“And you can’t make a baby unless you’re both in heat? I mean in your Fever.”
“Mated pairs often sync their reproductive cycles.”
“And how often does this happen? Once a month? Once a year?”
“Two or three times a year. The intensity lessens with time. The first is the worst, I am told. It is hard to imagine it being worse.”
Adelle ran her hand up the back of her hair, ruffling her hair as she thought. “And you’re telling me this because you’re in Fever now?”
“Yes. I have been taking medication but—”
“It’s on the ship. How long does a dose last?”
“Two or three days. Depending.” If she tempted him, his control would snap. It was just the two of them, no one to talk him down and no serum.
“Fuck.”
Yes, he wanted to.
“What if we had sex?” Nothing in her tone made it sound as anything other than a clinic question. No desire. No longing. Just curiosity.
“My symptoms would be resolved but I could hurt you.” He was so much bigger than her. A Wyer female was designed to take the lust driven fury of a male. A Terran… It was dangerous and far too risky.
“You wouldn’t hurt me,” she said.
“The sun hurts you. Do not tell me what I would do to your fragile Terran body.”
“Again with the fragile human stuff. I’m a lot tougher than I look and maybe I want to help you out.”
Tempting. So tempting. She offered one night. He wanted forever.
“My father slashed and gouged my mother so badly that she bares scars to this very day. And that is a female with scales that has evolved to withstand the Fever. Do not assume you will be safe with me because I am fond of you. I could injure that soft skin in a number of ways and have no recollection. I would not be in my correct mind. The Fever would ride me hard as I brutalized your body. You must remain on your side of the fire and do not tempt me. Am I clear?”
“Perfectly, Your Highness.” Hurt made her voice small but it was the only way. She needed to understand and not let a false sense of security make her complacent. Korven had already pushed too many boundaries with her. One more temptation and he would fall on her like a mindless beast.
Chapter Ten
Adelle
Adelle slept in the pod, alone. Korven slept by the fire.
He was gone when she woke in the morning. Fine by her. After his little speech about how dangerous Wyer puberty was and how she couldn’t trust him not to hurt her, even though that royal fucker had his mouth on her pussy and ate her out like a champ, she wanted to keep her distance.
The hypocrite.
The royal hypocrite.
Oh, sex with him was too dangerous but he’d push her up against a wall and grind his cock against her. And sex with him was risky but let’s skinny dip because that’s not tempting. Or stick his tongue and fingers in her cunt and work it until she came all over his face. Perfectly safe. All those activities were perfectly safe with an alien who was a hair trigger away from brutalizing her. His words. Brutalize.
He toyed with her in a way he said he wouldn’t. He toyed with her in a way that made her desire him, more than she desired anyone before.
Asshole. If he believed the crap he said last night, then he was reckless and irresponsible.
Adelle couldn’t decide what made her more furious: her own level of sexual frustration or they way he’d endangered her.
She made her way to the bushes to take care of business and then to the lagoon to wash up. She wanted to get the smell of smoke off her face and rinse out her hair.
Korven sat at the sandy edge of the lagoon, naked as the day he was born, legs folded and his hands resting on his knees. Meditating?
She stripped off the shirt and splashed around in the water, rinsing off. No sense in being shy now. Curious, she looked over her shoulder. No response from him. Fine. After last night, it was for the best. He didn’t want to injure such a delicate flower of humanity and she didn’t want—
It didn’t matter what she wanted. He was a prince. She was a nobody. And technically his employee. It didn’t matter how hot he was or how obviously attracted they were to each other, nothing good would come of it. Best to leave keep her distance and wait for the Firestar to retrieve them.
Yup, that’s what a responsible adult would do.
A hungry growl made her turn around, expecting a beast but only finding Korven.
His pupils went wide, his eyes black. He sniffed the air, tongue darting out to taste.
To taste her.
She shivered.
“Adelle,” he said, voice thick and husky. “You’re fertile.”
He could tell that by sniffing?
“I guess so.” Her body was regular like clockwork. She probably was ovulating. “What’s the big deal?”
Korven licked his lips and rumble, “Run.”
Korven
His mate ran, so he ran. The feral, fevered part of his mind thrilled to chase after her. She crashed through the dense tropical growth. Clumsy. Her scent, always that delicate feminine floral under a layer of machine oil, wafted through the air, amplified by her desire.
A savage grin stretched across his face. She desired the hunt as much as him.
He burned for her. Korven pushed his way through, breaking into a clearing near their pink lagoon. She brought them back to where the chase began.
Adelle stood at the water’s edge, chest heavy but ready to run again.
“Female,” he managed to rumble out. A primitive and primal need overcame him. He needed her more than the air in his lungs. Needed to crushed her lips against his, pin her down, push open her thighs and drink her nectar. Once she came, trembling and crying his name, he’d push into her and empty his fire. “I burn.”
She held out a hand, palm up, and curled her fingers, beckoning him.
The Fever seized him.
Adelle
Korven’s eyes were entirely black, only the thinnest sliver of green showing. Korven wasn’t in charge anymore. The dragon part of his brain was at the helm. She knew she should be afraid. Korven said he wouldn’t be able to control him, to guarantee he wouldn’t hurt her, but Adelle wanted to be caught. Captured and fucked. Hard.
Faster than she thought possible, Korven was on her, pressing her down to the soft grass, hands pinned above her head. He pushed open her thighs and his fingers delved right in. She gasped with surprise. No stroke, no tease, just right to it. He worked his fingers in and out. Of course she was wet. She was wet and ready before he told her to run.
Satisfied, he removed his fingers and raised them for inspection. He licked them clean in the filthiest and hottest damn display she’d ever seen.
She should have been terrified. Hadn’t he spent the last evening telling her scary stories about the Fever? He promised to hurt her. Savage her. This was his first Fever, the worst one, and he could not promise he would remain in control.
Yet she wasn’t afraid.
Yes, he chased her. But it didn’t feel like a fight for survival. It felt like… flirting. Primitive, passionate flirting. Even now, fully burning, he brought about her pleasure first.
Adelle raised her hips and spread her thighs, inviting him. Even if this was only a one time deal, even if ended when the Firestar retrieved them, even if he broke her heart, she wanted this. “I want you, Korven. I need you.”
With a growl that shook her, he settled between her thighs. Snug. Like he belonged.
Lined up at her entrance, the head prodding, he stilled. Adelle rocked her hips, encouraging him. No response. Arms planted on either side of her head, he stared down at her. “I will build us a nest.”
“Is that a question?” She wasn’t interested in a nest. She wanted him in her now.
“Do you want me to build us a nest?” His eyes searched hers, waiting for an answer.
“Yes. Build whatever you want. I need you, Korven.”
His head lowered,
pressing his lips to hers in a surprisingly tender gesture. “You are mine, Adelle Scott. I will not give you up.”
“All yours,” she agreed.
He pushed into her. Her core burned as it stretched but she was built for him. Seated fully, he was a perfect fit.
“Adelle,” he whispered her name like a fevered prayer, eyes closed.
“Korven,” she answered.
His eyes snapped open, the vertical slit wide and his eyes entirely black. He withdrew and surged forward, pounding into her. She kicked her legs around his waist, digging her heels in and hanging on. He didn’t stop. He kept surging forward and pulling back, drawing his length along her channel and lighting her up, only to surge forward again.
He took what he needed from her and she gave without hesitation. Her hips rose to meet his thrusts. His growls were met with her cries of desire. He was rough. His hard form pounded into her softness but it was just hard enough. Just perfect.
The fire grew in her. Every stroke intensified the blaze. Adelle could not hold herself together. She burst, crying out his name, and he responded with a bone shattering roar. His wings snapped outwards, blocking the sun. He emptied his scorching seed deep within her. It kept coming and coming.
Still hard, Korven remained inside her. His hips continued to rock in a mindless motion, nothing more. Adelle stroked his arms, whispering his name and encouragement. Slowly his pupils returned to normal.
“Adelle?” Panic and worry obvious on his face.
“I’m okay, sweetheart. We’re okay.”
“Did I?”
“You didn’t hurt me. I knew you wouldn’t. Just relax. Lay down beside me and relax.”
He rolled onto his side, pulling her into his embrace. “I’m never letting you go,” he said.
“I don’t want you to.”
Chapter Eleven
Korven
Korven disentangled himself from Adelle and left her sleeping peacefully. Outside the tent, he stretched out on the ground and stared at the night sky. Above, the red and blue clouds of the Celestial Mother watched over him. How strange the Celestial Mother had a Terran’s eye. How strange he never really thought of it before.
Adelle rattled his scales in the best ways. The Celestial Mother blessed him the day he went into that dingy bar.
He burned for her. With the Fever receding, he knew his own mind. He knew peace and Adelle was at the heart of it. The Fever compelled him to offer to build a nest, to bind their lives together, but with his mind clear, he did not regret those words of tenderness. He meant every word.
He wanted Adelle for his wife. The Celestial Mother brought them together and witnessed their union. How could he to argue with fate?
Adelle was his heart.
Simple.
Adelle
The next three days passed in a haze of lovemaking, splashing in the lagoon, eating fruit, and more lovemaking. The intensity of the Fever was broken but portions lingered. They swept over him. One moment they were having a normal conversation then that feral, hungry look came over him and Adelle found herself flat on her back, pinned to the ground. He took her fast and hard but he never hurt her. Not once.
All in all, it was like a private vacation. A change of clothes would have been nice but they spent enough time in each other’s embrace that clothing seemed unnecessary.
On the morning of the sixth day, a shuttle landed. Adelle scrambled to put on the overly long shirt. Olver strode out of the craft, ready to retrieve his prince.
Their private vacation was over.
“Adelle needs medical attention,” Korven said. “She has suffered a radiation burn for several days.”
***
Korven carried Adelle through the medical bay doors like a new bride. Derix, dressed for some reason in a white lab coat, tried to take her. Korven growled, clutching her tight to his chest.
“It’s like that, then.” Unmoved by Korven’s theatrics, Derix motioned toward the examination table.
“I do not care for your tone.” Korven placed Adelle carefully on the table, like she was fragile and precious. She didn’t know why the two males were snarling at each other but the tender care Korven gave her didn’t suck.
“When was your last injection?” Derix waved a hand held scanner at his prince.
“Five days ago.”
Derix’s gaze went from the scanner display to Korven and then to Adelle. That look… That mixture of amazement and pity. Nothing good would come from that look. Thankfully her still pink sunburn covered her blush.
“The injection schedule was every two days?”
Korven nodded. He held her hand, his thumb stroking the back.
“You have no obvious signs of struggle with the Fever and the female has no obvious injuries. The Fever was consummated.”
“You know I really hate it when you boys talk about me like I’m not even here,” Adelle said.
Korven and Derix continued to ignore her. Korven finally spoke, “The Fever was resolved without complications.”
“You do not know that,” Derix snapped. “She has no external injuries but Terrans are fragile.”
Not that bullshit again. Adelle could not roll her eyes hard enough. “Guys, I’m fine.”
They ignored her and continued their snarl standoff.
“I would not damage my female,” Korven said, stepping toward the other male. His stance and posture made the proximity an insult. A threat. “Use your eyes and observe that she is unharmed.”
“Guys, I’m fine—”
“I have used my eyes and I can observe that she is not in the same condition that she was when she left the ship.”
Well, yeah. She had been well-used by Korven and had no complaints. No complaints at all. Her blush deepened.
“Why is she pink? Do Terrans change colors?” Derix picked up her arm, turning it over to examine her sunburn.
“It is a burn on her dermal layer from ultraviolet radiation.”
Derix’s normally unruffled demeanor became ruffled. “That is a terrible design! No scales, no pigment. They just get radiation burns? I don’t understand how Terrans have managed to survive as a species.” He dropped her arm and spun toward Korven, posture rigid and ready for conflict. “I do not understand how you allowed this to happen.”
Adelle hugged her arm to her chest. “It’s just a mild sunburn. And since when are you the medic? Aren’t you the hired muscle?”
Derix pointed to the ID badge on his lab coat. A faded image of a much younger Derix grinned back. “I had emergency medical response training in the military.”
“Still not a doctor.” Good for stopping a bleeding wound and stabilizing but not a doctor.
“I’m the closest thing you’re getting to a medic on this ship. Now don’t flinch.”
A needle jabbed her in the back of the neck. She flinched. “What the hell!”
Derix set down a vicious looking contraption, the display screen counting down, and went to the supply cabinet. He returned with a tub of green gel.
Adelle recognized it and snatched it out of his hands. She slathered on the gel, soothing her skin instantly. As the gel evaporated, the cooling effect made her shiver. So good after days of hot, sticky humid heat. She applied as much as she could with the shirt on but soon her exposed skin was covered in the soothing gel and there was so much more that needed attention.
Korven took the jar and raised up the hem of her shirt.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Tending my female.”
“My shirt! I’m not going topless with Derix in the room,” she hissed. Her panties and bra were destroyed on the planet below. Pants were lost long ago. The shirt was the only thing keeping her decent.
“I am a medical professional.”
“No,” Adelle snapped, “you are not. You punch ‘em and I guess you can put ‘em back together but you are not a doctor and you are not looking at my boobs.”
“Turn your back,” Korven said as
he lifted the shirt from Adelle.
“Your Highness—”
“No one looks upon my female’s form without her permission.”
“This is ridiculous,” Derix grumbled but he complied.
Korven wasted no time applying the gel to her back and shoulders. The evaporation wicked away the sticky goo, leaving only relieved skin. Once dry, she put on a clean shirt. Judging by the size, it was one of Korven’s.
“The emergency pod needs to be stocked with this stuff.” Adelle laced up the front of the shirt. Even pulled tight, the gaps were scandalously large.
“The emergency pod was stocked for the needs of the prince, not—” Derix gaze drifted from her to Korven and back. Perhaps he regretted his words.
“Stowaways. Yeah. I wasn’t planning on it, believe me.”
Derix took a sample from Korven. “You are cleared, Your Highness. No injuries, no parasites and no complications from the Fever.”
“And Adelle?”
The vicious looking contraption Derix used to take a sample from her dinged. He studied the results. “She has a parasite.”
“What? No! I used the purification tablets. It was that funky fruit.” Adelle gave a light slap to Korven’s arm. “I told you we shouldn’t eat that funky fruit but you were Mister Survivalist and now look. Will I be okay?”
“It is small,” Derix said. “I will take another scan.” He placed another device to her abdomen, just below her rib cages, then moved it lower. Lower.
“Where is the parasite located?” She had suspicions. Korven could smell her ovulation and it’s not like the pod was stocked with condoms. Fertility plus lots of unprotected sex...
“Your womb.”
“I’m pregnant!” The words spilled out of her. Joy and anxiety rushed in and took its place. A baby. Korven’s baby. Joy was loud and exuberant. Then anxiety whispered it was a royal baby and Korven was not free to make choices on some matters.
Korven's Fire: Dragon Prince of Wye Page 8
