Page 22 of Warrior (The Outlander Book Club… in Space! #2)

“I agree,” Daisy said and laughed softly. “Although we may have to come up with some type of reward-punishment system. Some of the kids are starting to get a little rambunctious.”

"How do you mean?" I raised upon an elbow to see her more clearly because…. Fuck! Seeing her beautiful, smiling face made me feel all was right in the universe.

"It's nothing bad," she assured me. "Some of the children wanted to stay up late and acted mischievously at dinner. We nearly had a food fight."

“Fighting with food?” Humans are truly strange creatures.

While smacking someone with a side of meat might sting, to do real damage, one needed a blade.

Despite hearing the rumbling of amusement from her, it aggravated me that the younglings would be difficult to one who showed them so much care.

“I will speak with them about this behavior.”

Daisy giggled. A soft, lilting sound that made me think of music in my home world—a most beautiful melody. I wanted to hear more of it.

“Why do you laugh?”

Her laughter trailed off, and her voice held a wistful quality when she spoke. Or at least I imagined it did.

“I was just thinking we sound like an old married couple talking about their kids.”

Married.

The term humans used meaning finding one's true mate.

Words stuttered from my brain to my mouth as a notion formed—one that stole my breath away.

A vision of my life as Daisy's mate. Having her in my blankets every morning and night and watching her belly grow round with my youngling.

It was a dream hovering on the horizon, just out of reach.

She shifted, sitting up and swinging her legs off the side of the bed, feet swinging back and forth since her legs were too short to reach the ground. Small and soft and utterly perfect.

Imagining a future with her made me oblivious to the change in her mood. The thread of anxiety in her tone stunned me as much as her words.

“Daicon….” The plump lower lip disappeared between her teeth for a moment. “Do you… regret kissing me?”

Thankfully, humans could not see well in the dark. Daisy would not see the wash of regret cross my face. Not for kissing her. I felt little regret for my own lack of self-control, which lessened by the moment.

“Not regret… exactly.” I faltered on how to describe the want of her as natural to me as breath.

No matter what happened or how far duty took me away from her, this want would remain stained in my blood for eternity.

A torture I gladly endured just to know that, for a brief time, there was hope she could be mine.

“I’m sorry,” Daisy blurted as she squirmed on the cot. “I don’t know what got into me. I guess I’m just over-emotional because of what happened with Ewok. I’m sorry you didn’t like it. It won’t happen again.”

As a warrior, I’d endured wars, battles, and slavery where my life hinged on the flick of a blade. I’d watched family and friends die, and I’d never felt fear like the idea of never holding her again spurred.

Before it became conscious thought, I stood, headed to the cot, and fell to my knees beside it. Daisy recoiled slightly when I appeared from the din but relaxed immediately, a faint smile curving her perfect lips.

"Not like it?" My voice was thick, and I lifted a hand, catching a strand of her silky, thick rich brown hair in my fingers. "Kissing you is a greater pleasure than spending an entire moon in the company of a Ntiavian temptress."

A small, shocked sound escaped her lips. “What’s a Ntiavian temptress?”

I pondered how to explain for a moment. “Like the Garoot are bred for healing and the Vaktaire for protection—Natavians are bred for pleasure.”

Her brow puckered slightly, and she caught her bottom lip between her teeth. Fuck! I envied those teeth.

“Bred? How?”

“Well, the males have two cocks. The females have six breasts and two…”

“I get the picture,” Daisy interrupted, holding up a hand, cheeks red.

I touched the creamy flesh of her face, trailing my fingertip along her jawline. Her perfect face. “I have yet to see a Ntiavian that holds a candle to you.”

“Really?” Her eyes widened, the golden flecks in the irises sparkling.

“You are the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen,” I murmured, leaning closer. Her sweet scent flooded my senses, more potent than mumje.

“You—you don’t regret kissing me?”

At that moment, I hated her husband. Not because he knew the touch of her lips and the pleasures of her body. Not because he spent a lifetime with Daisy, but because he left that lifetime without instilling in her the knowledge that she was beautiful and desirable.

“My only regret is wasting so much time without my lips touching yours.”

It was out of my control. Destined by the gods and all the fates, my head dipped, brushing my lips across hers. Daisy’s soft gasp was an invitation to slide my tongue over the seam of her mouth and wrestle with hers.

Desire coursed through me, and I pulled her closer, our kiss growing urgent and desperate. Her arousal was a delicious, sweet scent tinting the air. I spiraled, lost to it… to her. Every bit of my self-control flowed away with the sound of her soft gasping breath.

My mouth moved from her lips, pressing kisses along her jaw and the curve of her neck, feeling the heat radiate from her skin like a low flame. The soft moans coming from her throat were the most sensual of music.

I should let her go. Daisy would never truly be mine. But my hands, instead of pushing myself away, gripped her hips, pulling her closer.

One moment.

I could have this one moment to touch her… to taste her.

One moment with to last me the rest of my days.

Her flavor flooded my senses with each new place I kissed, each new touch, inviting me lower until my palms settled atop her thighs, prodding her legs apart.

Daisy jerked, and although she didn’t pull away from me, I felt her hesitation.

“Are you alright, sweetling?”

Her cheeks flushed bright pink, but she nodded, the movement jerky, and the scent of her arousal deepened.

“What is it?" I whispered, pulling her into my arms and letting my fingertips stroke down her back soothingly.

“I want to…I do,” Daisy began, then swallowed hard. “It’s just…” The blush on her cheeks deepened.

“Tell me.”

Daisy pulled back to gaze at me, the golden flecks in her eyes like shimmering starlight.

“Gavin was the only man I was ever with.” The words came out in a rush, as though she had to say them quick or not at all.

"Do you wish to stop?" My own words stuck in my throat with trepidation, her answer might be yes , but I forced them outward, her comfort and wishes paramount to mine.

“No… I don’t want to stop. I just….” Daisy lowered her eyes, embarrassment a tangible warmth.

Her hands traveled over my shoulders, down my arms, and up again, exploring my skin and tracing the outline of the chevrons marking my shoulders.

“It’s been a long time,” she whispered.

"For me, too," I admitted. The last time the Bardaga rendezvoused with the hedonism ship was close to twenty years ago.

"Really?" Daisy's eyes widened, and her nervousness waned, the rapid beat of her heart settling.

I cradled her face in my hands, dropping soft kisses on her lips. My need for her was the fiercest thing I’d ever known. "We won't do anything you don't want to do." My next words held the reverence of benediction. "What do you want, sweetling? Do you like it when I kiss you?"

“Yes,” Daisy breathed.

I covered her mouth with mine, the next few moments devoted to the slow, sensual exploration of her mouth, pantomiming with my tongue the longing of my cock. Daisy’s hands trembled as she clutched at my shoulders, her faint whimpers audible before being swallowed by my kiss.

My hands trailed up her thighs, resting on the curve of her hips.

I explored her silken skin with my fingertips, feeling the waves of heat radiating from her body as she shivered in anticipation.

Her knees fell apart in silent invitation.

I knelt between her thighs, my throbbing cock pressing against her center.

"Do you like it when I touch you?" I murmured in her ear.

Daisy's head bobbed, her small white teeth buried deep in her lower lip.

My fingertips stroked up her thighs, stopping at the hem of her plain gray nightdress. “Can I see you sweetling?”

The color of her cheeks flamed, but she uttered a soft, breathless... “Yes.”

I lifted the garment over her head in one smooth motion, the creaminess of her skin glowing in the darkened room.

I’d seen her naked after the incident with the guard.

I’d bathed her bruised and battered body, praying to any god that would listen to heal her.

This time, when the thin dress lifted away.

.. it wasn’t because of injury or any other necessity. This time was all for me.

"Beautiful," I murmured, pressing my lips to the hollow of her throat.

Daisy’s fingers buried in my hair as I kissed lower, a deep moan escaping her lips as my mouth found one taut nipple.

I laved and suckled until I felt the bud pulse under my tongue before shifting my attention to her other breast. Her back arched as her hands tangled in my hair, pressing my head toward her skin, hungry for more.

“Can I taste you sweetling?”

Her eyes went wide, and she hesitated for only a moment before uttering a whimpered... “Please.”

She shivered when my arms slipped around her waist, laying her back onto the mattress.

Settling between her thighs, my lips trailed over her breasts and down her stomach.

My name rolled off of Daisy's lips like a mantra as I slowly kissed the soft curve of her hip.

The taste of her skin was sweet and salty, like a forbidden fruit, and I couldn't help but be swept away in its taste.

I shifted, slowly drawing her thighs over my shoulders. As my tongue darted out to trace circles around the small bud in her nest of curls, she gasped, fingers twisting into my hair. Her hips rolled towards me, begging for more.

The warmth of Daisy’s body radiated through me as I explored her with my lips and tongue. She undulated beneath me, her silky folds clinging to my tongue like velvet as I licked hungrily at her essence, unable to get enough.

I felt the tension growing in her trembling limbs.

Then suddenly, her breath hitched, a moan escaping from deep within her throat as she pushed my head firmly against her, rippling with anticipation.

Finally, Daisy gasped again, her body surging with an uncontrollable wave of pleasure.

Her muscles clenched around my tongue, sending shivers through me as I drank in her sweet arousal.

The sensation of being engulfed in her warmth overwhelmed me, and I felt her sweet, steamy musk filling my every pore. My lips were slick with her wetness as I pressed in deeper, bringing her to the brink again as she screamed my name, body shuddering before going limp.

My cock throbbed, begging for release, but I ignored it. Crawling up the mattress, I rolled onto my side and drew Daisy against my chest. Her body was soft, warm, and limp from being thoroughly sated. I would carry the memory of this moment to my grave.

“Daicon?” Daisy’s tone was confused, the touch of her fingers traveling toward where my cock strained against my breeches.

I caught her hand, bringing the palm to my lips for a kiss. "Sleep, sweetling."

“But what about...?”

I caught her plump lips in a slow, sensual kiss.

She moaned softly, a sound I would gladly hear playing every moment for the rest of my life.

I wanted to sheath myself in her softness more than anything, but this night was for her.

I wanted her to know how much I desired her. My own needs could wait.

“Sleep.” I curled her against my chest, pressing her head to my shoulder. “We will have much more time together.”

Please, goddess Valana, let that be true.