Her head was starting to pound. She didn’t want to lose the moment, this moment, with him.

She lifted her face to his. He was there, waiting. He claimed her mouth, the kiss long and unhurried, as if he had hours to devote just to kissing her. He was relentless, not in pushing her, but taming her, forcing her to wait. Finally she surrendered, let him set the pace, stopped trying to push his buttons.

But kissing him made strange things happen inside her body. She was still wet and aching, empty, eager for him to fill her, claim her for his own. But this was somehow more than just sex. It felt like belonging. Home. He felt like home.

When she thought she’d go mad if he didn’t move, he did, lowering one hand to cup her wet heat for mere seconds before he explored her soft folds with his large masculine fingers and slipped two inside her.

He kissed her as she cried out in pleasure, so swollen and sensitive for his touch she was on the edge of orgasm just from riding his fingers, until she stopped making noise, stealing her moans and whimpers from her and swallowing them down as his own. He played her body until one more touch would shatter her into a million pieces, then positioned his cock at her entrance and held her pinned to the bed as he entered her with one solid thrust.

Her world exploded, her inner muscles clamped down like a fist in spasm, squeezing and pulling him deeper.

His hands cupped her face, caressed her as if she were beautiful and desirable, as if she were perfect. Unable to resist, she lowered her lips to his neck and did what she’d dreamt of for weeks, tracing each and every line of his markings with her tongue, kissing them with her lips, nipping at them with her teeth as the tension built in her body again, faster this time, hotter.

“Taeger.” She said his name like a prayer. She knew it, heard the need in her own voice, but couldn’t hide from him. Not here. Not now.

“Say it again.” She lifted her lips from his jaw and looked into his eyes.

“Taeger.”

His hands roamed her curves, found the round curves of her ass and pulled them apart, opened her up as he shifted beneath her, going deeper. Her eyes widened in shock seconds before they closed in blissful pleasure.

“Open your eyes, Cassie,” he ordered, “I want you to say my name when you’re coming. Only my name. Nothing else.”

She ignored the command, kissing him instead. With a soft groan, he moved one hand to rest beneath her hips and tilted her body up to meet his, holding her sensitive clit against him as he rubbed, moving back and forth just enough to make her insane, then stopped.

“Oh god. Don’t stop!” she begged. His hard shaft was pressing on just the right spot, his fingers at her clit full of knowledge. Intent. Her body was on fire with need. She ground her hips against him. Wanton. Needy. Uncaring how she looked, she spread her legs wider, pressed harder, her nub swollen. Aching. Begging for his touch. Anywhere. Everywhere. “Please.”

Taeger chuckled, his fingers unmoving. “I said open your eyes, Cassie.”

Cassie whimpered in frustration, but still he didn’t move. Finally she opened her eyes and was rewarded with a hot, hard stroke of his fingers.

“Ah!” she cried out at the intense pleasure, but still it wasn’t enough. She needed more. Needed him stroking deep inside her, too.

His heated gaze locked onto hers. Intense. Hungry. “Mine,” he growled possessively. With one sure stroke, his hard cock plunged so deep he nudged her cervix, claiming her all over again, stretching her to the limit. He wasn’t human. He was almost savage. A dominant alpha male. Masterful. Everything she needed. Wanted. And more. He pounded into her. Deeper. Harder. Faster. Their bodies were in sync. His every breath matched hers. Every stroke of his shaft, every nip of his teeth, every flick of his tongue designed to drive her to new heights, ever higher. Her body burned. Throbbed. Wept for him.

The orgasm came at her like a tidal wave with no warning. Hot. Fierce. Out of control. She couldn’t focus, not even on a kiss. She dropped her forehead to the bed and gave him exactly what he wanted, chanting his name as her body exploded and he shot his hot seed deep inside her welcoming body.

When it was over her eyelids fluttered open to find him staring down at her. Gently, he separated them. When he leaned over to reach for the jar of maju paste she lifted her arms over her head in a stretch that felt a thousand years overdue. “What are you doing?”

“It’s my turn.”

She blinked, confused. “But I thought that stuff was just for you. To make your markings glow so everyone on this base will know you’re mine.” There, she’d said it out loud. She was staking her claim.

His pleased grin made her heart skip a beat and love flooded her entire body with a heat that had nothing to do with sex. Reaching for him, she sat up and held his face between her hands. Her kiss was gentle this time. “I love you, Taeger. All the way.”

“I love you, Cassie of Earth.” Kissing her all the way down, he leaned over and pressed her to the bed once more. When he lifted his body, he covered his own palms with the maju paste. “My turn to explore you. And then I will take you again.”

“Okay.” He was her Knight, and he wanted to rub magical alien paste all over her body then make her scream with orgasms. Who was she to argue? “Sounds like an excellent plan.”

Epilogue

One Week Later

Taeger walkedinto Kind Dagan’s private meeting room with Marcano on one side and little Ion holding his hand on the other. The moment he saw her, the little boy squealed and ran, bringing his precious Kuvu Bear with him.

“Cassie!” He flung himself into her arms and her last concern about her newly altered appearance faded to nothing as she picked him up and squeezed him close. Taeger had assured her that the lacelike, delicate swirls that ran along her hairline and decorated the rest of her body were the most beautiful markings he’d ever seen. But he was hers. Of course he would say that. Didn’t mean she didn’t look like an alien now.

“How is my favorite little boy and his BooBoo Bear?” she asked.