Page 26 of Guardian’s Heart (Space Guardian’s Mate #1)

NOVA

I didn't think I could take it one second longer. The urge to come gripped me and consumed me like a fire from within. Meanwhile, he mercilessly moved my body up and down his cock, bruising my hips, but I didn't care. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered but the urge to explode all around his magnificently ridged cock.

Breathless, I pressed my face into the pillow and bit into it just when my core released. Heat spread through me, and I let go of the pillow. My neck arched back as I cried my release out into the confines of his room while he mercilessly kept pumping, prolonging my orgasm to unexperienced heights.

And then I felt it, felt him stiffen, felt his cock pulse inside me as his seed filled me, making me cry out one more time in hot bliss.

The grip on my hip loosened, and I crashed fully onto the bed as he collapsed on top of me. He panted, his hot breath caressing my skin. His heart hammered so hard inside his chest that I felt it against my back.

When he caught his breath, he pulled me with him as he fell on his back to rest on his chest.

"I don't know what you're doing to me, but… it's amazing," he whispered.

I leaned up on one elbow. "Hmm," I agreed with him, staring at the scratch marks I had left on his silvery pecs. I wasn't sorry, but I kissed them.

Noticing other scars, fine and old. One that was puckered looked like a bullet wound. I knew that because my daddy had had the same kind of scar on his shoulder. He used to brag about how Uncle Boone shot him, aiming for a deer after a few too many moonshines.

"Where did you get this?" I traced my fingers over the raised skin. It looked like a star, with its lines spreading out in all directions.

"This?" He raised his head to look. A frown appeared on his face. "I… I went… I did…"

My gaze moved to his as he tried to articulate. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." His face contorted in concentration. "But I… I don't remember." His fingers moved over the spot I had been caressing. "Not a clue." He tried to smile, but he wasn't fooling me.

"Zaarek, what's wrong?"

He shook his head as if to clear it. "Just another headache, don't worry."

"You probably need to eat and drink something," I suggested, and as if on cue, my stomach grumbled as well.

"Sounds like we both need sustenance." Zaarek grinned and helped me off the bed.

Thankfully, there were more shirts in the hidden compartments in the wall when I held up the torn top he had ripped off me—while goosebumps moved up and down my flesh just at the memory.

"Hey, you were the one who didn't want to let go." He winked at me and fuck me, my heart stuttered. This man was devastatingly handsome. He had been so before when he acted all GI Joe/Terminator/Wolverine on me, but now, that wink? Shit, that nearly stopped my heart and sent a new rush of desire through my pussy. This relaxed, playful face of his was simply overkill. My body demanded for me to sink down to the ground and let him have his way with me once again. This was a man I could seriously crush on.

Thankfully, my stomach objected before I could follow through.

He looked at me kind of funny as if my thoughts had reflected on my face, and I brushed out a quick, nearly brusk—alright, more hoarse than brusk, "What?"

"You looked funny there for a moment, as if you were about to faint."

You have no idea . "Probably just weak with hunger, you did give me a good workout."

This time, I winked at him and threw one of my devastating smiles at him. He seemed to freeze for a moment, and I imagined patting myself on the shoulder for a job well done. Two can play this game, Mister Alien Hunk .

We walked back into the room with the nutrition station, where a few drones were in the middle of cleaning up the mess we had left behind earlier. Nock was there, surrounded by several cube screens, his face deeply scrunched up in concentration.

Zaarek was about to sit down by one of the other tables, but I nudged him toward Nock. His sigh indicated that he wasn't happy about it, but tough shit. Man up.

"Hey, did you find anything?" I asked, pulling up a chair.

He nearly jumped off his chair, so startled by our sudden appearance that a small snicker escaped me.

"I'll get us some food," Zaarek said to me, and before he had a chance to turn, I widened my eyes at him and gave a small jerk with my chin toward Nock. With an even deeper sigh than before, Zaarek found his manners. "Do you want something too, Nock?"

"A carvel juice, please," Nock said without turning away from his screens, which had pulled him back in.

Zaarek frowned at me and mumbled something about not being a server but walked over to the food and beverage dispensers.

"So, did you find anything?" I prodded again.

"Some interesting Ohrur history, but I'm not sure if it pertains to our situation or not." Nock pushed a cube over to me.

"What am I looking for?"

"At some point, the Ohrurs went nearly extinct because of some disease," Nock filled me in. "See here, this is the data about their population, here, about twenty thousand years ago. Do you see this fall?"

I looked at the numbers, pushing away thoughts of how I was able to read this in English and he in… whatever language. I had a suspicion that if I tried to look too closely at this alien technology, my head would simply implode.

He was right. There was a definite drop of about fifty percent in population. I couldn't make any sense of how the time was defined and took his word for settling on twenty thousand GTU years, with no clue what that meant.

Just roll with it, Nova .

"Any idea what happened?"

"Nothing yet. I'm looking through archives, but so far, crickets."

"Crickets?" I laughed.

His grin was mischievous. "I took the liberty to study a bit of human vocabulary, specifically English, since it's your native tongue. Although, some words sound very different from how you say them."

My laughter deepened. "That's because I'm from the south."

"Meaning?" Zaarek put two plates and three cups of what I assumed to be carvel juice in front of us.

"Different people on Earth have different dialects, even when speaking the same language," I explained, sniffing the juice. Whatever it was, it smelled strong. "Don't you have dialects?"

"Yeah, I suppose we do," Nock conceded. "Anyway, did I use the word correctly?"

"You did." I brought the cup up to my lips, and because he looked like a child looking for praise, I gave it to him. "Very surprisingly, and well, good job."

He beamed, and I braved a sip. It wasn't bad. A bit sweet, but mostly, it tasted like water with a hint of some fruit that I couldn't quite define.

"So what were you two up to? Giving in to the mating mark urges?" Nock elbowed Zaarek, who had just put a sporkful of mush into his mouth.

His expression turned thunderous, and I kicked him underneath the table, shaking my head.

"That's not really something to discuss in public," I chastised Nock.

He looked befuddled. "No? Interesting. I did several streams on mating marks, and nobody ever indicated that giving in to their urges was something to be ashamed of, on the contr—"

"Nock." Zaarek had swallowed his bite down and shut Nock up.

"Fine." Nock looked pouty, but turned back to his screens. "If you ever change your minds, I could do another whole stream on—"

Zaarek's fist hit the table, making me jerk. Nock's chair with him on it moved back in fright. "Alright, alright, I got it."

He pulled the chair back, looking more irritated than bashful. I was sure this wouldn't be the last time he tried to dig into this question.

Not much later, Zaarek excused himself to check on our course on the bridge. It was evident he needed some alone time, so I didn't charge after him. Instead, I pulled a chair up closer to Nock and asked him to teach me about the alien technology. The sooner I picked up on it, the sooner I could start supporting myself again.

Strangely, the thought of going to Pandrax or Astrionis without Zaarek didn't seem that appealing any longer, and not only because of the strange pull the mating marks had on us. The silver alien was growing on me. That he wasn't half bad in bed only added to his charm. Oh, who was I kidding? That man was an expert when it came to sex. I didn't want to believe that it was because of the mating marks. I thought that even without him, Zaarek would have wrought magic with his body on mine.

There was more to the alien, though, and that was beginning to intrigue me. I always had a weak spot for a man . A real man. One who didn't act like a boy, one who stuck by you, one who could hunt, be vulnerable and strong, one who would lay down his life for me. A man who was there when you needed him and able to admit he didn't have all the answers, but who would make damn sure he would find them. I had just never met one before who met my criteria… until now. And I wasn't so sure if I was willing to give that up.