25. Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five

P yne

Happiness. I haven’t felt happiness like this since I was with my family on Verden. Sure, the last standard year on the Playground was good, but it was only as I raced through the hallways on the way to our cabin that I realized I was just marking time, taking a breather, recovering from decades of slavery.

Holding my female’s hand? Hearing her laughter reverberating in the metal hallway on our way to a safe cabin where we can share our bodies and our love. This is true happiness.

Dahlia was quick; she already keyed the room to my palm. We burst into the small cabin we’ll now call home. I give Becca a moment to take it in. It’s sterile, empty, but I imagine we’ll make it our own soon enough.

First, I need to touch her, taste her. I need to burrow inside her and bring her pleasure and breathe in her scent until it surrounds me like a second skin.

I half expected her to be shy, but not my Becca. She turns to me as her elated laughter fades, replaced by desire glinting in the golden specks in her eyes.

“I want to know you better, Pyne. I want to know where you got every scar. I want to know your deepest desires and your greatest sorrows… if you want to share them. But right now, I need . I need to kiss every inch of your forest-green skin. I need to memorize your taste. And Pyne? I need you inside me.”

Her shameless words are paired with the sweetest look. It just makes me desire her more.

“And I haven’t said it in hours, Pyne. Maybe I forgot to say I love you out loud because it murmurs inside me with every beat of my heart, every footstep, every blink of my eyes. It may be new and fresh, but, Pyne, it’s so big . This feeling could swamp me if I let it. It’s so overpowering it could terrify me… except it’s about you . The kindest, most honorable male I’ve ever been lucky enough to know.”

Her affection slams into me. Big, yes. That’s the perfect way to describe it.

“I love you, too, Becca, but it’s such a puny word, pale and gray compared to the sunburst of feeling in my chest. You own my heart.”

Becca erases the distance between us and stands on tiptoe to brush her lips to mine. I’m on fire for her, yet something is off. I’ve wanted to do this since shortly after we met, but my mind is screaming at me that this isn’t right.

With a sigh of relief, I realize the problem.

“Come with me, sugarplum. I promise it will be worth it.”

She doesn’t ask even one question, doesn’t argue, just gives me a wide smile as she trustingly places her hand in mine. In moments, we’re running through the halls to the observatory. It’s my favorite room on the Playground , a bullet-shaped room at the stern that’s all windows except for the floor and the short wall connecting it to the ship. How many times have I sat there alone, in the middle of the night, yearning for a female to love?

This is where I want to mate Becca.

“Wow!” she breathes when we cross the threshold. “I’ve been in space over a year, but have never seen it like this. Beautiful.”

I point to the swirling purple and green nebula off the starboard side.

“Yeah. Amazing.”

“I’ve locked the door, love. Mate me here under the stars.” I point to the bank of couches facing the windows.

She says nothing, simply lifts her shirt over her head and, our gazes locked, tosses it behind her with abandon. Her bra is next, then she skims her pants and panties down and off. I’m so captivated by her beauty that she has to interrupt my looping thoughts.

“Your turn, gladiator.”

I unclasp the buckle, let my heavy kilt slide to the floor, and consider myself ready.

The moment seemed so serious that I’m stunned when she laughs, her eyes crinkling with good humor when she scolds, “Boots!”

I join her in laughter when I look down at myself and see one green gladiator with a raging hard-on wearing knee-high black boots as my tail swishes behind me.

“Whoops. All my blood has rushed to…” I wave my hand at my pulsing cock.

All mirth disappears as the very air between us seems to crackle with heat. We erase the distance between us and she’s in my embrace before I know I’ve moved.

Our kisses are hard, demanding, as we devour each other with lips and tongues. Our teeth clack in our haste as our mouths slot together, her palm on my nape as though she doesn’t want me to retreat, even to drag in breath.

My mind goes in spurts. At some moments, it quits working and I’m just a male functioning on animal instinct. At others, my thoughts whirl, caught up in the magic that I’m here with this female who is perfect for me, and by some miracle, her affection for me is as strong as mine is for her.

My thoughts focus, the dust settling, as I dive into this kiss. I sift my fingers through her hair, tugging it, testing the waters to see if she likes a little pain with her pleasure. Her answer is a gasp and a gust of her intoxicating arousal scent.

I retreat from her mouth just far enough to say, “I’m going to make you feel so good, Becca, then I’m going to fill you with my seed.”

“More. Tell me more filthy words, Pyne.”

Pressing my lips to her ear, I husk, “I’m going to pluck these pretty nipples…” I can’t say this without a demonstration. I flick, then pluck, then dip my head to lick and pull with lip-covered teeth until she’s panting and straddling my thigh as she grinds against me.

“Look at you, love. Taking your pleasure. That’s right. So good.”

She pauses, eyes flying wide as though she hadn’t been aware her body was moving of its own volition. When I slide my thigh farther between her legs and press her ass against me, it’s all the nudge she needs to abandon her inhibitions and hump me as I return my attention to her responsive peeks.

“Should I be selfish, Becca? Should I toss you on the couch, crouch between your legs, and drink my fill of you?”

Her only response is a weak whine of desperation.

“Or should I mate you?”

“That. Yeah. Mate me.”

I dance us to the window, flip her so she’s looking out at the shimmering nebula, and press her palms to the glass.

“You watch the stars while I slide into you, love.”