by A. G. Wilde
The next thing he knew...no, the next thing he felt, was his entire body ignite as she pressed her lips against his.
Chapter Twenty-One
Diana pressed her lips against his, opening her mouth slightly as their skin touched. She paused for a second, her hot breath brushing against his mouth, as she suddenly froze.
She wasn’t sure what she was doing but she couldn’t stop now.
Beneath her arms, she could feel his muscles tighten but he didn’t move. He didn’t stop her, he didn’t jerk away…he did nothing. It was as if he was waiting to see what she would do next.
Either that or he was leaving it up to her, giving her control over the situation.
As the rain beat down on them, this time the droplets felt warm. Maybe it was the rising suns or maybe it was just that her entire body was heated just from the touch of his lips against hers.
But still, she hesitated.
She hated him, so why was she doing this?
“I hate you.” Her whisper brushed against his lips and there was a pause. His lips moved slightly as if he was hiding a smile.
“I know.” His deep voice filled her mind and then he closed the distance between them, pressing his lips softly against hers. He paused there for a second.
As she opened her mouth a little more to run her tongue over his lips, she felt him stiffen again.
Oh, this must be new to him. Maybe the Arois didn’t do kissing?
Well, maybe this would be his first lesson then.
As she ran her tongue against his lips, pressing slightly at the line where his lips closed, Yce finally relented, opening his mouth slightly to let her tongue in.
It was like electricity, feeling the smoothness of his tongue against hers, the warmth of his mouth as the rain fell down on them both.
Groaning, she pressed her body against his, forgetting about everything else for a minute and she felt his arms circle her waist as he held her against him.
She played with his tongue for a little and when she sucked his bottom lip into her mouth, she felt him shudder against her.
“Diana.” His groan moved through his body and echoed in hers.
And then it was like there was no holding back.
His mouth opened to hers and she opened to him. His tongue was on hers, his lips against hers, and he was kissing her, mimicking what she’d done before with such precision she felt her legs go weak. But his strong arms held her to him as his mouth took hers. He was tasting her and she him, and she knew, Diana knew it was a taste she wouldn’t soon forget.
It was a taste she didn’t want to forget.
They clung to each other as if finding newfound strength in each other’s arms and she knew he was feeling it too—that magnetic attraction that she’d been ignoring. It was there, pulling her to him.
They stood, each unwilling to release the other, and they didn’t need to.
Right then, it was only the two of them.
As the rain fell, washing away the dirt and grime of the night before, they clung to each other, lips entwined as the rain wet them both.
His lips were like sugar, his tongue like honey. Smooth and demanding, his kiss was making her entire body flood with need.
And she could feel his need too. It was against her leg; a hardness that was pressing against her, demanding its own attention.
Yce.
She sighed against his lips as they kissed.
She wanted him. She wasn’t going to deny it anymore.
When he opened his eyes and looked at her, she stared back at him, unable to look away.
And for once, his gaze wasn’t unnerving. No. The strangeness of his white eyes lit a new fire within her. One she wasn’t sure she wanted to ever put out.
* * *
When the rain stopped and Yce finally released her, she let her hands slip from around his neck.
She wasn’t usually one to be lost for words, but what the hell was that?
What had she just done? What had they just done?
There was a lot to say, yet neither said anything.
“We should continue trekking.” Yce let his hands fall to his sides as his gaze fell over her.
They were still standing so close that her nipples were against his chest. If she even as much as sighed, they’d brush against his hard blue pectorals and the thought alone was making them hard.
Diana cleared her throat.
“Yes.” She grabbed the now soaked cloth bag in her hands. Their pants were both soaked, but she slipped hers on again. She had no top to wear—there was no way she was going to put on that plant skin again. Not after what happened last night.
She didn’t want anything to do with those plants again.
She’d just have to walk with her hands crossed over her chest to hide her breasts somewhat and hope the suns dried her pants fast.
The good thing was that the rain had washed away all the slime and she was mostly clean, as clean as she was going to get without a proper shower.
Yce turned and grabbed his blade from somewhere in the sand, and Diana almost gasped audibly.
It was there. Undeniably there.
She knew she’d felt it but seeing it was another thing.
His erection was a glorious sight to behold. Even behind his trousers, it was stretching the fabric and its outline was clear.
Biting back a whimper as a lightning bolt shot straight to her clit, Diana squeezed her eyes shut for a second before turning and following in his footsteps.
It was stretching his pants like a rod of correction and boy had she been a bad girl. Bad enough to need a spanking. Preferably with that rod in a certain place.
Taking a deep breath, she cleared her throat.
She didn’t know what that kiss was or where it came from but it didn’t automatically mean there’d be any romance between them. Their objective was the same as at the start of the mission.
Get to the outpost.
Contact the rest of the Restitution.
That’s what they were supposed to do.
They were walking for a few minutes and the silence was becoming deafening.
She didn’t understand him.
Was he going to say nothing?
And how could he be so...different from what she’d expected?
He had used his mind against her and she’d hated him for doing it but he was the absolute opposite from what she thought he was.
“Why did you drug me?”
His steps faltered for a second and he turned to look at her. “Drug you?”
“When you altered my mind on the Isclit ship. Why did you do it?”
He took a few seconds to just look at her and she couldn’t read his eyes. They were back to being unreadable white pools.
“‘Drug’ makes it sound bad.” He was watching her closely and Diana crossed her arms tighter over her chest, hiding her nipples so only the mounds of her breasts could be seen.
“It was bad. Don’t you understand that?”
He blinked but didn’t answer.
“Where I come from, that’s a terrible thing to do. People do it to others they want to control, usually for very, very bad reasons. People do it when they want to take away your freedom.”
“I didn’t consider it in such a way. I did it to protect everyone. I needed to be focused or the mission would fail.”
“Surely, you could have just explained this to me back then. You—” She was suddenly feeling emotional and the emotions were strong. Taking a deep breath, she continued. “You have no idea how it made me feel finding out that I had no control over anything.”
Her blue eyes met his and she was surprised by what she saw in his.
He was bewildered. Even on his alien face, that emotion was clear, and it was only when the tear ran down her face that she realized just how upset she was.
He was in front of her in a second.
“I did not mean to hurt you.” His voice echoed the regret that was in his eyes. Raising his han
d to her cheek, he wiped her tear away with a finger and she let him.
“It’s not just you. I just hate it. I hate it.”
He stared at her for a second, his gaze searching her face.
“You have been hurt,” he finally uttered, and she shook her head.
“No, I’m just upset.”
“No.” He raised her chin and forced her to meet his gaze. “You have been hurt. A long time ago.”
Diana gulped and for a second, a sliver of fear ran through her before being replaced with anger.
“Get out of my head,” she said through gritted teeth.
“I don’t have to be in your head. It is in your eyes.” His gaze searched hers and it felt as if he was looking deep into her soul.
It made her feel...vulnerable. She wanted to pull away from him but couldn’t.
“Let me see,” he said, as he rested his palms on either side of her head.
“What—what are you going to do?” But she knew exactly what he meant. Yet, she didn’t stop him.
No one knew of her past hurt. At least, no one in her adult life.
Her stepfather was dead, her mother died before she was even old enough to remember her, and after she’d ran away from home to stay with her aunt, she’d never spoken of the horrors that happened in her bedroom every night.
And now, this alien, this man, he was asking to see back into those days, to find the fuel to her fire, and she wasn’t stopping him.
Instead, something inside her wanted him to. Something inside her wanted to share the pain that had fueled her to fight all these years.
It would be the first time sharing it with anyone, and somehow, it felt right sharing it with him.
She could feel a slight fuzziness in her mind and she knew it was him. It was oddly relaxing, almost like a massage and she could almost forget for a second about the thoughts that he was about to see.
As she began to remember the events that occurred between her and her stepfather back in that little room in Minnesota, she fought back the tears and pain the memories held.
Staring into Yce’s eyes, she refused to let another tear fall.
She was stronger than that now.
She was bigger than that.
But as her memories floated in her mind, she saw the anger grow in his face. It was so strong that his lips curled into a snarl.
But then, as the memories continued to her running away and then finding strength and becoming a woman, his face slowly changed.
First, she saw pity reflect there and she almost pulled away from him.
The last thing she wanted him to feel was pity for her.
That was one thing she didn’t want anyone to feel for her.
She didn’t want anyone’s pity.
But soon, his expression changed to sadness and then to something else...awe.
As his hands slowly fell from her temples, he blinked while still staring at her intently.
“I must apologize.” He seemed to be struggling with finding the right words because he paused and just looked back at her for a few seconds more. “I am not like that man.”
A sad laugh bubbled through her. “I know you’re not like him. I just...”
How could she explain it?
“This is why you hate me.” His eyes were still searching hers so earnestly she almost smiled.
“Yes.” But he knew she didn’t really hate him right? She’d tried. She couldn’t.
His gaze faltered and she saw pain cross his face.
“I am sorry, Diana. It was never my intention to hurt you.”
Diana nodded, a small smile crossing her lips. She realized he hadn’t meant to.
“It seems there are demons everywhere across our universe.” His whisper was so low she almost didn’t hear what he said.
“What do you mean?”
He met her gaze again. “The Tasqals. What they do to women. To entire worlds. It is similar to what you experienced with that human male.”
Oh. She understood what he meant now.
“I wouldn’t call them demons.”
“What would you call them?”
“Pure. Scum.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
They’d continued walking and the suns were beating down on them like wicked, unrelenting masters.
She’d already eaten two of the food packets and had given one to Yce. To her surprise, he’d taken the food without a fight this time.
“We’re close,” she heard him say as he stopped walking suddenly, raising the arm with the blade in the air.
As he let out a whistle, Diana caught up with him to see what was ahead.
A cloud of dust was approaching them and for a second, she thought it was a mini twister, but as whatever it was came closer, she realized it was...
What the hell were those?
They looked like huge...dragons? Only they were snakes? Like two large black anacondas with massive thorny heads like that of a dragon.
“What in the actual Drogon...” Without realizing it, she gripped Yce’s arm.
Had he raised his hand to signal that she should be ready to fight?
Fight...those?
Diana raised her wide eyes to his but Yce looked completely relaxed, now shielding his eyes from the suns as he watched the creatures approach.
“Shouldn’t we run?” She glanced back at the things approaching and her heart hammered in her chest, fight-or-flight mode activated.
“Not this time.” She could see the anticipation in his eyes but her heart didn’t slow down.
The closer they came, the larger the creatures became and she couldn’t help but feel every hair on her body stand up from her skin.
But there was something else.
Diana squinted as she looked closer at the approaching creatures.
It must be her eyes but it seemed as if the creatures had little seats on their backs? Rows of seats and there were people in them.
Well, not people. Clearly not people.
There were no people on this god-forsaken planet, apart from her and the others. Only aliens.
As they came close enough for Yce’s voice to reach them, he spoke in a language she did not understand and she heard one of the aliens on the back of Daenerys’ lost sons respond.
The creatures slowed to a stop, causing sand to kick up into the air and Diana covered her nose and shielded her face.
When the sand settled, she realized Yce was already walking forward and several little men were jumping from the snake-dragons to land on the ground, little spears in their hands.
They spoke excitedly but she couldn’t understand a word. She was more distracted by the snake-dragon that was close to her.
It blinked its large eyes at her before resting its head in the sand. Just like that, it was as if the plates that covered its skin flipped and the thing became almost transparent.
Diana’s eyes widened.
The other snake-dragon did the same thing and she took a few steps backward.
Yeaaaa...nope.
The chattering of the newcomers drew her attention again and she realized Yce was now having a deep conversation with them.
She noticed something else.
They were...tiny.
She reckoned if she stood beside one, he would reach her at the knee.
They were brown, varying degrees of brown, almost the color of the sand. She guessed she could say they were sandy then. There were six of them, all wearing little robes the exact color of the sand. Paired with their little round bald heads, they reminded her of little monks. Except, monks didn’t carry spears and monks didn’t look at her the way they were looking at her now.
As all the newcomers turned to look at her at the same time, she assumed the conversation had turned to her. And they were frowning.
Covering her nipples by folding her hands across her chest, Diana cleared her throat and glanced at Yce.
“They say a being like you was in one of their outposts recently,” he expla
ined.
For a second, she was confused then she realized who it must have been.
“Athena.”
“Yes,” Yce confirmed. “They will bring us back to their outpost. It is not far from here.”
“Ok.” Sounded good but she was still eyeing them cautiously, in the same way they were eyeing her.
As the little men began climbing up on the snake-dragons, Diana glanced at Yce.
“I’m supposed to get on that thing?”
“They are the fastest way to travel on this land.” He must have seen her hesitation because he continued. “You will be safe.”
“Sounds like some famous last words right there.” She eyed the creatures again before taking a few steps forward.
They were so huge; she wondered how men as tall as her knee managed to climb on the things. But closer inspection gave her an answer.
The little men seemed to have some kind of suction on their hands, allowing them to hang on to the sides of the creatures as they climbed up.
As she reached the closest creature, she looked up at the little seats.
It wasn’t so terrifying now that she wasn’t standing near the animal’s head but it was still large and intimidating.
As she looked for a way to climb up, she felt Yce’s arms surround her waist as he lifted her high enough for her to grab onto one of the seats.
A small yelp left her lips, the movement unexpected and the feel of his skin against hers making her tingle.
As he let her go, she almost felt disappointed but brushed it off as he hoisted himself up to sit beside her.
The large creatures began moving, the little men in robes sitting in front as they directed the animals where to go.
“What are these things?” She glanced at Yce only to find that he had his eyes on her already.
It was strange, the sudden need she felt to brush her hair behind her ear and look away. Pushing away the thought, she held his gaze.
“Uloms,” he replied, his gaze never leaving hers.
His eyes were gorgeous. So surreal, mystical almost, but so gorgeous.
“They seem like the only thing on this planet not trying to kill us.”
“They would. But these have been tamed by the Mukkians.” A soft smile passed through his eyes and Diana found she was staring, transfixed.