Page 26 of Dark Space
I settled back on the farcical mountain of pillows and arranged Alcide to be more comfortable. He threw one of his legs over mine.
I ran my hand over his hair.
He had incredible hair, Alcide. Like red silk, cut raggedly to fall somewhere between his chin and his shoulders. He’d tied it back, but I teased it out from its messy braid and let it flow through my fingers. He made a low sound so I kept up my movements, gently rubbing around the base of his horns.
‘It’s all right, Cide,’ I whispered.
‘Cal,’ he murmured, and lifted his face; the air went taut between us, and it was if no years had passed at all and we were striplings again, only now his eyes weren’t just full of the night sky – they held the entire fucking universe.
I moved first, because I knew he wouldn’t, and I could take the blame if something went wrong. The first brush of my lips over his was gentle, a promise rather than a kiss, a caress that sent heat all the way down to my toes. The second was longer, an exploration, a tasting, a test.
The third was a ravaging.
Alcide surged up against me, taking my face in his hands. He nipped on my bottom lip, hard enough that I shuddered, and thrust his tongue against mine. It was apparent that neither of us had any experience, but it didn’t seem to matter; our lips moved in a savage dance and my fingers tightened in his hair until he moaned. His body was hard and hot against mine and I kissed him back desperately, fervently, almost angrily, as if I were trying to devour him whole.
Perhaps I was.
Our horns knocked together and I laughed at how clumsy we were, how desperate. Alcide laughed, too – laughed, until my lips found his neck, and then he was panting, tipping his chin back to bare his throat to me.
I traced the column of it, then mapped his shoulders and chest with my hands, breathing hard. His fingers traced a path over my stomach and down, trailing over my straining cock with a featherlight touch.
‘Tease,’ I rasped.
He gave a devastating grin and palmed me properly through my uniform, rubbing up and down my shaft until my hips were bucking against his hand. I groaned and returned the favour, finding the hard, thick length of him through his pants, squeezing his swollen head. I was throbbing and leaking precum, and I captured his lip between my teeth as I flicked his buttons open.
He was silky and hot beneath my hand, and for a moment I forgot how to breathe. I traced him gently from tip to base, my fingertips following the ridges of scales and feeling them ripple against my skin, then circling his perfect thickness. I pulled him free so I could devour him with my eyes; he groaned as I bent down and drew him into my mouth.
‘Cal,’ he grated out, as I took him in and flattened my tongue against his shaft, dragging over the sensitive scales. They pulsed; I swallowed a moan. ‘Dread gods,Callan.’
I really wished that I knew what I was doing.
‘Come here,’ he murmured, and pulled me back up for another kiss. ‘I need to hold you.’ A moment later, his hand was inside my uniform and it was my turn to groan as he palmed me, my turn to gasp as his hand moved, my turn to pant as he tore aside my clothing and we were finally skin to skin, heart to heart.
Mine felt about to burst.
My hips pinned him to the bed; he ground up against me as I traced his lip with my tongue. He was hot against my stomach, his scales rippling against my skin as he bucked. It was fast and clumsy and perfect, and I swallowed his moans when he came, his fingers embedding themselves in my back until I followed him over the edge. When I stopped shuddering and rolled off him, I was a panting, floating mess – and I wanted to do it again.
We lay in silence for a moment. My hand found his and our fingers laced together.
The silence changed, became expectant.
He shifted towards me, splaying his free hand on my chest. ‘Callan,’ he said, my name like a prayer on his lips. I turned, just in time to see his expression falling. He swallowed. ‘Callan, I want to be loyal.’
‘You want to be loyal,’ I repeated, frowning.
He rubbed his temples. ‘Cal, I want to be loyal to my claimed.’
‘To your –’ I started, and then it hit me.
Anna.
Alcide wanted to be loyal toAnna.
The same Anna thatIwanted. The same Anna that I had stolen from EarthbecauseI wanted her. The same Anna that I wouldn’t –couldn’t– return to her home, return to safety, because Ineeded her close. Coveted her. Because I was fixated by her clear blue eyes, her shining hair, her springtime scent.
I didn’t know which of them I wanted more – Alcide or Anna – but it was apparent that I wouldn’t be getting either.
I rolled off the bed, catching up my uniform and pulling it on with a speed I’d never managed before.
