Heat charged to his groin, and his cock rose, shoving against the stiff leather of his pants. He wanted to rip them off—her clothing, too—and taste every inch of her creamy, medium-toned skin. Then start all over again and taste her some more before he drove himself deep inside her.
Like the males, Crakairian females had scales, though they were smaller and finer than a male’s. But they did not possess smooth skin like Thea. He did wonder how this seemingly fragile surface could withstand battle. But perhaps Earthlings no longer stripped and fought naked?
Since she was exploring, he could, too. He trailed his fingertip down her neck to her shoulders then along her arms.
She closed her eyes, and a soft moan escaped her lips. But her eyes popped open and she stepped backward, putting distance between them. “You can’t.”
“I shall. Mate you are. Mate we will.”
“I’m beginning to believe that might be part of my future, but jeez, Gaje, you ever heard of a little foreplay before diving between the sheets?”
“What foreplay is?”
“Hell,” she growled. Her eyes spun in a circle, making him question the functioning of her mind, but her wry tone suggested indulgence. “I hope you’re not a slam it in, pop off, and sag back onto the bed kind of guy.”
“There will be no sagging,” he said vehemently, not completely sure of the rest of her statement but determined to assure her of his prowess.
“Whoa.” Her eyes widened. “You just spoke full English there. Yay for translators getting up to speed.”
“Tell me more about this foreplay.” His gaze dipped to the large protuberances on her chest. Breasts, they were called, made for suckling young. Crakairian females did not have mounds to nurse infants. He’d read a few other things about the lumps in the manual, though he couldn’t remember exactly what he’d read.
She lifted her chin. “Foreplay is how a guy gets a woman ready for…”
“The fucking.”
“Yeah, the fucking.” She shifted her eyes around again. “You do have a one-track mind, don’t you?”
He fisted his chest. “Courtship. Marriage. Fucking.”
“In that order?”
“Courtship is always first.”
“But then…”
“I will grant you one daela—”
“Day?”
He nodded. “One daela to acclimate to me before I will seek consent for the fucking.”
Chapter 3
Despite how abruptly this relationship was progressing, she couldn’t hold back her swoon.
There wasn’t anything more arousing than a hot guy making it perfectly clear he not only wanted to get to know her better but he was eager to take whatever she’d offer.
And they were going to get married.
Courtship was supposed to come first but it sounded like they could twist things around a bit after that.
She wasn’t sure how she felt about putting “the fucking” before marriage, but holy frickin’ hell, she already wanted him. Emotions? She wasn’t as clear where she stood there. Although, he was cute in a gruff way, and whenever he flashed his fangs, her knees went weak. That had to count for something.
This relationship had been set up for procreation…
From what she’d seen already, it wouldn’t take much persuasion on his part to gain her consent.
She stepped backward because this guy was lethal. Sure, they were engaged, but that didn’t mean they would hop into the sack the first time they’d met. She had her principles and first dates were for kissing and a little touch. No set rules after that.
Dropping into the other chair, she put her heels up on the dashboard.
Alarms blared, and lights flashed around her. Oops.
Her feet dropped to the floor with a thud while Gaje lurched forward. He fiddled with a bunch of dials on the dash. The craft took a nosedive, righted and leveled off, and then continued flying forward, into the stars.
The lights stopped flashing and the alarms cut off.
“Sorry,” she said, hiding her face in her palms.
“No matter. But perhaps…”
“Don’t touch a damn thing?” She grinned, and he bared his fangs. Was this his version of a smile?
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
Her belly rumbled on cue. “I assume you have food onboard?”
“I do.” Rising, he strode around his chair and opened a cabinet on the wall. He settled back into his seat and handed her one of two wrapped bars. “I will be able to offer you better once we reach my—our—home.”
“Thank you.” She peered down at it, wondering what it was made of but shrugged. Even if it was made from bark or bugs, it wasn’t as if she had much choice.
As she picked at the wrapping, she lifted her head and stared through the window. Since her first trip off-planet had been inside an enclosed shuttle to the big spaceship, she hadn’t seen the outer atmosphere. None of the constellations looked the same but then, they wouldn’t. Her viewing angle had changed. “How long will it take us to reach Crakair?”
“Traveling at this speed, the timeframe is approximately three daelas.”
“That’s right, no sunrise or true sunset when you travel through the stars. It’ll take about seventy-two hours, then.”
He nodded while she tore off the wrapper and bit into the dark gray bar. Tasted like sweet cardboard but she assumed it contained the nutrients she’d need to maintain life.
“What are we going to do to pass the time?” she asked around the bite.
His gaze flicked down her front, and delicious tingles spread through her. Could she put more distance between them? When he looked at her like that, she wanted to strip off her clothing—his, too—and climb onto his lap. Climb onto everything.
Would it be considered improper to ask if his entire body was dark green?
They’d been given some information about Crakair and their computer-matched males, but the details had teased more than they’d revealed.
A civilized society, the Crakairians lived on an Earth-sized planet with about one-tenth of the population. The planet had three blue moons in orbit. The surviving female Crakairians had a status similar to what Thea was familiar with on Earth, but it was less clear about the rights of Earthling women. No matter, she’d get it sorted out soon.
Gaje held a position as the Crown Prince’s Vizier, and he lived on an estate outside the city of Tri’Arteele. The Prince…
“Was the other guy, the one who grabbed my friend Julia, the Crown Prince?”
When Gaje nodded, her shoulders loosened.
“Phew. Then she’s safe.”
“She is with her mate.”
Hopefully, she was having as much fun as Thea.
She finished up the bar and he took the empty package from her. After staring at the stars for a while, she got bored. Sleep might be an option but what if he asked to join her? She wasn’t sure she could resist if he turned on the charm. There must be something they could do to provide a distraction.
“You happen to play cards?” she asked.
“What are cards?”
She sighed. “If I had my bag, I’d be able to—”
“This?” He lifted the duffle she’d sent to the ship two days ago in preparation for leaving Earth.
“Yes, that’s mine.” He handed it to her and she unzipped the top, pulling out the deck of cards she’d brought with her. “How about a rousing game of…” Okay, she was a total imp. “Strip poker?” No worries on her part. Her dad had been a card shark, and she’d grown up around casinos. Dad had taught her all his tricks.
“What is this strip poker?” he asked, intrigued.
She tugged the cards from the package and, tossing everything else onto the floor, shuffled the deck. After explaining the rules, she grinned. “You up for a few hands?”
“As long as you are…up…for losing your clothing.”
“Don’t worry about me, dude. Think of yourself.” Her gaze glided do
wn his tall, muscular form. “From what I can tell, you’re wearing pants and boots. Socks, maybe. I’ll grant you the shirt for your first loss. No need to put it back on.” Please, don’t put it on. “Other than that… You going commando?”
His thick brows furrowed, making the dime-sized oval scales on his face glisten in the low light. Larger scales trailed across his torso, gleaming silvery green.
“No worries,” she said lightly. “I imagine we’ll find out.” After dealing the cards, she sat back and looked at her hand. Cool. The only way he’d beat her would be if he had…
Crap. How had the guy been dealt a royal flush?
Ten minutes later, her gown had been shimmied off and draped across the back of her chair. Her shoes had been tossed aside. She sat in the leather chair in her very skimpy undies. While she might be a kindergarten teacher, she shopped high-class. These babies had not only cost a fortune, they made her look like she’d been crafted from gold.
Gaje’s heavy-lidded gaze remained locked on her chest. Oh, yeah, Crakairian women didn’t have breasts. Was he intrigued or horrified by them? Frankly, she’d always been pleased with their size and shape. They made up for her crooked nose—broken when she’d wrestled a neighbor kid—and her fine, dark brown hair that hung past her shoulders.
Everyone said blondes had more fun but it looked like blondes would envy Thea now.
He dealt the next hand and she studied her cards, strategizing how she might at least win enough rounds to see what was pressing against the front of his pants.
Damn, two threes.
They finished the hand and laid down their cards. He’d scored two tens and three queens.
“This means I win. Again.” His gaze smoldered when it met hers. “What will you remove now, my mate? This?” His fingertip traced from her neck to the crest of her breasts peeking above her push-up bra. “Or this…?” His hand continued down her belly and he coiled the stretchy fabric of her panties around his fingertip, tugging it snug between her legs, where she burned.
“I, um…” She rose to her feet. Which should she remove?
Holy hell, he watched her like he planned to fling her against the wall and drive himself inside. She half wanted him to do it.
No, she completely wanted him to do it.
Reaching for the thin band on her panties, she tugged them slowly down over her hips. She flung the scrap of fabric aside with her foot then straightened and stood boldly before him.
Chapter 4
Gaje ached to touch the patch of hair between her legs, something he’d never seen on a female before.
“What comes next in the courting process?” she asked, her voice aquiver. When she stepped back a pace, he caught a glimpse of the flesh between her legs. “Maybe we should work on your courtship checklist instead of playing more poker.” A spurt of laughter burst from her throat. “Otherwise, I’m going to end up stark naked.”
“Flowers,” he said in a monotone, unable to remove his gaze from her body. Tiny, he had to wonder how this bit of a human female could endure all he had to give. The healers had assured them that Earthlings could not only withstand the mating but carry and deliver Crakairian young. He would not break her.
Standing, he stretched to his full height, towering over her.
“You mentioned flowers already,” she said. Her gaze drifted from his bare chest to his groin, and she gulped. “Holy fuck.”
“Yes, fucking,” he said absently. “As for the courtship…” Why was his brain scrambled? He’d never had anything like this happen to him before. “Next, we must…dine together.” One step and he would be able to feel the heat radiating off her skin.
“Done. We had those bars.”
She was correct. They had already progressed further in the courtship. Although… “According to custom, I must wear the gajong and serve you tetria, as tradition dictates.”
Her head tilted. “What’s a gajong, let alone tetria?”
“Gajong is a scrap of cloth worn over…” He gestured to his rigid cock as he moved closer to her.
She backed up, and her ass hit the wall.
Heille. The scent of her arousal hit his nostrils like a stiff breeze filled with jiera musk.
“Did you happen to bring one… a gajong, with you?” she asked in a breathy voice.
“I did not.” He had not believed they would be close to completing the courtship before they reached Crakair. Could he bend the rules in this one instance and set the ritual meal aside to pursue other courtship ventures? “Tetria is a breakfast food grown and consumed by my ancestors.”
She tilted her head, her attention focused on his pulsing cock. “It’s not breakfast time, is it?” Her small tongue dipped out to stroke across her lower lip.
His mind scattered, and his sekairs spiked upward on his shoulders before settling back into place.
“What was that?” she asked with more admiration than fear.
“My sekairs are for defensive. The spikes… They contain a substance that can kill if I choose to deploy it. They are motionless and drop to the ground.”
“Won’t need those to keep me motionless,” she said as if admitting something she wished to keep secret.
He braced his palms on the wall on either side of her head. “Without the formal breakfast, the next step would be bathing.”
“Got a tub around?” Her finger lifted but hesitated before touching. When it impacted with his skin, he hissed. He watched as she slowly trailed it down his stomach until it reached the top of his leather pants. “Still can’t get over your abs.”
“You may touch as much of me as you wish.”
“Is that also part of the formal courtship?”
His cock on fire, he pressed it against her naked flesh. “Yes. After bathing comes touch. Taste.”
“Oh, shit, with that tongue?” Her gaze shot to his mouth.
“If you wish.”
“Then do it. I can’t stand it any longer. I’m ready. You won. Call this a seduction success on your part.”
“Where would you have me place my tongue?”
One corner of her lips curled up, and mischief filled her eyes. She tapped her lips.
Lifting her chin with both hands, he held her in place while his mouth descended. But before they touched, he stroked his tongue across her lips.
She shivered and pressed herself against him. “Hot damn.”
Sliding his hands around to the nape of her neck, he plundered her mouth with his own, gliding his tongue inside to mate with hers.
A moan worked its way up her throat and burst between them.
While his naanans traced her shoulders, he slid his hand down her belly and cupped the flesh between her legs.
“Gaje,” she whispered, her head tipping back to land on the wall. “Please. Stop teasing. You know you’re not giving me any of that fucking stuff yet.”
“No tease,” he said. His finger glided along her slit and she thrust her legs apart, granting him full access. “You will always know where we stand.” While he stroked the tiny nub at the top of her slit, she writhed, her breathing filled with sighs.
Interesting. Crakairian females did not have tiny buds in this location. For stimulation, the male must bury himself deep inside and the vibration brought them both to satisfaction. Yet Thea… He liked that he could gain a response from his human mate before penetration.
She bucked against his fingers. “Fuck.”
He nibbled along her neck, his fangs lightly scraping her flesh. “Yes, soon, my mate. Fucking.”
“Tell me what the hell else needs to happen with courtship before we can get to the next part,” she shouted.
He stooped down in front of her and nudged her thighs apart. “This.”
His tongue reached out and slipped between her lips while one of his naanans latched onto her nub. The inner naanan pulse fluttered.
When she’d mentioned using his naanans for intimacy, he had been listening.
No one had ever said he d
idn’t learn fast.
Chapter 5
When his naanans glided down her belly and one latched onto her clit, Thea shrieked. “Holy hell!”
“This,” he said in a guttural tone. “This…nub. It likes this, does it not?”
“Hell, yeah. Don’t stop!” So much for the fancy courtship she’d imagined back on Earth. This guy—she might as well face it, her mate—plowed through her defenses like a wrecking ball, leaving her a trembling mess.
She liked it. Liked him. A lot.
He seemed to have been made especially for her.
Damn that tiny fork on the tip of his tongue. While she thrust toward him, it dipped inside and probed, the ends wrapping around and tugging on her G spot.
While she writhed and panted, the dreadlock thing flickered and sucked. She moaned, her body a limp mess already.
Sensing how weak her knees were, he lifted her and dropped her thighs on top of his shoulders. The thicker, larger scales—sekairs—scraped beneath her skin, sending liquid fire through her veins. He shifted her back against the wall and literally consumed her.
Bucking and thrusting, she rode his mouth while he licked and sucked and drove her out of her mind.
With a sharp shriek, she came, spilling herself all over him. He licked and drank as she shuddered, her hands clutching his naanans.
When he’d drained her to her last speck of will, he tipped his head back and licked his mouth. “I will do this again. Now.”
She fanned her face. “Can you give a girl a second to recover? I’m, like, still half-humming.”
“I could, but I do not wish to.”
“Things don’t always go the way you please, you know. Welcome to life, dude.”
“If I do this…” His fingertip dipped slowly inside her while his thumb gently rubbed her clit.
So soon after coming, the sensitive flesh burned, but it also felt good. In Thea’s experience, even one orgasm was pushing it for some guys. Now Gaje was interested in seeing if he could give her two?
She definitely needed to marry this guy. Oh, yeah, she already was marrying this guy.
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