Chapter 17
Voss
Itook the steps two at a time, my blood singing with joy. I didn’t fully understand the change that happened in her, but that was fine. She was going to stay. She was mine, and we had time. I’d learn all about her in years to come. I would understand.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about you ever since this morning,” I confessed, carrying her to my bedroom, where the bed was bigger and the bathroom closer. This was where I wanted her. “I always think about you, but this was different. Gods, I can’t stop wanting you.”
She laughed, bubbling and sweet, and gripped my shoulder tighter. Her eyes were wide with wonder, as if she saw me for the first time, and I gazed back in gratitude. She really was my ssalamiya.
“Good,” she said, swallowing hard. “You’re… I want you, too. You’ve been so good to me… You are.”
She had trouble speaking, but she looked at me with trust and desire, and so I didn’t need her words. Her eyes were enough.
“Here.” I gently let her down to the floor and closed the door.
I had candles strewn around the room, sitting on cabinets and dressers, and I lit them all now, bathing the room in golden light. She watched me in silence, her breath fast and shallow, her cheeks flushed.
Once my task was done, I came over and reached for the buttons of her cardigan. My whisper was loud and eager. “May I undress you?”
She nodded, her hand flying up to her collarbone. She stopped the gesture, though, and laid her palm on my forearm instead, her fingers stroking nervously.
“Yes. Use me,” I murmured, reaching for her top-most button. “Scratch me if you need. But be careful, some of my scales are hard. Don’t hurt yourself. Here, these are softer.”
I guided her hand to my inner elbow but she shook her head, looking at me quizzically. “You want me to scratch you when I’m nervous? Why?”
“Because I hate to see you hurt,” I said at once, making short work of the buttons.
I slowly slid the cardigan off her shoulders and let it fall to the floor. She watched me with dark, curious eyes, and I reached behind her to unzip her dress. It was her favorite one, printed in large, vibrant flowers. She wore it the most often, and I knew exactly where the zip was, because I fantasized about undoing it so many times.
“So you’d rather I hurt you?” she asked incredulously. “I don’t want to.”
“Then don’t,” I said, running my fingertips over the warm, soft skin of her shoulders. “But Alina, know this: you can do whatever you want with me. You have me.”
She shook her head, withdrawing a step. “That doesn’t seem right. I don’t want that.”
I watched her curiously, the rigid set of her shoulders, the wariness in her eyes. She took a deep breath and forced herself to relax, coming closer again. “I’m not quite as fixed as I thought,” she murmured, looking frustrated. “Okay. Just… let’s discuss all this later.”
“There is nothing to fix,” I said, brushing soft hair off her cheek. “You’re perfect.”
She smiled, her moment of withdrawal over. If anything, she seemed determined. “I trust you. I want this. And I want to… do the thing you tried this morning. I know basilisk females used to have two sets of genitals, like you, and I only have one, but…”
She swallowed, looking at me expectantly.
“But there is a way to have you take all of me,” I finished for her, studying her face. “I know. But we don’t have to rush. I’ll be happy just holding you. Whatever you want, so…”
“This is what I want,” she said with conviction. “Please. I trust you. I want to take the leap.”
It was a strange way to talk about it, but I had no more mental strength to think about her word choices. The vision of my mate taking both my cocks had my blood pounding with lust so powerful, I swayed on my feet from the rush.
And yet, I wanted to do it right this time. I still couldn’t forgive myself for just shoving inside her this morning. I was so crazed with need, so overwhelmed with the sudden possibility of mating her, I lost all patience.
But now, I didn’t have that excuse. I wanted to make love to her properly. Like she deserved.
“If you change your mind at any moment, just say so,” I said, burying my face in her neck and pressing kisses into her pulse point where her scent was so delicious and warm.
“I won’t.”
I licked and kissed her neck and the soft, abused skin over her collarbones. It healed nicely, but I licked it some more on my way down to the low neckline of her summer dress. I kissed her there, the dress already unzipped and loose, giving me glimpses of her breasts.
She let her hands hover hesitantly over my head, then finally gripped my arms as I bent low, exploring the warm skin on the tops of her breasts. Her scent grew stronger and I had a sudden craving to put her in my bed right now, so the clean sheets smelled of her.
I pushed the straps of the dress off her shoulders and hissed in shock when it pooled at her feet, revealing she wore nothing underneath.
“You… You don’t… Oh.” I was speechless. My pocket pounded with heat, my cocks finally springing free as I looked at the curves and valleys of her, everything so soft and gorgeous. A whole expanse of kissable, Alina-scented skin.
“I like the freedom,” she muttered, watching me curiously. “And it seems you like it, too.”
I hissed in confirmation and swept her off her feet, startling her into laughter. I strode to the bed and laid the most precious person in my life in the middle of it. Then I straightened, just looking at her.
She squirmed, her hand flying to her collarbone as she watched me watching her. “Voss… What are you doing?”
“Admiring,” I said, taking her in with hungry eyes that wanted to save every little detail in my memory. “Let me. You look so gorgeous in my bed. So right.”
“Oh,” she breathed, her dark nipples stiffening into hard points. My mouth watered with the need to taste them, but there was one thing I had to fetch.
“I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”
She laughed and nodded, and I stepped inside the bathroom to grab a bath oil I’d gotten a few months ago. I knew the theory surrounding anal intercourse in humans, having read extensively on human sexuality when I applied for a bride.
The rules were simple, again, in theory. Lubricate profusely. Be gentle. Take your time.
I still couldn’t believe my luck. She really wanted this.
She waited for me just as I left her, my beautiful mate in the middle of my bed where she belonged. I took off my clothes and climbed in, my cocks twitching when her eyes slid down my naked body with obvious appreciation.
“You’re admiring, too,” I murmured before catching a dusky nipple in my mouth.
She started to answer but cried out instead, arching into my mouth. I caressed her stomach and her other breast, tasting her, breathing her in. I wanted to bask in the sounds she made, in the sight of her, her warmth and taste. I wanted to be covered in her scent all over.
Done with one breast, I licked my way to the other, listening to her harsh, panting breaths. Then, I made my way across her stomach, relishing how warm and soft she was.
“I’ll put babies in here,” I whispered, kissing right over her navel. “The temple promised compatibility. You’ll have my children. Soon. Maybe it’s happening already.”
She gasped, her hands tightening on my shoulders. I looked up, catching her eyes.
“I want to see you round and big with my baby inside you.” My voice grew hoarse and low, desire pounding in my veins. “Now that you’re mine, I’ll make you a broodmother. I may be the last of my race, but we can start a new one.”
Her eyes were wide open, her lips parted, breasts heaving. I showered her stomach with kisses, imagining it all: what she would look like, swelling with my offspring, growing big, the child inside her moving. How beautiful she’d be.
I couldn’t wait. I slid lower, finding her wet and ready, and quickly brought her to the edge with my mouth and fingers, my claws now filed to harmless bluntness. Before she came, though, I slithered up her body and gently pushed into her with one cock, hissing when her heat enveloped it.
“Gods,” she gasped, her eyes fluttering shut before she opened them slowly, her eyelids heavy with pleasure. “I thought you wanted to use two.”
“Mmm. Later. I need to fill you up.”
When I fully sat myself inside her, I stopped moving and just looked down. Her face was open and consumed with lust, dark hair strewed around her on my pillow. I went even deeper, as deep as physically possible, until I was a part of her.
“You’re my mate,” I said with wonder as she blinked up at me, her lips curling into a small smile. “Every day, every hour of waiting for you was worth it.”
Before she could answer, I pulled back and slid in, so slowly, I felt every individual spike pushing inside her. Alina’s eyes fluttered closed, and I kissed her temple, moving with excruciating slowness. Making love to her.
“Look at me. Please. Keep your eyes open.”
She did, and we gazed into each other’s eyes, our bodies and souls connected. She breathed fast, her tight body clenching around me as my other cock teased her clit. My orgasm loomed, my balls tight and ready, and yet I clenched my jaw and slowed down to an almost meditative pace. It was too good to finish early.
Yet soon, her eyes fluttered, her face tensed, muscles scrunching up. Her grip on my shoulders tightened, and then she was off, her pussy choking me with her orgasm. She made a long, low sound, milking me with fast contractions.
“I love you,” I mouthed without sound as I came deep inside her body.