He smiled, his thumb brushing against her soaked bra strap.
What was she thinking? Swimming? She’d never seen more than a gallon of water at one time and here she was knee-deep in a pink lagoon in her bra and panties and they weren’t even the good bra and panties, they were the tatty old ones.
“I’m fine now,” she said, pulling away.
“You’re modest with your body. Is that a Terran trait?”
“Not really. I just don’t feel like skinny dipping.”
His smile turned hungry, back to the familiar expression she knew so well. “Why not? I’d enjoy seeing you naked. Did you not enjoy seeing me naked?”
“Bold as brass, ain’t you,” was all she could mutter, turning away from the generous evidence of his enjoyment. And his hard cock. Hard for her.
Yup, turning away now. Totally not starring and licking her lips. Turning away any moment now.
“Remove these garments,” Korven ordered, snapping her out of her cock-fueled daze.
“No.” She folded her arms over her chest, shoving her full breasts together and creating more cleavage. That didn’t work out the way she intended.
“You are forthright in many things, Adelle Scott. Why this modesty?”
“Because I have a fat ass and thick thighs.”
A moan rattled in his throat and he grabbed each cheek of her fat ass, lifting her. Yelping in surprise, her toes brushed the sandy bottom of the lagoon. His cock pressed into the soft roundness of her stomach. “I very much like your ass and thighs.”
Again with the hungry look, like he was about to feast. Pebbled and hard, her nipples pressed into his chest. Her hands went around his neck—for stability, that’s all—and was very much aware that only a thin layer of wet fabric separated her pussy from his cock. She ached between her thighs, needing to be filled.
Needing him.
Letting Korven feast on her body didn’t seem like such a bad idea. Seemed like a damn good idea, actually.
“Is that why you hired me, Your Highness? Because you liked the look of my ass?”
Korven growled, not the hungry, horny noise from a moment ago but genuine displeasure. He lowered her to the water. “Is that what you think?”
“What else am I supposed to think? Rich, spoiled prince likes to slum with the working stiffs. Buys the affections of desperate girls because money is not a problem and they’re so damn grateful?” Moments away from being ravished by a genuine prince and she had to open her big fat mouth and ruin it. So what if Korven only hired her to seduce her?
No. That was stupid reasoning. Korven was a prince. He didn’t need to hatch elaborate plans to hire and seduce average looking women with grease under their nails. He could charm the pants off anyone.
What was her deal? Last night she was ready to rip his clothes off and now her body screamed for his and she was pushing him away. Was it the romantic isolation? The picturesque tropical setting? The care he took of her? Why couldn’t she just relax and enjoy herself?
His eyes, as green as their tropical environment, studied her, vertical pupil expanding.
“Look,” she said. “Sorry. I’m stressed and when I get stressed I say mean things. Call it a bad coping mechanism.”
“How about I teach you to swim?” He moved behind her and placed his hands on her waist. They moved into the deeper water. Adelle panicked and tensed. “Relax,” he said. “I got you. I’m not letting you go. Bend your knees and let your body float.”
Easier said than done. Adelle wasn’t a “relax” kind of girl. Still, Korven’s voice wrapped around her, soothing and calm, as he talked her through treading water. His hands dropped away and she bobbed in the water, legs moving, and not drowning.
“Now move your arms like this.” He demonstrated a smooth breaststroke, arms folding at his chest and then pushing away in an arc.
Adelle mimicked his motion. Her head dipped under the water and panic returned. Abandoning the breaststroke, her arms thrashed, splashing the surface.
“Relax. I got you.” His arms were around her again.
“I don’t think swimming is for me,” she said. This amount of water was an unreasonable luxury. It made her nervous. She was never going to be the type of person who had access to the huge amounts of water and then would float in it rather than drink it. Rich people made no sense.
“Let’s try this.” One hand on her stomach and another on the small of her back, Korven moved Adelle into a supine position. Panic set in and she thrashed. His arms kept her from sinking.
Water filled her ears and the waves lapped at the side of her face but she did not go under. She floated.
“Better?” he asked.
“Unnatural.” But not terrible. Terrifying, yes, but nice after the panic left. She squinted her eyes in the bright sun directly overhead. “I’d like to get out but I don’t know how to move without drowning.”
A throaty chuckle. Adelle frowned. “It’s not funny. I’ve never seen this much water in my life. I wouldn’t laugh at you if...if…” She had a hard time think of an Earth scenario that the prince would have never encountered. “If you didn’t know a sprocket from a gasket.”
There. Let him chew on that.
“Come on with you, then.” Strong arms lifted her from the water, fluid sluicing off her nearly naked form. The cotton on the bra turned translucent. Korven noticed her hard nipples poking through and gave a hearty rumble. Desire fluttered and coiled in her stomach. Well, lower than her stomach.
He sat her on the large, flat rock near the water’s edge. Warmed in the sun, her muscles relaxed on the hot stone in a way that was impossible in the water. Eyes closed, Adelle stretched out, letting the sun’s rays caress every part of her.
She cracked open an eye.
Korven had that hungry look on his face again.
He climbed onto the rock and stretched his body alongside hers. His fingertips brushed her exposed skin, sending an electric current straight to her pussy. She sucked in her breath.
“Last night—”
“We were drunk,” she said.
“We’re not drunk now.”
If he didn’t touch her now, she was sure she would combust. Poof. Right into flames.
“Korven—” She raised her hips and parted her knees ever so slightly.
“You invite me?”
“I command you, Prince.” Sex was a bad idea but damn if she couldn't think beyond her wild need for his touch.
His fingers hooked under the elastic of her panties and slid them down, the fabric gliding over her hips, thighs and eventually her ankles.
Korven knelt between her thighs and spread her open. His hands gripped the tender inner flesh and he stared, admiring the view. “You are the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen, Adelle Scott.”
“I’m bruised, grubby and wet.”
“No, you are the best and I only have the best.”
She knew better than to question the possessive growl in his voice. The prince said she was the best. “How can I argue with that?”
He spread her lower lips and pushed his face right into her pussy. He breathed deep and the satisfied rumble vibrated in her. Folded flat against his back, the tops of his wings brushed her inner thighs. She closed her eyes, losing herself in the heat of the sun and the heat of his slick tongue as he tasted her core.
Korven feasted like a man starved, growling and licking and circling her sensitive nub. Her body responded with enthusiasm, hips thrusting up, encouraging him to explore more. To take more.
His fingers plunged in, stretching her. Adelle lost herself in the blistering rhythm he set, the plunging, the withdrawal, followed by another plunge.
He pushed her higher, right to the edge, ready to ignite and then he sucked on her clit.
Adelle burst into an inferno of delight, back arched against the hot rock, hands tangled in Korven’s hair and thoroughly, completely, satisfied.
Adelle raised her arms, ready to welcome him to her embrace. Korv
en rose over her and took her mouth, his kiss sweet and salty.
“The best thing I’ve ever tasted, too,” he said before rolling away and splashing back into the water.
“Wait,” she said, confused. “We’re not done.” There was so much more they could explore. So much more she needed.
“Don’t we have clothes to wash?” he asked.
“Don’t you need a release?” She waved to his obvious erection. The water hit Korven mid-thigh and his thick cock stood proud and firm above the water’s surface.
The hungry look flashed across his face. “Very much so but there are certain facts about Wyvern biology you to need to know first.”
Seriously? He was naked and had just went to town on her cooch. He wasn’t interested in reciprocity? “I think we know enough biology to get by.”
With a shake of his head, he retrieved a forgotten bottle of soap from the shore. Yes, she stared at his perfectly toned ass.
She was only human.
Adelle quickly worked a lather all over herself and rinsed, before doing the same to her clothes and the bedding. Fortunately the mess washed out quickly. She fell into an easy rhythm of lather, scrub, dunk, rinse, wring, and toss the clean item onto the large rock.
“Do Terrans change color?”
Korven
Adelle glanced down at her arms. She was bright pink. “Shit! I’m burning.”
“Do you have the Fever?” His serious tone frightened her more than being boarded by pirates, being shoved into an escape pod or crashing into an uninhabited planet.
“A sunburn. I’m pale as fuck because I live in a spaceship.” And grew up on a ship. Even her schooling was spent on an orbiter. Her experience with real sunlight was limited to one holiday on Earth as a child and today. Pale did not begin to describe her pasty, melanin deficient complexion. “I hope the first aid kit has sunscreen.”
Korven followed Adelle’s perfectly shaped ass back to the pod. He could have tracked her with his eyes closed. Her delicious scent, honey and floral and his, wafted through the humid air. The water and soap removed foreign odors masking her odor, leaving concentrated her.
It was almost too much.
In the tent, the supply kit had a small bottle of a lotion. This pleased Adelle but he was not convinced it provided adequate treatment for a radiation burn. Adelle slathered it on her skin, masking her own scent. Good.
The serum remained on the ship and the Fever burned through the protective benefits too quickly. Now that it was only the two of them for an unknown amount of time, he was in danger of losing control. Her scent was too alluring.
He needed to have a frank discussion about Wyer biology and soon, before he gave into the Fever. She might not like what he had to say but she deserved to know.
He dug out a fire pit and collected wood. The sun was bright and warm now but the temperature would drop at night. And covering Adelle’s natural floral scent with smoke might slow the Fever.
He refilled water bottles, adding the purification tablets. He gathered fruit. He sniffed and scratched the rind to determine edibility. It seemed safe and would supplement the ration bars.
When the sun sank, they sat around the fire. He retrieved the dried clothing and bedding. Adelle wore the long cotton shirt as a dress and nothing else. This pleased him immensely. She was still pink but she insisted the radiation burn was not painful. Terrans were so obviously inferior. Their soft skin had no protection from the most basic of elements. Rather than evolve a layer of protection, they relied on chemicals to shield them.
Korven split open a large red fruit. The outside rind was inedible but the inside was juicy and tender. A small nibble proved not harmful. He moved to hand half to Adelle but instead cut the fruit into chunks and fed them to her one by one.
“Are you sure it’s safe?” she asked before opening her lips to his fingers. He pushed in the ruby red fruit, juice trickling down his fingers.
“I had some and came to no harm.”
“Yeah, but your digestive track is different than mine. What if there’s bacteria or a parasite?”
“You are such a romantic,” he said.
“Practical. The word you’re thinking of is practical.”
He sliced off another generous piece and pressed it to her lips. She opened obediently. Satisfaction rumbled in his chest.
Her eyes went wide at the sound. “How long do you think we’ll be here?”
“Two or three days, usually.”
“This has happened before?”
“Of course. Ragnar makes an impression.” He held up another piece but she declined. He finished off the fruit and licked his fingers clean. Just a few hours ago it had been her juices coating his fingers. “It’s good but not the sweetest thing I’ve ever eaten.”
She flushed pink in response.
He jumped to her side in an instant. “What is it? Did your radiation burn worsen?”
“What? No! Get off me.” She batted his hands away. “You can’t say dirty things like that and freak out when I blush.”
Huffing, he returned to his spot. Terran biology made no sense. He supposed he was just as strange to her. Imagine being surprised at wings. Imagine not understanding the Fever.
“There is a matter I wish to discuss with you,” he said.
“Good, because I think we should talk about what happened. It’s not a big deal and you’re a prince, so I know anything that happens is no-strings-attached.”
“No big deal,” he repeated.
“Exactly.” She smiled brightly but even he could see she faked it.
“You misunderstand me in every way, Adelle Scott.” Korven wanted the strings to be attached. He wanted to build a nest, to carve out a place to raise nestlings. He wanted her for his wife and Prince Korven always got what he wanted. He wanted forever.
“Then explain it to me,” she said.
Better start with the basics. “What do you know about Wyer biology?”
She sighed. “Some of you have wings when you mature. That’s it.”
Better start with the very basics, then. “How do Terrans mature sexually?”
“Oh, we have this wonderful process called puberty. Our hormones go crazy, our brain chemistry is all over the place, we’re moody and defiant for no real reason other than to be defiant, we get growth spurts, and bad skin. It’s an all around awesome fucking time.” She made a face as if tasting something sour.
“And this happens all at once?”
“Over a few years. It starts earlier with girls. Boys are bit slower developing, I think. All I know is that I got my tits when I was twelve and they fucking hurt while they grew. Like no shirt was comfortable and I couldn’t sleep on my stomach anymore and I didn’t know where to put my arms.”
“They are nice tits.” His gaze settled onto her chest.
“Somehow I don’t think we need to talk about my tits tonight.”
He didn’t need to talk about them. He needed to lick and suck, fondle and squeeze and worship them in every way.
“Oh no. You got that hungry look again.”
“I hunger,” he agreed.
A look of longing flashed in her summer blue eyes. It was nearly enough to make him charge across the distance between them and resolve his hunger with greedy kisses and sink his hard cock into her warmth. He growled, frustrated that his over developed sense of honor kept him from that pleasure.
“You wanted to tell me something?”
“Yes.” His hand drifted to the medallion. “Terrans mature relatively quickly, each stage follows the other in a span of years.”
“Doesn’t feel quick.”
“Wyer mature much more slowly. We are born without gender.”
“What? Like the Gyer?”
“We have a gender, obviously, but our slit is closed and does not open until the first year.”
“So you don’t know if you have a baby boy or a baby girl?”
“The nestling is a nestling, regardless of sexual organs
. As adolescents, we also have a type of puberty. Our bodies change to resemble our sexual characteristics. And yes, bad skin and bad attitudes happen.”
“Good to know that teenagers are annoying everywhere.”
“The final stage of maturation happens in the second decade. We become fertile and experience the Fever.”
“Wait, wait. So you could have sex before this fever but you weren’t fertile?”
“Correct. Can you imagine a teenager with a nestling?”
Adelle chewed her lower lip. “Happens all the time on Earth.”
His hand went back to the medallion. Teenagers with nestlings, when they were barely grown themselves… It seemed too primitive. Uncivilized.
“Look, I don’t believe anyone thinks it’s a good idea when a sixteen-year-old gets knocked up, but shit happens. That’s why sex ed is important.”
“You distract me, female. I am trying to tell you about the Fever and the trial it places upon us.”
She set up straight, hands in her lap. “I’m all ears, Your Highness.”
“The first time a male or female enters their fertile cycle, they develop the Fever. It is an overwhelming desire to mate. To breed. We have medication that suppresses the urge but it burns in the blood. It gets into the mind and drives you mad with need.”
“Is it painful?”
“There is physical pain, yes. It is worse with males. Females are able to resist the urge. Males must give in.”
“Wait, I think Widget told me about this. Doesn’t the family throw a big party?”
So she was not entirely innocent. “Our parents select a good partner, someone who can bare the burden of the Fever and draw out the heat.”
“They throw a party and get you laid.”
“If you must be vulgar about a sacred tradition.”
“Wait, so does that mean you make a baby? Do you have to marry the person?”
“In ancient times, yes. The parents selected a mate. Now it is merely a partner. It is considered an honor to bring someone through their first Fever. No life is conceived unless both parties are in their Fever.”
“How long does it last?”
Too long. “Until you have sex.”
Korven's Fire: Dragon Prince of Wye Page 7
