Chapter 44
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
NORA
Nora didn’t know who suffered more now that they’d reached a point of rest—Airik or Lucky.
A prickling sensation nagged at her fingers as she watched the two of them leer at one another, then at the buildings around them.
She gathered the remnants of their shared meal—a cheese burrito and blue carrots Airik had brought from the forest—and shoved them to the far corner of the pavilion.
Thank goodness Joe had packed the high-calorie variety of rations, with double the portions and with more protein and fat. Her heart ached at the thought of him stacking the meals for his own mission that would never happen.
Despite the gloom that surrounded them, the sounds of the fountain and the chirping of flying creatures roosting in every nook of the city’s vertical spaces filled the streets with the pleasant hum and chatter of life.
The three of them sat within the covered pavilion, on a smooth, polished stone covered with script and images of stars and wings, similar to the insignia on Airik’s shirt. Airik looked at the floor, eyes moving right to left, like he was reading.
“What does it say?” Nora asked.
“Nothing.”
A blue bot with pointed ears rushed by, dusting the stairs to the platform.
“Is it the robots?” Nora asked. “Are they powered by kudra?”
“No.” His eyes stayed fixed on the floor as he stroked the scar on his cheek. “The sun feeds them. Kudra can’t be moved quickly without breaking.”
“Oh,” she said, resting her chin in her hand. Perhaps it was simply that Airik had realized that all of this had been a mistake. She sighed. “Should we look for a call box?”
“No!”
His explosive response stunned her, but she didn’t have time to question it because Airik grabbed her and dragged her into his lap like someone would snatch her away.
He pressed his face into her neck and breathed deeply.
“I want to rest with you. For a little longer.” His hot breath filled the space behind her ear, sending a wonderful shiver down her spine.
“But your food is almost finished, and…something is wrong. Even without calling for help, someone should have come for me. They can follow my ship. Know where I am.”
Nora eased, relieved. She tried to think of something to help soothe him, too. “Maybe the door you came through is still broken.”
“I’ve never heard of one breaking,” he said.
She kissed the line that had formed between his brows. He relaxed instantly, which made her feel more powerful than she ever had in her life. Was this what it was like to matter to someone?
Making a sniffling sound, Lucky moved closer to them and rested his snout on Nora’s knee.
“Jealous ooshi,” Airik said, throwing him a scornful look but giving his side long, lingering pats. “He needs to be trained better, taught that first you are mine.”
Simultaneously, she ruffled Airik’s hair and scratched behind Lucky’s ears, her heart thumping loud and full. Never had she been gladder to exist than in this moment. “Have you considered that there’s enough of me to go around?”
“If there’s enough of you to ‘go around’ that is only because I’m concerned for your health and forcing myself to stop from having you again.”
Nora’s smile faded as something more thrilling seized her.
He watched her, eyes smoldering. “Are you telling me that I can be more greedy with you?”
Her pussy throbbed, still sore from his morning attentions but yearning for him again. Even just his fingers were too much, but she wanted all of him, and so she wouldn’t complain.
She felt herself nod. She’d give and take as much as she could while this feeling lasted.
Airik said something in his own language. Lucky huffed, giving them both a pitiful look. But then he slunk down the stairs, taking the trash for one of the bots to find and vaporize.
Rising to his knees, Airik dropped his sword and harness. “Lie down, demon eyes, and open your legs. I haven’t had my fill of you yet.”
Resisting the innate desire to obey him, Nora crossed her arms and smiled. “No.”
“No?” He drew back with a little smile of his own.
She placed a hand on his chest, under the curve of his muscle. “I want to kiss you—everywhere that’s mine.”
Airik smiled wider, letting her push him back so he leaned back on his hands, his long legs stretched out in front of him. She swung a leg over his hips, straddling him.
Her heart raced as she pulled off his belt, stopping just before the end of the belt passed the final loop of his pants. He glanced at her hand, head tilted, waiting.
Nora hesitated. Afraid that if she took this, it would be wrong. Everything she wanted to do was wrong. Maybe he wouldn’t like it. Maybe—
“If you want to kiss everywhere that’s yours…” He rolled his hips, slipping the belt off completely. “Then you’d better start—your lips have a lot of me to claim.”
She looked to where his belt rested in her hand. It was as if she’d been given the leash of a wild wolf that wanted to be pet and praised. She quickly undid his pants and pulled them off. He didn’t have many scars on his legs, just two on his thigh.
And an alarmingly large bulge strained against his tight boxers.
He watched her with a careful smile. “There’s nowhere I don’t want your lips.”
Slipping her fingers between the waistband and his hot skin, she yanked down.
“Oh,” she gasped, faced with all of Airik.
He was almost too much to see at once as his erection sprang forth.
His cock was grayish white, but the head was darker with a bluish-purple tint.
Just like the rest of him, this part of him was perfect in form: thick, iron hard, with a drop of come—blue and luminescent—pooled at its tip.
Without needing to think, she reached for him, wrapping her fingers around his girth with one hand and then swiping up the drop with the other. His head tilted back as he groaned deeply at her touch.
“Even this,” she said, looking between him and his come. “Even this part of you is…”
Airik’s abs rippled with tension as she gripped him tighter. “This part of me…what?” His lips parted as she brought the drop to her lips.
“Even this part of you is beautiful.” She licked her finger.
The moment she did, a tingling sensation burst across her tongue. The feeling overtook her body, loosening her and blurring reality.
“Oh,” she sighed. His come was magical—why had she expected anything less?
The red-and-purple colors of the flowers around them radiated brighter and more brilliant until she was sure she saw ultraviolet light.
The delicious scents and flavors of mint and berries flooded her nose and mouth, and she knew that for the rest of her life, she would never taste anything better than Airik. “Your come…”
“Yes, Nora?” Airik leaned toward her, desperate for her next words.
“I think your come makes me…” She giggled. “A little fucking high.”
“I don’t know that word.”
“Like…I’m in a dream. A good one.” Knowing she’d need more of him and fast, she stroked him from root to tip, enjoying how he squirmed and bit his lip. “So fucking good that I can’t believe this is real life.”
By the time she’d finished her sentence, the feeling was already fading.
More.
She dipped her head, taking as much of him into her mouth as she could.
“Nora!” he cried, pulling her back by her braid. “It’s too much—”
“All of you,” she moaned, pushing his cock back into her mouth—she could barely take a third—and stroking the rest of him. His length nudged the back of her throat, drawing tears. He was delicious—minty raspberry and musk and a desire for her that she could taste through his skin.
Wrapping both her hands around him, she worked him up and down in tandem with her mouth until her throat loosened enough so he could invade deeper. Tears dripped down her cheeks, joining saliva dribbling down his gorgeous cock.
He cradled her head, holding her to him so she could take her fill, licking him, tasting him, learning him.
His body tensed, his breath ragged. She moaned into him, desperate to give him something good, as he had given to her.
Airik buried his hands in her hair, drawing her down and then thrusting into her mouth.
He came with a roar that echoed off the buildings, and the city was his, as was the pleasure she gave him. Come filled her mouth—hot, thick, and forceful—and the world around them morphed into sparkling colors she had never perceived, and she didn’t think any human ever had.
Airik watched her, caressing her throat, tracing her swallowing as she continued to drink everything he gave her. As if she were the most erotic thing he’d ever seen. Nora sucked, wanting every last drop of him, never wanting this feeling to end.
His eyes were not blue green but opalescent. How could she have never noticed? She learned, too, that Airik blushed. It was so slight she couldn’t see it without the effects of his come. His cheeks were purplish pink, and so were his lips, parted and moaning her name.
With the tip of a finger under her chin, Airik raised her up, dragging her forward so her wet pussy rubbed on his half-hard cock. “What do you feel?”
Laughter rose, forming deep in her heart. “I feel…like I’ve just eaten a spoonful of stars.” His eyes dazzled in response, and he pulled her forward by the braid, closing the distance between their lips. “I want it, too,” he said, then kissed her.
He licked and nibbled her lips, letting her have the rest of him from his own tongue. “Yes,” he moaned. “This is magic. You and me.”
For long minutes after she’d covered every inch of his skin with kisses, they lay together, watching the suns set through the gaps between the buildings.
Tomorrow, she was sure, Airik would be up by dawn and looking for the call box. For now she’d be happy.
Nora would not think of Joe. The Abeona. Her mom. Her dad. Or Theo.
She even dared—God help her—to believe she’d given enough of her life to grief and could look forward to a future in which she’d share a world with a man like Airik. She would not think of any of them. Not here. Not while she lay in someone’s arms who, for some reason, seemed to want her.
A soft blanket of fur settled on her feet. Lucky.
I won’t think of any of them here.
There was no reason to. Not when she glowed with an emotion she had begged for on Earth from those who were supposed to give it. Not when Airik gave it to her so freely. Nora had wanted this so much on Earth that she’d begun to think it ignored her out of spite.
Just as she drifted off to sleep, she looked up to catch a glimpse of Airik, who had already fallen asleep.
Her breath hitched, and she found herself moved to tears. He looked content, his lips curling into a small smile. This was what those on the Abeona must’ve felt when they looked out the ports at Earth spinning below—utterly overwhelmed by existence and struck by its beauty.