Page 11

LUCY

I nuzzled closer into Thalassar’s neck as he carried me through winding corridors.

My lips found the delicate scales there, exploring their texture with soft kisses.

His grip on me tightened.

“If you keep that up, we may not make it to my chambers,” he growled, desire roughening his tone.

“Is that a threat or a promise?” I nipped gently at the junction of his neck and shoulder.

He stumbled slightly.

“Both.”

Guards posted along the hallway stared straight ahead as we passed, but I caught the slight upturn of their lips.

Whispers in their musical language followed in our wake.

“What are they saying?” I asked between kisses.

“That I look happier than they’ve seen me in years.” His thumb stroked circles on my hip.

“That perhaps their king has finally found his match.”

Warmth spread in my chest.

“And have you?”

He paused our progress to capture my mouth in a heated kiss.

My fingers tangled in his hair as his tongue swept past my lips, tasting, claiming.

When he pulled back, our breaths mingled, ragged and fast.

“What do you think?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but movement at the end of the hall caught my eye.

A small group of his people stood watching us, their expressions ranging from curiosity to approval.

One elderly woman actually clapped.

“We have an audience,” I whispered.

“Let them look.” But he resumed walking, his strides longer now.

“Though I’d prefer privacy for what comes next.”

The heat in his voice sent shivers down my spine.

“And what exactly comes next?”

“Would you like me to describe it in detail?” His lips brushed my ear.

“How I plan to worship every inch of your body? How I want to taste you, touch you, make you cry out my name?”

I inhaled sharply.

“Thalassar...”

“Or perhaps you’d prefer I show you?”

We reached an ornate door carved with intricate patterns that seemed to move in the pearl-light.

Thalassar shifted me in his arms, pressing one hand to the door.

It swung open silently.

His chambers were massive, the ceiling soaring overhead in elegant arches.

Bioluminescent creatures drifted near the roof, casting ever-changing patterns of light across the walls.

A sitting area held low couches covered in shimming fabric.

Through another doorway, I glimpsed what appeared to be a private pool.

But my attention fixed on the bed.

It dominated one wall, raised on a dais and draped in layers of translucent silk in deep blues and greens.

The sheets looked impossibly soft, and large enough to accommodate Thalassar’s impressive height.

Large enough for other activities too.

Heat pooled low in my belly.

Yes, he was alien.

Yes, there were about a thousand reasons this was probably a terrible idea.

But as his eyes met mine, full of hunger and something deeper, I knew I didn’t care.

Thalassar lowered me to the silk sheets.

Their coolness against my heated skin drew a small sigh from my lips.

His black eyes roamed over me, their intensity making my pulse quicken.

“Let me look at you,” he murmured, fingers skimming along my collarbone.

The ceiling crystals bathed his body in ever-changing illumination.

I reached up to trace one particularly intricate pattern on his shoulder.

“You’re beautiful,” I told him.

He caught my hand, pressed a kiss to my palm.

“That’s my line.”

“I mean it.” I sat up to better reach him, running my fingers down his chest.

The scales there were smaller, finer, like delicate chainmail gleaming in the light.

“I’ve never seen anyone like you.”

“And I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you.” His hands slid into my hair, tilting my face up.

“My .”

The possessiveness in his voice awakened a visceral warmth deep within me.

I pressed closer, nipping at his jaw.

“Prove it.”

A growl rumbled through his chest.

His mouth claimed me in a deep kiss as he lowered me back to the bed.

I pulled him closer as his tongue teased mine.

He tasted like the sweet wine from dinner, and something else - something wild and alien and uniquely him.

I wanted more.

My hands found the fastenings of his shirt, fumbling with the unfamiliar clasps.

He broke the kiss long enough to help me, shrugging out of the garment to reveal more of that fascinating scaled skin.

“Your turn,” he said, fingers playing with the fastenings at my shoulders.

I nodded, not trusting my voice.

The silk surrendered with a whisper as he slowly unwrapped me like a treasured gift, pressing kisses to each new inch of exposed flesh.

When the last of the fabric fell away, he sat back on his heels, just looking.

The hunger in his eyes made me squirm.

“You’re perfect,” he breathed.

I reached for him.

“Come here.”

He came willingly, covering my body with his.

His smooth scales moving against my bare flesh created exquisite sensations that drove me wild.

His mouth found mine again as his hands explored, learning every curve and valley.

When his fingers brushed the underside of my breast, I arched into his touch.

He hummed approval against my lips and cupped the weight in his palm.

“So responsive,” he murmured.

“I love the sounds you make.”

To prove his point, he rolled my nipple between his fingers.

I gasped, clutching at his shoulders.

“More.”

He obliged, replacing his fingers with his mouth.

The slight roughness of his tongue sent sparks of pleasure shooting through me.

My hands slid down his sides, feeling the way his muscles moved beneath scaled skin.

Lower, I found the waistband of his pants.

He stilled as my fingers dipped beneath the fabric.

“...”

“Please.” I pressed my palm against the smooth area between his legs.

“I want to touch you.”

He groaned, pushing into my hand.

Beneath my fingers, I felt the slit part.

His first cock emerged, thick and ridged, utterly alien and completely fascinating.

“Oh,” I breathed, wrapping my hand around him.

The ridges flexed against my palm as I stroked.

His breath came faster.

“Careful,” he warned.

“I don’t want this over too quickly.”

I ignored him, exploring the strange texture.

His second cock slid free, and I couldn’t help but marvel at how different they felt - the first thick and heavily ridged, the second slimmer but no less textured.

“You’re going to kill me,” he muttered, then caught my wrist.

In one smooth motion, he pinned my hands above my head.

“My turn.”

His mouth crashed down on mine as his free hand slid between my legs.

I moaned into the kiss as his fingers found me already wet and wanting.

“So ready for me,” he purred, circling my clit with maddening slowness.

“But not ready enough. Not yet.”

I tried to argue, but his thumb pressed just right and coherent thought fled.

He worked me higher with clever fingers while his mouth mapped my neck, my breasts, my stomach.

When he settled between my thighs, I nearly came off the bed at the first touch of his tongue.

“Thalassar!” My hands found his silky hair, fingers tangling in the dark strands as pleasure coiled tighter in my core.

He hummed against me, the vibration pushing me closer to the edge, nimble fingers pinching, adding to the strokes of his tongue until I let loose with a cry that echoed off the high ceiling.

Only then did he raise his head, looking entirely too pleased with himself.

“Ready for more?” he asked, his mouth trailing teasing touches along my legs.

I reached for him.

“Come here.”

He moved up my body, settling between my legs.

The feeling of both his cocks pressing against me pulled an involuntary sound from deep within me.

“Are you sure?” he asked, searching my face.

I wrapped my legs around his waist in answer.

“Please.”

His mouth claimed mine as he pressed inside.

The stretch bordered on too much, but his ridges hit places inside me I didn’t know existed.

“Okay?” He stilled, giving me time to adjust.

I nodded frantically.

“Move. Please move.”

He did, setting a rhythm that had me clawing at his back.

His scales gleamed as his muscles flexed, and I couldn’t look away from where our bodies joined.

His second cock rubbed against my clit with every thrust, sending jolts of pleasure through my oversensitive flesh.

It was too much and not enough all at once.

“,” he groaned.

“You feel incredible.”

I could only moan in response as another orgasm built.

His movements grew more urgent, less controlled.

“Come for me,” he commanded, and I did, falling apart around him, crying out for him as waves of pleasure crashed through me.

He followed a moment later, burying his face in my neck as he pulsed inside me.

We lay tangled together after, his weight pressing me into the silk sheets.

My fingers traced idle patterns on his scaled back as our breathing slowly returned to normal.

“Stay with me,” he murmured against my skin.

I pressed a kiss to his shoulder.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

He raised his head to look at me, and the emotion in his black eyes took my breath away.

“I mean it, Stewart. Stay. Not just tonight.”

A surge of emotion bloomed within me.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I want you. Here. With me. Always.” He brushed my hair back from my face.

“I know it’s fast. I know there are a thousand reasons this is complicated. But I don’t care.”

I caught his hand, pressing a kiss to his palm.

“I want that too.”

His smile was brilliant.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” I pulled him down for a kiss.

“Now show me again how much you want me to stay.”

He growled playfully and rolled us so I straddled his hips.

“As my lady commands.”

Outside, the palace hummed with life.

Inside, there was only us, learning each other’s bodies in the pearl-light of his chambers.

And for now, that was enough.