by Presley Hall
Only when my back bumps up against a hard surface do I realize he’s pressed me against a tree. With me pinned against the large trunk, his hands roam over me, sliding through my hair and down my neck, over my shoulders and waist. His touch leaves a trail of fire in its wake, and the worry I felt yesterday barely rises inside me as I lock my legs around his waist and grind against him.
I already know how good this feels. I already know he can draw out sensations in me that no one else ever has.
And I want more.
We kiss until my lips are swollen with it, until I’m breathless and dizzy. When I think I can’t possibly take any more, Jaro unwinds my legs from around his waist and sets me back on my feet. With my upper back still pressed against the tree trunk, he drops his hands to the waistband of my pants and tugs at the button and zipper.
There’s a wildness to his movements that makes my clit throb. It’s as if he’s so desperate to touch me, to taste and feel me, that he can’t get his fingers to move fast enough.
When he finally undoes my zipper and yanks my pants down, the shock of cool air against my wet, swollen core makes me gasp. Jaro’s entire body tenses, and he freezes and looks up at me, his nostrils flared.
Waiting for permission.
Waiting for me to tell him it’s okay.
Oh, god, it’s more than okay.
I nod, barely able to string together enough words to gasp out, “Yes. Please, Jaro. Please.”
That’s all he needs to hear.
It’s like those words have unleashed him.
Any tentativeness he had as he explored me the first time is gone now. He grips my hips in both hands, holding me steady, and buries his face between my legs. He plays all the greatest hits from yesterday, thrashing his tongue over my clit before dragging it up and down in long, smooth strokes. I swear I can feel him everywhere as his lips and tongue lay claim to me.
It happens so fast that there’s no chance for me to get in my head this time, no chance for my body to lock up or for fear to pull me away from the incredibleness of these sensations. All the air leaves my lungs in a rush as white heat surges through me, and I come hard against Jaro’s face, grinding against the pressure of his tongue as he devours me.
“Fuck! Jaro!”
I grab on to his hair, my mouth dropping open as my eyes squeeze shut. He has to feel the sting in his scalp, although I’m careful to avoid the bump on his head—but he doesn’t seem to mind at all. He just keeps lapping at me, rolling the first orgasm into a second one that leaves me panting and sagging against the tree.
As the aftershocks of pleasure finally lessen, he draws back slightly, looking up at me.
Holy shit. I could get used to this view.
The markings that swirl over his body are glowing, and his eyes are full of heat as he presses his lips to my clit one last time. I tremble all over as he kisses the most intimate part of me, and he smiles. As he stands up, I get the briefest flash of his cock before he adjusts himself, tugging his loincloth back into place, and my stomach flutters.
He looks big. Really big, with the smooth skin of his shaft slightly darker than the rest of him. The idea of touching him, of feeling him inside me, makes a thrill run through me all the way from my toes to my scalp. I’m nervous, still afraid that my body will rebel, but god, I want him.
When I drop my hand toward his loincloth, though, he catches my wrist just like he did yesterday. I blink up at him, but before I can say anything, he kisses me again.
It’s both heated and sweet. I can still feel the force of his need for me, the taut control that’s holding him back.
How many times has he made me come now with no reciprocation for himself?
That doesn’t feel right.
But before I can say anything, Jaro breaks our kiss, reaching down to help me fix my clothes. He glances around, his gaze scanning the forest nearby. “Perhaps we should stop here for the night. I saw another rasklar tree not far back. It will make a good shelter.”
“Okay.” I nod, a little dazed from my orgasm. I want to talk to him about what just happened, about why he won’t let me touch him, but I’m not quite sure what to say.
We head toward the tree with drooping branches, and when we’re enclosed within the small shelter, Jaro draws out his knife and hands it to me. My gaze tracks his movement, and I flush a little when I realize he’s still hard.
I shoot him a questioning look as I accept the knife, gripping the handle lightly. “What’s this for?”
“I’ll gather some food quickly. I won’t go far, but I don’t want to leave you unprotected.”
With that, he presses a kiss to the top of my head and slips out of the shelter. I stare after him for a moment, chewing on my lower lip as I hold the knife. I want to go with him, but I have a feeling his decision to go foraging on his own is partly because he needs a moment to collect himself, and the least I can do is give him that.
My mind is still reeling a little from everything that just happened. We had no near-death experiences today, but I feel a bit shaken up anyway. I keep going back over what Jaro told me in my mind, trying to grasp the enormity of what he’s been through in his life. It makes what I’ve experienced seem paltry in comparison, and I hate that after all the struggles he went through, he ended up on a prison planet.
Fate owed him better than that. He deserves something good.
True to his word, Jaro isn’t gone long. He looks more relaxed when he returns, some of the tension drained from his body, and when I sneak a glance down at his loincloth, I see that he’s no longer hard. I can’t help the secret rush of disappointment that the moment between us seems to have passed, but my heart lightens when he grins at me, holding up several large plants I don’t recognize.
“I found an aroona patch,” he says. “I think you’ll like these.”
We settle in to eat our dinner, sitting side-by-side near the base of the tree. The aroonas seem to be some kind of root vegetables, and they’re tasty, crunchy, and surprisingly filling.
As he finishes his last bite, I glance over at him, leaning a little closer to his strong, warm body. “Hey, Jaro?”
“Yes, my kira?” He looks down at me, and even though I don’t know what the actual translation of that word is, I can tell by his tone that it’s a term of endearment. I like the way it sounds in his deep, rumbling voice.
“Thank you,” I say quietly. “For telling me all of that stuff earlier. I know it probably isn’t easy to talk about, and I hate that any of it happened to you, but I… I’m glad I know, if that makes sense. I want to know. I want to know you.”
Cupping the side of my face, he angles his body to face me more fully. “I will tell you anything you like.”
I lean into his touch, my eyelids drooping a little at the feeling of his skin on mine. I consider for a moment, and then say, “Tell me some good memories. Some happy ones. There must be so much pain and violence in your past, but… are there good moments that you remember? What makes you happy?”
He withdraws his hand, trailing his fingers along the line of my jaw as if trying to prolong the contact for as long as possible. His eyes take on a faraway look as he considers his answer, and then he nods.
“I remember traveling to different planets with my parents. I saw places that many Voxerans never get to visit in their entire lives.” He grins, and it makes him look almost boyish. “The mate bond chose well for my parents. They were both adventurous, eager to see more of what the universe had to offer. They instilled that trait in me, and I used to love exploring new planets.”
His smile drops a little as he finishes speaking, and I wonder if he’s thinking of how unlikely it is that he’ll ever see another planet besides this one. I don’t want to make him think of sad things, so I ask, “What else? What other happy memories do you have?”
Jaro’s expression clears, and he chuckles. “Strangely, many of my best memories are from my time on this planet. I doubt many of the prisoners on Nuthora
would say the same, but in this place, I found a clan that took me in. I found my people.” His gaze softens as his eyes find mine. “And I found my mate. Sending me here was supposed to be a punishment, but instead, the slavers on Ybretti gave me a second chance at life.”
My heart stutters in my chest, and I reach out to trail my fingers along the white marks that decorate his arm. He shivers a little under my touch, his green eyes darkening.
“I feel the same way,” I admit softly. “I wasn’t sentenced to be here like you and the other Voxerans were, but I might as well have been. My government tried to sell me into slavery, and if we hadn’t crashed on this planet, who knows where I’d be now?”
I bite my lip, realizing how close I came to facing a life like the one Jaro escaped. Except if I’d been bought on an alien market, I doubt very much that I would’ve ended up fighting in an arena. More likely, I would’ve ended up…
Clearing my throat, I banish the horrifying images that spring to mind. Jaro’s train of thought must’ve followed after mine, because an angry growl rumbles in his chest, and he pulls me into his lap, wrapping his arms around me and cradling me against his chest. My head rests on his shoulder, and I can feel his heartbeat against my skin. I don’t think I’ve ever felt anything so perfect in my life.
“I was angry,” I murmur, relaxing against him as exhaustion begins to pull at me. We walked for most of the day, and although I’m not out of shape, my body definitely isn’t used to this level of activity on a daily basis. “I was so hurt and angry when I first woke up. So scared. But now…” I lift one shoulder, breathing in the scent of sweat and musk that clings to Jaro’s skin and makes me think only of him. “It still hurts, and I’m still pissed that my own people could do that to me. But I’m not so scared anymore. I feel like I got my second chance at life too.”
Jaro makes a noise in his throat, one of his large hands stroking my hair as he holds me closer. The gesture is protective, possessive, and sweet all at once, and I can feel his cock swelling again beneath my ass.
I want to do something about it. I want to reach down and touch him, to kiss him again until all I can feel is the pressure of his lips.
But when I blink again, my eyelids rebel against opening. The comfort of being in Jaro’s arms lets my exhaustion rise to the surface, and it falls over me like a blanket.
My eyelids open and close twice more, and then sleep claims me.
16
Jaro
I sit with my mate in my arms for a long time, half-formed thoughts drifting through my mind as I savor the feeling of her small body pressed against mine. She fits so perfectly, and it has nothing to do with our physical sizes. It has to do with the way she melts against me when we touch, as if her body, mind, and soul know they have found their home.
Home.
It’s a strange word, one I haven’t spoken or even thought of in a long time. After years on Ybretti, I stopped dreaming of ever returning to Vox. My dreams were bent on vengeance, on killing the man who had bought me and forced me to fight for his gain. Beyond that, I had no thoughts or plans, because I honestly didn’t think I would survive the attempt on his life.
But here on this prison planet, as dangerous and wild as it is, I think that perhaps I could build that for myself—a home.
If Sadie is here, I could happily spend the rest of my life in exile on this planet.
Her breathing is slow and even, her exhales tickling my arm as I hold her in my embrace, and my cock throbs almost painfully beneath the soft pressure of her bottom. She snuggles against me in her sleep, and I clench my jaw, my body stiffening. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to leave her, even for an instant, but if I don’t take care of this, I’m certain I’ll go mad.
The need inside me is like an animal raging to get free, to lay claim to the woman in my arms, and it takes every bit of my strength to master it. I don’t know if I can be gentle with her, and I don’t want to frighten her. I think it would kill me to see my mate look at me with the same haunted expression she wore when she told me that someone in her past had hurt her.
I hold out for as long as I can, trying to think of anything but the arousal surging through my veins. But when Sadie’s small hand brushes over my nipple as she shifts in her sleep, I can’t restrain myself anymore. Settling her gently onto the soft grass near the base of the tree, I press a kiss to her hair. Then I stand and slip out of our small shelter, striding several paces away before reaching down to grip my cock.
The feel of my fingers wrapping around my throbbing length are a relief and a kind of torture all at once. I’m so desperate for release that I’ll take anything at this point, but my own touch only reminds me of what I wish I could have. The slide of my fist over my shaft makes me yearn for the tight, wet heat of Sadie’s body, and I grunt softly as I work myself toward completion.
There’s little pleasure in it, just a base, desperate need. But the sooner I finish, the sooner I can return to my mate and hold her in my arms without—
“What are you doing?”
I jerk, my whole body going stiff at the sound of the soft voice behind me. My jaw clenches as my hand goes still. Slanch.
“Jaro.” Shock fills Sadie’s quiet voice. “Are you…?”
Releasing my still-hard shaft, I tug my loincloth back into place and turn to face her. “I thought you were asleep.”
“I was.” She swallows, blinking rapidly. “I woke up and you were gone. I got worried and went to look for you and…” She trails off again. “What were you doing?”
I don’t answer, because I don’t think she’s really asking the question in earnest. Anyone passing by just now could’ve guessed what I was doing. But no one was supposed to see it, least of all my mate.
Before I can come up with the right words to explain myself, Sadie shakes her head. Wrapping her arms around herself, she turns and makes her way back to the shelter, taking my entire heart with her.
My feet start moving of their own volition, and I push aside the branches and enter the sheltered area under the tree just a moment after she does. Only a soft glow of starlight penetrates the thick canopy of leaves and branches, and in the darkness, Sadie’s face looks even more soft and pale than usual. Droplets of water spill from her eyes and trail down her cheeks, and pain stabs through my chest as I catch sight of them.
She looks like she did in the forest when I asked for a demonstration of her acting and she showed me sadness. But in this moment, I am the cause of her sadness, and that thought is nearly enough to make me want to rip my own heart out.
“Sadie,” I say, my voice low. “I was only—”
“—jerking off in the woods,” she finishes for me, her voice strained.
I’ve never heard it phrased that way before, but I know what she means. I nod. “Yes. I was.”
She shakes her head, her lower lip quivering. “Why?”
Akhi. Pressing my lips together in frustration, I drag a hand through my hair. I still haven’t come up with the right words to explain this to her, but I have to tell her something. I can’t bear to see her in pain.
“The mate bond,” I begin, taking a step toward her. “Its effects are strong. Almost overwhelming at times.”
“I know,” she whispers. “I feel it too, Jaro.”
I take another step toward her, closing the last bit of distance between us and reaching up to brush away the wetness on her cheeks with my thumb. “I’m glad you do, my kira. And the things you have already given me are beyond what I ever hoped to experience in this life. But relieving myself like this makes it easier to be around you.”
She gazes up at me, her soft blue eyes glinting in the dim light. “I don’t understand. We share this incredible connection, something I’ve never felt with anyone before, and you have to sneak off into the woods to touch yourself? I want you. I know I told you I was… was broken. That sex isn’t good for me—that it scares me. But it’s different with you. I want to try.”
Her wor
ds wrap around my heart, squeezing until a sweet pain burns through my chest. I cup her chin gently, tilting her head up a little to meet my gaze. “Can you honestly tell me that you’re ready? That you know you want this, with no fear or hesitation?”
There’s a heartbeat of a pause, a slight tensing of her shoulders, and then she exhales a deep breath. “I… don’t know.”
I pull her into my embrace, wrapping my arms around her. My cock deflated slightly from the shock of being discovered, but it swells at the feel of her warm body pressed against mine. I ignore it, though, breathing in her scent as I press my lips to her hair. “And that, my kira, is why I will wait. I would rather use my hand for momentary relief than push you toward something you’re not ready for. I want you with every fiber of my being, with my body and soul, but I will not risk hurting you or frightening you. When you’re ready, I will claim you entirely. Not before then.”
She’s silent for a long moment, and then I feel her relax against me a little. Her arms come up to wrap around me, her delicate fingers trailing over my back. The feel of them brushing over my nodes makes my cock throb insistently, and I bite back a quiet groan.
When she cranes her neck to look up at me, there’s something in her eyes I’ve never seen before. I don’t know quite what it is, but it makes warmth expand in my chest.
“You’re not like any man I’ve ever known, Jaro,” she says quietly. “You’ve been through so many awful things in your life, and yet you’re so good. Honorable, and compassionate, and sweet. In your position, most of the guys I knew back on Earth would be demanding I put out or dropping subtle hints that I should go down on them. But you? You care about me so much that you won’t touch me.”
She laughs quietly, shaking her head.
“I want to, Sadie,” I promise her. “I do. But—”
“I get it.” She holds my gaze, giving me a soft smile. “And it means a lot to me. I’m really grateful you’re willing to give me time. A day ago, I was sure I could never come from my own touch, let alone someone else’s, and that was how many orgasms ago?” Her lips tilt up in a grin, a flash of heat burning in her eyes. “A lot has changed in a short amount of time, and I like that you don’t want to rush me. But…”