Page 54 of Dark Space
‘Yes,’ I breathed.
Alcide’s lips were on mine in the next heartbeat. They were soft, gentle, his mouth encouraging me to move as I wanted to, toexplore.
So I did.
I’d been in their cell for weeks, but I’d kept myself locked inside for far longer than that. I’d kept myself in a tiny box in the face of my grandmother’s needs, kept everything that wasAnnapushed down deep inside. The box had been madeforme, made of what was practical, made ofnecessity, butI’dmade myself the lock. No one else could let me out; I held the keys. I had to trust myself enough to know what was best forme– what I wanted, what I needed, what my future could look like.
I didn’t regret that it had happened, but I knew that it was time to come out.
Something inside me shifted, and hunger rampaged through my body.
I didn’t know what to do with it, so I let instinct take over. My lips wanted to press harder, move faster, so I let them. My tongue wanted to explore, wanted to flick against Alcide’s, to taste him, so I let it. My hands wanted to bunch in his hair, so I let my fingers trace his strong shoulders and his neck before they buried themselves in his shining red mane. My breasts wanted to press against his chest and the ache between my legs wanted something to rub against, so I pulled him closer and let one of his thighs come between my own.
‘Anna,’ he groaned, but it didn’t seem to be in a bad way, and his hands slipped down to cup my ass. The movement sent a fresh wave of heat rolling through me, so strong I felt lightheaded. I made a mewling sound against his mouth and froze when he gave a deep, guttural growl.
I thought I’d done something wrong, but a moment later he’d picked me up and walked me to the bed, not once breaking the kiss. I barely noticed when he settled me down on the silky-soft coverlet, too intent on the way his tongue was dancing with mine.
I paid attention when his weight pressed down on me, though. A warmth I’d never known stole over me; I felt encased by his bigger body, wrapped in his heat. My legs came up of their own accord, anchoring themselves around his hips to match my arms weaving about his neck.
He broke our kiss, breathing hard, but his lips didn’t stay away for long. He trailed them over my jaw, down my neck, and across my collarbone, pausing only at the neckline of the altered uniform. His fingers found the odd zip and stayed there, hesitant.
I put my hand over his and pulled it down.
Anna’s fingers guided mineas we pulled her zip down together.
I’d worried abouthertrembling, but I was the one shaking now. The zip ran from just under her collarbone to just below the odd pucker of flesh on her stomach. Her skin was smooth and tinted pink, and I shuddered as the uniform revealed more of it, inch by inch, along with the swell of her breasts and the dips and ridges of her ribs and the plane of stomach.
Dread gods.
Roth females were made of muscle the same way we males were; Anna was rounder, softer, and her skin had no shadow of scales beneath. I didn’t care about the difference; she wriggled until her arms were free of the uniform and she was bare to the waist.
My mouth went dry. ‘I’ve never seen anything so lovely,’ I blurted, then immediately cursed my clumsy tongue.
Anna, however, flushed and tried not to look pleased, so apparently it wasn’t the worst thing I could have said.
I kissed her again, because I thought – between Callan and Anna – that I had almost worked that part out, and she seemed to like it, if the noises she was making were any indication. I worried gently at her bottom lip with my teeth, listening with great satisfaction to the mewling sounds coming from deep inside her throat and revelling in the way her body pushed upwards, seeking contact with mine. I leaned my weight on one forearm, and used my free hand to brush my fingers over her neck, then her collarbone, following the path my mouth had made.
But there was no material in the way now.
I slowly mapped out the soft swell of her breasts, giving her time to pull away. She didn’t, so I explored further, brushing my thumb over her nipple. She made a small sound of surprise, followed by a deeper moan when I rolled the hardening peak between my fingers.
‘Please,’ she said thickly. ‘Oh, goodness. That feels – that feels …Please, Alcide.’
I did it again, then made sure I didn’t leave the other one out, swapping between them until she was writhing beneath me.
I found that I liked her writhing.
I gave into the urge to taste her skin again, moving my mouth down the path my hand had made, licking and nibbling and kissing all the way. Her skin was softer on her breast than it had been on her jaw, I found, but it was harder on her nipple, and the peak of it harder still, the shape of it perfect to wrap my long tongue around.
‘Alcide!’ she gasped. Her hands found my horns; her fingers gripped them.
My horns weren’t sensitive, but theaction– the notion that she was taking control of me, directing me where she wanted me to go,usingme – sent every drop of blood that wasn’t already resident in my cock rushing down. She was moaning softly, her hands urging me to give her nipple more attention, so I did, feeling an unfamiliar swell of pride when she panted my name again.
My fingers traced her stomach, finding gentle ridges of muscle under its soft curve, before they came across a hip. The bone shifted below her skin as she moved, arching her body beneath me.
I slid my hand down.
She whimpered as my fingers ran through the short, coarse curls between her legs. ‘Is this all right?’ I whispered, stilling my hand, giving her time, but she made an impatient sound and pressed up.
