Page 29 of Vylit: Glowing for Her
I turned in his arms, studying the constellations of light that moved beneath his skin. "But you're a hero to your people. The last warrior of Mavtros. Hell, I'm pretty sure I saw a statue of you on the way into that big ass judgement chamber."
His laugh rumbled through his chest, bitter and soft. "A title without substance. A shell filled with duty." His fingers traced the curve of my cheek, feather-light. "They revere what I represent, not who I am."
My chest tightened, an ache blooming beneath my sternum that had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with recognition. How many research vessels had I served on, surrounded by colleagues who saw only my credentials, my publications, my usefulness? Never me. Always the function, never the person.
"I understand," I said, the words inadequate but true. "Back on Earth, I spent my whole life chasing validation through my work. Being the best marine biologist, collecting the most data, surviving the most dangerous expeditions." I exhaled, the breath visible in the cool night air. "But I was always alone, even when surrounded by people."
Vylit's glow shifted to a deeper purple, a color I was learning to associate with empathy. His secondary heart chamber pulsed visible beneath the thin membrane of his chest, the rhythm quicker than usual.
"You feel it too," he said, wonder coloring his tone. "The hollow place where connection should be."
I nodded, my throat suddenly tight. My fingers found the glowing marks on my skin where his essence had changed me at a cellular level. The bond between us thrummed steady, a living current that I couldn't imagine being without. When had that changed? When had I stopped thinking of Earth as my only home?
Perhaps in the tide cave, with pirates hammering at the door. Or on the ship, when he'd nearly died protecting me. Or maybe it was simply the accumulation of moments… his respect for my boundaries, his willingness to honor my choices even when they contradicted his desires, his fierce determination to see me as a person and not a prize.
I looked up into his star-bright eyes, the intensity of his gaze making my skin heat. "I thought I only wanted to go home," I admitted, the confession burning like salt in an open wound. "But I don't think that's true anymore."
His biolights flared briefly, hope and caution warring across his translucent skin. "What do you want, Maya?" His voice dropped lower, vibrating through me. "Not what you should want. Not what the Agency or the tribunal expects. What do you want?"
The question hung between us, trembling with possibility. I reached up, tracing the pattern of light that spiraled from his jaw down his neck… the warrior markings that identified him to his kind. My palm came to rest over where I thought his heart was, feeling the thunderous beat beneath my fingers.
"I want a life that isn't empty," I said, the words falling from me with the weight of truth. "I want to understand the cosmos, to explore worlds I never dreamed existed." I swallowed hard, forcing myself to maintain eye contact despite the vulnerability scraping me raw. "And I want you beside me while I do it."
The glow beneath his skin intensified, rippling outward from where my hand pressed against his chest. "Maya," he breathed, my name a reverence on his tongue.
I leaned forward, pressing my lips to his. The kiss was slow, deliberate, every point of contact between us electric. This wasn't the desperate claiming of the tide cave or the frantic connection after battle. This was a choice… pure, uncoerced, freely given.
His hands came up to frame my face, massive yet achingly gentle. His tongue traced the seam of my lips, asking not demanding, and when I opened to him, the taste was alien yet familiar. The bond between us pulsed, strengthening with each shared breath.
Vylit's touch shifted, his palms skimming down my sides, leaving trails of heat through the moss-liner. He worshipped me with careful reverence, his fingers mapping my body as if committing every curve and hollow to memory. There was no urgency in his exploration, only wonder.
"I need to feel you," I murmured against his mouth. "All of you."
The moss-liner responded to my desire before I could even reach for it, slithering away from my skin like a living tide retreating. Vylit's eyes darkened as he watched it go, his glow intensifying to a deep violet that painted my newly exposed skin in alien light.
His mouth found my throat, trailing kisses down to the hollow between my breasts. My back arched into the contact, a soft moan escaping me as his tongue traced the pattern of bond-marks that decorated my skin. Each touch sent sparks of pleasure racing along my nerves, building a fire low in my belly.
"Beautiful," he growled, the word vibrating against my skin. "My mate. My complement."
His hands cradled me as he laid me back on the moss, which immediately puffled into a perfect nest beneath me. I expected him to cover my body with his, to take control as he had in the cave, but instead he drew back, his cocks slowly emerging as his bioluminescence flared.
"Wait a minute… You're always naked, aren't you?" I wasn't sure why I hadn't put that together sooner. "I'd just assumed you wore some kind of clothing like the moss-liner, but you're not."
Vylit nodded but didn't say anything as he just watched me. He lay back in the moss beside me, his massive form haloed in blue-gold light, every curve and angle of his alien body on display. The heart beneath his chest pulsed in visible tandem, his glow shifting patterns with each beat. His cocks slowly emerged, both shafts engorged and gleaming with luminous fluid.
"I am yours," he said simply, his voice rough with emotion. "As you are mine."
He reached for me, hands careful as he tried to guide me atop him. I resisted the gentle pressure, not to refuse him, but to make my own choice clear. His brow furrowed in confusion, then cleared as understanding dawned.
I climbed into his lap under my own power, straddling his hips, my knees sinking into the moss on either side of him. His hands hovered at my waist, not gripping, just steadying. The heat of him pressed against me, both shafts hot and insistent against my inner thigh.
"I choose you," I said, my voice steadier than I felt. "Not because I have to. Not because of pirates or the Agency or genetic compatibility." I rose up on my knees, positioning myself above him. "Because I want to."
His eyes locked with mine, burning with an emotion too complex for words. His biolights pulsed erratically, betraying the effort it took for him to remain still beneath me.
I sank down slowly, deliberately, taking his primary shaft into my body inch by careful inch. The stretch was exquisite, burning pleasure-pain that made my thighs tremble. When I was fully seated, both of us gasping, I paused, adjusting to the fullness.
"Maya," he groaned, his hands finally gripping my hips, not to control but to anchor himself. "You unmake me."
