Page 32 of My Big Scaly Alien Naga
I pulled him closer, wrapping myself around him as much as I could by hugging him like a koala, one leg on either side of him.He was so much bigger than me, so I had to make it count.
“Don’t look under the blanket,” I muttered, and pulled some of the carefully wrapped scarves off my body.My arms and legs were first, but it wouldn’t be enough.I left only one scarf wrapped around my boobs and one slung around my waist.For modesty.But if this wasn’t enough, I knew I was prepared to take it all off.His life was more important than my sense of modesty.
His scales were almost as soft as human skin.I’d expected to feel the overlaps between them, but no.They were cold, so very cold.I felt more and more helpless.My body heat wasn’t going to be enough to warm this huge alien.
His arm came up automatically, loosely circling my back.The rest of him – his long, coiled tail – shifted with a faint rustle as it curled nearer, cocooning us in gentle loops.Not tight, not possessive.Justthere.Protective.
My heart was racing now, but not from fear.
I didn’t know what this was.Didn’t understand why I wanted to press closer, or why his scent made something in my chest ache.I barely knew him.
But I knew he made me feel safe.And seen.
I could feel the restraint in him, the careful way he had placed his coils, the way his hand barely touched my back.His breathing was shallow.
And fuck, he was cold.My skin prickled from the chill radiating off his torso, and yet something in me wanted to stay there.To melt into him.
I told myself it was just adrenaline.A survival reaction.Proximity in extreme conditions.But it wasn’t just that.Not really.
I was attracted to him.I didn’t know why – maybe it was the way he spoke to me like an equal, the dry humour, the rare flickers of vulnerability that slipped through his fanged façade.Maybe it was the way he looked at me, like I was more than a prize in a game.
Whatever it was, it was growing harder to ignore.
“You’re still shaking,” I said softly.
“I’ll b-be alright,” he replied, though it sounded more like an automatic defence than truth.
I hugged him tighter.His hip pushed against my core.
He inhaled sharply.
“I’m not going to break,” I said.“And I don’t scare easily.”
His eyes flicked to mine, glowing faintly in the dark.“I’m n-not afraid of you, Clare.I’m af-fraidforyou.”
My heart skipped a beat.
Without thinking, I reached up and touched his face – just a light brush of my fingertips along his cheekbone, where larger plates gave way to scales so tiny they almost resembled skin.
“Then stop freezing and take the warmth I’m offering.”
His hand rose slowly, almost reverently, and settled on my waist.Not pulling.Just resting.
We stayed like that for a breathless moment.
Then another.
And when he turned his face towards mine, his lips parted slightly, eyes dark with something that wasn’t hunger – not exactly – but need, I stopped thinking altogether.
I leaned in and kissed him.
17
Venom
She kissed me.
Not the cautious brush of someone testing a theory.Not the desperate attempt of someone alone and scared searching for comfort.
