Page 56 of Decadence

So she did, pressing her bare fingers against the thing that kept him alive; the seamless black machine that had taken the place of his heart.

It was completely still. There wasn’t even a trace of a heartbeat.

Ikriss’s chest didn’t rise and fall. He didn’t breathe.

She should probably be creeped out, but there was no way she could feel any kind of revulsion toward this man, even if he didn’t have a heart right now.

At least he was warm.

That alone reassured her that he was still truly alive.

In the background, the medic started to approach, but the General held up a stern hand, ordering him to halt.

Ikriss stared at her, his golden eyes burning right through her. A look of pain crossed his face. Slowly, inexorably, he lifted his trembling hands and retracted his sharp obsidian claws. Fingers still trembling, he placed his warm, wet fingers over hers. “Things were so going well until we were so rudely interrupted. I was looking forward to being your apprentice.” His grey lips twisted into an irritated frown, and despite all the weirdness and the terror, he managed to look kind-of adorable.

“I get the feeling you’re not the type to take orders from anyone,” she said softly, a faint smile curving her lips. “You sure you want to be stuck peeling potatoes with me?”

“I do take orders, when I chose. I listen to him… sometimes.” Ikriss nodded in the General’s direction. “And now, perhaps you are the second being in the Universe that I will take orders from. I will make short work of any peeling task. My knife skills are almost unsurpassed in the Nine Galaxies,” he said haughtily, and she couldn’t tell whether he was truly joking or not. “Besides, I am intrigued by this human obsession with food. I have never encountered another race that devotes so much time and energy to preparing mere food.”

Sienna made a face, feigning horror. “Mere food? Are you freaking kidding me? Food is everything. Your kind don’t know how to enjoy food?”

“I do not understand how one can derive enjoyment from mere nutrition. It is sustenance, nothing more.”

She shook her head slowly. “Well, then you don’t know what you’re missing out on, Kordolian.”

“Then you will have to show me.” He inched closer. His lips were slightly parted, revealing the gleaming points of his fangs.

“Maybe I will.” She became intensely aware of his nakedness; of the chiseled planes of his chest and torso, of the powerful outline of his arms and shoulders. Her gaze travelled downwards… toward the ridiculously defined contours of his six—or was that eight?—pack; toward lean hips and powerful legs and the undeniable sight of his erect cock, which pushed her racing heartbeat into the stratosphere.

A tiny part of her was mildly horrified. This man was buck naked in front of his fellow warriors, sporting a raging erection. People—no, aliens—were watching.

She forced that thought to the back of her mind.

Why should she care when none of them seemed to? They were aliens, after all. Perhaps they had different ideas about nudity and what was acceptable in front of others.

Her body’s response overrode everything else.

A faint throbbing sensation started in her clit, unfurling like a blooming bud. Heat spread through her pussy, suffusing into her core.

A coil of tension emerged, winding tighter and tighter until it became almost unbearable.

Suddenly, she wasn’t aware of anything but her growing need—and him.

Is this what you feel too, Ikriss?

Sienna had never experienced arousal like this before.

She feared she could lose control right then and there.

In front of all these observers—the General, the medic, the silent, impassive guards—she should have been utterly self-conscious, but she hardly cared.

“This is far from ideal,” the Commander said, his voice tightening as he caressed the side of her face with the tips of his fingers, sending an electric shiver down her spine. “For a human like you; for what you have been through, it is too fast, too sudden. My plan was to infiltrate your existence; to seduce you slowly in the way that is customary to humans, but when does the Universe ever permit us to carry out our plans?” He raised a silvery eyebrow. “I would have succeeded, too.”

“Don’t get too cocky, Commander,” she whispered, her voice cracking with unexpected emotion. “You can’t just show up and take over my whole life.”

“Can’t I?” He brushed a stray tendril of hair away from her face. “I wish I could breathe right now, because I want to inhale you, but for now, this will have to do.”

He leaned in and planted a soft kiss on her lips. His hands went around her waist. His straining cock grazed against lower her belly ever so slightly. His tongue darted between her lips, parting them, seeking hers.

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