tried to block the noise, ignore the lewd greetings and vulgar comments shouted at me from every direction. I needed to find something else—anything—to focus on for the next little while.
“Ready?” Vrateus whispered, sending a flash of irritation through me.
What a stupid question. How could I ever be ready for this? How could anyone?
“Are you?” I bit back.
“Yes,” he replied earnestly, my sarcasm lost on him completely.
Letting go of my arm, he moved his hand to my throat again. The soft fur on the back of his hand and forearm tickled my underjaw.
I stifled an uninvited giggle.
“Why are you holding my neck?” I brought my head down, getting rid of the tickle by rubbing my chin against his hand.
He shifted behind me, placing his other hand on my waist. “I have sensors in my palm, they enable me to monitor your vitals.”
“To make sure I don’t pass out before the end?” I made a grim attempt at a joke.
“To help me learn how you like to be touched.”
He slipped his other hand into the deep neckline of my dress, pausing for a moment when he found my naked breast underneath. My not wearing a bra must have surprised him. Surely not as much as his words had surprised me.
Why did he care about my likes and dislikes?
“I promised them your moans,” he had said a week ago.
Back then he had also told me to pretend, and I had. Why did he bother to learn how I enjoyed being touched? This was all for show, anyway. What did it matter if my moans were real or fake? His crew didn’t seem that picky.
I ventured a quick glance around the room. Some males looked like they had already come once without me being even undressed yet. The yellow eyes on me, a sneer on his face, Crux sat on a chair nearby, holding his two humongous dicks, one in each hand.
I promptly closed my eyes, forcing my thoughts back to the only thing in this room that actually felt...nice—Vrateus’s hand gently kneading my breast inside my dress.
I fell silent, not wanting him to speak either. This way, I could forget about everything, thinking only about his hands touching me, as if they didn’t belong to him or to anyone else at all.
The hands and...that tail. I had almost forgotten about the tail. He snuck it under my skirt, sliding it up my leg, stroking the sensitive skin inside my thigh. The soft brush of his fur between my legs made anticipation tickle deep inside me.
Vrateus didn’t open my dress, hadn’t exposed me to the room yet, as if he first wanted to steal a moment with me for himself.
His hands moved with more confidence this time, igniting my body with excitement. Somehow, he must have figured out that plucking at my nipple the way he just had would send sparks of pleasure through my body. He must have known that dragging the tip if his tail between my legs would make my inner muscles spasm and my lower belly swell with liquid heat.
How did he learn so much about me so quickly?
He’d spent over twenty years on the Anomaly. Which must be his entire adult life.
Could I be the first woman Vrateus had ever touched, then?
What did all of this mean to him?
Suddenly, understanding filled me. For Vrateus, this was special.
As much as I detested the idea of what was happening in this room I believed I understood the tenderness—the reverence—of his touch.
For Vrateus, this was not a perversion as I had first thought. This might be the only intimacy with a woman he had ever experienced. This could even be the only physical contact with another person he’d had as an adult. Knowing his crew, he probably had been living without a hug or even a handshake from anyone during all these years.
Surrendering to his touch, I leaned back, relaxing against his strong body.
His hand slipping from my neck, he unclipped the clasps of my dress, finally baring me to everyone’s eyes.
The cool air against my flushed skin was sobering, bringing the awareness of all those who must be ogling me.
Squeezing my eyes shut tighter, I forced my thoughts back to Vrateus. His arm under my chest, he slid his other hand between my legs where his tail had already spread the slick heat seeping out of me.
A genuine moan escaped my throat when he slipped his fingers between my heated folds.
I exhaled sharply, leaning my head back against his hard