Alien Prince: (Bride of Qetesh) An Alien SciFi Romance (38 page)

“
Well, the wounds do not hurt, at present,
”
she countered, canting her head gently to one side.

“
That is because I have taken excellent care of them. Lie back.
”
She did as I bid her and tugged the tunic up to her waist, baring herself fully to me. I stood and rifled through the trunk for some strips of fresh cloth and the wineskin full of Panyan liquor. When I came to sit once more beside her, her legs were bent at the knee and winged out to the side. This position certainly gave me access to the wounds on her thigh, but also an unobstructed view of the flower of her sex. I salivated at the sight of it, knowing what it felt like to plunge myself into that sweet, soft flesh. I smiled to see where she glistened with her desire; I smiled to know that my cock would slip easily inside of her, with barely any insistence on my part.

Her breathing quickened as I began my ministrations, gently taking off her old wrappings and dripping stinging hot liquor over the sensitive skin of her inner thigh. She sucked in air through her teeth and closed her eyes, and I pursed my lips and blew cool air over flesh.

I wrapped her leg with a new bandage and pretended that I was not in agony, desperate to touch her.

But why should I be shy? We had lain together already
—
we were mated, she and I. Even if she decided ultimately that she would leave me, so long as she remained, she was mine. I had had her; she had had me. I shifted where I sat so that I could bend forward and press a kiss to her inner thigh, the one not riddled with bites from the carnivorous plants. She moaned almost imperceptibly.

“
Odrik,
”
she murmured, but I could not tell if it was a protest or an encouragement. I reached forward and brushed my fingertips over her most sensitive center, and they came away damp with her emissions. I used my thumbs to spread her open, to peer into the bloom of her flower, before I finally leaned in and ran my tongue along her rift, from bottom to top and back again. She overwhelmed my senses: her taste was sweet, her scent was musky, and the softness of nether lips against my tongue was driving me to madness. I had grown hard in an instant, but I was more concerned with bringing her to climax than I was with my own desires.

I slid one finger inside of her, then two, before my tongue gained purchase on the tiny kernel whose stimulation made my lady buck her hips and arch her back, made her grip the furs and cry out.

I worked my fingers in and out of her, imagining as I licked her that it was my own member sliding into her warm, wet center. I quickened the pace of my tongue, relishing how my lady whimpered, how she whined and writhed, how she became desperate for her own release.
“
Please,
”
she groaned, and I could not tell if she wanted me to stop or not to stop until her body had given itself over entirely to her pleasure. I chose to believe she wanted me to go on and thrust my fingers into her in time with how I flicked my tongue over her most sensitive parts.

In a moment, she grew silent, her body tensing like a tightly coiled spring before she let out a guttural cry and collapsed, all of the rigidity evaporating from her body. I could feel her internal muscles clamping down around my fingertips as I slowed them and stopped them altogether, retracting them carefully as her body spasmed with the aftershocks of her culmination.

I licked my fingers clean of her juices and lay down on the furs beside her, her breasts heaving as she tried to catch her breath.
“
You should not have done that,
”
she said on the wings of an exhale, her eyes closed.

I smirked.
“
You are welcome.
”

“
It will just be confusing,
”
she continued.

“
How so?
”

She opened one eye and peered at me.
“
You know how. I don
’
t want there to be any misunderstanding between us.
”

“
Did my lady enjoy herself?
”
I asked, one brow quirked high over the other.

“
Yes, but
— ”

“
Then nothing else need be said.
”

She was silent for a long while as her breathing calmed, and I adjusted on the furs next to her, my erection straining painfully against the raw leather of my hunter
’
s wear.
“
I am sweating like an animal,
”
she muttered at last, and swept her hands over her face and back through the tangle of her hair.

“
The star has reached its zenith,
”
I remarked.
“
It will not get any hotter today than it is right now.
”

“
Perhaps, then, it would be a good time to cool off.
”
She pushed herself up to standing and braced her unsteady form with one hand on the tensile leather of the dwelling walls.
“
If that is all right with you?
”

I gave a nod of affirmation and sat up on the furs.
“
Of course,
”
I said, aware that the way she posed the query did not give any indication that she wanted me to join her.
“
Yes, of course. Just do not wander off.
”

One corner of her mouth hooked up in a sly little grin.
“
I have learned my lesson about wandering,
”
she said and moved with labored steps toward the dwelling
’
s entrance.

“
Would you like me to help you?
”
I asked, watching her go. But she shook her head, a gesture that set her curls to bouncing.

“
I can manage,
”
she insisted, so I just watched her struggle forward until she
’
d exited into the harsh light of midday.

I think the fight against our baser natures is what links all sentient creatures the galaxy over, and my own struggle was brought violently to the forefront when Novalyn stepped alone into the daylight. It was a microcosm for the overwhelming sense of absence I knew I would feel when she finally left me, something that I was going to help her do. But for a moment that afternoon, when I rose to my feet to glimpse her down by the water, I considered what it might be like if, maybe, I did not let her go.

Certainly, I could overpower her. She was small, and although she was fierce, she posed no real threat to me, even when I slept beside her. I could keep her here, get her with child and restrain her until she became too round with life to run away from me. And when she bore our progeny, she would come to love them, and through loving them, she might even come to love me. And I would care for her: feed her, clothe her, ensure that she wanted for nothing, and she would see that she was not a prisoner, that I was offering her a life in which she could find happiness and stability.

I stepped toward the mouth of the dwelling and peered out into the day, and I saw her tug my tunic over her head and drape it across the branch of a low-hanging tree. She was intoxicatingly beautiful, her plump rear and soft, rounded belly, the smooth skin of her fleshy thighs, her pert breasts, her long arms. Her hair was the color of Panyan bark, twisted into tight curls, and her eyes were limpid blue like still water. And when I had the opportunity to slide my cock into the slippery cleft between her legs, it always felt like coming home.

Something welled up in me as I watched her wade into the waters, slowly, tentatively, and I knew I could not force her to stay.

But I could
ask
.

And why not? I had taken good care of her, we seemed to get along well, and when we came together, time stood still. What more, really, was there? I stepped out of the dwelling and marched, resolute, toward the water, running my hand over the scale armor implants on my left arm.

Novalyn dipped down low in the water when she saw me, concealing her breasts from view, as though she had grown suddenly self-conscious; I had, too.

“
Er, it was
…
hot. In the dwelling,
”
I mumbled.
“
Would you mind if I were to join you?
”

“
It is a free country,
”
she said, but then wrinkled her nose and squinted her eyes.
“
Wait, is it?
”
I blinked down at her and she gestured absently forward, water singing like music as she moved through it.
“
Go ahead,
”
she said at last. I relieved myself of my garments, and Novalyn turned away. I caught a glimpse of the blush coloring her cheeks before she hid her face from me, and I knew that my nudity was no longer a natural state for us to be in, but rather something that would elicit embarrassment.

I dipped myself low into the water and waded out to her. The water was ice cold and crystalline, a refreshing shock to my system. I made a cup with my hands and splashed the water onto my face.

“
There
’
s this pool,
”
Novalyn said at last,
“
in Astoria.
”

“
What is
‘
Astoria
’
?
”

She smiled.
“
A neighborhood in the city where I used to live. Anyway, there is a public pool there, and it is huge. And in the summertime, the pool is always packed full of people, mostly screaming children whose parents do not bother to watch them. Anyway, they have this Adults-Only swim very early in the morning where people can come and do laps. And it used to take me about forty-five minutes to get there, and it would be really early in the morning, but I would get there and I
’
d put on my bathing suit, and some mornings, I was the only person there. Just me and a lifeguard. And I loved the feeling of being alone in this pool at six in the morning on a sweltering summer day. Being in this pond, just now, reminded me of that.
”

I pressed my lips together and gave a slow nod of my head.
“
I could leave you to your solitude
— ”

“
No,
”
she said quickly.
“
I did not mean
…
That is not what I meant. I did not mean to say that I wished you were not here with me, I just
…”
She sighed and lifted one hand out of the water to rub at her eyes.
“
Why is it so weird now?
”

“
What do you mean?
”
I inquired, but I knew precisely to what she was referring.

“
Everything is strange now. What we just did
—
why is it that ever since we put in our translators, things seem so strained between us?
”

I took in a deep breath and locked my eyes on her; her brow was furrowed in question.
“
Honestly, I could not say,
”
I breathed.
“
I suppose it is the sudden introduction of language that has forced us to intellectualize, when before everything was more
…”

“
Physical?
”

“
Yes.
”

“
I
’
m sorry.
”
She dunked her head down below the water then and came up again, wiping at her eyes.

“
Why are you sorry?
”

She shook her head and drifted nearer to me; I remained frozen in place, worried that if I advanced, she would move away again.
“
I do not know. I guess I am sorry for how bizarre things suddenly feel, for how
…
shy
I am now.
”

“
There is no need to be sorry,
”
I murmured, reaching out to her. She was just out of my reach.
“
I feel shy, too.
”

“
You do?
”

“
Yes.
”

“
Why?
”
she asked, drifting straight into my arms. She smelled like flowers and fresh water, and her eyes were glassy as though she, too, were fighting some large and silent battle. I enclosed her in an embrace, ducking down low in the water, and she pressed her hands flat against my chest.

“
Because, Novalyn,
”
I said, my voice husky with the emotion that would give me away,
“
I feel
— ”