Page 33 of Dark Survivor (The Qaldreth Warriors #2)

Chapter Twenty

Between chess, reed-blowing, and listening to her audiobook, Tiny’s days filled with many happy experiences.

Nenn was attentive, but his presence and kisses rattled her.

She wanted to drag him to bed. It sucked not being able to read his expressions or the damn room.

She yearned to come out and say, ‘Do me already.’

Instead, she shivered at his touch, tingled at his kisses, and sighed when he left her alone and horny.

And knowing he listened in stopped her from rubbing one out.

Which then left her on edge and doubting the attraction.

Had she said something to change his mind?

She couldn’t have been clearer than ‘I want you, Nenn.’

Pfft. Men. Even alien men.

“Play audiobook,” she said, sprawling on her bed.

She pressed her body against his, bringing with her a sweet rose scent, nothing too cloying and no stench of old sex. With nimble fingers, she had his uniform open, grazing her nails across his bare skin. A shiver pebbled his nipples.

“Candy,” she said, rubbing her parted mouth across his chest hairs.

He gripped her shoulders, reminded of doing this earlier to Naomi, and almost shook the woman. “Your real name.”

“Sophia.” Her dark eyes mesmerized him. Chocolate swirled in their depths.

Spinning her, he yanked her against him and grabbed her breasts, filling his palms. He pressed a kiss to the pulse beating at her neck. “Do you have time for me?”

“As long as you need.” Her husky voice shot straight to his groin as he glided a flattened palm over the soft curves of her belly.

“An hour, no more.” He dipped his fingers lower, drawing a gasp from her. As beautiful as she was, perhaps a little missionary wouldn’t hurt.

“Pause,” Tiny snapped, then pummeled the bed with her fists. Even Gibs was getting it on.

A chime had her leaping off the bed like she’d been caught red-handed. She opened the door and smiled, greeted by Nenn’s hot-rock cologne.

“Thought you went to bed,” she said, stepping aside to let him in.

“I did until your tale took an interesting turn…” He cleared his throat.

“Oh,” she said, dipping her head to hide her blush.

“I want to hear more of this audiobook,” he said, catching her hand and tugging her to the bed. “Come, let us listen together.”

Unsure what he meant, she sat on the foot end.

“Lie with me, hirihadie ,” he said.

She pinched her lips, then lay on the bed, inching back until her ass hit the wall.

Bringing his glorious heat with him, he joined her on the bed. He shifted her like a doll until she splayed across him, her head on his chest and his arm around her.

“Play audiobook,” she said into his pec and snuggled against him.

Chapter Fifteen.

Nova City was like a pie cut into five sectors.

They called the blue sector where the rich middle class lived, Holies.

That wasn’t saying much. The white sector was a squalid cesspool known as the Dump where the poorest of the poor lived, but even they had standards.

None ventured into the Deadzone since it was where the Kicks tossed bodies and killed snitches.

There would be no need for Gibs to visit the Dump anytime soon.

Rarely, did he venture into the green sector, the Kicks, but he’d been there twice in the last week.

Memorable experiences both times. Thanks to Sophia, he was himself again and in control.

He hadn’t sampled the full bouquet the Kicks offered, and his tastes were tame in comparison to most men his age or younger.

Or older, he grimaced, thinking of Lawrence.

Having someone to sleep with added a comfort Tiny hadn’t known she missed.

Her one-night-stands hadn’t included this as part of the evening’s offerings.

Which explained why, despite having Nenn where she wanted him, she dozed off to the steady thump of his heart and the heat pouring off him like a thermal blanket.

She jerked awake to Gibs yelling.

“Davis,” he growled into his holo-wrist.

It took an agonizing second before Davis answered. “What?”

“Naomi’s been poisoned. Search her home for the chocolates someone sent her on my behalf. Test them. We need to know what we’re dealing with.”

“Frack, Gibs. How is she? Where are you?” Davis’s nose bumped his wrist and sent his holographic striations spinning.

What patience Gibs had evaporated, tainting his vision red. “Davis, find the poison.” His roar drew cries of alarm from the medical personnel and patients around him. He didn’t care.

Davis jerked back. “Right. On it.”

She frowned, having missed so much. Beside her, Nenn’s breathing was even but not deep. “You’re still awake?” she asked, pushing up to glance at him.

“I like this story,” he whispered.

“So do I,” she said. “Can’t you sleep?”

“No,” he said, cupping her face with his rough palms.

“If I had my injection gun, I could give you something for it.”

His husky chuckle grazed across her senses. “Indeed.”

“That is if your physiology can handle our pathetic medicine.” She twirled a pattern on his chest, loving the velvety texture of his skin.

He caught her fingers and trapped them against him. “My tisane usually calms me.”

“You don’t mind if I sleep?” She covered a yawn by pressing her temple to his knuckles.

“Of course not,” he said and curled his arm, bringing her tighter into the curve of his body.

“Okay,” she mumbled with her cheek once more on his chest. “Play audiobook.”

Gibs collapsed into the closest chair, dropping his face into his hands.

This made no sense. Why target Naomi? Why spur a romance when there was none?

Well, none from her side. Was it a side effect of the toxins scouring her system?

Shame hit him hard, burning his cheeks anew.

He’d wanted her, relished the feel and taste of her, yet she suffered, drugged with who knew what.

Had he been on his game, he’d have noticed sooner, reacted quicker.

If she died, it was on him.

Tiny heard no more.

Someone rolled her onto her left side, then pulled her snug against hard loins. Heat engulfed her back. She smiled. Nenn had stayed with her. Instincts said it was morning, but she was loathe to move. She got to ‘cuddle’ without sex; the second choice in her book.

He rubbed his hand over her hip then inched her shirt up, sighing when he reached her waist. There, he splayed his fingers, digging them into her then releasing without causing pain.

Only a desperation remained. She wiggled, trying to ease the growing ache between her thighs.

That man had no right to affect her like he did.

Either that or she needed sex more than she’d thought.

The kiss at her neck made her shiver. He was so gentle and sweet, nuzzling her hair out of the way to press his cheek to hers. “Tiny,” he rasped. “Please teach me.”

She twisted to catch his mouth with hers while she snagged his hand and brought it to her breast. A groan passed from her to him when he flicked a thumb across her nipple.

She pinched her thighs, longing burning at her core.

He deepened the kiss and snatched her thoughts, urging her to kiss him back.

Her neck muscles twanged, but she had every intention of ignoring the discomfort.

When he teased both breasts, she grabbed his hand and slid it lower, whimpering when he cupped her sex. Through her leggings, his stroking had her breathless. She wanted to strip so that nothing hindered him.

“Please,” she begged.

“What do you need?” His voice was husky, summoning another shiver.

Her thoughts were hard to grab onto. “Inside,” she managed, yanking up the hem of her shirt to take his hand past her waistband. His palm across her bare stomach shot fire through her. But that couldn’t compare to his fingers feathering across her clit. She cried out, arching into his touch.

“Am I hurting you?”

“Oh, no, don’t stop,” she said between ragged gasps.

“You are so soft and slick.”

“Ah-ha,” she mumbled when he rubbed her back and forth. “There,” she said when he circled her clit.

“You like this?”

She was past listening to him or talking while he continued to tease her.

Need burned. The cliff drew near. She climbed, desperate and afraid he’d stop.

Every flick made her whimper. The sensations shuddering her body were so exquisite.

He kissed her, thrusting his tongue into her mouth but fumbled his fingers.

The change in the rhythm was so unexpected, it threw her into an abyss of sweet pleasure.

She screamed, riding an orgasm like no other.

Heat, ice, tingles, and waves of bliss bombarded her until she trembled against him.

She cupped his hand, trapping it between her thighs. “So good,” she whispered, letting the lingering ecstasy bring her back to reality. “Your turn.”

“What?” he asked, pulling free.

“No, stay,” she said, rolling over. After stroking his waistband in search of some way to open his pants, she huffed. “Nenn, I need access to your cock.”

He chuckled then yanked. Something tore free, like magnets or Velcro. He shuffled, and three thumps followed. She had to assume that meant two boots and a pair of pants. Then velvet skin engulfed her. He wrapped his arms around her while pressing his body against hers.

“Want me naked, too?” she asked, kissing his neck.

His breath hitched.

She laughed, shoved him back, then wiggled until she could whip off her shirt. Silence met her when she tossed off her bra. A thousand ant bites skittered along her skin at him being disappointed in her appearance, but then he ran his hand from her back to her ass.

“Beautiful,” he mumbled, dusting kisses over her bare shoulder.

She swallowed at the awe in his voice. He truly believed it. “Nenn,” she rasped, “lie back.”

He paused, his breath hot against her skin. His warmth was gone when he did as she commanded. She threw out her hands and met his hip and stomach, indented with abs.

‘Wow,’ she mouthed. Her implants sent her nothing, no doubt unable to process alien physiology. She was truly blind, but she didn’t mind, choosing to pretend she wore a blindfold.

Skimming her fingers up took her to familiar territory—his pecs, broad shoulders, angular jawline, and pliant lips. Down was a different experience, his sharp hips and an Adonis belt leading to an impressive hard-on.

She started at the rings around the base of his cock, up along the ridges, to further ridges just under the head of his cock.

He was hot, hard, yet velvety to the touch.

His breathing became ragged, but he didn’t stop her from exploring.

Flicking her thumb over the tip caught drops of pre-cum.

He hissed. His body stiffened beside her.

That she could draw such a reaction from a man this wonderful made her chest swell.

Sparkles exploded in her belly, and her clit throbbed in anticipation.

She ran her tongue along the length of his cock, tasting the cotton-candy sweetness of his pre-cum.

A strange gurgle came from him.

She straightened, tossing him a glance out of instinct. “Did I hurt you?”

“Osnir,” he moaned. “Please…do not cease this torment.”

She grinned and took him into her mouth.

A drawn-out groan inspired her to take as much of him as she could, making sure that with every dip of her head, he hit the back of her throat.

He clutched her hip, his grip almost bruising. With every flick of her tongue or slow suck, he dug in his fingers, whimpers and growls escaping him. She’d missed this: intimacy, bringing another person to ecstasy, having him at her mercy. Between sucks, she stroked him.

“Tiny,” he roared as liquid sweetness bathed her mouth and slid down her throat. She didn’t stop until he twitched, his breaths coming in huffs.

“You taste amazing,” she said, lying beside him.

He drew her against him, almost crushing her in his embrace. “ Hirihadie , that… Whatever that was, I have never experienced such joy…”

She snuggled, feathering kisses along his collarbone and any part of him she could reach.

Darkness formed a ball in her soul while she waited for him to get out of bed and leave her.

Time passed. He didn’t move, nor did he stop rubbing her back.

Tears burned her eyes that he hadn’t abandoned or used her.

She snoozed, too comfortable to resist the lure of a nap, especially post-endorphin-rush.

“Next time, we shall remove your pants,” he said, his voice low when he dusted a kiss across her lips.

She hummed in agreement and let sleep claim her.