Page 15 of Pets in Space 10

“Are you okay?” she asked, tilting her head at an angle that made him want to wrap his hands in her hair and do all the naughty things he had been dreaming about for the past fourteen days, twelve hours, fifty-two minutes, and counting….

Every… blessed… second...

He looked at her, really looked, and felt something crack wide open inside him. This wasn’t just desire. It was need. And not just for her body — for her laugh, her stubborn fire, her strength and grace and everything she was. He wanted to shelter her from every shadow in the world.

Without thinking, he moved.

So did she.

They met in the middle of the cabin, like two magnets finally giving up the fight.

His arms wrapped around her waist, lifting her off the floor as his lips found hers.

Her hands slid up his chest, curling into the still damp hair at the nape of his neck.

The kiss started slow — an exhale of relief, a whisper of longing — but when she whimpered against him, something snapped.

The brush that had been in her hand dropped to the floor with a soft clatter.

He pulled back just enough to search her eyes. “Are you sure?” he asked, his voice rough with restraint. “Because once we cross this line, I’m not gonna pretend I don’t feel what I feel for you.”

Harmonia didn’t answer with words.

Instead, she lifted her hand, wiggled her fingers, and in a shimmer of golden light — poof — their clothes vanished.

Landry made a strangled sound, caught somewhere between shock and disbelief.

“Holy — ” His gaze raked over her as heat surged through every nerve ending. “Well, there goes the last thread of my self-control.”

“Good. You’ve been far too gentlemanly for far too long,” she breathed, before catching his mouth again.

He backed her toward the bed, their steps unsteady, their kisses growing more frantic. Her hands roamed over him. Her fingertips left trails of fire along his exposed flesh.

“Sweet mercy of the swamp,” he breathed.

Did I just say that out loud?

His eyes glazed when she ran her fingers through the hair on his chest and gently tugged the dark brown strands with a wicked smile. He groaned, low and desperate, when her hand dipped lower and she wound her hand around his throbbing shaft as she tugged him down on top of her.

They collapsed onto the tangled sheets, his body blanketing hers, the scent of cedar and woodsmoke filling his lungs. Her legs wrapped around him, her hips arching, meeting him with a need that mirrored his own.

“I want you,” he murmured hoarsely, pressing kisses to her neck, her jaw, her chest. “I want — need to touch every inch of you. I want to make you feel safe. Make you feel everything. I want to lose myself in you, Harmonia.”

“Then do it,” she whispered. “I’m already yours.”

Landry knew he needed to slow things down between them.

If he didn’t, he wouldn’t last. Hell, he hadn’t been this horny or desperate since — ever!

Even his first time had been measured, controlled.

Right now, there was nothing measured, controlled, or even coherent going on in his brain.

He was on full primal, primitive male-take-female mode. Another first for him.

He would have been embarrassed if he could have put two cohesive thoughts together. That was blown when Harmonia shifted, rolling them over so she could slide down his body, and wrapped her beautiful, plump lips where her hand had been a second earlier.

“Holy, sweet mother of crawfish — !”

“Is this a good curse?” she asked, lifting her head so she could study his face.

“Yes!” he choked out in a squeaky, unmasculine voice. “That’s — that’s a good curse, but if you — Holy hell, Harmonia, I’m not going to last, darlin’.”

He swore his eyes were crossed and his balls were about to explode. Was it possible for him to get any harder? Forget that! Was it possible for her to swallow his entire length?!

Just the thought was enough to trigger the tingling feeling along his spine that told him he was about to come in an explosion of fireworks. Gritting his teeth, he wrapped his hands in Harmonia’s hair, stilling her erotic caresses. He forced his throbbing body to obey and switched their positions.

“Oh! Holy crawfishes!” she hissed with a giggle.

He paused to kiss the place between her breasts where her magic pulsed faintly beneath her skin — awed, humbled, his soul already hers before he continued his exploration.

He took the time to tease both of her nipples into hard pebbles before he parted her legs and returned the same attention to her womanhood as she had been giving to him.

Her wild cries pierced him. He kept his focus on her and not on the discomfort he was in.

His cock was not happy that he had put her needs before it and was chafing against the covers.

He buried his mouth against her curls, teasing her swollen nub to a fever pitch.

When she wrapped her legs around his head, holding him to her with her thighs, she came in a glorious wave of unrestrained cries that boosted his male ego until he was sure he’d be strutting like a rooster in a hen house.

Like those damn strutting Fairy penguins on Phillip Island — adorable, smug, and totally proud of themselves, he mused, remembering the tuxedoed suitors vying for the perfect condo during his studies in Australia.

“Oh, Landry. Oh, Landry. Oh, my,” Harmonia hissed, her body melting around him.

“Now, the fun begins,” he promised, kissing the inside of her thigh.

“Now? There’s more?” she asked in a breathless voice, lifting her head up just enough to stare at him with an astonished expression.

He chuckled and gave her a puzzled look. “Yeah. You know, now that a bit of the edge is off for you.”

“But… what about you? Is the edge off for you?”

Unease began to build inside him along with a nagging little voice. “Uh, Harmonia. Can I ask you something?”

“Of course… as long as you promise we keep taking the edge off,” she said, pulling his hands up to her breasts and wiggling.

“How many times have you… uh, done this?” he asked.

She moaned when his fingers instinctively pinched her swollen nipples. “The part when I wrapped my lips around you, or the part where you wrapped your lips around me and took my edge off?”

“Either, both. The part where you’ve… you know, been with another guy?” he asked, hissing when she rubbed her leg along his swollen shaft.

He raised himself up slightly, pressing his knees into the mattress so he could study her flushed face.

She had a delightful curve to her swollen lips that made him want to kiss her.

Her eyes had a droopy, sensual expression, evidence of her climax.

Her taut nipples brushed against his chest. He clenched his jaw, imagining what they would look like with a couple of nipple clamps attached to them.

Now where in the hell had that thought come from?! he groused.

“Never. The other mages teased me, but what they told me is nothing compared to what you’ve just done. This is… the holy mother-of-crawfish good,” she groaned, reaching down between them to wrap her hand around his cock again. “The edge hasn’t worn off. I need you to do whatever you did again.”

Landry didn’t think his mind could get any more blown than what it had been.

There was nothing about the woman squirming seductively under him that wasn’t enchanting.

He released a long groan, knowing he needed to curb his own desires if he was going to show her exactly just how magical she was to him.

“I’m going to spend all night taking the edge off. All beautiful night. I promise.” He cupped her cheek, brushing his thumb over her flushed skin. “I’m honored you chose me. I’ll never hurt you, Harmonia. I swear. I’ll never hurt you,” he vowed.

He captured her lips, loving how she opened for him. Positioning the tip of his cock against her liquid heat, he deepened the kiss, trying to ignore his desire to just surge forward, and focused on making this the most sensual, memorable experience he could for her.

Sweat beaded his brow when he felt her tightness and the barrier proving she was telling the truth when she said she didn’t have any experience. He broke the kiss and whispered a soft apology before rocking his hips forward until he was buried to the hilt. Their combined groans wrapped around him.

“You feel so good,” she moaned.

“Not yet, darlin’. You can’t — I need you to — ”

“Move. I need to move. It feels so good,” she replied, rocking her hips.

“Aw, hell,” he groaned, feeling the tingling explode into a full-scale assault up his spine and spreading throughout his body. “Bloody hell!”

The primal male inside him surged to the forefront, taking over the last of his control.

Wrapping his arms around Harmonia, he buried his face against the curve of her neck and drove into her over and over again, relishing in the exquisite feel of her silky channel stroking his cock, the heat building from their frantic movements, her loud cries of pleasure when she came again followed by his long, guttural groan of pleasure as he came deep inside her and pleasure almost to the point of pain held him locked in its fiery embrace.

“Yes! Yes, oh, baby. Yes!” he cried out as shudder after shuddering pulses stroked him.

This time it was him that melted. He tried to keep most of his weight on his locked elbows. His knees were trembling too much to support him. His body was still locked with hers and would be for a while if the continued shudders wracking his frame were any indication.

“I’m falling hard for you, Harmonia Stormhold. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m fallin’ for you,” he murmured in a hoarse voice.

“I love you, too, Landry,” Harmonia whispered, pressing her lips against his damp skin. “Never forget that,” she whispered.

It felt like a promise and a goodbye all at once.

Landry tightened his hold around Harmonia. Her softly spoken words pierced his soul and settled deep into his heart. Somehow… it was almost like she knew what was going to happen, and it wasn’t going to be good.