Chapter 12

Imanaged to hold myself in check until we were on the shuttle, but once the ramp closed to seal us inside, I couldn't help grabbing Quincy to me. He made an oomph sound as he collided with my chest, and I wrapped both arms around him. I missed having another hand to hold onto him—and oh, how regrowth ached—but my right arm had a wrist now, so in a few days I should be able to grasp my mate fully.

"Everything okay?" Quincy asked from between my pectorals. He patted my lower back as though offering comfort…or needing more room to breathe? I loosened my grip on him.

"I didn't like being separated from you." I let my tongue flick out again and again, drawing his scent in and savoring it.

Quincy turned his head and shuffled closer, straddling my thigh and leaning against me. Bless him for letting me have this moment.

"Well," he said, "if you'll let me, I promise not to leave your side for, um, forever."

I nodded because of course I would accept that, but then I heard his words. Tipping his chin up, I met his gaze. He couldn't quite hold my stare and his cheeks were turning a brighter pink by the moment. How could he be worried that I wouldn't want him forever?

Tucking my nose close to his ear, I whispered to him, "Forever may not be long enough, Mate." I flicked my tongue into his ear, pleased when he flinched and gasped.

Quincy chuckled and tucked his hands down the back of my pants as though he meant to stay there a while. If it weren't for the fact we were on a shuttle with a pilot who would check on us at any moment for not securing ourselves into seats by now, I would strip us both down and take Quincy right here. I reached down to squeeze his butt cheek before turning him around and encouraging him into a seat.

When I made to sit beside him, Quincy stopped me. "Sit on the other side."

I did, unsure why, until I finished strapping myself in and Quincy took my hand in his. He'd wanted me on the other side of him so that he could hold my hand. That he understood and accepted my need to be close to him made me feel like my heart might swell right out of my chest.

"Tell me more about how you spew fire," Quincy said as he leaned against my shoulder.

"There isn't much more to tell. It's both a weapon and a danger, as I'm sure you've figured out. We use it sparingly." I rested my chin on top of his head. "I hated to use it so near you, but I had to stop him."

"I'm not upset that you did it, or anything like that. I actually think it's really cool," he said on a chuckle. "And I hope you don't mind, but I'm seriously going to keep thinking of you as my fire-breathing dragon."

I rolled my eyes and huffed a laugh. That he wasn't disturbed by this trait of mine—of every Cero—was a blessing. I would happily put up with an incorrect and odd label. "I don't mind at all."

After our shuttle landed in the bay of the ship, I braced myself for more discussions with my team and possibly with the prince as well. I'd alerted both to the situation once I'd retrieved my tablet, so it could be hours before I might get away with Quincy. There was an itch in my blood that had me desperate to claim him, as though the bond might be weaker for us having been kept in separate cells in that disgusting prison. Or possibly because of what I'd done to free us. I was exhausted from the effort that had taken, but I needed to be with my mate.

Munni was there the instant the shuttle's ramp lowered. I took a breath, prepared to begin explanations now, but Quincy skirted around me and got to Munni first. By the time I got to the end of the ramp, Munni was smiling and turning to walk away.

"What's happened?" I asked Quincy.

"We have the day off." He took my hand and led the way out of the bay.

"The day? But they've asked for—" I made to remove my tablet from my thigh, but Quincy pushed it back into place.

"And I've told them we're taking the day off." He grinned up at me. "I was an officer, too, buddy. I know the tone to take to make everyone get out of my very important way without asking questions."

A laugh leapt out of me even as his care and concern warmed my heart all over again.

To distract myself from wanting to ravish him in the lift, I asked, "What was your rank in Earth's military?"

"Well, it's America's military, remember, and specifically The Marine Corps, but I'm a second lieutenant. Or was. Or something." He smirked up at me. "Regardless, it means I outrank you, Sergeant."

I smirked back at him. "We don't have a rank of lieutenant, second or otherwise, so you can't outrank me, Civilian."

"Civilian?" he said with affront, though he still grinned. "How very dare you?"

Chuckling, I stepped off the lift when it stopped on the level of our quarters. A moment later, I nearly stumbled as Quincy landed on my back and wrapped his arms around my neck. He wiggled around, grunted a few times, and though I wasn't sure what he was doing, I kept walking.

"For fuck's sake," he grumbled, "that was supposed to take you down."

It was? I snorted and patted his arm.

"I bet I can find a way to get you on your knees," he said directly into my ear before I felt his tongue tickle me there as well.

"Ack!" I pushed his face away and rubbed at my ear. "That was wet."

He laughed and readjusted his hold on me. "Bet you wouldn't mind it if I licked open your cock pouch."

I did stumble then and grunted as I reached out with my injured arm and tapped my sensitive new wrist against the wall.

"Careful," Quincy chided. "If you're going to flail around and cry out, I want it to be from pleasure."

My mate was filthy minded. Goddess bless, he was perfect.

I quickened my pace to our quarters as he chuckled and clung to my back. Finally inside and alone, I reached back and flung him around and onto the bed in front of me. He laughed delightedly, and I had to wonder if my ease in handling him was something he enjoyed. Having observed him amongst many humans with law enforcement so recently, I knew he was taller than most and carried himself like one capable of starting and ending a physical conflict. It was entirely possible that not many could do with his body as I could.

With wickedness in his eyes, Quincy got up on his knees on the bed and began helping me out of my clothes. I unclipped my vest and was about to shrug it off when Quincy leaned in and mouthed my pouch through my pants. Did he truly intend to lick me open? I tossed my vest away and left my protective sleeve in place before focusing on what he might do next.

Keeping my cock inside was difficult, but I wanted to give him the satisfaction of freeing it through his ministrations, not simply because I couldn't resist reacting already. He made that even more trying when he slid my pants down over my ass and paused to squeeze the muscles back there. And then he delicately licked at the seam of my pouch, his tongue gathering the natural slick I already leaked for him. The way he grinned and how his eyes danced as he looked up at me and swallowed had me groaning with want.

A pleasured holler left me when Quincy mashed his face against my pouch, rubbing into my contained cock and bombarding the seam with licks and sucks. I gripped the back of his head, trying not to push him in more and desperate that he not stop. No one had ever given so much attention to that area, always more excited for what came out of it. And there I went, now unable to keep my cock from sliding out against Quincy's cheek.

He grasped it in his hand immediately and stroked my wet cock while also licking into where it sprang from. "God, you taste good," he mumbled before sucking on the base of my cock. When he eased two fingers into my pouch below that, I jerked forward as pleasure zapped through me and nearly toppled us both over.

Quincy laughed and moved back. "Come on. Get on the bed and we can fuck each other."

Already panting with want, I tore my way free of my boots and sent my pants flying as he divested himself of his tunic. When he struggled to get his pants lowered fast enough, I reached over and split the seam between his legs with a single claw.

"And I'm going to leave them on just because you did that," he said testily. He couldn't possibly be upset, however, since his cock sprang free of the confining black cloth full and stiff with carnal intentions.

I flung myself down onto the bed and grabbed him, forcing him across my thighs, his legs spread wide and that seam ripping open until he was bare from dimpled ass to navel. He was laughing until he tipped forward and his cock dipped against my pouch. Slick immediately coated him from tip to sac.

Seriousness seemed to envelop him then, as he shoved my cock between his thighs and moved closer. I was ready to maneuver my cockhead to his hole, but wanted to feel him slipping inside me first. Goddess, it was a beautiful sensation! A pressure and fullness made my cock feel like it might burst as he invaded my body with his. And since his cock didn't move independently, Quincy rocked his hips to thrust into me, the both of us moaning from the erotic feeling. He looked so wanton doing that.

When he thrust himself fully within me, his cock swallowed whole, I watched him tip his ass up. "Do it," he said into my chest. "Fuck into me. Ram, please."

I shivered from the raw desire in his voice and reached down to position my cock at his hole. I let it thrust slowly, opening him up a little more each time, and watched him writhe and moan. Once I had half my cock inside him, I let go of my control and gave my cock's movements over to instinct. Quincy wailed deliciously as my cock hammered into him, and then I was hollering in pleasure as he began thrusting his hips in time with my cock, plowing me in return.

The wet sound of our fucking added to the grunts, groans, and panted breaths filling the room, arousing me further. When Quincy sat up, changing the angle of his cock inside me and bringing mine as deep as it could reach inside him, I nearly came from the spike of pleasure. He rocked above me, his hands roaming his body as I held his gyrating hip and watched him feel everything we did together. He was beautiful. He was everything!

My cock punched deep into him, and I came with a yell. Quincy twitched several times, his skin flushing and mouth hanging open, eyes closed. He sucked in a huge breath and wailed it out at the ceiling, his ass spasming along my cock as he came, too. I grabbed him down to me, bending my knees to stay inside him, and holding him close to keep him inside me.

"You are perfection," I managed to whisper.

He petted my scaly skin and sighed. "I'm not perfect, but goddamn, are we good together."

And he had promised to be mine. Forever.