by Laney Kaye
One lunar cycle with this amazing, sexy alien who was surely destined to be the highlight of my life. Which meant it was all downhill from here. And without a Tim Tam in sight. In fact, potentially no comfort-eating at all.
As for my other comfort, my sister…what would she think had happened to me? I’d disappeared without a trace from the middle of the Australian Outback, leaving behind my car, my phone, and my swag.
A sudden realization forced me a step back; my concerns had been for myself but, much as my sister comforted me, I was also her sole support.
And I’d deserted her for a piece of dick.
Okay, a particularly delicious alien piece of dick, but still. What had happened to chicks before dicks and frocks before cocks, the promises we’d so flippantly made each other? Of course, such promises had been easy to keep on Earth, where man-meat was rarer than caviar.
“Stella?” Tennn murmured. “More confetti?”
“Ugh. I’m being ridiculous. Just ignore me.”
“I would never do that.” He placed an arm around my shoulders, drawing me closer, apparently uncaring of Xander’s presence. A gentle finger pressed to my cheek, allowing the tear to fall from my lashes. “Tell me what it is that sorrows you. I would fix it, if I could.”
I swallowed hard. It was ridiculous to whine, but he was so strong and comforting, the lure was too great. “I guess I’m just worried I’m going to miss e-everyone,” a hiccup of sorrow betrayed me, another tear running down my face as I secretly acknowledged who else I’d miss, in only one more lunar cycle. Would I see Tennn again, maybe when he delivered more willing abductees? Or would he actively avoid me once our interstellar fling was done? “My family,” I said, so he wouldn’t guess at my ridiculous neediness. Who begged to be abducted by an alien and taken for trade, but then clung to their abductor? That wasn’t even Stockholm Syndrome, but something entirely new only I’d ever come up with. Great. Not the kind of trailblazing I wanted to do.
“You have much family?”
“Only my sister.”
Tennn nodded. “My hearts sorrow for you. I have never…missed anyone before. But now I think for the first time I understand that pain. I wish I had a way to ease it for you.”
“Is your sister anything like you?” Xander asked cheerfully, totally oblivious to our moment.
“More than you can imagine.”
“Shame we did not have her on our collection list, then.” The glance he shot me was undeniably lascivious and Tennn grumbled warningly in his throat.
Xander pushed another bowl in front of Ol’ Gray who stared suspiciously at it, then turned his back. Seemed that love affair was also over and done. “Why is it that we have never sought mates from Earth, Tennn? They are most pleasing to the eye.”
“You can keep your eyes to yourself, brother.” Tennn moved from behind me, crossing to a panel where he pressed a series of buttons. Seconds later a hatch above one of the preparation benches shot open, and a tray laden with steaming dishes slid out. I guess Xander hadn’t had to work too hard to prepare temptations for Ol’ Gray. The delicious smells rumbled my stomach again. Daft cat was totally missing out. “But I’ve no idea why we do not have humans on Crasasi,” Tennn said, pressing another sequence. “Earth only just came up in our roster, but I imagine other Crasasi have made pickups there. You’d have to ask Yanno that one. When you have an hour or two to spare.”
“No need,” Xander said, pulling what looked like a mobile phone from his coat pocket. “I will find the information in a…book?” He ended on a questioning note, raising his eyebrows at me as though confirming he’d used the word correctly.
“Yeah, a book. But I doubt you’ll find what you’re looking—”
“Ah, here it is.” He tapped the screen. Nodded a couple of times. “I see. Crasasi would not have bothered cultivating women from Earth, as we are incompatible.”
“Not the way I see it,” Tennn muttered. He gestured for me to approach the now overloaded bench. “Let me tempt you, my Stella.”
He definitely could. On every level.
Xander held up a hand, as though expecting silence. Like anyone could hear over my drooling. The platters of unfamiliar food, though some were recognizable as fruit, looked more delicious than a cream cake on cheat day. “No, we are biologically incompatible,” Xander said. “Despite being one of the last fertile races, humans were impervious to all impregnation attempts by Crasasi during a prolonged study period covering two generations. Therefore, our ruling body has no reason to fund or encourage collections from Earth.”
I jerked around so fast to look at Tennn, I’d probably have whiplash tomorrow.
We locked gazes.
My hunger evaporated.
“Now!” Tennn barked, grabbing a bowl of fruit and thrusting it into my hands. He snatched up plates of bread and meat. “Your room is closer.”
Chapter Six
Tennn
I wanted to take Stella immediately, to experience the unparalleled communion of placing my star-splash within her. But I couldn’t overlook the fact that we had less than one lunar cycle remaining. Whatever we did, it had to be memorable. Hopefully for both of us; although there was no risk I’d ever forget my little human. My Stella. Already my hearts ached at the thought of leaving her at Daorheris.
But that was the choice she’d made — yet some of the things she said, the way she looked at me, made me wonder if she still felt the same way.
I tightened my grip on her hand, pulling her faster along the corridor, the food I’d grabbed crushed to my chest. There was neither point nor value in wondering about what could not be. Even if Stella chose to be with me, as every part of my hearts wished, I could offer her nothing. She would be my mistress, spurned and unrecognized on Crasasi. And I would still be compelled to take a Crasasi wife, to produce the royal heirs of Crasasi blood before I could take the throne. And now, not only was I not permitted to give her the child she longed for, I was biologically unable.
So, either way, my Stella would be alone. In an unfamiliar world, where everything she encountered was…alien.
Guilt stabbed me like a Dragarian blade. I’d been selfish. I’d taken Stella from her home because I wanted her. Not because she wanted to travel, not because she agreed to be my sixty-nine, not because she’d spent her life wishing to see the stars. But because I’d been intrigued by her. I’d given no thought to the fact that, unlike the other women aboard, it wasn’t something she had longed for. Every shred of grief and trepidation our other transportees felt Stella would experience ten-fold. And that was my fault.
As we entered the living quarters, her hands bunched the fabric of her skirt, as though she’d pull it off. I shook my head. “No.”
“No?” Her expression fell, her tone full of surprise and hurt. “But Xander said we could—”
I had to grin at her interpretation of Xander’s information. It nicely matched my own. “Oh, we will. But first, I would feed you. You will need your strength.”
Her breath hitched, her pupils instantly dilating. “Promise?”
“This means?”
“That you swear to me upon your word that what you say is the truth.”
“Ah. Then I would promise anything you wanted, my Stella.” Except that which was already hers, but I could not admit: my hearts.
I gestured for her to sit at the small glass table. Pulling out the knife that sat in a sheath inside my leather leggings, I sliced up the translucent persa and cut wedges of a sweet dura melon.
Stella picked up the long, curved triana fruit. “This looks something like a banana,” she said. “Do you peel it?”
I nodded, indicating the short black stem at the top.
“Oh, just like a banana,” she said, sounding surprised. “Except, um, it’s pink.”
“As it should be.”
“So, it is ripe? Safe for me to do this with?”
As I stared, unable to rip my gaze from her sweet mouth, she parted her lips and sli
d the triana between them. About a finger length into her mouth. Then withdrew the fruit. Repeated the action. “Woman!” I growled.
She glanced up at me from beneath her eyelashes. “Man? Or should I say alien?”
She could call me anything she wanted. But most of all, I desired to have her call me her mate.
I stabbed my knife into the dura, forcing the thought down. “Eat.”
She slid the fruit into her mouth again, letting it bulge against the inside of her cheek. Her eyes danced with merriment.
“The longer you play with your food, the less time we have to…play,” I grumbled, pretending anger as I tried to control my surging desire.
Her small, white teeth snapped closed, severing the fruit. I might want to remember that if my yakeet went anywhere near her mouth again.
Though I’d willingly risk it. A thousand times over.
I shoveled roast yu and mashed glroe into my mouth, not caring about taste or texture. Merely rushing to fortify my body.
I wanted to love this woman. For every moment we had left together.
Stella ate almost as quickly as I did, her gaze never leaving mine.
“Done,” she gasped, pushing her plate away and taking a final gulp of the ruby red fermented srinem juice I’d poured.
My plate crashed to the floor as I shoved it too hard. Quickly standing, I reached for Stella, pulling her up into my arms.
“Now?” she whispered, her single heartbeat frantic against my chest.
“Now, my love,” I said.
Though my loins and my desire to take her, to make her indisputably mine, urged me on, I’d do this slow. Do it right.
I pressed my lips against each of her eyelids.
She smiled as she fluttered them open, and then stretched up to touch a warm fingertip beneath one of my eyes. I obliged by closing each of the horizontal lids, and she made an odd, keening noise, leaning in closer to me. “Tennn, that’s so hot.”
“It is you that is hot,” I said. Her body must run at almost twice the temperature of my own.
“No, that’s not what I — never mind,” she grinned. Her hand slid up the back of my neck, dragging my mouth down to hers.
Our lips met, hers sweet and sticky with srinem. I brushed my tongue over the crescent moon of her upper lip, just tracing the seam.
She moaned, instantly opening beneath me.
Previously, I’d taken her fast, made her cum quickly. But this time I would tease, draw out the exquisite, pleasurable agony of waiting for the moment she would be entirely mine. Even if it was for only one lunar cycle.
I pressed kisses to each corner of her mouth before accepting her invitation, slipping my tongue into the incredibly warm, wet cave she offered.
She sighed, her breasts, almost spilling from the neckline of her dress, pushed hard against my abdomen. Her body trembled as she stood on tiptoes to reach me, her tongue chasing and tangling with mine, as though she tried to capture me. We kissed until we were breathless and both drew back, panting.
But I wanted her again instantly. I couldn’t bear the distance between us, even if it meant life. I’d do without oxygen, rather than surrender her lips. “You taste so sweet,” I murmured, pressing kisses into her hair.
“It’s the wine,” she panted. Her hands were beneath my undershirt, caressing my chest. She tugged gently on the Kalex threaded through my nipples, beneath each of my hearts. Those celestial anchors were supposed to lead me home — yet this was where I wanted to be.
“I want to see your skin maps, Tennn,” she whispered.
I grasped the neck of my shirt and drew it over my head.
Stella stepped back a little, her face intent. She touched the moonstone Kalex. “So, this is where you’re from?”
“No,” I took her hand and drew her finger to the pulsing silver planet above my right heart. “This is Crasasi.”
She nodded, her forehead furrowed. Her teeth worked her bottom lip for a second. “And where is…Daorheris, is it?”
Taking her finger again, I guided it along a blue path from my chest, down, across my abs and around to my right hip.
She pressed her lips tight for a moment, before glancing up at me. “It looks a very long way.”
I nodded. “It is. That’s why we’ll enter stasis for the leap after refueling at Farisank.”
Gods, I wasn’t a complete idiot. I knew what she was saying. She meant we would be far apart. Light years. But what could I say to lessen her loneliness? Sure, I could tell her that she’d easily find a mate on Daorheris who would desire her as much as I did. One who could give her the children she longed for. One who was not bound by birth and oath to marry within his race.
But telling her any of that was stabbing a dagger into my own hearts; I would mourn her loss forever, and a selfish part of me wanted to believe she would also miss me.
She nodded, drawing in a deep breath. I felt her stiffen her spine before she shot a watery smile up at me. “So, one lunar cycle? I think we’d better get on with it, then.”
Far less than one lunar cycle, now. I knew because I’d counted the time, right down to the last meneeth. Had even considered ordering Yanno to pull us out of the current that was saving our fuel, but speeding our trip to Farisank.
I slid my hands over Stella’s hips, gradually working the fabric of her dress up. Each span of flesh I revealed was as new and exciting to me as the first time I’d seen her naked. “You steal my breath, Stella,” I murmured.
Her breasts heaved above the tight cut of her dress, but without taking my eyes from them, I wasn’t certain whether the enticing jiggle was because she breathed deep, or was laughing at me. I couldn’t tear my gaze away; the dusky pink areola of her nipples peeked just above the material, the tiniest hint, small enough to make a man doubt what he saw, but tantalizing enough to harden him to sirdar.
“I must taste you, my Stella.”
She caught her breath, then expelled it in a rush. Then she grabbed a handful of her dress and drew it over her head, throwing the fabric aside. “Yes, Tennn. I want you every way we can.”
She stood before me, completely naked and completely glorious. And I couldn’t wait any longer. I needed her nakedness beneath me.
Stooping slightly, I slid my palm over the curve of her generous buttocks, and then down her thighs. Scooping her up, I held her close to my chest, inhaling her fragrance as I pressed my lips to her temple.
“No. Not gentle,” she reprimanded. “I need passion, Tennn. Gentle will…break me.” Already, the wetness of sorrow sparkled on the long, dark lashes that contrasted with her blonde hair.
I knew what she meant. We had to pretend there was nothing but lust involved here. To admit otherwise would be to willingly allow pain into our lives.
Unable to speak for a moment, I nodded, carrying her to the bed.
Yet, although my yakeet throbbed against my leggings and every fiber of my being wanted to meld with her, I couldn’t lie.
“My Stella, I would have more.”
“More?” Her hair spread like a comet’s tail across the pillows.
I stood alongside the bed, letting my gaze travel from her hair to her toes, trying to memorize every inch. “You are so beautiful. Curve upon curve of pure sex. You shine as brightly as a sun, but it saddens me that our time together is as hot, fierce, and brief as a shooting star.”
“No, Tennn,” she whispered, the confetti sorrow deepening the blue of her eyes. “Don’t do this. You’re making it harder to part. And you know we must.”
Was there a tiny inflection of question in her last words?
Did it matter if there was?
I couldn’t give her what she most wanted; a child.
And she couldn’t give me what my title demanded; a mate of Crasasi blood.
We were doomed to only have these few spans together, no matter what we might wish for.
I lowered myself to the bed alongside her, drawing her warmth against me. “I know what you say is true,
my Stella of the Stars. We are fated. But you will always be here,” I took one of her hands and placed it over my moonstone Kalex. “And both of my hearts will forever be here,” I touched a finger to her chest.
My wrist brushed her nipple, which instantly sprang erect, and we both smiled through our grief.
I traced from her chest to her nipple, her golden skin smooth beneath my calloused fingertips. The fiery nub grew hard and hot between my finger and thumb and, despite my anguish, desire flared within me.
I could see the matching hunger on her face and, as I bent to suck the engorged flesh into my mouth, Stella arched her back, her fingers winding into my hair to press me closer to her breast.
As I suckled, my tail found the valley between her legs, stroking gently at first, then deeper with each pass as she blossomed beneath me.
“Yes,” she murmured. “Yes. Tennn, take me now. I don’t want to wait.”
“Anything worth having is worth waiting for.” I was trying to buy time to assert my own self-control. Having her naked and open and wanting beneath me, and knowing that I would be able to take her completely was almost more than I could handle.
“It seems I’ve waited for you forever, Tennn.”
And she was the one I’d waited for. Her beautiful softness cushioned my hard ridges and planes as I covered her body with my own. My yakeet instantly sought her cunnusk, nudging against it, begging for entry.
She sighed, and I took my weight onto my wrists, leaning down to kiss her. “I am too heavy for you, little one?”
“Oh, no. You fit me so perfectly.” Her voice trembled and she took my face between her hands, kissing me urgently as though she could hide her emotions in actions. She spread her thighs apart. “Now, Tennn.”
I couldn’t wait any longer. With one smooth thrust, I was inside her. The resistance surprised me and her clinging heat closed tightly around my yakeet.
She gasped, her eyes widening.
“Are you alright, my love?”
She nodded, though she panted a little. “Yes. You’re just…big.”