or she, I suppose–can unsheathe their claws unknowingly. Tal skin is thick, so it is normally not an issue.” Love marks were typically worn with pride, a sign that you drove your partner wild. Such marks on Kal, however, could grievously harm her.
Kal reached for the box, brushing the claw tips with her left hand. “Human skin isn’t as durable?”
“Delicate,” he said. He brushed the back of his hand against the side of her face. “Soft and touchable. Unlike anything else, really.”
“Is that a typical concern with, you know, Tal-human relations?” She put the thumb cap on herself, the black rubberized cap wobbling as it was far too large for her digits.
“Yes. I ordered this set when we were matched.” He placed the rubber cap on his index finger, covering it from the knuckle down.
Kal plucked the next one out of his hands. “Let me.”
Showing as much care as she took washing him, she slipped the caps into place. He flexed his fingers, letting the material warm to his body temperature.
“Are you able to feel with those things on?” she asked.
“There is a slight loss in sensitivity, but I couldn’t stand it if I cut you.” The material was thin but resistant to puncture. His claws might deploy, but they would never extend past his fingertips, contained by the cap.
“Oh, that’s a shame. I quite like the idea of some love marks.”
His ears perked at her choice of words. “You knew?”
She scooted back in the bed, giving him a glimpse of her cunt. An appreciative growl rumbled in his chest. The bloodlust began to rise again, not entirely purged. Other parts of his anatomy rose, as well.
“Let’s just say I had a lot of time to do research,” she said.
His mate. So unafraid of him when she should be terrified.
A distant voice in his mind reminded him that he needed to tell his mate about the bloodlust, but he couldn’t think past Kal naked.
In his bed.
Smiling and inviting him.
On her hands and knees, ass presented with her neck exposed.
She offered. He would take.
With one hand, he grabbed her ankle and pulled her back toward the edge. She gasped, then laughed, the joyous sound ratcheting up his desire.
“I don’t think I can be gentle. I will hurt you,” he warned.
He lifted her from the bed, crossed the room, and pressed her belly-first against the glass of the window. He knocked open her legs and lined himself up at her entrance. He pushed in, perhaps too swiftly and she sucked in her breath, as if surprised. A respectable, honorable male would have waited a moment for her to adjust to his size. He was none of those things at the moment. Driven by sensation, he pumped into her, relishing her tight, hot core.
“Yes,” she moaned.
She felt better than anything he had ever experienced. He wanted more, to push into her and feel her grip, the cushion of her ass as she pushed back into him. He wanted this to last all night.
“The window,” she said.
“Let them see.” He thrust forward to drive home his point. With the power out, no one would see in, but he didn’t care. He wanted the world to see his mate writhe with pleasure on his cock.
He lost himself in the heat of her. He opened his mouth on the back of her neck, a light grip to keep her in place. She moaned as his teeth dragged across her skin. Pushing as deep as he could go, he needed to fill her completely. To coat her womb with his seed.
She lowered a hand to rub at the front of her cunt.
Merit growled. No one could touch what was his, not even her. He knocked her hand away and replaced it with his own. He wasn’t sure what he felt, a nub of some sort. Her hand came back, and guided him, teaching him how to touch her nub. Her moans increased and her channel tightened, threatening to squeeze the life out of his cock. She climaxed, rippling and milking him. He couldn’t last long. She was too hot and felt too perfect. His claws demanded to come out, pushing against the caps, and his fingers ached from the pressure.
He gave a final thrust and released deep inside, his face buried in her long hair.
He held her there, pinned to the window, until the last remnants of the bloodlust drained away and his mind cleared. He licked the red marks on her neck, hoping that was the worst of her injuries.
Tonight, he would sleep with his mate in his arms. Tomorrow, he would try to fix the damage from the storm and from himself.
Chapter Eleven
Kalini
The power came back the next afternoon. The next day, Merit and Sigald drove to the closest, largest town for replacement parts. The day after, they set about repairing the shutters and replacing the solar arrays. Kal worried about the expense when the panels did generate power but Merit claimed they were an older generation, less efficient, and repairing the casing would be more trouble than they were worth.
“I never want the power to go out on you again,” he said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
Kal couldn’t help but smile. Clarity and Dare paused chasing a ball to make exaggerated retching noises.
Belith pulled her to the side. “You have the glow about you.”
“I do not.” She didn’t glow.
“You told him you wanted to exercise your rights as a mate, he obliged, and now you are happy.” Belith nodded, as if every problem could be so easily solved with sex.
“I am happy,” Kal admitted. “But not because of the sex. Well, not just that reason.” They connected. Finally.
Merit had surprised her by bringing back a cricket set. Well, an improvised set. The bats were not regulation, but the flat paddle was close to the correct shape. The ball, the spike, and the mitt were all borrowed from other sports, but they would serve nicely. The unexpected gift made her eyes water with joy. He listened. All those nights they played King’s Table, he had actually listened when she talked about her parents, specifically playing cricket with her father.
Belith helped Kal keep the children entertained while Merit and Sigald worked on repairs. Clarity had followed them around, asking questions and fetching tools. That kept Clarity occupied until they moved to the roof to replace the solar array. Immensely curious and unable to go on the roof, Kal needed to distract Clarity before she got into any mischief.
She played a few rounds of cricket, teaching them the rules as they went. Clarity and Dare had more interest in hitting the ball as hard as they could with the bat and racing from end of the yard to the other, Shadow yapping at their heels, than actually learning the rules. Still, if chasing around a ball let them burn off enough energy to sleep that night, she was all for it.
In the afternoon, Sigald caught her in the front room.
Big blue arms came around her middle, squeezing and lifting her. “How is my favorite human?”
Kal squeaked out a reply. “Put me down, you barmy bastard.”
He laughed but set her down. Kal spun around to tell him off, but his open, friendly smile vanquished her annoyance. She just couldn’t find it in her to be upset with a man who was so excited to see her.
His nose wrinkled. “You smell like Merit now.”
“I should think so. We sleep in the same bed.”
“No, not like that.” The smile faded from his face. “Did he hurt you?”
Kal took a step back. “No, of course not.” Merit had never laid an unwanted hand on her or raised one in anger. She wouldn’t stay if he did.
“Was he rough?”
The blood drained from her face in mortification. She refused to discuss her sex life with her husband’s friend.
“Do you need the cleansing room?” she asked, desperate to change the conversation.
“You could tell me,” he said, then his brow furrowed. “Well, you could tell Belith. Tal can grow very possessive of their mates, but if he’s hurting you, we’ll protect you.”
His sincerity confused her, like he suspected Merit to be a crazed, violent lunatic behind closed doors.
Wait. Was he?
No. Kal dismissed the idea as preposterous. If Merit were violent, she’d know by now.
She knew he kept something from her, though, probably related to his military service. Maybe even tied to his injury. Something about the night when he told her about the civil war on his planet struck her as too cautious. He chose his words too carefully. He didn’t tell her the entire story.
Honestly, that sat fine with Kal. Her own father was a veteran and saw conflict. Other than a few medals he wore on holidays, he never spoke about his time in the military. War was hell, and not every survivor wanted to talk about it.
Could that be Sigald’s concern? Merit had some sort of post-traumatic stress?
But that wasn’t exactly what Sigald asked. He wanted to know if Merit had been rough with her.
She remembered how Merit said he would hurt her but at the time she took that as worry about his claws, not a desire for rough sex. Did he want rough sex?
The idea didn’t set her alight, but she’d be willing to try if that’s what he wanted.
“He was gentle and even used claw caps,” she said.
The blue man towered over her, fierce and protective. Determination blazed on his cheeks. “He is my friend, but you are my favorite human. I will gut him if he hurts you. Remember that.”
Kal couldn’t help her smile. Just a few months ago, she’d had given anything for friends like Sigald and Belith. Not the gutting part. Gross. The loyal, do-anything-for-you part.
“You’ll be the first I call,” she said. “So, I’m your favorite human?”
“Do not think you are so special. You are also my first human,” he said in a teasing voice.
Belith helped her prepare dinner. They brought a table outside to eat, in the Fremmian manner, according to Belith, and enjoyed the late summer warmth until the sun slipped behind the trees. Sigald mentioned an inventory discrepancy at the Watchtower. Kal volunteered to look at the books. Spreadsheets were her specialty.
By the time they consumed every bite, the children were half asleep. Merit got them ready for bed while she and Belith cleaned up. When the last of the furniture had been carried back inside, Belith and Sigald said their goodbyes. Kal busied herself with a few dishes and wiped down the counters.
Merit stood in the doorway, hair damp from his shower and not wearing a shirt. He held out a tube for pain relief cream with a sheepish grin. “It turns out I overdid it. Do you mind?”
“Are you telling me I married an old man?” Kal motioned for him to back up into the front room. She grabbed two beers from the cooling unit before joining him, sitting on the backless sofa. He sat on the floor in front of her.
“I’m only a few years older than you,” he said. Five years older, as close as she could figure. Earth years and Talmar years were not identical, but she could do the math.
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