Page 27 of Chieftain (The Outlander Book Club… in Space! #1)
Emmy
What a delicious dream!
My body floated toward the surface of consciousness, but I wanted to linger in sleep—in the realm where Khaion's touch and kiss were mine to enjoy.
The realm where he played my body like a maestro with his instrument.
I want to dwell in the dream forever, with him and the throbbing, pulsing pleasure he wrung from my body again and again.
I relived each touch in my mind, trying to push myself back into a slumber where the feel of his tongue and hands were so vivid it almost seemed real.
His tongue was long and rough, kissing and licking over my nipples as he worked his way down my body.
The memory of his mouth on my clit sends a shiver spasming through my body.
What a fabulous dream!
Of course, my southern grandmother would return from heaven and whip my butt if I behaved as I did in my perfect nighttime fantasy.
A small giggle breaks from my lips as I recall the way I dropped my towel and pawed at Khaion like some femme fatale from an eighty’s movie.
Dream-Khaion's response dripped with desire and need.
If the real Khaion was half as good as the dream, Khaion… .
Have mercy!
I was seriously getting a crush on him.
Oh, who am I kidding… I’m already crushing on him—hard.
My body wants him.
And my heart… well, that’s just crazy. My heart can’t be involved in this—I’ve only been in space a little over a week, and he’s an alien—an utterly gorgeous, sweet, sexy alien, but still an alien.
Claire fell in love with Jamie, and he was alien to her.
The thought flitted through my head, jolting me with its rightness. Recollecting the plot from the first book, Claire Beauchamp time-travels back to the 18 th century and meets highlander Jamie Fraser a rather perfect analogy of what happened to me.
Fate yanked Claire away to a time and place completely alien to her—check.
Claire meets Jamie, the handsome warrior who rescues and protects her—check.
Claire and Jamie are wildly attracted to each other—check, check, and double-check.
Compelled to marry out of necessity, Claire and Jamie fell head over heels and crazily in love.
Oh crap!
I can’t actually be falling for Khaion. We’ve only kissed, for heaven’s sake, and even that was just for instructional purposes.
Wasn’t it?
It doesn't matter that he's my alien version of Jamie Fraser and kissing him turned my bones into hot butter. Falling for him would be crazy… one of those love-at-first-sight kinds of moments.
You wanted him from the second you woke up in his arms.
True, but I thought I was dead. Similar to an insanity defense, a person shouldn’t be held accountable for their thoughts and emotions when they believe they are dead.
I've never experienced love at first sight. Honestly, I'm unsure if I experienced love at second or third sight.
Rick and I dated for six months before we were intimate and another two years after that before deciding to walk down the aisle.
I clearly remember standing at the entrance of the first Methodist Church of Atlanta, my father at my side, sweat dripping from my hands, and realizing that I progressed down the aisle out of obligation rather than inclination.
Maybe somewhere deep down inside, I knew Rick wasn’t the one. I certainly wasn’t the one for him. During our divorce, I discovered his infidelity inherent throughout our marriage, beginning the night of his bachelor party with the sister of one of my bridesmaids.
I do believe in love at first sight. I saw the remnants of it on the faces of my friends Willa and Daisy and their husbands when telling the tales of how they met.
I witnessed the resounding grief the two women suffered when they lost those loves.
Grief so deep it reverberated in their bones, causing physical manifestations that took years to overcome.
My divorce had been nasty… hateful. The kind of divorce that ends up an episode of Law and Order.
I’d been acrimonious, furious, and vengeful, but not a single time did I genuinely grieve his loss.
I wanted to hate Rick, but I couldn’t, not completely.
Because of him, I’d become a mother, the purest form of love I’d ever known.
A part of me even felt sorry for Rick. He could have chosen an intimate, deep, connected love with me, but instead, he’d gone through the motions in our marriage, choosing a revolving door of strangers instead of commitment.
But Khaion?
He looked at me like nothing I'd ever experienced—like I was everything he desired, all wrapped up in a pretty bow. He fulfilled all the criteria of a perfect partner—devotion, gentleness, trustworthiness—like a Bride's magazine checklist.
I wanted him. It was already too far gone to deny that looking at him created a monsoon in my panties.
Love him?
The logical, legal part of my brain I'd relied on all my life, denied the possibility. Things like this didn't happen.
My heart was harder to convince, and it scared me to death.
He was a decorated Vaktaire warrior and chieftain of the Bardaga, responsible for protecting all of Earth’s inhabitants, not just me. Being protective was part of his DNA. Granted, Khaion asked me to teach him to kiss and not one of the many human females he’d helped in the last one hundred years.
Me!
And either I was an exceptional teacher, or he was the best student ever because of how his mouth moved over mine….
My shiver shook the mattress, the movement banishing the last vestiges of slumber from my brain. My eyes blinked at the dusky light the Bardaga used to simulate morning. Of course, I was alone—it was just a dream. With a sad huff, I threw back the covers, freezing at the sight of my naked skin.
I never slept naked. Rick thought it untoward, and after being abducted—one never knows when you might have to run for your life in the middle of the night. It meant nothing. I soaked in the bath to relax and probably was so drained afterward I flopped into bed and drifted off to sleep.
Of course, that doesn’t explain why the pillow beside me held the imprint of a head or how the spot on the mattress beside me was rumpled and slightly damp.
That’s crazy. The beds just messed up because you were having a very wild, very enjoyable sex dream.
I slung my legs over the side of the mattress, instantly recognizing a slight soreness in my thighs as though someone had held them tightly.
My nether regions tingled with remembered attention, and I spotted a faint bruise over my left nipple.
I remember Khaion nipping me there; pleasure and pain were delicious sensations.
No!
It was only a dream. All the physical manifestations were my body acting out the fantasy. I probably rolled around the bed like a woman possessed all night, pinching myself as I dreamed about Khaion’s attention to my breasts.
I couldn't explain the sight of the crumbled tunic lying on the floor at the end of the bed. Slowly, as though approaching a wild animal, I shifted upon my knees, crawling to the end of the bed and plucking the silky piece of black cloth from the floor.
It’s definitely not my tunic. It’s too big for one thing and the scent it holds.…
Oh shit!
It’s the same scent emanating from the bed, all spicy and masculine and musk and…
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!
I dove back for the pillows, jerking the covers over my head.
It was real!
Hazy memories swimming in the sleepy fog of my brain became suddenly clear.
When we returned from the space station, Khaion insisted on my having a Medical scan while he debriefed Charick.
Orzon brought me to my quarters afterward, feeding me soup and an alien version of grilled cheese, which was surprisingly delicious.
I wanted to see Khaion again, but knowing he was busy, I took a bath to wash the stench of Lernax Centauri off my skin and try to relax. I couldn’t read the script on the bath selections, so I picked the one that smelled like lavender.
Freaking alien lavender!
The bath is where everything got hazy, lost in a fog of lust and arousal. After that, all I remembered was wanting him… more than food, more than breath, more than life.
Oh shit!
I don't feel sorry it happened, but strangely excited.
I wanted him—I still want him, but how I acted.
Good Lord! Where's a girl's southern grandmother when you need her?
I've never been so forward in my life. Not once in my nearly thirty years of marriage had I set about to seduce my husband with such brazen wantonness.
Of course, Rick was no Khaion—he wasn't even close.
Even so, my cheeks flame with the memory of my audaciousness.
God, what Khaion must think of me!
No wonder he didn’t linger any longer than necessary. I probably shocked him to death. It wouldn’t surprise me if he suggested I try out one of those hedonism ships rather than the human settlement on Tau Ceti.
Of course, he wasn’t so shocked that he didn’t give me the best orgasms of my life, taking nothing in return for himself.
Plus, he held me while I drifted off to sleep.
I remember feeling safe and content, wrapped in his arms. But he ran before I woke—not a good sign from what I remembered of dating etiquette.
The hiss of the door opening sent a heavy rock of dread into the pit of my stomach. I huddled in my makeshift cocoon, cringing as I expected Orzon’s questioning to begin.
“Good morning.” The deep voice made me think of good scotch, butter, and warm honey.
Khaion.
God! How was I ever going to look him in the eye after the way I acted? I was going to have to look at him eventually. I couldn’t live under the blankets indefinitely, especially when I felt his weight settle on the edge of the mattress.
“Um, morning.” I lowered the blanket over my head just enough to peek out, clutching the cashmere-like fabric against my chest.