Page 175 of Gladiators of the Vagabond Boxset

She didn’t need pretty words, though. When I leaned in to kiss her, she responded immediately. I let myself get lost in her taste, her soft gasps and moans. Allowed myself to appreciate all her soft curves, her slender body, my hands roaming at will so I could memorize her shape.

Everything turned heated when she shifted forward, and her hot core brushed over my already aching cock.

She jolted as if hit by lightning, a hissed moan escaping her.

Blunt little fingernails dug into the skin of my shoulders, which I took as permission to draw her close and press my erection against her in teasing little nudges.

I needed more, though—much more—and it was clear that Hina wasn’t opposed to being my mate after all. She’d come to me; she’d talked about our future together as if we’d have one. That was all the confirmation I needed.

Shifting my attention briefly from Hina was a struggle, but I managed it just enough to lift the pillow with the two sleeping animals off the bed and gently nudge it into a corner.

I met Snarl’s curious look but didn’t need to say anything to get my message across.

“I will keep watch in the corridor to make sure you are not interrupted when mating, Fierce Hunter.” There was a smugness to his tone and a distinct prance to his walk as he left the brig area.

All alone with my female, I pinned her to the brig cot with a smirk.

“This time on a bed, my mate,” I promised her, which made her laugh.

Then I made her moan when I pinned her slender wrists above her head and sucked one of her nipples through her shirt into my mouth.

She didn’t have large breasts like some of the other human women; hers were small, just big enough for me to fit my mouth around and tongue at that stiff peak.

She really liked that, thrashing her body beneath mine, the heat of her core blazing against my cock.

I felt that even through the thick leather of my kilt.

Eager to feel all of her, to have her bare beneath me, I lifted my body to yank at her top.

It ripped with a sharp sound right down the middle.

Her eyes appeared shocked, but a thick plume of her arousal scented the air.

Spurred on by that, I kicked off my boots, loosened my kilt so that I was naked in a moment, and then I made short work of the rest of her clothes.

Once nude, she tried to climb back into my lap, one hand eagerly curling around my cock.

“No, not yet,” I tried to warn her. I was so eager for her that I felt ready to explode at just the slightest touch.

But when she shimmied her slender, pale body down between my legs, I was powerless to stop her.

I didn’t really want to, even if I wanted to please her just as much.

“Let me make you feel good, Fierce,” she murmured coyly.

“Let me show you how much I appreciate you.” Her words made me feel hot in entirely different ways, but then she licked her pink tongue across the dark purple tip of my cock, and I saw stars.

Nothing had ever felt as intense as that.

First, she toyed with me, teasing her tongue around the sensitive, flared head.

Then she suckled me into her mouth, the wet cavern enveloping me as far as she could take me in a sudden move.

I had to fight not to buck my hips, to drive deeper, I didn’t want to hurt her.

A feral growl ripped from my throat, tapering off into a rumbling purr that vibrated my cock against her soft lips.

She moaned, her eyes rolling back into her head.

“Oh, can you do that when you’re inside me too?

That would feel so good,” she asked, pulling off my dick with a popping noise.

For a moment, I stared at her in a daze, my brain absolutely fried by both the erotic sight of her on her knees between my legs—her lips wet and swollen from her ministrations—and the sensations she’d just inflicted on me moments earlier.

Vibrating, she was talking about that, wasn’t she?

I nodded eagerly in response, curled my hands beneath her arms, and had her pinned back beneath me on the bed in a flash.

I’d show her, I’d make sure she knew just how well her mate could please her.

With a thigh, I nudged her legs apart, then used my hand to guide my cock through her already slick folds, rubbing between them and finding that hard nub, gently applying pressure as I slid back and forth, never entering her, just teasing.

Locking eyes with her, I made sure she understood this was all for her, and then I rumbled a purr deep in my belly.

She moaned and bucked against my cock, wetness leaking from her inviting channel.

“Like that, mate? This what you meant?” I demanded.

When she frantically nodded, I increased the vibrations of my purr, settling the sound in the deep and heavy registers so that I could sustain it as long as she needed.

It wasn’t long, in seconds, she exploded, moaning my name, her legs clutching tightly around my hips, her hands digging blunt nails into my shoulders. She couldn’t mark me; my skin was too thick, and I almost regretted that. I’d wear her marks on me with pride.

As she came down from her orgasm, I dropped the purr, pulling back to gently rub at her soft, silky thighs to ease her back.

She was trembling, her eyes huge and wide as she stared at me.

Feeling smug, I couldn’t stop the pleased smirk from emerging, and with a laugh, she nudged at my hip with a foot. “Yes, that was fantastic.”

It was, it most certainly was. Now I was going to do it again, but inside her. I was sure that was going to melt her.

*

Hina

I was still seeing stars from that bone-melting orgasm.

Fierce had done exactly as I’d requested, and I was reeling from it.

Holy shit, his purr could make his dick vibrate.

Now that was handy—perfect, even. I wanted to make him feel good too, but my legs were still like noodles after what he’d done to me.

Everything was moving so fast between him and me, but right now, I couldn’t care less.

When Fierce rolled me onto my belly and urged me onto my knees, my shoulders pressing into the cot, I felt exposed, naughty.

It felt very primal—the way his big body came down over me, covering me.

I could feel his front press against my back, see one of his arms catch his weight next to my shoulder, and feel the thick head of his cock nudge against my opening. I craved it; I needed him inside me.

His fingers came around to strum gently along my clit. “Mine, Hina,” he growled. My translator picked up that word and made me understand it, but I could hear, too, that it was the same word he’d growled at me before. Down on the planet, he’d definitely said this to me.

“Yes,” I found myself saying. I could be his, and he could be mine.

We’d make this work together. I knew that I could love this guy, that with more time, this would only deepen into something more.

I wasn’t about to let it slip through my grasp because I was too scared to grab hold with both hands. No more watching from the sidelines.

“And you are mine,” I shot back at him. Tingles shot up my spine when that made him growl fiercely, his cock lodging at the opening of my channel, pressing in with a rough thrust that made me jolt across the cot.

I would have tumbled right off if he hadn’t pinned me down with his weight.

Every nerve ending inside my channel seemed to catch fire; with each drag of his cock, I felt myself flutter tightly around him, clutching him inside me.

Then the purr started again, a deep vibration that rumbled against my spine where his chest vibrated softly, and a harder vibration deep inside my eager body.

A few deep, long strokes, and he discovered just the right angle, stroking across that sensitive spot inside me.

“Fierce,” I moaned, already rapidly climbing toward that peak.

He increased his strokes, our bodies slapping together roughly, and I loved every second of it.

He was wilder with me than last time, pinning me in place with a hand between my shoulder blades, his entire body wrapped around mine.

There was no doubt that I belonged entirely to him at this moment, that he was laying claim to every inch of my body.

I came on a hoarse shout, my body convulsing around his hard cock. His purr, which had felt so damn amazing, fell away when my orgasm triggered his. Just like on the planet, he roared, a fierce, animal sound that was so primal I felt it set off another mini quake inside me.

His mouth closed around my shoulder, biting down just enough that I could feel the pressure of his teeth.

His body trembled over me, my channel stretching as his cock thickened.

I was prepared for that bulge this time, and my body was better able to accommodate it.

This time, the stretch didn’t burn nearly as much, and when Fierce changed from that light bite on my shoulder to gently licking the spot, I felt a curl of heat lick at my belly again. How could my body possibly handle more?

Maybe Fierce sensed exactly where my limits were, because he gently rolled us to our sides, his body hugging me close.

With his head, he was nuzzling gently into my hair, his hands sliding across my slick, heated skin, petting me, gentling me.

Yes, he was definitely good at post-sex cuddles.

I loved this moment; I felt cared for and connected with him.

We were both a little drowsy, tired after that intense round of sex, but we found ourselves talking.

Sharing good memories, sometimes bad. I talked about hoping I could help with the food growing aboard the ship and that the lab here meant I could continue some of my research as well—how much it meant to me that he’d gotten me the not-wisteria plant.

While Fierce offered tentative thoughts on how he might help out aboard the ship, he also mentioned they’d talked about doing another round of fights in an arena somewhere, so those who were willing to fight could bring in some prize money.

He wanted to do that, even if it terrified me that he’d be willing to step into an arena again.

I didn’t want him to get hurt, and accidents could always happen, even if he assured me he’d never participate in a death match.

I suggested I teach him to read—a safer option—which he accepted. We were about to brainstorm ideas for how he could help out around the ship when a sound interrupted our talk.

Fierce jolted upright, a growl already filling the small cell.

With all that had happened, I had completely forgotten just where we were, which was a good thing, or I’d have felt self-conscious a lot sooner.

After we disentangled from each other, Fierce paced to the front of the cell, protectively placing his body between me and whoever was approaching.

I scrambled to get dressed, mourning the shreds that remained of my shirt, and settled for wrapping myself up in the thin blanket.

Snarl was the first to appear, trotting into the cell and placing himself at my side.

He was calm, which led me to assume that whoever was coming was not a threat to us.

Fierce wasn’t quite so rational at the moment.

Still nude, he was bristling, growling a warning to let this newcomer know he wasn’t welcome.

Stepping closer, I placed my hand on the small of his back.

“Easy, Fierce. I think it’s just a friend.

” Right on cue, Thorin stepped into view, his arms raised, palms open to show he came unarmed.

Behind him, I spotted Camila with a pile of clothes in her arms and a smirk on her face.

As soon as she saw me, she wiggled her eyebrows and mouthed “Made up?” at me.

All the muscles in Fierce’s back were rock hard from tension; he was ready to leap out at his friend and attack him.

So I did what I could, stroking my palms over his skin.

“Come on, you’re stronger than this. Fight your instinct.

We’re safe. I’m safe.” The last words seemed to be getting through to him, so I added, “Hina’s safe. ”

He deflated, his skin shifting from what I suspected had been threatening colors—blacks, reds, and deep purples—to the light turquoise I was used to seeing. With one hand, he rubbed the back of his neck while gesturing at Thorin. “Sorry, brother. I know you wouldn’t harm my female.”

Thorin dropped his hands and went to casually prop himself against the small guard station outside the cells.

He smirked as he straightened his leather jacket, buffed his nails against his sleeve, and then reached out to tug on Camila’s long braid.

“It’s fine. That mating drive is a violent beast from time to time. I know it; our brothers know it.”

“Here,” Camila said, approaching to toss the bundle of clothes she was carrying at me.

“We figured you could use some fresh things. Abby and I scrounged them up. You’re pretty small, though, so I hope they fit.

” I was grateful for anything at this point, because I was getting pretty sick of wearing the same thing over and over again, not to mention that my shirt was now toast.

Fierce yanked on his weapon kilt and stomped into his boots. Then, he held up the blanket for me so I could get dressed without flashing anyone. Camila was already urging Thorin out of the brig. “Meet us all in the mess hall. We discovered some info on the Riho, Fierce.”

Once they were gone and I was dressed, Fierce gathered Fellow into the bag he liked to carry with him.

I noticed that he’d folded a blanket inside and made a nice little nest. The small rodent was happy to curl inside it, and for once, Fluffy didn’t want to hitch a ride on my shoulder but instead nestled into the bag with Fellow.

It looked to me like the two were already thick as thieves.

“Wonder what they found out… Do you think they located more?” I asked as Fierce led me from the brig toward the mess hall. I’d left it not that long ago, ready to crash and sleep, but now I felt wired—relieved that things seemed better settled between Fierce and me.