Ruth's Bonded (Ruth & Gron Book 1) (9 page)

Gron groaned from the bank and she
glanced over at him, and almost fell over with shock. He was watching her and
playing with himself! Or at least that was what she thought... When he took his
hand away, he was still soft, but he definitely had an unhappy expression on
his face. What the hell?

She was suddenly uncomfortable and
very
aware again that she was naked, and she hunched over in the water to cover her
breasts. Gron didn’t seem to notice, turning away from her and leaping into the
tree. What the hell was that about, she asked herself as she started up her
scrubbing again. Maybe he just needed to relieve himself. Or was jealous that
she was getting to wash and he wasn’t. He had to be even worse than she was,
maybe he just had an itch. Ruth froze. Maybe he had crabs. Or fleas. Alien
flea-crabs. She’d slept against him last night, so if he had them, she had them
now too. She looked down at herself worriedly. She hadn’t felt anything. Maybe
it hadn’t been long enough.

She sighed. She hadn’t seen him
scratching in the cell. It was mean of her to think that just because he had
fur, he had fleas. He’d gotten her out of that cell, after all. He could have
left her there, but instead he’d carried her away, like King Kong. She quite
probably owed him her life.

Maybe he was just missing Mrs Gron.

Ruth got as clean as she could, drank
as much water as she could, relieved herself, then had to admit that she was
cold. She had nothing to dry with and her hair was dripping and she hadn’t
eaten since before the aliens took her clothes. Her stomach was full of water
at the moment and she was so happy to be free that she didn’t really mind not
having food for now, but she knew she’d have to eat soon.

She stood at the base of the tree and
called for Gron. He swung down a moment later and she held her arms out. He
looked at her and shifted away, and she wondered if they were back to the
no-touching rule. She was screwed if they were, which she reminded him of by
pointing to herself, then pointing up into the tree. He seemed to get what she
meant then because he picked her up and threw her onto his back again before
effortlessly scaling the tree. She’d have to find a way to ask him to be a bit
more gentle with his throwing.

Up in the high branches, Gron
deposited her near the trunk then moved back out to where he had clearly been
tying branches together with vines and smaller flexible branches to make a
platform. This must be how his people make their homes. Ruth knew if she tried
it, it would have the structural integrity of a sandcastle, but she also trusted
Gron not to put her in danger. If it could support his weight, it could take
hers.

She sat down and watched him as he
worked, making frequent trips to the ground for more vines and saplings. He
really was incredibly strong, bending thick branches out of shape and into the
new ones that he wanted. He’d saved her life today. He’d taken her to water and
now he was building them shelter. He’d put himself between her and danger twice
already. He’d gotten her through. Without him, she wouldn’t have survived. She
would have broken, and suffered much worse than she had. And he didn’t have a
reason for doing any of it. They didn’t even speak the same language.

She climbed to her feet and
approached him where he worked. He looked up when she touched his back and ran
her hand down the fur that covered his spine, slipping her nails in to drag
against his skin. He shivered and closed his eyes, hanging his head. She bent
so she could continue on to his tail, running the soft, smooth length through
her hand until she reached the end. She lifted it and placed the very tip in
her mouth, licking the ends of the furry point. What the hell was she doing?
She didn’t know. Seducing an alien as best as she could guess how.

Gron stared at her with hungry eyes,
then reached out to brush his knuckles against her cheekbone. He was murmuring
something that she was sure was very sweet and complimentary. They seemed to be
on the same page, and she smiled. She hadn’t thought she was attracted to him,
or that she had feelings for him, but that was in the cell. How could she have?
In captivity? But now the night was all around them and full of stars, and the
breeze rustled the leaves, and instead of being the only two people in a small
metal box, they were the only two people in the world.

She reached out for him, wrapping her
arms around his neck and pressing her breasts against his chest. She wanted to
kiss him, but she didn’t know if he knew what that was, so she slowly brushed
her lips against his cheek, placing little butterfly kisses until she reached
his mouth. He hadn’t fought her off or moved away, so she kissed his bottom
lip, then his top one. He leaned towards her, clearly interested in what she
was doing, so she sealed her lips over his.  The difference in the shape of his
mouth didn’t make that much difference after all.  After a moment, he began
pressing back against her lips and she allowed herself to soften entirely
against him. And then paused. She could feel his dick against her, not reacting
at all to what was going on.

That was a big hit to her confidence.
She wouldn’t normally expect her kiss to get a guy hard, but she was naked and
so was he, and they were skin to skin and fur, and she’d put his tail in her
mouth, and his dick wasn’t even curious as far as she could tell. She broke the
kiss and looked down. Yup, nothing.

“Gruth?”

She looked up at his face again. He
was looking at her as if wondering why she had stopped, in confusion and
concern. “Um...”
Don’t you want to have sex with me?
She pointed at his
dick. When he realised what her problem was he fidgeted and began pulling her
off him. “Gron!” she complained. Had she just fucked everything up? She
wouldn’t have pointed at a human guy’s dick if it wasn’t working! She should
have known better. How unsexy was that? She should have just reached down and
helped him along, kept kissing him. Now he was hurt. God, she’d fucked up.

He stood up and looked like he was
going to leave her.

“Gron, I’m sorry!” She hoped he could
understand her tone at least, her expression.

He looked at her and said something
that could have been anything, like
I’m sorry
too
, or
Fuck
you, bitch
, or
I’ll be right back,
then jumped from the platform and
disappeared into the forest below.

Gron swung down to the jungle floor, then
stopped, not really knowing where to go. He leaned against a tree for a moment,
resisting the urge to look up at where he knew Gruth was to see if he could
make her out, see if she was okay. He’d let her down. She had wanted to mate
but he wasn’t primed for her yet. She must be disappointed that he was taking
so long. In his tribe, it took about three days of the Queen touching him for a
male to become primed, so that the Bond wouldn’t be made frivolously or
accidentally. He thought of what it would be like to become primed after a
single night of touch, only to be rejected by the Queen the next day, and
shuddered. That would be a cursed life. But perhaps Gruth’s tribe was
different.

He had slept with her in his arms
only one night. Before that he had avoided her touch and the Bond it might
start, but he could fight it no longer. He had been so miserable, thinking all
was lost after their captors had attacked her, but then he woke up with her
before him, asking for his touch, her body bared to his eyes. Oh, he was weak,
but he did not regret it. As soon as he had made the decision to Join with her,
he found a peace he had never known. To be Chosen, to belong to a Queen as part
of her entourage, as her Consort, gave his life a purpose beyond anything he could
have hoped for in his old tribe. He even dared to think he might stud for her,
that she might let him become a Prime Father. But he should not think of that;
that was her decision and hers alone. He should just be grateful she had Chosen
him at all, and he was. And she wanted to mate, so he would know that pleasure
too.

But he could not, not yet. He cursed
his slow body. Why did he feel the fire in his blood if he could not satisfy
her? It seemed cruel. Perhaps he should go back and have her touch him more,
all over, all night. Perhaps that would speed his priming. Perhaps he could
please her in other ways. He looked back up at the tree where he had left her,
but no. He would not disappoint her again, would not show her his shame again,
not until he could undo it and give himself as the male she wanted. He knew he
had to sleep with her in his arms again tonight. He just hoped she hadn’t
changed her mind by the time he got back.

He began hunting for more reeds and
vines he could use in the building of their shelter. He could do much better
with the materials provided by the jungle at home, but he would make do, for
her. He kept his eye out for anything that they could eat as well, but so far
he had not found anything. He would have to find something soon. They should
move on soon as well, if they did not want to be caught again. They had not
gone far enough to be safe, and their captors would know to look for them near
water.

Oh, but bringing her to water had
been rewarding. He had never seen anything like it. She was... beautiful. Where
he came from, the Queens were beautiful for their size, their strength, their
power. That was not Gruth. He could not explain why she was beautiful, had not
thought she was until then. The beauty of the Queens back home made a male
stand up. Gruth’s beauty brought him to his knees. She was like a small flower
that you found hidden beneath a leaf that you knelt down to see, or the birds
that stand in the water that take flight if you move even an inch. He could not
touch these things, usually. They existed outside of his world, his life. But
Gruth wanted his touch. The thought sent another tide of fire through his blood
as he thought of all the ways he might touch her and what she would feel like.

He could see her bones, but it only
added to her beauty somehow, because he could see that it did not make her
weak. She was not sick. She was strong. When she played in the water, her arms
above her head, her breasts high and her back arched, that was the first time
he cursed his maleness for being still. She had asked for him then too. Knowing
she was ready but he was not was torture. If he could have willed his body to
hardness for her, he would have, even if it would not have produced offspring
for her. He desired her, like he had never desired anything.

Why had he wasted time in their cell,
he accused himself. He should have started the Bonding then. He could have
already given himself to her if he had. He touched his lips where she had
pressed hers earlier. He did not know why she had done that. He wondered if she
would do it again.

He went to the stream and drank more
water, hoping to cool the fire at least when he was not with her. He had been
distracted from drinking his fill when she had been before him.

He must finish the platform in the
tree so they could sleep safely, and he must find food. If he brought food for
her, she might think he still had worth while they waited for him to become
primed.

He searched for as long as he could,
as far as he could, but he did not want to go too far from her or leave her
alone too long. She was not from the trees. She might fall. And she could grow
cold without a pelt. Eventually he found a tree that sprouted nuts in a tight
bundle, and he folded as many as he could carry into a large leaf along with
the vines he needed and held the edges in his teeth so he could make his way
back to Gruth.

When he dropped back onto the
platform he had yet to finish, Gruth was sitting safely by the trunk, knotted
up into a tight ball, which usually meant she was cold. She looked up when he
arrived with relief plain on her face. He went to her immediately to show her
the nuts he had found and to warm her if she would let him. She bared her teeth
in that strange way she had when he indicated that she should eat the nuts. His
tail twitched on the branch beside him as if it remembered how it had felt when
her tongue had just so barely touched his fur.

She ate almost half of one of the
bundles before she looked at him and gestured that he should eat, so he did.
Then he would finish the platform so they could sleep, and tomorrow he would
carry her further into the jungle.

He worked while she finished the
nuts. When he was certain the platform would take their weight, he spread it
with leaves and held out his hand for her. She took it and climbed out to where
he was, and followed him in lying down. Again she tucked her back to him and he
offered her his arm to rest her head on. The leaves made the platform the most
comfortable thing he had slept on since he had been taken, but he still didn’t
want her to sleep away from him. He spread some of the large leaves over them
before settling.

Gron remembered how she had pressed
her lips to his face, and he copied her, pressing his lips to her shoulder. She
looked at him then, and shifted her hips slightly so that her flank brushed
into his lap, but then she moved away again, laying her head down and closing
her eyes.

“Please be patient,” he whispered to
her as he brushed the hair from her face, “Please wait.”

Gron woke her the next morning when
the first thin light of dawn was stretching from the horizon. He pressed his
fingers against her lips and pointed into the forest. She couldn’t hear or see
anything, but she guessed that he could. Time to move on. The fear she’d
thought was behind her crept back. Last night she had thought they were safe,
free. She should have known they wouldn’t be let go that easily. She still
didn’t know why they had been taken but if they’d had value before, they were a
significant investment now. Ruth couldn’t imagine that it was cheap to fly
across the universe.

At least they didn’t have anything to
pack. She simply watched as Gron disassembled the platform he had made, then
climbed onto his back so he could carry her through the forest. Ruth was
distinctly aware that they had no idea where they were going or what they were
heading towards. She felt that they must hit some kind of civilisation
eventually, a native population, and she seriously doubted they would have a
friendly reception if they did. She had no idea what kind of forest they were
in, either. They could be swinging through a park in the middle of a city right
now. Or they could be on a planet completely devoid of life except for the
aliens chasing them. There might be vicious giant monsters on this planet, or
winters so harsh they couldn’t survive. She should have known better than to
think they were safe, but last night, she hadn’t even thought of returning to
Earth.

Gron moved fast to put as much
distance between them and their pursuers as possible, and they travelled for
what felt like hours. Ruth couldn’t believe that they could be caught when they
never touched the ground to leave a trace, but what if the aliens had a
tracking device? She pushed that thought away. She didn’t want to consider that
they might never be free.

Gron eventually stopped by a stream
mid-morning so they could drink. Ruth saw some berries nearby, but didn’t want
to risk it. She was so hungry even the ration-loaf seemed appetising now, but she
had no way of knowing what was poisonous and what wasn’t. It was a miracle she
wasn’t reacting to all the different plants around her, though there seemed to
be remarkably few bugs, which was a blessing. She supposed they could kill an
animal, and that might be all right. Meat was meat. As long as it wasn’t a
scorpion or something, it should be fine. The only problem with that plan was
that she hadn’t seen a single other living thing.

She looked at Gron in concern. He was
burning way more calories than she was, and had more mass to maintain too. He
didn’t seem to exactly have any fat stores either. As she watched him drink,
she saw that he also plunged his forearms into the water and held some up to
run down the fur on his chest. The day was heating up quickly, and he must be
hot, leaping around while carrying her. She waded into the water and stood in
front of him. Now was her chance to give the guy a bath.

The water here was much shallower
than the stream from yesterday. If it was the same one, they must be upstream,
and she wondered if they were following an incline. The water only really came
up to her ankles, but she crouched in front of him and held his hands, rinsing
the grit and grime from his skin and fur. He didn’t seem to object this time,
so she gradually worked her way up his arms, pulling him to sit in the water
with her. He seemed bemused as she ran her hands over his legs until the fur
was smooth and as clean as she could get it.

Ruth moved behind him to start on his
tail which she knew must be in the water too. It was soaked and incredibly
heavy, but she worked it through her hands anyway, scratching and massaging it,
his broad back shuddering occasionally or twitching when she touched his skin
with her nails. When she was satisfied, she cupped water in her hands and
poured it down the dusty fur on his spine and over the bare skin of his back,
wiping him down. Everywhere she touched he was warm and firm, the muscles
creating a seemingly endless terrain of swells and valleys for her to explore.
There was a lot of splashing as he vigorously washed his chest and she
hesitated. Was she being too slow? Were they still being hunted? But he slowed
down and looked at her when he felt her pause, so she smiled and began on his
shoulders, pressing hard to squeeze out as much water as possible.

Now the question of how to do his
hair. He would have to lie down. She pulled on his shoulders until his head was
in her lap. Ruth smiled at him to reassure him as she began gradually pouring
handfuls of water through the dark strands, which looked black when they were
wet. He said something as he looked up at her, but she just smiled in response.
What else could she do?

All considered, it took a long time
to rinse all the dust and grit out of his hair and fur and off his skin. When
she was done, he looked quite debonair with his hair slicked back off his face,
and she bit her cheek not to give herself away. She moved to get out of the
water, but his hand on her wrist stopped her. He gently pulled her back down to
sitting in front of him, and she smiled. Okay, his turn. She let him cup water
over her arms and shoulders, slowly running his hands down her skin,
occasionally glancing at her face to check he hadn’t crossed a line.

He said something and motioned her
up. She stood and he knelt, and she was suddenly a little uncomfortable that he
had such a good view of her crotch, but his eyes were following his hands as he
tipped water over her neck. He moved his hands over her chest, his fingers
running over her collarbones, and she shifted. Had it been this erotic when she
was washing him?

Gron skipped her breasts, which
simultaneously surprised and kind of annoyed her, but his large warm hands went
around her ribs, stroking over her waist, his thumbs following the contours of
her stomach as he watched. He leant his face against her and inhaled as his
hands continued down her sides, over her hips and down her thighs.  Ruth carded
her fingers through his wet hair to steady herself.

Gron leant back again and began
scooping water over her calves. The water was cool, but the sun was dappling
beautifully through the trees, heating the air and their skin, and Ruth’s heart
was beating fast and strong. Gron washed her legs, gradually working his way up
to her knees, her thighs. Ruth gasped and swayed. She’d never had a man pay her
this much attention, apparently wanting nothing in return. She couldn’t be sure
he knew what he was doing, but he must have noticed how hard she was breathing
now.

His hand slid up the inside of her
thigh and she closed her eyes, shifting her feet apart for him. He trickled the
cool water through her pubic hair and her belly jumped. She wanted to ask him
to touch her
there
but she couldn’t. Instead she felt his fingers gently
run through her hair, washing her, and then the weight of his head come to rest
against her again, lower this time as he again inhaled deeply. She forced her
eyes open. No one had ever done
that
to her, but it didn’t make her
uncomfortable. He was washing her so reverently he was clearly okay with her
body, and he was an alien anyway, how did she know what he was doing or what it
meant to him?

She could feel his exhale hit her
between the legs, and she almost buckled. God, she wanted him. She was so hot
right now. Surely he was going to touch her? He couldn’t be on his knees in
front of her with his face between her legs and be confused about what was
going on, right? She imagined his tongue, his hand, his tail,
anything
,
but nothing appeared to be forthcoming.

“Gron...” she moaned desperately,
rocking her hips against him, trying to be as obvious as she could. He looked
up at her, his large, dark eyes questioning, burning. “Please, Gron,” she
begged. She’d never begged for it before but she’d never been this turned on
from so little stimulus before. He hadn’t even touched her clit, or her
breasts, or even kissed her, and she felt like she could come from a hard look.
As she looked down at him, she watched his tail rise up and curl around her
thigh, pulling her legs apart gently.
Oh, thank God...
The furred end
came to rest against her entrance and she clenched involuntarily. “Oh my fuck,”
she cursed. Wasn’t that a new sensation? The fur prickled and teased her, not
giving her enough to really
feel
but impossible to ignore.

Another pause as he just looked at
her.
Oh, fuck, come on...
“Gron, do something,
please
,” she
moaned. He murmured something back at her, his face flushed, one wet lock
falling over his forehead, and pressed a kiss just to the beginning of her
slit.
Is this guy a fucking sadist?
she wondered. But then he pulled her
lips apart with his thumbs and slid them over her, making her sigh and rock her
hips forward, her head going back. She recovered enough to look down at him
again, and saw him rubbing his thumb over his finger, examining the wetness
there.

She guessed she was a little alien to
him as well, but he was going to have to get with the programme here. However,
it was becoming apparent that if she wanted anything to happen, she would have
to show him how. She thought because he matched a human male in that
department, that she would be the same as the females on his planet. His
reaction didn’t necessarily mean that she wasn’t, but since she had yet to
achieve even a semi from him, it could be that he was wired differently
somehow. Maybe she wasn’t doing something she needed to to get him going. Well,
she would see if he rejected her lesson first.

Ruth knelt down in front of him and
took his hand. Making sure he was okay with it, she guided his hand between her
legs, her own hand over the top to move him. Her stomach clenched as his
fingers made contact with her.

“This is me,” she said, her voice
shaking as she slid his fingers over her labia. “This is where you go.” She
pushed him deeper, showing him that there was an entrance that yielded to her
finger when she briefly entered herself. With her other hand she gently lay her
fingertips against his shaft, which still lay asleep in his lap. She hoped he
got what she was trying to say. “And this is where the magic happens,” she
concluded, guiding his finger to swirl over her clit. Her voice may have failed
a little, but whatever. She’d done all she could. Now it was up to him.

His hand didn’t move away from her.
Instead, hesitantly, he repeated the motions she had shown him, sliding his
fingers over her, into her, then circling her clit rhythmically. When he pushed
his thick finger inside her, she’d gasped and tightened around him. She lay her
hands against his neck, feeling his pulse and how warm he was, and rested her
head against his shoulder. “Oh fuck, you’re perfect,” she moaned, riding his
hand as he started again. He grunted something back to her and used his free
hand to pull her into his lap, and she straddled him gladly. He added another
finger to the one already pumping in and out of her, and growled. She got
louder, making little cries every time he thrust into her, bouncing up and down
to meet him. His other hand joined in, the thumb rubbing her clit in little
circles that had her climbing quickly to orgasm.

She threw her arms around his neck
and kissed him hard, forgetting for the moment that it was not a practice he
was exactly familiar with, but she pressed him hard until he opened his mouth,
and she found his tongue with hers. He was a quick study, and his rhythm didn’t
suffer from the attack, which was impressive. She came hard, moaning into his
mouth as her body seized around his hand again and again. She had to take his
hands away since he didn’t seem to know when to stop, and she washed their
hands in the stream, giving herself a cursory rinse too.

Well, she felt better. Even if he
didn’t get hard for her, they could still make it work if they wanted to. He
was watching her as if surprised to see her back to normal, but she didn’t know
what to do for him, while his dick was soft. He grabbed her shoulder and pushed
his face into hers, startling her until she realised he was asking for a kiss.
She smiled, and obliged, kissing him softly at first, nibbling his lower lip
and licking the seam of his mouth before sealing her mouth over his and going
to work on his tongue. He seemed keen to learn what she was doing, one hand
going to the back of her neck as he became more active. She was glad to kiss
him for as long as he wanted, but eventually she had to break away when her jaw
started to hurt. She smiled at him and brushed his cheekbone with her thumb.

“We should get going again,” she
said. “I’m going to get pruney in this stream.” She pointed back into the
forest, and he appeared to reluctantly agree. He climbed out and pushed the
water from his fur. Ruth took a few more gulps of water to rehydrate before she
joined him.