Page 24 of Cosmic Crush

He snorted. “I don’t think it works that way, sugar. I knew you’d try to run, didn’t think it would be during the storm. Let’s get the sand off us and go back to sleep.”

Back to the pool he went. Except this time, instead of wanting to be as far away from him as possible, I didn’t want him to let me go. He sat me on one of the stones, letting out a soft hum when I didn’t release him.

“Sugar, it ain’t gonna get us in here. You’re safe.”

“It had tentacles,” I hissed. “What if they can reach me in here? What if it takes me again? Or you. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I promise it can’t get us. I have that shield at the front that will keep things from getting in. It produces a frequency that helps… Can I undress you?”

I let his question hang for a moment.

I should have said no. I should have told him to let me be, to leave me alone. I wasn’t supposed to want him to hold me or towanthim.

If Raider was really my mate, though…wouldn’t it be wrong to not at least sleep with him once?

Fuck. Everything was all messed up.

“I know we have a bond,” he whispered. “But it’s one we didn’t ask for. It’s one we don’t have to pursue.”

“I know,” I whispered.

“You don’t have to be with me. You don’t have to let me touch you. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. Tell me to let you go and I’ll go lay back down while you bathe. I’ll leave you be if that’s what you want.” He let out a humorless chuckle. “I suppose that makes me a bad outlaw.”

“It does,” I said softly. “It makes you a terrible outlaw.”

The heat between us was unbearable.

“Maybe we’ll feel better if we sleep together once,” I said.

“Just once?”

“Yeah… you know…to get it out of our system.”

“We can try,” he said, his voice strained. “If that’s what you want, of course. Maybe it’ll make the bond disappear…”

I should say no. I should tell him to leave. I’d only known him for a few hours, and yet there was something indescribable that I was trying to ignore.

And now, after almost being dragged off by a canyon monster, all I wanted to do was feel the comfort of his arms.

Raider wasn’t a bad guy. He wasn’t the outlaw that everyone said he was. And since when did I ever turn down a sexy alien who wanted me in bed? I used to tease Stella before she met her mates because she’d always been so driven, hardly wanting to be with anyone. Me, on the other hand—Ilovedmaking love. I was kinky and ready to roll with anyone who caught my eye.

Raider had caught my eye.

Plus, we were stuck here…

What was the saying?When in space?

It wasn’t like the dust storm was clearing up soon…

“I want you,” I whispered. “Fuck it. Why not?”

A low growl reverberated through his chest. One of his hands slid up the back of my neck, gently gripping my short blonde curls. I bit back a moan. “Are you sure, sugar?”

“Yes,” I rasped. “I’m completely sure.”

“I want to know what you like before I devour you.”

Fuck. How could he make me feel like this? My stomach did a slow flip, my pussy pulsing as he gripped my hair a little tighter. Enough that I was ready to join the Raider rodeo in his chaps.

---