Page 51 of Needed in the Night
My nonhuman DNA was reptilian rather than amphibious, but everything about the terrarium welcomed me, from its high humidity to the basking stones. I folded my sleepwear in a neat stack—a soldier’s habit—and lay nude on the largest stone with a rumbly sigh of contentment.
The radiant warmth soaked into my body from below as the infrared heat from above did the same. It would be heavenly if Isla were here with me rather than still in bed, but I could not imagine she would find this rock anything close to comfortable.
From where I lay, I could just see Isla’s still form on the bed. The waterfall masked the comforting sound of her deep breathing, which I missed as much as her touch. Her scent on my skin would carry me through until I returned to her side. In fact, if she accepted me as her mate, I need never be without her scent ever again. I closed my eyes and luxuriated in warmth that radiated from below, above, and within.
I drifted peacefully for as much as a half hour. Time grew hazy, as if often did while I basked.
Thanks to the waterfall and my near trance-like state, I did not hear the bedding rustle. But the moment my ears caught the telltale padding of bare feet descending the stone steps, my thoughts cleared and my body came alive.
At the sound of a splash, I opened my eyes to see my Islagliding underwater, crossing the pool from its far side to my basking stone. Her sleepwear lay in a pile near the stone steps.
As graceful and beautiful as a Basilian mermaid, she surfaced beside me, her face upturned and rainbow hair streaming behind her. She treaded water with sinuous movements that enthralled me.
“The water is nice and warm,” she said. “How are the rocks?”
“Hot and comfortable, as I had hoped they would be.” I reached down to touch her face. She leaned against my hand. “You slept well?”
“Very.” A little furrow appeared between her brows. “I had a strange dream that you sang to me. You didn’t actually sing me to sleep, did you?”
“No, though I would like to.” The thought made me smile. I needed to explain my coo to her, but I did not want to spoil her mood by bringing up her nightmares, so instead I added, “I am sorry I left the bed.”
“Don’t apologize. I’m sure it’s much too soft for you.” She made a face. “Don’t expect me to sleep on rocks, though. We’ll have to work out a compromise.”
I chuckled. “I would not expect you to sleep on a rock. I only bask for a few minutes or hours at a time myself. I am still very human-like in many ways, and I sleep in a bed.”
“Thank goodness.” Her smile returned. “Just not beds that are about as firm as clouds.”
She had not commented on my nudity, and while we had talked her gaze had remained on my face. But she had certainly seen all of me now, though not necessarily in the way I had originally planned to reveal my body to her. Then again, perhaps this was better. She could study me with a clear mind rather than in a haze of desire. And maybe subconsciously I had chosen to bask nude knowing she was likely to see me and one of the last walls between us would fall.
To say her body captivated and aroused me infinitely morethan any lover I had ever known would be an understatement, but that was no guarantee she would feel the same about mine. And despite her dismissal of my concerns about her reaction to my body, a knot of tension remained between my shoulder blades and my stomach roiled.
My unease must have shown in my expression, because her joking demeanor gave way to a gentler and more sensuous expression when she said, “Why you thought your body might horrify me, I have no idea.”
Now her gaze swept over me unabashedly, taking in every detail much as I had devoured the sight of her with her legs spread wide for me in Madame Ycari’s back room. My cocks, already aroused by her nakedness, hardened and beaded with lubrication under her scrutiny. When her tongue darted out to lick her lips, I quaked, and drops of precum welled up and began to drip.
Gods, I would never be able to look at my mate without wanting her with every atom of my being. But far from being a curse, it would be heaven itself, especially after so many months dreaming of a single touch from her.
Isla’s voice was husky when she met my gaze again and added, “You’re a masterpiece.”
Surely there was one masterpiece in this room, and it was not me. “I am hardly that.”
“Mikas.” She frowned. “Don’t argue with your mate.”
My breath caught and my cocks leapt at both her tone and how she had referred to herself as my mate.
Rather than continue treading water, she moved to the side of the pool and folded her arms on the edge of my basking stone to hold herself up.
“Ooh, that does feel nice,” she said with a little sigh. Perhaps she had expected the rock to be too hot for her to enjoy. “Maybe I could get used to it, at least for a few minutes at a time.Especially if I could lie on top of you instead of the rocks.” She eyed my dripping cocks. “Though you seem just as hard.”
“I am.” And I always would be for my Isla.
I leaned over and kissed her. How it was possible for her to taste better, sweeter, and more perfect with each kiss, I did not know, but it was yet another wonder of my mate I accepted happily and without question.
When the kiss ended, she raised her eyebrows, a playful smile on her lips. “So, are you coming in the pool? Or am I coming up there?”
“I think,” I rasped, “you will be coming in both places.”
In one smooth movement, I rolled to a crouch and dove into the water to claim my beautiful mate.
