Page 7 of Bride for the Space Cowboy

She lifts her chin a little, and I feel the dare. I also feel the uncertainty behind it and a sassiness that I love. She’s annoyed with me.

“No one else will have you,” I state.

“How do you know? What if I feel this way with someone else?” she volleys back to me.

I know logically that an infinity pulse can only exist once for anyone, and not everyone even experiences it. After years of watching my father grieve my mother and telling myself the infinity pulse isn’t worth the potential pain, I can’t even tolerate the mere idea that Nadine could be with someone else. A fierce sense of protectiveness surges inside me.

“That’s not possible.” I step closer, erasing the small distance separating us.

I can feel the warmth of her body and savor the way her cheeks flush deeper as she tips her head back to peer up at me. My tail twitches slightly, and my shaft lengthens and fills with need.

“Just like our princess said, you’re all mine.” My gruff whisper laces my words with the command rising inside me.

I can’t hold back. I have to feel her lips underneath mine again. I slide an arm around her waist, coaxing her incrementally closer as I let it curve over her sweet bottom. She lets out this little “Oh!” when my arousal presses against the curve of her lower belly. I want her so very much. I can already feel my arousal leaking from the tip of my swollen cock.

I have experienced passion, need, want, and desire before, yet I’ve never experienced this need to claim a woman, to mark her. My eyes study her face for a moment, lingering on the faded bruising on her cheek. Thinking about who put it there sends a jolt of fierce anger through me.

Nadine blinks quickly, and I see pain flash in the depths of her gaze. An unfamiliar pain pierces my own heart. I feel as if I literally share her pain in my own heart. My hand tightens where it rests on her back.

“The bruising will fade,” she says quickly.

“I will avenge you when I return to Earth,” I vow.

Nadine shakes her head sharply. “No. I don’t want you to do that. I want to leave my past behind me.” I sense the steely strength underlying the pain she’s experienced.

I force myself to take a breath. As much as I want to push the issue, I won’t. It’s her right. I would never try to control her that way.

“You’ll be safe here,” I say.

She swallows and blinks. “I hope so.”

I’ve gone and gotten distracted from my very purpose. To kiss her, to assuage the need pounding like a fist inside, clamoring to be set loose to run wild.

I shift incrementally closer just as she places a palm on my chest. My heart lunges toward her touch as if it senses her claiming me.

“I don’t want you to kiss me again if you’re going to change your mind,” she announces.

I study her for a long moment. “What do you mean?”

“You kissed me before, and you’ve ignored me since. Jane said you haven’t spoken further about us since we were on the ship.”

I cock my head to the side, realizing she doesn’t know my history. Yet this connection between us tells her something about me.

I steady myself inside. “I’ll explain more later, but I have my reasons for thinking I would never experience this.” I gesture back and forth between us before placing my palm over hers, where it still rests on my heart.

Her hand turns, her fingers lacing with mine. I can feel the beat of her pulse against my palm.

“What isthis? Infinity pulse?” she asks, her voice breathy and soft, sending tendrils of silk around my heart.

“Yes. Not everyone gets to experience it.”

She studies me, her fingers tightening around mine as she squeezes gently. It almost feels as if she is trying to comfort me. This abused, bruised woman is trying to assure me my heart will be safe with her. She can and will bring me to my knees.

“I cannot deny it, so I won’t. Someday, we will talk about it,” I say.

She’s quiet, and for a split second, I wonder if she’ll deny me this kiss and all that it means.

As my fear begins to rise, she whispers, “Kiss me. We can talk later.”

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