Page 33 of Doom

Icame to, lying on a plush, padded surface, an incredibly soft and smooth hand caressing my forehead. My eyelids fluttered open to the sight of Doom’s concerned face looming over me.

“Hey, Victoria,” he said softly. “I’m sorry for scaring you.”

“Doom … Is it really you?” I asked, my voice trembling.

“Yes, my Red. I told you that I would always come back to you, and I am a man of my word.”

I stared at him, feasting my eyes on the perfection of his features. It was the same face, the same voice, the same words. And yet, something didn’t quite feel right.

I lifted a shaky hand towards his face to touch and confirm that he was real … but froze. A cold shiver ran down my spine as it finally dawned on me. Rolling over the mattress, I threw myself off the bed on the opposite side from where he sat.

“Who the fuck are you?” I hissed. “What the hell kind of sick game is this?”

The imposter rose from his chair and gaped at me in an award-winning performance of shock.

“It’s me, Victoria,” Doom’s look-alike said in a confused voice.

“LIAR! Doom has lots of battle scars,” I shouted, before pointing at my right eyebrow. “He has one right here that runs up to his temple, and a bunch more all over his body. He has calloused hands from years of battle. And—”

“And I told you the history of every one of those scars in your makeshift hospital, while we lay together in your bed, you dressed, me naked, and both of us hidden by my cloaking shield,” the man interrupted.

I gaped at him, stunned that he’d know such specific details.

“I can explain,” he said, gesturing to the couch in the small sitting area of the bedroom. “Did you not see Stran with me?” he asked when I hesitated.

That gave me pause.

That fact, his non-threatening demeanor, and my desperate hope that it was true made me cave. I settled on the couch, and he placed his chair a few feet in front of me before sitting down. For the next little while, he told me the most impossible—and yet wondrous—story about soul transfers, incubators, and rebirth sickness.

At some point, the reality that it was really him sank in … and I threw myself at him so abruptly I knocked him off his chair. We both ended up sprawled on the floor, Doom on his back and me on top. My lips met his, and the world faded. Our hands explored each other with feverish impatience. I nearly tore his shirt off in my rabid hunger to feel his naked scales beneath my palms. Doom only interrupted our kiss long enough to remove it. On instinct, I raked my nails over his scales, and an animalistic growl of approval rose from my man’s throat.

Doom tightened his hold around me, and the room spun as he rose to his feet, lifting me in his arms in the process. Our lips still passionately locked, I clasped my hands behind his neck and wrapped my legs around his waist while he carried me to the massive bed. He carefully laid me down on it but hesitated.

Confused, I extended a hand towards him. To my relief, he took it but crouched by the bed instead of joining me on it. His gaze locked with mine.

“I want to bond with you,” Doom said in a tender voice. “But I promised to properly court you first, once the war was over—”

“This war will drag on for months if not years,” I interrupted. “I lost you once, thinking it was forever. Against all odds, you came back to me. I’ve seen what’s out there and how quickly a situation can turn for the worse. I’m not wasting another day on laters and maybes. As we humans say,carpe diem. Bond with me, Doom. Make me yours and be mine forever.”

The look in his eyes made me melt from the inside out. His gaze never strayed from mine as he stripped out of his clothes. I slipped my sleeveless dress over my head and tossed it on the floor. The mattress dipped as Doom climbed onto the bed. His kiss forced me to lie back, and he settled over me, his skin searing hot against my naked flesh.

With his hands and mouth, Doom worshipped my body. I barely noticed him ridding me of my bra, and then the wet warmth of his mouth was closing around one of my nipples. The gingery-cinnamon scent of his pheromones swirled all around us, setting my blood on fire. He emitted an odd purr that transitioned into strange vibrations that resonated through his chest. My nerve endings immediately responded, every sensation heightened. Every kiss, every touch made me moan in bliss. Even the feel of the soft bed sheets beneath me, the gentle scraping of his scales against my skin, and the heat of his body covering mine were enhanced by his purring vibrations.

When his mouth settled over my sex, my back arched off the bed. I writhed beneath the sensual assault of his tongue tasting and devouring me. I fell apart with a strangled cry.

“Do you have any idea how beautiful you are, my mate?”

Drowning in an ocean of pleasure, I couldn’t answer. But Doom didn’t mind. He kissed his way back up and settled between my legs with a look of pure adoration.

“May I join with you, my Red?” Doom asked, his lips brushing against mine.

“Yes,”I mind-spoke to him, not trusting my voice.

It was wonderful to be able to communicate with him at such an intimate level. But even as the scales of his loin plate parted to free his shaft, Doom’s consciousness appeared to wrap itself around mine. I could almost feel the very essence of him.

“Your soul is so beautiful,” Doom whispered with awe as he carefully began pushing himself inside of me. “So mesmerizing … Soon, my Red, as your psychic powers grow, you will be able to see mine. Then we’ll truly be one.”

I didn’t quite know what he meant, but I could feel him all around me and inside me. His psychic caress within the seat of my soul drowned out the pain of his possession as my body tried to adjust to his girth. Doom moved slowly, paying attention to any discomfort I might feel. Only once our bodies started moving in harmony did he resume emitting that subtonal vibration that sent my senses into overdrive.

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