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We get in line for the picnic buffet, and Aura guides me ahead of him. We fill plates with fruit and sandwiches, crackers, veggies and dips, and an array of truffles and cookies. At the end is a bar. I order a drink called Sex on the Beach.

“Are you hoping for something?” Aura grins as he tries some dark alcoholic concoction from Helsvia. He picks an available blanket on the beach at the end, where staff members are still laying a few more down. “They have sex tents. Complete with an inflatable mattress.”

“Honestly, right now, I like being able to watch my surroundings.”

Aura nods. “Fair enough. I get that.”

I sit beside him and savor the relatively calm moment and a sip of my drink. Infiltrating a prison was never something I thought I’d do in my wildest dreams. But I trusted the team. We’re lucky it worked.

Needing an uplifting distraction, I ask, “Do you listen to music?”

His eyebrows dance. “Yeah, but not the kind you think. It’s percussive .”

I know by the twinkle in his green eyes that he’s not talking about actual music. “Favorite song?”

Aura seems to reconsider his response. “Tough one. I’m torn between the crackle of a Storm at full power and the rain of shells from a rotary gun at full speed.”

I gape at him. “Didn’t think you were that violent.”

He nods, hangs his head, and looks away. “I return to Fleet Amphir between deployments. But these last few years, it’s been because I’ve had trouble controlling my Storm. Most other soldiers can contain theirs. A few of us have more trouble. It’s why I need you. You balance me.”

“Royal bloodlines have more trouble?” I ask.

“Something like that.”

I motion to a curious-looking male carrying his female through the edge of the water while she laughs hysterically. “What species is that? The colorful one that looks like Vinynm.”

“The one with the fins that’s my height?

That’s a Selraphora. Good soldiers.” Aura eats as he points out a few other species new to the games.

“Olithions catch fire. You can see it always burning in their core, sort of like Jorusk. They’re usually safe to be in space without a suit.

They burn inside like humanoid suns. Toragrals, Isonians, and a few others do as well. ”

“Alright, everyone, gather around! It’s time for a new event!” Ohni stands atop a boulder as a long, flat hoverlift covered in tents hums in across the beach from the buffet. It sets down with precision. At the helm is Talros with one arm in a sling. He finds us, waves, and walks over.

“Hey, you’re not supposed to interact with the racers,” an alien guard protests.

“It’s okay, he’s a friend,” Aura says before I can reply.

Tal has a big grin on his face. “You’re going to like this one, Jojo.

I’m going to head back to bed. They just needed some help.

The usual cargo pilot is a bit occupied setting up for the movie night.

I guess he’s been busy fixing the zoo security.

Anyway, best get in there so you can get a good piece. ”

Piece?

He pats Aura’s shoulder, then takes the servants’ pathway back to the complex as Aura guides me up front with the others.

Ohni continues as the crowd tightens. “As an extra sweet treat, this heat, I have added a new event. Only one handful at a time. No digging for the egg. But there is one! And have fun!”

Guards lift the covers and expose a row of eight huge tiered cakes.

Aura’s the first in, roaring, “Cake fight!”

He steals the entire top of one cake in a single hand, breaks off a piece, and throws it at me, hitting me in the face.

The entire heat of racers becomes a wild flood of hands clawing at the cakes and turning the air into a sugar-bomb free for all.

I snag a handful and smash it into Aura’s face. He staggers back, laughing and wiping his eyes clean of frosting. “Oh, you are going to get it, little lady!”

Aura takes the rest of the topper, lurches after me, grabs me by the front of my suit, tugs open the collar, and shoves the entire top inside.

The cool frosting sliding down my breasts and stomach makes me stop and freeze. “Oh, my gosh. Aura! You did not just do that!”

But when I see him bite a lip and wink at me, I know what he’s thinking.

I point with both hands at my front. I can’t bring myself to stand up for fear I’ll end up with cake sliding down my legs and making me look like a lumpy sock on intergalactic TV. “You are going to clean this up!”

“No doubt!”

Frosting and bits of cake explode around us as women and alien males wage war.

Someone shouts that they’ve found an egg and holds it in the air. The battle continues with frosting explosions, delighted screams, laugher, and sprinkle bombs that fill the air with color.

Aura snags another handful of cake.

I take an awkward step back. “Oh, no.”

Aura chases me as I run, frosting and cake melting against my body. But he is faster and snatches me up with one arm around my waist.

Cake squishes against my skin, and it feels so gross I can’t help but screech from the horrifying sensations. “Come here, you rebellious little female. I am not done with you!”

Aura sets me down on our blanket rather abruptly, pushes me back, and says, “Open up.”

I squint at him. “My legs or my mouth?”

Aura’s eyes brighten. He growls in lust. “Those pretty little lips of yours.”

“Still not sure,” I tease.

Aura crawls forward and kisses me. His cock stiffens between my legs with a firmness that makes me gasp. Aura stuffs the cake in my mouth. “Ha. Knew that would work.”

I cough on instinct but manage to work the frosting around as I wipe the rest from my face. “You—ma—p-rurd.”

“What?” Aura jeers.

You’re a turd! But I’ve got too much cake in my mouth to speak with any clarity.

Aura unzips my top, and a warm, wet sensation licks up the frosting.

The feeling of him against my skin, the sugar in my mouth, and the fact that everyone around us is doing something similar on live TV lights my body on fire.

I feel like a model for a frosting company—an awkward, sticky, horny model.

Verity, if you’re watching, eat your heart out, bitch!

My big purple alien prince savors every curve as he makes me human again and simultaneously fills me with scorching need. Then he cleans my face in a tender way that’s a touch primal and ignites something deep in me that I can’t quite place.

When Aura sits back and I can look up at him again, I see him scrape frosting from his face and uniform, unzip his front, and slather it over his chest. “Come get me.”

I bolt upright, crash into him, and knock him back on the blanket. Aura laughs in a carefree way that I’ve not heard from him before. And I love the sound of it so much that I want to find ways to give him more moments like this.

He is as tasty a treat as anything I’ve ever licked up.

He’s all hot purple skin and melting frosting that turns into syrup, which drips and zigzags around the mounds of his chest and down his abs.

But it is the way Aura pants and quivers under the motions of my tongue that tells me he’s nearly ready to blow by the time I’m done.

Laced with a sugar high, I straddle him and kiss him slowly. “You want to rinse off in the river?”

Aura squints up at me. “Thought you didn’t like—”

I wink at him.

“Oh.” Aura grabs me, gets up, and carries me by my hips to the water.

He wades in and walks us toward a sheltered spot with boulders.

Then he strips me out of my suit, rolls down the top half of his, and guides me against him again.

He slings my suit around his neck so it doesn’t drift away and bonds his mouth to mine.

His searing tip finds me in the water, dips into my delicate flesh, and pushes inside. The moment we’re one again, Aura sighs with relief. His eyes brighten until they look like mini green suns.

With each thrust, it gets easier to take his girth. But his electricity still commands me, making my pussy tighten until I can’t seem to let him go.

Aura pants as he fills my core with pulsing heat.

“That’s it, baby.” He pumps into me, his tingling cock making me clench again.

I ride the tides of ecstasy with him, water splashing, cameradrones humming not far away, showing the universe just how capable my mate is.

When I cannot hold myself up any longer, Aura rests back against a boulder, his erection still buried in me.

“Let me know when you’re ready for another round.”

“Now.” I’m mostly being sarcastic. But Aura withdraws and thrusts into me again. He’s slower this time, more deliberate in his movements as I rest against his chest. But his hardness is already commanding my body again, spreading my hips.

The shocks from his hard length make me tighten even though I am spent. Soon, I am quivering from release, and Aura is pumping his delicious hot nectar into me again.

He hugs me like we’ve been together for years and rests his forehead against mine. “I know sometimes my life is chaos. But these moments with you are everything I live for now. You make life mean something more.”

I kiss his lips and savor their firm strength and their buttercream glaze.

“I love you, Jovie. I want you to remember that.”

I don’t like the way he says it, like he’s expecting something bad to happen to him. “Whatever it is you’re worried about, we will deal with it like this. As one.”