Page 13 of A Monster's Light
I pulled up another chair and sat down. It was too small and made for human legs, but it would have to do. I pointed to the words on the various bottles, and she read the labels for me until I found a disinfectant that was safe for my claws and her skin. She furrowed her brows, clearly confused about what I was doing, until I extended my smallest fingers.
She inhaled sharply. “Your claws! Of course. I totally forgot you had them.”
She reached for my hand, inquisitive about our differences, and I let her sate her curiosity.
“Only the pinky is sharp. No wonder I didn’t feel them earlier when you were carrying me.”
I wanted to tell her that Kadrixan males only kept the smallest claws sharp to make day-to-day activities easier and that we learned young to hold things with the pads of our fingers unless we wanted them destroyed. But that would have to wait for the translator. I disinfected my claw and bent over her arm. She was tense, expecting the pain of having it removed, so I pulled her into my lap.
“You know, I could get used to these pheromones,” she said, leaning back against my bare chest.
“They are all yours, my mate. From now until forever.”
“I have no idea what you just said, Gnnar. But keep talking. It’s a nice distraction.”
I did, telling her about the compound and how we combined our warships with the mountains. The pheromones and chemicals must be working well on her because she barely flinched when I went through the practiced motions of removing her identification and tracking chip.
I’d done this for many of the females living with us before we programmed our medical devices to work on human bodies, though never ever with them in my lap. This time, it felt different. I was freeing my mate from another’s grasp so that she could be free to choose me.
By the time I dropped the tiny chip onto the table, she was dozing off against my chest.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m falling asleep on you.” She eyed the tiny device still stained with her blood, then at her bandaged arm. “That was… ” She took a shaky breath. “My entire life is inthat little chip. Years of working and saving credits. All of my achievements. It’s all in there, and now… it’s gone.”
I reckoned she felt much as I had when I was first exiled from Kadri. It was terrifying, but once we found the human colony, it was also freeing; we would no longer be forced to destroy innocent lives for the usurper queen.
“You are not alone. There are many like you at our compound and many more still at the new human settlement.”
She reached out to cup my face in her shaky hands. “Thank you. Thank you for helping me start a new life. I know it won’t be easy, but I’m ready for this.”
Then she pulled my face down to hers and kissed me.
Chapter 8: Dana
I’d meant to give him a thank you kiss, a peck on the cheek to show him how much I appreciated his help, but the second my lips touched his cheek, everything changed. Fireworks exploded, and I no longer wanted to stop with just a peck. I wanted to do all the forbidden, sexy, dirty things with him.
Gnnar must have thought the same because he shifted us and covered my mouth with his hungrily, even as a soft growl rumbled from his throat. Butterflies had me clenching my belly at the sensual sound. Damn! His growls did things to me.
I adjusted my legs so that I straddled him and slid my hands higher to his broad shoulders, pulling myself tighter against him. The moment his lips left mine, a forked tongue darted out to swipe over the seam of my lips, begging entry. I parted my lips as his tongue slid in, claiming me with the kind of passion that was only written about in romance novels. I felt like I was going to melt into a puddle of need and desire.
I wonder what else he could do with that tongue.
His hands joined the exploration of my body, gliding over my waist to my ass and hips. Firm hands gripped my ass and pulled me tight to him. I pressed us together, and even with my bra and tank top between us, my nipples tightened from the friction ofrubbing against his chest. I could feel something hard straining against the front of his leather pants.
A needy moan I could barely recognize as my own escaped my lips. That had his hands tightening on my ass, reminding me that Gnnar did, indeed, have claws. He moved us, the motion the same as if we were fucking. It had the hard ridge of his cock bumping against my pussy.
I didn’t know when I started rocking against him, but I was. Frantically. I was on fire.
I wanted him so much that it hurt. But that was crazy talk. Utter insanity.
Fuck! Was this the rut?
If I didn’t stop this now, we were going to end up doing it right here, in the infirmary of an abandoned colony research station. But try as I might, I couldn’t stop. The runaway train had already left the station.
It was Gnnar who pulled away and with great effort. He held me at arm’s length, a pained look on his face.
“No.” He said a few more words I couldn’t understand, but I got the message loud and clear. He didn’t want this. Heat rose to my face. I was practically throwing myself at the guy, Literally climbing him like a tree.
Was it because we were still in danger? Or was it because Gnnar wasn’t really interested in me and was only reacting to a biological function he couldn’t control? Just because it was the springtime rut didn’t mean he’d want the first and only woman available. A sudden intrusive thought had me cringing. What if Gnnar already had someone back at the stronghold? Was I inadvertently trying to wreck a home?
