Chapter 9 #2
“You sent pictures of your broken arm to everyone you know last night.”
He chuckles, the sound vibrating through his chest. “I did.”
“A dozen pictures. From multiple angles.”
“It’s a very impressive break.”
I can’t help but laugh. “You’re outrageous.”
“No. I’m proud.” He tips my chin up so I’m looking at him. “My human Bride broke my arm during the claiming chase. Do you know how rare that is, even for a Xylan female? How difficult? My brothers will be telling this story for generations.”
“Aren’t they going to think I’m some kind of violent lunatic?”
“They’re going to think you’re perfect.” He presses a kiss to my forehead. “Because you are.”
My tablet buzzes again. I reach for it reluctantly, not wanting to leave the warm cocoon of his arms.
It’s a message from an unfamiliar sender, the Costume Ball event committee. I scan the contents, and my eyes widen.
“What is it?” Bayzon asks.
“I won.” I sit up, staring at the screen. “The grand prize. They are reminding me that despite the mist and the fact that they weren’t able to perform a proper prize ceremony, I was still the last one wearing a mask when the clock struck midnight, so I won.”
“Of course you won. You’re my Bride. Winning is what we do.”
I laugh and smack his chest lightly. “The prize is a weeklong luxury cruise of the Nebula. First class. All expenses paid. For me and a guest.”
He raises an eyebrow. “A guest?”
I glance down with a mischievous smirk. “I was thinking of asking this grumpy Xylan I know. He’s kind of broody and intense, but he’s very pretty to look at.”
“Pretty?” He growls, rolling us over so he’s hovering above me, bracing himself on his good arm. “I am not pretty. I am fearsome.”
And now the sheets have slid down and we’re both naked. I can feel his hard cock nudging at my thighs. “You’re pretty,” I insist, grinning up at him. “Pretty…and mine.”
He silences me with a kiss deep that make my toes curl. When he finally pulls back, we’re both breathing hard.
I reach up and brush a thick braid of his soft hair over one of his ears. “You can take vacations, right?” I manage to ask. “Time away from the mine?”
“For my Bride? Yes. After my arm heals, we’ll take your cruise.” He nuzzles into my neck, inhaling deeply. “I will be allowed vacation time for my human honeymoon.”
“I like the sound of that.”
I look down at the healing kit encasing his lower arm.
The device hums softly, doing its work of knitting bone back together.
He’d been so proud of the injury last night.
After the claiming, after we’d both come back to ourselves, he’d insisted on going to the med lab to get it properly treated.
He’d spent time, taking pictures of his broken arm and sending them to everyone he knew.
“The doctor says it should be fully healed by tonight,” he says, following my gaze. “Xylan bones mend quickly.”
“Good. Because I have plans for you that require two working arms.”
His eyes darken with interest. “Do you?”
“Mmhmm.” I trail my fingers down his chest, over the ridges of his abs, lower still. He sucks in a breath when I reach my destination. “But for now, I suppose we’ll have to be creative.”
“Creative,” he echoes, his voice strained. “Yes. I can be creative.”
I wrap my hand around his length, thick and hard and already leaking.
He groans, his hips jerking forward. My fingers don’t meet around it because he’s bigger than any man I’ve been with before, which I’m certain is why last night it hurt when he plunged inside of me.
But I assimilated quickly and soon realized I like big, much more than I’d ever realized.
“Where are we going to live?” I ask conversationally, as if I’m not currently stroking him as I’m widening my thighs.
It takes him a moment to form words. “Do you — ah — do you want to move into the fever brothers crew quarters?”
“Is that where you live? With your brothers?”
“Yes.” He’s panting now, his eyes half-closed. “I am the crew leader. Do you think you could move in with me there?”
“You want me to live in noisy a house with all of your brothers and their wives and children?”
“We would have our own bedroom,” he manages. “Private quarters with our own bathroom. But I need to live there. I lead them to work each day. I coordinate the schedules, manage the quotas, communicate with other crews. We’re the top producing crew on the mine and I intend to keep it that way.”
I glance around the guest quarters, which has really good light. “Do you think I could turn this place into my art studio and work here while you’re working your shifts at the mine?”
“Yes.”
I tighten my grip, speeding up my strokes. “I can try living there. I think I’d like it, actually. Being part of a big family.”
“You would?”
“I’ve been alone for a long time, Bayzon.
” The admission slips out before I can stop it.
“After my ex-boyfriend who treated me terribly and the fact that my own family doesn’t want me anymore.
.. I closed myself off. Kept everyone at a distance.
Don’t worry I’ll tell you both of those stories later.
But your family, they’re warm and chaotic, in a good way.
They accepted me immediately, even in the middle of all that craziness last night.
Rook was making jokes while you were literally about to chase me through the mine. ”
“That’s Rook,” he agrees, though the words come out as more of a moan. “He makes jokes about everything.”
“I liked it. I liked all of them.” I lean up to press a kiss to his jaw. “And I love you.”
He goes still above me. “You do?”
“I already said it last night. I know it’s fast. But I do.”
“Our clasping was an accident,” he says, his voice serious despite the circumstances.
“When I said I meant to court you properly, I meant it. You were only here for a visit, and now you’re staying for the rest of your life because I can’t leave Timbur for anything other than a temporary visit or vacation.
This is my home, my job, my everything. Can you really be happy here with me? ”
I release him and cup his face in my hands, forcing him to meet my eyes.
“Bayzon. I came to Timbur running away from a bad situation. I thought I was just here to visit Leah. I never expected any of this.” I smile.
“But sometimes the best things in life are the ones we never expected. I’m pretty certain I’m going to be offered an amazing job opportunity with Minecorp, and I’m going to start a family with you.
You’re not trapping me here. I’m choosing to stay with you because there’s nowhere else I’d rather be. ”
His expression softens. “I love you too, my Bride.” He lowers himself carefully, mindful of his injured arm, and kisses me again. It’s softer this time, gentler.
When we break apart, he rolls us over so I’m on top and straddling him. His cock presses against my entrance, hot and insistent. His eyes are on my boobs as they bounce above him. I have a feeling he really likes my breasts, which is good considering I love getting my nipples pinched and sucked.
“Tonight and tomorrow, you said you wanted me to yourself,” he reminds me. “No interruptions.”
“That’s right.”
“And then?”
“And then we go to your quarters. Meet everyone properly. Start our life together.”
He grins, that rare, genuine smile that transforms his entire face. “I like this plan.”
“I thought you might.”
I brace my arms on his chest and sink down onto him slowly, savoring the stretch, the fullness. He’s so hard. The crown goes in first, then he starts filling me up more. His good hand grips my hip, the claws dimpling my skin just slightly. We both groan at the sensation.
“Mine,” he growls.
“Mine,” I pant as the pleasure builds.
And as I begin to move, riding him in the golden morning light, I think about how strange life is. How the worst moments can lead to the best ones. How running away from something bad can lead you straight into something wonderful.
I came to Timbur broken and uncertain. I found a new home.
I found him.