Page 28 of Guardian’s Heart (Space Guardian’s Mate #1)

NOVA

He looked so pained I couldn't help but try to massage the pain away from him. Fuck, when I dared him, I hadn't expected this . This was huge. I was sure the Ohrurs had done something to him. Something unspeakable, and I wouldn't rest until I knew what it was.

I didn't have a life anymore, not on Earth. My future looked not necessarily bleak but like a white page, and I had no idea how to fill it. What I understood, though, was the desire to find something out. Zaarek had saved my life a few times… and I saved him… but I didn't think that made us even. Besides, I was developing feelings for the big brute and wasn't ready to explore them yet, so it was easier to feel like I owed him.

"We're gonna find out what they did, I promise," I said, kissing the top of his head.

He looked up. "This isn't your fight."

I knew he didn't mean to hurt me with those words. They did a little, but I understood where he came from. He was a man accustomed to fighting alone. He wasn't used to others having his back. Friends. So, I did my best not to show my offense to his words.

"Let me tell you a quick story." I sat on his lap because it felt more natural than to pull out the chair again. He didn't object; his hands rested on my hips and thigh protectively, sending jolts of happiness through me. I couldn't remember the last time I had felt this protected. Not since… Tuck. But like I had already admitted to myself, Zaarek was a man. A male! An alpha male. My attraction to him grew with every passing minute we spent together.

"I had a brother," I dove in, "Tucker. One day, he and his friends went out into the swamps and never returned. To this day, I have no idea what happened to him. Did he drown? Did a gator eat him? Did his friends kill him? They vanished, too. Did they get drunk or high and get lost? Did he run away? The point is, I don't know. I never found out. I never got closure. And I'll be damned if you're going to be another person whose story I won't know how it ends."

He pulled me against his chest and kissed me. It was a different kiss from the ones before. It was deep and… affectionate. So much so that I fought tears welling in my eyes.

"You are the most astonishing female I've ever met," he confessed when we came up for breath.

Neither one of us realized that it was getting late, not until the lights were dimming.

"I should feed the humans," Zaarek suggested.

"I'll help," I offered.

It didn't take long, and Nock was nowhere to be found. So we decided he was probably in his room and didn't want to disturb him in case he was sleeping again. So we went into our quarters.

I wasn't sure what it was, but the moment our eyes fell on the shirt Zaarek had ripped off me, we were at each other again like horny teenagers. Clothes were flying everywhere before we fucked on the couch, the table and the bed. After he showed me the most amazing thing.

There was a bathtub in the bathroom. Only it was the shower thing. The large space I mentioned underneath the window, the one perfect for a bathtub? Yes, that's exactly where the shower lay down. It was big enough for the two of us and we made another mess in there.

"You should let the cleaning drones back in," I advised when I carefully stepped out of the water around the puddles left on the floor.

"You're right," he agreed, picking me up and carrying me to bed. "But first, let's get some sleep."

As soon as he said the word, my eyes felt heavy, and I was out before he stepped into bed. I barely remember him pulling me against him.

I woke to him thrashing like he was running. He was soaked in sweat, and in the dim lights, I made out how tortured his expression was.

"Zaarek." I shook him. "Zaarek, wake up."

He shot up, his eyes alert, ready to fight, and I instinctively shrunk back, just in case he might see me as an enemy before all his senses were awake.

"Nova?" He blinked.

"Did you have that dream again?" I asked.

He nodded, holding his head.

I scooted over and took him into my arms.

"It's okay," I whispered, kissing his chest. "We'll figure this out."

He rested his chin on top of my head. "I'm glad you're here."

We sat there like this for a moment until his head must have felt better, and he leaned forward to kiss my naked shoulder. "Sorry about that."

I looked and found a small bite mark there from earlier. I chuckled, remembering exactly when he had done it and how much it had turned me on. "It's okay. I think we both got a bit carried away."

"When I'm with you… I'm constantly torn between wanting to protect you with everything I got and ravishing you in ways…" He shook his head.

"That leave marks?" I finished because that's exactly how I had felt when we started.

"Yes," he admitted, taking my arm, the one with the black tattoos, making my skin prickle even before he kissed the sensitive flesh there, sending jolts of yearning for more through me. "I want to possess you, consume you." His black eyes darkened if that was even possible; they turned into liquid tar in which more black lines swirled, reminding me of the pattern of the tattoos. "I want to be one with you."

I shuddered because he described perfectly what I yearned for. As terrifying as the idea was, it also lured me to explore it further

The tips of his fingers lightly danced over my skin, leaving goosebumps and yearning. My pussy fluttered, and my belly contracted in anticipation. Amazed, I watched his shaft, which had lain placidly against his thigh, elongate and harden. Its silvery shimmer called to me.

"Nova," he rasped.

"Hmm," I mumbled, watching his cock grow, exploring the hard ridges that made me so happy. It was thick, thick enough that my fingers didn't fit all the way around.

I leaned and began stroking him in earnest with both of my hands, curiously leaning forward to lick the tip. The taste wasn't bitter or sweet. Neither salty nor tart. Just right. Like an unknown delicacy.

"Nova," he rasped again.

Not much of his shaft fit into my mouth, but I tried, driven by an incredible force, to make him feel good. To pleasure him.

"Nova," he repeated. His words were accompanied by gripping me by my shoulders and swinging me around. In an instant, he was on top of me. Our eyes met and unspoken words moved between us before he slid down on me, spreading my legs to move his head in between them. There was no warning, his mouth found my clit, and he began to suck on the sensitive bud, making me dizzy under an onslaught of emotion.

Incredibly tender hands moved up and down my thighs and my hips, caressing every inch of me, while my head fell back on the bed. My eyes closed, and I only existed in the feelings of bliss and the caresses he was giving me. My entire being was wholly aware of HIM. My nostrils flared as I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with oxygen. I could almost feel it running through my body, through my veins, fueling me. I stretched and slightly arched, as every single cell in my body tingled, filling me with emotion so incredible and intense that it filled my chest with heat.

Languidly his hands stroked over my flesh, and I leaned up, needing to show him the same affection, which wasn’t easy with him latched on to my clit, but somehow he must have guessed my desire, or maybe he felt the same because his head lifted and I clasped it between my hands, pulling him up. Bending lower, our lips met again. This time, tenderly. So amazingly tenderly.

I opened my lips, and slowly, he moved up my body, cradling me into his arms just as mine wound around his neck. I buried my hands into his short hair, not to pull, but to stroke, to enjoy how strange and… alien it felt. Thicker and harder than human, but not scratchy. It was kind of like bringing your hand down a barrel of wheat, hard and soft, yielding yet strong.

He cradled me closer and I snuggled into his embrace, spreading my legs between him as he gently raised me up onto his lap. His shaft pressed against my pussy, and I rubbed against it. A sound, close to purring, emanated from him. Our hands moved up and down the other’s skin, touching, exploring, caressing, just as our mouths fused together and our tongues tentatively and slowly danced with one another.

This time, it was all about feeling and sensations. My head fell back when his lips moved over my throat. I savored every inch he kissed without the need for him to get to my nipple and suck it. Oh, I wanted him there too, but there was no impatience driving me or him. This was a slow dance of making love—one where we gave and took.

I reveled in every moment of moving my fingers over his hard biceps, his wide shoulders and bulging muscles while he cupped one breast, kissed every inch of it, licked it, and teased my nipple before turning to the other.

I don't know how long we simply explored each other. It might have been hours of sheer contentment and pleasure. Eventually, though, the need to be one overrode everything else. Still, we took our time. He entered me slowly, stretching out the moment until he was fully sheathed, giving me time to revel in how he was spreading my pussy so deliciously.

My toes moved over his legs, my fingers danced over his skin, and every part of me was feeling, touching, being touched. Even as we lay on the mattress, him on top of me, his arms still cradled me, making me feel loved, protected, and at home. All emotions I had never experienced together. Not like this. Never like this.

It was hard to believe how we had fought just yesterday. How we had aggressively fucked, while now he was rocking his hips against me, each thrust a caress, a promise.

My climax built just as leisurely but with an unprecedented intensity. My eyes closed so I could simply listen to the hum of my body and experience every second of building heat. I didn't cry out his name or even groan; instead, I simply sighed against him. I would have purred if I could have. As it were, strange sounds emanated from my throat.

When my climax came, it wasn't a tsunami; it was just as gradually as it had built, allowing me to experience every moment of it as I clasped Zaarek and clung to his neck, overwhelmed with the bliss moving like waves underneath my skin.

His body jerked slightly, and I felt the rush of his seed as he held me closer. His breath was by my ear as he whispered so quietly that I almost didn't hear it. "I love you."

But I did. Shuddering, I realized that I loved him too. Differently from anybody I had ever loved before. Deeper, soberer, more committed, his words were like a binding promise, one that would never be broken.

"I love you too," I whispered back, just as reverently, just as convinced as him.

In that moment, we became one. Like a wick that could only burn after it met fire. Like a sound that could only be heard if someone was there to witness it. Like a beautiful painting that only made sense once a canvas met color.

Our arms looked as if they had been bound together, entwined by vines. They tingled where they met— sizzled was probably a better word for it.

He rolled off me, and I followed him, legs tangled, while my head came to rest by the hollow of his arm. His other arm pulled me against him, and together, we just lay there until we fell asleep, knowing nothing would ever part us. We belonged together. We might have come from different parts of the galaxy, but this was where we were meant to be. Together.

It didn’t feel forced to me like it had before. Like I had been trapped. I might not have had any say in this and rebelled against it, but deep down, I realized that this was fate. A strange power had brought us together, universes apart, for a purpose. And I was done fighting against it. Against my nature and against what Tucker had said about me being the most stubborn fighter in the world, I surrendered to this. To Zaarek. To us.

I didn’t know if this force was messing with my head, but I didn’t think so. It might have sped up the process, but if I were honest with myself, given enough time, I would have fallen for Zaarek either way.