Nadine's Champion: A Sci-Fi Alien Romance (Icehome Book 8)

by Dixon, Ruby

  Her eyes widen and she gives me an amused look before doing as I say, and within moments—and with some help from her—she is naked on my furs, her beautiful dark skin gleaming in the low firelight, her curls spread over the furs like a cloud. There are no words for how gorgeous she is, how perfect. Now, I tell my khui. Resonate now so I can keep this glorious female in my furs forever.

  But it is silent. Perhaps I have not shown it just how much I can do to please my female yet.

  "I am going to lick your cunt," I tell her, even as I get down on my belly and push her thighs apart. "I am going to lick your cunt better than anyone else ever could."

  "You're making this a competition too?" she asks, all breathless.

  I don't answer her. I pull one thigh over my shoulder and bury my face in the softness of her skin. She is thicker here, her thighs strong, and I love that. I drag my tongue over the inside of one thigh, licking my way toward the curls that shield her cunt. Once Vordis told me that females liked this, I could not wait to try it on her. It makes sense. She likes my tongue in her mouth—of course she would like it on her cunt. I am eager to show her everything I know. I want her to be shocked with how virile I am.

  I will be the best she's ever had.

  Ever.

  And then she will be mine because she will crave my touch like never before.

  This is the best of plans, I decide, because I get to pleasure her and win her at the same time.

  She moans, her fingernails lightly dragging over my scalp. "You're very sure of yourself."

  "I am," I say, and explore her with one finger, sliding it through her wet folds. I learned her in the cave yesterday, when my fingers were slick with the seasoned oil. "I know I will be the best at this, because I will not stop until I have pleased you."

  Nadine shudders against me, as if my very words bring her closer. She likes to hear how good I am? I will tell her more, then.

  I drag a finger through her wetness and find her slick and slippery even without the oil. My mouth waters, and I am hungry to taste her. "I am going to put my mouth here to give you pleasure," I tell her.

  "I wish you would." Her chuckle is low. "Unless you were planning on just chatting down there."

  "No, I have many things planned," I admit. "But I did not plan my words. I will tell you about it, if you like."

  "You can…or you can use that tongue for other things." She runs her fingers along the tip of my ear, and my cock jerks involuntarily against the furs. Not now, I remind my body. Now is for her.

  I slide my fingers through her folds and find the tiny nub of her clit. It is hidden between the petals of her flesh, but I know the more I tease it, the harder and more prominent it becomes. It is not my only goal, though. I stroke it with a wet finger in tiny circles, and her hips twitch in response, her breath quickening. Good. I explore lower, find the entrance to her core, and push my finger deep inside her. "This is where my cock will go," I say, my voice deep and low with aching need. She feels so good, so wet and hot and tight around my finger that I want to forget all about the proper places to rub and where to put my mouth and just sink into her and let my cock take over. To thrust and thrust until I can move no more.

  But I am already lost to her beauty and clever mind.

  I need her to decide that she wants me.

  I have to persuade her, to show her I am the right mate for her. It is like the karasi males who must preen and display a colorful sail when around females to impress them. I must win her, but with my accomplishments instead. And my first accomplishment? Making her come hard and fast.

  I lower my mouth to the button of flesh. "What is this called?" I ask, letting my breath blow over it before I touch my tongue to her skin.

  "Clit," she breathes.

  I am barely listening. Her flavor has burst across my tongue and sent a surge of need racing through me, hot and fierce and like nothing I have ever felt before. She tastes…primal.

  She tastes like she is mine.

  I growl, pleasure fierce through my body, and reward myself with another hot lick and she arches against me. I give her another flick of my tongue, making sure to tease her in the way that she likes even as I thrust my fingers into the clench of her heat, thrusting like I would a cock.

  "Oh fuck, that's really good," she breathes. Her fingers tighten on my head, and her legs slide further apart. "Oh god, Thrand."

  My control is slipping by the moment. She tastes too good, her body too soft and sweet, her cunt too wet. I won’t last long enough to make this drawn out, I realize. It is going to have to be good, and fast. With a groan, I lick her clit again, and then suck on the hardened bud, even as I rub my finger deep inside her, looking for the spot that Vordis told me all human females have, the place deep inside her where she is slightly textured under my finger and will give her much pleasure.

  I know I’ve found it when she sucks in a breath and her legs draw up. Her cunt clenches around my finger so hard that I hiss, imagining my cock in such a clasp.

  “Oh fuck,” Nadine breathes. Then, she whimpers.

  Yes, this is the response I want. I rub the spot again, my hungry mouth on her clit as I do my best to drive her over the peak of her need. I want her to come hard, so next time, I can take my time with pleasuring her. So next time I can make this last longer.

  She cries out, clenching with release a split second later, and her folds flood with fresh slickness. Her fingers clench at my head and she grinds my mouth against her clit, but I am past caring. I am coming, too, her pleasure making my cock so hard and aching that I cannot control myself.

  As she shatters, I do, too.

  Moments pass. I give her cunt another lick, then I kiss the curls on her mound. “Was I the best?”

  Her breathless, startled laugh tells me nothing. I lift my head and look up at her, waiting.

  “You’re serious?” she asks, her eyes wide.

  “Of course. I want to be the best.” I do not tell her I have come all over the edge of the furs. She will find out soon enough. When she does not answer right away, I shake my head at her. “Clearly you are undecided. I will show you again.”

  “You what?”

  I lower my face to the sweetness between her thighs and start anew. If we only have a short time together, I want to make sure I leave her as wrung out as I will no doubt be by the time I am done.

  I will be the best.

  14

  NADINE

  I stagger back to the women's cave a while later, my legs boneless and my body tingling from my stolen hours with Thrand.

  That was the weirdest, sexiest experience I've ever had.

  The man made me come no less than five times, all easily the best orgasm I'd ever had up until that moment. He licked my pussy and found my G-spot, all the while telling me that he was the best and that he was going to pleasure me better than any other man. It would have been ridiculous to hear coming out of any other man's mouth, but somehow coming from Thrand, it's amusing and endearing. The man loves a damn competition, and it doesn't matter if it's hunting…or pussy eating. He wants to win.

  And damn, I'm glad I got to participate. I'm still throbbing all over from how he made me feel. It was hard to peel myself out of his furs and dress, then head out into the cold night like nothing was different. I feel like everything's different. Like the longer I spend with Thrand, the more I'm gonna get myself in so deep there'll be no getting out.

  I bite back the sigh that rises to my lips.

  The camp is quiet, only a few people lingering around the campfire by the time I pass through and head for the women's cave. Inside, most of the girls are already in bed, but I notice that Bridget is in her furs, and Penny is, too. Tia isn't…and she wasn't at the fire. For a moment I hesitate, wondering if I should chase her down, but I can't be her mom on this planet. She's headstrong like my sister Serena was—is—and I can't stop her if she's determined to flirt or do more.

  At least she can't get pregnant without resonance.r />
  I slide my boots off and slip under my furs, but I'm not tired. I'm wide awake, and I stare at the ceiling, my brain spinning with thoughts. Not of Tia, though. I keep thinking about Thrand, the way his eyes gleamed as he looked up from between my thighs, that smile that curled his mouth, and the smug way he told me he was the best at this. My thighs squeeze together, my pussy still throbbing from the five freaking orgasms I had just a short time ago. I'm pretty sure Thrand came at some point between all those, but he never asked me to reciprocate. He just wanted to pleasure me.

  Like I was the only thing that mattered.

  Well, that and winning.

  I bite back a chuckle. That man is freaking dangerous for my damn heart.

  Penny rolls over in her furs and looks at me. "You awake?" she whispers.

  "For now." I fake a yawn.

  "You disappeared."

  "I went for a walk on the beach," I lie.

  "Uh huh." Her lips quirk with amusement and she lifts her hands out of the blankets to make air quotes. "A 'walk' on the 'beach,' huh?"

  I bat her arm, smiling. "Hush." I should have guessed that Penny would notice I was gone.

  "I know I'm always flushed and full of smiles after a nice walk on the beach," she muses, and I swat her again. "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me. It's just…not all that secret."

  No, I guess it isn't.

  * * *

  I wake up the next morning full of anticipation of the next day’s hunt. Well, I’m mostly anticipating spending my time with Thrand. I’m looking forward to his cocky smiles, his arrogant comments about how much pleasure he gave me, and I’m also looking forward to if he can keep a secret at all.

  Maybe I should dare him that I can keep our secret better than he can.

  But when I go out with my hunting gear, I don’t see Thrand waiting near the main fire. He’s off in the distance, talking with Vordis and R’jaal. One of the clones—a’ani, I remind myself—has a baby in his arms, and I figure it must be Vordis, holding Angie’s little infant. A moment later, Angie comes up, though, and kisses the other man and I realize Thrand is holding the baby, not Vordis.

  For some reason, I don’t like how that makes me feel.

  “Hey,” Bridget says, coming to my side. She’s got her spear in her hands and she’s wearing her hunting leathers. “We going out today? Brooke says she and Taushen will go with us if we’re hunting, because she wants some kind of berry and she promised Taushen won’t run us ragged.” Her smile is easy.

  I think about Thrand, and how I’d looked forward to spending today with him, hunting at his side. Hearing his teasing comments and watching him out of the corner of my eye. Instead, he’s laughing with Angie and Vordis and holding their baby and that just…irritates me. Like he belongs with them more than he does with me.

  I remember what he told me about being “dedicated” to Angie and that he didn’t have feelings for her. Doesn’t look like it from this angle. He looks all too cozy with that pair. Like they could easily set up a threesome and Angie can just hog both a’ani for herself. That’s happened in the past, hasn’t it? Taushen said his parents were a three-mating.

  “You know what?” I say, turning to Bridget. “I’m in. Let’s go.”

  “Great! Do we want to take along anyone else?”

  “Penny?” I ask, turning away from Thrand and the cozy little group on the beach.

  “Her ankle’s still bothering her,” Bridget says with a shake of her head. “I think she’s hanging out on the beach today.”

  Probably with S’bren. Well, good for her. He’s probably less of a knucklehead than Thrand. “Just us, then,” I say. “Ready to go when you are.”

  * * *

  We’re out all day, our traps full as if every animal in the world ran into them overnight. Taushen is pleased by all the work we have to do, and we spend time field-dressing each kill and removing the hides before refilling one of the frozen meat caches scattered throughout the valleys for emergency food.

  It’s a long day and by the time I get back to camp, I’m loaded down with messy, dirty skins, I’m covered in grime and sweat, and ready to wash up and call it a day. I just want to be left alone.

  Unfortunately, I don’t get that chance. We’ve no more set foot inside camp when Thrand heads directly for us, his brows furrowed together. He immediately hauls my overloaded pack off my shoulders, and I’m so tired I don’t even protest. The big alien leans in toward me, hissing, “You went hunting without me?”

  “Yeah, I did,” I say, my voice casual. “Bridget’s tired, too.”

  He turns toward Bridget and takes her pack of skins to be worked as well, and she gives him a grateful smile. Ahead of us, Taushen and Brooke walk together, and he carries all of their pelts. He wouldn’t let her carry anything because she’s pregnant, which I thought was sweet. Normally I’m pretty rah-rah women can do anything but after carrying a crapload of smelly, drippy pelts all afternoon? I’m happy to pass them off to Thrand.

  He moves close to me again, carrying the pelts as if they are nothing. “I thought you would wait for me this morning.”

  “You were busy.”

  “I was not!”

  Bridget’s feet crunch on the sand and I notice she’s jogging ahead of us. I highly doubt she’s gotten a burst of energy—more like she’s trying to give us space to argue in private. Lovely.

  I turn to look at Thrand. “You were hanging out with Vordis and Angie. It looked like you were babysitting for them so I let you do your own thing and I went to do mine.”

  “Baby-sitting?” he echoes, clearly flummoxed, and then a moment later, he laughs. “Are you jealous, Nadine?”

  “Pfft. As if.” My skeptical response sounds way more confident than I am. I’m totally jealous, damn it. Which is horribly stupid. I just wanted him to be more, I don’t know…googly eyed and distracted after last night.

  You know, like I was.

  “You are,” he says, voice smug. “You are jealous of Angie and her baby because they had my smiles and you did not. That is why you abandoned me today.”

  God, he makes it sound so petty. “We’re keeping this low key, remember? That doesn’t mean we need to spend every moment together.”

  “But we can spend many of them together. A great many.”

  I hate that he’s sounding so reasonable and flirty when I want to be mad at him. No, not mad. That’s not the right word. I want it to be easier to walk away from him, I think. I want to be unaffected by all of this, because it’s so much easier than getting my heart involved. It’s so much easier to just be Nadine-the-single than a woman jealous of a mated chick and her damn baby. Jesus. It sounds ridiculous even to my own ears.

  “We’ll see,” is all I say.

  “Does this mean you will not come to me tonight? I have been thinking of your taste all day.” His voice drops to a low, husky whisper that makes my toes curl in my boots. “I want to bury my face between your thighs and lick you so hard that you come while shouting my name.” Thrand thinks for a moment. “Or…whispering it, at least, since we must be quiet.”

  Shit, I want that, too. But I’m feeling dangerously over my head right now. “We’ll see. If I want to be with you tonight, I’ll use the signal word.” Before he can reply, I continue. “Not you. You’re bad at acting. I’ll be the one to use it.”

  “Then I will wait for you,” Thrand murmurs, and steps away, heading toward the supply tents with our bundles of skins. Tomorrow, I get to scrape them clean and start the arduous tanning process, but tonight, I just want to bathe.

  Or at least, that’s what I tell myself. By the time I’ve washed up and lotioned my skin and rubbed a bit into my curls, I’m feeling a lot more refreshed. I dress in fresh leathers and head out for dinner around the fire, joining the others. Vaza is telling a funny story of his first hunt, and there’s a fresh seafood stew on the fire. Liz’s oldest brings me a bowl and I thank her as Vaza continues his tale, gesturing like the true storyteller he is. E
veryone’s enthralled as he talks about hunting a fierce group of starving, ferocious metlak all by himself. How he’s separated from the group, and how he carefully picks them off, one by one, only to fall into one of their ice burrows. The story is a good one, and I find myself leaning forward and listening, fascinated as he tells the tale.

  Well, that and Thrand is beside him, the firelight gleaming on his muscles. He’s shirtless—as usual—and all those red rippling pectorals covered in tattoos just look…enticing. He listens to Vaza’s story as intently as the rest of us, too, a thoughtful expression on his face.

  And weirdly enough, I miss the big guy. I did abandon him today and I’m only punishing myself with that sort of thing. Maybe I’ll ask him to help me work my skins tomorrow if he doesn’t have plans.

  Little Aayla comes by and takes my now-empty bowl and heads back to Flor and I’rec, who are on dish duty at the far end of the campfire.

  “And that,” Vaza says triumphantly, “is how I took down the metlak chief while yet a young stripling myself.”

  Everyone calls out and stomps their feet in the sand, which is how these people show appreciation for a good story instead of clapping. A few of us clap anyhow, because we’re used to it.

  Thrand just looks thoughtful. He rubs his jaw. “I bet I could have done it faster.”

  And he shoots me a hot look out of the corner of his eye, his fingers skating over his lips. I could swear his tongue darts out to lick his thumb.

  Just like that, an inferno pools in my belly. He’s setting me up. It’s totally a challenge thrown in my direction. Did he notice I was eye-fucking him all night? Does it even matter?

  I pretend to be irritated and get to my feet. “Does everything have to be a competition with you?”