Mated on the Moon

by Kate Rudolph

  Nyco handed her over and bid them farewell with a smile. Ruby watched them go and waved as the door closed behind them. “She was so cute, I was about to pinch her cheeks.”

  “Do you want one of your own?” How would their children look? Would they suffer from the denya price? Or would their human half save them from it?

  “One? I want a handful.”

  They ended their dinner and though Nyco could have spent the rest of his time on the station with her and every hour of his life after that, he led her back toward her room. They stopped in front of Ruby’s door and stared at one another for several moments.

  “This is my room,” she said.

  “So it is,” he replied. “Mine is only a little way down the hall.”

  “Is that an invitation?” She grinned.

  “Do you want it to be?” He couldn’t help but smile.

  “Maybe tomorrow. I want to invite you and now, but...” She shook her head. “I really want to, and that’s why I’m going to say good night.”

  “Would you say no to a kiss?” If he couldn’t spend the night in her arms, he at least needed a taste of her.

  “I would say hell yes to a kiss.” Nyco closed the distance between them and at the first taste he knew he’d made a terrible mistake. Need surged through him and it was only the years of control that he’d learned as a mercenary that kept him from scooping her up and pressing her against the wall. One kiss would never be enough, no, he needed everything that she would give him or he just might die from longing.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  RUBY COULDN’T STOP touching her lips. Not after she sealed the door behind her after saying goodnight to Nyco. Not as she stood in the shower, warming herself all the way through from the hot spray of water. Not when she changed into pajamas and slipped under the covers and tried to sleep. And when she woke up from heated dreams that left her aching and empty, her fingers traced her lips as if they’d been resting there all night.

  One kiss, barely a taste, and she was hooked.

  She’d had crushes before. How could a woman get to the ripe old age of twenty-eight without ever suffering through a crush? But the feelings, the want that had suddenly sprung up for the sexy blue alien she’d only just met blew everything that came before out of the water. Crushes? What crushes? She could barely remember any other man’s name now that she’d met her match.

  Ruby groaned and covered her face with her hand, smushing herself back into her mattress and pulling the blanket up over her. Had she gone completely insane? Stark raving mad? She’d known the guy for less than a day, maybe even less than twelve hours. But almost every part of her wanted to tear out of her room, find him, tackle him, and beg to have his babies. There was horny, and then there was this. This went beyond sexual attraction. Sexual attraction she could handle. This was something that reached deep down inside her, gripped her essential being tight and pulled, almost like a cord linking her to Nyco. She wasn’t naive or romantic enough to believe in soulmates, but last night had her thinking something. She just wasn’t going to waste time giving it a name, not when she could be wasting time with Nyco instead.

  She bounded out of bed and quickly got dressed. She took more time putting her hair in order than she had even the day before. Yesterday she’d wanted to make a good impression, today she needed to nail this. Because she planned to lure her alien back to her room as soon as she could, and then she would pounce. If she did it right, he’d never see it coming and then she’d know if he felt as good as he tasted.

  She couldn’t wait.

  When she stepped into the hall, she saw Nyco closing his door and already turning toward her. Her face broke into a smile that bubbled emotion up in her veins. She wanted to bounce and giggle, a heretofore unknown joy effervescent within her. Maybe back on Earth she would have been freaked out by this reaction, but on Gamma Station, everything was just a little removed, a little dream-like. She didn’t need to freak about meeting and falling for the perfect guy in the span of a day.

  Falling for? Okay, maybe she could freak about that, but she’d do it later. Besides, she convinced herself, she hadn’t actually fallen for anything. She liked the guy, she was attracted to him, and she wanted to see where this went. That was the entire point of this endeavor. She could work out the exact emotions she was feeling later.

  “Good morning,” Nyco said, his smile just as broad and open as hers. Whatever she was feeling, she was relieved to see the same thing in those dark eyes of his.

  “Did you sleep well?” she asked. He held out an arm and she automatically reached out to link their limbs together. They took off towards the platform at the end of the hall, their plan to find breakfast and flirt some more.

  Nyco didn’t respond and she could feel tension in his arm. Ruby glanced up and saw him looking down at her, his eyes gone red. She gulped, but didn’t let go or step back. There was something unbearably sexy about that demonic gaze; it held her, trapped her, but she didn’t want to escape.

  “Well?” she prompted, her voice gone low and husky, full of promise of the dark nights they could share together, if only one of them made the first move.

  Nyco’s tongue darted out to lick his lips and arousal coiled tight within Ruby. Why were they getting breakfast when they could go back to bed right now?

  “I could have slept better,” Nyco admitted. “My bed was too cold and lonely.”

  A strangled sound that wanted to be a moan escaped her throat and Ruby’s hand tightened on Nyco’s arm. “I dreamed of you,” she countered. “Beside me,” inside me, “all night.”

  They stared at one another for several long seconds and the rest of the station might as well have disappeared around them. Ruby could read the desire in Nyco’s eyes, a desire absolutely reflected in her own. “I’m not that hungry,” she admitted, shooting a glance back towards their rooms, her intentions clear.

  “No?” Nyco drawled it out, the long syllable dragging against her skin and raising goosebumps along her arms. “Are you sure we don’t need to keep up our strength?”

  “We can do that later.”

  They moved as one, sprinting back down the hall to Ruby’s room, which was slightly closer than Nyco’s. Even though the lock was bio-sensitive and should have disengaged when she placed her palm over it, her hand shook with so much anticipation that it took her a moment to trigger it. Then they were tumbling over the threshold and shutting the door with a slam. Nyco scooped her up and turned, pressing her hard against the door behind him and keeping her off the ground. Ruby automatically wrapped her legs around his waist, her loose skirt riding up and giving her enough leeway to move. She could feel him, the hard press of his flesh against her aching entrance, only the thin fabric of her underwear and his pants separating them. It was too much. She needed him now. Patience was a thing of the past when she had Nyco all hot and hard and ready against her.

  His lips found hers and this kiss was in a different category all together from the gentle thing he’d laid on her the night before. That had been a polite introduction, an inquiry, a test of compatibility. Today he conquered, his tongue swiping against her lips, taking her over, mastering her before she could even think to put up any sort of resistance, and why would she, he had her right where she wanted to be. In his arms, all day, all night, forever.

  God, she was going crazy and way too far gone, but right now she didn’t care, not when all of her senses were consumed by the intoxicating presence of Nyco. Her fingers clung to his shoulders, digging in hard enough to bruise, but she couldn’t let go. It was as if he would turn to dust if she let up her grip, and she couldn’t risk that, not when she finally had him. They might have only met yesterday, but she’d been waiting an eternity for this moment, been waiting her entire life. Now that she had him, she was never letting go.

  His fingers splayed across her stomach and she heard fabric ripping before the hot flesh of his hand pressed up against her naked skin. He’d torn her shirt? She didn’t have it in h
er to care, not when it meant that he was really touching her with no barrier between them, just like she wanted.

  She was dizzy, her head light, and only when spots began to dance in front of her eyes did she realize that she’d been so caught up in taking him that she’d forgotten to breathe. She pulled back with a gasp, her cheeks going bright red as she sucked in enough oxygen to ensure she didn’t pass out and miss the best morning of her life. This was every birthday and Christmas rolled into one, a present she’d never known to ask for.

  Nyco cradled the back of her neck with gentle fingers and rested his forehead against hers. He didn’t laugh at her for getting so involved in the kiss that she forgot her essential bodily functions. No, he stared at her with his wine dark gaze and looked deep into her soul, like he could see her every secret and he didn’t judge, only accepted every part of her and promised with his expression to hold her close.

  “God, I’m lucky.” The words slipped out and her cheeks went even more red. Ruby had never been happier for her light brown skin; the blush would show, but it wouldn’t flame up and consume her like it did Dee or some of their other pale friends.

  Nyco kissed her gently, holding back the torrent of passion that abated for just a moment. “So am I,” he replied. “Never thought it would be like this.”

  Ruby nodded against him in understanding. Never before had she known something so quickly, but she still had no regrets, no reason to hold back, not when he was right here, hot and wanting her. “Bed?” She grinned and glanced behind him to where it was waiting, covers unmade in invitation. It had seemed plenty big when she went to sleep the night before, but now that she was all wrapped around Nyco, she could tell it was going to be a tight fit.

  Good, just like she liked it.

  His eyes lit up at her suggestion, but rather than let her down, he swung around and Ruby let out a surprised yelp, clinging to him tighter as Nyco crossed the room in a few steps and set her down gently on the bed, looming over her with a sinful promise in his eyes. He was temptation personified, everything that she could ever want. “You’re wearing too many clothes,” she told him, desperate to see some of that perfect naked skin of his. Her fingers ached to touch, but she stayed in place; she needed to see him first to fully appreciate the whole experience.

  Nyco placed both of his hands on the bed, trapping her beneath him, his lips only a breath away from hers. “I could say the same about you,” he whispered against her, his lips brushing with every syllable.

  Ruby shivered and reached for the hem of her shirt only to find it torn. She stuck her fingers through the tears, her eyebrows wrinkled in confusion. It looked like a knife had torn through it, but she’d been next to Nyco the entire time and he hadn’t gone for a weapon. Even as taken as she’d been with the kiss, she was pretty sure that she would have noticed that.

  A blue hand covered hers, his fingers tracing the torn hole. “I got a little carried away,” he admitted. “I’m sorry.”

  “How?” She’d understand a tear along the seam, but she didn’t have an easy way to explain what she was looking at, not unless Nyco could somehow grow knives out of his fingers.

  “I’ll never hurt you,” he vowed, and while she’d never thought he would, the sudden declaration sent her heart skittering, and this time it had nothing to do with lust.

  “Um...” She didn’t try and pull away—he was so close and she loved the feel of him—but a small curl of apprehension snuck in and whispered, asking if she’d made the right call in bringing him back to her room.

  He pulled one of his hands back and clenched his fist. Short, sharp claws sprouted out from his knuckles, and what had seemed ludicrous a moment ago was suddenly her reality. Almost as soon as they appeared they were gone. Nyco still loomed over her, but he was frozen in place and Ruby realized that he was waiting for her to make a move, to push him away in fear or to accept him.

  As if that had ever been in question.

  She reached for his hand and ran her fingers over his knuckles, feeling for any evidence of the claws she’d just seen with her own two eyes. There was nothing. “Any other secrets?” She grinned up at him, her thumb idly tracing one of his knuckles.

  Something unreadable flashed in Nyco’s eyes and he flipped his hand over to grip her tight. “Only these claws,” he promised, “and they will never be used to cause you harm.”

  “Good.” Ruby reared back and pulled her shirt over her head, her momentary fear dissolved as lust flooded back in, reminding her why she was sitting on her bed with this magnificent specimen of a man.

  His eyes flashed red as he tore his own top off and before he could remove any more, Ruby placed a hand on his chest to stop him. “I want to look,” she said, splaying her fingers out and running them over the defined ridges of his abs. He was all muscle, the hard hot flesh of a man used to fighting and winning. But under her ministrations, he trembled and held himself as still as a statue while she took in her fill. Her fingers traced over one of the dark, rectangular markings that dotted his chest and up over his collarbone and he shivered. “What are these?” she asked. If his skin had been golden rather than blue, she might have called them leopard spots.

  “My clan markings.” He arched into her touch as she traced between two of them, letting out a small groan. “Do you like them?”

  “I like everything.” But his reaction to her fingers gave her an idea and without asking she leaned forward and placed her lips over a large mark, tracing it with her tongue.

  This time Nyco’s groan reverberated through her and he latched his hands onto her arm, holding her close. He groaned even harder when her lips found his nipple and his cock twitched against her thigh, thick and hard even through the soft layer of his trousers. Ruby reached down and placed her hand over his length, stroking him through the fabric of his pants.

  That set Nyco off and with an abrupt display of dexterity he had her on her back and loomed over her, trapping her hands against the bed. “I have no desire to seek my pleasure without you,” he growled, actually growled, at her and the feral glint in his eyes lit her up and heated her sex until she thought she was ready to burst the moment he put his hands on her.

  “We have all day,” she promised. “I want to feel you.”

  “Every part of me is yours to command,” he promised.

  A PART OF NYCO KNEW he should slow down, should step back from this mating before they took an irrevocable step. Ruby didn’t yet know that she was his denya, and a better man would have told her before lying over her in bed, his cock ready to take her and make her his.

  But that honorable, self-sacrificing sliver of his soul was shrinking by the minute, eviscerated by the heated look in Ruby’s eyes and the dark promise of her embrace. Besides, he told himself, she could still make a decision about him after the bond was sealed. Fate had brought them to one another, but they had to choose to stay.

  Ruby’s face screwed up in confusion, her eyebrows wrinkling. “Is something wrong?” she asked, making Nyco realize that he’d been frozen above her for several long moments.

  “No,” he breathed, leaning down and capturing her lips with his own. “You’re perfect.” They could talk later, she would understand. She felt the pulsing need between them just as much as he did.

  He saw Ruby’s hands curl into fists out of the corner of his eye and she struggled against his hold, testing his strength. He let go, running his hands through her soft, curly hair and luxuriating in the feeling of her flesh against his. Her own hands found his chest and roamed, careful to stay above his waist, following the admonishment he’d given her. This first time, they would find their pleasure together. There was no greater gift or joy in the universe.

  The kisses grew even more heated, wet and desperate and aching with a hunger he’d never before known. There was a hole inside of him, a space that only Ruby’s light, her presence, could fill, and he needed to devour her, needed to taste every part of her that she would give him to sate the hunger that she
roused inside of him.

  His fingers found the clasp of her skirt and it came undone, falling open along the bed, leaving her clothed in only a thin pair of panties. Nyco pulled himself away to gaze at her, to learn her every curve and secret. His claws ached in his knuckles, but they wouldn’t shoot out, he had more control than that. He would never put his mate at risk, not because of his passion for her.

  It was quick work to get out of his own pants, letting them fall beside the bed in an artless heap. His shirt had ended up somewhere, but he’d gladly go naked for the rest of the day so long as he was in Ruby’s presence. By the time he turned back to her, she was completely naked, her underwear thrown somewhere else around the room. Nyco spread his hands across her waist, the soft skin an invitation for his fingers to roam. He trailed them up lightly until he cupped her small breasts, teasing her nipples with flicks and rolls and watching her squirm as he experimented. She liked to be caressed, he discovered, and didn’t care for anything rough. He would keep that in mind, his thoughts already spinning with ways to torture her with soft touches until she was mindless with pleasure and desperate for release.

  He moved lower down her body, loving the way she arched under him and unconsciously leaned into his touch, so responsive. She barely needed to speak to tell him what she wanted, what she needed from him. Already they were developing a language spoken only by their bodies, only for the two of them.

  His fingers found the wet heat of her sex and circled her entrance, teasing the soft flesh until Ruby was a writhing mess beneath him. She gripped his forearms tight and he knew he’d see darkened bruises later, but he would gladly bear her marks, bear the evidence that he’d brought her so much pleasure. She was his to sate, and he needed to leave her boneless and satisfied.

  He slowly dipped into her, teasing her and opening her beneath him. She pressed against him, urging him to go faster, to fully claim her. And though he couldn’t understand exactly what she said, it sent Nyco into a frenzy of need. He eased himself against her entrance, the fat head of his cock only a breath away from being engulfed by her tight heat.