Page 15

Nala

I watched Artek go, my heart in my throat. Everything had moved like lightning after I’d made my suggestion. Now I stood on unsteady feet, going from aroused and intrigued to flat-out confused. What had just happened? Why had he sped off like that just when we were getting somewhere?

Rubbing my stomach, I felt the heat that had surged through me after he’d tumbled me into his lap and gripped me with that oh-so-possessive hand begin to dissipate.

For a moment there, I’d felt like we were equals, talking about what to do for his patient and discussing the past of his planet, which was both sad and very intriguing.

Now, it felt like he’d shut me out again.

“He didn’t know how to kiss until last night,” I said out loud.

Naga didn’t do that, apparently, but surely he knew about the rest. His cock pressed against my ass had been a very welcome feeling, too; I’d begun to fear he didn’t have one.

It must have been the tiredness that had broken his control.

Maybe I was a bit sexier than I felt, wearing the same gray shirt and pants I’d been put into stasis with.

Then I recalled the moment I realized he was in the greenhouse with me.

He had arrived so silently that I hadn’t heard him, but when I sat up, he was just…

there, sprawled on the flagstones, all tired coils and listless scales.

Exhaustion lined every inch of his body, and his eyes were hollow until they lit up when they met mine.

I just wanted to help him. Truthfully, I wanted this Khawla gone so he wouldn’t exhaust my sexy Shaman. Selfishly, I wanted him all to myself.

Pacing in a circle around the cushion-strewn seating area, I contemplated my next course of action.

Even putting selfish motivations aside, Khawla wanted to go, and Artek was hurting himself by trying to make that happen.

I had to convince him that I’d be okay traveling the planet for a day or two.

The village wasn’t that far, just down the mountain, in the forest below.

I was probably not the most in shape, but a walk, I could do that, couldn’t I? How dangerous could it be?

I didn’t know where Artek had gone, but I was resolved to find him.

I picked up the tablet I’d been reading on and, holding it like a shield against my chest, made my way out of the lush, overgrown greenhouse.

Along the way, I noted a plant that might need some pruning and others with a bit too much dead undergrowth and brownspots.

Artek had been too busy to take care of his plants; maybe I could help him with that.

For what seemed like an hour, I wandered through tunnels, stunned by just how many there were.

Then I heard a splash, and my pulse leaped, hoping it was him.

The tunnel here was more humid and warm, but it wasn’t far from where my room was.

There were several closed doors and one open doorway.

I peered inside and was greeted with a seating area and a large, wall-covering viewscreen.

Several more doors led away from the room, and the splashing was coming from one of them.

The space was lit by curious crystals embedded in the ceiling at regular intervals.

The light they emitted was bright enough to mimic daylight, so it didn’t feel like I was underground.

Plants grew in pots and hung from baskets all around, with special seedlings sitting under some kind of growth light on a desk in the corner.

I was tempted to go look at them, but I was drawn to the splashing noises even more strongly.

The first door I passed was a private lab of some kind, with glass vials, liquids of every color, and many polished silver countertops.

At least a dozen different cultures sat behind a glass door, and the many alchemy objects that sat on the desks indicated several experiments in progress.

My Shaman was a busy guy, how did he find time to do all that while entertaining me and caring for Khawla?

The second door was a bedroom—or nest room, maybe—as Artek called those round bowls nests.

This one was covered with lush furs, most of them a shade of purple, and many jewel-toned pillows.

It looked very soft and tempting to sleep in, much cozier than the utilitarian gray room I’d slept in last night, barely.

It felt a little too much like I was intruding on a very intimate space, so I hurriedly ducked to the next door and peered inside.

If I’d thought the last room was intimate, I didn’t know what to call this.

I’d found him—that was true—but this wasn’t what I’d had in mind.

My mouth went dry; my entire body felt like it lit up like a live wire: tight as a bowstring, sensitive everywhere, and hot enough to burn.

This was his bathroom, and he was in it, naked.

There was a pile of blue silk at the edge of the massive pool.

Next to it, the belt with pouches full of useful things he wore—and that was it.

Silly to see him beneath that water and think he was naked, when the reality was that he already barely wore anything at all.

Shimmering scales, endless muscles, beautiful pearl glimmer, all of it visible, but more so now.

Wet with water, his back was turned, so he had not seen me yet.

He looked powerful, primordial, as he propelled himself through the large pool with strokes of his arms and the sinuous movement of his long tail.

He was moving fast, and suddenly I worried that he was exhausting himself even more.

Instead of walking away with him none the wiser, I stepped inside in a rush, calling out his name.

He spun, all swirling tail and sloshing water, gold eyes huge in his elegant face.

Water clung to his long lashes, which were black as night, contrasting sharply with the rest of him.

“Nala,” he breathed, surprised. His tongue flicked out, long and split, tasting the air, tasting me. “What are you doing here?”

“You shouldn’t exhaust yourself, Artek! You were too tired to move earlier.

Have you eaten since?” I stopped at the edge of the pool, my bare toes curling over the edge and into the water, noticing that it was heated to a pleasant temperature.

I scanned his face, my breath halting in my chest when he swam closer.

That look in his eyes wasn’t so tired now—it was like that of a predator, on the scent of his prey. That prey was me.

“I have eaten,” he said amicably, “but I am still very hungry.” His gold eyes seemed bright as flames.

When he reached me, he began to rise out of the water, long, pale hair clinging to his shoulders, gold chains glistening against his pale scales.

He raised a hand, gold and silver rings glittering on his fingers, and he cupped my chin.

“So very hungry, Nala. Will you feed me?”

Going up in flames on the spot, I nodded mutely, because what else could I do?

I’d been craving his touch from the moment we met.

I had made a reckless choice just to be with him.

I wasn’t going to stop him from kissing me again.

Our heads were at the same height, that’s how far he’d risen from the water.

Without hesitation, I stepped closer, off the edge, but he caught me in his arms. Then our mouths met, tongues tangling, breath hissing from our lungs in synchronicity.

My clothes got soaked when he sank into the water with me, muscles growing tense, then slack, as the heat did its thing.

“Yes, kiss me,” I ordered him. Fingers curling in his hair, I gripped him tightly.

We hadn’t resolved anything, but that didn’t matter when the lust had me in its grip.

He sank backward until I was lying on top of him in the water.

His tail wound around me, anchoring me to him.

“Don’t run again, Artek,” I warned, tired of being left alone and aching for him.

“Let’s make each other feel good, we deserve that, don’t we?

” He growled, the sound vibrating against my chest and rattling through the air.

I was reminded, briefly, that I was with an alien man here, a male as foreign to me as could be.

Far stranger than Athol had been. This guy had no legs, just a long, powerful tail, and he used it to his advantage now.

“You make me shame myself each time we clash, my Shavire,” he said.

His voice was dark with lust, tight with tension.

I blinked at him through waterlogged lashes, then tempted him by flicking out my tongue and licking the drops that clung to my lips.

He shuddered, then claimed my mouth again, and I loved the slightly rough texture of his lips, the way his longer tongue twisted around mine, squeezing and tugging.

“Shame yourself? How? How could any of this possibly be shameful?” I slid my hand down his ribs, loving each bump of his abs as I pressed onward to his groin, where I really hoped to find his cock.

I wasn’t quite ready for sex, but I really wanted to see what he was made of, to pleasure him so he knew how much I appreciated the way he cared for me and others.

The sound he let out now wasn’t a growl so much as a groan—deep and heartfelt. He shook when my hands encountered a difference in his scales, and then a slightly gaping slit. Oh, a pouch, so that’s where his cock went. “Show me, Artek, please!”

I did not expect the sudden rush of pressure against my fingers, but his cock expelled from that slit with force. It punched outward, growing bigger and bigger, pressing against my hand and my belly. Now it was trapped between us, and I rolled away as much as his tail allowed so that I could see.

Artek was panting, rough, rapid exhales that fogged in the humid, warm air dancing above the heated pool.

I treaded water, but his tail gripped me around my waist, holding me up so I barely had to do anything.

My eyes zeroed in on the cock I’d been dying to inspect since our first kiss, or maybe even since the first time I realized how attracted I was to him.

Long and thick, it was covered in fine scales and thick veins.

The tip glimmered with a golden ring that circled it tightly, and then the tip twisted, and I realized there were two.

The ring was pinning them together, but his cock was bifurcated, like his tongue.

My core clenched tightly on nothing, aching to be filled with that.

I wanted that cock. It was shiny and pale, and, like the rest of him, hinted at pink, green, and blue. So very pretty.

I reached for him eagerly, my fingers closing around his length, but his hand stopped me, clenching tightly so I couldn’t move.

“Do not taste my seed,” he hissed in warning.

“It is an aphrodisiac to humans.” His eyes suggested that maybe he didn’t mind so much if I did taste it, but I was still processing when he softened his grip on my fingers and began urging me to stroke his length.

“I forget that you do not expect the same things a Naga female does. You do not find this shameful, do you, little Shavire?” he drawled, suddenly all confidence.

There was not a hint of shyness in my guy, and I couldn’t find any in myself, either.

I shook my head, gave up on treading water, and surrendered myself to his tail.

“Not a bit. I know your mating marks glow for me, give me what you’ve got.” Oops, that sounded too much like an invitation to fuck me, but I couldn’t bring myself to take the words back. Artek’s expression lit up the way his sigils had lit up all along his long, pretty body.

“I will bare you to me, Nala. You’ve seen me; now it’s time to return the favor.

” Wet clothes did not easily come off, but Artek ripped the boring gray fabric like it was tissue paper.

My breasts ached—heavier since the pregnancy—and very sensitive.

I worried that the curve of my belly, slight as it still was, would be a turn-off, but his cock grew even firmer in my hand, bucking as if it wanted to burrow itself into me.

There was a white drop beading at each of the confined tips, whisked away by the water. My flesh tingled, and I wondered if the water diluted it enough or if touching it would be enough to set me on fire, like he’d promised. I didn’t want to test my luck; I was already going up in flames for him.

Naked, I had to focus on my hand working his erection, or I’d get lost in his appreciative gaze.

He held me up with his tail, my head resting against a coil so I could not drown.

His free hand trailed over my body, from breast to him, petting and stroking.

Then the tip of his tail curled around my hip and sought out my folds.

It stroked, exploring but not quite touching me where I needed him the most, but that didn’t matter when the tip sank deep.

Coiling tight as a bowstring, pleasure exploded after just a few rough, almost clumsy strokes.

They did not feel so clumsy as he milked my orgasm from me, each touch gaining in confidence.

“Ah, Artek…,” I moaned, and that was what tipped him over the edge.

His cock grew so thick I could not clasp it with my fingers, heat shooting up the length, and then seed erupted.

It spread across the water’s surface in a pearly pool, an oil-slick that spread impossibly large before breaking into smaller tendrils and drifting away.

That was… so good, and there was a lot of it. It smelled like caramel and popcorn—sweet and salty. I licked my lips, wondering if I should taste it after all, start the fun anew. But Artek had warned me not to; we’d have time for more of it later.

I loved it when he gathered me tightly against his chest, his arms winding around me, his tail still nestled between my thighs. We drifted together that way. Warm, safe, and satisfied.

Then Artek spoke quietly, as if he didn’t really want to say it out loud and spoil the moment. “Fine, at first light we’ll take Khawla to his village.”