Chapter 15

The sea sponges open up like clams or something, and their meat is weirdly similar if not a tad sweet. I’m not a fan. I might even gag as I eat them, and Abraxas might even laugh at me, but I eat them anyway because, well, what other options do I have?

He carries my sleepy, well-fed, well-fucked ass back to the ship and hops in, finally deigning to show me what’s in the cloth bag from this morning.

It’s another translator.

I feel this huge, stupid smile spread across my lips as I jerk it onto my head and put the other onto Abraxas. It seems like the translators are similar, like maybe they came from the same place.

“If you had these, why didn’t you bring them with us this morning?” I ask, and he gives me this look, like why am I even asking such a silly question.

“We did not need them.” That’s his response. It’s as smooth as I’ve ever heard him sound. The new translator is better than the one he has on (which is about a million times better than the hideous hot pink one that we started with). I should probably switch with him so he can understand me better, but I’m selfish. I want to hear every single thing he’s saying.

“What else is in there?” I ask, gaze shifting to the bag again.

“Useless things,” he tells me, but I can’t even begin to figure out what those ‘useless things’ might be because he’s getting that look in his eyes again. My body warms in response, and I curse myself. I put my hands up on either side of his face as he crouches there on all fours, watching me with undisguised thirst. Apex predator thirst. Yikes.

I clear my throat.

“We should try to do things other than just fuck,” I explain, and he rumbles all over with laughter, shaking his head at me as he prowls past and into the shadows of the nest. I find myself drawn around to face him as he collapses on his side in dragon pose. How else do I explain it when he’s curled up like that? He lifts his wings up and then out, like he’s inviting me in. “Don’t we … uh … have other chores to take care of?”

He tilts his head at me again.

“Chores? I will clean our sex off the nest in the morning. Other than that, what chores do you mean?” He sounds genuinely curious, those violet-sapphire-gold eyes blazing. “Are you hungry perhaps? I will catch you something else to eat.”

“No, not hungry, just …” I don’t even know what to say. It seems so slothful and decadent to just lounge in this bed all day and have sex. I bite my lip to keep back the thoughts. Tomorrow, goddamn it. Let me just have the day. I walk over to sit beside him and he sweeps his wings around me, drawing me in closer. The bright green of the headset looks hilarious on his massive head, but at least it has a super flexible headband or it’d never fit. “How often do you have someone to talk to?”

Not sure why that’s the next question I choose to ask.

The corner of his mouth lifts up, baring those knife-like teeth.

“Talk? There is no one to talk to.” His statement is matter-of-fact, but damn if it doesn’t make me feel sad. “Until now,” he corrects, a growl rippling his mouth. I throw my arms around his neck, crushing my eyelids together to hold back tears.

“Why me?” I whisper, because I just cannot for the life of me understand why he picked me. “You could’ve had that female. Clearly she was into you. Stronger than me. More useful.” I draw back to see what he thinks of being hugged. I don’t think it’s something a female Aspis would do, having met one myself. But he seems absurdly pleased by the action. “Why?”

“Why?” he repeats, like the question is strange on his tongue. The cute little whistle-growl that actually comes out of his mouth—as opposed to through the translator—is knee-weakening. “Sweet, little, affectionate, fierce.” He breathes in the smell of my hair. “And your scent.” This last part is nearly obliterated by his growl, scrambling the translator and making it crackle. His face, which I’m already learning how to read, is determined when he speaks again. “I made a vow that I would not mate a female who would force herself on me. I have fought and killed dozens of times to keep that reality. For you, I had to court and woo.”

I lift a brow.

Damn straight he courted and wooed. I’m still in awe of the display.

Yep. Thoroughly charmed.

“Yeah, I guess that’s true. You try harder than most guys on Earth.” It’s a joke, but not really.

I frown.

Maybe there’s a reason I’ve never had a relationship that lasted longer than six months? And even then, Mack, my most recent ex, was the one who held that record. Before then, I believe six weeks was my longest. I thought it was a ‘me’ problem, but … I put my hand on Abraxas’ chest, and he grins at me.

“Sit back against the wall,” I tell him, and he seems to consider it for much longer than he should. “Dude, come on. You’ll like this.”

“Male?” he breathes, and then he laughs. “Yes, refer to me as male instead of Abraxas if you want.” He rolls that ‘X’ so silkily that I almost pass out. Also, I think his headset translated ‘dude’ as ‘male’. Cute.

He does what I’ve asked, leaning back against the wall like a man, wings still drawn around me, tail teasing up along the inside of my inner thigh. I tuck my hair behind my ears and then gesture at his pelvis.

“Let me see them,” I tell him, but he just growls right back at me, snapping his teeth.

“Bring them out.” It’s a challenge. I narrow my eyes on him, and then I throw my own smirk out. What a son of a bitch. But if there’s something you should know about Eve Wakefield, it’s that I love a good challenge and I hate to be told no.

I climb onto Abraxas’ lap, this tiny, pale thing in a sea of obsidian scales, muscles, and man. He dwarfs me, and damn it, I’m living for it. I put my hands flat on his midsection and sit up, knees on his thighs. I press a kiss to the space where his invisible mouth is, and it splits right in half, flashing that naughty alien grin of his.

“Aspis females don’t have breasts, do they?” I ask, cupping the full mounds in my own hands. He watches me curiously, mesmerizing my movements like he did earlier. Never had a guy care so much about how I liked to be touched. “Do you think they’re weird?”

“I love your sex organs.” His unconventional response makes me snort, but as odd a statement as that is, it’s perfectly genuine.

“These are only partially sex organs,” I correct, kneading the flesh and wiggling my wet pussy on his crotch. He must have control over when his cocks come out, and he must be holding back on purpose to fuck with me. We’ll see how long he can keep it up. “These are used to feed babies.” I point at my nipples. “Milk comes from here.”

He blinks at me and tilts his head, his mouth disappearing into his face.

The moment turns strange there for a second, and I cover my nipples with my palms, face flushing.

Why did I bring this up? It’s just a reminder that I can’t be what he wants me to be. I am not his forever person, and his mate. I’m just an alien on a temporary stay over.

“You are upset.” He captures my chin in those long, alien fingers of his, and my stomach fills with butterflies. Or … moths? “Why? Aspis females have nipples along their belly, even if they do not have these mounds. You will have no problems feeding our child.”

Our child? Wow. Um. Fuck.

“We can’t have children together,” I tell him, because it’s true. Maybe if I tell him that, he’ll understand how this can’t possibly work out between us. “We’re not the same species.”

He vibrates with a rolling growl that is most definitely a laugh.

“I can smell your pheromones; our biocompatibility is high. You needn’t worry.” He extends the claws from his knuckles and runs them through my hair. It’s all smooth and silky now, entirely knot-free. Whatever those flowers were that he tossed into the water, they’ve done the trick. “I will give you a child whenever you want one.”

I purse my lips.

“Look how different we are. Look at us. How could we possibly have a child?” I don’t even know why I’m arguing this. I don’t want kids right now. I want to start at thirty-five, have two, and be finished. This conversation is going in such a bizarre direction.

Abraxas growls at me, putting his massive head up against mine, rubbing against me until I’m covered in goose bumps. He likes that, the pebbling of my skin. He sweeps both sets of his hands over me, skimming his palms on every inch of my body. His markings leave dewy residue wherever they go, and my cunt aches so fiercely that I consider dropping the discussion entirely. Only, he pushes back at me first.

“Look how similar we are,” he corrects with such a high level of arrogance that I could slap him. “You were so little, I wasn’t sure. But now that I’ve marked you as my mate, you can take my cock quite easily. If we were incompatible, surely we would not meld and share fluids. Surely we would not arouse one another to frenzied states by scent alone.”

“I liked you better when I couldn’t understand most of what was coming out of your mouth,” I grind out, crossing my arms tightly over my chest to hide my breasts. Here I was, willing to give this man a blow job, and he’s talking nonsense. “We will never have a kid together. Okay? If you’re with me assuming that we will then, well, I hate to burst your bubble, but you best adjust your expectations.”

The growl he gives me then is deep and low, a tremble that shakes the nest as he wraps his wings around me and tucks me close. I let out a small shriek of surprise when I feel his cocks emerge, one on either side of me. I’ve got the OG dick—the one that had the spirals—between my front folds while the other sits between my ass cheeks.

“My expectations do not need adjusting. I do not care if we have a child or not. My want and desire is only for you.” He pauses there, and I can’t help but love the layering of his smooth, dark voice on the translator as it pairs with the true growls of his native language underneath. “But fear not: I could but look at a female right and get her pregnant.”

“Oh?” I cock a brow at that. I want to choke this guy so badly right now. He deserves a good metaphorical throttling. “All males think that. You are not unique in your bullshit, sir.”

“Perhaps I am not unique in my thoughts, but I am not incorrect. Do you want a child? I will give you one now.”

That makes me laugh. I shift my body around, rubbing his cocks against me and loving it as much as he seems to. We’re both making strange sounds, much less sentient. Primal, really, is what all this is. He snatches my shoulders in his giant hands, as if to slow me down.

“Do your worst. It isn’t happening,” I breathe. I know for a straight fact that I’m right. Nothing could change my mind about this. He’s an alien to me. I’m an alien to him. There’s no way. “You’re lucky you have two cocks; human men only have one.”

That freezes him right then and there. He’s speechless.

“Truly? How do they control their fertility during mating?” he asks, but I’m not about to dive into all of that when I’m sitting naked on his lap. Explaining condoms and birth control pills and whatever just isn’t part of sexy time for me at the moment.

“What do you mean by that exactly?” I ask, and then a thought occurs to me. “Do female Aspis have two vaginas then?”

Abraxas just stares at me, the edge of his mouth curling up to reveal those shark teeth of his.

“They have but one. It does not pulse happily the way yours does. And it does not drip pheromones like yours either. It is up to the male to work the bonding fluid from his cock so that the mating is smooth and pleasurable.”

“How do you know all of that if you’ve never slept with anyone else?” I’m getting annoyed now. I hate that I started a conversation when all I want is for him to fuck me senseless again. I wiggle and he snarls, biting on my shoulder playfully and causing my back to arch. He licks the wounds and then raises his head, our faces pressed close.

“Discussions with mated males. My people have a gathering every year on the eve of the seasonal solstice. I speak with others and learn their ways.” He wraps an arm around my waist and lays me down in the furs, covering my body with his own.

The heat of him, the smell, the texture of his skin. There is quite literally nothing I don’t like. My sex life is going to be ruined after this. Even the mere thought of going home and trying to date, of having sex with a human man, it disgusts me. I press my hands to either side of Abraxas’ face and he purrs for me. I’m willing to wager that I’m the only creature that’s ever been allowed to touch him this way.

I snagged me an alien virgin. I’m a regular ol’ cherry hound.

I snort, and he rubs his horns over my hair.

“What’s bonding fluid?” I whisper, because damn it, but I want to know everything about him. Every little fucking thing.

“The mess my cock makes inside of you,” he growls, licking my neck, curling his tongue around my breast, squeezing my breast with the strength in his tongue. He draws it back in with a smack of sharp teeth and wide, wild lips. “Your species does not have this?”

“I assumed it was … semen. Seed.” I choke on the words, like I’m a middle schooler and not a grown ass woman with moderate experience. “That’s what happens with human males.”

“Ah.” He adjusts himself and reaches down, curling one of his hands in a tight fist around his lower cock. “Seed comes from this rod only.” He strokes himself as I watch, swallowing past the tightness in my throat. “Aspis females only milk a male’s rod when they want a child, which is rare. Two or three times in a lifespan. You confused me at first. I assumed you were seeking the mating rod during our first rut.”

“Are you calling me slutty?” I tease. It’s supposed to be a joke, but it gets lost in translation. He tilts his head again, studying me as his winged hands drop down and snag my knees, yanking them apart. My breath releases, and I melt into the furs beneath me, body relaxed and ready. “I want to try your … mating rod.”

I’ve only had one of those cocks. What’s the point of getting dirty with an alien if I don’t get to try all the weird shit? He hesitates. He wants to use it, I can see that quite plainly.

“It is rare for a male to receive pleasure in it though he craves its use.”

“Well, you can use it on me.” I’m being flippant, but I’m also certain that I’m right about this. “I’m telling you that it won’t work.”

He releases his cock and drives his hips forward, slicking the length of his lower shaft between my legs. My back arches as his hands land on the ground above my head.

“No. I will not use it under the condition that you believe it will not work. I am telling you that it will. You are the most stubborn female I have yet met—and I have killed many who have been arrogant enough to try to force-mate me.”

“I said use it!” I yell at him, reaching up to grab his horns. I yank his head down, and he lets out this terrible snarl, the worst I’ve heard yet. It’s completely and utterly unhinged, and it activates every cell in my body. I’m not one to surrender in most cases, but this is … it’s a complete undoing.

Abraxas uses his winged hands to tear the translators off both of our heads. He throws them, but they land in the softness of the nest, unharmed.

Our eyes meet.

And then he enters me with his second cock.

I win.

Doesn’t feel like that though. It feels like he is the one who’s winning. His mouth ripples as he snarls at me, curses or promises in another language, I’m not sure. His body is wildly hot as he pumps into me, forcing my muscles apart with every thrust. It’s not hard. He’s right: unlike an Aspis female, I want it. I want it so badly that I writhe, that I meet his every undulation with my own.

His second cock stands hard and dripping between us, sliding against my clit and spreading my folds with every forward movement. I’m gasping for breath, struggling with the overwhelming sensations. When he’s all over me like this, rubbing his markings across my naked skin, it’s almost too much. And if it’s only ‘almost’, that means it’s just right.

That heavy sack of his slaps my ass, full and tight. I love the feel of it, some base part of me reassured of his heat and his wildness and his fertility. Which isn’t mine to take. I kick that thought to the curb where it belongs, dragging my nails down his midsection. He’s wet with either humidity or sweat or more weird alien pheromones, I don’t know, but I like it. My hands skim his slick, scaled skin as he curves his neck to look down at me, wing-hands digging clawed fingers into my hair.

His tongue lashes out again, slicking over one pert nipple and then the other, making me cry out. I can’t last long with this guy. No human woman could. My senses are assaulted on every level. I’m aroused by things I didn’t even know could be arousing. Sticky musk and scents and the heavy wetness between my thighs. This mating is not quite the same as the other times.

Abraxas bites me in the shoulder again, hands locking on my hips, holding me still. He grinds his body into mine until my vision flickers at the edges, sound cuts off, and I’m trapped in this moment of pure stillness and serenity. He’s mine, isn’t he? As much as he wants me to be his, he’s mine, too.

“You’re mine,” I whisper, and it’s the strangest, most wondrous thing.

He laughs at that, the sound vibrating my entire body from the inside out. That’s an English word he knows. Figures.

“Yes.” There it is, a reply in my own language. A verbal confirmation I don’t need because I can feel it. Maybe there’s some way I could barter for semi-regular trips back to earth? Other aliens—like that Tusk Guy—they do it often enough to have learned English. Why couldn’t I go home to visit my family, and then come back here with supplies?

It’s an option. It is. It’s an idea I didn’t think of until now, one that I’m suddenly terrified won’t work.

The orgasm that was starting in me, it crests and breaks, and I tumble deeper into it, moaning and melting beneath him. His cock—the one that isn’t inside of me—tightens and then bursts, spilling fluid across my breasts and belly and even my face. The other continues to move, hard and hot inside of me. Abraxas moans even with his teeth still locked onto my shoulder, his lids fluttering, his markings flaring violet.

When he comes inside of me, I can feel a tightening, a thickening at the base of his shaft, connecting between us, locking us together. His sack is pressed hard against me, pulsing as his shaft throbs. It’s a very active transfer of his seed into my body, violent contractions of his balls and his shaft at the same time. He releases my shoulder and relaxes his massive form around me the way he likes, nestling us together in the furs.

I can’t breathe, but I don’t care. I’m lost and staring up at the ceiling. Awestruck.

This is why I knew I shouldn’t get involved with this stupid alien.

He says nothing and neither do I; we can’t understand each other like this anyway.

The room is quiet, night sounds echoing in from outside. Alien birds and alien bats and alien aliens (some of this shit is too weird to even comprehend) chirping and squawking and screaming and tittering.

It’s a much longer joining this time, and I don’t even care. I love the way he chuffs into my hair, bathes my face and belly and breasts, touches and holds and nestles against me. I cling to him, panting hard through the moment. When he looks at me, it’s almost too much. I’m full of emotion that I don’t want to have.

And it’s not just the sex—although it’s ruined me for anyone else—it’s everything. With every action, he’s taken, and every word he’s said, he’s told me in the plainest, simplest of terms: I like you. I know then that I’m done for. It’s over for me. I have to find an alternative to simply leaving and never coming back; that’s not an option anymore.

The sadness and heaviness in my heart lifts and dissipates, and I exhale softly. Now that I know I don’t have to leave him, I feel much better. I feel … giddy, the way he was after we mated. So far as I can tell, he’s been waiting his entire life to find a female, and he picked me, and he was happy. Is happy. He behaves like someone who’s had their greatest wish fulfilled.

With another growl and a nip against my shoulder, he slides out of me, and I sit up. There’s a lot of seed. A lot. He’s much bigger than a human dude, and he’s built to fuck another Aspis. There is more than enough fluid to go around. His cock is slick, too, the markings on his sack dim. I see that it’s essentially deflated, and is now less than half the size it was and a bit soft.

We stare at each other.

“I don’t want to be a mistake you made,” I whisper, glad that he can’t understand what I’ve just said. If he knew the things I’ve been thinking all along—like how temporary all this is—he wouldn’t be happy. This is soulmate shit for him. This is fated mates crap in his world. Goddamn it. “I’m not a romantic person.”

He just keeps looking at me, and then he grins. Big and cocksure and happy. It splits his face from one side to the other, the grin of a monster. With another growl, he takes me and drags me against him, curling up into a ball around my body. One of the translators is close by, so I grab it and pull it onto my head.

Abraxas taps one, single finger against my naked belly.

“Seeded,” he says with another laugh.

I ignore him.

I know for a fucking fact that I am right about this.