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

by Ruby Dixon

  P’nee is my resonance mate. Not just my chosen mate, but my khui’s chosen mate as well. It is more than we ever hoped for. I claim my mate fiercely, and when her humming body clenches tight around my cock, I splinter. Three more hard, rough pumps and then I spill deep inside her, holding her close as I resonate over her and give her my seed. She cries out, her cunt spasming with my final thrusts, and it squeezes me tight over and over again, until I know she has come, too.

  Then I collapse atop her, spent.

  Moments pass.

  It feels strange to realize that the world goes on after resonance. That I can lie atop my mate, utterly spent, and still feel the humming of resonance in my chest. My cock still twitches deep inside her, and I can feel her panting—and mine—as we both struggle to regain our breath.

  I ease my weight off of her and gaze down at my flushed, lovely mate. Her mane is stuck to her brow and I gently brush it free. “Do you think we did that?”

  She reaches up and traces my jaw with her fingertips. “Have sex? Oh, yeah, we totally did that. Really loudly, too.”

  “I mean…this.” I gesture at my still-singing chest. “Did we force resonance?”

  “Don’t know. Don’t care.” P’nee puts her arms around my neck, pulling me down against her again for another kiss. “All I know is that I’m happy. So stinking happy.”

  I worry I am going to smother her with my greater size, so I ease off of her, hating that this means that my cock must leave her body. We should probably clean up, but the moment I move onto my side, she is on me again with small touches and pressed skin, and I think, perhaps, that cleaning up can wait. “Are you happy?” I ask, a bit uncertain. “There will be a kit from our joining now.”

  She gives me an odd look. “Why would I be unhappy? Resonance with you is all I ever wanted.”

  “But a kit will change things.” I do not wish for her to feel trapped at my side now that everything has changed on us again. “You said L’z told you—”

  P’nee makes a sound in her throat, interrupting me. “I can’t believe after all this you’re worried about whether or not I can hunt? S’bren, we belong to each other now. Forever. No one can tear us apart.” Her smile is brilliant, her face beaming happiness at me. “I don’t mind giving up my independence for a little while for what we have.”

  Giving it up? I would never suggest such a thing. “Perhaps after our kit is born we can hunt together. I can carry it while you hunt. We can still have adventures. We just have to think of our kit as we do.”

  “You’re right. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.” A smile curls her mouth. “You’re amazing. You know that?” She reaches up and pushes back the short piece of mane that has fallen on my brow once more. “S’bren, in this moment, I am the happiest I have ever been. Ever. Our khuis chose each other, but even before that, you chose me.” She shakes her head. “You don’t know what that means to me.”

  I do.

  I know what it means to her, because it means the same to me. It means that no other male can look upon my fine, beautiful mate and resonate to her. She is mine and mine alone. We will raise a family together, her and I, and our days will be filled with joy and our nights with kisses and caresses. Tall Horn clan will grow again, and P’nee will be part of it.

  I will never be alone again, because I will have my adventurous, fearless, clever mate at my side.

  I caress her face, my khui’s song growing with every moment that passes. Even now, I can feel my cock rising to attention once more, as if it misses the warmth of her body. “Resonance,” I murmur, still fascinated that it has chosen us.

  “Isn’t this what you wanted when you kidnapped me?” She leans in close, her lips whispering over mine in the barest of caresses.

  It is. But as the days passed, it felt more and more as if it would not be mine. As if P’nee was something I was foolish to even hope for. “You are everything I wanted.”

  She smiles and kisses me again. “We haven’t stopped resonating,” she tells me, pressing her hand against my heart. “Hope tomorrow’s a snow day because I don’t think we’re getting much sleep tonight.”

  “Are you tired?” I ask her, even as I tug on one rounded thigh, pulling it over my hip.

  “Nope.”

  “Nor I.” I lean in and kiss her. “Shall I show you that Tall Horn are known for their stamina?”

  She giggles. “I thought they were known for their tall horns?”

  “That, too.”

  “I don’t know” she muses as she kisses me again. “Goes All Night clan has a nice ring to it.”

  25

  PENNY

  We spend two more days in the cramped quarters of the hunter cave. The weather rages outside, as if it’s aware of just how close we are to the beach and wants to trap us for just a little bit longer. It should theoretically be frustrating to be so close and yet so far from home.

  I personally love every single minute of it.

  Resonance kicks ass. It is without a doubt the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me. It’s not just the sex, though just thinking about the sex makes me a little flushed. It’s more than physical need for me, though. It’s that realization that the universe had it right. That S’bren and I are destined for each other. That he’s my happy ever after and I’m his, and no one can take an ounce of that away from us. With every purr of our resonating cooties, I feel just a little more connected to my guy, and everything feels a bit more special.

  I shouldn’t be surprised that it’s S’bren for me. Looking back, of course it is. Hasn’t he always been completely fixated on me? Followed me around like a puppy? And me, I never felt anything for anyone until the day he rescued me from the ocean. It was like something in me woke up that day.

  I like to think it was my cootie. That maybe she’s just a slow learner and took some time to figure out that yeah, this is the right choice for us. Because of course it is. S’bren’s perfect for me. He’s kind and caring, a big burly bear of a guy that protects me when I need it, but gives me the space to do my own thing. He supports my impulsive choices and doesn’t try to tamp them down. He knows I’m a romantic and wants to give me a wedding. He knows I like to hunt. He knows I like surprises.

  He sees me. All of me. And he doesn’t want to change any of it. I’m perfect to him just the way I am.

  And he’s perfect for me, too. He likes to joke that he’s not smart, but he’s wrong. He’s kind and caring and is plenty smart, especially when it comes to the things that matter here, like survival. He’s able to assess a situation quickly and can think on his feet when it’s dangerous. He’s smart, all right. He’s just mistaking his social awkwardness for stupidity.

  I personally find his social awkwardness endearing. Just thinking about my big guy, standing on the beach, mutely holding a fish out to me makes me want to melt.

  Resonance has definitely kicked up my romantic side a notch—make that a whole series of notches. I mean, I thought I liked sex before, but now I’m obsessed. I can’t keep my hands off of S’bren and every part of him appeals to me. His thumbs are thick, strong works of art. His tail is lithe and fascinating. His hair is incredibly glorious. His smile melts me.

  His balls are huge.

  I might have a thing for balls. Every girl’s got a kink, right? Mine just happen to be big, alien balls that frame an utterly perfect, utterly enormous dick. Every time we touch, I want to rub his balls on my face, which I acknowledge is super weird of me, but it’s a mental image that gets me crazy, crazy hot.

  And his spur.

  Sigh.

  Goddamn, but that spur is amazing. The girls at camp that have a sa-khui mate all talk about it. Well, the bolder ones do. Brooke won’t shut up about it, though Harlow is a lot more demure. Lauren turns bright red the moment it’s mentioned and Hannah gets the giggles. I figured it was a nice addition to sex, but that nothing could top the feeling of that big, thick, ridged cock stretching me.

  Then, I got my first taste of
spur.

  Everyone talks about how great it is, but no one ever said that it was just like having a thumb gliding over your clit and teasing it while your mate pounds into you. Or maybe they did say that, and it just didn’t register until I experienced it myself. It’s intense, though. So intense. And it makes every orgasm go from “this is nice and a climax will eventually happen” to “Oh dear god, I’m coming so hard and so quick that my limbs can’t function”. Last night, S’bren wrung an orgasm out of me before penetration, and then three more after. I’d never seen a man look so smug.

  I’d never felt so good, either. He had every right to be smug.

  He’s still a little smug this morning, a grin on his face as he hands me a cup of my morning “surprise” tea. I blush as I take it from him, because I’m still a little sore, my muscles aching in all the right ways. The cave smells like sex and I’m pretty sure Bek and Elly have heard me shout things mid-sex that would shock even Liz but I don’t even care.

  I resonated to the perfect man. I’m in love with him. He makes me come like a freaking champion. Life has never, ever been so good.

  S’bren sits down next to me in the furs, toying with a lock of my tangled hair. “The snow is letting up,” he says casually. “We should travel this day if Bek and El’ee are up to it.”

  “I guess we should,” I agree, though I’m a little sad. I know we’re less than a day from “home” but being in this cave, experiencing hardcore resonance? These have been the best few days of my life. Like any woman having the most amazing honeymoon ever, I want this to keep going.

  But then I hear the sound of rustling and movement in the back cave, and it reminds me that we’re not alone. That this isn’t private. This cave isn’t even all that comfortable. It’s drafty and made worse by the blizzard outside. Back home, the beach cove is insulated from the weather over the mountains, and S’bren’s made a wonderful little hut. Our honeymoon doesn’t have to stop just because we’re leaving this cave.

  Our honeymoon can go on for weeks. Months. Forever. It’s all in how we handle it. I no longer feel overwhelming dread about returning to the camp or about resonance. Everything’s perfect.

  “Are you ready?” S’bren asks me.

  “As long as we’re together, I’m ready for anything.” I wiggle my eyebrows over my cup. “It’ll be nice to have an evening alone together. It means we can be nice and loud.”

  He gives me an incredulous look and leans in. “You mean…this was you being quiet?”

  I just smile.

  Bek and Elly have cut through “our” section of the cave several times in the last few days, but as we pack up, Elly and I sit inside the cave next to the dying fire while the men dig out the space-trunk from the piled-up snow. I tuck things back into S’bren’s shoulder pack and organize the supplies that are left while talking a mile a minute. Elly hugs her knees and listens, a shy smile on her face. She’s not the most chatty sort, but I’m happy to carry the conversation for both of us.

  The best ice-breaker is, of course, gossip, and I share with her bits and pieces about everyone in our messy, multi-clan, multi-alien-species ragtag group. I start with those of us that woke up from stasis to find ourselves here, and then move on to the islanders. I tell her all about the personality quirks and who’s volatile in temper (I’rec) to who’s a closet romantic (R’jaal) to who talks in her sleep (Steph). They’re all tidbits designed to help her feel like she knows everyone she’s about to meet, at least on some level, so she doesn’t feel completely out of her depth. I want her to be able to meet my tribe and not be completely overwhelmed, because I want her to like them.

  In a way, they’re my new family. Of course I want her to like them. I want everyone to realize how great we are. That even if we’re a ragtag group of survivors, we can still get things done. That we’re a tribe just like the Croatoan one. So I chatter about everything, and when I’m busy talking about how utterly cute Devi and N’dek are together, Bek ducks his head into the cave. “It is time to go.” His gaze lands on Elly, practically caressing. “Are you ready?”

  She nods and jumps to her feet.

  I grab S’bren’s pack, dump a basket of snow atop the fire to put it out, and then head out after them. S’bren is fussing with the harness, his attention utterly focused on it. I set down the bag and bound through the snow, then grab him around the waist from behind. “Surprise!” I call out.

  He doesn’t even twitch. “You are going to have to move quieter than that if you mean to surprise me, my mate. You are louder than a kaari in the jungle.” He winks at me as if I’m supposed to understand what that comparison is, then kneels down to test the knots on the harness straps spread on the ground.

  I’m not discouraged. If anything, I’m feeling frisky and full of joy. As he bends over, I put my arms around his neck and hop onto his back. If it was any other man, I’d worry about crushing him—but this is S’bren. He’s got the thickest neck I’ve ever seen and he’s carried me like a feather before. It’s damn sexy and makes me all hot. “You gonna carry me back to the tribe?”

  He gets to his feet, his hands holding my legs around his waist, hupping me into the air as I cling to him. “If you wish. But you have to wear the harness.”

  I giggle at that, because I can just imagine how irritated Bek will be if I’m the one strapped in next to him, pulling the rock. “Maybe not. Maybe we just save all the riding for in private.” I trace a finger down the side of his neck. “Give you something to look forward to for tonight, hmm?”

  S’bren groans and takes a few steps forward, then moves to a tall rock so I can get down easily. The moment I stand on the rock, he pulls me against him, a hot look in his eyes. “You are determined to make me walk into camp with a hard cock, are you not?”

  “Oh, does it go down?” I tease, fluttering my lashes as I slide a hand over one brawny shoulder. “I hadn’t noticed. It’s always hard when I see you.”

  “That is because you make me hard. Everything you do makes me hard. Even those loud noises you make when you sleep.”

  I gasp, laughing. “Snoring? I don’t snore!”

  “You do…but then I pull you against me and you stop.”

  I choke back more laughter, because he looks so pleased at that. Like his touch quiets my sleep and he’s some sort of magical sleep fairy or something. “Bullshit.”

  “No shit,” he says. “And no balls…but you can hold mine if it helps you sleep.”

  “I said bullshit,” I correct him, but I’m cracking up. He really is the cutest. I’m so lucky. “And I promise to hold your balls all night tonight when we’re alone in our hut. Deal?”

  He pulls me closer and tugs me in for a quick kiss. “Now I really will be walking with a stiff cock,” he murmurs, then reluctantly lets me go. “El’ee is going to ride atop the star-stone,” he tells me. “Join her and we will get moving.”

  S’bren caresses my cheek one last time before tugging my fur cloak tighter around me. Such a protector. I’m humming, my cootie vibrating like a happy kitten in my chest. It really, really wants me to go back into that cave with him, but Bek and Elly need to get to the Icehome camp and we probably do, too.

  It’s for the best, I tell myself, even if I want to stomp my feet like a child and protest. I’m all worked up over resonance, and I don’t think we’ve officially finished with each other yet. I can’t think about anything but sex. Anything but S’bren and his big, gorgeous body, the way he tastes when I put my tongue on him, the way he smiles, the way he holds me as he shudders above me—

  I don’t realize I’m standing in front of S’bren still until he groans and takes me by the arms. “P’nee,” he murmurs, voice low as Bek and Elly approach. “If you keep looking at me like that, you will delay our travel for another day, because I will not be able to resist you.”

  “Is that such a terrible thing?” I ask him, breathless. I love the thought of S’bren utterly losing control and dragging me back into the cave so we can have wild,
filthy sex. Again.

  He pauses, his eyes hot, and I know he’s considering my offer. After all, nothing says we can’t send Bek and Elly onward and they can come and retrieve the space-trunk at a later date…

  “Well?” Bek asks from behind us. There’s a hint of impatience in his voice. “Are we leaving this day?”

  I bite my lip and press my hands to the front of S’bren’s warm tunic. His khui is humming so loud it sounds like a swarm of bees are flying overhead. “He sounds a little frustrated with us.”

  “I do not care about him,” S’bren admits. “I think only of you.” His fingers skate over my jaw, gliding over my lips as if he’s thinking about tasting them.

  Oh god, I really want to stay. I glance over at the others, and Bek and Elly wait nearby. Bek’s all impatience, his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. At his side, Elly waits, her eyes full of uncertainty.

  If we stay here, Elly won’t have me to ease her way into the tribe. She has Bek, of course, but it’s not the same as having a girlfriend—a human girlfriend to boot—to ease your way into an unfamiliar tribe. Elly needs me there to stand at her side and run interference.

  Plus, if there’s a person in that space-trunk and I stay behind to bone S’bren, I’m going to feel really, really guilty.

  I sigh. Heavily. Look up at S’bren. “We can finish this later tonight, I guess.”

  “Tonight,” he echoes, his voice raspy with hunger. But he nods, and kisses the top of my head, and we pull apart.

  The hardest thing I’ve ever done is walking the ten feet over to the stupid trunk and climbing atop it. Furs have been left atop it so Elly and I can huddle underneath and share warmth while the men pull us, but I’d rather sit bare-assed in the snow if it meant S’bren would touch me right now…