by Shea Malloy
He disappears into a thicket and I cast a worried gaze at the sky. The twin suns are retreating. What if the Cottons are still on the hunt? What if he gets lost? No. Stop it. He’ll be fine. I’ll be fine too. I just need to rely on a virtue that’s in limited supply for me—patience.
However, hours later—at least it sure feels like it!—the suns have bid farewell for another day and the sky is now indigo. I’m lying in darkness inside our new tent, my eyes stretched so wide, they’re pinching at the corners. I’m cold. I’m starving. My cuts hurt like a bitch. My heart is setting records like, ‘Fastest Beat Per Millisecond’ and ‘Loudest Decibel to Deafen Owner’.
Where is Garan? It’s been my mantra for a while now.
It’s quiet save for the flow of the river nearby. My last attempt to soothe my wounds in it resulted in a shivering fit. Times like these makes a girl resolve to never again take for granted the niceties like pillows, blankets, hot water, and an alien dragon whose body produces heat like a furnace.
Where is—
Crunch.
What the hell was that? I quake in trepidation. The crunching sound persists. Footsteps. Garan? Or something else? Something that’s already enjoyed the main course of dragon hide and now wants human for dessert?
An orange glow disrupts the darkness.
“Rosalind?” Garan pokes his head into the tent, a globe of fire seated in his palm and a large bundle in his other hand. The globe’s amber light highlights one side of his face while throwing the other in darkness. His eyes look even more golden. I’m so angry and relieved, tears prick the backs of my eyes.
“Finally.” I sigh. “You were gone for so long, I thought something ate you.”
Garan crawls inside the tent and sets the fire globe down on the ground. I marvel at it. It’s like fire swirling constantly, trapped within invisible glass. I’m happy it’s contained and doesn’t immediately set fire to our tent. It’s so bright, it lights the entire tent with ease as well as chases away the cold. I want to touch it but I’ve an intuition I would regret it.
“You missed me and worried about me? I see I’ve risen in your good graces, my little human.” He smiles.
“Not by much since you abandoned me.”
I struggle up onto my hip and every single cut lances me with pain. I wince and groan.
His features are solemn. “I didn’t find any herbs for your cuts.”
“Figures. This planet isn’t big on being helpful.” I shrug. I point at the globe. “That’s pretty cool. What is it?”
“A safur,” he says. “Bits of my energy converted into fire. It will fade eventually.”
“Damn, it must be awesome being a dragon.”
He chuckles. “Yes, it is.”
Garan unwraps the large, smooth leaf securing his bundle. It’s an animal with a stout frame and a long snout. It resembles a pig except Garan’s already made it edible. Similar to fruits, livestock that once populated Earth is considered a delicacy reserved for those with heavy pockets on Zenovas 9.
It’s a little disturbing watching Garan rip pieces off the creature, but when he hands the pieces to me, I take it with no complaint.
After we eat, Garan lifts me in his arms and takes me to the river so we can drink from it. My cuts sing with pain, but I relish in his protective hold and his body heat keeping me warm.
When we return to the tent, the safur is gone, rendering us in darkness once more. Garan creates another one by breathing fire into his palm. He sets down the ball of fire and I stare into its mesmerizing depths as it flickers and dances like a real fire.
“I can heal your cuts.”
I jerk my gaze away from the fire to meet his. I’m lying on my left arm again and it’s getting sore from overuse. Garan sits beside me, his features inscrutable, his gaze dark and intent. I get the sense he’s waiting for me to… understand. Understand what? That he’s been holding out on me despite all my groans of pain and visible discomfort?
“And you’re telling me this now?” I frown at him. “How? I thought you said you didn’t find any herbs?” Just as I’ve spoken the last word, I remember our conversation in the river. My mouth falls open but words don’t come out. Maybe it’s the blood rushing to my face that’s made my voice stop working.
A half-smile curves his lips as he reads my thoughts from the expression on my face.
“That’s one way, yes,” he says. “Or, if you’d prefer, I can spread my seed on you.”
The heat in my face has progressed to my ears. It’s a fight to keep looking at him because I’m turned on and now I really want to look at his dick. I’m turned on at the thought of it hard and thick in his palm. Garan kneeling over me, trapping me between his powerful thighs, his eyes half-lidded in concentration, his hungry gaze feasting on my breasts as he strokes himself to completion.
I raise a hand, as if doing so would stop those thoughts flooding my brain.
“Keep the lid closed on that jar of Cum Lotion you got there. I’m perfectly moisturized, thank you.” I bite my lip as he chuckles.
“Then, this is the only way,” he says before reaching for my raised hand and bringing my forearm to his lips. I’m not sure what I expected, but it certainly isn’t the moist warmth of his mouth on my skin, his silken tongue swiping along my flesh.
There’s a tightening sensation in my stomach and the heat between my thighs strengthens.
“What are you doing?” I try to tug my hand away but he holds on.
“Look.” He turns my forearm for me to see. The angry red mark that was there is gone. There’s no more pain either.
“Wow.” I’m amazed and confused. While I want him to continue with his magic licks, it would mean enduring his mouth on my body. Can I handle that when I’m already so aroused by him?
“Roll onto your stomach, Rosalind, and let me heal the rest,” he orders, his dark gaze holding mine captive. I hesitate for a second before I do he as he commands.
Now that the cut on my right arm is gone, I have full use of it. I lean most of my weight on my forearms. I clench my teeth against the pain when the tops of my thighs graze the leafy bedding beneath me. Garan shifts his body closer and even though he doesn’t move much, the action makes me super aware of what he’s about to do.
Don’t do anything stupid, I say to myself though I can barely hear my thoughts over my heart’s loud pounding in my head.
Without warning, Garan swoops down and presses his lips right in the centre of my back. An involuntary shiver courses through me and I arch up a little against his mouth. His moist tongue snakes out and licks a diagonal path along my skin, ridding me of another cut while instigating an arrow of heat straight to my core. A soft gasp escapes me.
“Garan, I don’t think this is a good idea.” I don’t recognize my voice. It’s too high and breathy.
“Do you want me to stop?” His lips grazes me when he speaks, his low voice gliding along my skin.
My nipples are tight and begging for his mouth. I’m wet already and I’m fearful he’ll see the evidence on the inside of my thighs when he gets to the cuts on my ass.
Yes, he should stop. Right now.
“No.”
He makes no response as he returns to the task. He laps at my injuries quickly progressing down past my ass to the backs of my thighs. It’s an effort to swallow the moans and the whimpers that are lodged in my throat. Is he as affected by this too? I’m tempted to look over my shoulder but I don’t want him to see how badly I want him. I doubt this is bothering him. He’s a man with extraordinary self-control and he’s methodical about the process. He’s not even touching me with his hands.
This is torture and foreplay wrapped into one. I keep telling myself I should make him stop, but every new instance of his glorious tongue on my skin knocks my resolve down another peg.
“Open your legs, Rosalind,” he commands. There’s a gruffness to his voice that wasn’t there before. I open my legs a tiny bit, but he moves between my calves, forcing my leg
s open wider. I rear up, a protest on my lips when he bends and licks a cut curving under one butt cheek straight to the inside of my thigh. His hot breath ghosts over my pussy, and the sensations are too much. I moan out loud.
He flips me onto my back and it’s a relief to lie on it without any pain. Panting, my face burns with shame. There’s no hiding my horniness now after that moan. And it seems I’m not the only one affected after all.
Sitting on his haunches, Garan’s eyes are dark with desire and he’s breathing heavier too. I slide my gaze over the defined ridges on his abdomen and the firm, thick flesh rising up between his legs. There are more of those half-circles that are on his ribcage running down its length. It’s pointed at me as if indicating I’m to be its lucky recipient and I lick my lips, eager to receive my reward.
“I’d like to put it in your pretty mouth too, Rosalind, but I’m going to fuck you first,” he says.
My inner walls constrict at his filthy promise. “I see why that thing’s so big.” I point at his dick. “It’s home base for all your arrogance.”
He grips his length and strokes it.
“It’s the right size to put that loud mouth of yours to good use screaming my name.”
He spreads my legs wider and I’m bared to him. His heated stare lingers there. He looks like a man who’s seen his prize is close at hand and is savouring the moments just before acquiring it. When he dips his head, my body tenses in anticipation of his mouth in the place that yearns for it the most. Instead, he resumes his treatment to the last of the cuts on the tops of my thighs.
I sink my fingernails into the leafy bedding beneath us. I squirm under his licks and the caress of his big hands over every spot he’s healed. Finally, finally, his face hovers over the plump wet lips between my thighs, his warm breath fanning me and stoking the flames of sexual frustration burning me up.
“Well?”
“Well, what?”
I wiggle my hips. “Stop teasing me and get to work, dammit.”
Lust burns in his amber eyes, his voice laced with amusement.
“You need to learn patience.”
“Fuck patience, but more importantly, fuck me.”
Our gazes lock, mine a challenge I’m afraid and excited he might accept. He surges forward, crawling on top of me with a speed that leaves me dizzy. He’s like a mountain suddenly rising up, blocking out everything else so my attention is focused solely on him. His mouth is on mine, his tongue charging forward.
There’s no finesse about our kiss. It’s mouths mashing together, tongues thrashing together, all the years of the rivalry with each other leading to this inevitable, explosive moment. He twists his fingers in my hair, and angles his hips so the head of his cock is pressed against my slick entrance. He enters me in one hard, abrupt thrust, sucking in his breath over my opened mouth as if he’s swallowing my silent gasp of surprise.
He moves his lips to my ear. “Is this what you want, Rosie?”
“Yes…” I can barely get the word out. It’s exactly what I’ve always wanted but the reality is so much… bigger. I’m stretched. I’m stoppered. I’ve never been filled with so much cock. I must have said the last bit out loud because he laughs softly.
“And I’ve never been inside such a deliciously tight cunt.”
He nuzzles the side of my neck, scraping his teeth there as he retreats and shoves into me again. My spine curves as I sink my fingernails into his shoulders. I see why he’s got those half-circles on his dick. They form grooves that rub along my inner walls, heightening my pleasure when Garan begins to fuck me in earnest.
I hold onto his muscular arms to withstand his punishing thrusts. He palms one of my breasts, rolling my firm nipple between thumb and forefinger as he reclaims my mouth in a hungry kiss. I’ve always been a woman who needed to be diddled in order to come, but not with Garan. Every stroke of his cock inside me pushes me closer to the finish line. I shiver, the familiar sensation of mounting tension centred where we’re joined.
“Garan… Garan…”
“You drive me fucking crazy,” he growls against my lips. “Always.”
I come hard, squeezing his arms. Ecstasy overwhelms me. Garan groans as my pussy convulses around him, and the fact that he’s so big, touching me everywhere, prolongs my orgasm.
The safur goes out blanketing us in darkness. I’m panting, my heart galloping. Garan presses kisses to my chest and the tops of my breasts.
“You have magnificent tits,” he says, fondling them.
“So I’ve been told.” Then I let out a cry of surprise when he envelops my nipple in his hot mouth and bites it.
“I don’t want to hear that and I’m going to punish you for saying it.” As if to stress his point, he thrusts into me hard. I whimper and cling to him, expecting more. He slips from me, leaving me feeling empty as he continues kissing a path down my sternum.
“That sounds a lot like jealousy.” I sift my fingers through his hair, delighting in its silky texture. In the darkness, my sense of touch and awareness are heightened. The gentle scrape of his stubble and the damp heat of his mouth on my stomach makes my insides quiver.
“Of course, I’m jealous.” His mouth is on my mons as he pushes on the insides of my thighs to spread me open.
“Why?”
“Because you’re mine.”
I should have a sarcastic retort that I’m not some property for him to possess, but who am I kidding? I like the idea of being his. I like it a lot. Vaguely, I wonder how I could go from hating this alien dragon for years to entertaining thoughts of having something more than sex between us. However Garan seizes my full attention when his velvet tongue parts me then laps at my engorged bud.
I moan and tighten my grip in his hair. He slips a hand from my thigh and inserts a digit inside my channel. My hips lift on their own, my inner walls tightening around his finger accepting him, demanding more. He gives me a second digit.
“Can you take a third one, my little human?” His smile imprints against my wet flesh.
“Yes,” I gasp out, but I’m not so sure.
He inserts a third finger into my pussy. My legs tremble as my body strains around his fingers stretching me, pumping into me, his devilish tongue lapping me into a frenzy. If I tug any harder on his hair, I fear I might turn him bald. I squeeze my eyes shut, panting and squirming and moaning my way to another release.
Oh my god. Oh my god. I’m wobbling on the tightrope. I’m gonna fall off.
I’m gonna—
Garan pulls away from me. I cry out in frustration. For a brief moment, I feel that instant spit of outrage like discovering someone has eaten my hidden stash of sweet treats and have left me with just the empty packaging.
My outrage vanishes when Garan is on top of me again, entering me to the hilt. His mouth crashes down on mine. The sensation of him sliding into me in a powerful thrust, the grooves rubbing me, sends me over the edge. I wrap my arms around him, squeezing him to me, much the way my pussy constricts his cock as he pounds into me.
“Rosie,” he groans. He nuzzles my neck, his length like hard steel. My name on his lips and his gasps of pleasure as he climaxes turns me on more than anything else. If there are more moments like this with him, I’ll take them all. Maybe Leeka wasn’t lying after all. In this moment, I have no doubts that this man is my fated mate.
An intense yet pleasant heat accompanied by a tingling feeling floods my entire body. I feel stronger and rejuvenated. Breathless, I giggle against Garan’s lips when he kisses me.
“What?” he asks.
“I can feel it!” I say in exaggerated tones. “I can feel the power of your cum flowing through me!”
He snorts and we both dissolve into laughter.
12
Garan
When I awake, daylight is underway, illuminating the area. Rosalind is snuggled against my side, her warm breath fanning my chest as she sleeps. Her red hair is wilder than ever and tickling my arm.
I drink in her
peaceful features and beautiful face. I’m awed that I had this amazing creature beneath me, moaning my name with abandon last night. I told her she was mine and she did not deny it. Instead, she gave herself to me until at some point we fell asleep from blissful exhaustion.
I wonder if she knows that Rur males do not make idle claims? As soon as we were joined last night, my dragon roared that she was ours and we were hers. Perhaps the Celestial Mates agent, Leeka, spoke the truth after all.
I lay contentedly with her until she awakens. We eat more of the beast while I regale her with an exaggerated tale of how I killed it.
“So, this heavy thing with no wings flew in the air at you?”
“How else could I smite it down?”
“Oh, please. The truth is you roasted it with your fire breath while it wasn’t aware of you.”
“A Rur dragon does not attack its enemy from behind but faces them fearlessly.”
“OK. It saw you, tried to run away and you chased it down and roasted it.”
Silence.
“A Rur dragon does not share the details of his conquests…”
She laughs and its a glorious sound that fills me with satisfaction and triumph.
We bathe in the river and the sight of her wet naked skin burns me with a lust so hot, I take her hard on the riverbank. Buried inside her divine heat, tasting her skin, my name on her lips, I know no other bliss.
After our coupling, we lay beneath the warmth of the twin suns. Rosalind has just jokingly suggested we find other things to do besides each other, when a bright white light swallows us. The jungle disappears. We are no longer lying down but upright. I pull Rosalind near me to protect her from this new threat.
We’re surrounded by an endless stretch of white here. There’s no demarcation of any kind, no temperature, no scents and no gravity. It’s as if we’re drifting in space and it’s disconcerting.
