At that moment, she realized the full extent of his words. What her spirit had known all along, and what she knew for herself was as necessary as breathing. She was going to have him. And rather than fear or fury, she felt anticipation. She grabbed him behind the neck and pulled him down to her lips. “Fuck me, Commander.”
A low chuckle was his reply. He tugged the straps off her shoulder. Cold air touched her nipples only to be replaced by his mouth. He cupped her ass and lifted her against him. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and he thrust against her, his kilt and her flimsy panties the only thing separating them. And the material wasn’t enough to disguise the fact why Draeken males had lured many a maiden to their bed. They were built differently than Sephians — or humans, for that matter. The males were … enhanced. Likely it was because their wings restricted certain positions.
Nalea had never given the matter much thought before. She’d never been with a Draeken male. Had only heard rumors. The thought of it now tantalized her. Licking and biting his neck, she held onto him while he worked at the fastenings on his kilt. Roden lowered them to the hard floor. When her back hit the cold metal surface, she sucked in a breath, and he lifted her only to lay her back down, this time the warm material of his kilt enveloping her.
She felt his fingers pull at her panties, and she let him strip her. His thumb traced over her clit, and her sex clenched in anticipation. He worked a finger into her. Then two. She undulated against him, and his breaths became shorter. Reaching out, she grabbed onto his already throbbing, thick length, and he shuddered. She ran a thumb over the slick head, and semen greeted her. She began to pump him with both hands as she moved against his fingers.
“
You torture me
,” he gritted out against her neck.
And she knew she’d reached the point of no return. There would be no turning back, not that she wanted to. She’d deal with the repercussions later. She squeezed his shaft hard.
He tore his fingers away from her and yanked her against him. The head of his cock wedged just inside her, stretching her entrance, and a gasp escaped her lips. He paused just long enough for her to grab onto his hips, and he slid inside her, inch by slow inch.
He didn’t need to thrust. The smallest movement of his pelvis caused her to tremble. As he pulled out, her hips moved toward him as though begging his return. And he did. Only once he was fully inside her did she let herself breathe. She shuddered as he found a rhythm. A sheen of sweat broke across her skin. His thrusts began to become more frenzied, and her breaths came out in short gasps.
His head thickened as it thrummed and throbbed inside her. The rumors were right. There was no sensation like a Draeken male. His pace slowed again, and he went deep and hard. His broad head trembled against the right spot, her muscles contracted against him as the first orgasm already overtook her. It’d been so long, and he felt hellishly good. He hissed through clenched teeth. Her already wet canal slickened as she felt his palpable first ejaculation inside her. Sephians came once, but Draeken males came many times before their final, brutish release.
As her orgasm began to subside, he continued to move with the slightest movements, an inch up, an inch back, a thrust, and it was enough to bring on another wave. He did this, taking his time, whether it was to punish her or to tease her, she couldn’t tell, until her body was so on edge that she became a whirlpool of orgasms. The room began to get hotter, and she realized that the source was her.
Roden paused while deep within her. “It’s happening, isn’t it?”
No longer fearing it, Nalea nodded. Would Roden have stopped if she’d asked him to? Oh, she’d regret this later, but right now, at this moment, there was nothing she wanted more.
He watched her for another moment, as though gauging her thoughts. He pulled out, his thick head — broader than earlier — just outside her entrance.
“No!” she cried out, clutching at him, trying to force him back inside.
He inhaled and then shoved back in, this time with the force of the beast he was. She cried out in ecstasy as he claimed her with hard thrusts. He bucked against her. Her nails dug in as she held on because she was no longer capable of maintaining rhythm to his command.
The heat grew inside her until it became a blaze, burning her from the inside out. Even when she thought she couldn’t take anymore, but Roden plunged into her again and again until his head and shaft thickened even more the instant before his release. Her sensitive core climaxed, tightening around his cock. She cried out as his soul was seared onto hers. He bucked, snarled, lifted her against him as he violently surged inside her, pumping into her.
Still inside her, he finally lowered her to the floor and collapsed over her, leaning on his elbows to keep his weight from crushing her. His wings were outspread like a blanket over them. They lay there, catching their breath in the dark.
His emotions snuck up on her. As she reclaimed her senses from the best four — ten? — orgasms of her life, she felt
him
. His emotions slithered around her soul like small snakes, tickling it, and then they penetrated her all at once. She gasped, arching her back. Roden grabbed onto her, never letting go, as she acclimated herself to the bond. It felt as though she’d walked from the night into the blinding sun.
Too much!
Suddenly, she was no longer alone within her body. Jammed right alongside her thoughts and feelings, she could feel something
more
. Roden’s emotions, glimpses of his intentions, his very essence had imprinted itself on her soul. Her heart pounded.
“Are you all right?”
Roden’s words were soft and gentle. His breathing was tight, as though he was also undergoing a transformation.
“Yeah,” she let out on a gasp. “You?”
“The bond is more … intense than I anticipated for being a Draeken.”
He caressed her as she found herself wriggling to get closer within his embrace. His strong arms enveloped her while she came to terms with what they’d just done. Feeling him was so intense, but yet it felt so damn good. Once she felt like she could clearly make out two distinct sets of emotions within her did she finally relax her grip, and he loosened his embrace in response.
With his arm as a pillow, she lay there with Roden on his side. His fingers absently traced over her
soullare
.
“It’s done,” she whispered.
“Aye. Regrets?”
“No.”
Did he sound worried?
“Good.”
She sensed pleasure in his response. “A part of me still hates you,” she blurted out.
He kissed her shoulder. “I know.” Not even the slightest disagreement. A spark of hurt flashed within her, but it was smothered all too quickly.
Roden was suddenly stiff, cold. Any passion that continued to make butterfly kisses on her soul was wiped as though he were suddenly enveloped within a glacier. The entire atmosphere shifted, and he pulled away from her. Finished with her, he shoved her panties into her hands.
The afterglow became fury, and she yanked her panties on. “That’s how this is going to be, huh.” Her words dripped with disgust. She cursed herself for thinking Roden could care. She clenched her eyes shut, not wanting to see the mocking look in his eyes.
She’d barely registered the sound of the door opening. It wasn’t until bright light blinded her that she realized they were no longer alone. Trying to block the light with a hand, she shoved at Roden and scrambled for a weapon. Not seeing his blaster or blades, she cursed and hastily straightened her dress, keeping an eye on the several Draeken standing at the doorway.
Showing no surprise whatsoever at the interruption, Roden nonchalantly came to his feet to face the newcomers. He picked up his kilt, and ignored them, seemingly not caring they were there, while he fastened it around his hips.
He threw a quick glance at Nalea, and she shivered, remembering the way those eyes had peered into her as he took her. Mistaking her shiver for the cold, he held out his shirt. She grabbed it from him and slid it over her shoulders.
Better that than to have him think I’m weak for him.
So what that even now she craved his touch, that she fought the urge to run into his arms or to slaughter these other men for putting her
tahren
at risk. No, she’d never admit that to him. Ever.
A guardsman with an uncomfortable look on his face stepped forward. “Ahem, Lord Commander Zyll.”
Roden waved a hand through the air. “Well, get on with it.”
“Yes, sir. The Grand Lord has requested the presence of you and your consort.”
“I see his timing is as impeccable as ever,” Roden drawled, the sarcasm dripping from his words. He held out a hand to Nalea. “It’s time, my dear.”
She slid her hand into his and focused intently on not showing any surprise that Roden had pressed a small blade into her palm.
An hour later, Roden and Nalea were sitting in a different office, set up much like the one they’d sat in a couple hours earlier. But much had changed. This time, Roden wouldn’t let Nalea put space between them. Oh, she’d tried to take a lone chair when they’d first entered the room. But he’d held onto her hand, silently forcing her to sit next to him on a small sofa that was more like an oversized chair. He refused to let her distance herself, to give her time to convince herself that what they’d done was wrong.
He still found it hard to believe. The woman he’d spent months teasing and seducing — and yes, tormenting — had finally relented. If it had been any other woman, he wouldn’t have been surprised. After all, he was the most sought after of all Draeken men. A virile lord second only to Hillas. A fact he’d never given a whit about before unless it could be used to his advantage. But for Nalea, giving into Roden meant bonding herself irrevocably to him. And he wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. Pride was oddly the first word that came to mind.
He inhaled her scent against her bare neck, and she bristled against him. “Stop that,” she whispered.
While his race did not soul-bond, their DNA was similar enough that he could now somewhat sense her within himself. Under his emotions, deeper, he felt a second layer of emotions, completely alien to his. Too chaotic to understand. Perhaps over time he’d learn to read the blurry sensations better. “You smell like a fragile night blossom under a strong moon.”
She grumbled something under her breath, and he smirked before frowning. Nalea, on the other hand, would be able to read him without even trying. But, if she knew his emotions, she could glean his secrets. He found the thought … unnerving.
He absently stroked Nalea’s neck. Her shimmering skin was as soft as it looked. Nay, softer. Her
soullare
, ever so pale, was visible only enough to entice a closer look. He already regretted giving her his shirt, as it hid too much of her body. Vine-like designs curled around her legs and climbed her body. They accentuated every curve and every plane. Since she hadn’t bonded with a Sephian, her
soullare
would never darken. A pity since the intricate markings across her skin were a work of art. Still, Roden intended to spend hours tasting every inch of that delicious body.
However, a thought nagged at him. Now that he’d truly had her, what now? His heart surged with satisfaction for tying the Sephian woman to him. After all, logically, Nalea was prime consort material. Not only was she a Puftan, but she served as a member of a Sephian trinity, one of the two ruling teams on Earth. Those things weren’t what bothered him. It was that he enjoyed her company that pissed him off. Though the chance was unlikely, if he wasn’t careful, she would betray him.
What’s to stop her from using whatever she sensed from him against him?
She now possessed the most deadly weapon at her disposal. And it was a weapon she could choose to draw against him at any moment. He’d do well to remember that.
Right now, her body was tense, but she’d also leaned into his caresses. Was it simply because of the
tahren
bond? He moved closer and nipped at her ear. She jumped. “I want you already again.”
She inhaled sharply but didn’t reply.
He knew she desired him. That wasn’t the problem.
No matter how convincing she was, he knew he could not yet trust her. The only thing he could trust was they both wanted Hillas dead. They may have different reasons, but that didn’t matter. Within the night, Hillas would be gone, and Roden — if he survived — would lead his people to a new life on this world. Of course, he still had to convince the daughter of Hillas that serving as the Draeken Grand Lord was the right thing to do. And that would be clearly the bigger feat.
With Nalea at his side, they could end the hostilities between their peoples. Together, they’d have a better chance at brokering a lasting peace with humans. But there was still much work to be done. Integrating his people into an established society meant they’d have new laws to follow, new customs and traditions to learn.
Fyet.
Changing the course of history was tiresome.
He glanced down to see Nalea watching him. Though he knew his face betrayed no emotions, she’d likely already sensed his unease through the bond. He inhaled, forcing calmness to blanket him. The last thing he needed was this woman detecting things she had no business knowing.
She frowned, then turned away.
The door to his left opened, and two guardsmen stepped in and stood at each side of the door. Nalea tensed, and without thinking, he wrapped a protective arm around her, pulling her closer to him as they both came to their feet.
The Grand Lord entered. He wore the gaudy colors of his royal heritage. Bright yellows and purples bled into reds and blues. So different from Sephian officer uniforms that displayed no ornament or rank whatsoever. Since the beginning, the Puftan family was anything but humble. Hillas’s hair was pinned neatly by a long feather. His wings arched proudly behind him. He didn’t look the least bit piqued, as though his base hadn’t just been infiltrated.