Page 30 of Monsters After Dark

Thankfully, he did wear clothes below the waist, though his pants left little to the imagination. Skin-tight black material molded to his powerful thigh muscles and did nothing to conceal the massive bulge between his legs. Blood rushed to my cheeks, and I bit my lip as I pulled my gaze back to his face. We looked at each other, wordless tension rising, and I struggled to find something to say. At last, I drew a deep breath to welcome him aboard with some clumsy cliche.

Just in time to hear an angry yowl from off to one side as Freefall launched herself at the alien warrior like an orange-furred missile. My heart dropped and everything seemed to slow down as she sailed toward Krell’s face. I tried to shout something, anything, to stop Krell from doing the obvious and treating this as an attack.

I had no time. Krell’s reflexes were too fast, and Freefall was on him before I’d drawn breath. Krell’s hand came up to snatch the cat out of the air.

And then he fell backward with an exaggerated cry of pain, holding the fuzzball above his face and doing a spirited impression of a man attacked by forces too great to fight off. If he wanted me to take him seriously, though, he should have done a better job of suppressing his laughter.

“I surrender! Mighty hunter, you have me.” Krell tried, and failed, to keep a straight face as he set Freefall down on his chest. He turned his gaze to me with a rakish grin. “Izzy, will you call off your creature?”

My turn to laugh. “Freefall is a cat, and which of us owns the other is an open question. But fine, I’ll save you from her.”

The tension well and truly gone, I felt safe enough to approach and retrieve the ginger cat. I’d have offered a hand to the fallen alien, but he didn’t need my help. He bounced to his feet instantly, reaching out to scratch Freefall behind the ears and winning a purr.

“You have a fierce warrior to protect you.”

“Fierce, yes. Effective? You seem to have bought her loyalty with skritches. Now what?” I asked. Close enough to smell his scent, the urge to find out what his skin felt like was almost irresistible. If my arms hadn’t been full of cat, I don’t think I’d have held back.

Fortunately, Krell’s arms were empty. He made use of that, too, stroking my cheek with one hand and setting off fireworks inside me. A gasp escaped my lips, and I looked up into his eyes.

“I meant, uh,” I trailed off before my objection really began. Did I want to talk him out of this?

Hell no.My inner voice was not shy about what I wanted, and the proper manners mother had tried to drum into me could protest all they liked. Here I stood next to eight feet of raw sexual attraction, and I didn’t intend to say no to the chance.

Krell’s mechanical eye whirred, focusing in on me, and he cocked his head to the side. After a moment of tense stillness, I realized he was waiting for me—a sign that I truly wanted this. Gosh, a sexy space pirate who cares about consent? Where have you been all my life?

I didn’t keep him waiting. Putting Freefall down, I reached out and ran my fingers down Krell’s chest. His skin felt different, inhuman, and somehow that was a surprise. A rougher texture than human skin, subtle differences to the muscles and bones beneath. I wanted to explore every inch of him and note the differences.

For science, of course.

His fingers slid across my cheek and into my hair, and his grin widened as he drew me toward him. Our lips touched, and the kiss sent lighting through me. No more thoughts, no more lies to myself. I wrapped my arms around his neck, my legs around his waist, and gave the kiss everything I had.

Krell’s free hand grabbed my ass, squeezing and supporting me. I instantly regretted my decision to wear pants.

“Bunks that way,” I gasped when our lips reluctantly parted. Krell followed my outstretched finger and nodded, carrying me to the door that slid open at our approach.

Lights flickered on, showing the bunkroom off in all its chaos. When we’d flown out as a family, it had been a tight squeeze, but it was too much space for me alone. As usual, junk expanded to fill the space available—clothes lay on the floor and the spare bunks, along with empty food containers and scattered hologram displays.

I should have tidied,a panic-stricken voice inside me insisted.

Be fair. I didn’t exactly expect to have company over.

If the mess bothered Krell, he didn’t show it. His kisses became more forceful, more urgent, as he carried me to my bunk and set me down. I sank into the soft mattress and groaned, trying to hold on to him when he pulled back.

Impossible. His strength was too much for me to restrain, and he gently disentangled himself to stand over me, looking like some kind of sexy war god.

“Undress,” he told me. The casual power of his words had me obeying before I thought about it, and his arrogant smirk when he realized that somehow made him sexier. I ought to be annoyed. Hell, I was annoyed. But waves of desire rocked me, drowning out any resentment, and I didn’t waste time arguing.

He wanted me naked. I wanted me naked. The rest? Details. I pulled my t-shirt over my head and threw it aside, blushing as Krell watched intently. Unfastening my pants, I wriggled out of them, giving him a show. The low, hungry growl I got from him in response would have been enough evidence that he enjoyed it, even without the swelling in his pants. I swallowed, wondering if he could really be that big.

Time to find out.“Your turn,” I told him.

He laughed, touching the fastening on his belt. The tight leather-like pants vanished like a dream on waking. One second there, clear as day, the next, no more than a memory. I blinked at the sight, but the magical technology didn’t distract me from what it revealed. Nothing would have.

Eyes wide, I stared at his cock. I’d known it would be huge, but this? Incredible. Unbelievable. The long heavy weight of it pulsed as I watched, shape shifting according to some pattern that I couldn’t understand. A spur stuck out above it and ridges grew and shrank along its length. My body trembled when I imagined that buried inside me, the spur perfectly placed to touch my clit as that pulsing shaft filled me. Though surely that monster of a cock wouldn’t fit?

Maybe, maybe not, but goddamn, I’m going to find out.

Krell’s long, low growl made me shiver with something that wasn’t quite fear. Like I was the mouse who wanted to be caught by the cat.

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