17. Jess

Before he revealed his alien form, Gravod was giving me a show.

Hot. Damn.

First his shirt disappeared, then his pants. His strip tease had me fanning myself. Broad shoulders, cut abs. Narrow hips leading to muscular thighs. All of it slowly revealed as he took off his clothes, his gaze staying on me the entire time.

Once he saw my honest appreciation, he started to relax.

Then he was standing naked in front of me, his hands out at his sides. He turned in place, letting me see everything. His long cock, firm ass, and sculpted back. When he faced me again, his eyes flashed silver.

Under his intense gaze, I felt just as exposed as he was, sharing the same intimate moment. I was on fire, my cheeks probably beet red, but I couldn't tear my eyes away even if I'd wanted to.

"Last chance. Are you sure, Jess? You could just know me in this form. It would be enough."

I had a moment of doubt. But then I remembered how his body felt the night before, and I knew I wouldn't be satisfied with dark rooms or blindfolds forever. This was essential.

"I'm sure."

He closed his eyes, as though he couldn't handle seeing my expression when he changed, and I was secretly relieved. The spotlight was on me as much as him. And then it started.

First, his skin shimmered as the color changed, turning a deep burgundy. It wasn't a uniform shade. His chest and the inside of his arms were a slightly lighter color. I watched as his fingers lengthened an extra inch, and his fingernails became black, blunt claws. A quick peek at his feet showed his toes were longer, also with black claws.

My eyes flicked up to his hair as black horns appeared behind his ears. They were just big enough to wrap my hands around. Heat speared me as I remembered gripping them, how it made Gravod moan with pleasure.

His mouth was pressed in a straight line and his brow furrowed as he concentrated on this slow reveal, his cheekbones becoming higher and his facial features more sharp. His face was a work of art, like an abstracted statue. Too exaggerated to be human.

He was stunningly attractive.

I fisted my hands. He'd hidden in the dark, and I'd let him. I hadn't been able to truly appreciate him.

My gaze was drawn down to his hard cock.

Oh, fuck.

His human cock had been nice. This was a masterpiece. Big. It was a darker red than the rest of him, ringed with raised bumps that I knew would feel like heaven inside me. And at the base…

I had felt it the night before, the extra flesh moving while I grasped him, and now I could see it. There was nothing I could compare it to. Red and thick, it went all the way around the base, like a living, pulsing cock ring. How would it feel against my clit? Fuck.

"Like what you see so far?"

I pulled my gaze up to see that Gravod had finally opened his eyes. They were shining, a beautiful silver, and heavy with lust. His full lips were pulled into a smirk, and his tongue came out to lick them.

Oh. My. God. His tongue. Lithis. In the brief moment of that lick, I could see the pointed tip. I already knew, intimately, how long and thick it was.

I could feel arousal dripping between my legs, trickling down my thighs. Even more than the night before. I'd never been wet like this, only around Gravod.

His nostrils flared, and his eyes grew impossibly brighter.

"You can smell me, can't you?" My voice came out raspy.

He nodded slowly and palmed his cock. Fuck. I couldn't feel embarrassed. All I wanted was to climb him and impale myself on that thing.

"Should I explain what you're looking at?"

He continued to stroke himself, and I whimpered. My clothes felt too tight. It was a struggle to speak.

"Yes," I managed with a hissed breath.

"My cock is similar to a human's. These," he indicated a ring of the bumps, "are my drols. I also have them on my ta'laps."

His tentacles. The one thing he still hadn't shown me. But he went on before I could bring it up.

"This…" His fingers brushed along the throbbing flesh at his base, and he stilled. His throat bobbed with a swallow. When he spoke again, his voice was lower. "This is my seal. Praga, in my language. It's something that only engages in the presence of a mate. It fits against you on the outside, stimulating your clit and pressing tight to your body while I penetrate you very deeply. My cock thrusts while it keeps us joined. When I release my seed, the seal holds it inside you until it can all flow to your womb."

I was more breathless with each detail, recited like some kind of erotic biology lesson. My mind stuttered over the last part, because it sounded a lot like magic sperm, and making babies was strongly implied. But we could come back to that later.

Presence of a mate.If I was his mate, that meant…

"So, you've never?—"

"I've never sealed to anyone. It will only work with you. When you're ready for my cock and my seal, I'll be able to mark you and bond with you."

"Mark me?" I should have been worried, but instead I was even more turned on. Something instinctive had me tilting my head and exposing my neck to him.

He growled, flashing his teeth. They were sharper than a human's. I knew what he was going to say before he said it.

"I'll bite you. The mark is permanent. Between Lydaxian mates, it creates an unbreakable bond. A soul connection. Mates can feel each other's emotions." He looked away for a moment, long enough to make me nervous. When his gaze returned, it held an apology. "I'm not sure if it will work the same way with us. With a human."

The bond might not work.

I was hit by a wave of sadness that shocked me. It made no logical sense. We didn't even know each other very well. But I couldn't help feeling like he was the other half of me.

Which was crazy. I needed to be really fucking careful. Deciding to give this a chance didn't mean saying yes to an unbreakable bond, whatever that meant.

As I stared at his seal, my neck pulsed, physically aching for his bite. A shiver of need ran through me.

My thoughts came out in a rush. "Would it be possible to use your seal without marking me? I'm not ready for that yet."

The words tasted sour in my mouth. Like lies. But I didn't take it back. Gravod nodded with a slight wince, unable to hide his disappointment. My chest constricted.

"I'll never do anything you don't want me to do." His expression firmed. "When I mark you, you'll be begging me for it."

There it was. The command with a hint of arrogance. Heat bloomed across my skin, and I had the sinking feeling he was totally right. I would beg.

I cleared my throat, trying to find a rational thought to latch onto.

"Condoms? I'm on birth control, but if I wasn't..." I took a deep breath and asked the hard question. "Do you think we could have children together?"

"We believe it's possible, yes. But my seed won't be potent without the bond." He glanced at my stomach, making me feel off balance. "As for condoms, our doctors eradicated all sexual diseases among Lydaxians generations ago."

"Oh, wow," I mumbled, trying to get my legs steady again as my emotions pitched like waves in a storm.

It was possible he could get me pregnant, and that made me feel both terrified and excited. I didn't want to examine that too closely.

The disease thing was a relief, but also a reminder that he came from a much more advanced civilization. Humans probably seemed so backward to him. And yet here he was, stripping bare for me in more ways than one.

He still hadn't shown me all of himself. But he was doing everything I asked of him, and that gave me the confidence to push.

"I haven't seen your tenta— I mean, ta'laps."

For a second he looked unsure, but then his lips curved up in a wicked grin.

"I'll give you a demonstration."

His skin rippled. Not in one particular place, but all over his body. And then they were on me. At least five rope-like tentacles, stroking the bare skin at my ankles and calves, and skimming up my arms.

I gasped, standing perfectly still, startled but not afraid.

They were the same color as the rest of him, although the raised nubs—drols—on the underside were slightly darker. Each ta'lap seemed to emerge from a different place on his body, but it was a blur. I was mesmerized by how they moved, precise and controlled, like an extension of Gravod's will.

"Shall I remove this dress? It only seems fair." His voice was dark and low. One of his ta'laps nudged under the strap at my shoulder.

I waited for him to start undressing me, my heart pounding and my clit throbbing, but he didn't do anything. The tips of his ta'laps, with that amazing bumpy texture, lifted off me and hovered just above my skin. A quiet whine escaped my lips.

"Answer me, Jess."

"Yes." I answered embarrassingly fast. "Please. Take it off. Touch me."

Then he was everywhere. With so many of the tentacles on me, I could barely follow the motion, but I could feel them. Winding up my legs to tug at my panties. Lifting the dress over my head. Circling my breasts and rubbing over my peaked nipples. One slid between my thighs and slipped through my folds, nudging at my entrance.

My knees buckled as I moaned, but I didn't fall. I was naked, encircled by ta'laps, held up. Secure in their embrace.

Gravod came closer, until his chest touched mine. He cupped my face in both hands as my arms went around his shoulders.

"Lydaxian males wrap their ta'laps around their mates. It's instinctive. We hold them and give them pleasure until they scream in ecstasy. Do you want that, Jess? Do you want my cock?"

"Yes." I was almost sobbing. The tip at my entrance teased me as his hot breath stroked over my face. "I want all of it."

He leaned in, pressing his lips to mine. I opened wide for his amazing tongue as it swept inside my mouth, plunging to the back of my throat. The tentacle between my legs dove inside me, twisting and folding as it began to move slowly in and out.

I was shaking, already on the edge of coming, when he pulled away from my mouth and bent to my ear. He kissed around the outer shell, biting gently on my earlobe, making me gasp. Then he whispered in a ragged voice.

"I'll give you everything but my mark. Unless you ask me for it, sta'la."