Hannah's Hero - Ruby Dixon Page 0,71
quickly that I bite back a scream, our heads nearly thumping together. His eyes are wide and glazed, and for a moment, I’m not entirely sure he sees me. “N’dek—”
“J’shel,” I say again, my voice firm. “It’s me, Hannah. Your mate, remember? You’re with me. N’dek isn’t here. You’re in the fruit cave.”
The big alien blinks at me, and it takes a moment before his eyes focus. He exhales slowly, as if all the air is leaving his body, and then pulls me tight against him. He buries his face against my breasts and is utterly quiet.
Oh.
My heart squeezes with sympathy. I run my fingers along his scalp, scratching lightly at the strands of hair that are coming loose from his braid. His horns press against my skin and close to my neck, but I don’t mind. I hold him as close as I can, letting him breathe in my scent and hug me against him.
“I’m here,” I whisper. “It was just a bad dream.”
“H’nah,” he murmurs, his lips moving against my cleavage. “I woke you.”
Like I give a shit about that? I want to shake him for being a doofus. I don’t care that he woke me. I just want him to be okay. I stroke his hair, listening to the sound of the waterfall below, his rapid breathing, and the ever-present “song” of our cooties.
And I just…want him to be happy.
I’m such a fool. All this time I’ve been fighting so hard to avoid our resonance because I was worried that he wouldn’t like me, or that I belonged back home, and I couldn’t get past what I was missing out on. I was moping over book deals and not getting to see my movie made when all of that stuff doesn’t matter in the slightest.
What matters is J’shel. His happiness. My happiness.
Fuck going home. Everything I ever wanted is right here in my arms. Didn’t I write In Search of a Hero because I was lonely and despairing that I’d ever have a real relationship? But J’shel is the real thing. He’s kind, caring, handsome, protective…and right here in front of me.
I can’t believe it’s taken our lives being in danger and J’shel stressing out for me to realize that I can be happy with him. That I can be happy here.
Sometimes I can be really hard-headed.
I stroke his hair again, overflowing with love for the guy. “J’shel,” I say softly, unable to stop touching him. I caress his ear, his jaw, everywhere I can. “You were saying N’dek’s name in your sleep. Was it a dream about him? Are you worried that you left him on the beach?”
He closes his eyes, holding me close. “No.”
I think of what he told me before. Of how he’d thrown badly and how N’dek lost his leg. I think of him throwing his spear all afternoon long, full of grim determination. My heart squeezes all over again. “You’re worried you’ll fail me, then?”
“H’nah,” J’shel murmurs, burying his face in my cleavage. “I…”
“It’s okay.” I put my hands on the sides of his face, lifting his gaze to mine. He looks so damn tortured, so full of doubt that I lean down and put my mouth on his and kiss him. I just want to make it all better for him.
J’shel is perfectly still under me as my lips brush over his. For a second, I think I’ve misread the moment and he doesn’t want my touch. A split second later, though, he groans and then his arms are around me and we’re kissing and clawing at each other like wildcats.
He bears me down to the blankets, his mouth ravenous on mine and we’re both making little grunts of need. I mash my lips to his, utterly frantic, and when his tongue strokes deep into my mouth I practically come. God, he feels SO good. So right. I’m so hungry for him that I’m panting in between each kiss, lightheaded with need, and I’m barely aware that his weight is pinning me down to the furs until he pushes a knee between my thighs and rocks his cock against my core.
I whimper, that little movement sending blazing hot need rushing through me. “J’shel,” I pant, kissing him with hard, frantic little nips. “Oh my god, J’shel.”
He rocks against me again, driving that massive length against my core. It’s like he’s found my center and is trying to spear me through my leather loincloth, he feels so damn hard—and so good. I