Page 40 of Champion
“Charick,” she sobbed my name as another wave of ecstasy shuddered through her.
My breath hitched as I reached my climax, my body tensing and releasing in a fiery rush. She moaned beneath me, the walls of her channel gripping my cock with each thrust until we were both spent. Nothing remaining but a tangled mess of sheets, heavy breath, and damp skin.
“My mate,” I grunted out amid heavy pants, knowing it was the only thing that mattered at that moment.
Reluctantly, I pulled my cock from the haven of her body and collapsed onto the bed. I couldn’t bear to let her go, so I slid her on top of me, cradling her against my chest. We stayed silent, catching our breath, as our hearts beat in unison. Willa leaned her cheek against my shoulder, issuing a soft purr, and I felt the warmth of her breath on my skin.
“You make me feel soft.”
“You are soft,” I murmured, my fingertips trailing over the silky skin of her shoulders and back.
“I don’t mean like that,” my mate chuckled, propping her chin on my chest in order to gaze at me. “I mean soft on the inside.”
“You are soft on the inside, too,” I told her with a smugly possessive grin.
Willa giggled, then gave a contented sigh, her cheek resting against my shoulder. “Did I ever tell you that my dad was career military… a warrior like your father?”
She sighed again, and the tone of her voice wasn’t as light when she spoke. “He was the kind of guy who dreams of a son to carry on his name and legacy, but he only had me and my two sisters. I was the oldest. I tried to be what he wanted. I did my best to be a good soldier. My sisters got to take music and dance lessons, not me. I got firearms training, martial arts, and survival school.” Willa laughed, but there was no amusement in the sound. “The weekend of my senior prom, I was on a thirty-mile trek in the jungles outside Okinawa, participating in a survival camp.” She issued a small sound of disgust. “My dad never considered that I might want to go to prom.”
“This prom. It is important to females?” I guessed.
“Yeah,” Willa huffed. I felt a chill of wetness against my skin from her silent tears. “I finished survival camp in the topten percent, but my dad never knew I snuck into the bushes at night and cried because I really wanted to go to prom. My dad never knew that all those times he criticized me for not being a boy—all those times, he let me know in no uncertain terms that I wasn’t good enough, it didn’t make me stronger like he thought. In a way, it made me much, much weaker—only he never saw that.”
I shifted Willa in my arms, but only slightly, not yet ready to lose the connection of being pressed against her warm, damp skin, but wanting to see her face. “I am sorry anyone made you feel other than the beautiful, courageous, wonderful female that you are.”
Willa issued another heavy sigh, but her eyes were bright. “When I say you make me feel soft, it’s because you make me feel feminine and pretty. You make me feel like it’s okay not to be the toughest or the strongest.”
My fingertips ran along her cheeks, brushing back strands of her lustrous brown hair. Humans might use the wordlove. Vaktaire used the wordmate. Yet at this moment, I knew there was no word or language in existence that described what I felt for this female.
“You are the toughest and strongest, as well as being feminine and pretty,’ I murmured, watching her lips curve upward at my words. “You are everything.”
“So are you,” Willa whispered and kissed me.
We lay there in silence. The warmth of the sun streaming through the windows, followed by the faintest tickle of a cool breeze, relaxed me into a stupor. I could feel Willa inching toward sleep, but there was one more thing I needed to say.
“Willa.”
“Yes?”
“If I had been on Earth, I would have taken you to this prom event.”
Her cheek lay against my chest, so I felt the curve of her smile.
“I know.”
Chapter 13 - Willa
The sun began to fade, the buttery yellow light turning to pale white, signaling the shift from morning to afternoon. Just a little after noon, in my estimation, and from the low rumble my stomach gave, time for lunch. Charick sat against the headboard, propped up by pillows while I sat curled across his thighs, my arms wrapped around his neck, our lips playing over each other’s in a lazy, passionate dance.
Charick’s hand traveled the path along my spine over the curve of my ass, halting with an aggravated growl as a sharp rap came against the door.
I didn’t move from my perch, sending up a silent thanks to heaven that I’d had the foresight to don my shift. Charick, of course, remained gloriously naked under the blankets.
Zahavi entered first, the concern on his expression morphing into satisfaction when he saw his patient awake and involved in activities that would suggest a quick healing. Adtovar followed, a steaming pot of stew and a loaf of bread in hand. The rich, meaty aroma filled the room and caused Charick’s stomach to growl hungrily. I couldn’t help but smile at the sound, taking it as a good sign of his healing. Of course, the morning hours we’d spent wrapped in passionate lovemaking had also been a clear indication of his improvement... a much more enjoyable one.
“I am glad to see you are feeling better, my friend.” Adtovar approached the bed, setting the bowl of stew on thesmall table, nostrils flaring as his pale blue eyes crinkled with amusement. It was easy to see that he’d guessed what Charick and I had been up to all morning, especially with how he grinned and winked at me.
Damn him. I bristled but couldn't help the smile that curved my lips.
