Page 68 of The Alien Warrior's Mate

“I’m more than my womb, Korben.”

“Of course.”

“What if I can’t get pregnant?” Sara challenged. “Will you still treasure me then? If I’m not the future of the race. If I’m not the woman who’ll give birth to the warrior’s offspring, will you still touch me so tenderly?” She pointed to his hand. “Will you still call me your heras?”

His hold on her turned firm and his fingers gently dug into her cheek. “Yes.”

“Korben…”

“Yes, I will.” He leaned in, his voice a low growl. “I chose you as my matebeforefilling you with my seed. I chose you of my own will, knowing that I would not be able to reproduce with you and wanting to claim you anyway because if I did not, I felt I would not survive. Becauseyoumake me feel like I cannot breathe without you.” He pressed his hand against her stomach. “If this womb ever carries my child, I will see it as a blessing.” He slid his hand up her elbow and back down. “If it doesn’t, you will still be a blessing, Sah-ah. You are my mate.” He kissed her lips. “You.” Another kiss. “Are.” Another. “Mine.”

By his last kiss, she was leaning back slightly and digging her fingers into the sand, pushing against the bank for support. Her hands trembled and she thrust her fingers in deeper, holding on for dear life as her body flashed with heat.

Those were the right words. So right. Everything she could want to hear.

And Sara desperately wanted to believe them.

“I will show you,” Korben continued, his purple eyes burning into her, “what it means to be my female.”

“Korben…” She groaned as he devoured her lips.

His tongue danced with hers. His fingers gently caressed her chest and then slid beneath her dress. Korben scraped his fingers against her inner thigh, drawing a line down her knee with her own moisture.

Sara groaned, her eyes narrowing as he teased her. “Korben.”

“These doubts in your head will fall by my hand. I will vanquish every voice that dares to hide the truth of who you are to me.” His fingers slid close to where she needed them to be.

Sara panted, trying to adjust her hips.

Korben touched her gently. “Because you are brave.” His left hand cupped her knee. “You are kind.” He eased her legs apart, so her thighs hit the sand. “You are perfect for me. And I will honor and cherish you until I draw my last breath.”

Fire blazed through her veins, coming alive with the light, teasing brush of his fingers. Everywhere he grazed left trails of electricity over her quivering flesh. She cried out as pleasure rocked her.

Ga Eun had been right. Korben’s effect on her did get more intense as their connection grew. The heat of his body consumed her, and her muscles tightened, building from a tension that wound so tight one more stroke and it was snap.

And then Sara did snap.

It was more than justintense.

It was… mind-blowing.

She threw her head back, her chest heaving high and creating a perfect arch. The wind tussled her hair, sending black curls over her dark cheeks and sweat-stained neck. Her fingers fell off Korben’s shoulders and dug into the mud, drawing clumps of earth and filling her nostrils with the scent of freshly turned clay.

Opening her mouth, she let loose a whimper. A cry for mercy. But Korben did not relent. Waves of pleasure rolled over her, directed by Korben’s relentless rhythm. And, by the time she’d fallen apart and been put back together several times, Sara could hardly think straight.

Korben glanced up with a wicked smirk and softly, almost gently pulled her tunic down so it fell against her thighs. He licked his lips, a seductive curl of his tongue. “Perhaps you should adopt this habit of not wearing undergarments.”

Sara flopped on her back as her mind spun and light exploded behind her eyelids. Her toes curled, pressing into the fine sand and slicking her bare feet with mud. “Right now, I’m feeling crazy enough to consider it.”

His low, masculine chuckle washed over her, stirring her up again. “Do you need a moment, my heras?”

“You.” She lifted her head and stared boldly at him. “I need you, Korben.”

Enthara turned her head away, but not before she saw that the dinosaur’s eyes were a deep, ruby red.Desire.Korben cradled her close and she forgot about the zapten. She forgot her own name. Walking with her to the hammock, Korben pressed his lips against hers and made her dizzy with his slow, languid kisses.

There was no urgency in his movements. It was not the same desperation that had descended on them yesterday during the frantic mating ritual. In that bed, they were animals. Wild. Uncaged. Writhing, moaning, scratching, clawing and destroying.

Today, his pace was slow. Unhurried. Like someone unwrapping a gift they already owned. Korben dropped her into the hammock and climbed on with her. The nets creaked, but it held his weight, just as Ga Eun had promised.

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