Penny's Protector: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Icehome Book 10)

by Ruby Dixon

  He knows that my P’nee is upset? He thinks I should make her happy tonight? I suspect he means mating, but he cannot know that we have promised to wait until we have our wed-hing ceremony. I am happy to kiss and hold her, but somehow I do not think it will reach the sadness in her eyes. It is something deeper.

  We must talk, then. Perhaps she is having second thoughts about me. Perhaps she wants to wait for resonance after all. The idea fills my gut with a sick churning, but I will abide by P’nee’s wishes. I only want what will make her happy, even if what she wants is…not me. I fight back the urge to grab her and run into the hills again, to disappear with her to a distant cave and never return. Let the others play with this stone we bring to them. Let them wonder what happened to S’bren and P’nee. I will need no one other than my female.

  But my brother would be sad, and he has lost so much in his life already. M’tok will not want to lose a brother as well. I hesitate, torn between the choice of my mate and my brother.

  “You okay?” P’nee asks. She hops off the top of the long, heavy stone and dusts the snow off her leathers. “You have a weird look on your face.”

  I give her a wide-eyed stare. Slowly, I nod. I force myself to. As much as I want to take P’nee away, she is safest with the camp on the beach. I think of the metlaks that attacked us, and how we were only saved because Bek happened to stumble onto the same spot. If he had not arrived, I could have been hurt or killed, and that would have left P’nee alone and vulnerable.

  No. We must return…even if this is the end for us. I have always said I would protect her, even if it must be from myself. I tuck her furs closer about her chin and look down into her beautiful, perfect, strange hyoo-man face. “Nothing is wrong. Come. I will make a fire so you can warm up.”

  The interior of the cave is spacious, but dark. Bek has a fire going in one of the back areas and I can smell the smoke of it, but it provides no light to the front section. I crouch by the pit and make a fire while P’nee shivers and hovers nearby. When we have a roaring flame, she takes off her first layer of furs and drapes them to dry off, frowning at our surroundings. With a silent question in her eyes, she gestures at the privacy screen across the back of the cave, where it branches off into a second, further chamber.

  I shake my head. “Bek and his mate need privacy this night.”

  “Oh.” She looks a bit surprised, and leans in to whisper. “Is everything okay with them?”

  “It is just time alone,” I say, touching her cheek. “They will not bother us.”

  P’nee leans into my touch, a soft smile on her face. “I guess that means we get alone time, too. Unless they’ll be coming out in a bit—”

  “They will not,” I reassure her, thinking of Bek’s words. He hinted to me that he is giving us time alone, as well. “This cave is ours alone, tonight.” I take her hands in mine and pull her closer to me. “And tomorrow we return to the beach.”

  She looks startled to hear that. “Tomorrow? So soon?” Her expression falls.

  “Tomorrow,” I agree. “And before then, I wish to know what brings the sadness to your eyes, P’nee. Tell me what I have done wrong so I can fix it.”

  Her lip trembles as she gazes up at me. “You haven’t done anything, S’bren. I swear you haven’t. It’s just me being anxious.”

  “I do not understand. What is it that makes you so unhappy?” I take her hand in mine and bring her knuckles to my lips, kissing them gently. “Do you not wish to wed-hing?”

  “I…” She bites her lip. “I worry we won’t even get the chance, you know?” She looks up at me with a brave smile. “I wanted us to resonate.” P’nee’s smile crumples and tears streak down her face. “That’s all I ever wanted.”

  Her tears destroy me. I cup her sweet face, brushing them away with my thumbs. “Resonance does not matter. We have chosen each other, my mate. We will choose each other in front of all of your people and they will see that we are meant to be together.”

  “I know. I know that. I do.” She struggles to smile. “But I’ve been so happy with you. I worry it’s too good to be true. That the moment we step foot in that village, I’m going to resonate to someone else. Or that you’ll start resonating, but it won’t be for me. I’ll lose you, because I always lose out when it comes to love.”

  “No,” I say stubbornly. “You will not lose me. I cannot be lost—”

  “But resonance—”

  “Shhh,” I tell her, half afraid of putting such a thing into the air. “P’nee, my heart, I choose you. I fear what the future will hold, too, but we cannot hide from our path.”

  “Can’t we?” She gives me a tearful laugh.

  I lean down and kiss her sad, sad smile. “No. I have thought about it many times, believe me, but in the end it would make us unhappy. Our people are so few—both yours and mine—that we are all needed. Plus, the healer is there. I have loved seeing the land with you. I have loved nothing more.” I give her soft mouth another kiss, simply because I cannot resist her. “But if Bek had not arrived, you would be making the journey back alone, and that terrifies me. The healer is on the beach, and one hunter alone cannot protect you from this entire world. I will not risk your life by keeping us away from the others.”

  She clings to me, her hands twining in my mane as if she can pull me so close I will never be able to get away. “What do we do, then?”

  “We do not live in fear.” I press my forehead to hers. “You have my heart, P’nee. And I will keep yours for as long as I may have it, no matter how long or short that time may be. We will have our wed-hing on the beach in front of the tribe, and I will be your mate, your S’bren. And we live each day with joy.”

  “I don’t want to lose you now that I’ve gone and fallen in love with you, you big goober,” she whispers. “I’m so scared. I love you so much.”

  “I love you, my P’nee. Whatever happens, nothing will change that. We will face the tribe tomorrow. Maybe something will happen. Maybe nothing. But we will face it together.”

  She nods, then buries her face against my tunic, weeping. I hold her close, because I cannot do anything else but hold her. We both know what might happen, but we cannot run from it forever.

  “No,” she says after a moment. She lifts her head, sniffing, then swipes at her cheeks. “No, if we’re not going to be afraid of tomorrow, I’m not going to cry. This isn’t a time for tears.”

  “It is not?” I echo, curious. “Because those look like tears—”

  “We’re not going to be afraid of tomorrow,” P’nee tells me with determination. She looks up and her gaze meets mine. “And I want my wedding night tonight.”

  She wants to mate. Tonight, before we go back to the encampment on the beach and anything changes for us. My entire body surges with longing, but I fight it back. I force myself to react calmly. I have wanted her for what feels like forever, but if this is a decision she makes without thought, I must be the one to rationalize. “You know I want to touch you, my P’nee, but I need to ask if you are certain.”

  The look in her eyes is pure determination. “I’ve never been more certain of anything. I want us together. Tonight. I don’t need a ceremony. All I need is you. And then we’ll face tomorrow together.” She reaches up and toys with a lock of my mane. “As a couple.”

  I nod slowly, then straighten. “We should prepare the cave, then. Make a bed of furs while I heat tea and stoke the fire. Once we have eaten, then we will mate.” I say it so calmly, as if my cock is not throbbing with eagerness. “But you must have food first.”

  “I’m not hungry.” Her eyes gleam. “At least, not for trail rations.”

  My mouth goes dry. She licks her lips and I think of all the places she puts her tongue when she wants to tease me, and my impossibly hard cock tightens even more. “You will need your strength,” I manage to choke out.

  She just shakes her head at me. “Always so protective. Fine. A quick dinner and then we get on to the fun stuff.”

  I pu
t a second privacy screen over the entrance to the cave, and then work on the fire and heat water for tea. P’nee hums as she unrolls furs and makes a pile to sleep upon, her mood improved. She wants this, I realize, and it makes her happy.

  It makes me beyond happy. P’nee in my arms. P’nee in my bed. My cock in P’nee—

  I choke back a groan and force myself to think of other things, or I will spill in my leathers. I focus on the fire, on preparing a special mix of herbs for P’nee’s tea to make a new flavor for her. I hand her the pouch of trail rations and refuse to look over at her. If I do, I will surely lose my control.

  I am so very close to losing it already.

  P’nee giggles as she takes a bite out of her food.

  I give her a quick look—and just as quickly look away again. “What?”

  “You look so shy and awkward,” she tells me. “Like that day you did on the beach when you saved me. Don’t tell me you’re getting bashful on me now? After everything we’ve been through together?” She reaches out and touches my hand. “We were naked around each other all the time in the fruit caves.”

  Oh, I remember. The image of naked, wet P’nee is burned into my brain, and my cock presses harder against the front of my loincloth. “I have not forgotten. And I am not awkward.”

  “Then why won’t you look at me?”

  I stare at the cave wall, my jaw clenching with determination. “Because if I do, I am going to forget all about pleasuring you and rut on you instead.”

  She sucks in a breath.

  I have said too much. She wants a calm, collected mate who knows how to pleasure her in the furs, not some fumbling fool. I close my eyes, hating my last spoken words. M’tok would call me a mud-brain.

  “I am…” she begins, then sighs. “So turned on right now.”

  I look over at her, full of yearning and need. My beautiful P’nee watches me with shining eyes, her lips parted. “You are?”

  “God, yeah.” She closes the pouch of food and tosses it aside, then peels off a layer of furs. “Time to get naked.”

  I glance over at the privacy screen a short distance away that separates our chamber from Bek and his mate. They have been quiet, and I do not know how much they can hear us—or if they can at all. “We should be quieter,” I caution my female, gesturing at the screen.

  P’nee just gives me a wicked look. “I’ll do my best, but no promises.” And she pulls off the first layer of her tunic.

  I jump to my feet and shed my first layer, as well. For the next few moments, the cave is silent, the only sound that of us shedding our layers of furs and leathers that keep us warm as we travel. It is laces and straps, leathers and furs and bindings and it feels as if it takes forever to find skin underneath all the layers, but then I am naked of everything except my boots, my tail flicking back and forth. My cock is already erect and straining, the head wet. It makes reaching for my boots difficult, because my cock is in the way no matter which way I twist. Never have I been so hard.

  “Hurry up with those boots,” P’nee whispers, sliding underneath the blankets. She is naked herself, and gives me an enticing look before patting the furs.

  I need no further encouragement. I yank my boots off, snapping straps in my haste, and then jump into the furs with her. She smothers a giggle of amusement behind her hand, then pulls the blankets over my body as I lie down. I am all eagerness as I pull her against me, claiming her mouth.

  P’nee moans and puts her arms around my neck, holding me close as we kiss. Her tongue slicks against mine, and I run my hands all over her soft skin, loving the feel of her. We have kissed many, many times since she agreed to be mine, but each time feels new and each time feels special. I love the feel of her smooth tongue, the taste of her, and I work on conquering her mouth with licks and caresses, until she’s making small noises of pleasure in her throat as I plunder her with my tongue. I run my hands over her bottom, teasing my fingers over the cleft of it before gliding them between her thighs. She’s wet and hot, her cunt slick with need.

  With a groan, I roll her beneath me, lifting my mouth from hers as I breathe hard. I want to shove into her, but I know my P’nee needs more to come, and I aim to give it to her. So I kiss down her skin, moving to her beautiful, abundant teats. I love them, admiring the rounded swells tipped by pink nipples. I love how big they are, how they jiggle when she moves, how the nipples grow taut the more aroused she gets. I love the panting noises she makes when I put my mouth on one and suck on the tip. I love the whimpers she makes as I tease it with my tongue, and then move to the other teat so I can do the same.

  I coax and tease her teats until she is squirming underneath me, full of need. As I taste one nipple, I slide a hand between her thighs, grazing over her folds until she opens up for me.

  “S’bren,” she pants, so loudly it echoes in the cave.

  “Shhh,” I remind her, lifting my head long enough to make eye contact. I lick her nipple again and find the little nub she calls a “clit” with my fingers. “The others will hear you.”

  When I rub her clit, though, she gives a little cry, the sound high pitched and piercing, and carrying through the cave. I kiss her mouth again to swallow her cries, because her cunt is so wet and soft that I cannot pull my fingers from her. No force in this world could stop me from stroking those soft, honeyed folds. So I kiss her and kiss her, sinking a finger deep inside her and rubbing even as my thumb glides over her clit. I swallow her cries, relishing in the way her fingernails dig into my skin and the way her body trembles as she nears her climax.

  The way she looks, frantic with need, makes me harder than ever. I can feel the head of my cock wet with pre-cum, beads of liquid gliding down the shaft as I fight the urge not to release. To hold out until she squeezes tight around my thrusting finger and comes for me.

  Her hands are frantic as she clings to me, her hips arching against my touch. “S’bren,” she pants again. “Please. Please. I don’t want to come yet. I want you inside me when I come.”

  I groan, pressing my forehead to hers. Just hearing those words makes me ache fiercely, and it takes several moments before I can control myself enough to speak. “You…do not want to come first?”

  She shakes her head, her mouth frantic as she kisses me again. “Come inside me. It’ll feel so good,” she tells me, urgent. “Please.”

  As if I need convincing. Sheathing myself deep inside her is all I have ever wanted. With an agonized groan, I kiss her hard, moving my hand and sliding my hips between her waiting thighs.

  P’nee rubs up against me, her cunt gliding along my cock in silent encouragement. “I need you,” she tells me as she arches her back.

  My hands are shaking, I want this so badly. Even so, I know I am much bigger than my fragile female. All of me is oversized compared to her, and I must be careful that I do not harm her. I am gentle as I push her thighs further apart and rest the head of my cock against the entrance to her core. My entire being aches with the need to be inside her, so much that my head is buzzing.

  Calm yourself, S’bren. P’nee deserves for this to be special. Perfect. I am aware this is not the wed-hing night she envisioned. We are not in a cozy hut on the beach that I made just for her. We are in a cold, drafty cave with a snowstorm beginning outside, and another couple a short distance away, listening in as I touch my mate. This is not the perfect environment, so I must make it perfect for her through my actions.

  She deserves the best. I must give her the best. I cannot fumble my way through and hope to give her pleasure. P’nee must have no regrets that she has given up her dreams to be with me.

  I kiss her again, leaning over her smaller form, so much that I fear I will crush her underneath me. But P’nee does not seem to care. She clings to me, one ankle going to rest against the base of my tail, as if silently commanding me to push forward. Her cunt is wet and inviting, and I suck in a breath, so full of need I cannot think straight. “Tell me if I am too much. If I hurt you.”

 
“It’s not going to hurt,” she whispers. “It’s going to feel amazing.” P’nee strokes my cheek. “I love you so much.”

  Those soft words break my control. With a grunt, I thrust deep into her, sinking home.

  She sucks in a breath, her body quivering. I am lost, though. Lost to the sensation of the hot, wet grip of her walls holding my cock. Of the shivers I feel that rack through her body. Of the way her heat clasps me tight, her body holding mine.

  Nothing has ever felt so good.

  I groan, pressing my forehead to hers as I struggle for control. I am shaking once more, struggling to keep myself together, to keep from doing exactly as I said earlier and rutting on her like a wild beast. I want her too much. I can feel everything like this, it seems. I can feel her shivering, feel her pulse thrumming through her body as I cover her…

  I go still as she gasps again.

  “S’bren.” She clutches my arm, panting. “Do you feel that?”

  I do.

  All this time, I thought I was trembling. That my body was shaking with need. But now that I am seated deep inside her, my cock to the hilt inside her sweet cunt, I realize that the strange shivering has not stopped—and not all of it is coming from P’nee.

  She puts a hand to my chest, breathless. Her gaze meets mine, her mouth open. “Do you feel that?” She says again. “Oh my god. Do you feel that?”

  I kiss her again, hard, and as I do, I feel the trembling, the vibration…the song…that rises between us.

  Resonance.

  The thing we both wished for so very much has finally come.

  No one can ever take my P’nee from me. She is mine, forever. The feeling is overpowering. I cannot stop myself and I thrust deeper.

  P’nee laughs, the sound so full of joy and happiness that it only makes me harder. I grin, even as I cover her mouth and pound into her again. She moans behind my hand, then takes one of my fingers into her mouth and sucks on it as I thrust into her again.

  Then we are both out of control. I pound into her, over and over again, and she makes little noises of pleasure around my fingers, sucking on them and arching her hips even as we mate. Our bodies slam together, and I am positive, positive that we are not quiet in the least. That Bek and his mate hear every sound, every slap of skin…and I do not care.