Page 31 of Crash Landing
“Have you slept before just now?”
She shook her head. “This place is too scary to sleep.”
“You should sleep. I will watch over you.”
She smiled weakly, shaking her head. “So you’re stuck taking care of me because I’m sick again. Is that why you don’t like me?”
“You’re not sick. You just need rest.” I stopped for a moment, rubbing my forehead. “And I like you just fine. Now lay down and go to sleep.”
“Where will you be?”
“Here.”
Her eyes were practically closed already when she reached out and gripped my hand with the tips of her fingers. I stepped closer to her and she only adjusted her grip so she was holding onto me. Then she curled onto her side, nuzzling her head against her pack again, and closed her eyes.
“Promise,” she mumbled.
I crouched down in front of her and when I did, she just hugged my hand to her chest and tucked it under her chin. I watched her body go still. I watched every muscle sag and relax and felt her hand gradually release mine. It would have been easy to free myself from her, but I got distracted. Distracted by the fullness of her lips. The way her pulse thrummed against my knuckles. The scent of her was potent in that place, even amongst the smells of the wilderness.
I couldn’t take my hand away. I couldn’t leave her side. Not yet. I just watched her, somehow flattered at how she closed her eyes and surrendered to a deep slumber so easily with me there. It meant she felt secure with me and that fed my ego in a way I didn’t think I needed.
Either that or she was so exhausted she literally passed out. I wanted to think it was the prior, though, because suddenly I imagined I would do anything for her. For all the griping and complaining and arguing we had done before, the woman in front of me was so much the same and yet different and I admired it. I wanted to protect her. I’d wanted to protect her back then, too, but she was so good at pushing me away. I wanted to wrap her in my arms and make sure she got whatever she needed. I wanted to…
A painful pressure in my chest made me wince. With a hiss, I drew back my hand and pressed it to my chest.
“Sjek,” I swore under my breath. It was like someone had hit me with a hammer and knocked the wind out of me.
I stood, pacing to the opposite side of the room. Bracing one hand on the wall, I took long, steady breaths and rolled my shoulders a couple of times to relieve some strange amount of pressure behind my ribs. When I was able to stand up straight again, I felt that my heart was beating in an irregular rhythm and worried I might be having some sort of delayed reaction to the kilor quills.
Until it hit me.
I paused, focusing on my breathing again only to discern two different heartbeats working in tandem with each other.Twoof them.
I hadn’t felt my paetal since before I went into stasis. Its awakening was jarring and painful, but I was overjoyed to know it could still function. That it was not just some useless organ that would never work again. But Vahko had proven that a valerian’s dormant paetal could start beating again, even after the Thinning, and mine had done just that.
I slowly turned back around and looked at Sam sleeping so soundly on that bench all curled up in my jacket. It wasn’t as if we hadn’t spent many days with each other before. Why hadn’t my paetal responded then? Why hadn’t I felt a surge before? It made no sense.
And then I considered how out of sorts she was. How ill she’d become and how stressed she was. All those things combined could create an environment that wasn’t fitting for any biological reaction to happen.
At least, that was my theory because I had no other ideas as to why I didn’t surge with her before.
There was even a part of me that had wanted to the first time I saw her…
My heart thumped hard against my sternum, filling my skin with heat. It had been a long time since I’d felt my need overtake me. The only way for men to get any sort of relief since theThinning was with artificial means and they were tedious. My own hand sufficed from time to time, but the drive to even do that was not very urgent. Now, with my paetal reminding me it existed, years of neglect suddenly seemed to catch up to me.
I turned and left the building, in need of some fresh air where Sam’s scent wasn’t flooding my nostrils. I stood against the outer wall of the building, basking in the way my skin was burning with excitement. Arousal. Need. Every bit of it went straight to my cock, which was straining against my suit.
I swore at the whole situation, needing relief. But I wouldn’t dream of even mentioning the prospect to Sam. Alien things already made her uncomfortable. If I told her my body wanted me to mate with her on top of it, she might eject herself into space. Judging by the way she acted toward me before, the last thing she saw when she looked at me was attraction.
I couldn’t go back in there with an erection trying to tear through my suit.
Groaning, I turned around to face the wall and braced one hand against it.
Stars above, the universe chose a great time for me to surge. With Sam half dead inside and me recovering from kilor venom, it was perfect.
I rolled my eyes and slid my other hand down past the belt of my pants. I felt for my cock and I hissed when my hand found it. It was already so sensitive and hard it almost hurt to fist it. But I needed relief. The whole thing came on so suddenly, I felt like I was unraveling from the tension.
I bit back a moan as I pulled my cock out to stroke it. One pump and I was trembling. Two pumps and Sam’s scent somehow drifted out into the warm air and surrounded me. I groaned softly and started to work myself, closing my eyes only to find Sam there in my waking dreams. Small. Feminine. Soft. I bit my lip, imagining it was hers.
