Chapter 3

Zerien

A s we headed to the Celestial Hotel, I felt both hot and cold, my blood boiling with barely repressed desire. Once more, I invoked my kaa to control myself. A part of me wanted to turn around and take her elsewhere… somewhere safer. I had wanted Siona for so long, but I didn't want to scare her, and I especially didn't want her thinking that it was just about sex between us.

Granted, her desire for me couldn't be denied. But the nagging question at the back of my mind was whether true love and passion fueled her responses to me, or if the mere curiosity of a virgin was the cause. Since I denied her after she turned sixteen, every time I visited her, Siona tried to make me give in to temptation. More than once, she almost succeeded. But I knew myself well enough to state without hesitation that once we mated, there would be no going back.

It shamed me to feel so insecure about her feelings for me. I watched Siona grow from a shy, slightly traumatized, teenage girl into a breathtaking and assertive young woman. The way she said we should go back to the hotel and that I wasn't the only one who had waited for a long time had been a major turn on. I loved seeing this confident side of her, able to state what she wanted and go after it. Such strength would be essential for her to thrive in her role as my Queen.

But was she ready for it?

Even as we rode the lift to the penthouse suite of the luxury Celestial Hotel, I didn't miss the uneasy glances my mate cast discreetly at my bodyguards. She had done that on a few occasions this evening. As we exited the lift and walked the short distance to our door, she glanced a couple more times at the guards, looking increasingly self-conscious.

Under different circumstances, her obvious relief when my men didn't follow us inside the suite would have been amusing. However, as soon as I finished bidding Drade and Naax goodnight, I closed the door behind us and gave Siona an assessing look.

"Does it bother you that we have bodyguards?" I asked in a gentle tone.

She shifted uneasily on her feet and rubbed the back of her nape.

"I wouldn't say that it bothers me…" she said cautiously. "That's too strong a phrasing. I can't deny that it will take some getting used to. It feels a bit like an invasion of privacy, even though I know it's not. But thankfully, they are very discreet."

"They are," I said firmly. "And yes, with time you will barely even realize they are around. Plus they are only with us when we're in public or in places where a reasonable threat could exist. Sadly, it is one of the few royal burdens."

She gave me a reassuring smile. "It's okay. Like you said, I'll get used to it. After all, Dawn did after she married Keran. She loves Tagar and Nowik, and all but adopted them as her big brothers."

I smiled back. "Our guards will love you just as much. How could anyone not?"

I gently caressed her cheek as I spoke those words, my chest warming with love at the adorable way she blushed and demurely lowered her eyes.

And yet, the small voice at the back of my head resumed the nagging that had been plaguing me for months now. Becoming my wife would entail many changes in Siona's life. There would be no more anonymity or general peace everyday people normally enjoyed. From now on, everything she would do or say would be scrutinized, both by the galactic community and by the Sarenians.

That last thought had me even more concerned. My people weren't thrilled at the prospect of their new Queen not only being an off-worlder, but a Guldan at that. Considering how adamant I had been against any alliance with her species, it made it even more awkward that she would be my chosen.

Not for the first time, I deplored Krygor's insistence that she be raised on Braxia instead of Sarenia. On top of allowing her to familiarize herself with our culture, it would have given our people a chance to get to know her and love her. And I wouldn't even talk about growing into the many responsibilities that would befall her as my Queen.

Taking a few steps inside, Siona glanced around the spacious room, the main door opening at an angle in a luxurious living area to provide some privacy. Large reflective windows gave a stunning view of the concourse in the VIP section. They also behaved as vidscreens onto which we could instead project images of exotic landscapes or gardens if we so wished. A small kitchen with a dining table suitable for eight people occupied the right side of the room. Two narrow hallways each led to one of the bedrooms.

"Have you ever been here before?" I asked in a gentle voice.

She shook her head. "Not here. We always stay with Anton in his penthouse when we visit. But Papa, Mother, and I stayed in a similar suite back on Lilith Hive after he first rescued us. The layout looks remarkably similar."

"It probably is," I concurred before gesturing at the left hallway with my head. "I settled in the room over there. The other one—"

To my surprise, Siona interrupted me with a kiss. To my chagrin, just as I was putting my hands on her hips and readying to deepen the kiss, she ended it.

"I know what you were going to say," my beloved said in a slightly chastising tone. "If I wanted to sleep in a separate room, I'd just go back to Anton's penthouse. You and me, it's for life. I'm ready. I want this with you."

My heart melted with love. "Please remember that if you change your mind or get scared, just speak up."

"I doubt I'll get scared," she replied firmly, although with a sliver of nervousness. "But if it happens, I promise to say so. I trust you."

I drew her tightly against me, love and desire swelling within me. My gaze roamed possessively over her gorgeous face as I still struggled to believe she was real, here in my arms at long last.

"I love you, Siona," I said in a fervent voice. "I'm obsessed with you. From the moment I laid eyes on you, six years ago, you've had my heart."

She smiled and melted against me. I leaned forward and captured her lips, pouring all my love and devotion into it. My lips still pressed to hers, I picked her up. She wrapped her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck as I carried her to my room.

My stomach fluttered with anticipation as I pushed the door open. So many things could go wrong. I needed this first time for her to be magical, to exceed whatever wild expectations she might have built in her mind over the years. I didn't doubt my ability to sate her needs. It was the possibility that the insane hunger that had been gnawing at me for years for her might get the best of me. If I lost control, the ancestors only knew what ravage I could do. I would have to invoke my kaa should I start feeling overwhelmed and trust that my endless love for her and the protective instincts she awakened in me would prevail to keep her safe.

I didn't lay her down on the bed just yet. There would be no rushing this. My lust be damned…

With a vocal command, I launched some discreet background music. I'd carefully chosen the repertoire. Siona gasped, her eyes lighting up when she recognized our song… a Sarenian ballad I'd played for her the first time I began courting her. It was an instrumental version. The only words that would be spoken in the next little while would be our words of love and of the passion we shared.

We casually swayed to the music while kissing and exploring each other. In a soft caress, Siona pushed the draped fabric of my sash down my arm, baring my chest. I reciprocated and lowered the fabric of her single right sleeve, my lips following in the trail of the skin thus exposed. Once her arm freed of the garment, I lifted her wrist to my mouth kissing and licking the inner side, in the sensitive spot that systematically drew a delightful shiver from her.

With my palm resting on her nape, I tilted her head back and brushed my lips against the delicate curve of her neck, down to her chest. My fingers hooked at the edges of the wide collar of the stretchy fabric of her dress, I slipped it down, slowly stripping her of the garment that hugged her divine body like a second skin.

I rubbed my face between the valley of her breasts while deliberately avoiding the hardening buds of her nipples. I inhaled deeply her delectable aroma. Rich and intoxicating, with a hint of cinnamon and clove, Siona's scent evoked the comfort and warmth of a hot cup of spiced wine. I could get drunk just from breathing her in and still crave more.

She shivered again and whispered a soft sigh as I peppered a few kisses down her stomach, while pulling her dress past the sensual flare of her hips and down her perfect thighs. A bolt of lust exploded in the pit of my stomach at the sight of the see-through lace thong covering her modesty. I clamped down on my instant urge to tear it to shreds with my claws for preventing me from feasting my eyes on her naked beauty.

Still, I continued my journey down the length of her endless, shapely legs, covering them with nips and kisses while dragging her dress to her ankles. She stepped out of it—seizing the opportunity to kick off her shoes—and I tossed the garment in the general direction of the seating area.

I kissed my way back up, teasing her by coming a little closer to the forbidden fruit at the apex of her thighs. The scent of her musk had another surge of blood rushing to my groin. I wanted to lift one of her legs over my shoulder, bury my face in her heat, and indulge at long last in the feast I'd been craving for the past six years.

My fingertips brushed the sides of her lips. A smug chuckle escaped me when Siona shivered, and goosebumps covered her silky skin. The delectable aroma of her arousal cranked up another notch, making me burn with need. With my own teasing backfiring on me, I forced myself to resume my trek upward, my touch growing bolder without fully giving her satisfaction. I intended to drive her as insane with lust for me as I'd been for her for far too long.

She sank her fingers through my hair in a less-than-subtle effort to keep my head in place when I started circling the outer edge of her areola. Still, I denied her what she wanted. Shunning her hardened bud, I brushed my lips up the curve of her chest to her clavicle.

Before I could reach her neck, Siona pushed me with a frustrated groan. I jerked my head up to look at her, fearing my teasing was annoying her instead of titillating her. To my relief, her face expressed determination instead of aggravation. Picking up where I left off, Siona pressed her lip to my clavicle and covered every inch of my chest with kisses and possessive caresses. Where I'd avoided her sensitive spots, my mate went straight for mine.

The searing heat of her mouth closed around my left nipple, while the fingers of her right hand fondled and tweaked my right one. I took in a hissing breath in response, a dull throbbing instantly manifesting itself between my thighs.

Despite the many years during which I'd courted her, and how comfortable we'd grown with each other, I had expected my Siona to be quite timid if not skittish during our first time together. Granted, we indulged in some fairly heavy petting over the years, but we'd never been fully naked. This undaunted behavior acted like the most potent aphrodisiac on me.

Ancestors, my mate was perfect!

Like I had done with her, she caressed my abdominal muscles then peppered my stomach with kisses while lowering the skirt of my ruvyn. My muscles contracted, and even more blood rushed to my already engorged shaft.

Siona touched me there before, but always over my clothes. On more than one occasion, she attempted to sneak her hand under my garment, but I always stopped her. The Ancestors knew how badly I had ached for it. However, I hadn't trusted myself not to go all the way. She had been willing and expressed as much the minute she turned sixteen—the galactic age of consent. Still, I turned her down out of selfishness. Once I made her mine, I never could have left her behind when I returned to Sarenia.

My vyn dropping to my feet left me fully exposed to my mate's emerald eyes. For the first time in my life, I felt self-conscious about my body. By galactic standards, I qualified as an extremely attractive and generously endowed male. But considering how massive Braxians were, would she deem me too small? Then again, I doubted she'd seen any of them naked. Still, with some of them running around with skin-tight shorts or pants, especially during training, the bulges outlined by the fabric left little to the imagination as to the massive size of their girth.

I almost pulled her back onto her feet when Siona crouched before me. It took every ounce of my willpower to remain still. I was hers to discover, explore, and do with as she pleased. It was only once her face lit up with an air of wonder that I realized I'd been holding my breath.

As she had done with my nipples, my mate didn't dally and immediately claimed her prize. An almost pained growl escaped me when she wrapped her hand around the base of my cock. The caress she gave me didn't exactly qualify as a stroke. It was more exploratory as she rubbed her palm over the ridges of my length before tracing some of the patterns with her index finger.

Liquid fire swirled in the pit of my stomach as I willed myself to silence the desires her touch awakened in me. To my shock, Siona leaned forward and gave my head a lick. My entire body jerked in response, and my right hand closed over her left horn with a will of its own. As if she feared I would push her away, my woman grabbed my right butt cheek with one hand and tightened her hold around my shaft. A throaty moan escaped me when she immediately began to stroke me.

I didn't care that her movements were a little clumsy. What she lacked in experience, Siona more than made-up for in enthusiasm. Her up and down motions could have benefited from a slight twist of her wrist, but it still set my blood on fire. Reassured that I wouldn't pull away from her, my mate slightly relaxed the strength with which her fingers were gripping my butt cheek, digging into the flesh. She leaned forward again and gave my head a few more licks, her tongue twirling all over its rounded edge and teasing its slit.

And then she took me in her mouth.

A powerful growl vibrated through my chest, and my left hand closed around her other horn. Fighting an almost impossible battle, I barely managed to keep myself from thrusting forward deeper into her mouth and imposing a faster pace. This was her first time doing this, and it was my duty to ensure it would be done according to her own terms and in a way that she felt safe and comfortable.

A sliver of shame pierced through the blissful fog of pleasure she was giving me, despite how little of me she could actually swallow. In my stupid need to tease her, I had withheld the pleasure that was rightfully hers and that she was now generously granting me instead.

That whipped me into action. After yanking her head back with both her horns—making her yelp in surprise—I picked my mate up by her waist from her kneeling position in front of me and threw her onto the bed. Her high-pitched scream held no fear. Before she even finished bouncing back, I was already on her, placing her legs over my shoulders, and burying my face between them.

Her throaty cry resonated directly in my cock. It throbbed, aching for her to resume her ministrations. But it would wait until I had her falling apart for me at least once. Finding her already wet for me only whipped my blood into an even greater frenzy.

Blast it! My female tasted divine!

I had meant to take my sweet time tasting her, gradually building her pleasure until she climaxed, but her tart taste on my tongue awakened a rabid hunger in me. I licked her slit from bottom to top before sticking my tongue inside her opening. I wiggled it in and out a few times, feasting on her essence while feeling cheated that I couldn't get deep enough. Her fingers fisting my hair while random spasms shook her legs around my face spurred me on into giving her more.

Shifting my mouth's attention to her clit, I slipped one finger inside her. Despite knowing of Guldan females' anatomical differences, the feeling of the ridges lining her inner walls still sent a thrill through me. The bumps immediately started undulating, squeezing my finger from all sides. As I understood it, the females had no control over this automatic response. Imagining how they would feel against my cock had my stomach contracting almost painfully with anticipation.

I slipped a second finger inside her. Her body didn't resist the intrusion. Her species was made to easily adjust—within reason—to accommodate the horns and larger babies they normally gave birth to. But Siona's voluptuous moans cast out those fleeting thoughts. Beyond the fact that those ridges would provide insane pleasure to her partner, they did the same for her. Each one essentially acted the same way as a human female's G-spot. No matter how small a male's girth, it was nearly impossible for him not to give a Guldan female an orgasm through penetration.

Even now, my two fingers moving in and out of her—not to mention my mouth sucking on her little nub—had her already cresting. I inserted a third finger. This time, she resisted me a bit. But seconds later, Siona's back arched, and she cried out, swept away by pleasure.

The throbbing in my cock went up another notch. My balls felt heavy and hot as I fought the urge to climb on top of my woman and finally give in to the primal lust that raged inside me for her.

Focusing on her pleasure, I pursued my ministrations until the more violent shaking of her body subsided and she began to settle down. Abandoning my feast with quite a bit of reluctance, I kissed and caressed every inch of her body, turning her onto her stomach to worship her back with the same devotion. Feeling her shiver whenever I found one of her more sensitive or erogenous spots filled me with a sense of pride and an almost rabid possessiveness.

No one but me would ever procure her such sensations and enjoy the perfection of her body, the enthralling sounds of her sighs and moans, and of the fire of her passion unleashed.

I caressed her hair, pushing it aside to expose her nape. She stiffened in that sexy way that expressed I'd done something she liked when I scraped my fangs over that sensitive spot. I kissed a path down her spine, caressing the sensuous curves of her sides as they flared into her hips, then kissed the round mounds of her cheeks before giving them a good nip. Her legs shook, and she moaned again.

I stretched next to Siona, turning her to the side so her back would press against my chest. Slipping one hand under her, I reached around to fondle her breast, the other caressing the length of her body until I reached her core. My fingers dipped inside her again, her pleasure quickly building as I kissed and nipped at the sensitive spot around her nape. Hearing her whisper my name in a pleading fashion as she once more neared the edge drove me mad with lust.

While accelerating the movement of my fingers massaging her clit, I rubbed my length against the seam of her behind. Far from relieving the almost painful tension in my nether region, the friction only exacerbated my need to bury myself deep inside her. When she toppled over, her nails digging into the skin of both my forearms wrested a few drops of precum from me. Turning her face towards mine over her shoulder, I crushed her lips into a possessive kiss, swallowing her moans of ecstasy.

This time, I couldn't wait for her to fully come down from her high. Putting my mate onto her back, I climbed on top of her and settled between her legs. The throbbing radiated throughout my nether region as my pelvic muscles constricted spasmodically with need.

Teeth clenched, I cupped Siona's face between both hands and locked eyes with her.

"My Siona, my love, do you accept me?" I asked, my voice thick and rumbling with the depth of my desire.

For a split second, I feared she might still be too foggy to give me a conscious answer. But her emerald eyes, darkened by passion, brimmed with complete awareness and unwavering determination laced with anticipation.

"Now and always, Zerien. I am yours. I love you," she replied, her arms tightening around me.

The powerful emotion that swept through me left me reeling. I didn't know what I had done to deserve finding the other half of me so early in the tumultuous life that Fate had laid before me. All I knew was that I would fight the gods themselves to keep this woman forever and to prove myself worthy of her until my last breath.

I claimed her lips in a tender kiss in which I poured the depth of the feelings she awakened in me as I began to push myself inside of her. As expected, she resisted my non-negligible girth. It wasn't the impenetrable wall I initially feared, but it still required me to proceed with increasingly forceful shallow thrusts. Each time I retreated, the undulating ridges of her inner walls seemed to try to hold on to me and pull me back in. In far less time than I anticipated—and in no small part thanks to the collaboration of her unusual lining—I quickly found myself fully sheathed.

Ancestors! It was both extreme bliss and sheer agony to finally be one with my soulmate. I wanted to give her time to adjust to me, but her inner walls massaging me had me on the brink of madness. Nothing should feel this good. A feral growl tumbled out of me in an almost continuous stream as I fought a losing battle against the urge to lose myself in her.

Breaking the kiss, I buried my face in her neck and breathed heavily. My efforts to call on my kaa to rein myself in were failing miserably. The waves of bliss spreading from my loins like liquid flame coursing throughout my body wrecked any attempt at focusing.

Siona's own moans in my ears only fanned the brazier of the devouring passion consuming me from within. It wasn't until she began gyrating beneath me while whispering my name with urgency that I realized my mate actually wanted me to move.

The first thrust felt like electric sparks going off in my pelvic area, setting my nerve endings on edge. Siona's throaty cry resonated at the same time as my hissed breath. The second one tore a bestial grunt from me, and then the third broke whatever willpower I ever possessed.

I unleashed six-years-worth of repressed desire on my woman. Six years of longing, fantasizing, and obsessing over the only female that could ever make me whole. As I pounded into Siona, taking her deep, hard, and at an unbridled pace, a little voice at the back of my head whispered for me to be gentle, to go easy on her. But Siona's voice in my ears shouting with ecstasy and begging me for more spurred me on.

Waves upon waves of pleasure almost too much to bear crashed over me. The heat of her feverish skin against mine almost rivaled the inferno of her tight sheath greedily squeezing my cock with its undulating ridges.

When her third climax swept her away, her inner walls clamping down on my length nearly fractured my mind. I roared as my seed shot out into her. The force of my climax threw me off my untethered rhythm. My movements became erratic as I filled her to the brim. But as the terrible pressure that had been twisting my insides finally lessened, my hunger for Siona didn't abate.

Even as the last drop of my essence flowed into her, I felt myself harden again. Without ever stopping rocking in and out of my mate, my movements stabilized, and I resumed taking her at a delirious pace. Slipping one arm under her right leg, I opened her wider for me as I relentlessly rammed my cock inside her with reckless abandon. Far from frightened by my lust-addled insanity, Siona chanted my name, lifting her pelvis to meet me thrust for thrust, and clawing at my body with the same rabid passion that had taken over me.

My ultimate orgasm swept me away half a beat after Siona fell apart again. A blinding light exploded before my eyes, and lightning struck the base of my spine with such force I feared I'd tear my vocal cords from the savage roar I emitted. I felt dizzy, drunk, and disoriented as liquid bliss flowed freely out of me into the trembling body of my soulmate, shaken by the throes of ecstasy.

I collapsed on top of her before rolling onto my back, dragging her with me. I was wrecked, utterly destroyed, every cell of my body singing from having achieved such impossible heights of pure felicity.

Holding her tightly in my arms as our thundering hearts slowed down, I whispered words of love and devotion. But in my heart and mind, one certainty settled in deeply: she was mine, now and always. I could never let her go or live without her. She was my soul.