by Ruby Dixon
I giggle. “Do you think I do not know what mating is?”
His chuckle feels warm against my skin. “It’s not that. I mean, when I met you, you were naked. But sometimes I think you know about something and you surprise me. So just humor a guy on this, all right? I don’t want to make you run away screaming if I try to touch you.”
“Am I screaming with pleasure?” I ask, trailing a finger across his hard chest. “And am I running slow enough so you can catch me?”
“Woman, you are entirely too much of a tease. Be serious for a moment.”
Be serious? He is already far too serious for the both of us. Besides, I like making him smile. “If you are asking where kits come from, I know already.” He relaxes against me, and so I cannot help but add, “They come from the magic basket.”
“Uh…what?”
“Yes,” I say firmly, doing my best not to laugh. I avoid looking him in the eye as I trail my fingers up and down his abdomen. Such a nice, firm, flat abdomen. “When a khui sings to another khui, it tells the mated pair that it is time to make a magic basket. They work for many days and nights to make the basket as perfectly woven as they can, and when they are done, they put the basket out in the snow. They wait for the suns to fill the basket up with light.”
“Gods help me,” he whispers.
I smother my giggles, continuing in a choked voice. “Then, when the basket is full, the male sa-khui takes out his cock and fills the basket with his seed—”
“What?”
A giggle-snort escapes me, because I cannot hold it back any longer.
“Oh, I see how it is.” There’s laughter in Mardok’s tone, and he grabs the hand I have on his chest and tugs it over my head, pinning me down to the furs. He leans in close, an amused smile on his face. “You little tease.”
I flutter my lashes at him. “You do not think I believe in a magic basket?”
“I think you are a minx.” He leans in closer again. “So I guess it was a dumb question, huh?”
I chuckle, wiggling under him. “There is much I do not know, but I know how to do that. I just have not practiced it myself.”
“So I’m your first?” He looks proud, and I am suddenly glad I waited.
I nod. “Am I your first, too?”
A look of chagrin crosses his face. “Not…exactly. I wish you were, though.” He presses a light kiss to my mouth. “Are you disappointed?”
I shake my head. “Nothing about you disappoints me. I could not have asked for anything more in a mate.”
He kisses me lightly again, and I flick my tongue against his lips as he does, encouraging him to kiss me deeper. He does, and for the next while, we are lost in a tangle of tongues, our mouths mating over and over again. Heat pools in my body, focused between my thighs, and I raise my hips to rub up against him.
The feel of him is driving me wild, and I roll him onto his back, kissing him hard before I break free. “I want to touch you everywhere. Can I?”
“Of course.”
I sit back on my haunches, my tail flicking with excitement. His tail grabs mine and wraps around it, and I gasp. It feels as if he’s touched me in my most intimate of spots with that small gesture. Tails have taken on quite an appeal suddenly.
“Did I distract you?” he asks, putting his hands behind his head. His body is long and lean like this, and I cannot help but admire the breadth of his shoulders and the finely muscled arms…and the way his cock juts, thrusting upright from his body.
I will play with it soon enough, I decide. “Is there anything you do not want me to do?”
He shakes his head. “I’m yours, Farli.”
I like the sound of that. I lean forward and decide I will start at the top. I skim my fingers along the bristles of his shaven scalp. With his mane cut away, it makes his horns look even more prominent than usual, and I decide I like it. It is different, and I like all the changes he has that make him unique. I rub his head for a moment, and he closes his eyes with pleasure. It makes me smile, but I move on, because there is so much to explore.
I let my fingers glide up the length of his horns, moving over the shiny stuff. “What is this that covers them?”
“Metal. I guess you guys don’t have it here.”
How very strange. “Does it hurt to have your horns covered?”
“Not at all. It’s just a trend, kind of like piercings.”
“These?” I touch his earlobe, where a small ring has been pushed through the flesh. “It is just because it is pretty?”
“Most are. Some are…useful. Like the one on my cock.”
I blink. Did I not look close enough? I let my gaze travel down his long, lean body and focus on his cock. Sure enough, there is a metal bump on the head of his cock. “What is that for?”
He rubs a hand over his face. “Uh, so, when I was younger, I was a bit of a ladies’ man, or so I thought. I got a piercing there because it’s more pleasurable for the woman.”
I am suddenly fascinated. I poke the piercing there, and it feels warm to the touch, the metal heated by his skin. “It is? How?”
“Well, the female mesakkah has a knot just inside her, located on the inside wall. So if you rub against it, it feels good. If the piercing hits it, it feels really good.”
“Better than normal?”
“Way better.”
“Can we take it out and try it both ways?”
“No, once it’s in, it’s in.”
So I only get him with the better-than-normal? I guess I can handle that. “And you had it pierced because it gives females more pleasure?” I beam at him. “You are so thoughtful, Mardok. Hurting yourself so you can please your partner more.”
He rubs a hand over his face again and looks embarrassed. “I’m not a saint, Farli. I did it because I liked hearing the girls scream my name.”
I frown, because hearing him say it like that makes me jealous. “Have a lot of females screamed your name? Do they use your full name, or just Mardok?”
“This is seriously awkward, Farli.” He strokes my arm. “I haven’t been with a woman in well over three years. Haven’t wanted anyone to touch me. You’re the first person I’ve wanted in forever. Does that help?”
“A little.” I cannot help but pout a little, imagining him in the arms of other females. Did I say I did not mind? Clearly I was not thinking straight. I have a lump in my throat as a new, horrible thought occurs to me. “When you leave me behind, will you be seeking out other females?”
Mardok blanches. “I don’t even like to think about that. I don’t want anyone else but you. Not sure I could let another woman touch me.”
That makes me feel better. “You should be mine and mine alone.”
A smile curves his mouth again. “I agree.”
I touch the piercing again, and when he gives a little shiver, I decide to skip exploring the rest of his body with my fingers and move straight to the interesting parts. I stroke his spur, fascinated by the hard stem of it. Females do not have one, and though I have seen my male tribesmates naked many times, I have never touched one here. It is hard, but a little bendy, a bit like the hard ridge along the top of my ear. He sucks in a breath when I caress it, and so I practice different touches to see which ones he likes the most. Rubbing my finger along the underside makes him practically arch off the furs. Oooh. I do it again, and his cock twitches in response. Beads of fluid appear on the head, and one begins to slide away. I catch it with a fingertip and raise it to my mouth.
“Oh kef, you just have no boundaries, do you?” His eyes are slitted with arousal, heavy-lidded and sensual.
I lick my finger. The taste is salty but pleasurable enough. “I want to taste you. Is this bad? Should I stop?”
“Don’t stop. Hell no. I just…” He closes his eyes when I twirl my finger over the head of his cock again, making little shiny trails on his skin. “Where I come from, there are so many people and so many diseases that no one does much touching anymore.”
“It sounds miserabl
e.” And he wants me to go with him?
“I never really thought about it until now, watching you.”
“So how do you mate if you do not touch or taste each other?”
“Body gloves,” he says, and I notice he’s panting, just a little. “You put a thin plasfilm over your private parts and any other exposed skin before you touch one another. It prevents from sharing diseases.”
That does not sound like fun. “But I like the feel of your bare skin against mine.”
“I do, too.” He reaches for me, caressing my thigh. “I keffing love it when you touch me.”
His words fill me with a warm, glowing pleasure. I want to do more. I decide to use my full hand, gripping the hard length of his cock and giving it a little squeeze. He’s thick and rigid here, the textured, plated ridging less prominent along the bottom of his shaft than the top. He groans again when I give him another squeeze, and arches his hips. I love his responses, and I want to do more. “Can I put my mouth on you?”
Mardok sucks in a breath. “Absolutely.”
Pleased, I bend over him and give the head of his cock a test-lick.
“Ahh!”
I jerk upright, startled. His eyes are squeezed shut, his face drawn tight. “Mardok! Did that hurt?”
“Gods, Farli. I…I’m not sure I can handle that.” He groans again and drags one of the furs over his face. “Kef, and here I thought I was experienced. The moment you put your mouth on me, I’m ready to blow.”
“But I like that,” I tell him, happy that I’m able to drive him wild with just a lick. I lean over once more, eager. “Can I do it again?”
His answer is muffled by the furs, but I think it is a yes.
Amused, I give him another lick and feel his entire body shudder. Such small touches, and they eat away at his control. It is fascinating to me. I love being the one to bring him this much pleasure. Another droplet beads up on his cock, and I lick it away, then swirl my tongue over the head. It is a bit like licking an icicle, which we used to do as kits. I grip him in my hand to hold the length of him steady, and then drag my tongue over him once more. The ridges on my tongue catch on the little pierced bead near the tip, and he makes another choked sound. “I love touching you, Mardok,” I breathe, and it is almost like I am telling his cock and not him, because my head is down between his thighs. “I like seeing how you respond. It makes me wet between my thighs.”
Mardok’s breath hisses out again. “Dirty talking, too? Gods, Farli, you are my every dream come to life.”
I like that. It makes me want to do more. So I lick him again, imagining that icicle when I was a kit, and let my tongue drag up and down his length.
He snarls, and then, in a flash, he is upright in the furs. His arms go around my torso, and then he drags me down into the bedding and I am underneath him. His handsome face is beaded with sweat, and he is panting hard. “No more,” he rasps. “I can’t take it. I’ll spill all over your pretty face.”
“I would not mind,” I tell him boldly. “You can do that.”
“Farli, Farli, Farli,” he says, and buries his face against my neck. “You filthy, gorgeous thing. I don’t want to use you like that. Not yet.”
I wrap my arms around him and shrug. “It is not using if we both enjoy it. I liked licking you, very much. I did not even get to lick you everywhere yet.”
“You’ve licked me enough,” he says, and presses a kiss to the side of my neck. It sends shivers through my body and an ache through my nipples. Then he lifts his head and grins at me. “Now it’s my turn.”
10
MARDOK
I like her this way—underneath me and naked. I grin down at her, and she smiles brightly back up at me, just as eager for her turn as I was for mine. I love that there’s not a hint of shyness in Farli. She’ll put her mouth on my cock and prance around nude just because it makes her happy. She doesn’t care what anyone else thinks. There’s a freedom to her that makes me envious, even as it shocks me, just a little. When did I—the jaded, world-weary ex-soldier—become the prude? Yet I can’t be as free as Farli. It’s hard to wrap my brain around it.
But I want to please her like she’s pleased me. Except…I want to make her come. I need to make her come. I can’t, because I’ll blow my load all over that gorgeous dark blue skin of hers in an instant if she puts her mouth on me again, and I need to see to her needs first. I can’t wait to give her the same treatment, to put my tongue on her and watch her come undone.
It’s clear she can’t wait, either. She’s squirming underneath me, utterly impatient, and my heart skips a beat at how beautiful and eager she is.
How did someone like me ever deserve such a gift? I’m nobody—a washed-out failure of a soldier who scrapes by getting my hands greasy on a long-haul freighter. It’s a job that few want because no one likes being away from family and friends for so long. I never cared, and after my father’s death, I felt even more remote than ever.
But that was before I met Farli. I imagine someone like her waiting at home for me…and I can’t imagine how anyone could do this job. I’d be insane to leave her side for a moment.
Then stay, the little voice whispers in my ear. Stay with her forever.
I’d be left behind. The thought fills me with unholy terror and a gnawing dread. The thought of watching the Lady fly away without me on it makes me want to vomit.
“I am here,” Farli says, breaking through my dark thoughts. Her fingers caress my cheek. “You are safe with me.”
I press my face into her hand, kissing it. “Sorry. I just…went to a bad place. Got distracted.”
“It is all right.” Her voice is gentle and soothing like rain, and her touch makes me feel instantly better. “Do you need a moment to yourself? I can leave.”
Leave? While I have her under me, naked and aroused? Kef no. My brain can just get in gear, because this is an opportunity not to be wasted. I kiss her palm again, and as I hold her wrist, I begin to kiss down her arm. I’ll let this be my answer.
Her eyes are bright with a mixture of amusement and desire.
“Lie back,” I tell her, and she obeys immediately. Her thick hair spills out from behind the curl of her horns, and it makes her look wild and untamed. I love that about her, how free she is. And it makes me sad even as it arouses me, because taking her back to the Homeworld? They’d tame the wildness out of her. Make her like everyone else.
I hate the thought of that.
Before my thoughts can grow dark again, I kiss the soft inside of her elbow and then continue forward. I must stay focused, and right now, my mission is to make Farli come.
She’s quiet as I kiss my way toward her shoulder, and then I’m near her delectable neck again. I brush a stray lock of hair aside and lean in to kiss her soft throat. She makes a noise then, a little sigh of pleasure. All right, the arm isn’t doing it for her, I admit ruefully to myself. Perhaps my bed skills aren’t as great as I think they are. Or maybe Farli just isn’t into pretending to appease my ego. I prefer that—I want to know when I’m pleasing her and when I’m not. I press another kiss to her neck and let my tongue drag along her collarbones. That earns me an inhaled breath and a squirm. Excellent.
I continue to kiss her neck, moving up to her ear because I know she likes that, too. My hand moves to her breast, and I cup the dainty, firm globe of it. The humans had large, prominent endowments up front, but I like Farli’s compact, lean form. She’s just big enough for a handful, and that’s perfect. My thumb grazes over her hard nipple, and she gasps, arching into my hand.
“Tell me if I do something you don’t like,” I murmur as I nip her ear.
“I like this very much,” she tells me, starting to sound breathless and excited once more.
I grin to myself and flick my tongue over her ear again, mimicking the motion with my fingers over her nipple. Within a few more licks and caresses, she’s panting against me, squirming against my hand and clinging to my back. Her responsiveness is making my cock
ache, and I need to pace myself or I’m going to come despite my best efforts to pleasure her first.
I slide my hand down her flat belly and begin to kiss lower on her neck, lapping at her collarbone once more before dragging my tongue lower. It feels decadent to press my mouth to her skin without protective plasfilm to cover our bodies, but after being in bed with Farli, I’m going to be ruined for all other women anyhow. When she doesn’t shy away, I kiss over to one breast and then let my lips brush over her nipple.
Her gasp is loud enough to echo against the stone walls of her house.
“Oh, I like that very much,” she tells me, and her hand moves toward one of my horns. She gives it a tug when I lift my head, indicating I should continue.
Heh. As if I plan on letting up anytime soon. I lower my head again and go to work on making her wild with need, using my tongue and sometimes teeth to tease, nip, and caress that hard little nipple of hers. I don’t want her other breast to feel ignored, so I move over to it to give it the same treatment. All the while, Farli’s little pants of excitement are making me painfully aware of how hard my cock is and how her leg is pressed up against it.
I need to make her come, and soon. Even as I let my mouth make love to her breasts, I slide my hand lower and then cup her sex, testing her reaction.
“Oooh,” she breathes, and arches against my hand. “Are you going to touch my cunt?”
“I’m going to do more than just touch it,” I tell her, and give her breast another lick. “Patience, woman.”
“I am very patient,” she tells me, and then wiggles against my hand, disproving that notion.
I can’t help but grin, even as I press another kiss to her nipple. I stroke my fingers over the delicate folds of her sex…and find her hot and wet and ready.
Just like that, my resolve goes out the door. I groan and press my head against her breast, needing a moment. It would be nothing to part her thighs and sink deep inside her. Bury myself in her sweetness and claim her just like she wants to be claimed.
As I gather my composure, I realize that her khui is singing so loud that her chest is vibrating with the force of it. And I remember Niri’s words. She ovulates when you walk into the room.