Page 46 of Golden Darkness

He grinned and took the hand she held out to him. They left his quarters and headed to the docking area as the ship slid into the docking cradle before it was pulled into the station. She stumbled when the ship docked in place. Kethen tightened his hand and kept her on her feet. She was in a slippery dress and her normal boots. She didn’t feel fancy enough to meet Kethen’s people.

She was plain for a Terran. Her features were considered so average that she often felt invisible despite her height. Here, everyone was nearly as tall as she was, if not taller. She was small. Next to Kethen, she was tiny. She might have been getting taller, but so was Kethen. His head was nearly two feet above hers. That was one tall dude.

He walked with her into the station, carried the bag full of boxes with one hand, and kept a grip on her with the other.

“You can let me go. I am not going to run for it.”

He chuckled and wrapped his wing around her. “Oh, I am not going to give you that opportunity, but I am also not going to let you fall behind.”

She snorted and then gasped as they walked through a bright and bustling station that felt like an upscale mall rather than something in the blackness of space. It felt warm.

Janessa stared around as the stationmaster came up to Kethen with a huge grin and welcomed him home.

The entire place was filled with Kethic, and they were all staring at them as they walked to the drop station.

Men and women were bowing in her direction and murmuring, “Lady.”

It wasn’t until they were seated in the shuttle that would take them to the ground that she was able to ask. “Why am ILadyand notConsortorCompanion?”

“When you get the etiquette for dealing with Hmrain, you will understand.”

She snorted. “That is a lot of bowing and scraping that I can do without. You get me on all fours often enough.”

He growled, and his eyes were gold.

She looked at him with wild eyes. “Holy shit. Not in a shuttle.”

The crewman came in and smiled. “We are ready to dr—”

Kethen had pulled Janessa onto his lap and peeled her dress off her shoulders. His mouth covered most of her shoulder in one mouthful, his tongue swirled, and his teeth scraped. There was a chime, and he chuckled, bent her back, and his mouth engulfed her breast. He sucked strongly, and she gripped his hair. His fingers worked under her skirt and slid into her. She moaned and rocked against his fingers.

He growled, and the whine emerged that indicated he was hungry. She groaned. “You had me all night.”

“I need blood.”

“You had blood.”

“More,” he muttered against her breast.

He surged to his feet and lifted her with the wing claws, holding her up while his head disappeared under her dress.

Her hands were on his head under her skirt. He tongued her sex and clit, but he couldn’t wait, and the whine started.

When he licked frantically at her inner thigh and whined, her lower body got hotter. He was calling the blood, and it was coming.

He slid two fingers into her, and when he bit, she squealed and thrashed. She sobbed as she clenched and twisted while he sucked hard to pull the blood from her. He licked the wounds closed and pulled himself out of her dress. He sighed happily and licked his lips.

She swallowed and smiled. “You look so pleased with yourself.”

“I am. We have landed on the surface. You are home.”

She kept her gaze locked with his as he slid her down the wall.

“Home?”

“My home and your home. Wherever your future takes you, this will be your starting point.”

He released her wrists and pressed his lips to her forehead.