by Zoe Ashwood
She thrashed beneath him and finally hooked her legs around his waist for leverage. Before Taron realized what she was doing, she rolled her hips once, twice, her overstimulated clit hitting the hard ridge of his cock, and she shattered.
A scream tore from her throat as wave after wave of pleasure crashed through her.
Taron kissed her, swallowing her cries, and his touch grew rough on her skin. He prolonged her orgasm, pinched her nipples, and rocked his hips against her exactly where she wanted him.
When she quieted, he held her close.
“You tricked me,” he grumbled. “I wanted to make it last.”
Adriana stretched beside him like a cat. “Mm. It was so worth it.” She peered up into his eyes. “This was amazing. But…” She rose above him and nudged him. “Flip to your stomach. I want to try something.”
Taron quirked an eyebrow and pointed at the front of his pants. The impressive bulge there almost made her reconsider her plan. But she was too curious to let him distract her.
“If I’m right, you’ll thank me,” she added with a grin. “Now, flip.”
He muttered darkly but obeyed, and Adriana moved to straddle his hips, his taut ass beneath her. In front of her was his broad back, the spikes of his spine and shoulders startling in their strangeness.
She touched the low bump just above his waistband. Taron went very still below her. With the pad of her thumb, she rolled the small crest and caressed his cool skin.
She wasn’t sure Taron was breathing, but he didn’t stop her, so she continued on to the next spike, which was a quarter of an inch taller. To the touch, they weren’t much different from human vertebrae; his skin moved over the bone.
Yet with every second, Taron’s large body grew more taut, and his skin turned a deep, rich blue.
Finally, he groaned, as though he couldn’t hold the sound back anymore. “Fuck. Adriana.”
She grinned and massaged the dip between two spikes. “Do you like it?”
“I’ve never…” Taron fell silent, his breaths speeding up. “Ah, this feels so good.”
Adriana stilled. “What do you mean, you’ve never?”
Taron turned his head to the side and looked at her from the corner of his eye. “When I touch my spine, it’s just skin and bone. But your touch…”
She pursed her lips. “Do you think it’s the warmth?”
He shuddered beneath her, his hands gripping the sheets as though he was barely holding himself back, but didn’t answer.
Adriana’s mind filled with wicked possibilities. “If I’m the only one who can do this for you…” She leaned down and brought her mouth to the tall spikes between his shoulder blades. They were almost as tall as her hand, and she wrapped her palm around one and stroked up, then ran her tongue over the tip.
Taron’s hips moved beneath her: he was grinding them into the bed in rhythm with her pulls and licks.
Adriana reveled in the harnessed power of him—he was completely at her mercy, but only because he’d decided to trust her, to allow her to explore. She caressed him in earnest now, playing with pressure. Her core throbbed with need, with the desire to make him experience the same kind of bliss he’d wrought from her earlier.
Suddenly, Taron twisted below her, and she would have flown off him, off the bed, if he hadn’t caught her in a crushing embrace. He sat up, bringing her to his lap, and crashed his lips on hers.
Adriana surrendered and opened her mouth to him.
With rough tugs, Taron ripped her underwear from her body, first the bra and then her panties. He lifted her up enough to free his cock, then lowered her, impaling her on his thick, cold length.
Adriana screamed in pleasure. Her senses were overwhelmed; Taron’s hands were everywhere, driving her up and down so his cock plunged deeper and deeper, stoking the fire that never ceased to burn for him. He pinched her nipples until she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, then soothed them with his cold, clever mouth.
“I want you to come all over me,” he rasped into her ear. “I feel your hot little body melting for me.”
Adriana sobbed, incoherent, “Yes, oh, Taron, yes!”
On instinct, she threw her arms around him, clinging on to him, a drowning woman clutching a life raft in the turbulent ocean of want. She closed her fingers on his spikes, and Taron’s hoarse roar reverberated around the room.
“Adriana!” he shouted, his hips lurching up, again and again.
She came so hard, her vision blurred and the world around them ceased to exist. Her inner walls clamped down on his cock, the pleasure more intense than anything she’d ever imagined.
Taron’s orgasm went on and on, a cold, addictive force inside her, and he toppled her to her back to fuck her through his aftershocks. She still clung to him, caressing him, gentling her touch, as she moaned in ecstasy.
Eventually, he stilled above her, his great chest heaving. Adriana put her palms to his cheeks and smoothed her thumbs over his high, sharp cheekbones.
“I love you,” she whispered.
He rested his forehead on hers and closed his eyes. “I love you, too.”
Adriana’s heart swelled, and she opened her arms to him. He slipped out of her, but instead of lying in her arms, he pulled her to him and enclosed her in his cool embrace. She listened to the drumbeat of his slowing heart.
“Taron?” she muttered.
“Mm?” His voice was a rumble below her cheek.
She chewed her lip. “So this is your room…” She trailed off, not sure how to ask what was bothering her. She didn’t have any possessions on Rendu apart from the luggage she’d brought with her from Earth. Would that bother him?
He chuckled. “Our room, Earthling. And don’t freak out. We’ll figure everything out. Now, rest, or that doctor of yours will know you disobeyed his direct orders.”
Adriana grinned against his skin. “Yeah, I don’t think he’ll be fooled. Your caveman routine earlier didn’t leave much room for interpretation.”
Taron lifted his head a fraction to glare at her. “What’s a caveman?”
Adriana opened her mouth, then closed it again. She thought for a moment. “You know what? I have so much to tell you. And you’ll have to teach me all about—mmph.”
Taron silenced her with two gentle fingers over her mouth. “Tomorrow, you can tell me about the cavemen and the Chris-must, and I’ll show you around the house. But right now, you need to rest. I’ll want another round of this soon.” He swatted her naked backside.
Adriana squeaked. “Okay, okay, I’m done.” With some wriggling, she buried herself under the smooth sheets. “But you better get some sleep as well. I have plans for you.”
Taron hummed and drew her close, her back to his front. He tweaked her nipple, and his hardness pressed between her legs. “On second thought, we can sleep later.”
Laughing, Adriana turned her head toward him, claiming his lips in a slow, sensual kiss. They had all night to explore each other’s bodies—and more, they’d have their entire lives to spend together. She closed her eyes and let Taron take her apart, one rough, loving touch at a time.
Epilogue
Taron
Four years later
“I swear, if you try to carry me over to the sky port, I’ll punch you in the throat, Taron.”
Adriana was waddling along the cleared road. She’d refused his offer of taking a hover sled because she wanted to get some exercise.
Now Taron was doing his best to restrain himself, but all he wanted was to grab her and protect her from falling.
“I know you said you didn’t want that hover sled, but…” he began.
“No!” She stopped, her hands at her hips. Her round belly strained against the laces of her coat. “I’m pregnant, not sick. Now come on, they’ll be here soon.”
Taron sighed and followed her. He looked down at his front, where their firstborn, a year-old daughter with black hair and pale, blue-tinged skin was strapped in a carrier on his chest. S
he was born on the night of a wild ice storm, and they’d named her Lila. She was the most perfect mix of Adriana and him, somehow resistant to cold despite her warm, soft skin.
“Your mama knows best,” he murmured and kissed her head, then held out his hand to help Adriana over a patch of ice.
She grumbled but took it, and together, they made their way toward the low hangars.
Taron was happy, happier than he ever remembered being in his life. His family was growing, and he thought he might like two or three more babies before long. He wasn’t certain Adriana would agree—and had to admit he didn’t know human women got so round when carrying their young. She was splendid in her pregnancy, and he worshipped her body every night to show her how much he loved her.
“Why did they have to come now?” Adriana muttered as she ascended the steps to the hangar’s door. “They couldn’t have waited another three months, oh, no. Now my mother will want to do checkups and poke me and…ugh.”
Taron wisely didn’t say anything. They’d been over this conversation several times since Adriana’s parents announced their imminent arrival with the next ship flying from Earth to Rendu. The trade route was established, though not many humans were permitted entry to the planet. Even Adriana’s parents wouldn’t be staying—not that they’d expressed any wish to do so.
Taron hoped they would finally realize what they lost when Adriana decided to stay here. Adriana didn’t think their indifference was strange, but Taron knew otherwise. If they so much as hinted that she or their children were anything less than flawless, he would pack them off on the very next spacecraft to leave Rendu, even if it was a rica transport ship.
“Quick, how do I look?” Adriana asked.
She took off her knit hat, so Taron smoothed some flyaway hairs from her face. “You’re perfect,” he replied. Then he kissed her, mindful not to squish Lila or the baby bump between them, but poured all his passion for her into every stroke of his tongue, every caress of his lips. Adriana held on to him, giving him back everything. That was just how she was, his human.
Someone cleared his throat nearby.
Adriana jumped back, her cheeks flushing red. “Oh!”
She turned and faced the two newcomers. The man and woman both had black eyes and the same dark hair, though her father’s was cut short and her mother’s was tied back in a severe bun. Adriana’s hands flew to her mouth, and for a moment, Taron thought she was going to freak out.
Then she glanced back at him and extended her hand. Stepping forward, Taron took it, and gave her fingers a light squeeze.
Adriana sucked in a deep breath, smiled, and said, “Mom, Dad, I’m pleased to present to you Taron ad Naals, Captain of the Royal Fleet, Chief of Foreign Affairs…and my husband.”
It was that last role he cherished most dearly.
Thank you so much for reading Cold Attraction! I hope you enjoyed Taron and Adriana’s story.
I’d be super grateful if you wrote a quick review of the book on Amazon, Goodreads, or Bookbub! Reviews help authors so much.
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Thank you!
Zoe
Acknowledgments
I know not everyone reads this part but I love writing Acknowledgments. It’s a place to remember all the great people who helped (in big and small ways) to create this book.
Thanks to my critique partners, Jolie and Elle, for their support, funny comments, and daily chats (and to Elle for the amazing cover). Let’s see how these aliens do in the real world!
Thanks to Betti, who inspires me to write more and is the best role model. The next coffee is on me!
I’m grateful to the wonderful team of people who beta read, edited, and proofread this alien story without batting an eye: you’re the best. This book wouldn’t be here without you.
I’m also forever thankful for my two boys who love spaceships but still have trouble understanding that the Sun is, in fact, a star, and that we’re just a tiny speck in the vast Universe. I hope you know that I love you to the stars and back.
And a big thank you to my husband, who loves SciFi so much, he passed the affliction to me. Without you, I might never have thought of ice planets and dangerous enemies. Thanks for being my sounding board and my rock.
About the Author
Zoe Ashwood is a romance writer with a passion for suspenseful stories with a sexy twist.
While she's always been a reader, Zoe's writing used to be limited to diary scribbles and bad (really bad) teenage poetry. Then she participated in NaNoWriMo 2015 and never looked back.
When she's not writing, Zoe works as a literary translator. She's happily married to her best friend and has two small boys who are as stubborn as they're cute.
She's always super happy to hear from fellow bookworms, so don't hesitate to get in touch! Her newsletter is an especially great way to stay up-to-date with all the latest news (and get a free book).
Also by Zoe Ashwood
Trust the Wolf - shapeshifter paranormal romance
(a three-book series)
Give Me a Day - clean contemporary romance
(a three-book series)
