Aria's Ascension (Taken Book 2)

by Stacy Jones

  Tirox settled her next to her unconscious mate and lay on her other side, positioning himself between her and the cave opening. Snuggling in against Kix, she laid her head on his chest and threw a leg over him, so she’d know if he moved while she slept, then reached back to draw Tirox against her.

  Within seconds, her eyelids felt weighted, and she was struggling to keep them open.

  “We should nap in shifts, just in case,” she murmured.

  “Sleep, my beauty. I shall watch for danger,” Tirox responded quietly, his voice a low rumble against her back as he began running his fingers through her hair, the movement slow, hypnotic.

  “‘’Kay. Wake me up when it’s my shift.”

  Lulled by his gentle stroking, and the knowledge that he wouldn’t let anything happen to them, she was asleep before she heard his reply.

  Chapter 21

  Aria was coaxed out of a deep, dreamless sleep by soft, rhythmic sucking on her nipple. Exhaling on a moan, she pried her lids open to slits and gazed down her body.

  Expecting to see Tirox, she was instead surprised to find glowing, blue eyes staring back at her.

  Relief and arousal swept through her, speeding her pulse. Reaching for Kix, she slid her fingertips down the V of ridges on his forehead and over the bridge of his nose.

  “You’re awake,” she breathed. “Are you okay?”

  In answer, he lit up, the veins of bioluminescence on his arms coming to life just brightly enough for her to see that he was hovering above her on all fours. He appeared unharmed, but he didn’t speak or cease his delicious tugging on her stiff tip.

  “Kix?”

  He finally released her nipple, only to growl, “Need you.”

  His voice, always quiet, was lower still and underscored with a hiss. He sounded almost menacing. Blinking, she focused on his face in the darkness and realized his features had that predatory sharpness he got when in battle. A flash of white had her gaze dropping to his mouth. Her eyes widened when she spotted two thin fangs peeking out from under his upper lip.

  Instead of being scared, a thrill shot through her. She knew he felt it when his lips curled in a wolfish smile, flashing those newly-appeared fangs. The sparkles in his pupils flickered to life, and his tongue shot out, darting over her nipple, still wet from his mouth.

  His gaze stayed pinned to hers as he descended, slowly crawling down her body. Aria felt ensnared, captivated by the mesmerizing twinkles in his eyes, but she forced herself to look away and quickly peeked to her right. Tirox wasn’t there, and a scan of what she could see of the cave didn’t show him nearby.

  Turning back to Kix, she gasped, “Where—”

  “Hunting,” he snarled.

  Speech seemed to be a struggle. She didn’t know if that was from the very obvious, very intense arousal she felt from him or whether being unconscious for so long had done something to deteriorate some of his awareness, and that worried her.

  If there was something wrong, she should stop him, figure out what it was and how to fix it… but she didn’t.

  She needed this, needed his touch, needed to feel him against her after watching him lie so still for so long. She didn’t want to stop him, wasn’t concerned he’d hurt her, so she remained quiet except the gasps and moans she couldn’t halt, as he bit and kissed his way down her stomach.

  When he got to her thighs, he extinguished his glow at the same moment that he shoved her legs apart.

  His low, hissing voice whispered from the sudden darkness, “I smell him on you.”

  Apparently a dip in the river hadn’t quite done it. Still, Aria wasn’t going to apologize for having sex with Tirox, so she didn’t respond, waiting to see what he did.

  Growling, he flicked his tongue over her clit, making her gasp and jerk then, with no warning, he plunged his tongue inside her. His hands clenched on her inner thighs as a deep groan vibrated his throat. She felt that vibration inside her and bit her lip to hold in a whimper.

  “Sweet. Wet. Mine.”

  Reaching for him, she clutched him to her, arching into his mouth, but he pulled away with a snarl, gripped her hips tightly, and flipped her over onto her stomach, then tugged her back until she was on hands and knees.

  Exhaling sharply, lashes fluttering, she felt wetness slick her thighs.

  She loved it, loved feeling him skate the line of losing control.

  She felt him slide himself up her back, the move slow, sinuous, a delicious contrast to his roughness, until his mouth was next to her ear.

  “Mine,” he hissed, fluttering his fingers over her pussy, lightly, teasingly, learning her shape by touch.

  Without warning, he thrust a finger inside her, hard enough to rock her body forward under the weight of his.

  “Yesss,” she moaned, pushing her hips back to take him deeper.

  He pumped into her once, twice, then slowly withdrew. Nipping her ear, he whispered, “Open for me, my aessa.”

  Breath coming in pants, she slid her knees farther apart so he could settle himself between them and felt him place his legs outside of hers so she was locked within the cage of his body. Fisting one hand in her hair and gripping her hip with the other, he kept his chest and hips pressed flush against her back and ass.

  Aria was trapped beneath him, rendered almost immobile by his clenched hands and the position of his body over hers.

  The anticipation of not knowing what he was going to do next had her heart thundering in her ears and goosebumps rising on her arms, but when she felt something pushing between her legs, she froze, confusion bleeding into her breathless excitement.

  What was it? His hands were on her, so what…

  A low, hitching moan trickled from her parted lips as realization dawned. It was his cock, stretching her open as it emerged from its sheath, pressing inexorably deeper one thick inch at a time.

  “Oh, god… ”

  Aria had no time to brace before the orgasm hit her, her walls clenching and releasing around him, but it was only a tease. She needed him deeper.

  “Kix… more,” she rasped.

  He growled a second before she felt him flex his hips.

  A shudder jolted up her spine and her choked cry echoed into the cave when he gave her exactly what she’d asked for and drove deep.

  His cock was a heavy weight inside her, thicker than she’d anticipated. Shifting her hips, she tried to adjust to it, panting through the sense of fullness, only to freeze for a second time when something thin and silky brushed over her clit.

  More little touches caressed her opening where she was stretched around him, over her clit again, and her lower lips.

  “What is that?” she breathed, shifting their weight to one arm so she could reach between her legs with the other.

  Little tendrils, dozens of them, were stroking and petting every inch of her pussy. Following them back with her touch, she realized they surrounded the base of his cock.

  “My cirri,” he groaned, jerking when she gently slid one through her fingers.

  As though that one small touch snapped his frayed control, he drew his hips back then slammed home, making her breasts sway and forcing a cry from her throat.

  Using his grip in her hair, Kix tilted her head to the side, giving him access to her neck and shoulder. He bit, licked, and sucked at the sensitive skin there as he drove into her again and again. His cirri zeroed in on her clit, circling and tugging at the little ball of nerves until every breath ended on a cry and another orgasm was rapidly building.

  When it hit, she went stiff, mouth open in a silent scream, hips jerking and shoving back, trying to take him deeper.

  He rode her through her release, not stopping or slowing to give her time to recover. With every hard, shattering thrust, he hissed “My aessa, my treasure,” until he was just repeating ‘mine’ over and over again as he fucked her.

  She felt… consumed.

  All she could feel was Kix—his hands all over her, his thick cock moving between her legs, his
weight against her back. All she could hear was the slap of their bodies coming together, his feverish growls, and her own desperate cries.

  His hammering thrusts faltered, and a low, hoarse groan sounded in her ear just before she felt the first hot jet of cum flood her pussy.

  Aria’s eyes went wide when his cock began quivering inside her. It grew and intensified until his entire shaft was vibrating.

  Her arms gave out, and her top half collapsed to the moss beneath her as a third orgasm followed on the heels of the second.

  Through the waves of pleasure drowning her, she felt Kix straighten and grip her hips with both hands. Driving himself past her clenching walls, he fucked her hard as he came, jolting her body every time he bottomed out.

  His thrusts slowed gradually, in time with the diminishing waves of her orgasm. He paused for a long moment, buried inside her, jerking as his body forced out spurts of cum until they overflowed and leaked out around the tight seal of his vibrating cock to slick her thighs.

  With a groan, he bowed himself over her and used his knees to push her legs back, slowly guiding her to lie flat on the ground with him settled on top of her, keeping his shaft buried deep and using his own legs to make sure hers stayed spread wide.

  Wordlessly, he slid a hand under her hip and cupped her pussy, his other still fisted in her hair.

  “Kix, what are you—”

  “Must,” he hissed.

  Aria’s gasp when his fingers brushed over her swollen clit was answered by his pleased growl. Before she could question what he was doing, he was rubbing it, wet and slippery with his cum, in hard, fast circles.

  Kix kept his cock shoved deep, thrusting shallowly, and ruthlessly worked her, pinning her writhing body beneath his as he forced her into two shattering, back-to-back orgasms.

  By the time he apparently decided he’d made her come enough, her entire body was tingling, she could barely breathe, and her walls were still rhythmically squeezing and contracting around his cock.

  Kix pushed himself up and, with a choked sound and a hard shudder, slowly withdrew, then promptly tipped to the side and collapsed onto the moss next to her.

  Aria, stunned and panting, braced a hand beneath her and rolled herself onto her back, then just lay there, trying to remember what it was like to not be delirious with pleasure.

  “That was… intense,” she rasped with a throaty chuckle.

  Still breathing hard, she let her head loll to the side when she saw his glow come to life and eyed him. He looked shell-shocked, staring at the ceiling of the cave with a slightly dazed, very satiated expression.

  Aria sighed happily, feeling both incredibly relaxed and utterly content. Before, when she’d had sex, the moment the lassitude wore off, she got antsy, ready for the man to leave or make a getaway herself. With Tirox earlier, and now with Kix, that was completely absent. That feeling of restlessness never came, and fleeing was the last thing on her mind. In fact, she wanted to… cuddle?

  Damn. I really am going soft.

  She watched him blink rapidly at her words. A smile began curling his lips before it was replaced with a bemused frown. “Yes. I, em, I am not sure why I… I just… I needed to claim you. Apologies, aessa. I did not mean to mount you so roughly.”

  Smiling wider, she snorted and purred, “It wasn’t a complaint, I promise.” Narrowing her eyes contemplatively, she almost asked about the whole pinning thing there at the end, but that wasn’t the question that came out. “Why no kissing?”

  He turned his head to return her look, his frown deepening. “Is kissing customary during coupling among your people?

  “Usually, yes. Is it not among yours?”

  He appeared vaguely alarmed at the thought. “No. Instinct tells us the female will take the opportunity to inject her venom should we put anything close to her mouth, though Caljaans no longer mate so… violently.”

  “Like a black widow,” she realized with a smirk halfway between amused and slightly horrified. “Is that why your fangs are out? Just in case?”

  He winced and slid his tongue over one of said fangs. “Ah… no. Males inject a small dose of venom through a bite to… ease the female and enhance her pleasure.”

  Aria snorted, “And slow her reaction time so she doesn’t take a chunk out of you mid-coitus?”

  He returned her smile, the sparkles in his eyes brightening with amusement. “Just so.”

  “I promise not to bite you if you put… things close to my mouth,” she hummed teasingly, dropping her gaze to his cock, still semi-hard against his pearlescent grey stomach.

  Instead of looking enthusiastic, or even interested in the prospect of a blow job, he just looked confused. Aria was thrown for a second before she realized having fangs likely wasn’t conducive to oral sex. Shaking her head, she chuckled.

  Oh, I cannot wait to show him exactly what he’s missed out on. Tirox, too, come to think of it…

  Focusing on him and the inquisitive feeling he sent her, she slowly became serious. She’d missed that, missed the intense curiosity animating his handsome face, missed having his emotions fluttering through her mind like a caress.

  Reaching out, she laid a hand on his chest. The strange double thump of his heart beating steadily beneath her palm loosened her shoulders and made her eyes sting with the threat of tears.

  Speaking through the lump in her throat, she whispered, “I’m so glad you’re okay. Don’t ever fucking scare me like that again.”

  He rolled onto his side and gathered her close. Pressing his lips to her forehead, he spoke against her skin, “I would not leave you, aessa. Not for anything.”

  “Damn right,” she sniffed.

  Chapter 22

  The sound of a scuff had Kix lighting up against her. Glancing over her shoulder, Aria spotted Tirox coming down the sloped tunnel leading to their cave.

  His golden gaze zeroed in on them the moment he entered fully. Almost too quick to catch, possessiveness flashed across his face before it was replaced with a teasing smirk.

  “Ah. I see you finally managed to entice our mate from her slumber,” he joked, but there was an edge to his voice he couldn’t quite hide, and he turned away almost immediately, heading to crouch by the river and rifle through the bag he was carrying.

  Aria watched him walk away but didn’t answer. That flash of possessiveness had worry instantly tightening her chest. More, it made her feel uncomfortable, like she’d done something wrong.

  Maybe it was just seeing her in Kix’s arms for the first time and knowing they’d obviously had sex.

  Or, maybe he was never truly comfortable with sharing to begin with.

  What if he’d only been okay with this unique relationship in theory, but seeing the reality of it was too much?

  She knew she should get up, talk to him, but, for the life of her, she didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t even try and understand how he felt, because she wouldn’t have been okay with even the idea of sharing, let alone seeing it actually happen.

  She didn’t know what to do.

  This wasn’t going to work if he got jealous every time she was with Kix.

  Aria prided herself on being able to handle just about any situation, but this wasn’t combat or talking some psycho down off the proverbial ledge or analyzing a suspect in order to manipulate them into confessing. This was Tirox.

  Emotions made things messy and loving him meant she’d lost every shred of objectivity. On top of that, she just didn’t have the relationship experience to know how to approach this situation.

  Aria realized she’d been following their lead, taking them at their word that they wanted this, that they were okay with it. They were the ones familiar with relationships like theirs. Hell, they were the ones to talk her into it!

  No… it was Kix. I don’t remember Tirox saying anything definitive about it one way or the other.

  When she realized that, worry rocketed into full-on distress.

  She knew she was more than li
kely overanalyzing the situation. Maybe she was getting upset over nothing, but these two men meant everything to her. Even the possibility of losing either of them was enough to send her spiraling into worst-case scenarios.

  Kix must have felt her mounting anxiety—not that she’d had the wherewithal to try and hide it—because he sent her a soothing wave of calm.

  Guiding her gaze back to him with a finger under her chin, he pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead and whispered, “Be calm, aessa. I will speak to him. Stay here?”

  He got up before she could answer and walked over to join Tirox by the river.

  Taking a deep breath, she sat up and busied herself with examining the various items she’d taken off the guards, but she glanced over at them repeatedly.

  In the pile, she spotted three rings she suspected might be magical healing hula hoops, a couple of flat disks, another two guns, and a matte black, metal stick about a foot long.

  Picking up the metal stick, she turned it over in her hands, looking for a button, light, or trigger of some kind, but it was completely smooth. She set it down and reached for one of the rings instead. Pinching it between her fingers, she pulled to see if it would expand like the one Kix used on her in the valley. It did.

  Good. Having a way to heal ourselves that doesn’t involve falling into a coma will definitely be handy.

  Thinking about her men again, she continued playing with the ring but strained her ears to try and pick up what they were saying. All she could make out was unintelligible mumbling.

  After a few seconds, she blew out a breath and resolutely went back to staring at the pile of stuff, telling herself it wasn’t her business what they were talking about. Snatching up one of the disk-looking objects at random, she scrutinized it, pretending she wasn’t still trying to eavesdrop.

  That lasted roughly three seconds before low, male laughter had her whipping back around to stare at them.

  They were sitting side by side now, their legs dangling in the water. Tirox chuckled again and reached over to give Kix a friendly slap on the back.