Page 9 of The Naga Princess's Soldier Mate

“Now, Sazzie, why don’t you explain to me what the hell is going on? Why did they call you a princess? Why are they challenging you? And what the fuck is going on in the Shaman camp? It was chaos when I left…” Reid seemed to want to know all these answers; he certainly spoke with demand, a forcefulness to his tone that a Naga male would never dare to use against someone like me. But Reid didn’t know who I was. Despite his demands, his hands were roaming, and they were very distracting.

One hand dipped down my spine. At first, it seemed like he was simply checking that all the slashes Evarah had gouged into my back were gone. Then it dipped lower. I had never allowed a male to touch me there, but he stroked his hand across the curve of my hip and along the rounded part that shaped my rear. From there, my body tapered into my long, sinuous tail—so very different from his pair of legs.

“Pretty angel, tell me now, before I forget what I was asking,” Reid said huskily, and I shivered in response to that heated tone. He wanted me in ways he shouldn’t, in ways I shouldn’t let him, and he was so blatant about it. It was strange. It was supposed to be wrong, and yet it felt so right. When his hand roamed around the side of my hip, coming perilously close to my slit, my entire body trembled against him. What was he doing?

“Reid…” My voice came out like a moan, a sound all soft and mewling. I had never made a sound like that—not in my entire adult life, maybe not even when I was young. It was so weak-sounding, but it felt powerful when it made Reid groan, his hips bucking beneath mine.

“Ah, fuck, Sazzie. You are too sexy. You know that?” He appeared to have given up on his questions; after all, his hand rose, unerringly finding my chin. He tilted my head up, forcing me to look at his handsome face. “Kiss me, please,” he said, and the way it sounded like a plea made me want to do exactly as he asked. Except I had no clue what he meant. Kiss? It was not a word that had a translation. It meant nothing to me, but he seemed desperate for it. Helplessly, I stared at his warm brown eyes, at the heat and fire that burned inside those orbs for me.

Reid didn’t seem to require me to move, though; he was the one lowering his head to mine. Then he did the most shocking, most lurid thing I’d ever experienced: he pressed his mouth to mine—his lips against my lips—and he didn’t stop there. No, he slipped his tongue inside, delving deep in one fell swoop. I jerked in his grip, surprised to discover that one hand cupped the back of my head while the other rested on my rear, pressing me tight against his erection. I had nowhere to go, and unless I wanted to harm him, I could only surrender to his touch.

When I did, I did not regret it. It felt good. He tasted good, and within seconds, I was the one pressing closer, squirming needily in his grip. “Ah, Reid, what is that?” I moaned when his mouth released me for a breath of air. He dipped again, his mouth claiming mine, and I could only cling to him as he flicked his tongue against mine and dragged it against the roof of my mouth. When I curled my much longer, more narrow tongue around his, he shuddered.

“Fuck, Sazzie. I forgot you guys don’t do this. Why are you so fucking good at it if this is your first fucking kiss?” His hands were roaming again; no longer did he grip my rear or the back of my head. He found the strap of my bandeau, and then he was sliding it down and cupping the small peak of my breast. “A perfect handful. Are you made for me or what?” He could not possibly know how close to the truth he was with those words, but I could not bring myself to admit that. A Naga female was supposed to be lukewarm to indifferent to her male. He was good for strong offspring and caretaking; that was it. But Reid was already so much more to me.

“Shut up,” I told him firmly, “and keep doing that thing with your tongue.” I wanted more of that, and when he laughedbut obeyed, I let myself get carried away by all the pleasurable sensations. How it was possible that touching my tongue with his could make my blood sing and my belly ache with pleasure, I did not know. I just knew I wanted more of it. I wanted everything he had to give me.

Reid rolled us as if he’d heard that wild, naughty thought, his breathing much faster than before. With one hand, he pinned one of my wrists above my head, his body pressing down against mine until I felt surrounded, safe. I was not the one in control of this dance, and I liked that. Reid seemed to know exactly what he was doing, and though I’d been taught to consider his blatant erection shameful, his confidence turned me on. He wanted me—me—and he was not afraid to show that.

His mouth left mine, and I mewled in dissatisfaction. “No, come back!” But then I felt the scrape of his teeth along the edge of my jaw, his tongue lapping at the hollow of my throat. Ah, stars, that was even better somehow. I did not know where he was going, but I was dying to find out. His hand massaged my left breast, and then that fantastic mouth closed around the right. The suction was out of this world, and pleasure flashed hot and bright. It tightened in my abdomen, pooling there until I ached, teetering on the precipice of something great, something just out of reach.

“Ah, precious angel, are you going to come for me? Will you do that?” Reid murmured against the hard, aching point of my nipple. I did not know what he was asking of me, but when he lifted his hips—thus his cock—away from mine, I knew that wasn’t right. His hand was distracting as it slid from my breast down to my belly. His agile fingers swirled around my belly button, then dipped lower. Ah, my slit; he was going to touch methere. Part of my brain went, “With his hand?” The rest of me was onboard, waiting for whatever he wanted to do with me. He could do anything—it all felt good. I had never felt this good, and I was greedy for more.

His fingers parted the hidden folds like an expert, as if he’d known exactly what to expect. There was a spark of anger, a hint of jealousy at the back of my brain at that realization, but it was quickly gone. I couldn’t think when he found the tight bundle of nerves at the top of my slit and flicked it with his blunt finger. Then he did it again, and again, and stars burst and shattered behind my eyes, pleasure cresting hard and sudden beneath that much sensation.

“That’s it, Sazzie. That’s it,” Reid praised me, and his finger dipped lower, finding my core and pressing inside. I moaned, sounds coming from my throat I didn’t know I could make. My muscles clenched around his invasion, pulling him in even deeper. Each wave of my crest spiraled me higher and higher until I was certain the crash was going to hit me hard. It didn’t, because Reid was there to catch me, easing me down with gentle strokes and softly murmured words of praise. Then he gathered me tightly against his chest and rocked me through the last of the shudders as if I were a youngling. “Good girl, my angel. That’s it. That’s good, isn’t it?”His husky voice, raw and a little rough, sounded so good right now.

When my breathing evened out, my head was still spinning. What we’d just done—that wasn’t a mating. His cock was still a hard bar pressing against the fabric of his strange leg coverings. He had not pierced me with it, but with his thick finger instead, and already that had felt like too much, like it barely fit at all. Tilting my head, I slid it against his chest so I could glance downand measure the size of that bulge: as thick as my wrist, maybe, and as long as my forearm. I hadn’t realized males were that big down there. Or was that a human thing?

“Later,” Reid said, his mouth against my head, inhaling the scent of my hair as he spoke. I felt the warmth of his breath, sensitive everywhere after what we’d just done. Restlessness coursed through my veins as well, urging me toward something I wasn’t sure I was ready for. “I mean it, angel. Go to sleep. It’s night out, and we have much to discuss tomorrow.” He was being firm again, and everything inside me tingled in response. It was nice because it meant I didn’t have to be the one to make the hard choices. I could simply trust him.

I settled more comfortably in his arms, and itwascomfortable—so very warm and safe. Was this what Vera felt when she curled up with Zathar in his nest at night? Was this why so many of the outcast males gathered at Haven just for a chance at a human female of their own? I felt sad when I considered that my Naga sisters might never enjoy this. It was hard to imagine that they didn’t even want it. How could you not want this?

I eyed Reid’s cock again, hidden behind the dark fabric that covered his lower half. What did it look like? “Sazzie,” Reid groaned, “I am still getting used to these heightened senses. Stop smelling so fucking good.” He laughed, his mouth pressing against my forehead in another ‘kiss,’ only this one felt affectionate rather than arousing. He was laughing at himself as he said it, and I liked that.

“I can’t control it,” I said to him. “And it’s not like you aren’t doing the same to me.” I flicked my tongue into the air, drawing scent particles deep inside my mouth and pressing them againstthe scent receptor at the roof of my mouth. Reid’s scent and taste exploded into hyperfocus in my mind—musky, salty, the perfect blend of savory. A scent uniquely his, and more intense than it usually was.

“Fair enough,” he agreed, “but we should talk before we take things further.” I didn’t know what that meant. We were mates; that’s why I understood him. Taking things ‘further’ was the point of a mate bond—and mating. Maybe he hadn’t realized it yet? I felt a hint of trepidation as I realized he might think I had those strange relics in my head, like Erish and Chen had told me about. Relics that translated things, instead of the mate bond doing it.

“Sleep, Sazzie. We both need it.” He seemed to find it easy to fall asleep after that, even though it took a very long time for his cock to soften beneath his coverings, so I could no longer see it. Had it properly retreated into its pouch? Did human males even have a pouch? It took even longer before I managed to fall back asleep, but when I did, it was deeply and filled with dreams—nice dreams. Dreams about a baby Ayala, and then my babies, but they had brown eyes.

Chapter 7

Reid

Sazzie was still asleep by the time I woke early the next morning. She lay curled against my chest, her head tucked beneath my chin, and her fist clung tightly to my dogtags. I wasn’t sure why I was still wearing them—habit maybe, a way to remember my past. My angel seemed fascinated with them; that was a good enough reason to keep wearing them.

Erish wasn’t in this morning, though he usually was by now, which could only mean that he was giving us privacy. I appreciated that. It was very tempting to wake my angel with a kiss and seduce her into some more steamy kisses and heavy petting. She had responded so beautifully to me last night, and I could not wrap my head around it. Sazzie was perfect—beautiful, kind, with far too many soft edges she left unshielded. How could she exist in a world like this? She appealed to every single part of me, and I hoped that my rough sides matched her softness somehow. I wanted that very much. I had earned a little slice of heaven by now, hadn’t I?

The Naga believed in mate bonds, in true mates. I’d seen it in action at Haven several times over, and it was easy to believe it was true after that kind of evidence. Zathar and Vera had fallen first, heavily, but by now, all my fellow humans had paired up and found marital, mating bliss. Was that what I was feeling for Sazzie? Could humans sense it too? It looked that way to me, and I was more than willing to go there. Sazzie needed me, and, frankly, I needed her.

She stirred slowly, her eyes blinking open as if she were fighting hard not to rise. My angel appeared not to be a morning person; she squinted at the light crystals with a frown, her mouth turning down in a sultry pout. Then, she realized where she was, and that pout transformed into a startled "O," her pretty sapphire eyes growing wide. “I… uh… I should go,” she whispered, her tongue slipping out to lick nervously at her soft bottom lip. After how she’d let me touch her last night, she had no reason to be this nervous, and I thought it was cute. Nobody seemed to see it but me, but my angel was so shy.

“No, you do not,” I told her, but I loosened my grip around her waist so she wouldn’t feel trapped. That, I didn’t want. “You want to stay right here, with me.” If possible, her eyes grew even larger in her face, and a dark flush colored her azure scales in streaks along her cheekbones. Interesting. I’d seen that on some of the males back at Haven, mostly when they were feeling a battle high. I didn’t realize it functioned much like a blush, too.

Reaching up with a thumb, I brushed the divot beneath her left eye, the one made by a claw in the past. “Tell me who did this to you,” I demanded, my body thrumming with energy as I contemplated how I’d make them pay. I could feel an itch along the markings on my chest and shoulders—not my tattoos, but the ones I’d woken up with since my nanobot clash. There was itching along my belly as well, but it all morphed into heat that warmed my muscles. I was starting to get the hang of this. It felt like controlling the nanobots myself was almost within my grasp. If I just focused a little more, I could do it.

“This?” she murmured, a soft smile starting to curl around her mouth. “Don’t worry about it, Reid. It’s in the past, all of it.” I didn’t think she meant to draw my attention to the other scarsthat marred her body, but she did. They were numerous, mostly on the fronts of her arms, shoulders, and belly. Her chest had been spared, as had the rest of her, and I surmised it was because Naga females only fought in face-to-face combat, duels. She had not been wounded on hunts, where anything could happen. From what I’d seen yesterday, Naga females wore a lot of metal jewelry around their necks. If Sazzie had done the same, it would have protected her chest. Which begged the question: where was her jewelry now?

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