CHAPTER 10 #3
"Because you don't want anyone to know you're touching me?"
"Bingo."
"Or that you're enjoying yourself when you touch me?"
I say nothing to that. I'm not going to give him the pleasure of a response. To admit that would give him the edge over me, and there's no way I'm going to give him any kind of advantage.
"Come on," he says, and holds a hand out to me again. "I know a place."
I shoot him another withering look before slapping my hand reluctantly into his. He just gives it a squeeze, as if he's amused at my response, and I fight the urge to laugh, too. Sometimes it feels like the arguing and friction between us is...fun? But that's fucked up.
Valmir leads me down the beach in silence, past the last few huts that straggle at the fringes of the settlement.
We keep going, even when the cliffs cut into the water and the sand disappears.
He finds the thinnest rock ledge that will take us along the shore's edge, and I let go of his hand to hold onto the rocks.
This feels like a lot of damn work for a hand job.
But before I can point this out, we come to a narrow crevice in the rock itself, and he pulls me in next to him.
It's a cave, or at least a sliver of one.
No wider than an arm-span and not very deep, but the perfect spot for us to sneak a few moments away.
The sea crashes against the rocks, spraying us with mist, and I gaze at my surroundings in impressed surprise.
"This is what you thought of when I said we needed privacy? "
"It's the only place where no one else would bother to show up."
"You think they won't?" I arch a brow at him. "How are you so certain?"
"Let's just say that if they do, I'll shove them into the water." He mimes thrusting an arm out, and the cave is shallow enough that it would indeed knock anyone into the rocking surf below.
And despite myself, I snort with laughter.
Valmir is very unlike the kind, gentle sa-khui men that inhabit this world.
He's cold and cynical, but there's an edge of humor that always makes me laugh.
I appreciate that he's skeptical. It makes me feel less alone when I feel equally dubious.
I appreciate it, even if he does get on my damn nerves a lot of the time.
"So? Will this do?" he prompts.
I place my hand boldly upon his groin. "Do me a favor and shut up already, all right?"
He hisses in a breath, his eyes turning to hooded slits. Even through the blue of the khui's shine, his pupils contract, turning catlike and vertical. He goes still under my touch.
"That's better," I whisper. Sometimes a man just needs to shut up and let a girl have her way with him.
I rub the bulge of his cock through his leathers, outlining him with the drag of my palm.
His dick is absolutely choke, but that doesn't surprise me.
He exudes the energy of someone who's never given a thought to how his cock measures up to others.
He's tall and broad, as all the gladiators are, so it stands to reason that he'd be big all over.
I rub the length of his shaft with the heel of my hand, glancing up at his face.
"Anything strange I need to know about?"
He makes a strangled sound. Panting, Valmir bares his teeth. "Thought...you didn't want me to talk."
"You can talk if I ask you questions." I give the length of him a squeeze.
"Define 'strange' for me."
"I don't know. You're an alien. Are we dealing with tentacles? Hooks? Something else equally terrifying? I just want to know what I'm in for." I pause, realizing what I've said, and quickly add, "If we decide to do this whole resonance thing, I mean."
His eyes flutter closed and he tilts his head back. I notice his hands are gripping the rocky wall behind him, as if he needs support to remain upright. All from a bit of rubbing? Adorable. "I...don't know what a human cock looks like. I can't tell you if mine is different or not."
"You haven't eyeballed Jason's junk, then?"
He growls at me, offended.
I bite back a laugh. "That's a no. All right, fair enough. Never hurts to ask. " I continue to pet his cock through his leathers, and his tail swishes madly against his thigh. His teeth are gritted, his body tense. "Should I stop? You seem a little on edge."
"Do not stop."
"Why, one would almost assume you like this, Valmir." I flutter my lashes at him.
"I do," he rasps. "I'll even let you take my leathers off if you want to use your hands on my skin. My body. All of me."
"I bet you'd like that," I purr back at him.
"Yes."
Gosh, it's hard to be a tease when he's making it so delicious and fun to touch him.
I outline his length with my touch, dragging my hand up and down over him.
Longer than my hand for certain. Six inches?
Seven? Does it matter? I'm palming him and I have no problems with this size.
Will it hit parts of me that have never been reached?
Possibly. Am I looking forward to that? A thousand percent, and that infuriates me as much as it excites me.
Oh god, when did I go from "absolutely not" to "I can't wait" with this guy?
He bucks his lower half as I stroke him, and before I can even think about what I'm doing, I smack his hip with my free hand. "Quit moving."
To my surprise, he makes the most gaspy, shuddering sound I've ever heard.
We both pause.
His nostrils flare as his gaze meets mine. "Do…that…again."
"Smack you?"
"My...my hip." His tail thrashes. "Now."
"Oh, are we making demands now?" I lift my hand deliberately, shooting him an arch look. "I don't think I like that."
"April," he groans, pained. "Just keffing touch me and I'll do whatever you like."
I pretend to consider this, even though my pulse feels as if it's throbbing directly between my thighs. He's so worked up that it's making me giddy with excitement. "Anything I like, and I get to smack you, too?"
He nods, throat working.
"Hmm. What if I want you to not come until I say you can?
" I lean in close, walking my fingers up the side of his buttock.
I seem to recall a cat in my memories that liked his hindquarters being patted roughly.
And Valmir is a cat man, so I suppose this tracks.
It makes me want to laugh, but I also find it strangely arousing.
"What do you think of that, pussycat? No coming until you get permission. "
Valmir rumbles low in his throat, a mix between a growl and a purr.
"I might have to smack you harder if you did come," I tell him, and give his ass another light spank.
His hips jerk again and his breath hisses between his teeth.
"Should I stop?"
"No."
"You sure?"
He glares at me.
I spank him again, harder this time. Valmir's head tilts back and his eyes close, his expression one of pure bliss. God, he's so into it. I'm amused, but I'm also really turned on. I reach for his cock again, dragging my hand up and down over him, and then I give him another smack on the butt.
"Can I touch you without your pants?" I ask.
He all but snarls at me. "Do it."
Pushy, pushy. "Since you asked so nicely."
I loosen the drawstring around his waist, moving so slow that I can practically feel him twitching with impatience. It's interesting to me that he acts casual and bored around everyone, but the moment I touch him, he's full of demands and need.
His pants lower maybe an inch and then stop, hung up on something.
"Second tie," he mutters, reaching out to grip a handful of my tunic. He squeezes the fabric, then heads for my breast. "Over my tail."
"Ah ah," I say, and remove his hand. "We didn't say you could touch me."
"Kef," he growls, irritated at this. "Let me touch you, too."
"Nope. That's a future reward." I reach behind the small of his back, and sure enough, there's a second tie. I pull the knot loose and his pants fall lower on his hips. "And if you don't stop making demands, I'm going to stop entirely."
He makes a pained sound in his throat, but he does as I command, his eyes practically burning holes into me as I lower his pants even further.
Below the belt, his body hair thins out, his balls covered in a tuft of fur but his shaft is bare skin, flushed pink.
The head of his cock is such a deep shade of pink it looks purple, and it's thick and prominent, peeking out from his foreskin and wet with arousal.
As I watch, he extends out of his foreskin a little more, as if stretching towards my grasp.
On his shaft, there are small, circular marks that stipple all over his skin.
It's far too regular a pattern to be anything but deliberate. "Your mystery markings are still here."
"Did you expect them to go somewhere?" he all but pants, breathless.
With a very deliberate eyebrow raise, I take great pleasure in reminding him who's in charge right now. "You're being kind of sassy for a man who's about to get my hands on his dick, pussycat."
"I don't know what the marks are," he states again, impatience in his tone. "I've never known and it bothers me, all right? If I had an answer, I'd tell you."
Fair enough. I feel a twinge of guilt that I'm killing the mood, especially since I know what it's like to have big chunks of your memory missing and feel as if it should be there. "It won't hurt if I touch you, will it?"
He huffs a laugh, his teeth bared. "It won't. It'll kill me if you don't touch me, though."
Pleasurable heat curls through my body, spreading under my skin.
My khui is thrumming to his, the ever-present song making me feel warm and giddy and achingly needy.
I know it's an artificial sensation brought on by the parasite, but at times like this, it's hard to care whether it's real or not.
It's insistent, and giving in to it feels better than fighting.
"Don't worry. I plan on touching you, Valmir. "
Our eyes meet. The moment hangs in the air between us, his expression tense and hungry. With our eyes locked, I spit on my hand.
And then I drag my slick palm over his cock.