battered against rocks, I’m wrecked and torn apart, and this time I do scream as my release crashes into me again.
The brightness of our markings eventually dims as our heart rates slow, but I don’t move, and neither does he. His cock throbs inside me, and my sex responds in kind, emphasizing how connected Castien and I are in this moment. I never knew intimacy could be like this, that it could be more than physical satisfaction. Right now I feel closer to him than anyone in my entire life, and I just want to bottle this feeling and drink it in at all times.
Castien releases my hands to prop up himself and run his fingers through my hair. “Did you survive, demoria?”
“Barely,” I say with a grin.
He brushes my lips with his, letting them linger for a bit. “I told you Darkbloods don’t have weak mates.”
“You’re right because I took that fucking like a champ.”
A bark of laughter escapes him, and it’s a wondrous sound. If I could elicit that reaction from him all the time, I would. He’s so beautiful when he smiles, and not in that mocking way. I love it when he’s genuinely happy. It shines more brightly than his tattoos.
“You know,” I say, drawing out the word, “next time we should have sex and then shower because I’m sweaty now and it’s your fault.”
He tugs my hair playfully, and then his lips twitch. “If I recall correctly, it was you who followed me into the shower, so this is your fault.”
“Me? I’m innocent,” I say with a shake of my head. “Well, I’m about to go to the shower now, so perhaps it will be you who follows this time.”
Castien lowers himself onto both forearms and takes my face between his hands, resting his forehead lightly against mine. “I follow you anywhere, never doubt that.”
“I don’t.”
Before I can process the tender moment, he gives me a kiss and says, “Now let’s do the sex first this time and then the shower.”
Jade
“What about this one, demoria?”
I swing my gaze to Castien, who’s holding a neon-blue dress that reveals more than it covers.
“That’s just as bad as what I wore at the brothel,” I say with an eye roll, ignoring the look a nearby alien shoots me. I don’t care what anyone thinks of me, especially since I’m concealed by the holographic disguise. Castien said he preferred me naked, but there is no way I can casually stroll down the street in my birthday suit, even if no one can see the real me.
Well, no one but Castien.
“Ah, but you looked delectable then.” He frowns as he returns the garment to the display rack. “However, I want no memory of that place, even if you did entice me.”
I trail my fingers over the material of the items, which slowly rotate, suspended from a beam of neon green. It’s like a virtual store, except once you make contact with the clothing, it materializes right in front of you. I will admit I grabbed one shirt over and over before I could believe it. Everything, including Castien, seems so unreal.
“Is this to your liking?” he asks. “I will say that there is nothing similar to what you’d find on Koraxia, but considering where we are, the selection is not too subpar.”
One of the storekeepers squints at Castien with a huff of indignation.
“I did not mean for you to take umbrage, good sir,” Castien says. “My mate is not well traveled, and I am merely educating her in such things by offering a comparison.”
“I am a female.”
The alien speaking is highly androgynous, but I still smirk at Castien. He, in turn, bows to the insulted employee and mumbles another apology. When the creature is out of earshot, I giggle, unable to hold it back any longer. Watching Castien put his foot in his mouth is priceless.
“You find something amusing?” He’s by my side in the blink of an eye, his hand wrapped around my waist. “You dare mock me in public?” The mirth in his gaze is easily seen in the darkness of his pupils, but like the moon at night, it’s bright and alluring.
“My lord commander,” I say, giving him a mocking salute, “I hope you fly your ship more smoothly than you speak to women, or else I may have to make travel arrangements elsewhere.”
He growls low in his throat before leaning toward me and brushing his lips down the side of my neck. Involuntary shivers race through