Page 16 of Chased By the Alien Mercenary
Glancing around our latest digs, I appraised the situation anew. It was an improvement over the last cave, because now I had running water to wash in, and the rocks were constantly warm thanks to the moss covering them. That left the cave toasty—pleasantly warm, with heat that soaked through the soles of my feet. My mind flashed to Solear’s hands on my ankles as he peeled off my soggy socks. Evidence of his caring nature was all over this place, in the form of blankets and clothing spread out to dry. Even as he’d slipped away from me like quicksilver, his big feet had never trod on any of the fabrics in his way.
Okay, so I was supposed to be a mate to the non-verbal guy, but truly, he wasn’t that non-verbal, was he? Well, technically, yes. He did not speak—but whether that was because he physically couldn’t or because he simply wouldn’t... it didn’t matter at this point. He spoke in other ways: with gestures and touches, with gifts and passion. And it seemed he could speak telepathically with his twin. Maybe, as I grew closer to him, I’d be able to hear his telepathic voice too. That heat against my head sometimes, I was certain that was him.
Where did that leave me? I wasn’t sure if I could be with a guy who never talked at all, even if I didn’t require much conversation. It was odd to realize that I felt lonely now that he wasn’t here. I missed him. I’d never missed anyone before, that’swhy I was so good at my job. My parents were probably still alive somewhere on Earth, and they likely didn’t even know anything had happened to me. That’s how unattached my whole family was. Connections? I’d never made them—unless through my lens. But Solear… Ah, he stirred me in ways I couldn’t explain.
So I set about righting and sorting our meager belongings, then washed myself in a surprisingly lukewarm stream. I even washed out the silly thong and laid it out to dry on a rock. It was warm enough that I stripped off the shirt and wandered about in only the silky nightgown. It came only to mid-thigh and was held up by thin straps that crisscrossed my shoulders, in an appealing scarlet color that reminded me of Solear’s skin.
I couldn’t deny that I hoped he’d come back, and any noise made me turn to the narrow tunnel opening. Perhaps I was even hoping that when he saw me in the sexy, if a little wrinkled—negligee, he’d forget about my angry semi-rejection earlier and see that I did want him. Because that much I did know. The rest would follow, wouldn’t it? We could at least have sex, have fun together, and see where the rest led us.
I wasn’t prepared for him when he did return. Not one bit. I should have known that he wouldn’t make any sound at all, sneaking back into the cave as silent as a wraith. My startled scream, when he was suddenly right behind me, echoed against the cave walls, and I spun, lost my footing, and nearly fell into the stream. If not for his fast reflexes, I really would have, but he dropped his bundle of things with a splash and caught me in his arms. I hung suspended above the water in his arms, as if he’d just dipped me in the middle of a waltz. It was a romantic, intimate pose full of trust, and it felt so right.
Reaching up, I cupped his chin and smiled. “Thank the stars you’re back, Solear. I missed you. I’m sorry about earlier.” His red eyes glowed at me from beneath his bony brow, the smooth ivory catching glimmers from the light-emitting lichen on the walls of the cave. “Kiss me,” I breathed when he just kept staring at me. I wasn’t even sure if he was reaching for me telepathically, because the entire cave felt warm. And then there was no more thinking—there was just feeling.
With the water still up to my knees, my position unbalanced, all I could do was cling to his shoulders. His mouth was on mine, his tongue tangling, slicking past my lips and brushing the roof of my mouth. All of it felt good, and I didn’t care about anything except feeling more of that. He made me feel that way, and I knew I was free to enjoy it because he had kept me safe, protected me, cared for me. For a little while, I could pretend it was just the two of us, and nothing loomed over our heads. There was no danger—just two bodies and the pleasure that ignited between us.
He growled when I nipped at his plush bottom lip, and then I was lifted from the water entirely and into his arms. He had a hand beneath my ass, calloused skin against the bare globe. Fire shot through me when long fingers reached almost all the way to the core of me. He’d already touched me before, he’d already made me see stars—so I knew he could please me, but I justknewthis was going to be extra special. It was possibly the wildest, most exciting thing I’d ever done: to let this man take me. A man who communicated with growls and gifts.
He spun us, and then my world went crazy, everything spinning as he tipped us over onto moss and still-drying blankets. My head was cradled by one hand; the other shifted higher, beneaththe flimsy, waterlogged nightgown. He caressed the side of my hip, his thumb brushing along the crease, then folded his arm around my waist, making me feel tiny in that huge grasp. That hand against my flesh made me aware of how big he was compared to me. Before this went any further, I had to know if it could even work. I would be so disappointed if it couldn’t.
“Take off your armor. I need to see you, Solear,” I said, and I made sure to say his name because that made his eyes snap to my face and glow with pleasure. He liked that, and I was proud for having figured it out myself without his twin or captain telling me. I’d known from the connection in our dreams, and damn it, I knew that meant there was merit to this whole mate thing. There had to be.
He reared up above me, his knees on either side of my hips. With a look on his fearsome face that could only be described as feral, he yanked at the collar around his neck. I thought he was just pulling mindlessly, but the tough suit that encased—and lovingly outlined—his body parted at the neck. Then he was freeing himself from the sleeves with a shimmy that made his impressive pecs dance and his abs ripple. I just about combusted on the spot; it was sexy as sin. And he didn’t even mean to give me a striptease, he was just in a rush to get naked.
When he pulled the suit over his hips, it was immediately obvious he wore absolutely nothing underneath. My eyes snagged on the most impressive part of his physique. It leaped free when the seam unraveled low enough, a hard, thick bar of impressive proportions. Huge, but not so big that I thought it would break me if he tried to shove it inside of me. More importantly, like most of his body, it was a deep scarlet, but the tip was darker—nearly black with a hint of purple—and itwas shaped just right. Then there were the piercings. I had not expected those. Who had managed to get this guy to sit still long enough to pierce his most sensitive part over a dozen times?
In a row, like a ladder, they ran down his shaft, with a cross at the top that I knew would stroke past my G-spot every time he thrust into me. My mouth watered to give him a taste too, especially as the slick tip was leaking pearly white fluid with the most enticing scent. Everything about him seemed designed to turn me on, from his hot, possessive growls to the incredible shape of his body.
“Damn…” I moaned when that impressive cock swayed as he leaned forward. He claimed my mouth again, seeming to fixate on pleasuring me in the ways he already knew, but his big body came down on mine, so I wasn’t complaining. Through the thin fabric—most of which had rucked up beneath my breasts—I could feel every bump of his muscles. More importantly, his cock rubbed like a hot brand against my thighs, the tip slick against my skin. Each piercing was hot too, heated by his flesh, and I couldn’t wait to find out what that would feel like in other, much more sensitive places.
I tried to urge him on by moving his hands and spreading his thighs. Heat engulfed me until it felt like I was going up in flames. Impatience filled me; I wanted all of him now, right away. As if this was a reaffirmation of the good things in life, after the crappy hand I’d been dealt lately. A reward. It wasn’t until my heel hooked around his lean hip and dug into his tight ass that he responded. The rattling noise that filled the air between us was a mixture of a feral dog giving a warning and a lion in heat. Not that I’d ever heard a lion in heat, but I was pretty sure this was what it would sound like.
With a rough motion, he pinned my thigh open, and then the heated tip of his cock brushed through my folds. He knew exactly how to drive me wild with that touch, putting pressure on my clit. He meant business now, and there was no escaping the inevitable push of the thick head into my core. He did not test my wetness, nor did he prepare me with his fingers, it was going to be tight and rough. I braced myself for the sting of pain as I’d be forced to stretch around him. It didn’t come, or if it did, I didn’t notice.
I felt like I was melting into a puddle against the moss and blankets, surrounded by the warmth of the humid cave and the heat radiating from his smooth skin. Then he distracted me even further, his free hand cupping my breast and gently squeezing the small globe, his thumb brushing the turgid tip. His mouth came down to claim mine, and he didn’t seem to care that he had to bend awkwardly to reach. Stars burst across my vision, and all I could feel was him, everywhere, all around me, claiming me. His hips moved, thrusting deeper, a rough stroke, then a smoother, more gentle one, as if he could not decide which approach was best. With the way each motion stroked across my sensitive flesh, I couldn’t make up my mind either. I just knew I wanted more, faster.
Solear seemed of a different mind, though; his hips slowing, hand pinning me open for him. He pressed deeper, but he raised his head to peer down between our bodies at the way that thick, pierced, and oh-so-alien cock sank into my tight passage. I had to look with him, and it would have filled me with fear if I hadn’t been so turned on. He was big, he looked so different, and all that metal glinted dangerously. Maybe that’swhyI was so hot for him.
Even with the slow, gentle thrusts, he did not seem gentle, just not hurried. Like he planned to take all the time in the world to ravage me. I loved that, moaning beneath him until it felt like I could see myself in his eyes, see the filthy thoughts that ran through his mind. It was possible my telepathic guy could be planting those images in my head, just like last time, but I had a feeling this time it was all me.
Then he was fully inside. Sinking deep, touching me in places I didn’t think I’d ever been touched before. I might have closed my eyes to avoid the intimacy of the moment, but I couldn’t. When I did, it felt like I was shutting him out, like I didn’t want to be here with him. That was a thought I couldn’t stand. Not when I knew the vulnerable parts that lay at the core of him. And that was a revelation. I did know him, this strange, feral man. I knew him, though we hadn’t really spoken to each other; I knew him better than I’d ever known anyone.
Maybe not the little things like what his favorite color was or what he liked to eat, but I knew the really important parts: that he’d protect me, that he was scared of being alone, and the trauma that lay in his past. The things that had shaped him into the man he was now. I wanted to welcome him in then, wanted him to know that I saw him. With tears stinging at the corners of my eyes, I surrendered to the moment, and then I was flying. As if letting go were the key, I felt transported. Now I was staring into my handsome Solear’s face, truly dazzled by the constellations around us. This wasn’t sex but a journey, and he was my guide.
“What…?” I tried to make sense of what I saw, but then there was no sense, just pleasure. His cock moved deep inside me, each bump of his piercings gliding along the sensitive nervesthere. His fierce expression—possessive, wild, and feral—and my orgasm crashing through me, even wilder than he was. He made me fly, and yet I trusted him to lead me back to my body, to bring me down gently. Not that his thrusts were gentle—especially as they roughened, deepened. Then he grew thicker, and I felt him pulse as he roared with his own release. A sound that echoed against the cave walls I knew should be there but couldn’t see, because all I saw were the stars Solear had taken me to.
Afterward, the two of us lay curled together in the blankets. His arms were around me, his cock still buried deep, and, almost, it felt like his thoughts were in my head. I thought that perhaps I could sense his happiness, his tender feelings for me, hisneedto have me. But I felt something else too, a cold splash along my spine: he still wanted to leave the cave to do this foolhardy mission at the mansion. Whatever it entailed exactly, everyone but him seemed to think it was too dangerous. But he was determined to see it through, that’s how important it was to him. I didn’t like it; I didn’t want him to risk himself, but if it mattered that much, I didn’t want to stop him either.
When he nuzzled at my temple, rumbling gently, happily, I was only too happy to return that affection, turn into his embrace, and entice him for another round. Perhaps he’d stay if I tired him out, and that was something I was more than willing to attempt. Unfortunately, he was the one who wrecked me with his cock, his mouth, and his skillful hands. His rough noises of excitement made me a puddle in his hands, and after round two and three, I was the one who had to give into sleep.
Chapter 15
Solear
When I slipped from the cave just as dusk began to fall, it felt as if I were being torn in two. It ached deep inside my chest, as if I were making a huge mistake by leaving my mate sleeping in our nest of blankets, moss, and sweet scents. She had a pull on me now that was even stronger than the one before, but I could not explain what had changed.
I reached out with my mind and found the path between us easier to travel, but that was only because she was asleep and unguarded. Her dream images filtered through my mind as I made my careful, stealthy way downhill to the mansion. I’d scouted my incursion point when I’d fetched more food and dry clothing for Lyra; I knew what to do. Yet I hesitated as I caught images of a muggy, verdant jungle and blue-furred faces not unlike Brace’s in her dreamscape. These images were important to her—they held curiosity and animosity both—but they were not antagonistic the way my dreams were.
She stirred as if she felt my presence, and I could easily imagine her naked, slender body as she turned onto her back. Her breasts were exposed to the warmth inside the cave, tipped with their pretty pink nipples. Damn it, I couldn’t think about how beautiful she was, and how utterly mine. Not when I had a mission to complete. This was important; this was what I’d been after for over fifteen years. I could not let my mate distract me from my path.
