CHAPTER 26

Chloe pulled away from Nitiel's lips and ran her fingers along the suit over his chest. She still couldn't believe he had kept the ship and himself in one piece.

While the jelly had protected her from a serious injury, the pilot seat he had remained in to save them had the looks of a deathtrap. Perhaps this Goddess the Gaenthians worshiped really had something to do with it. Or her male–niel was truly that good at his job.

"Why did you resist this thing between us for so long?" she asked. Lying beside her on his side, Nitiel looked disappointed at how she had interrupted their kissing session, but Chloe had to know. "I mean, it was only after we slept together that you declared me yours and the ASI's choice of my fated mate, a mistake." She raised a brow at him. "Is it because your first time was so… explosive that you want me as yours now?"

If he was just infatuated with her as a novelty, Chloe needed to know now, before he got her heart broken. Though, something told her it was a little too late for that: she was head over heels for him already.

When exactly that had happened, she couldn't tell. Perhaps from the moment Nitiel had entered her apartment, when his strong presence had taken over her tiny home and his cobalt-blue gaze had met hers. Or after the limo had malfunctioned, sending them crashing into each other, when he had wrapped her in his wings for the first time.

Heck if she knew. Chloe couldn't even tell how many days had passed since then, and not because distinguishing days was hard in space. So many things had happened that a year might as well have gone by. And for all those events he had been beside her, wiggling his way into her heart until she couldn't imagine being without him.

But if he now said she was his, only to get tired of her after a few sweaty romps…

Nitiel caught her chin between his fingers to ensure she kept her eyes on his. "I gave it my all to resist you, Loe, from the very beginning. Because there is nothing more sacred to my kind than the link between fated mates. How could I take what the Goddess had chosen for another?... But my strength failed me when you came aboard, and now that we have joined our bodies into one and survived the impossible… I know in my bones and to the tips of my feathers that you're mine, Loe. My hearts are yours, both the upper and the lower."

"Awww…" Dang, he was going to make her cry.

"I cannot live without you, Loe. It would tear me apart."

"Nitiel…" He had done it. There were tears running down her cheeks. "I feel the same."

He didn't reply, just smiled. Why was there sadness in his eyes, though? She was about to ask, but he spoke first. "Whatever happens, never doubt my hearts are yours, Loe."

"Never." She brushed a tear away, and he brushed another with his thumb.

"Now," he cupped the nape of her neck, "I want another explosive time with you. My niela."

"Heck yes." No more crying, be it from mushy happiness or not. She pushed Nitiel on his back.

"Loe?"

She waited for his wings to settle into the jelly before she climbed on top, hands on his shoulders to avoid putting pressure on his bite wound. "I wanted to do this while you were keeping me warm on the way to the station. We wasted so much time."

The blue of his eyes brightened with desire. "Ride me?"

Chloe smiled coyly. "That too. I'll show you." She ran her hands down his uniform all the way to his abs. She had found their first time with him fully clothed erotic, a sign of his desperate need for her, but now she wanted to see the whole of him. "Um, how does this thing come off?"

He grinned. "Only my touch can deactivate the material."

"Really? The Gaenthian Staff must badly want to protect their soldiers from being taken advantage of by lusty women."

"This lusty female can do with me as she pleases," he rumbled. He took her hand in his and slid their joined palms from his neck down to his belly button. The uniform parted in the middle, revealing the purple expanse of his chest and abdomen.

Chloe leaned down and planted a kiss on the bandage covering the cibiri's bite mark. There would be no more wounds marring his skin, she would make sure of it. As for the pale scars of hard battles fought and won, she made sure to kiss each one on her way down. She rubbed her thighs together as she did – she never thought her male being a warrior would be such a turn-on.

"Let me take care of you, niela."

"No." She pushed his hand back down on the pad. "This is about you now. Niel." She dipped the tip of her tongue in his belly button.

He groaned, and his claws unsheathed into the jelly.

"Why, Subcommander, this is scandalous. Your belly button is exposed to a lady… Then again, would a lady do this?"

Chloe slid lower and rubbed her cheek against the bulge in his uniform. A very prominent bulge. "While we were on the pilot seat in the other ship, this kept poking me, driving my imagination wild. How big could it be? Would it be purple all over? The reality turned out to be so much better than what I imagined. But I need a closer look."

A needy groan escaped him as she yet again rubbed her cheek between his thighs. "Loe."

She smiled seductively. At least, she hoped her smile conveyed her naughty intentions. She had never been in this role in bed before and though she was enjoying being in control, she was not sure Nitiel would for long. She shouldn't torment him. Much.

"Let me see the whole of you, Subcommander." She took his hand and together, they parted his uniform all the way. "Oh…"

His cock sprang free in all its purple glory. A darker purple down its length and lighter around the head. It wasn't much different from a human's, just wider and with very thick veins running from tip to base. Even without the piercings, he would have felt exquisite inside her.

She licked along one vein experimentally. Nitiel groaned.

She bit her bottom lip. If he reacted so strongly to a tentative lick, what would happen if she wrapped her mouth around him? If she hollowed her cheeks and sucked him deep? Could she take his full length, as long, thick, and pierced as he was, when she had zero experience in this? Only one way to find out.

Chloe closed her lips around the broad head and circled the tip with her tongue. Whoa, he tasted like salted caramel! She greedily took more of him in her mouth–

Nitiel's roar echoed in the ship as he erupted.

Surprise and triumph filled Chloe. She had wanted to try much more, but as long as she had given Nitiel pleasure, she didn't mind. As for her own pleasure, the sight of him enjoying her touch had brought her so close to orgasm that a few flicks of her clit would have her coming.

She swallowed the sweet taste of Nitiel and smiled at his dazed expression. As she watched, his awed look her way disappeared. To be replaced by a hungry one.

"Um…"

Chloe squeaked as he caught her by the waist and hoisted her up. Before she knew it, he had her pressed against the wall of the ship, facing away from him. He placed her palms on the cold metal. "Stay still, niela."

Was he going to take her from behind? But no, he had come, so he couldn't. What was he–

His hands left her hips. For a moment, nothing happened. Then her bodice fell to the ground. The ties at the back had been cut in the middle. With claws. The only thing preventing her dress from being removed was gone.

Liquid heat slid down her thighs as Nitiel caught her skirt and pulled the entire dress over her head. Leaving her in her bra and panties.

Chloe bit her lip, awaiting his reaction. When none followed, she looked over her shoulder.

Nitiel stood with his hands balled into fists, wings tucked close to his back, eyes roving her body. "What is this?" he asked, voice low.

"Sexy lingerie?"

He growled. "Turn around."

She did, hesitantly. She had actually forgotten about Trixie's idea. When she had insisted Chloe put on the purple lace push-up bra and thong they had printed in Trixie's home after the ball, Chloe had done so unenthusiastically. She was not a seductress and, besides, was it fair to use sexy lingerie to make Nitiel give in to his desire for her? She wanted him to take that step on his own, not because she had dangled her thong in his face. And now it sounded as though he was not happy with her scandalous underwear.

Wrong. Because when she faced him, Chloe discovered he was so hard his cock was pulsing against his abs. Oh my.

"Do you like the purple?" she asked breathily. The sight of her effect on him was intoxicating.

"My color on you… Yes." His voice had gone husky. A shiver ran up her spine that had nothing to do with the cold wall at her back. "But you… You are what drives me wild."

My oh my."Then…?"

He shook his head, his knuckles turning pink from how hard he was squeezing his fists. "If I move now… I'm trying to garner some sense of control, or I'll tear that lace to shreds. I will not be gentle. I will take you deep and hard, Loe."

"So?"

A low rumple rose from his chest. Then he scooped her up and flew her to the cockpit so fast she felt dazed.

"Where?"

"You made your fantasy a reality; it's my turn."

Oh, did she like the sound of that.

Nitiel sat on the pilot seat and turned her in his lap until she was straddling him. She gasped at the wet heat of his mouth around her lace-covered nipple. His hand gave the other a squeeze. He then alternated kissing and pinching the two buds, making sure both got proper attention.

Now Chloe was the one who wanted the bra torn off. There should be no barriers between them. She was considering how to take it off, bent back in Nitiel's secure hold as she was, when he gave her nape a nip. "Let's see those pretty nipples." He slid a finger under the line of lace between her breasts, unsheathed a claw, and cut right through it with a single motion.

The bra was now nothing but two pieces of lace dangling from her shoulders. She had no time to shrug them off – Nitiel dove right in for the taking. She could do nothing but wiggle in his lap as he teased her nipples with lips and tongue to his hearts' desire. Chloe had no idea her breasts were so sensitive; she had the feeling she could come from his mouth on them alone.

He released one nipple with a wet pop. "Are you ready for me, niela?"

"Yes!"

"Are you ready to take my cock in your tight little pussy?"

"Yes, yes!" If he kept talking like that, she would come in her panties.

"Will you ride me to your pleasure while I move you up and down my cock? Take me while I'm taking you?"

God, this man. Even in his greatest desire, when he claimed he was incapable of being gentle, he said the sweetest things. And people claimed romance was dead? Not in space, it wasn't.

"I love you, Nitiel."

He froze for a moment. Then his lips took hers in a scorching kiss that spoke more than words. She couldn't catch her breath. And then he tore her thong off with a single move and impaled her on his thick cock.

"Oh, fuck." He felt bigger from this angle, reached deeper. "Give me a moment."

"Niela…" Nitiel buried his face in the crook of her neck, shaking from the effort to stand still while she adjusted to his girth.

She did an experimental circle with her hips. They both groaned. His fingers dug into her butt cheeks.

"Take me, niel."

That unleashed the full force of his passion. He began bouncing her off on his cock with breathtaking strength, his biceps bulging under her hands. His wings closed around them, the soft feathers teasing along her heated skin – there was no escaping his hold. The thought of being entirely in his power while knowing he would never hurt her was heady. Add to that the tantalizing friction her clit was getting as she rode him, and it was clear Chloe wouldn't last.

"Oh, my Lord!" She was tethering on the edge of bliss.

"If I'm your lord, you're my lady. Mine and mine alone!"

"Yours!"

Suddenly, he rose from the pilot seat, his cock still buried deep. "I need to see," he rumbled. His wings opened behind her, and he laid Chloe on the console. With no buttons sticking out of the screen, her upper body was on a smooth surface that felt nicely cool against her back. Outside she could see an endless ice plain, but inside the ship she was burning. That inner fire only intensified when Nitiel hooked her legs over his elbows, splaying her open to his gaze, and began moving, his eyes on where their bodies were connected. With his wings spread behind him, he was magnificent.

"You truly love seeing me take you, don't you?" she panted. His powerful thrusts were leading her to the precipice at a crazy speed, and she wanted him to join her. "Seeing your amazing cock sink in my pussy?"

He leaned down and kissed her without stopping his thrusts. It was the tenderness that undid her.

Chloe came on a scream. Nitiel roared his release immediately after. His filling her up prolonged her pleasure by several more pulsations, which left her boneless on the console. He rested his forehead on hers, breathless. He was shaking all over from the strain to keep himself upright without crushing her.

"Perhaps we should move back to the pad?" she suggested.

"Yes… My lady deserves a soft bed… for the next taking."

"The next?"

"In two minutes… So I can recover."

Chloe bit her bottom lip to stifle a giggle. "Two? That's forever. My lord should up his game."

He grunted and lifted her off the console. Chloe squealed in delight. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he headed to the other room with determination. The lord clearly intended to ravish his lady.

She couldn't wait.