Page 17 of Into Orbit
He took me in his mouth immediately, as if he was as hungry for this as I was, and my mind went blank with pleasure. His lips moved down my shaft and back up, his tongue swirling around my head. He swallowed down the pre-sap gathering there with a vibrating moan that made my whole body go tight. His clever tongue moved lower, pressing on my burl in rhythmic pulses that drew a snarl from my throat.
My fingers found his hair and tightened. ‘None of that,’ I chided softly. ‘I want this to last.’
His mouth moved up, concentrating on teasing my swollen head. I closed my eyes as he worked, my fingers gently raking through his hair. Sensation built slowly at the base of my spines, drawn out with every clever hollowing of his cheeks and swirl of his tongue, until my hips were moving of their own accord, thrusting mindlessly into the tight, wet paradise of his mouth. He groaned as my fingers tightened again, groaned as my spare hand found his shoulder, groaned as I held him in place and chased my own pleasure, pushing deeper inside until I spilled straight down his throat.
He drew back a moment later – pausing to lick me clean as I shuddered – then wiped his mouth with a smug smile. ‘I thought you wanted it to last,’ he rasped, teasing.
I pulled him forward and kissed him, tasting myself on his tongue. ‘Who says I’m done?’
No one cared who I loved –well, I thought, reflecting on some of the ship’s gossip vines,someTirians cared a littletoomuch about it – but Ash was another matter entirely. As the Hamadryad’s close guard and First Guard to the ship, any potentialkaria– the dominant female and head of a Tirian family – needed to be approved by his captainandthe elected leaders that made up the Tirian Grove. If they decided against the familyAsh chose, he wouldn’t just lose his loves – he’d lose his job, too, his ability to guard the precious Hamadryad called into question by his choice of a family thatothers judged unworthy.
I wasn’t akaria, of course; Ash couldn’t take me before our Captain and ask for her approval. It was unlikely we’d ever find one; it was a rare female who would consider welcoming an already-bonded pair into her life. It would be too likely to upset the balance in her family, the very thing shestrived to maintain.
And so, what we were – what wedid– was secret. Steeped in the fear of discovery, fear of the consequences. We were frozen like pieces on a game board, never to move backwards or forwards. Ash couldn’t lose Elswyth, and I couldn’t losehim. We both preferred to die Unclaimed together, than accept a family separately.
I tried not to care too much. I had Ash, and I loved him. But my instincts still twitched, begging me to find akariafierce enough to cope with the egos of both a Head Doctor and First Guard, a familythe Captain and the Grove would approve, a familywho wouldn’t just accept us together, but who would be strong enough to love us for it. Akariawho would understand Ash’s devotion to his Hamadryad and not feel threatened by it.
It seemed an impossible ask.
Ashton pulled away, nipping me sharply on the thigh. ‘I can hear your roots growing,’ he grumbled. ‘What are you thinking about?’
I took his chin in my hand. ‘Probably the same thing as you,’ I admitted.
His eyes searched mine, the beautiful gold darkening to brown. ‘The Hamadryad and the human.’
‘The Lady and the alien,’ I agreed. I pulled him up, giving him a hungry kiss before walking him backwards into the spare sickroom – the one that was never used for patients, and often used forthis.
He shuddered as I began to strip off his uniform. ‘What are you thinking about the Hamadryad and the human, Ash?’
He groaned as my fingers unlaced his leathers, stroking his cock through the stiff fabric. He pulled me up for another kiss, one that left us both breathless.
‘Ash?’ I said again, when he was naked and his eyes were gleaming in the dark, as if he were about to pounce. ‘The Lady?’
He pushed me onto the bed and covered me with his body. ‘I think the human is as fierce as anykariaI’ve ever known,’ he said into my neck, his thorns scraping deliciously against my skin. ‘I don’t think she’d have to be Tirian to claim us for her own.’
I gasped as he pushed my legs apart. I wrapped them around him, pulling him as close as I could, then closer, until there was no distance between us and he was moving in a way that made me see stars. ‘But Ash,’ I managed, before I lost my wits completely. ‘She’d have to want to in the first place.’
Ashton didn’t answer.
Onebed.Iamliterally living the one bedtrope.
I rubbed my chin, trying not to break into a fit of hysterics.
I was a true crime podcast kind of woman, but Tessalivedfor romance novels – the smuttier and growlier, the better. I knew all her favourite tropes – including the ones she wouldn’t admit liking but blushed every time she talked about – and I knew that she would absolutely lose her mind about this.
‘So, do we share the bed, or …?’ I left the question hanging.
Elswyth glanced at the monstrous mattress – it looked insanely comfortable, I wasn’t going to lie – and wrinkled her nose, like she hadn’t thought about it. ‘Oh. I see,’ she said, her voice small. ‘Of course we don’t have to share; I’ll give you space. I can go into the Forest. No one will know any different.’
‘That isn’t … That isn’t what I meant,’ I said quickly, catching the note of hurt in her tone.I’ve only been fake alien married for a couple of hours, and I’m already fucking it up. ‘I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. I can sleep in the chair.’
She looked at the Tirian equivalent of an armchair – a high-backed, armless thing made of the same material as the Pod’s seats, sewn with leaf patterns – and wrinkled her nose again. ‘You won’t make me uncomfortable. And there’s no wayanybeing could sleep properly in that.’
‘Okay.’ I inhaled slowly. ‘We share the bed.’
I’d never been fake married before, but I’d never slept next to anyone before, either. Ever. At sleepovers during my teenage years, I’d stay awake all night, and in adulthood, anyone I invited intomybed was kicked out – usually politely – after the fun part had finished. If they stayed until morning, it wasn’t because they’d beensleeping.
You can do this, Maeve.
