Nine

Chapter

How could Hayley feel utterly relaxed and yet amped up at the same time? Her body was tingling everywhere, a strange anticipation building within her. She’d just had the best climax of her life and usually only wanted to take a nap after. This time, she wanted to line herself up with that second fully-ready dick and go to town—again. The fatigue that had been plaguing her retreated, along with the aches and pains. She couldn’t explain it, except that it was like stretching when she was super stiff and sore and feeling the tension release all at once on a cellular level.

I have definitely been in a mad scientist’s sci-fi lab for too long.

The thought sent an unpleasant shiver down her spine. Rom immediately tensed, running his hand over her back as if chasing the feeling away. Miraculously, it vanished beneath his touch.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Just thinking about things that I really don’t want to think about.” She ran her fingertips along his cheekbone, then over his jaw. “Help me clear my mind? Just for a little while longer?”

Rom reached up and clasped her hand, bringing it to his lips to kiss her palm. He pressed it against his face, his eyes closing. When they opened again, their glow had intensified.

“Anything for you,” he said.

In a different scenario, she would be a little worried about how devoted he was, but in this nightmare, he was a beacon of light. It wasn’t just because he was her best chance for escape. He gave her hope that there was something for her to escape to. A future with the two of them together—with Mindy as well. They would all return to Earth and live in her family home. She’d introduce Katie to her chosen family and they would welcome her just as they had Hayley. It would be perfect. Just as it was this moment, lying in his arms.

Rom rolled her onto her back, lining up the dick that was still rock hard. He brushed her hair away from her face, staring at her as if memorizing her features. Then he kissed her deeply, passionately. He pulled back and stared into her eyes.

“I am yours,” he said.

Her throat tightened with emotion. He hadn’t claimed her. He had offered himself. After everything she’d been through, that one gesture of kindness nearly undid her. Everything he’d said before was right as well. She felt it in her bones, in her… In her soul. She smiled and nodded up at him.

“I’m yours, too,” she said.

He let out a breath, his entire body relaxing. Well, not his entire body. She could feel him poised at her entrance, waiting to ensure she was truly ready.

“It’s okay,” she said. “You don’t have to hold back.” His brow furrowed, so she reassured him further. “I want all of you. I… I need you. Everything you can give me. I can handle it.”

He lowered his head, his body shuddering as he quickly slid into her. Her sheath stretched to accommodate him, sending white-hot arcs of pleasure along her nerves. How could she be so worked up again already? Her heart pounded in her ears, her skin rose in goosebumps everywhere. Her inner heat built as he thrust into her, over and over again. He landed harder, his strokes becoming faster, stoking a fire within her that felt as though it would consume her. She wanted it to. She wanted to be remade into something that was hers . Something that was his as well.

The thought unsettled her, but only for a moment. Then Rom was kissing her, as if he could sense her turmoil. His tongue branded her mouth, all the passion he’d held back before pouring into her.

He held himself up with one elbow so that he could reach up with his other hand and cup her breast, pinching and rolling her nipple between his finger and thumb. Her core clenched, a pulsing beat picking up where they were joined. She clenched his shoulders, feeling his muscles flex beneath her hands. How could that be so erotic?

Electric heat built even higher within her, her nerves on fire, her body screaming for release. His hand slid down her side to her leg, lifting it and wrapping it around his waist, letting him land harder and reach even deeper within her. A wave of ecstasy hit her, her body lighting up with an energy she’d never felt before.

Rom’s dick answered the pulsing pull of her sex, urging him to his own release. Her vision whited out as she felt him spill himself within her, heard him cry out her name. Her body hummed as though it was a tuning fork that had been perfectly struck, every cell in her body vibrating with pleasure.

Beyond that, she felt… good. There was no pain anywhere. No aches. No bizarre feelings in her joints and limbs, as if they didn’t know what they were doing or had never been connected before. Her mind was clear, her body felt… sturdy. Stable. She hadn’t realized just how bad off she had been until this very moment. Her body finally felt like it worked .

Well, except for her vision. She blinked, trying to clear the white light from her eyes. She stared past Rom’s back at the ceiling as it came into focus and gasped. Rainbows filled the space around them. Thousands of them. Somehow, they floated in midair, not being cast on anything but just… being.

“What am I seeing?” she asked, breathlessly.

Rom chuckled, sending more pleasant vibrations through her body from where they were still joined. He nuzzled her neck, then kissed it with a skill that had her toes curling. He made his way to her ear, sucking on her earlobe and ever-so-gently raking his teeth across it. Her core clenched again, and he let out a rumbling growl of approval. Something in his mannerism had changed. Not in a bad way, just… He was different.

He leaned up to stare into her eyes. His face was more relaxed, lines of strain she hadn’t recognized before gone. There was a confidence to his manner that was new, too. He ran his nose along her neck so that he could murmur his words into her ear, his warm breath making goosebumps rise along her skin.

“That is unity, sweetheart,” he said. “And you had better get used to it, because you’re going to be seeing those rainbows a whole lot.”

“What—”

Before she could finish her sentence, she felt him slide from her body, then immediately plunge into her with his second dick again. She gasped, arching her back as a fresh wave of pleasure cantered along her nerves. He released his grip on her leg, but only so he could use that hand to reach between them and swirl his thumb over her clit.

Another climax crashed through her, intense enough to make her cry out. Her eyes clenched shut. He claimed her mouth again, his thrusts quickening, drawing out the incredible sensations spiraling out from where they were joined. When she managed to open her eyes again, the rainbows had multiplied and were swirling in little circles. Rom grunted, his dick pulsing with her. Maybe now they could talk about—

Nope, once more he slid from her and immediately filled her with his other dick. Holy crap, were they ever going to leave this bed again? She almost didn’t mind, except there were people counting on her.

“Rom.” The rest of her sentence was swallowed on a gasp as he pulled himself from her, then thrust back in.

“Yes, Hayley?” He grinned as he looked down at her, completely aware of the carnal carnival he was taking her body to.

She smiled, despite the seriousness of their situation, then gasped again as he angled his hips, hitting her in a particularly sensitive spot.

“You really…” Another gasp. “…know what you’re doing here.”

“I’ve learned everything I can to keep pleasing you in as many ways as you’d like,” he said. “As often as you’d like.”

“I can… I can see that. But we need to talk.”

He nuzzled her neck, brushing her ear with his nose again and nibbling on her earlobe. “We’re talking now.”

She laughed. Her chest tingled, her lungs filling with energy. It felt as if she had never laughed before. She had thought she never would again, certainly not while she was still in this hell. But somehow, this extraordinary, gorgeous, alien man made her laugh, even here.

A playful energy emanated from him. It was more than his mannerisms. As contented as she was in that moment, she was far from being able to feel anything so free. Was she sensing his emotions?

Something deeper lay beneath his happiness. A warmth and affection that soaked into her with an intensity that brought tears to her eyes.

Soulmate stories had never really been Hayley’s thing. She didn’t like the idea of needing to be completed by someone else. There was something about this, something about being held in Rom’s arms, about feeling him buried deep within her, that made her realize it wasn’t about being complete or not. It was about connection. She had never felt more connected to anyone before. Not even Mindy when they spoke in each other’s minds.

“I really hope Mindy can’t hear us,” Hayley whispered.

“I bet she’s asleep in the other room,” Rom murmured against her neck. “It’s what Ed and Zorro would do, and they aren’t half as smart as she is.”

“Ed and Zorro?”

“A Newfoundland and a Saint Bernard. They belong to a couple of friends of mine in Harbor, Kansas.”

“Wait…”

That level of detail was unexpected. Rom had said that he sensed when things people said were right, but he hadn’t conjured up information like that before. As if he could sense her confusion, he pushed himself up onto his elbows to smile down at her with a cocky, lopsided smile.

“Unity happens when Cygnian soulmates claim each other for the first time—and every time after,” he said. “Their souls connect in their bodies’ union, letting their essences mingle and restoring their balance. You look like you’re feeling a hell of a lot better.”

“I am,” she said, still staring up at him in awe.

“Me, too,” he said. “So much so that I got my memory back.”

Her eyes widened. “That’s wonderful!”

“Mmm-hmm.” He hummed against her neck, sending a delicious vibration through her body. As he did, he started moving again, leisurely thrusts that set her nerves simmering.

“Do we really have time for this though?” she said. “I mean, you have your memory back, so we should make a plan to escape.”

“Or bide our time till the cavalry comes.”

Her heart quickened. “What do you mean?”

“I mean I’m part of a prism.” He shifted his hips, changing the angle of his thrusts and somehow stimulating her in new ways. The more he spoke, the faster her heart beat. “Seven Cygnian warriors with their own sort of soul bonds. The bonds of brotherhood. We can feel each other, no matter where we are. Which is why I know they’re on the way here to help rescue every single person who needs rescuing and wreak vengeance on those who don’t.”

She hadn’t dared to dream of that. All she had wanted was a chance to escape with Mindy and Katie. A shadow rose up within her as she pictured those who had tortured her facing the same torment. Rom paused his movements, lifting himself on his elbows so he could stare down into her eyes. He kissed her so tenderly that her heart ached. When he broke off the kiss, he left their foreheads touching.

“Let it go, Hayley,” Rom whispered. “Just for now. We can put on the mantle of war when we’re ready. For these few blessed moments, let’s just be with each other. Let us heal.”

Tears filled her eyes, but she blinked them away and smiled. The terrors she had faced were in the past. Now, in Rom’s arms, she finally had the courage to dream of a brighter future.