Page 51 of An Alien for Her Heart
I have to do this before I change my mind. I tilt my head back till I meet his gaze and the intensity within those eyes takes my breath away.
“I told you I wouldn’t touch you unless…”
“Unless I asked you to,” I whisper.
His throat moves. He’s just as nervous as I am.
“Varek… Please. Touch me.”I need it. But that thought isn’t one I can say. Not out loud. Not even to myself. By coming here to his quarters, I’ve already acknowledged what I want, but giving voice to it is another matter entirely.
With a soft growl, Varek dips his head. His lips touch mine again, this time with a newfound intensity that makes my knees weak. His hands—those large, clawed hands—are gentle as they slide up my arms, leaving a trail of heat in their wake. I gasp against his mouth, the sensation overwhelming, and he takes the opportunity to deepen the kiss, his tongue exploring mine with a fervor that sets my blood on fire. His claws come up to cup my face, his touch gentle but firm, as if he’s afraid I might disappear if he doesn’t hold on tight.
He’s a quick learner. At the festival, I was pretty sure he’d been following my lead. Now, he’s taking charge. My hands findtheir way to his chest, tracing the contours of his muscles, feeling the warmth of his skin beneath my fingertips. He shudders under my touch, a low rumble emanating from deep within his chest that vibrates through me and sets me alight. The sound of that rumble is such pure, unadulterated desire, that it makes my knees go weak.
We’re just kissing. We haven’t even…holy cow. A quiver goes through me that makes me grip Varek tighter. I melt into him, my body molding to his as my hands explore the expanse of his bare chest. He smells even better than before. Just pure, raw masculinity that makes me whimper again despite myself and my inhibitions.
Varek’s claws travel lower, the faint sharpness of them tracing the curve of my waist before his palms settle on my hips. He pulls me closer, lifting me slightly so that I’m flush against him. My breath hitches.
It’s there. Like a thick, hard metal pole pressing into my belly, I can feel him, and my own desire pulses in response. It’s been so long since I’ve felt this way—since I’veallowedmyself to feel this way—and it’s almost too much. But I don’t want it to stop. I don’t wanthimto stop.
“Catherine,” he murmurs against my lips, his voice rough and breathless. “You must stop me now. Otherwise, I can’t resist you. You must…” But even as he’s telling me to tell him no, there’s a plea in his tone that matches the desperation clawing for escape within me.
Just one night.
“If you’re not sure,” Varek nibbles my upper lip, a low groan leaving his throat. “I can wait. I will wait for as long as you want me to. If you’re not sure—”
My hands tighten their grip on his shoulders. “I’m sure,” I manage to whisper. “Don’t stop.”
He doesn’t need any more encouragement. With a growl that sends shivers down my spine, Varek scoops me up into his arms, carrying me effortlessly towards what I assume is his bedchamber. The room is dimly lit, the soft glow casting shadows that dance across his scales, making him look even more otherworldly.
Gently, he sets me down on the bed, and for a moment, we just look at each other, the air between us charged with anticipation. His eyes are dark with desire and another thrill goes through me at the sight. Slowly, he crawls onto the bed, hovering over me.
“You’re enchanting,” he murmurs, almost to himself as his claw traces the line of my jaw, down my neck, to the edge of my wrap dress. “May I?”
I nod, unable to form words.
Slowly, he begins to undress me, his claws surprisingly deft as they work the fastenings of my makeshift dress. Each piece of fabric that falls away leaves me feeling more exposed, more vulnerable, but also more alive than I have in years.
Each layer that falls, each layer that’s stripped away, it feels like I’m baring more than my body to this male. As if I’m baring all my past, everything about me, all the trauma and the good, all the fears and the pain, all the laughter and the rain. It’s silent when the final layer is removed, my linen panties and my soft linen bra.
I’m finally bare before him and Varek pauses. Goes so still he could be a statue and my breath stills, too. Like a lion pausing to pounce, only his eyes move. They rake over me with an intensity that makes my skin tingle and I realize, in an instant, that no man has ever looked at me likethat.
“You’re bewitching,” he whispers, and I release a surprised laugh. But there’s no humor in his tone. No humor in his eyes.Varek is looking at me as if he’s a forty-niner who’s just struck gold in the California hills.
“More beautiful than I’ve imagined.” His voice is so thick with emotion that the stunned humor that had made me laugh seeps away. I stare at him, watching him drink me in and I wonder if this is all a dream. That maybe I wasn’t rescued from those horrible Tasqals and I’m in some alien prison of their making being fed drugs that have made me imagine this new world. Imaginehim.
“How can you be real?” I whisper.
Varek looks up, eyes locking with mine. His pupils are visibly wider, making him look almost intoxicated. “Don’t say that, sura. Each sol I wake, I worry that maybeyou’renot real. That I’ve created you in my head.”
“I’m real.” My eyes search his for some evidence of deception. But there is none.
My breath hitches as he suddenly leans in, capturing my lips in another searing kiss as his claws start to explore, tracing down the curves of my body, setting my nerve endings alight. He doesn’t just touch. He kneads. He squeezes. His claws rove over every inch of me as if he’s making a map. Every little hitch of my breath, every little moan or whimper is greeted with a rumble of pleasure that sounds like it comes from the depths of his soul. As if I’m being memorized, my body’s responses committed to his mental map. His touch is both possessive and reverent, and it sends shivers down my spine. I arch into his touch, my own hands roaming over the expanse of his back, feeling the shift of his muscles beneath my fingers as he wakes up parts of me that I’ve ignored for so long.
When his claws find my breasts, I stiffen. I’ve hated them for years. More when they lost their firmness. Even more when gravity started to take its toll. But Varek doesn’t even pause. He cups and kneads the sensitive flesh, causing me to break the kisswith a gasp, my head falling back against the bed. Varek freezes and I catch a glint in his eyes as he inhales deeply. A low moan rumbles in his throat.
He takes the opportunity to trail his lips down my neck, nipping and sucking at the delicate skin, drawing breathy moans from my lips.
When his mouth finally closes around one of my nipples, I arch into him, a soft moan escaping my lips. He answers with one of his own, purring with approval as if my pleasure is intensifying his own. His tongue flicks and swirls, and my hands reach down and tighten in his hair, holding him to me as my body responds in a way it’s been yearning to for so so long.