Freeing Luka: The Clecanian Series Book 2

by Victoria Aveline

  Verakko stayed behind, explaining he needed to assist the Queen in working out logistics. Luka guided her to the door without another word. What message about his marks?

  Once they were on their way to the gate, she asked, “What did the Queen say about your marks?”

  Letting out an annoyed huff, he grumbled, “She reminded me that I need to paint my hands whenever we leave our homes. She wants to keep the marks hidden as long as possible.” Flexing a hand in front of him, he frowned. “I’d intended to paint them before I left home today, but…it felt wrong not to be able to look at them.”

  Her heart pitter-pattered. Like a wedding ring he doesn’t want to take off.

  Alice kept his hand clasped in hers, grinning as they walked back to the gate. The proverbial gears were turning in Luka’s head. Brow furrowed and face taut, he looked like he was trying to think through the universe’s most complex issues. Alice’s worry about the outing to come was buried beneath an overwhelming feeling of joy and affection.

  This wasn’t right; she couldn’t be in this good a mood while Luka looked so stressed. She stopped walking. It took Luka a moment to realize, only turning to peer at her when their connected hands prevented him from walking forward.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, standing in front of him.

  “I’m…” he took a deep breath, searching her face, “concerned.”

  Rising to her toes, she reached up and snaked her arms around his neck. “I appreciate your support, anyway.” A look of surprise lit his features, and his hands flew to grip her hips before he jerked them back.

  Aww, he’s still keeping his word. Her chest felt too full at the moment. Finally, she could relax and let the wall she’d been keeping between them crumble. She beamed at him, pulling his face down to hers. Against his lips, she breathed, “No more red zones.”

  It took him a heartbeat to catch up, but when he did, he threw his arms around her back, crushing his mouth to hers. She felt her feet leave the ground as he lifted her, a strong purr bursting from his chest to tickle her nipples through the thin material of her shirt.

  The familiar heat of arousal pooled in her core, and she broke away. “Let’s get out of here,” she said in an unfamiliar, throaty voice.

  A seductive grin spread over his face, and he gave her another slow, hot kiss before setting her on her feet. Mind gone hazy, she wobbled.

  Oh, I am sooo ready for this.

  Chapter 21

  Once in the cruiser, Luka willed his mind to focus. His mate had suddenly become quite affectionate with him, and he wasn’t entirely sure why. Leaning forward, he programmed the vehicle to take them to his home. Even with her underwear in place, the scent of her arousal, brought on by their kiss, was easy to identify under her short dress.

  The males at the gate had taken notice, and he didn’t want the plethora of guards stationed around the Temple to do the same. The solitary stairway to his floor would be a much safer bet.

  He sat back, running his hand over her leg as he went. What had he done so right?

  “Alice,” he said tentatively.

  She smiled up at him. “Hmm?”

  “You seem…” He didn’t want to say the wrong thing and ruin her mood, but he had to know what had made her so happy. He had to know, so he could be sure to do it over and over again in the future. “… pleased with me,” he finished.

  “I’m very pleased with you.” She beamed.

  “Why?”

  “Because you didn’t try to stop me from going to the cabin to help the trapped human women.”

  He tensed, reminded of how much he disliked the idea of her around those two filthy cowards. Heads would roll if they tried anything to hurt his mate. He’d never thought of himself as a violent male, but even the mention of Helas had raised his hackles, his Traxian side roaring for blood.

  Without warning, Alice shifted in her seat, throwing her leg over his own and straddling him. Cock shooting hard in an instant, he gripped her hips, pulling her down against him.

  Cradling his face in her hands, she drew his gaze. “Hey. It’s gonna be fine. You’re coming with me, right? I trust you.”

  A torrent of emotions rolled through him. Pride puffed his chest. She trusts me. And she sees me. Alice had not only noticed his discontent again but was attempting to soothe him. Her sweet, caring personality was what he’d always hoped for in a female but had believed he’d never have.

  His mate didn’t need gifts or flattery. If support and freedom were what made her smile and glow like this, he’d do whatever it took to quell his possessive instincts.

  Her hands moved to wrap around his back, and she kissed him briefly on the cheek before lowering her head to his shoulder, nuzzling his neck.

  A satisfying purr rolled through him, making her hips jerk unexpectedly. He pulled her face back, wondering what had happened, before recalling the delicious difference in her anatomy. The scent of her arousal intensified, and he stifled a groan.

  “Do you like my purring, love?”

  A pale pink crept over her cheeks again, and she scooted further down his lap. No longer pressed against the soft warm entrance of his female, his shaft pulsed angrily. The urge to drag her forward, trapping her against him, welled within him. Not yet, he told himself.

  He ran his fingers over her bare legs, then burrowed them under the hem of her dress, gripping the sides of her ass. She let out a small moan.

  One of his hands moved to snake in her hair. He tilted her head down, forcing her to meet his gaze so he could see her reactions. She let out a small gasp, her wide blue eyes meeting his.

  “Do you want to feel my purr while I’m buried deep inside you?”

  As he’d expected, her pupils dilated, breaths increasing. He grinned.

  Their stare was broken when the cruiser door slowly slid open. He’d been so preoccupied with his mate that he hadn’t even realized they’d stopped moving.

  “Up. Now,” he demanded.

  The corner of her mouth lifted, but she didn’t move.

  She was playing with him, pushing him to take control as if she understood that’s what he needed. How could she be this perfect? “Alright, you asked for it.”

  “Asked for wh—”

  Cutting off her question, he simultaneously sat forward and lifted her over his shoulder. Before crouching through the cruiser door, he peered out. Seeing no sign of movement, he bolted from the vehicle to the stairway entrance.

  Alice began giggling and tapped on his back. “Luka, let me down. What if someone’s on the stairs?”

  After requesting the correct floor, the steps began to move. He bounded up the swirling stairs two at a time. “Then they’ll be treated to a spectacular view.”

  She chuckled and wiggled on his shoulder. “Come on, put me down.”

  A firm smack on her ass, followed by a small gasp, rang through the empty stairwell. “Almost there.”

  Finally spotting his door, he dashed through the cluttered house to his bedroom. She squealed when he bent, tilting her off his shoulder and depositing her on his bed. In the time it took her to glance around the room, he’d wrenched his shirt off and pressed a knee onto the bed between her legs.

  Her eyes wandered over his bare chest, gaze becoming hungry. When her stare lowered to his straining erection, he slowly began to unfasten his pants, letting them fall to the floor.

  A swipe of her tongue over her lips pushed him over the edge. He pounced, covering her with his body. Forcing her legs open with his knees, he settled himself between her legs.

  He pressed his lips to hers, slanting his head to deepen the kiss the way she liked. Nails scraping down his back made him groan into her mouth. If she kept that up, he wouldn’t last long at all.

  Her small nails sank in deeper when he began to pull away, so he snatched her wrists, raising her arms above her. In one hand, he held her slim hands together in a viselike grip; with the other, he lifted her dress, pulling it up to her secured wrists.

>   She writhed under him, arching her body up to lick and kiss his chest.

  “Fuck, that feels glorious, but you have to cut it out.” He moaned, already losing control of his hips as they ground against the soft fabric covering her sex.

  She peered up at him, her eyes heavy-lidded and her cheeks flushed. She grinned, a devious glint in her eyes. “Or what?”

  A vicious growl tore from him at her challenge. Jumping off her, he flipped her onto her stomach. Before she could rise, he straddled her, groaning as his dick settled onto her perfect ass still covered by her underwear. That needed to change.

  Like a flash, he removed her dress, twisted her wrists behind her back and used the red fabric to tightly bind her hands.

  “That’s what,” he rasped while running his hands over her supple flesh. She bucked under him, making small sounds of frustration.

  He kneaded her cheeks firmly before standing. If what he’d read about a human’s ability to have sex more than once a day was true, then he’d make sure to take her in this position at least once before the night was over.

  Slipping his hands under her hips, he found the edge of her thick underwear and tore it in half. Then he slid the ruined fabric down her legs, kissing and nipping at the backs of her shapely thighs as he went. Standing back, he admired her naked form, immobile and ready for him. Her male.

  Not able to use her hands, she attempted to rise to her knees instead, giving him a devastating view in the process. He scrubbed a hand over his face and tried to calm the fire running through his veins. She was so beautiful with her delicate tanned flesh and her long, slim frame. He had to remember not to be too rough—he didn’t know what her body could take.

  Moving toward her again, he knelt between her parted thighs, wrapped an arm around her waist, and lifted her upright so her back was pressed against his front. Sweeping her hair to the side, he ran his mouth over her neck and shoulder. He brought one hand around her front and palmed her breast, rolling her puckered nipple between his fingers.

  She let out a strangled cry, throwing her head back onto his shoulder.

  He traced his other hand down her stomach and lower until it lingered just above her clit.

  She huffed in frustration, trying to angle her hips to reach his fingers. “Luka…” she pleaded.

  His chuckle against her ear turned into a hiss when her hands reached behind her back and circled his aching shaft. She squeezed and stroked as much of him as she could.

  Tilting her head against his shoulder, she pressed searing kisses to his neck and whispered, “Come on, Luka. Don’t you want to bury this deep inside me?”

  He groaned. She’d used his own words against him. Was she trying to drive him out of his mind? Yes. He smiled. His Alice was a wild one.

  He was one more seductive whisper away from doing as she asked but somehow found the strength to pull away. She wobbled, no longer supported by his body, then turned, still on her knees, to face him.

  Wrapping his fingers around her nape, he let his thumb circle the front of her throat. With his other arm twisting behind her backside, he lifted her up against his hips. Then positioning himself so he sat upright at the head of the bed, he lowered her to straddle him once again.

  They moaned together as his length slid against her wet folds. She tried to rise a fraction, to sink onto his shaft, but he pulled her back down to rest against him with a firm tug on her bound hands.

  “Luka, please,” she breathed, rocking her sex and spreading her divine juices along his length.

  “Not yet.” Hand still at her throat, he angled her so she was forced to peer into his eyes. “Say you’re my mate. Say you’re mine.”

  She searched his face, a smile spreading over her own. Would she lose her playful battle? Submit to him? His heartbeat sped up, and he tried to keep the ache he felt from his eyes. A part of him needed to hear her say this. In this moment he’d let his Traxian side free, and it needed the confirmation. Say it. Say you’re mine.

  She leaned in and gave him a soft kiss. “I’m your mate. I’m yours.”

  The emotion that welled in his chest was followed, as he’d planned, by a deep purr.

  “Oh fu—” Her words cut out as her hips jerked and her eyes rolled back.

  Her core, pressed tightly against his shaft, grew wetter. The image of his mate trembling before him in ecstasy made his purring intensify. She moaned, and her lower body began to shake, almost looking electrified.

  Leaning forward, he took one of her nipples in his mouth, rolling it between his teeth.

  “Luka, I’m…I’m gonna…”

  He growled, lifting her hips and plunging into her. “I want to feel you, love.”

  She screamed and bit into his shoulder, sagging on his chest. Her silky core convulsed around his cock as her orgasm tore through her.

  High-pitched sighs and moans accompanied every exhalation as she came down from her high. Sweet music to his ears. Untying her dress, he threw it to the side, then massaged her arms and shoulders.

  She rubbed her hands over his chest and stomach, then lifted her face. “That was amazing,” she breathed.

  He rocked his hips against her. “We’re not done yet.”

  ***

  What a man. Alice licked her lips in anticipation.

  Luka had just given her a literal out-of-this-world orgasm, and now she needed to take care of him too. He hadn’t come yet. Or at least she didn’t think he had.

  With her free hands, she gripped his muscular shoulders and took charge, grinding against his gorgeous cock.

  Urging her hips forward and back with his hands, he leaned forward to lick and suck her nipples with his lightly vibrating mouth. Already, she could feel a coil in her sex tightening again.

  When he’d forced her to stay pressed firmly to his vibrating shaft, it’d felt like her clit had touched a live wire. The sensation was almost too powerful. Then, as he’d slammed into her, his large cock brushing against every nerve ending, she’d come with an intensity she’d never experienced.

  Luka began to rock her hips more forcefully, muttering curses while kissing his way up to her mouth. As he devoured her moans with his kiss, he wrapped one arm around her waist and then shifted her backward until her head hit the soft mattress. Sitting on his haunches, he slowly slipped in and out of her, holding her hips high off the bed so they remained level with his.

  The speed of his thrusts increased, and the knot in her core tightened even more. Sweat dripped down his taut abs as he pounded into her. Gorgeous male, her male.

  Alice closed her eyes, her breaths becoming frantic. She wanted to grind against him, but he held her in place too tightly. She felt her body arching off the bed. So close.

  When Luka’s thumb came down to circle her clit in just the way she liked, she broke apart, screaming his name. His thrusts became rough and erratic, prolonging her orgasm, until he finally roared to the ceiling, slamming into her a few more times before stilling.

  His body was still shuddering when he laid over her, supporting himself on his elbows. Slipping his hands under her head, he leaned down and ran his mouth over hers. The slow, sensual grinding of his hips and his languorous kiss felt like a claim. And she couldn’t get enough.

  Chapter 22

  Alice woke the next morning feeling sore in all the right places. Luka had taken her in different positions all through the night. Sometimes he’d initiate, but more often, she had. Each time it’d taken a little convincing to prove she was good to go. Apparently Clecanian women could only have full penetrative sex once per day.

  Sucks for them, she thought as she stretched like a cat.

  Noise from the other room told her where Luka was. Need to find something to wear, she thought, glancing at her torn underwear. She snooped around his room, a spark of joy lighting inside her whenever she spotted a personal item within the bare space. Finding a soft black shirt in his closet that had retained his forest scent, she donned it. Then she used the small restroom
connected to his bedroom and ventured out to find her man.

  She spotted him looking at a stack of papers on a newly revealed dining table. He wore soft, loose-fitting pants and no shirt. She sighed. Would she ever get tired of admiring his body?

  When he spotted her, he grinned, and she felt the skin on her chest flush. Hurtling over the table and landing gracefully in front of her, he wrapped her in a hug. Large palms roamed over her back then curved around her ass before he angled her chin up and gave her a long kiss.

  Swaying in his arms, she pointed to the table. “What’s all this about?”

  “Ah!” he said brightly and crossed to his kitchen. “I made us breakfast and realized there was no place to sit and eat.”

  Luka carried a few plates of food over to the table, then glanced up at her expectantly, his dark hair mussed. Alice didn’t think she could remove the smile from her face if she wanted to.

  She joined him and studied the food. Some of the items on her plate were familiar. Foods she’d discovered from fiddling with the food synthesizer in her house. Others were new but smelled delicious. A red, flaky bread caught her eye, and she decided to start there.

  Luka proceeded to scarf down his food as though it were going to be stolen. Alice noted that while her plate was full, his was mountainous.

  “Hungry?” she teased.

  He finished chewing his mouthful, then wheezed, “You worked me hard last night, and we didn’t eat dinner.”

  Taking a small bite of food, she grinned. Hell yeah, I did.

  “I need to make sure I can keep up with you today.”

  Donning an innocent expression, she said, “I can always lay off if you’re not up to the challenge.” Taking another small bite of food to hide her smirk, she added, “I wouldn’t want you overexerting yourself.”

  After chewing threw another massive mouthful, he pointed his fork at her. “You’d better watch your words, female.”

  They sat in easy silence while they ate, exchanging happy glances every so often.

  When they were done, Luka spoke first. “What would you like to do today? I can bring you back to the Temple if you’d like.”