Chapter 10

Chapter

Ten

LYRA

T he wind was violent outside the domed dwelling, slamming into the glass windows, which withstood the impact effortlessly. Out on the terrace, I heard something fly through the air, clanging against metal hard and a sharp sigh bit out of my companion's throat.

" Vrax ," he murmured.

"What was that?" I asked, nibbling on my lip.

"A terrace stone," he told me.

"Did you know about the storms before you moved here?" I wondered.

"I knew it had a stormy season," he informed me. "Just not how violent they were. I don't regret it. The repair work keeps me busy. And the season doesn't last long."

Just like Droxan had predicted, the storm had hit shortly after the sun lowered into the horizon, after we'd finished eating the dinner I made him. Along with a soft purple root mash, I'd grilled marinated flank—of an Ullima creature that Droxan simply called a taxa— seasoned in a spice that he said he made himself. His own blend. From his garden, which I hadn't known he had.

"You have a garden?" I'd asked him as I watched him chew. He liked the dinner, I could see the pleasure on his face as we sat side-by-side at his stone counter, and the knowledge had filled me with immense satisfaction.

"I'll show you tomorrow," he'd promised. "When the storm lets up."

Now, as the storm raged outside, I huddled closer to the big, warm male lounging among the cushions beside me. Droxan had a jug of kriviro wine that he'd brought up from his cellar to pair with our dinner. Another extravagance. And when I had protested him opening it—for I knew it was much too expensive—he'd simply looked at me with a raised brow as he popped the pressurized stopper.

We were finishing the jug as we watched the rain stream down the domed windows.

"It's like we're behind a waterfall," I commented, my head feeling pleasantly light. Anticipation had been building in my belly all night. All day, truthfully. The wine helped steel my courage as I shifted closer, my thigh brushing his own. "Though I've never seen one. I watch the nature documentaries on the Nu and there is a planet that is filled with waterfalls. A water planet that just looks like it's filled with mist from the spray."

He inclined his head. "Bvaro."

I beamed. "You know it?"

"I knew someone who lived there. They have floating cities, spread out on the water like they are entire continents. I stayed at one of the resorts there once. It's beautiful."

I blew out a breath, tilting my head to study the male. Throughout the day, it had become rather apparent to me just how much he'd experienced throughout his own life. He couldn't be that much older than I was—maybe five to ten years older?—but it was obvious that he was used to wealth. He knew countless well-known merchants throughout the Quadrants. People from places like Bvaro. He was well-traveled, had been to places like Horrin, which I'd heard was a nightmare to secure a visitor visa for. He had connections. Seemingly everywhere .

And yet…he was here.

On Ullima.

Truthfully, he intimidated me. To know that this male who I'd been shamelessly flirting with for the better part of the day was someone important . And me? I was just an orphan human girl from Wero. Who only drank half a glass of wine on weeknights and who got excited when the traveling vegetable vendor stopped in at the colony for market day.

But then there was this side of him too. The quiet Droxan. The one who sometimes pinned me with a look so hot that I could actually feel that gaze running over my body. The one whose soft, chuffing laugh filled me with warmth, like I'd won something every time I'd managed to pull it from him. The one who shrugged as he popped open a 5,000 credit jug of wine for me and who frowned whenever he saw me cleaning his tools off on my tunic, as if he couldn't stand the thought of me lifting my little finger to help him.

Droxan brought his goblet to his lips and I felt a stab of longing go through me as I watched him drink. I was aroused and squirming next to him. There was no way he wouldn't be able to smell me.

Desperately, I wondered why he wasn't making a move. I thought I'd made my interest clear.

Is it because he doesn't want me to feel pressured? I wondered. It made sense. I was a female that was completely dependent on him right now. It was entirely possible that he didn't want to frighten me.

Maybe I would have to make the first move.

With that thought, I drained the last bit of wine in my own goblet and leaned forward to set it on the ledge of the fire pit. He'd turned it on when we sat down. This was downright romantic . A fire, wine after a satisfying meal, rain pelting down on the windows, cuddling on the cushions in his sunken living room.

Droxan had bathed while I'd been puttering around in his kitchen. While I was disappointed he wasn't bare-chested, the black tunic he wore conformed to his body like a second skin. He looked so damn soft . Maybe it was the wine but all I wanted to do was rub my face against his chest.

His pants were made of a similar material but they did nothing to conceal the obvious tent in his lap. When he thought I hadn't been watching, he'd adjusted his cock so that it lined up with the waistband, making me squeeze my thighs together.

It wasn't even that I wanted to have sex tonight. Some under the clothes petting and making out would be perfectly adequate. I just wanted to get my hands on him. Bite him a little. Suck on his bottom lip and hear him come undone. Maybe grab onto his horns while he gave me a hickey.

Was that so much for a girl to ask?

"Question," I murmured quietly, my voice husky but soft, hushed by the rain and the lack of distance between us.

" Tev ?" he rumbled, his gaze narrowing.

I smiled. Suspicious male.

"Are your horns sensitive?"

He stiffened but I caught the little bobbing movement in his lap. His audible swallow only made my breath go more shallow.

Then he was inhaling deeply. He leaned forward, the soft whistle of his tunic brushing at my ear drums, and set his half-finished goblet next to mine.

When he settled back against the cushions, he turned his head to look at me, something noticeably different on his expression, and rasped in a deliciously deep voice, "Why don't you find out, Lyra?"

My pussy squeezed. I nearly whimpered out loud.

The look in his eyes was a challenge. It was a caress. It was an invitation, one I'd been ready to seize all day.

He huffed out a ragged breath at the first brush of my fingers. Briefly, his eyes closed when I dragged it down the nearest bone-like horn. It was smooth, strong.

"Can you feel it?" I whispered.

" Tev ."

"Does it feel good?" I asked next, shifting closer.

He reached for me and I nearly moaned at the heat of his hands as they tugged me over his lap, the sudden movement surprising. He maneuvered me like I was weightless and not a curvy, big-boned human woman. Compared to him, though, I supposed I was small.

He brought me into his lap but it was me who straddled his hips, sliding my thighs over him, pressing our cores together. There was a thick cock pressed to his waistband that I bumped as my tunic wiggled up my legs, bunching around the top of my ass.

" Vrax ," he breathed, his jaw tightening, his hands flexing on my waist. " Lyra ."

Those palms slid down to where the hem was, dull claws scraping against my fleshy cheeks.

I gripped both his horns in my fists, making him hiss, which was followed by a soft moan. I felt the pulse of his cock as I felt another rush of wetness bloom between my thighs. I would soak the front of his pants.

"I don't know what it is about you," I said shakily, tightening my hands on his horns, "but you drive me crazy . I—I've never felt like this. Not ever."

His half-lidded eyes narrowed. He wore an expression of… understanding . Calm understanding mixed with his wild lust. I didn't know how he pulled that look off effortlessly, but he did.

His hands finally gripped my ass, his palms spreading over them wide, as he tugged me down. He pressed until my bare pussy met the searing heat of his thick shaft. When I wiggled my hips, moaning, I could feel the knobs and ridges that lined his cock.

"You would feel so amazing inside me," I keened, my voice unrecognizable. Low and desperate and aching.

He huffed out a harsh breath when I maneuvered his horns back so his gaze met mine. It was a heady feeling, controlling him by his horns. I could only imagine gripping them as he lapped at my slick pussy, using them as I thrust against his tongue.

There was a fire burning in my belly. Raging now that it'd been stoked. This feeling should frighten me. This level of arousal and desire should alarm me.

But his steady gaze held me, keeping me rooted to the earth. All the while, his hips moved, rocking against me, dragging that thick length through my folds until I wet the front of his pants. Even I could smell my arousal. And for the first time, I noticed how dilated his eyes were. The blue of them nearly gone. All black now.

"I don't know if you're ready for my cock, luxiva, " he informed me, gruff and deep. Why did that word sound so familiar? "Because once I get inside this hot, slick cunt, I'll keep you in my furs for days. I'll never want to leave."

Like that was a bad thing?

"So for now," he continued, his voice like a rough stroke against my body, heightening my arousal, "I'll take the edge off, tev ?"

I didn't want the edge . I wanted to hurtle off the damn cliff!

In the back of my mind—the reasonable part that was the size of a sliver, at present—I knew that it wouldn't be right to have sex with him unless I told him about the pre-treatments. I was about to begin ovulating—if I wasn't already—since I'd timed my appointment perfectly. The treatments made me extra fertile. He had a right to know and we would need to be careful, to use protection.

But right now? I could barely string two words together, so maybe he was right. I needed a little relief to be able to think straight . Relief he could give me.

"Question," I huffed out, meeting his thrusts between my thighs, making him groan low in his throat as a purr started deep in his chest.

" Tev ?" he growled.

"Do you want to kiss me?"

His eyes were so black, reflecting the fire pit at my back. The look in his gaze… shit , it almost made me spontaneously come right then and there.

My chin tilted in invitation and that was all he needed.

His lips came to mine, hard and ravenous.

I moaned, desperately mewing when I felt the purring in his chest vibrate against my hardened nipples. That felt so good, almost as good as his cock grinding against my pussy.

I angled my head so I could kiss him deeper. Parting my lips, I felt him take full advantage, a warm, thick tongue stroking at my own. Then I gasped in surprise because his tongue was ridged.

" Droxan ," I pleaded into his kiss, tasting the wine on his tongue, addicting and oh so right . "Please!"

He broke the kiss. In the next moment, my tunic was ripped off, baring my naked body. Normally, I'd feel self-conscious. About the thickness of my stomach and the way my thighs jiggled as he pushed me back. But not right then.

My back hit the cushions—a position I imagined he'd slept in the night before. The flames in the fire pit cast a golden light over my body, over his, as he prowled over me. The muscles in his arms were so deep and sculpted that the light cast them into shadow. They flexed and shifted as he moved, as he lowered himself to drag his ridged tongue over my naked breasts.

Above me, the rain pelted harder at the windows. For a brief moment, the rain seemed torrential, drowning out my loud cries of pleasure as he sucked on my tits, as he teased the tight point of my nipples with the edge of his sharp teeth.

He squeezed both of them together so he only had to turn his head a fraction to switch nipples, my cleavage a deepened valley as he played.

"Perfect," he growled, his eyes meeting mine as he sucked hard. " Vraxing perfect."

Then he shifted.

"Yes," I hissed, desperate and aching as I watched him slide down my body. I wanted to feel that tongue, hot at the seam of my pussy. I wanted him to devour me. "Droxan, please!"

"Is this what you want?" he asked me, voice guttural. If I closed my eyes, it wouldn't sound like him at all. " Vrax, look at how slick you are, vellixa . Is this where you ache for me?"

" Yes ," I cried, rolling my hips shamelessly.

"It might not pass, luxiva ," he warned, only his words didn't make sense. "It might make the need worse."

"I don't care," I exclaimed, though I no idea what he was speaking of.

He didn't even need to spread my thighs, I was already shamelessly parting them for him.

The first lap of his tongue nearly made me scream with pleasure. A rough growl joined my cry. A beat of disbelief went through me.

"Oh gods," I whispered, my eyes wide. Then I got my wish. He began to devour me.

His tongue seemed like it was everywhere as he held the lips of my pussy open, all so he could lap and lick at my clit. His whole mouth came down on me as his dark eyes held mine. My back bowed from the cushions when he sucked.

"Just like that!" I cried.

I wouldn't last long. Especially when I saw his hips rolling against the cushions below him, fucking them, seeking friction for his own pleasure.

His whispered curse fell over my sensitive flesh and then my eyes rolled back into my head when I felt the prod of his thick fingers at my entrance. He went gently at first, fucking me with one, testing my tightness. But he had me so slick, so needy, that soon he added another.

"Look at me," he growled from between my thighs as a thrill went racing down my spine. I liked him demanding and my eyes popped open at his command, seeking his. "Good female. So vraxing good."

My pussy quivered at the praise, a kink I hadn't even known I'd had, and then I reached down to grab his horns, thick in my palms.

" Tev ," he hissed, the frantic movement of his hips against the cushions quickening.

Those black orbs were pinned on me as he fucked me with his fingers and suckled on my clit.

" Droxan, " came my choked cry.

There was no warning. I felt a small tell-tale tremble…

And then I burst, hurtling over the damn cliff fast and hard.

Finally .

My scream of pleasure drowned out even the storm.