by Presley Hall
Cora’s eyes flick downward, widening as she gets a full view of me entirely naked for the first time, my cock thick and hard. But her gaze quickly returns to mine, and I stare at her, confused at first as to why she’s pushed me away.
She came to her senses, you idiot, I realize. She’s considered my words and decided she needs a better mate after all. One who isn’t damaged, practically useless compared to what he used to be.
“I can’t be your Irisa.” Her voice shakes a little as she looks up at me.
She’s still naked, beautifully so, and it’s hard for me to keep my gaze fixed on her face.
I want to take her in, all of her—those small breasts and her petite waist, the slim curve of her hips and those long legs, the soft skin between them and the wet heat that I felt there. Just the memory of her slick arousal against my fingers, the pulsing heat of her, is enough to make my cock twitch, straining with the need to be inside of her.
“What?” I blink, licking my lips. My mouth feels dry suddenly.
I know what she’s going to say, but I can’t imagine why she didn’t say it before. It seems cruel to tell me now, and Cora isn’t cruel. She never has been.
“It’s not you,” she whispers. To my shock, her eyes begin to water. “It’s me. Oh god, that sounds so stupid coming out of my mouth. I hate that phrase. But it really is me.”
“What?” I know I’m repeating myself, but I can’t think of anything else to say. The idea that this woman could be wrong for me in any way seems ludicrous. “Cora, you’re perfect. The bond wouldn’t have chosen you for me otherwise.”
“No. I’m not perfect!”
She almost shouts it, her arms crossing protectively over her stomach as she sniffs back tears, lifting her chin. She won’t cry in front of me. I can see her fighting it back. But I can also feel the emotion rising up inside of her, and I want nothing more than to go to her and comfort her.
She’s my Irisa. I know it.
She’s mine to protect, and I want nothing more than to destroy whatever is hurting her in this moment.
“I don’t understand,” I say gently, not wanting to upset her any more than she already is. “What could possibly be wrong?”
She swallows hard. “Back on Earth, I told you I… I was sick.”
“Yes.” I watch her carefully, trying to understand. “But you’re well now.”
“I am. But I had something called… cancer. It’s a disease that can attack any part of your body, or many parts. And I had… the one I had was ovarian cancer. In order for me to survive it, they had to give me a hysterectomy.”
Her voice starts to shake again, but she plunges onward.
“It means they… they took out everything that made me able to have children.” She smiles at me, but sadness burns in her blue-green eyes. “I understand what it’s like to lose a part of yourself. To not feel whole anymore. I learned to let it go—to feel like maybe having kids didn’t matter so much. Like I could do other things to feel fulfilled. Lots of people on Earth don’t have children, and they’re happy. But now…”
She inhales shakily. “The whole reason for the mate bond—the whole reason Khrelan allowed us to stay on Kalix, is because we can give you children. And I can’t do that. I thought the bond would never pick me, that it would… it would know, somehow. But I guess it didn’t. And I can’t do that to you. I can’t bind you to me knowing that I’ll… that we’ll never be able to have children.”
I stare at her in shock.
This is why she thinks she can’t be my mate?
By all the gods. How could I have been so stupid?
This is the exact same argument I just made. The same reason I spent all those days denying the pull toward her, hoping it would lessen with time so that I could set her free from the bond.
But hearing my own words spoken back to me, I realize in a rush how deshing foolish they are.
I don’t care that she’s had surgery or that she can’t have children. It’s true that the mate bonds have offered Kalix the promise of offspring, but that’s not the only reason we celebrate them.
My heart yearns for Cora. And as she gazes at me, her eyes full of tears as she tells me she’s not perfect, not good enough to be my mate, I finally see how blind I’ve been this entire time.
Perfect. Not perfect. None of it matters.
All that matters is me and her, and the connection that burns between us.
“No, Cora.” My voice is rough and low as I step closer to her. “You’re perfect to me, just as you’ve said I am to you. Fate, the gods, whatever force it is that creates this bond—whether they’ve made a mistake or not, it’s not a mistake to me. I don’t care about children. I want you. And that’s all that matters.”
“I don’t believe you,” she says with a watery smile, looking up at me. “How can you say that? Everyone…”
“Didn’t I tell you? I’m not everyone,” I remind her, skimming my fingers over her cheekbone. It’s delicate beneath my fingers, soft and smooth. “I’ve never been like anyone else. And I don’t give a krax about anything except having you as mine. The bond is real, I know that. And I want you. Everything else be deshed.”
I bend down then, unable to stop myself any longer. I need to taste her again, to feel the warmth of her against me.
My arms wrap around her, and her petite body arches against mine as I kiss her. I want to be gentle with her, and I will be—eventually. But for now, the need is too much. It drives me onward as I kiss her fiercely, my tongue parting her lips, tangling with hers, claiming her mouth as mine.
She is mine. Every part of her.
All I’m waiting for is for her to give in, to let me know for certain that she wants this too.
And then, just as I begin to fear that she still doesn’t believe me, that my idiotic pride has ruined everything for us—I feel it.
Her body softens against mine, her hands clutching at my shoulders. “Druxik…”
She groans my name in a breathy whisper, and that single word severs the last of my control. I pick her up in one smooth motion, my lips still devouring hers as I carry her to the bed.
“We’re not leaving this room for a long time,” I growl as I begin to kiss my way down her body to those perfect breasts again. “I almost lost you. And now I plan to keep you here all night.”
I release her breast, dragging my tongue over her other nipple before sliding my lips down her stomach.
“Please, Druxik,” she begs, her hips squirming with need. “Please… I want you inside me.”
“Not yet.” I kiss her hipbone, sliding down the bed so that I’m lying between her thighs as I push them firmly apart. “I told you I would make you come with my mouth, and I plan to do that. I want to taste you, Cora. I want to find out how sweet you are.”
“Oh… oh god,” she whimpers as I press my lips between her legs, against the soft flesh there. My tongue flicks out, not parting her yet, just sliding along her folds as I taste her arousal for the first time.
My cock lurches at the sweetness of it, the scent and taste of her. It’s nearly painful, the hardness beyond anything I’ve ever felt. I thought I knew desire, but I had no idea how much I could want someone until I bonded with Cora.
I press my tongue against her, dragging it upward in a long, slow lick. Her entire body shudders, her fingers clutching at the blankets.
“Oh god, Druxik,” she whispers, the words ending in a choked moan. Her hips arch up as I begin to lick her in earnest, spreading her apart with my fingers as I slide my tongue over her again and again.
When I find the spot that she responds to the most, I press my lips against her, sucking at her flesh as I swirl my tongue around her. My strokes grow quicker and quicker until her moans are nonstop. They spill from her lips in a series of whimpers and gasps and breathless pants as she grows wetter by the second, her entire body writhing with need.
I can feel her on the edge, on the cusp of release, and I keep going, never letting up
for a second as she arches beneath me… and then suddenly cries out. Her hands fist my hair as she bucks against me with a long moan that seems to come from her very core.
Even then, I don’t stop.
I keep going, carrying her through the tremors of pleasure as she comes hard on my face.
My cock is like iron, throbbing hard as if begging to sink into her wet heat, but I’m not done. The need to bring her pleasure is like a fire inside me, driving me on, and I want to feel it again, to taste the rush of sweetness against my tongue as she climaxes.
When I start to feel the tremors subside, I reach down, sliding two fingers into her as I slow the strokes of my tongue. She clenches around my fingers, and I groan at the thought of feeling her wet heat grip my cock.
“Druxik, please…” She writhes beneath me, and I know what she’s asking for.
But I want to feel her come one more time first. I thrust my fingers in and out of her as I begin to lap at her clit again, first slowly and then faster as I feel her respond.
“Oh god… oh fuck, you’re going to…”
She seems to forget what she was about to say as she arches beneath my hands and mouth. Her thighs tremble as I bring her closer to another climax, the taste and scent of her filling all of my senses.
She’s mine, I think, an almost feral pride rising inside me. Mine to worship forever.
As I feel her reach a second climax, her body shuddering as I lick and suck at her sweet, pulsing flesh, I know I can’t wait any longer. I need her—need to claim her.
I need to consummate the bond.
Crawling up the length of her body, I gaze down at her wide eyes and flushed face.
“You’re so deshing beautiful,” I whisper, brushing my fingers over her cheek as I angle my hips over hers. My cock brushes against her thigh, the tip of it sliding over the damp flesh, and I shiver with need. “You want this, my Irisa? You want me?”
“Yes.” She breathes the word almost like a sigh, reaching up to wind her arms around my neck. “I want you, Druxik… all of you. Please. I’ve wanted you for so long now.”
I drop my head, claiming her mouth as my hips press forward, my cock between her legs. The tip of my shaft slides in easily, her body wet and needy for mine, but she’s delicate, and to call me large is putting it lightly. I don’t want to hurt her, so I force down the raging lust inside myself, taming the desire to thrust forward and impale her with every bit of my aching length.
Instead, I press forward slowly, a little at a time. Pleasure races through me, setting my blood on fire as I feel her squeeze around me with every inch of my shaft that enters her soft, willing body.
And as I finally claim Cora for my own, I know with absolute certainty that I’ll never want anyone else again.
How could I, when she’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of?
15
Cora
For a second, when I first saw Druxik naked, I was almost afraid. He’s a big man, especially in comparison to my petite frame, and he’s equally large… everywhere.
But desire isn’t exactly rational, and I was already desperate for him before he made me climax the first time with his tongue. After that, I forgot everything but my need for him. By the second orgasm, I almost forgot how to think at all.
I’ve never known this kind of pleasure in my entire life. I never even knew it could exist. I definitely never knew I was one of those women who could come more than once in quick succession like this.
But of course Druxik can make me feel this way. With anyone else, it probably wouldn’t feel so damn incredible, but every touch from him makes me burn like I’m on fire.
I wrap my arms around his neck as he presses deeper inside me, his body shuddering and radiating heat. He’s big, stretching me almost more than I can take, but I want it. I want him, so badly. My hips arch up against him so that another inch of his thick cock slides into me, and then another.
When he’s seated fully inside me, he holds himself still for a moment, letting me get used to the way he fills me up. I can feel the tension in him, the effort it takes for him to be gentle. I run my fingers through his hair, then over his horns, tracing the shallow grooves that swirl around them all the way down to the base. He shivers, groaning deeply as my fingers wrap around them.
“Does that feel good?” I look up at him as I ask, nearly lost in the gleaming golden eyes above me.
They’re full of need, lust, desire… and something else too. Something that looks very much like love, a kind of tenderness that I haven’t seen in a long damn time.
“Yes,” he whispers. “So deshing good.”
He strokes my hair, his fingers running over my cheek. His hips grind against mine, sheathing himself even more deeply inside me. I know he wants more, and I do too. My body is clamoring for it.
“My soul has recognized yours.” Despite the fierce need burning in his eyes, his voice is low and soft, his hand gentle on my face. “My Irisa. My Cora.”
And then, as if those words have sealed something between us, he finally begins to move.
The first stroke sends a wave of pleasure washing through me, making my back arch and my hands clench in his hair. I grab on to his shoulders as he begins to thrust harder. It feels so good—better than anything I can remember.
I can feel every inch of him with each stroke, his cock sliding in and out of me in long, deliberate movements, his body tense with leashed power. I can only imagine how it would feel if he fucked me as hard as he could—he’d probably break me. It’s a testament to his self-control, and how much he cares for me, that he holds himself in reserve.
But as our pleasure builds, his and mine, I feel some of that control begin to slip.
It’s somehow even more of a turn-on than before, hearing him grunt as he moves faster, his hips grinding against me as he plunges into me again and again. I can feel him holding back, wanting to be careful with me, and I force my drooping eyelids open, cupping his face in my hands.
“Harder, Druxik,” I plead, arching up against him so that even more of our skin is touching. “I won’t break. Just, please… I want more.”
He groans at that, his robotic hand clenching the blanket as he begins to thrust faster.
“Oh gods, Cora,” he whispers, and I feel him throb inside me. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t,” I gasp, wrapping my arms around his shoulders as I kiss him again. “I’m stronger than I look, I promise. And I want to feel you let go.”
He shudders at that, his hips surging against me as his carefully leashed control falls away. His strokes grow harder and faster, groans spilling from his lips and vibrating against mine as he begins to fuck me in earnest, possessing me as fiercely as I know he’s wanted to all this time.
That thought only fuels my own pleasure, and I feel my climax start to build, unfurling through my veins as waves of sensation wash over me.
“My Irisa,” he whispers, his forehead pressed against mine as he kisses me again and again.
Then he shudders, his body going tense and rigid as his climax hits. His cock seems to thicken inside me, and he lets out a ragged, wild groan as he presses me down into the bed. His hips drive forward one last time as he fills me with his release.
I’m right there with him, my orgasm coming right on the heels of his. It seems to go on forever, wave after wave of sensation. His pleasure heightens mine in an endless feedback loop as we stay locked in an embrace, molded together as tightly as two people can manage.
His large frame slowly softens against mine as our orgasms subside, his breath coming in quick, short pants as he kisses me again. With a reluctant groan, he finally pulls out, rolling to one side and gathering me into his arms.
For a long moment, we’re both quiet. Druxik nuzzles his face into my hair as I try to catch my breath.
I seem to fit perfectly in his arms, my body curled against his, his muscled arm wrapped over my waist. I feel safe, protected, comforted. It seems as if
nothing could ever harm me here in the circle of his arms, as if this is where I’ve always been meant to be.
He brushes a few strands of sweat-dampened hair away from my face as he looks down at me, and I see a hint of concern in his mesmerizing eyes.
“You’re all right? I didn’t… hurt you, did I? I know you said you had surgery, and I don’t know how fragile you are…”
Startled, I blink at him then reach up to squeeze his hand.
“Oh, no,” I reassure him quickly. “I’ve been entirely healed from that for a while now. There’s nothing you could do that would hurt me, as far as my cancer goes. I’m completely well.”
“And it cannot come back?” He looks at me intently, his voice calm, but I can hear the underlying fear there.
I feel a prickle of fear too, but for a different reason. Until now, I never really thought about what it would feel like to be mated to a warrior, to know that Druxik will face danger not only on this mission, but in future missions with the Alpha Force as well. I didn’t know how it would feel to have something so precious you couldn’t bear to lose it.
“I suppose it’s a bit bold to say never.” I shrug lightly. “But the reason the doctor did the complete hysterectomy was because it gave me the best chance of complete recovery, with no recurrence. So I suppose I could get it again, like anyone else, but it’s unlikely. I gave up one thing for another—the possibility of children in exchange for a normal lifespan.”
“It was a good trade.”
With those words, Druxik bends down and presses his lips to mine, his hand cradling the curve of my jaw. He draws me more closely against him as he kisses me, and when he pulls away, I see a fierceness in his expression, something protective and possessive all at once.
“It doesn’t matter,” he tells me roughly, his eyes fixed on mine. The gold has begun to fade a bit, but the flecks still stand out, glowing in the black and brown of his irises. “If your sickness came back, I would find a way to heal you. I would fly you to the ends of the universe itself to find the cure, and I wouldn’t let death take you from me even if it tried.”