Chapter 28
Chapter
Twenty-Eight
TIA
I forget all about Noj’me as I kiss Rem’eb’s hand, the very fist that he’s named for. His scent carries on the air, and I can’t define it as anything specific…just him. Just perfect. I kiss his knuckles again, gazing up at him.
“Now?” he echoes, repeating me.
I nod. I’m tired of being tortured by resonance. If we can’t come to an agreement about our future, at least I’ll be able to tell him how I feel before he returns to his people. Maybe we can set up some sort of co-parenting schedule, though thinking ahead to that lonely future makes me ache.
Now, I remind myself. Focus on here and now, or you’re just going to cry all day.
I don’t want to cry. Not when Rem’eb moves toward me, cupping my head in his big hand, and gazes down at me as if I’m the most gorgeous thing he’s ever seen. His eyes are so soft and full of love that I have to believe in this moment. I have to believe that everything will work out after all.
Don’t I deserve a fairy tale, too?
I just won’t think about how there’s no happy ever after to this story. I’ll focus on one day at a time, one hour, one minute. And this minute? This one is glorious.
“My sweet stranger,” Rem’eb murmurs, leaning down to kiss me. “I have waited so long for this moment.”
I have, too. I want to touch him. I want to join our souls. More than that, I want to forget everything for the next while. Just a few hours of bliss, please and thank you. “Take me home.”
I forget that he can’t understand me for a brief moment. Noj’me’s voice breaks through our hazy bubble of lust. “She says to go to her hut.”
“I can do that.” He lifts me by the waist, as if I’m a feather and wraps his arms around me. One goes under my butt, and one around my back, another anchoring at my waist as he continues to grip my hair. It’s like I’m completely enveloped by him, and I feel so protected and safe. I cup his face in my hands and kiss him, showing him all my emotion, all my longings.
As we kiss, Rem’eb carries me across the beach.
His tongue brushes against mine, a silent entreaty, and I suck on it, letting him know that this time, we’re not stopping. This time, we’re going to give in to the urges that have been pushing us together. We kiss across the sands, staggering back to my hut, and I don’t know how he manages to find it, but he does. Rem’eb sets me down on the elevated platform that keeps my hut off of the sand, my feet touching it. I glance around, dazed, as Rem’eb steps up to join me. He pushes the flap that covers my door aside forcefully, sweeping in, his long, fluffy tail holding the flap back as I follow him inside.
Rem’eb takes my hand and guides me across my floor to my bed. He indicates that I should sit and kneels in front of me to remove my boots. It’s a speedy task with his four hands, and he tosses them aside before giving me a heated look, as if he’s trying to figure out what to do next.
“Tia.”
“Yes?”
“Are you hungry?”
Really? That’s what he’s going to ask me now? “No.”
“Thirsty?”
“No.”
“Cold?”
I shake my head.
“Are you comfortable? Do you require anything?” One hand scrubs down his face, and I realize for the first time that he’s nervous. “I want this to be right for you. Tell me if there is anything you need.”
Wordlessly, I hold a hand out to him.
With a groan, Rem’eb takes my hand in his grasp. He leans in, kissing my palm feverishly, then moving to my wrist. He sucks on my skin there, as if he can’t help himself, and I gasp at the sensation. It sends a bolt of lust shooting straight through my body, and the heat settles between my thighs, pulsing there.
He laps at my pulse point, his gaze flicking to my face. “Can I undress you?”
I nod. Even though I want to rip my own clothes off just to move to the next part where he touches my bare skin, if it gives him pleasure to undress me, I’ll let him. I force myself to remain still, quivering, as he pulls the ties at my waist apart, loosening them until the heavy leathers start to slide down my shoulders. His gaze devours me, as if I’m a present he’s unwrapping. With gentle fingers, he eases my sleeves down my arms and my wrap tunic falls to a puddle at my hips. I’m wearing my band, knotted between my breasts, because everything bounces too much without it.
Rem’eb’s gaze falls to my cleavage, and with a careful knuckle, he traces the swells of my breasts. A breath shudders through me, and I arch ever so slightly, like a cat enjoying a long-awaited petting.
“May I take this off?” he asks.
Part of me loves that he’s being so very careful, but the other part of me wants him to rip my clothing off with sheer abandon. To throw caution to the wind and just attack me. But Rem’eb is nothing if not responsible and aware of his strength, and it’s one of the things I love most about him. He can’t be other than who he is, even if it’s making me go slowly mad with arousal.
But I can do more than just sit here like a lump…
I fall back onto the furs, propping up on my elbows so I can keep watching his big body as he looms over me. I lift one bare foot into the air, indicating that he should remove my pants for me. His gaze slips to my foot, and he grasps it in one large hand.
I gasp at the way he clasps it, his hand warm and callused and huge. It practically swallows my foot, and I didn’t realize I was so sensitive there. I gasp again when he leans in and nibbles on my ankle, his mouth moving over delicate bones. He kisses me there and my wrist throbs, reminding me of how he put his mouth there, too. He looks at me as he mouths my heel, and I shiver.
He gives my ankle one final kiss and then tugs on my pant leg, pulling it down. Or trying to. It’s still belted at my waist and I hurriedly undo the knot there. It’s clear Rem’eb isn’t used to undressing women, and I don’t want to interrupt this moment for anything. I fall back onto my elbows again, lifting my hips to help him pull my pants downward. He tugs one leg free, and then I lift the other, shoving my foot right under his nose again. It’s part playfulness, part demand that he put his mouth on me some more.
I like it far more than I probably should. It’s the way he acts when he tastes even the most mundane of my body parts. Like he wants to be there for hours. Like he’s never had better than this moment. Like he’d die happily if he could just kiss my knee for the rest of all time, like he is right now. Rem’eb’s mouth tickles against my skin, brushing over one leg as he finishes pulling my pants free from the other. Then I’m in nothing but my breast-band and panties, and I’m feeling sexier and more beautiful than ever, all because he looks at me like I’m a goddess.
Our eyes lock again, my khui humming with renewed enthusiasm. The resonance song is so strong that it makes my entire body feel as if it’s vibrating. With a careful hand, I keep my gaze on him as I pull the knot between my breasts free. My supportive leather band falls to the side, my tits bouncing free.
His gaze immediately goes there, the lust blazing in his eyes.
I arch my back, thrusting my tits out. My nipples are tight, pricking as if begging for his touch. Or my touch. Or any touch. Fuck, I just need to be touched. I run a finger along the tip of one breast as he watches.
Rem’eb groans, leaning forward and falling over me. His mouth is on my neck, his big body brushing over mine. A hand cups my breast, a sharp gasp escaping me.
“You smell so good,” he murmurs against my ear, his thumb skimming my nipple and sending prickles of desire all through me. “And you are so soft all over. I could touch you for days.”
“I highly encourage such a thing,” I whisper.
He pulls back, eyeing me. “I did not mark what you said.”
Shit. The moment is ruined. Rem’eb’s searching my face, making sure everything is all right. I hate this language barrier. I hate it so much. I tap my chin hurriedly, telling him that all is good, and then put my hand over the one on my breast and give it a squeeze. I hope that’s a universal sign for “keep going.”
His eyes flare and he kisses me again, his lips clinging to mine as his thumb teases my nipple. I whimper, sliding my hand to the back of his neck, and hold on tight as he kisses my chin and then moves lower. Yes, yes. Please kiss my breasts. Please put your mouth on them in that unhinged way you did my ankle.
The sound I make when he kisses the tip of my breast is unholy. Unintelligible. All I know is that I need so much more.
Rem’eb makes a ragged sound, licking my nipple and gazing up at me. “More of that?”
I nod frantically.
He falls upon my breasts again, cupping one and kneading it as he lavishes attention on the other. He gives one and then the other the same wild attention he gave to my wrist, with hungry, open-mouth kisses and sucking, as if he wants to devour me, piece by piece. A second hand cups my breast, and then both are cradled while he goes back and forth between them, sucking on my nipples.
“My beautiful stranger,” he murmurs between mouthing nips. “Let me taste you all over.”
I moan, arching my hips. “Yes.”
He kisses between my breasts, tongue trailing through the valley there, and slides his body lower. A hand grasps my panties and drags them downward, the bulky leather hitching at my hips. I lift them, but he has to tug on them twice before they move, and glances up at me sheepishly.
I giggle. “They’re terrible, I know. But I feel naked without them.”
A grin curves his mouth. “I hope you are not laughing at me.”
“Never,” I say with a shake of my head. I can’t imagine being in this moment with anyone else. Who else would take the care to adore me like he is? To ensure that I’m enjoying myself? My smile fades a little as another needle of longing pierces my heart.
How am I going to survive when he leaves me behind?
“Am I allowed to say you wear far too many layers?” Rem’eb comments as he pulls my panties down my legs. “I am sweating in my gear right now, yet I know that if I stepped outside, I would be chilled.”
I eye him, amused that we’ve forgotten about undressing him in our focus on my pleasure. He’s still wearing his layers of furs, a thick cloak over his shoulders and an equally thick poncho over his torso and belted at the waist of heavy leggings. “Let’s get you naked, then.”
Reaching for his belt, I tug on the knot there and glance up at him. “Yes?”
His eyes flare with excitement. “Yes.”
He leans back, straightening, and I undo his belt, tossing it aside. Next comes the cloak, and then the poncho that I lift over his head—and promptly gets tangled on his tall, tall horns. I struggle to push it over them, and as I do, he plays with my breasts, as if he can’t stop himself from touching me for even a moment. As if he’ll die if he stops caressing me for even a moment. It makes it difficult to concentrate on undressing him, because by the time his chest is exposed, I’m panting and aroused from his touches, from the way he seems to know just how to tease my nipples. When he’s down to just his pants, I run a hand down his broad chest, tracing the rippling muscles. His torso is thick and incredibly muscular. He doesn’t have the defined six-pack that, say, Ashtar does. Instead, he’s impossibly solid, and when I go to pinch his abdomen, nothing comes away. He’s just broad and big and thick and juicy. So damn thick.
One hand knots in my hair, dragging me toward him even as he rubs my tight, aching nipple. Rem’eb bends down and kisses me. I lose myself against his mouth, sinking into the moment. His lips play against mine, teasing, and then he open-mouth licks me and I gasp at how erotic that one small motion is.
“Do not distract me, Tia,” he whispers. “I have not forgotten my vow to kiss you all over.”
As if I want to distract him away from that? I want him to kiss me all over, too. I moan a “yes” in response.
Rem’eb gives me another lurid, wet, open-mouth kiss that makes my pussy clench, and then bears me back onto the furs again. I lie back, my arms resting at my sides as he kisses his way down my abdomen, towards the curls covering my pussy. I’m whimpering again, making noises that would embarrass me if I weren’t out of my mind with hunger. I spread my thighs, encouraging him when his big body settles between my knees.
Instead of touching me, though, he just gazes down at everything I’m exposing, as if memorizing the sight of me.
For the last week, we’ve avoided going too far, as if we knew that if someone got undressed, it’d all be over. So we’ve kissed and groped, we’ve had a few dry humping sessions, and we’ve always ended with both of us fully clothed and achingly unfulfilled. Today is different, though. As he gazes at my pussy, he strokes one hand languidly up my thigh.
“I like your fur,” he murmurs.
My nostrils flare and I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. He makes it sound like I have an absolute mop between my legs, when I know there’s nothing more than a few sparse curls. But this is a man—an alien—who has a massive furry tail and a pelt on his lower legs and lower arms, and one that spreads across his shoulders. Of course he’d like any body hair I have. It’s rather freeing and makes me even more confident. I put a foot on his shoulder, then slide it over his back as he leans in so close I can feel his breath against my skin.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Kiss me there. Kiss me right where it’ll feel so fucking good I’ll lose my mind.
He doesn’t, though, and it’s like I’m being edged into madness. Instead, he traces a finger up my thigh, across where it connects to my body, and then down the seam of my pussy. I’m aching and wet, and he drags his fingertip through the slickness there before lifting his finger and examining it.
A moan slips out. My moan.
I watch, fascinated, as his tongue flicks out and he tastes me on his fingertip. I can see the exact moment his glowing eyes darken, the deeper blue of his pupil widening with arousal. He sucks his finger clean, a hungry, rusty sound of pleasure rumbling from his throat. Then, his gaze flicks to mine before he spreads my pussy wide open with his fingers and dips his face in for a better taste.
I cry out as his tongue snakes over my sensitive skin. My hands go to those arching, tall horns of his and I hold on tight, desperate to cling to something as he explores every inch of me with his tongue. There’s no part of me that’s unlicked, no bit of skin that doesn’t get an open-mouth, reverent kiss. His tongue dips inside me, and my hands jerk on his horns. It feels good— really good—and yet I need him to touch my clit, too. My pulse feels as if it is entirely parked there, and it throbs with the desperate need for touch.
“I want to lick you like this every night from now on,” Rem’eb tells me between strokes of his tongue over my skin. “I want to bury my mouth here and never come up for air.”
Whimpering, I reach down and show him my clit, teasing a little circle around it as I do. “Here,” I pant. “Touch me here. Like you did before.”
He grabs my hand and pulls it away, holding it tight so I can’t touch myself. “Patience. I have not forgotten that you need to come. Let me enjoy myself for a while longer.”
Moaning again, I clutch the hand clasped to mine as he tastes me, licking and nibbling until I’m squirming against his mouth.
Rem’eb makes a hungry noise and pulls me down a little bit further, until his face is fully buried in my pussy, and his mouth closes over my clit. I cry out, arching.
He pins my other hand next to the first one, and then they’re both locked down by him, next to my head, while he feasts on my clit. I had no idea that being held down would feel so fucking good, but it adds another layer to my pleasure, and before I even realize what I’m doing, I’m grinding against his mouth as he sucks on my clit, and the hardest, most intense orgasm of my life rolls through my body. I quake all over, shivers going down my spine as he moves over me. He kisses me, hard, and I can taste myself on his mouth. His dick brushes against the inside of my thigh and I spread my legs wider, inviting him over me.
When he slides into me, I let out a sigh, my eyes fluttering closed. His body piercing mine fulfills something deep inside me, like it’s scratching the itch. I lift my hips, my hands still pinned by him, and he rocks against me. “Tia,” he breathes. “My stranger. My mate.”
Then he goes still, and deep inside me, I can feel his frill unfurl. It pushes against my inner walls, the sensation strange. Something surges—the head of his dick—and it’s like it’s fluttering deep inside me as he empties himself. I suck in a breath, fascinated at the sensation. It’s almost like a butterfly is trapped deep inside my body, and it’s making me squirm…and want to come again.
Rem’eb groans, his big body straining over mine. He keeps me trapped in place, and even my wriggling won’t make him let me up. He pulses deep inside me again, and something deep and strange coils in my belly. I moan, circling my hips against his, chasing that new sensation.
“Need more?” he asks.
Panting, I nod, straining against him. I need…something.
A hand steals between us, skimming over the mound of my pussy and then finding my clit. It’s like he flips a switch—a shriek escapes me as my entire body clenches around him again, and this time, the feel of his frill unfurled inside me, the head of his dick pulsing deep in my womb…it makes me come again, but this one feels deeper and ten times more intense. I can’t breathe as my pussy clenches tight. All I can do is arch against his touch, my mouth open wide, as every inch of my body locks up in the most fierce climax I’ve ever had.
Rem’eb touches the side of my face, cupping it even as he catches his breath. “My mate,” he tells me again, his gaze soft as he regards me.
Am I, though? Because he’s going to leave me behind, and if there’s one thing I know about resonance mates on this planet, it’s that they always stay together. I’m not going to argue, though. Not when he’s sunk deep inside me and shuddering, and we’re both out of breath. Not when our khuis are purring so sweetly together, like we’ve finally done something right.
For now, I’m just going to enjoy this moment. The tears can come later.