Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined... He groaned as she rose up on him and dropped down, then thrust her hips slowly back and forth. She might kill him. The Earther might actually kill him. He’d end up dehydrated and starving the rest of his life if she proved to always be this insatiable. Perhaps it was only the first coupling. Perhaps the Earthers grew less wild, less demanding, each time they joined with their mate.
He hoped not.
EJ moved over him at her own speed, taking her pleasure slowly and deliciously; he could have watched her for days. Weeks. The rest of his life. He didn’t even care that somehow she’d gone from an annoying stowaway to a mate in less than a day. Any female who suited him so well would not be allowed to leave, no matter what it took to convince her.
He caught her waist and encouraged her to lean down so he could suck her breast into his mouth. She murmured and gripped his shoulders, using him for leverage as she ground down and pounded in short little jerks against him. Nokx held her hips as she froze and trembled over him, her mouth open in a soundless cry, and her body clutched his in rippling waves that sent him over the edge only moments later. It felt like she took him just as much as he took her. Nokx groaned and arched up to meet her with a few hard thrusts, then fell back, exhausted, as she collapsed on his chest.
EJ made sleepy, contented noises as she tucked her head under his chin and her hands slid under his shoulders and up into his hair. “Although sometimes you might need to do what I tell you, big guy.”
He chuckled and stroked her back, moving to the side to draw the covers up and over them. Nokx liked the thought of her sleeping on him, so he could feel her warm curves against his scales and listen to her breathing through the night. He doubted they’d be in a situation where she was protecting them; if it ever came up, it meant he’d failed to protect his mate.
And again the thought—that she was his mate, was his—tangled in his mind. Was it possible to know such a thing about a near-stranger in a standard day? On the surface, EJ was the opposite of what he needed in his life—she was chatty and chaotic and willing to jump into dangerous situations without thinking about the consequences. She ended up detained and then sentenced to exile on a gen ship for crimes she still hadn’t explained, then escaped and stowed away on a pirate ship full of warriors. She’d propositioned him in the hopes he would let her stay hidden and eventually help her escape.
That gave him pause. Was she participating so energetically now just to stay in his good graces, with a plan to ask for his help later? Nokx’s hand paused where it had been petting her back, and EJ murmured sleepily before nuzzling closer to his throat. Her breathing settled and she relaxed all the way; she’d fallen asleep on him like a contented marmox.
Nokx closed his eyes to try and follow suit, in case the female woke him up later to mate again, but his thoughts didn’t let him rest. The Earther responded so enthusiastically, so readily, to everything he did and said... Perhaps it was an act, some kind of duplicity. His jaw set as the possibility wouldn’t leave him alone and sleep eluded him. Could the Earther be so mercenary? She had worked for the Information Ministry and been taught any number of ways to trap her prey. He might not have started as a target for her, though he may have ended up as one.
He would have moved her body off his if he hadn’t thought she might awaken and attempt to mate with him again. He wouldn’t be able to resist, even wondering about her motives. Just the thought was enough for his body to react. Nokx rubbed his forehead and exhaled his frustration. Even if she’d initiated the encounter to distract him from throwing her back to the gen ship or convincing him to help her escape, he couldn’t deny that he felt something for her. Could he keep a female as his mate if he didn’t trust her? If he always wondered why she stayed? If she would stay? Would there be a day when he