Chapter 8

Icouldn't get enough of feeling like this. Sex was awesome! And I might not know exactly what I was doing but running with my instincts seemed to be working out pretty great. I wasn't a virgin anymore! I'd actually had sex—and with a guy, too! Before I'd got it in my head that I could leave, I'd really been worried that I'd end up having to take a wife in order to survive. But now I knew the bliss of hard muscles, deep-throated moans… Er, growls. Fangs, claws, fur…

Yeah, okay, I was in it up to my eyeballs with wanting Ghosha's furry alien body. The way that one growl of his had vibrated inside me and made me want to run away fast even as I clutched him closer— Gah! It was all so good.

Would it be like this with every Norlon I serviced?

Oh, hold on a minute. I popped off Ghosha's mouth and stared into his golden eyes, their pupils blown wide and reflecting my open-mouthed stare back at me. Why did thinking about being with someone else have me immediately thinking I couldn't? Shouldn't? I was going to have to—that was the deal—but now that I'd been with Ghosha…I didn't want…anyone else.

I don't want anyone else?

"What's wrong?" he whispered as his clawed fingers gently combed my hair back from my forehead. A frown wrinkled his striped forehead, drawing his brows low over his eyes. "Squire?"

"I… Um…" I should tell him, right? At least let him know I was having second thoughts.

But we were still just above Earth. What if he sent me back? He'd said I wouldn't ever have to worry about surviving again, but what if he hadn't meant it? I barely knew him. Maybe he'd get mad and petty.

I swallowed hard and forced a smile. "Nothing."

When I moved to kiss him again, Ghosha held me back. "Talk to me. If something troubles you, I wish to know what it is and help you correct the issue."

So polite. Such pretty words. Was he for real? Shittin' fuck, I wanted to trust him so bad.

Dropping my head onto his shoulder, I hid in the crook of my arm and sighed. "I don't think I can do this."

Ghosha cupped the back of my head in one hand, the other wrapped around my waist. He tugged me in closer, holding tight. "What can't you do?" he whispered, and I heard worry in his voice.

"There's something… I don't know, but it makes me feel like I can't be a sex worker. Like I couldn't…do it." I rubbed my cheek on his fur and the warm, spicy scent of him was damn near intoxicating. "I wondered if sex with others would be like this, and it was like dumping ice water over my head. Killed my desire dead."

He sighed and patted me, and I just knew he was disappointed. I braced myself for anger, bargaining, something to put me back on track like I was supposed to be. Despite knowing he was about to toss me aside, I couldn't help clinging tighter to him. Goddamn, I didn't want to let him go!

"It's part of being mates," he said, "and does the same to me. I didn't realize humans could be so receptive to the mating bond, but you clearly feel it."

Well, that wasn't anything like what I thought he was going to say. Frowning, I pulled back to look him in the eyes. "What?"

He smiled softly and petted my hair. "You're not going to be a sex worker in anyone's brothel, Squire. You wouldn't be able to do the job, and I… I could never let you try."

I had to think about that for a minute. Mates and mating bonds. I'd heard about that sort of thing with animals. Maybe it wasn't politically correct and all that, but Norlons were a heck of a lot more animal than humans, right? Or maybe we just called it something else? Like love at first sight and fate and destiny? People who met in elementary school and stayed together their whole lives. The ones who got married two months after meeting. Maybe that was the same thing as being a Norlon's mate.

Being Ghosha's mate.

"So you… You want to marry me?"

A cocky grin lifted one side of his mouth, showing off a fang. "There are a few ceremonies we could perform to show everyone our commitment to our bond. I would participate in each of them, if you wished."

I shivered and looked down, watching his cock stiffen beside mine. As distracting as that was, I had to think here. He really was talking about forever. Him and me. Could I just do that? Like, boom, here we go?

Well, I'd done it to leave home, hadn't I? Made a decision and run with it, come what may. I'd been alone for it, too, and still leapt off that cliff, ready and willing to deal with whatever was at the bottom. Was this really any different?

"Devotion," he said.

"Hmm?"

"I know you have a great deal to think through, but if I could make my case? Add to your considerations?"

I blinked a few times and sat back on his thighs. "Yeah. Yeah, okay, go ahead."

A grin quirked up his lips before he cleared his throat and looked serious. Was he teasing me?

"First of all," he began, "being mates means being devoted to each other. Already, I want to provide for you, ensure your happiness, and give you every pleasure possible."

"Oh," I breathed, a little overwhelmed by that. "Just…right off?"

"Yes."

He was so sure. Could I be that sure?

"I will desire only you," he said with a purr in his voice. "I've wanted to make you mine since I said hello."

I chuckled weakly. "So it wasn't just me."

"It was not."

"How did you know, though?"

He leaned in and took a deep breath beside my neck. "Your scent," he said as he sat back. "It's full of the pheromones that call to me and me alone."

Pheromones? Were they like hormones? Got me acting like a slut, that was for damn sure. Him, too. First chance we got to be alone, and we'd been all over each other.

"Are you sure it's not some kind of lust-only stuff? Like we'll get over it now that we've had sex?"

Ghosha slid his palms up my thighs until he could prick my hips with his claws. "Have you had enough?"

Nope. Noooooo. I shook my head.

"I want to make you come again and again," he said in a seriously wicked tone. "If you weren't untouched, I would sink my cock into your beautiful body and fill you with my essence."

A shiver lit though me. He was talking about fucking me. I looked down at his cock. That damn thing was never going to fit. I wasn't completely untouched, though—I'd used my fingers on myself. Hadn't been the greatest feeling and I'd had to learn some about cleanliness that first time, but I'd seen it done in porn and knew the gist of it.

"I can do it," I said as I frowned at him. I couldn't stop myself from glancing down again, but then I sat up straighter.

He chuckled as he pecked my lips. "Of course you can. And we will."

I nodded and stepped back off his lap before moving to the side of him and bending over the end of the bed. Actually, no, since he was way taller than me, I climbed up the bed on hands and knees. That would probably be better. I looked over at him when he flopped onto his back.

With one hand over his eyes, he sort of croaked, "I appreciate your willingness, Squire, but?—"

"Oh, jeez." I sat back on my heels as a blush lit me up. "We were just talking about forever, and I'm skipping right over it to put my ass in the air. Shittin' fuck, I'm sorry."

He smiled. "Don't fret. Desire is part of the bonding process." He turned on his side and reached over to stroke me from back to ass, like he couldn't resist following the lines of my body. "We're captivated by each other."

"Shouldn't we talk more, though?" I scratched at my head, not sure which part of me was in charge right now. "Is it right to run with this mates thing just because our pheromones say to? Are they, like, drugging us stupid?"

He stared at me and there was so much… His eyes were soulful. I knew what that meant looking at him just then.

"Regardless of what we do next, I am bound to you, Squire. I am your mate. I regret nothing about that, and I never will."

I couldn't even blink as I stared back at him. He was so sure. I'd popped into his life, he'd sniffed me, and that was the end of that. I'd never felt like that about anything. Well, no, I'd known I had to change my life. Maybe not the how, but the needing to had been certain. Actually, what he was doing could be like having faith. The kind of faith that was full of hope and trust. Ghosha was putting his heart in my hands, hoping and trusting that I wouldn't crush it.

I'd never had someone believe in me so much.

Feeling tears prickle at my eyes, I scrambled over to squish in beside him and hide my face in the fur of his neck. He immediately wrapped himself around me, even throwing a thick leg over mine and pulling me in close. A rumble started in him that vibrated through me, and I quickly realized Ghosha was purring.

"Let's be mates," I whispered. Because if he was going to love me forever, I was going to let him.

Ghosha growled in a way that made me bite my bottom lip in anticipation, and then he was kissing me again. The strange shape of his upper lip and the scratch of his tongue had me wanting to explore more of him, so I wiggled a hand between us. He had cobbled abs under his belly fur and the base of his cock was inside a sheath of soft fur. As I explored the length of him, I found tiny hard bumps and subtle ridges and veins. Would I be able to feel the bumps while he fucked me? They were all over but especially around the base and the tip.

Lifting his head with a groan, Ghosha reached down and grabbed my cock. I gasped at the feel of someone else touching me for the first time. I could tell he was trying to be careful about his claws, but honestly, seeing the danger gliding in my precome was turning me on even more. And when he brought his sticky fingers to his mouth? Goddamn, I nearly came watching him lick his fingers clean.

"Will you let me suck you?" he asked in a devilish voice.

I nodded fast and immediately found myself lifted up and spun around. Now he was on his back, and I was on my hands and knees above him. With my dick positioned over his mouth! I stared and wailed a little when he lapped at the head of my cock with that scratchy tongue of his.

"Do with me whatever you want," he said before he took me right into his mouth.

My brain shorted out, and then as I closed my eyes and reveled in the feel of him sucking on me. Sweet fuck, that was the most incredible sensation in the whole wide world. I got it now. I understood why men would do just about anything to get a blowjob.

When I opened my eyes, I realized Ghosha's cock was standing tall right in front of my face. Oh, that was why he'd said I could do whatever! He meant I could suck him off, too. Why in the hell would he think I wouldn't want to? Because even though I couldn't stop moaning and whining as he treated my cock like a popsicle on a hot day, I still opened up and did my best to slurp him up.

I could definitely feel those itty-bitty bumps on my lips and tongue. His skin was velvety soft with that nubby texture just beneath it. I licked him like I was trying to count the bumps even though my brain was in no condition to math. Between the musky male taste of him on my tongue, and the way he was hoovering the life out of my dick, I could barely think at all.

Then I felt his wet nose press into my balls and maybe he sucked me in deep because I was suddenly coming. I popped off his cock and hollered my release, fiery pleasure sizzling all through me. And him down there sucking it out of me like I was the best thing he'd ever tasted, too. Panting and shivering, I groaned as he pulled off me and gave my ass a squeeze.

I had to finish him. I held his dick still and took him into my mouth, trying to remember what he'd done to me. Bobbing, he'd done a lot of that. I could do that. Oh, shit, not that much. I gagged but went back to sucking him, determined to give as good as I'd gotten.

"Use your hand on the rest of me," he said, and his voice sounded as rough as his tongue.

He was slick enough that my hand glided over him—bumps and all—as I matched my bobbing head to my strokes. Legs restless and one groan after another rising out of him, I did everything I could think of to please him.

"Squire. Squire!"

Too late, I realized that was him warning me as spurt after spurt of come filled my mouth and dribbled all over when I couldn't handle so much. I was determined, though, and even when he made a sound like a roar that could've had me coming all over again, I kept swallowing and slurping.

Eventually, he stopped coming and groaned like maybe enough was enough. Panting, I pulled back and looked down my body to his face. I couldn't quite see him very well, but he seemed entirely spent from how limp his whole body was. I had to smile, assuming I'd done real well for him.

Suddenly, I found myself lifted and spun again, this time landing on the bed on my back. I laughed as he loomed over me, grinning, and then he started licking my face clean of his come. I closed my eyes and let him. I had a feeling I'd let Ghosha do pretty much anything he wanted with me from now on.

After all, he was my mate.