27. Taurex
TAUREX
Taurex slid in beside Terra, leaving a respectful space between them. He had barely settled against the pillows when she moved.
She turned to him, her eyes luminous in the dim light. Without a word, she closed the distance, curling her body against his side. One small hand came to rest on his chest, over his heart.
“Hold me, Taurex,” she whispered, a plea that shattered his last pretense of detachment. “Please.”
A low rumble of pure need vibrated in his chest—a sound he didn’t even try to suppress. She wanted to be close to him—she felt the bond that was trying to form—the bond that wouldn’t be completely real until he took her completely.
Carefully, as if handling spun glass, he brought his arms around her. One arm curled beneath her shoulders while the other draped over her waist, his large hand splaying across the towel at the small of her back. Gently, he drew her in, tucking her head beneath his chin.
Terra sighed—a sound of utter peace and contentment. She fit against him perfectly—every full, beautiful curve of her body aligning with the hard planes of his own as if she had been designed for this very purpose.
She was, his soul whispered. She is your fated mate—why don’t you tell her?
But he didn’t want to scare her. He needed to wait until just the right moment.
So Taurex simply held her, feeling the residual tremors finally still…feeling her breathing deepen and slow against his skin. She felt so fragile—so delicate and perfect in the circle of his arms.
A fierce, protective tenderness swelled inside him like a physical ache—a pressure behind his ribs that was both painful and exquisite. This was his mate, trusting him, seeking safety in his strength. The rightness of it was a truth so profound it filled him with longing.
He wanted to tell her. The words burned in his throat.
You are my fated mate. My other half. I have loved you since I first saw you, and I will love you until the sun no longer shines and the stars grow cold.
He wanted to whisper it into her hair, to seal the truth against her skin with a thousand kisses.
But again he held the words back—a silent sacrifice on the altar of her peace.
She had been frightened tonight—not by a monster, but by a consequence of the bond she did not yet understand.
The pleasure blooms never would have come for her if they hadn’t sensed the mate pheromones both he and Terra had both been putting out.
To speak of it now, though, would be another kind of invasion. He couldn’t risk it. He couldn’t bear to see the fragile trust she had in him replaced by fear.
So he simply held her and breathed in the scent of her—clean skin, a hint of floral, and underneath it all, the unique, intoxicating essence that was Terra.
He pressed his lips, very gently, to the crown of her damp hair.
I will wait for you, lovely one, he thought. Wait for as long as it takes—until you feel comfortable with me. Until you are ready to learn we belong together for all time.
It was a silent vow…a promise he swore not to break. At least she was sleeping now, so he didn’t have to fear the words he so longed to say slipping out.
But then, to his surprise, Terra stirred in his arms and then lifted her mouth to his. The next time he tried to kiss her head, their lips met instead.
Taurex was so surprised he wasn't sure what to do at first. Had she kissed him on purpose? Surely not.
But Terra didn’t pull away. Instead, she pressed closer to him and kissed him again. Then she pulled back and looked up at him.
“Sorry,” she whispered. “I…I don’t know what came over me. You just smell so good it makes me want to be near you.”
Taurex felt a swirl of conflicting emotions. Was she reacting to his Mating Scent against her will? Or was she feeling the tug of the fated mate bond which was pulling the two of them together?
He stroked her hair.
“I like being close to you, too, lovely one,” he murmured. “But you’re upset right now–we should probably be careful.”
She pulled further away, looking hurt.
“Do you think I’m trying to seduce you? Because of your money? Or–”
“No, no!” Taurex said quickly. “No, I just don’t want you to do anything you might regret later when we have both calmed down.”
“All right…I guess you’re right. Just hold me then.”
She snuggled up to him again and he pulled her close, loving the feel of her in his arms.
Terra was still for a long time—so long that Taurex had started to drift off. But then she seemed to get restless again. She twisted in his arms and made a little sound of pure frustration. At last, she spoke.
“Taurex? I feel…strange.”
“Strange how?” he asked.
“Kind of…I don’t know…sensitive.”
“Sensitive where?” He looked down at her and saw that her lovely face was troubled in the dim light from the window.
She squirmed some more as though she didn’t want to tell him. She was nibbling her lower lip—a sure sign she was hesitating for some reason.
“Terra, I can’t help you unless you tell me what’s the matter,” he said, putting just a hint of sternness in his voice.
That seemed to do the trick because she finally answered.
“I feel sensitive everywhere…everywhere those damn pleasure blooms touched me.”
“You do?” Taurex frowned. He was beginning to get a bad feeling about this. Could Terra be one of the human women who had a reaction to pleasure bloom secretions? He hadn’t thought it would be a problem, or he never would have let her get in the pool in the first place.
“I do,” she confirmed, twisting against him again. “And I’m starting to get so uncomfortable!”
Taurex frowned. There was only one way to find out for sure if she was having a reaction—he just hoped she wouldn’t take it the wrong way.
“Terra,” he murmured. “Would you mind taking off your towel so I can see you?”
“So you can see me?” she repeated, frowning. “Why?”
“Because I think you may be having some kind of reaction to the secretions of the pleasure blooms,” Taurex explained patiently. “I need to see the areas where they touched you.”
She hesitated, nibbling her lower lip.
“What is it?” he asked softly. “Are you afraid?”
She shook her head.
“I know it shouldn’t be a big deal for you to see me naked—I mean, you saw nude the very first time we met. But, well…you’re my boss now. I’m afraid…afraid you’ll lose respect for me.”
“Terra, what makes you think my respect for you has anything to do with how many clothes you do or don’t have on?
” Taurex asked, frowning. “I respect you because of your incredible management, organizational, and accounting skills. I respect you for the heavy load you carry as a single mother and someone also caring for a parent. I respect you for your intelligence and wit. Please don’t think I would lose that respect just because I saw you naked. ”
“Wow…” Her eyes got wide as she looked up at him.
“What?” Taurex asked.
“That’s the longest speech you’ve ever said to me,” she pointed out. “Usually you’re practically monosyllabic.”
Taurex smiled.
“Maybe I’m just passionate about the idea of not losing respect for you. Now will you let me examine you or not?”
Slowly, she nodded.
“Yes, I guess so. But do the lights have to come all the way on?” She looked up at the glow-vines, which had dimmed their lights to almost nothing because it was nighttime.
“I only need a little light to see by,” Taurex promised her. “We Monstrum have excellent night vision. Now, come—open your towel for me.”
Blushing, Terra did as he asked. The fact that she was so reluctant to show herself touched something deep in Taurex’s heart.
It told him that she didn’t find it as easy to disrobe as one might think, considering her past. It must have taken real courage for her to dance on that stage in front of so many strangers.
But then, he knew from the few flashes he’d gotten from her that she had mainly done it to help support her family.
When the towel was gone, he could see her bare body clearly and Taurex knew at once his suspicion was correct. Her formerly pink areolas and nipples were dark red where the pleasure blooms had sucked her. And he feared if he spread her thighs, her inner pussy would be the same color.
“What is it? Taurex?” Terra was looking at him with apprehension in her lovely eyes. “What is it?” she asked again when he met her gaze. “What do you see? Is it bad?”
“It’s as I feared—you’re having a reaction to the pleasure blossom secretions,” he told her.
“Well then, I need to wash it off!” She sat up in bed, but Taurex put a hand on her arm to restrain her.
“Wait—water won’t help,” he told her. “If it could, the water of the bathing pool would have washed the secretions away.”
“Oh…” She paused, considering his words. “Then what am I going to do? I’m feeling really, really uncomfortable here! What’s the cure?”
Taurex paused, trying to think how to tell her but apparently, he thought too long because she poked him in the bicep, her eyes wide with concern.
“Come on, tell me! There must be a cure, right? It’s not incurable, is it?”
Seeing that she was getting upset, Taurex hastened to reassure her.
“No, no—it’s not incurable,” he told her quickly. “It’s just…you might not like the cure.”
“I’d like anything that makes me stop feeling so achy between my legs.” She pressed her thighs together. “And makes my nipples stop throbbing,” she added. “So what’s the cure?”
“Well…the pleasure blooms were cultivated back when we Monstrum still had mates,” Taurex explained carefully. “Back then, if any of our women had a reaction to the pleasure bloom secretions, the cure was in her male’s touch.”
“What?” Terra gave him a blank look. “I don’t understand.”
He took a deep breath—she was not going to like this.
“Let me be blunt—only the compounds in a male Monstrum’s saliva can dissolve the chemical bonds of the pleasure blooms’ secretions,” he said. “I know what that sounds like—that I’m trying to get you to let me suck your nipples and lick your pussy.”
“Well, yes—that’s exactly what it sounds like.” Terra glared at him. “Is this why you wanted to get me up here?”
“No, I swear that’s not true!” Taurex shook his head earnestly. “And I swear, if I’d had any idea you would have a reaction, I wouldn’t have let you within a light year of my bathing pool. Forgive me, Terra—I have failed you in many ways tonight.”
He bowed his head. Now she would hate him. Now she would demand to leave and go back to Earth at once. She would probably quit her job with him too. He would lose her and all because he hadn’t been smart enough to keep her out of the bathing pool in the first place.
But to his surprise, after a moment, Terra tapped him on the shoulder.
“All right, I’m done being angry,” she said, when he looked up. “Though I’m still not happy about this. Are you sure you, uh, licking me is the only way to dissolve the secretions?”
“Please feel free to try soap and water first, if you don’t believe me,” Taurex said quickly. “You know where the bathing chamber is.”
She hesitated, then slowly shook her head.
“No, I believe you. You’ve never lied to me before.”
Taurex felt as though she’d stabbed him in the heart with her words. He had lied to her—or at least, he had been concealing the truth. He had yet to tell her they were fated mates. But now was not the time.
For now, what he needed was to heal her of the effects of the pleasure blooms.