by Ruby Dixon
Then, I feel his mouth descend, hot and demanding. There's a subtle lick against my folds, and then I hear him groan low. “Kef me, you taste good, Iris. So good. I'm going to lick this pussy for days.” His mouth is on me again a moment later, and his tongue repeats the movements of his fingers from just a short time ago—little circling licks flicking against my sensitive clit, determined to drive me over the edge and make me crazy with need.
It's too much. I lose my grip on the headboard and reach down for his head, desperate to grab on to something. I find his big, curling horns and hold tight as he licks and nuzzles my pussy right toward the hardest orgasm of my entire life.
I come so hard that my entire body clenches tight and I nearly black out from the sheer pleasure of it.
He continues to lick my pussy with that crazily erotic ridged tongue of his. My entire body feels sensitized and I'm whimpering every time he drags the tip over my folds. “You taste so good, love. I've never tasted anything better.”
“Alyvos,” I breathe, over and over again. His name comes to my lips with every stroke of his tongue, and even though I just climaxed, I feel ready practically all over again. “Please. I need you.”
Finally, my alien lifts his head from my pussy and presses a kiss to my thigh. “You want me to wear plas-film? I can get up and get some.”
“What is that?” Dazed, I try to picture what he's talking about. “Condoms?”
“It's a film that covers your skin,” he tells me, continuing to press his mouth to my thigh as if addicted. “So I can't transfer diseases or my seed into your body.”
“So it is like a condom.” When I feel his body move, I realize he's shrugging. “Are you diseased, then?”
“No.”
“Can you get me pregnant?”
“Not without medical assistance, I'm afraid.” His tongue flicks against my skin.
“Then stay with me.” I stroke a hand down his horns, then caress his cheek. “Forget about that and just stay with me. We'll do this skin to skin.”
Alyvos groans. “Keffing love when you say such sexy things.”
I can't help but chuckle. “Is that sexy then?”
“Honestly, everything you say is sexy.” I hear a rustle of fabric and his body shifts against mine. He's undressing the rest of the way. His tail clenches tight along my leg and then moves away. A second later, his weight shifts over me once more, and I feel nothing but glorious, wonderful skin.
I sigh with contentment as his body settles over mine. “You feel so good.”
His hand skims over the length of my back and I realize belatedly that we're floating once more. Oh. At some point I let go of the bed and we're both midair. I slide my arms around him, and when his mouth brushes over mine, I let out a moan because it feels so good.
Alyvos's strong arms hitch one of my thighs around his hips, and I automatically move the other so I'm clasping him tight between my legs. I can feel my hair drifting into my face and my body feels light and airy, and I'm surrounded by the heat of his bigger form. It's fascinating and sexy all at once, and I love when his mouth captures mine once more, as if he can't stand to have us apart in any way at all.
I slide my hand down his stomach, eager to feel him…and run into something strange. Protruding out of his groin is a hard, finger-like appendage, and I flinch away when I run across it. “Um…what's that?”
“A spur?” He nuzzles at my face. “Have you never seen a male naked before, my sweet?”
I bite back the surge of laughter bubbling in my throat, because no man wants to be laughed at when he's naked atop a girl. He just sounds so confident that I'm a blushing, sheltered thing. A virgin, yes. Sheltered, no. “I have. Human men don't have a spur.” Though this does explain why Cat and Fran went into hysterics when we were playing Choices. “What's it for?”
His tongue flicks against my earlobe, his breath hot. “Must it be for something? What is your little clit for?”
He's got me there. I'm having a hard time concentrating with his tongue playing along the shell of my ear. “So it…feels good?” I gasp as he rocks the hard length of him against my grip.
“Not as good as your little bud, but good enough.” He nips at my ear and thrusts into my hand again. “Spread your thighs wider for me, sweet love.”
I do as he asks, and he takes my hand from his cock and moves it to his hip. His mouth captures mine again even as something hard and hot presses against my core. His cock, I realize a scant second before he presses forward.
Tight heat blooms through my body, and it feels as if something very large is being forced into something uncomfortably small. I gasp against his mouth, and he swallows my breath with a kiss. I know that my body will adjust, so I fall into his kiss and let his lips and tongue distract me as I wait for my muscles to relax and allow him in. I knew he would feel big, but I wasn't expecting how taut my own body would feel…or how good the ache of it would be.
His body pushing into mine steals away all thought. I'm lost in the sensation as he kisses me, and Alyvos's first slow, subtle thrust draws me back into my body. I moan against his mouth as he rocks forward, moving a little deeper with slow, steady precision. “Tell me if I hurt you,” he murmurs between peppered kisses. I just sigh. It's impossible to tell him that yes, it hurts, but in all the right ways. That the ache is delicious and just makes me hungry for more. That my body's adjusting to his invasion and little shockwaves of pleasure are jolting through me with every twitch of his body.
I don't say any of that. All I do is moan and cling to him.
“My Iris,” he rasps, and the sound is so sexy and appealing that it feels as if it ripples through me. “Your cunt is so…keffing…tight.”
“Sorry,” I whisper, even though I'm not sorry. I just want to hold on to him and feel this forever. I love the sensations moving through us. I've always known sex would be good, but I just never realized how good.
A laugh barks out of him. “Don't you dare apologize.” I feel him moving over me, his hips pushing against mine in short little bursts. As he does, something hard rubs up against my clit. His finger? No, I realize a moment later—it's his spur.
And then as he thrusts into me, it drags along the side of my clit, sending pleasure spiraling through my body. Oh god.
That was what Cat and Fran were so nuts about.
I can't stop moaning, and he murmurs soft words to me as he strokes deep. He tells me how beautiful I am, how perfect, how good I feel, how much he loves me. I wish I could pay more attention, but the dual sensations of his cock and his spur teasing me in both spots are making it impossible for me to concentrate. I'm lost in sensation, and when another orgasm rips quickly through me, I'm not surprised at all. And when he speeds up, thrusting faster and harder, I climax again.
And again.
By the time he shudders over me and growls out my name as he comes, I've probably climaxed at least four times. I'm exhausted and wrung out, and I've never felt so damn good. Alyvos collapses on top of me and then presses a kiss to my mouth, and his skin is sweaty and sticky against mine, and that feels good, too.
“Hi,” I whisper, loving the feel of his breath tickling my face.
Alyvos nips at my jaw again. “You're incredible.”
I chuckle. “Me? All I did was lie here and come. A lot.”
His nose rubs against mine, and my heart melts a little. “Give yourself credit. You also screamed as you came a lot.”
I smile and hold him closer, and as I do, I realize that even though he's on top of me, I'm not being smothered by his massive size. “Are we still floating?”
“We are. As soon as I can bear to let you go, we should probably strap down so there won’t be any accidents.” He kisses my jaw again, and then my cheek. “I just can't bear to let you go yet.”
I'm okay with that.
23
IRIS
At some point, Alyvos pulls me down against the bed, just in time for gravity to kick in. The ship surges forward
and we thump onto the mattress, and everything feels heavy and thick for a while. My legs feel like cement as my alien helps me to the shower and we wash each other off and curl up in bed.
Soon, he's going to be leaving to go after Lord Unto, and I should be mad. I should be anxious and stressed. Instead, I curl up against his warm chest and sleep in his arms, his tail wrapped around my calf. I've never slept better, and it's like my body's betrayed me by letting me sleep so deeply.
I wake up sometime later to the sound of Alyvos pulling on his clothing and the familiar buckle noise his boots make. I know what's going to happen now, and the thought's like lead in my chest.
Even though I don't want him to go, even though I'm terrified that he's going to get killed, my Alyvos is going to board some awful lord's vacation barge and steal from him as if it's no big deal. This might be the last moment I ever spend with him, and the thought makes a knot form in my throat.
I hear him step forward and a moment later, he brushes my messy hair off my brow. “Sleep, love. It'll be a few hours yet before you're needed on the bridge.”
Sleep? While he's in danger? Not a chance. Every nerve ending in my body is screaming for him to stay with me. That revenge doesn't matter. That anyone else that Lord Asshole has stolen is on their own. I need him here with me, because if I lose him, I don't know how I'm going to go on. I don't want him to go.
I pull the covers back and expose my body in what's hopefully a sexy pose. “Can I entice you to stay?”
Alyvos groans and a moment later, kisses my forehead. “I wish I could, love.”
“No, you don't,” I say softly. “You want revenge. You want a fight. What if I told you those things don't matter to me? That having you with me is more than getting even with the guy that ordered me blinded?”
“I can't leave it, Iris,” he says. “Don't ask me to.”
“Even if it'll change everything between us? If you come back…” Please, please God, let him come back. “I don't know that I can feel the same way knowing you don't respect what I want.” It's a harsh gauntlet to throw down, but he has to know how I feel. He has to realize how badly I don't want this. “If you want to hit something more than you want me, then go.”
There's a long pause. “It's not like that, Iris.”
“Isn't it?” I feel so defeated, so sad. I should be kissing him and enjoying these last few moments with him, and instead, I'm getting angry all over again.
The comm chimes. “You coming up?” Sentorr asks, voice tinny. “Pod's fueled up and ready.”
“Be right there.”
I pull the blankets over my body and lie back down.
“Iris,” he begins.
“Go,” I tell him in a dull voice. “There's nothing else to say.”
“Isn’t there?”
Okay then, he’s right. There’s one more thing to say. “I thought you loved me, but maybe all you truly love is a fight.”
“That’s not what this is about.”
“Isn’t it?”
He sighs, and then the door chimes, and I know he’s left the room.
I feel empty and hollow and alone.
24
ALYVOS
My pod's drifted about half the distance toward the enemy barge when I realize I don't want to do this.
I've been waiting for the eagerness to sweep through me, the same hot, hungry need for a fight I always get when I'm heading toward a battle. For it to take over me and fuel me with that wild delight I get when there's a rumble to be had. Instead, I've got nothing but an ache in my gut.
I've disappointed Iris. She wanted me to be better than I am. I left the bed of the female I love for vengeance…and I'm not even sure I want it anymore.
Oh, I still want it for her. But it's clear that she doesn't agree and she views this as a betrayal. So as my pod drifts through the stars, heading on a slow course toward the glitzy barge on the other side of the moon, I wonder if I've keffed up everything in my life.
Is she right? Am I so attuned to wanting to fight that I choose it over everything? If Iris doesn't want revenge, how can I want it for her? The thought gnaws at me as the pod drifts and drifts. I know it'll take forever to get there. I've done this before, a half-dozen times easily. I'm cut off from the others comm-wise because the pod has to be powered down to fly under the barge's radars. Normally I relax until I arrive, or mentally run through battles to prep myself. A few times, I've slept.
Today, though, all I can think about is Iris. Iris and the soft gasps she made when I was so deep inside her, the look on her face when my spur grazed against her clit. The clench of her cunt around my cock and the way she tasted. She was perfection.
And I left that behind.
I bite back a groan.
If you want to hit something more than you want me, then go.
I'd dismissed her words, but now I'm not so sure she was wrong. I told her before that I was broken, and I don't expect to change. But maybe I should try harder to be the male she needs instead of the male that I am. Maybe I should think beyond my fists. Try to solve this without needing a fight. Do this right.
Prove to Iris that I'm more than a pair of fists.
I think of how she'd let the blankets slide down to her waist, exposing those deliciously rounded breasts of hers. Can I entice you to stay?
Keffing fool that I am, I said no. I'm the worst kind of idiot.
The pod drifts, and as it does, I see the barge in the distance. On the dashboard of the pod, in reach, is the disabler. I need to attach that to the underside panel, right where the engine is. It'll mask my own life-support signs as well as scramble the engine signals of the barge. Their ship will be temporarily disabled and we can board.
I'll get the fight I wanted…unless I find another way. There has to be a path that will please Iris and still take down Lord Shitstain.
So I think. And think. It's not my strength. Kivian's the sly brains of the crew. Sentorr'd be great at coming up with a reasonable plan. Me and Tarekh are the muscles, and it's hard to try and think of something on my own.
But I want to please Iris. For the first time in my life since the war broke my soul, I want something more than I want the high that comes with a good fight.
I want my female.
25
IRIS
I'm numb as I dress and head onto the bridge. I don't care that I smell like sex or that I'm sweaty and somewhat sticky from my stolen moments with Alyvos. I can't go into the bathroom alone, because the small room reminds me too much of my cage. Not that it matters. Let me stink.
Nothing matters except the fact that Alyvos left me. He chose bloodlust over me. He'd rather risk his life on some stupid crusade for revenge than be with me. I have a gut feeling that if he boards that ship, I'll never see him again. He's going to get killed.
And he's going to leave me all alone in the darkness.
Grief chokes my throat as I feel my way along to his chair on the bridge. I can hear other people moving around, but no one's talking. It's just as well—I'm in no mood to chitchat, and if they're nervous, I don't want to hear about it.
Alyvos has decided that picking a fight matters more to him than me. I have to protect myself and acknowledge that while I love him, I can't stay with someone that I can't trust to choose me first. And that hurts most of all.
I love him so much it's like I've been blinded all over again. Losing my sight made me fragile and brittle, hard but easily broken. Losing him will destroy me.
I've barely turned on the comm bands and put the ear piece to my head when I hear someone gasp. It's Fran.
“He's turning around. Something's wrong.”
Dizziness swamps me, and I clutch at the panel in front of me so hard that pain shoots up my arms. “What do you mean, something's wrong?”
There's a pause. “Maybe it's nothing,” she says quickly.
I make a frustrated noise in my throat. “Don't hide it from me just because I can't see. I'm an adult. Tell me what's goi
ng on.” There's a scream building in my throat despite my calmness, and I feel that if it escapes, I'll never be able to stop. I'm picturing all kinds of horrible things, though. Alyvos drifting in an asteroid field, dead. Alyvos choking in the vacuum of space. Alyvos with his hands behind his back, brought onto the enemy barge and then they put his eyes out because he's not very obedient…
“His communications are down still,” Sentorr says, and his voice is calm and efficient as always. “He set the displacer and then got back into his pod and turned around. He's returning to the Fool instead of waiting there for the others. I wouldn't be alarmed just yet.”
“This changes things, though,” Cat says worriedly. “Do we approach anyhow? Continue forward? Or do we stop and wait for him?”
“We wait,” Kivian says. “If there's a problem with going forward, I trust Alyvos to know it. We'll follow his lead.”
I hold my breath and put my ear piece back in place, my hands trembling. I'm trying to be calm, but I feel like shattering. I'm barely holding it together, and the sob in my throat is screaming to break free. But I only put on the ear piece and listen to the bands, scanning through them in the vain hope that I'll hear Alyvos's rich voice come over the airwaves. That he'll laugh and I'll be angry with him for a flash and then everything will be okay as long as he kisses me again.
But I hear nothing over the airwaves. Just the same inane, pointless chatter as ever. No Alyvos. Frantic, I flip channels. Once, then twice. Again and again. Over and over, I flick through each band, listening to a few moments of conversation before acknowledging that it's not my alien and then I move on.