by Kate Rudolph
Was he trying to keep her from asking?
Why would he?
Did Emily want to ask right now?
That brought her up short. For the past six months her one goal had been to find a way back home. It had kept her going through the darkest times and she’d used that goal to keep others going as well. She had a life back home. There was supposed to be a job waiting for her, though she had no idea if it would still be there after a six month long disappearance. But even if it wasn’t, so what. She could find another firm to work for.
Though how would she explain her disappearance? ‘Abducted by aliens’ wasn’t exactly going to go over well with the cops or any future bosses. And if she went through with the bond and still went home, would she keep the wings?
What would happen to Oz?
They’d met a week ago. She couldn’t even begin to think of asking him to go home with her. But what if?
No, that was crazy talk.
It didn’t matter that he was the first man who ever made her want like this. He technically wasn’t a man at all, not a human anyway. And yet, she’d kissed him. And she wanted to do it again.
And he wanted her.
Emily shivered, and not from the cold, though that was starting to seep in.
Oz wanted her. Not because of their Match or anything like that. He wanted her.
And it was nice to be wanted.
Had she really needed to travel to another planet to find out what that was like? There’d been guys back home that seemed to like her well enough. She’d even gone on dates with a few of them. But when it came time for anything more, something had held her back. She hadn’t needed them. Hadn’t felt like she couldn’t take her next breath if she didn’t get close to them.
She could see herself needing Oz. And it terrified her. And turned her on.
What would she do if she fell for him and then had to leave? How would she recover?
Emily let her head fall against the body of the vehicle and didn’t even wince at the feel of the cold metal. She was supposed to be focused on getting home. She couldn’t let a guy derail all of that. Not even if he came with wings and made promises about what she could be if she accepted him.
But he hadn’t pushed. If he had pushed she would have pushed back and she knew she wouldn’t be all messed up inside. But Oz had just given her the facts and allowed her to walk away. She knew he was the one in control here. If he wanted to turn evil on her there wasn’t much she could do. But he seemed to care more about making her comfortable.
Fuck!
Even in her mind the curse felt over the top, but she had a feeling she’d be much more adept at cursing before this whole thing was through. Maybe she’d even adopt a few of the Zulir sayings. What was it that Oz had said? By Brazon’s bowels? Well, that sure was evocative.
She couldn’t hide out by the vehicle all night. Eventually Oz was going to come find her, if only to make sure she hadn’t been eaten by bears. Space-bears. Whatever the Zulir equivalent to bears was.
She walked over and took a seat beside Oz, grabbing at one of the blankets he had laid out. “Do you have bears here?” Maybe she should be asking something else, but now that it had occurred to her it was going to eat her up inside. Especially since she didn’t want to think about bears eating up her outsides.
“Bears?” he asked, saying it like he’d never heard the word before.
“Big furry brown animals? Teeth? Claws? Sometimes eat hikers?” She remembered an English gymnast being horrified at the fact that they could stumble across bears in the wild in America. It had seemed funny at the time, but now that she was contemplating vicious wildlife that might come out under the cover of darkness it wasn’t so funny.
“There are no large predators in this sector,” he assured her. “We have nothing to fear from the wildlife.”
She hoped that was true, but she wasn’t going to make Oz promise. It wasn’t like he had some sort of power over space-bears. At least, he would have mentioned that by now, right? She clamped her mouth shut to keep from asking. Clearly the blood loss and shock from the Matching was making her loopy. She couldn’t be held responsible for what she said right now.
Or did.
Because it would be really unwise to do something right now. Something like crawl onto Oz’s lap and wrap her arms around him. Or to cover his mouth with her own and pick up where they’d left off.
She really shouldn’t do that.
Really.
She shouldn’t.
It would just complicate things further.
And things were complicated enough.
And yet she found herself leaning into Oz’s side, nuzzling her head into his neck and breathing deep. How could he still smell good after everything they’d gone through?
Something rumbled in his chest. Was he purring? It wasn’t exactly like a cat, but it was close enough. And maybe the strange sound should have turned her off, but Emily found herself splaying a hand across his chest to see if she could make it louder.
Yup. She could.
She couldn’t pinpoint the moment she decided to move, but before she knew it she was sitting on his lap, her hands on his shoulders, looking right at him. Lightning crackled in his eyes, red and blue just like his wings. She wanted him to bring them out and wrap them around her, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to ask. It felt too intimate, even though she was sitting on him, a breath away from kissing him. She couldn’t do it.
She didn’t need to.
His wings flared out behind him and then wrapped up in front of her, the electricity raising the hair on her arms. “Can I touch them?” She’d barely resisted it before, she couldn’t do it a second time. Not after all that had happened in the last hours. She was at the end of her emotional rope and out of discipline. What she wanted, she was going to take, and she couldn’t stop herself. She didn’t want to.
But Oz took it a step further and moved one of his wings, brushing it against her back.
Emily gasped, her nipples tightening and her body writhing where she sat, her core coiled with need. “That feels good,” she said, voice full of awe. “How?” It looked like it was as deadly as a live wire, but she wanted more, and leaned into his touch.
“We’re Matched,” Oz said as if that explained everything.
Maybe it did. They were in sync on some unknowable level, bodies, minds, molecules all lined up and ready to bond together. Emily could feel Oz’s well of power and it wouldn’t take much to reach for it, but she forced herself to back off. She wasn’t going to do that now, not in the heat of the moment, not when she didn’t know if it could be taken back.
She didn’t need to take his power to feel him all around her. Tonight she could have him, bond be damned.
And she wanted.
Why should she wait?
She leaned in, pressing her lips against his, the kiss almost gentle compared to the swirl of need going on inside of her. When she’d kissed him in the car it had been an acknowledgment that they’d survived. This was something else entirely. This was a promise of pleasure. On some level she’d known that kisses meant different things, but she hadn’t known they could be so specific. But lips and tongues were involved. Of course this would be a language of its own.
His wings were driving her crazy, touching her like extra arms. And Oz seemed to be able to extend them even farther than his hands, tendrils of his power wrapping around her legs and covering her from head to toe. It was too much, and yet she wanted more.
His pants were thick, like something meant for rough work... or to deflect the weapons of patrols coming after them, but despite the material she could still feel his hardening length pressing against her. Emily rocked forward, seeking out contact. Even if she’d never done this before her body knew what it wanted.
Him.
“You’re eager, aren’t you?” It came out more growl than words and Emily shivered, her body coiling even tighter. How did people live with this kind of feeling?
It was at the edge of painful and she wasn’t sure how much more she could take.
And he was barely touching her. She was going to go mad if he gave her more.
“I don’t see you complaining,” she managed to shoot back. She wished she had wings so she could wrap him up in them and give back exactly what he was giving to her. But she wasn’t going to reach for that power now. She kissed him again and pulled at his shirt, trying to get it off, the chill in the air forgotten.
Oz pulled it over his head and grinned at her. Emily’s heart stopped. Damn he was a well-made man. The iridescence of his skin was laid on top of strong muscles that rippled under her fingers. And tattoos. She hadn’t known he’d had tattoos. The patterns swirled and danced in dark lines along his arms. But there seemed to be something missing, a swath of unmarked skin waiting to be colored in.
She was about to ask, but he pulled her forward and they were kissing again.
When he tugged at the hem of her own shirt, she stiffened. She tried to hide it, but it was impossible to shield her body’s reaction to him when she was sitting on his lap. She wanted this, wanted him. It didn’t have to be a big deal.
So why did taking her shirt off feel like one? She’d performed in front of thousands in skin tight leotards and it had never bothered her.
She yanked her shirt off and threw it to the ground, but the cool air made her shiver and she wrapped her arms tight around herself. Not to cover up, she insisted to the little voice in her head that insisted she should take her time. No, it was just about the temperature.
Though if Oz kept looking at her like that she wasn’t going to stay cold for long.
Oz’s blue eyes raked up and down her naked torso, taking in her own muscles and small breasts. She knew what she looked like. It wasn’t a romantic ideal, too short, too muscular, too flat, but it had been exactly the body she needed for most of her life.
“No need to hide,” his voice rumbled over her, making her skin break out in goosebumps. “Let me see you.”
Chapter Eleven
THIS FELT MONUMENTAL.
It couldn’t be. Emily had to find a way to maintain some sort of emotional distance or she was going to fall apart.
So why wasn’t she moving?
Oz placed his hands on her arms but didn’t make an effort to pull them away. “There’s no need to rush, my little flyer.” He reached down with one hand and came back with his own shirt, offering it to her.
“Little flyer?” Emily smiled even as the worlds unfurled something in her heart.
Now it was Oz’s turn to look down. Was he blushing? The tinge of his skin and the darkness around them made it difficult to tell. “You’re magnificent in the air,” he said. “Flying without wings. Without fear. I hope you let me see it again one day.”
The praise washed over her and Emily couldn’t stop her smile. She’d always loved performing, but she’d heard so much hollow feedback in her life it was difficult to trust. Oz wasn’t a coach, he wasn’t her parents, and she believed what he said. It made her just as warm as the heat in his gaze and gave her the final courage needed to drop her arms to her sides and be on display before him.
“Have you done this before?” he asked, voice even rougher. He seemed determined to maintain eye contact, but he wasn’t made of stone, and she caught the split second he glanced down to see what she was offering.
She wanted to lie. Wanted to pretend to be some wanton minx who knew every trick in and out of bed. But she doubted she could keep up the charade. And she didn’t want to lie to Oz. Not here. Not now. But the words were hard to say, so she shook her head and hoped he understood.
If the way his wings coiled even tighter around her were any indication, he did. “I want to make you feel good,” he said. “Will you let me?”
She’d let him do a lot more than that. “Yes,” she whispered, and she almost didn’t recognize the sound of her own voice. Had it ever been that... needy before?
“Good little flyer.”
Emily shivered. She couldn’t help it.
And Oz couldn’t help but notice. “You like that?” he asked, lips pressed against her ear.
Was it the name? The Apsyns had denied her a name and given her a new one and she’d hated it.
“You’re doing so good,” Oz said again, “now lay back and enjoy it.”
Damn, that was it. Not the name. She’d have to think about that later, when her body wasn’t on fire with lust and her brain basically mush.
Though he’d told her to lay down, Oz held Emily back and spread a blanket out on the ground before laying her down. There was something romantic about the stars above them and the alien forest all around them. It was like they were the only two people who existed in the world, dedicated to giving pleasure to one another with no worries about what came next.
Those worries tried to rear their heads, but Emily pushed them away. It was easy with Oz kneeling at her feet and looking at her like he’d never seen a woman before. Did Zulir women look so different under their clothes? Was he going to take his pants off and reveal a mass of tentacles where his dick should be?
“What’s that look?” Oz asked. “Are you alright?”
Too much time to think. She didn’t say that bit out loud. Barely. “We’re all...” she waved her hand between them as if that would explain what she was thinking, but Oz didn’t seem to pick that up. “Our parts will... fit? Right?”
Lightning crackled in his eyes and the electricity of his wings tickled her skin. “Oh yes,” he promised. “We’ll fit perfectly. But not tonight.”
“Wait. What?” She would have shot up, but Oz came down on top of her, resting a hand against her shoulder to keep her in place. “Why?” It came out a little like a whine, and Emily might have been embarrassed if she couldn’t feel the way his cock thickened against her abdomen.
“I want to bed you properly,” he said, peppering kisses down her neck. “You deserve a bed. And all of a suitor’s trappings. Sweets. Silks. Scented baths. All of it.”
Was that the Synnr equivalent of flowers and chocolate? She’d take it, but... “I just want you,” she confessed.
“You have me,” he promised.
Maybe it was just for tonight, or for however long it took to get away from the Apsyns. But Emily could already feel the way he was nestled in her heart. She hated to be a cliché. She shouldn’t fall for the first guy she got intimate with. But it was happening and she didn’t know if she’d be able to stop it.
The further she got into this thing with him, the more she was certain she didn’t want to.
“Let me make you feel good,” he said.
“Yes.” She wanted it all, but she’d take what she could get.
She expected him to rip off her pants and go right for the good stuff. She might have been a virgin, but she had plenty of friends that seemed to revel in talking about sex. And their boyfriends all liked to rush.
But Oz wasn’t a boy, he was all man. And he wasn’t in any hurry.
She almost expected it when his lips caressed her nipple. Was almost ready for it, but that almost still had her gasping and arching against him. The wet heat was nothing like when she touched herself. How could it feel so different? So much better? Her breasts had never done much for her before, but with a single swipe of his tongue Oz had made her a believer.
His palm flattened against her stomach, keeping her in place as he took his time with her chest. He was evil, a freaking demon set on tempting her. And she gladly surrendered to the temptation, whimpering and gasping out words she wasn’t sure made any sense. She didn’t care. Not so long as he gave her more.
And he did, his teeth and fangs teasing her enough to make her hips arch up. One of her knees fell to the side, begging for him to give her sex attention. The fabric of her pants was too constricted and she wanted them gone, but when her own fingers sought out her waistband, Oz clamped down on them.
“No, no, no,” he said. “You’re all mine to play with.”
“Fuck,” the curse pulled out of her, no better word to describe the wanton lust she was feeling. She’d cursed more in the last three days than she had in her entire life. Oz just pulled it out of her, and she couldn’t help it. She didn’t want to.
If he wasn’t going to touch her and she couldn’t touch herself she’d have to do what she could to get the touch she needed. She squeezed her legs together, hoping for just a little relief, but Oz repositioned himself, crawling between her legs until she was spread open.
“No need to rush,” he whispered as his lips found her skin again.
“Yes,” she begged. “Please, rush.” Her body was on fire and he was the only one who could put it out.
Why did he insist on torturing her?
EMILY’S GRAY EYES BLAZED with lust and Oz’s cock got even harder. It threatened to burst out of his pants, though he was pretty sure that was impossible. But if it could happen at any moment, it would happen now, when he had his beautiful untouched flyer laying beneath him.
He was a barbarian to revel in the idea that he was the only one who’d been allowed this close to her. He wanted to be the only one she ever let into her bed... if he could find them a bed. But he had to keep those words tightly caged inside for now. She wasn’t ready to hear them, and he refused to make her run.
She tasted like salt and skin and all his hopes coming true. He wanted to peel off her pants and taste the core of her and find out what was her most secret flavor. She had to be soaking, if the way she shuddered under him was any indication. It would take no effort at all to slip into her, to feel her tight heat wrapped around his cock and bury himself all the way in.
But he’d said that she deserved a bed and he meant it. He wanted to give her every luxury, every lover’s gift. Wanted to prove to her that he could be what she needed.
He’d never done that before. He’d had plenty of lovers, but it had never meant anything besides a pleasurable time.
Emily meant everything.
And not just because of the Match.
But the Match made this perfect.