Page 23 of Lashe

He raised one eyebrow. “I will never leave you. You’re my mate. I wish to make a life with you, Anna. The only thing standing in the way of that is this creature that our ship is trapped on.”

In that moment, it all made sense. It all became crystal clear. The men I had chosen in the past were never right for me. The right one had been with me for five years. I gazed into his eyes and everything stopped. Time, thoughts, worries. “I want you, Lashe. Now. However many days we have left. Whether it’s one or thousands.”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Oh, I’m sure,” I said, and I crushed my lips onto his.

CHAPTER 13

Lashe

Icouldn’t even process that for a moment. Hearing her words was all of my dreams coming true at once. I hadn’t believed this would happen.

I pulled back from her mouth and pressed her back to give us some distance. I ran my fingers through my hair. “I will take care of you,” I said. “I will do everything in my power to make you happy and protect you. I swear it on my life.”

She grinned at me. “I’ll do the same for you. Well, I’ll leave the protecting part to you. I’m terrible with a blaster.”

“You are,” I agreed. “I saw your scores from your self-defense class.”

“Nice. Here I thought they were confidential.”

“I’m on your staff,” I said. “I have access to some records.”

She laughed. “Like I said, you know way too much about me, butIwas missing what was right in front of me. You could have given me a clue as to your feelings.”

I closed my eyes, wishing I had done things differently. “Perhaps if I had just been honest from the start…” I shook myhead. “You were my employer. And you are very important to my people. I will always be a warrior at heart. I will always put my people first, but if you’re asking if I regret not showing my feelings earlier, then yes. I regret it. You could’ve found another to fly you to and from Destra. I found it impossible to stay away from you. I still do.”

“And now that I know how you feel,” she said softly, “I’m finding it impossible to stay away from you, too. So I’m asking you now, Lashe. Will you have me? Because I have no intentions of leaving you. There is nobody else I want. You’ve been by my side for five years. Let’s finish this and make our bond official.”

A weird sound escaped my lips and I leaned towards her, pulling her against me roughly. My hands trembled. My mouth took her in a frantic kiss. “Fuck yes,” I growled. “I’ve always been yours. Now, you are mine.”

“Then stop talking and take me,” she gasped. “All of me.”

I kissed her and she let out a moan that rattled through me with the force of an earthquake, making my cock stand up straight and my skin shiver with need. I broke away, long enough to say, “Stelis, turn off.”

The infernal AI assistant replied, “I cannot turn off.”

Anna said, with a ragged voice, “Stelis. Privacy mode.”

And the assistant said nothing after that, leading me to believe that we were, in fact, as private as we were going to be.

I kissed her, pushing her down to the floor and covering her body with mine. She was rounded and soft and perfect and I felt as if I might explode just by having so much access to her. After so long, it felt like a dream, and Ihaddreamt about her. But this was better than any fantasy I had conjured. Her body was lush and responding beneath mine. Her hands roved over my chest and back. Her fingers plucked at the neckline of my suit, and I found the fastenings, pulling it open.

She tilted her head back, exposing her neck, and I wasted no time delving in, running my tongue up the column to her jaw and nipping there. The sound of her gasp and the feel of her fingers digging into my shoulders made my inner warrior roar with approval.

I moved my way down, cupping one of her breasts. It swelled, as her nipple dug against my palm. My hips angled towards her, aching for more contact, but nothing would assuage my cock until it was inside of her. I found the fastenings of her shirt and undid them one by one, sliding my fingers down as I went, exposing skin one tantalizing section at a time. My lips followed the trail, kissing down between her breasts where I felt the fast flutter of her heart beneath my mouth. One succulent breast beckoned, and then the other. My lips closed around one taut, firm nipple.

She let out a strangled moan as I flicked my tongue against her, letting instinct guide me as I gently suckled and squeezed. She writhed against me. The smell of her arousal suffused my senses, wiping out any coherent thought I might’ve had and replacing it with pure, raw hunger. This female wanted me. She was mine. Mine for the taking.

I kicked off my boots and shoved down my own suit, until I felt the cool air against my skin. I didn’t know if I’d have the chance to touch her again. If I’d even be alive tomorrow after I stepped foot outside of this shuttle. I was not going to deny either of us this pleasure.

She wriggled out of the top of her garment. It was one of those strange, shapeshifting items that was self-cleaning and could morph into any design she had purchased for it. Mostly, it stayed the same during the days we’d been here—simple and comfortable. But now, I just wanted it off of her. I wanted skin on skin.

I pushed the fabric down to her waist as my mouth moved lower and then down to her knees. I slid a hand between her legs and she parted her thighs, willingly kicking off the last remaining bit of her clothing. We were skin to skin. Both of us naked. I gazed down at the beautiful female beneath me. She waseverything. She was all I wanted and I wouldnottake her on the floor.

I gathered her up and stood. Her eyes were heavy lidded, her lips full and swollen from my kisses. I carried her to her bed and laid her upon it. She lay there with one knee up, arms bent and stretched above her on the pillow. She licked her lips. Her skin was flushed. There was no turning back. I could not deny myself, or her.

I climbed into bed, holding myself above her. My cock hard and jutting as I slid between her legs. She spread her thighs, inviting me in, but she reached out and held my hard length in her small hands. I drew in a ragged breath as she explored my long, rigid cock. It was different than human men’s. Destrans’ cocks were shaped in a spiral, thick with ridges, while humans’ were long and smooth.

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