He pushed himself harder still, intensifying both his internal heat and the beating of his heart. There was a limit to how much of that heat his body could handle, but he didn’t care about it now. It didn’t matter. He needed the exhaustion it would eventually bring.
When he squeezed his eyes shut, he meant to do so for only a moment—just long enough to center himself—but his imagination seized the opportunity offered by that brief darkness. Against his will, he pictured himself chasing Shay—not through the streets of the Undercity but through a forest on his home planet, following her scent between the trees. Hunting her. Instinct drove him to claim his prize, and the longer she ran, the more determined he grew. The more excited he grew.
In that impossibly vivid imagining, he passed between two large tree trunks and entered a clearing to find his mate awaiting him. She was naked, bent over on her hands and knees with her delectable ass in the air, presenting herself for the taking—for his claiming. And she was staring at him over her shoulder with that maddening fire in her eyes.
His cock throbbed, and suddenly the friction between it and his pants had him on the verge of spilling his seed.
“Kraasz ka’val,” he rasped, forcing his eyes open. His breath sawed from his lungs, burning his throat, each exhalation underscored by a growl. He slowed his pace and straightened, lifting his hands and clenching his fists as though he could catch all this frustration and discomfort between his fingers and squeeze it down into something manageable.
Drakkal’s chest and shoulders heaved as he turned off the platform and stepped down. He felt his heartbeat in every centimeter of his body, a frantic pulse that refused to quiet, refused to slow, and each of its rapid, heavy thumps increased that internal heat just a little more. It felt as though there were a furnace burning in his chest.
He walked forward, lifted an arm, and braced it against the wall, leaning his forehead against his wrist. His insistent pulse strengthened the ache in his groin, pronouncing the agony of his need, and created a new discomfort behind his eyes. He’d never built this amount of heat without pushing his body to brink of collapse, and yet his limbs hummed with fresh stores of strength.
Swallowing thickly—his mouth was dry, his tongue as rough as hard-packed sand—he pushed away from the wall and left the gym. He’d been a fool to think he would find relief here. He’d known from the beginning that there was only one means of release, only one thing that could satisfy him.
His fur, already tousled from his exercise, stood on end in agitation as he strode down the corridor toward his room. His tail whipped ceaselessly as though fighting off unseen attackers, and his ears restlessly lifted and fell, over and over. Despite the pace of his walk—which was glacial compared to his all-out sprint a few minutes before—the heat in him continued to build.
He paused as he reached the door just before his own—Shay’s door. His chest swelled with a deep inhalation; for several seconds, he could not release it. The pressure within him grew along with the heat, and it was all too much, it was impossible to bear, and he had to act, or it would tear him apart. She was on the other side of that door, probably in her bed. Her scent was fresh in this hallway, and it lingered on him; he wanted that scent embedded in his fur forever. He wanted her slick oils coating his cock.
Drakkal reached toward the door’s control panel. He stopped himself before he touched it, curled his fingers into a tight fist, and pressed the side of his hand against the door. Tension gripped his every muscle. He’d been in low places before, had faced more struggles over the years than he could count, had known consuming rage and sorrow. Nothing in his life compared to this. Nothing in his life had been this hard; that was the truth, as absurd as it seemed when held against the challenges he’d faced in the past.
Gritting his teeth so tightly that he swore they would shatter, he pushed away from Shay’s door and walked the most harrowing six meters in all the universe to reach his bedroom. The sound of his door sliding shut behind him once he was inside was a soft and fleeting—and it was mocking, questioning his devotion to his mate, doubting his strength, needling his pride.
“Fuck you,” he growled at the door before hurrying into the bathroom.
He didn’t allow himself to consider the implications of snapping at inanimate objects as he tore off his clothes. Once his pants were down, his cock sprang free, fully erect, to throb in open air. He shuddered at the relief—though that relief was miniscule, and even the gentle caress of air along his shaft was nearly too much to bear.
Precariously balanced on the edge of explosion, he clamped his right hand around the base of his shaft just beneath the knot, squeezing mercilessly to alleviate the discomfort, and moved to the shower. His thighs brushed his oversensitive balls, which were tight and heavy with unspent seed.
He turned the water on cold and entered the shower, immersing himself. The chill was jarring but welcome, immediately chasing away the heat crackling across the surface of his skin, but it didn’t penetrate deep enough, didn’t extinguish the source of the fires raging within him. Shay’s scent remained strong in his nostrils despite the water streaming over his face.
Releasing his cock, he grabbed his soap and scrubbed his fur to a furious lather, wishing more with each second that it was her hands touching him. When he washed his throbbing cock and aching balls, it produced an immense wave of pleasure-pain unlike anything he’d experienced. He clamped his mouth shut and willed himself to hold it together. If he came by his own hand now, it wouldn’t provide him any relief. He’d only be hungrier.
Have to ride this out. Have to hold myself together.
He used the internal shower control to make the water colder still, shuddering beneath the stream as it rinsed the lather from his fur. He just needed to cool off. Needed to relax.
As though in response, the instinct-fueled flames at his core roared to new heights, blasting back at the icy water sluicing over his body.
Drakkal slapped his left hand against the wall and grasped his shaft with the other, growling as his cock twitched and its knot swelled further.
Fuck riding it out. I need her now.
He clawed the controls to shut off the water, shook the excess moisture from his fur, and exited the shower. Despite the scent of soap clinging to him, he still smelled Shay’s sundrinker perfume and sweet sweat.
Without the need for conscious thought, he entered the hallway, went to her door, and banged on its face with his metal hand. His heart beat thunderously enough that he wouldn’t have been surprised had its sound echoed along the corridor.
He was about to pound on the door again when it opened.
“What do you—oh.” Shay’s eyes flared as they dipped to his pulsing cock.
Drakkal raked his gaze over her greedily. She wore only an oversized shirt, the hem of which hung around the middle of her thighs, and her pale golden hair was loose and disheveled. Her cheeks pinkened, and the color of her irises darkened.
She slowly trailed her eyes up his body until they locked with his; desire burned in those piercing blue depths. Her breath quickened, and her breasts strained against her shirt, making the points of her hardening nipples visible through the fabric.
“You want to fuck?” she asked. “Then fuck me.”
He stepped into the doorway, drawing close enough to feel the heat radiating from Shay, close enough to smell her arousal.
She lifted her hand and pressed her palm to his chest. “No strings attached. No commitments. We’re just two people getting it out of our systems.”
Fuck that.
He knew it wasn’t possible—and suspected that she, deep in her heart, understood it, too. But he’d let her lie to herself if that was what it took for her to give in, if that was what it took to convince her that she was his—that this was inevitable.
Drakkal took another step forward, crossing the threshold, and Shay stepped back, keeping her hand on his chest. He blindly slapped the control. The door shut behind him.
> “Did you hear me, Drakkal?” Shay asked.
“I heard you, female,” he growled.
She narrowed her eyes. “And?”
He lifted his right arm, placed his hand on the back of her head, and took hold of her hair. Before she could react, he angled her face toward his and bent down to slant his mouth over hers.
Shay’s breath hitched, and her body tensed, but Drakkal gave her no respite as he tasted her. His mouth covered hers hungrily, desperately. A soft moan escaped her, and her lips parted, granting him access to her mouth. Her hand slid up his chest before her fingers curled in his fur. She pulled him closer.
This taste of her sweetness after weeks of being teased by her scent was beyond anything he could’ve imagined, so powerful and overwhelming that it left room only for one thought—more. Drakkal wrapped his left arm around her and cupped her ass with his hand. He tugged her body against his, pressing his throbbing cock to her rounded belly. He made no effort to suppress his groan as a fresh wave of pleasure-pain flowed outward from his groin.
Shay grinned against his mouth before pressing her forehead against his, breaking the contact between their lips. “You want me?”
“Need you.”
She looped her arms around his neck and stepped backward, leading him deeper into the room. “I’ve wanted you to.” Her tongue flicked out and teased his lower lip. She sucked it into her mouth briefly and nipped it with her teeth, causing Drakkal to growl and bare his fangs at the jolt that swept through him. “Did you know that I touched myself while thinking of you after you found my apartment? I imagined what your hand would feel like stroking my pussy. What your tongue would feel like.”
Though it seemed impossible, her words further stoked the fires inside him and made his cock stiffen more than ever.
“Pussy,” he rumbled, sliding his left hand around her thigh from back to front to press his thumb over the top of her slit. Heat emanated from her. “Is that what you call this?”
Lashes fluttering, Shay moaned and rocked her hips forward, causing his thumb to slip between her folds and stroke a tiny, hard nub. “Yes.”
“I thought of you, too,” he said as the backs of her legs bumped the edge of her bed. He brushed his thumb over that nub again, coaxing another gyration from her hips. The sweet musk he’d picked up within her scent was stronger now, fogging his mind in the best of ways. Keeping his gaze locked with hers, he lifted his left hand to his mouth, extended his tongue, and licked her oils from the metal. If his first taste of her lips had been ambrosial, this was something else entirely, something that could not be encompassed in words, and he needed more, forever more. “Mmm…but I’m done imagining.”
“So don’t imagine,” she said. “Take me. Fuck me.” Her eyes fell to stare at his cock. “Cause I fucking want you, too.”
Drakkal stepped back from Shay. Her arms fell from around his neck, but he would not mourn their loss—he’d feel her touch again soon enough. With both hands, he grasped the collar of her shirt and pulled it in opposite directions. Shay inhaled sharply. The fabric tore down the middle, exposing her full, lush breasts and their budded pink nipples.
Instinct demanded he press her onto the bed and shove inside her, demanded he ravage her body and make it known, without a doubt, that she was his.
Instinct had driven him to her, had brought him to this point. But he would not allow those instincts to ruin this moment. He would not allow instinct to diminish his enjoyment of her—or hers of him. He would take his time no matter how much it hurt to hold back, because she deserved nothing less, and what was the point of the chase if he ended it all so quickly now?
Drakkal stalked closer to her. Shay held his gaze as she moved back onto the bed, shrugging off the tattered remains of her shirt. Once she was fully atop the bed, she propped her arms behind her and spread her knees, baring her sex to him.
Drakkal stared down at the glistening pink petals of her sex, and his nostrils flared as he drew in her ever-strengthening fragrance. His mate was ready for him, wet and waiting, inviting him in, but he didn’t want a quick, simple fuck. However primal his need for her was at heart, it was anything but simple. No, he would please his mate. He would bring her to heights of pleasure that no one of any species had ever experienced, would push her to beyond her limits, and would not be satisfied until she was helpless but to breathe his name in a desperate plea for more.
He stepped forward, dropped to his knees, wrapped his arms around her legs, and dragged her to edge of the bed. Before he’d even completed those movements, he lowered his mouth to her open sex and groaned. He ran his tongue along her slit from bottom to top, flicking that little, hidden nub. Her flavor burst upon his tongue, dominating his awareness. She gasped and bucked her hips; Drakkal growled and tightened his grip on her. More of her nectar coated his tongue.
His craving, his need, finally overwhelmed his self-control. There was no turning back. There was no escape—not for Shay, and not for Drakkal. She was his.
And he was going to make her understand it in every possible way.
Still propped on her elbows, Shay stared down at Drakkal’s head between her legs, unable to look away from the erotic sight as she trembled with the sensations flooding her. Her lips parted with her panting breaths. Drakkal’s rough, flat tongue dragged over her sex, lapping at her like he’d been dying of thirst. Every time it reached her clit, spikes of pleasure shot through her—each stronger than the last—and her breath hitched. The tips of his claws pricked her flesh, but the small amount of pain they produced only enhanced her excitement.
Biting her lower lip, Shay reached out to grasp his mane and pull him closer, to guide him to where she wanted him most, but he lifted his head and snarled through bared teeth, knocking her hand aside. That might’ve scared other people, but Shay found it sexy as all hell, and it sent a fresh rush of liquid heat to her core.
Drakkal’s nostrils flared, and he dropped his face between her legs again. This time, his tongue slipped inside her.
“Oh fuck!” Shay collapsed onto the bed and spread her thighs wider, arching her pelvis up as much as his hold allowed. She felt the roughness of his tongue within her, stroking firmly, before he withdrew it and flicked it over her clit again.
“Right there. Please, right fucking there,” she begged, squeezing her eyes shut and undulating her hips against his mouth as spirals of ecstasy swirled within her, coiling tight.
He huffed, blasting her with warm breath as his mouth hovered over her sex. Her anticipation grew, increasing her arousal in accordance, and her core clenched. Finally, his tongue dipped, lapping at her clit in quick, steady strokes. Reveling in the sensations, Shay moaned and clutched fistfuls of bedding. She forced her legs wider still.
She opened her eyes and looked down to see Drakkal’s predatory stare over her stomach; he was watching her, his gaze aflame with pure want. Though it was difficult, she kept her eyes open as much as she was able, staring back at him as her pleasure climbed and her breathless moans became increasingly short and shallow.
Drakkal closed his mouth around her clit and sucked.
Rapture cleaved through Shay, blinding and deafening her as she came with a choked cry. Her back bowed off the bed, and she squeezed the bedding while the already overwhelming pleasure rocketed into something so intense that it nearly shattered her mind. Everything returned in a rush—the cascading waves of bliss crashing through her, her scream, Drakkal’s rumbling growl as he greedily drank from her pussy, the rasp of the bedding against her bare skin as she writhed atop it, the press of the claws of his right hand against her thigh.
She was still riding those waves when Drakkal moved faster than she could quite comprehend. His hands were suddenly on her hips, and he flipped her over. Reflexively, she caught herself on hands and knees. Even if she’d had time to react, to resist, she never could’ve overcome his strength—but she didn’t want to. She knew what was coming and she craved it. Though her pussy was still spasming from
her last orgasm, she needed more.
Drakkal spanned his big hands over her hips, angled her ass up, and thrust into her.
Shay gasped at the sharp sting of his entry, rocking forward with the force of it. She felt herself stretching around him. Before she could draw another breath, he drew his hips back and yanked her ass toward him as he pumped forward, plunging his thick cock into her again, shoving deeper and forcing her body to accommodate him, to accept him, to take all of him. And it did, ravenously—greedily.
She closed her eyes and moaned, shoving back against him as he sank into her again and again, his entry eased by her slick. His claws pressed into her hips as he thrust, until finally, she had accepted all of him except the thickest part—his knot. With each gyration of his hips, he released a heavy grunt, their volume increasing along with his pace.
Drakkal bent forward, pressing his huge body over hers to surround her with his heat and soothe her with his fur. He moved his left arm over her left shoulder and wrapped his metal hand around the underside of her jaw while he slid his right hand down to her sex, pressing the pad of a finger over her clit. She was trapped by his body—trapped in a cage from which she never wanted to escape.
She felt his lips and his warm, ragged breath on the side of her neck as he lowered his head.
He unleashed himself in that moment.
His pace became frenzied, wild, relentless, and the slide of his big, hard cock struck that perfect spot inside her repeatedly, sparking new blasts of pleasure before the prior sensations had faded. His scent invaded her senses, along with the combined smell of sex. Breathy, needy moans tore from her throat as he plunged in and out of her. The overwhelming pleasure building inside her made her mindless. She grasped the bedding in her fists, helpless but to submit to the beast holding her body captive.
Guttural, feral sounds escaped Drakkal, and though his hold on her was firm, he did not hurt her. The minor pain she’d experienced in the beginning had faded, leaving only blistering pleasure.
Untamed Hunger Page 21
