Alien, Awakening (Alien, Mine Series Book 2) Read online

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  T’Hargen pressed his lips to his teeth and stared in angry apprehension at the ceiling.

  g’Nel, am I making any sense?

  He cradled her face, revelled in the delicate, soft skin beneath his hands and the steady trust in her eyes.

  “Kathryn, your light shattered the night my life had become. Because of you I can see again, truly see. I comprehend the shades of nature, the beauty of a shared moment. To know this is within my grasp to keep, but that I could destroy it with an unchecked move.” He shook his head slowly back and forth. “I can’t take that chance. I could not bear to be the cause of any pain for you.” He growled in frustration. “Tell me, Kathryn, how. How do I do this right?”

  She stepped closer, threaded her arms around his torso, and hugged. He gloried in her embrace.

  “It’s okay, T’Hargen, we’ll find a way.”

  “But how?”

  “There is always going to be a first time for us. And I do hope you don’t think I won’t be leaving any marks on you. My body responds to you so fervently that I’m pretty sure you’ll be bearing the scores of my nails down your back. Hope that doesn’t bother you.”

  She peered up at him. A challenging look sparkled in her eyes. Utter yearning to possess any physical indication of her affection flared in him.

  “I shall relish every brand you leave on me. But, Kathryn, I’m certain I will become so frantic for you that my need will overpower every restraint. I could hurt you, severely.”

  She nodded. “Do you think you will always be this agitated before our first time?”

  A groan halfway between despair and resignation escaped him. “Yes.”

  She patted his face. “Hush. Take a breath. Hold it. Release it slowly.”

  He smiled down at her. “You realise when we’re standing this close and I take a breath that it is filled with your scent.” He cocked an eye-ridge at her. “Not exactly helping me keep my calm.”

  “No, but you’re not losing it, so why don’t we try a bit more?”

  He dropped his gaze to the lush curve of her enticing lips.

  More. Yes, he wanted more.

  Hunger for her spiked through him. Lust hazed his mind. His heart pounded, his cranial ridges flooded with the promise of carnal joy. The prickling sensation of his thorns emerging felt like a douse of cold water.

  Dear g’Nel if he reacted like this to an imminent kiss, he would never be able to control himself when presented with something more intimate.

  “Kathryn,” he groaned. “I—”

  Need to take precautions before we begin.

  An embarrassed sense of shock stunned him. Why in all that was holy in g’Nel’s temple had the idea taken so long to occur to him? Well, she did scramble his thought processes. He strode to a cabinet, opened it, and withdrew a set of cuff restraints.

  “T’Hargen?”

  He turned to her, triumphant that their course now lay clear before him. He could safely have her, and she him. Need throbbed in his blood, engorged his shaft.

  Kathryn’s gaze fell to the manacles gripped in his hands. A slight frown furrowed her brow.

  “Are you sure? How many times have you been held captive by the Bluthen? Restrained by them in some manner?”

  He gazed at her with earnest assertion. “It won’t be the same, Kathryn. I want this. Won’t you do this for us?”

  She stared at him, assessment and concern flickering in her amber eyes.

  “T’Hargen, for the record, I want to enjoy the unchecked, frantic-for-me side of you. I don’t disregard your concerns, and while I truly think you could never do anything to hurt me, I understand the possibility troubles you deeply. And to be honest with you, I half feel that in saying yes I’m seriously taking advantage of you, because I admit tying you down and having my way with you has been on my mind for some time.”

  She agrees! This. Is. Going. To. Happen.

  A surge of ravening longing blasted his senses, his arousal burned hotter, harder.

  “I want you to take advantage of me, Kathryn. Take what you need from me.” He sent her a cocky grin. “And I am beyond delighted to hear of this desire of yours.”

  A bewildered look settled on her lovely features. “This feels so surreal.” She blinked. “I thought when we finally came together it would be all lips clashing, clothes flying, bodies writhing, not this . . . practical. I thought it would be wild, chaotic.”

  Primal passion thundered through him.

  Lady Sylph! Practical? If my erection grows any harder I may never gain release as my shaft will be so constricted with blood and need my seed won’t be able to pass through it.

  “I can assure you, Kathryn, once I am secured and you are in control, it will be.”

  ~ ~ ~

  I am going to get to tie down the man I love and do as I please with him. Oh. My. God!

  Kat almost swayed as a rush of trembling, sensual elation sapped the strength from her muscles. T’Hargen began removing his shirt and she greedily mapped the rippling swells and dips of his magnificent, brawny torso with her gaze.

  Move over practical. Wild and chaotic here we come.

  Zealous need to feel him, taste him, connect to him, commandeered her mind. She strode towards him, hands, body, hell, all of her, ready to indulge in the heady rush skin contact would bring.

  T’Hargen scorched her with a heated, hungry look and threw his shirt to the floor. Anticipation spun fiery tendrils from her core outwards. He turned from her then disappeared through a wide doorway. She followed, urged by her libido to keep that semi-naked, well-muscled, body in sight. She didn’t want to miss a nanosecond of its unveiling.

  Thwunk. Thwunk.

  She sprinted through a doorway. T’Hargen lay on a huge bed. His massive arms stretched to the side and angled a little above his head. The cuffs cinched his wide wrists and a slim, silver cord connected them to an anchor in the exposed rock wall behind the bed. Desire, desire for her, corded every muscle in his big, magnificent, utterly nude body.

  She eyed the thick arousal standing proud from the hairless juncture of his thighs. An answering flush of heat and moisture erupted from her channel, eager to be stretched, to be filled, by that hardness.

  She lifted her gaze to his eyes. Longing darkened their green. She stepped to the side of the bed, grazing a hand down his foot, across his ankle, up his calf. A low hiss rushed from his mouth and his erection twitched.

  She sent him a seductive smile. “I’ll be gentle with you.”

  “Kathryn, you will be safe. I cannot break these bonds.”

  She cocked an eyebrow at him, warmed by his thoughtfulness. “And what about your legs?”

  Surprise slackened his jaw.

  She patted his knee, delighted that the thought of ‘splicing his nuclei’ with hers caused his efficient brain to malfunction.

  “Never mind, I’m sure we’ll deal with it.” She ran her appreciative, and no doubt lascivious, gaze from his toes, over the rippling muscles of his mahogany torso to his swollen cranial ridges.

  So much to explore . . .

  Tingling heat pricked in a rushing wave through every cell of her body. Her need for him crashed in demanding, corrosive surges against her self-control.

  Who am I trying to kid? I’m no more in control of myself than he is.

  “T’Hargen, I take it back, I don’t think I can be gentle or unhurried. Not this first time. I want you too much.”

  He gave her that roguish smile that melted her mind and released her inhibitions.

  “Treat me as yours, my light.”

  Kat discarded her jacket and ripped open the fastenings of her one-piece suit. Her mind fired multiple demands at once. Explore the strength of his thighs. Touch his softened pectora
l and abdominal plates, see if they were as electrifyingly sensuous as I fantasised. Run my tongue up the side of his neck. Caress his engorged cranial ridges and listen to the music of his moan.

  Get naked and crawl all over him! Fill myself with his hardness. Her sex quivered and rained moist eagerness.

  “Kathryn, if you continue to look at me like that . . .”

  She spun her gaze to his, staring into the excited anticipation gleaming there. Answering eagerness zapped through her. She lifted a knee to the side of the bed. Clothing rustled. She stared, bewildered, at the garments still covering her.

  Strip! Goddammit, strip!

  T’Hargen’s panting breath, or was that was hers? No, those ragged intakes belonged to both of them. She discarded her clothes like inconvenient memories and ran her possessive gaze once more over her magnificent man. A bead of golden opalescence formed at the head of his straining erection. Her mouth watered.

  Taste.

  She climbed onto the bed, knelt between his strong, spread legs, then leaned over him. Her breasts brushed his thighs and sharp delight tingled across her skin, surrounded her aureole then surged into her nipple. She neared her glistening target. Her lips parted, readied to worship him. T’Hargen’s long, moaning prayer to his god seduced her further into a whirling storm of need. She reached out her tongue and captured that drop of gold with a delicate lick.

  T’Hargen’s hips jerked and his back arched. Sweet cinnamon-pineapple overran her taste buds, concentrating her every thought on the overwhelming flavour of him. Desire surged, hot, needy. She opened her mouth and lunged at him, closing her lips over the head of his arousal.

  A strangled, whimpering groan tore from T’Hargen. Tremors wracked his big body.

  “Kathryn!”

  She held him with her lips and glanced up his heaving torso to meet his wonder-filled gaze. The agitated need lighting his eyes and tightening his features fuelled the devil in her. She gave him a short, teasing suck then let him go.

  “Problem?”

  His huge biceps bunched and his hands fiercely gripped the restraining lines. He panted. Swallowed.

  “Don’t—” His head dropped back. A groaning shout of determination and refusal burst from him, and his muscles swelled as though fighting to contain some fierce emotion.

  Her sex fluttered with hungry demand, but she cocked her head to one side.

  “You don’t like it?”

  He lifted his head and glared at her.

  “I like it all too much,” he growled. “And I’ve never . . .”

  Ah, yes. An Angrigan male would never let an Angrigan female go down on him. Not unless he wanted to be brutalised. Ow.

  Mischievous satisfaction curved her lips.

  “Something to torture you with later?”

  “Please.”

  She kept her gaze locked with his, rose to her hands and knees and stalked forwards over his tense body. The restraints thwunked and his lips pressed together. She lowered her head and rubbed her nose against his.

  “Shall we get down to the main event?”

  His cheeks hollowed. “I fear I shall arrive there all too soon. I do not wish to do so without you.”

  She rested on her forearms and ran a tender caress across the beard plates lining his jaw. Sweet spikes of pleasure lanced into her finger pads, as though she’d dipped them in hot desire tailored for her.

  “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you, my man, are big. We’re going to have to go slow so I can get used to accommodating your size.” She gave him a wry smile. “It’s been a long time.”

  He frowned. “Do you need . . . anything?”

  “No, I am definitely wet enough for you to slide right in, but my muscles aren’t used to stretching to your”—she smirked at him—“width.”

  An answering leer lit his face. “Does that mean we’ll have to maintain a frequent regime to avoid any discomfort for you?”

  “Frequent. I like the sound of that.” Need clamoured at her to forego her teasing.

  “Take me, Kathryn, I’m yours.”

  Her heart swelled. Desire seethed. She pressed her lips to his. His mouth opened and she followed suit. His tongue thrust into her. Passion swarmed her senses, urging her closer to him. She slammed her body over his. Sparking sensuality poured from his softened chest and abdominal plates, the muscles beneath them as hard as the hot spur of his erection snuggling against her soft stomach. Their kiss turned almost savage. Possessive. The demand of his lips deepened. Gave more. Took more. T’Hargen stretched beneath her as though greedy to increase the amount of flesh available to her touch. His strength inflamed her ardour. Her sex pulsed with impatient longing.

  She wrenched her lips from his, then jerked upright and shuffled back. The heat of his erection brushed across the swollen mouth of her sex. Pleasure twisted up her spine. She stared at him, heart pounding.

  “Try not to move.”

  “Even if it kills me,” he grated, his gaze fixed on where their bodies would join.

  She leaned her hands on her thighs and parted her knees a bit more. T’Hargen’s tongue slid across his lips. His chest stilled. She lowered herself, nudging his hot, broad crown.

  God, he’s so stiff I won’t have to guide him.

  She swung her hips forwards, easing him a little deeper. His invading strength stroked her internal flame. She dropped her head back on her shoulders. A moan slipped from her.

  “Kathryn.”

  She lifted her head and stared into the sparkling, sea-green depths of his eyes.

  “I can’t breathe without you.” Raw, earnest emotion roughened his tone. “My heart is empty without you in it.”

  Explosive joy blitzed through her and lit her soul like an eruption of bright sunshine. She leaned her hands on his pectoral plates, vibrant sensuality charging up her arms. She caught her breath in passionate wonder. T’Hargen’s bulk pushed against her palms. A tortured groan broke from him.

  “Agh, dear Lady Sylph. More, Kathryn, I need more.”

  God, so do I.

  She poised above him, staring into his eyes. His profound need for her entwined with her deep need for him, joining them together with an ethereal filament stronger than any physical law.

  Slowly she slid farther down him, her hungry core grasping and rippling around his unyielding penetration. Splendid torture plucked the walls of her channel, shimmied outwards to caress every fibre of her being. Her inner muscles relaxed, stretched. She took his last remaining inch. Breath ragged, she gloried in the adamant length of him, of T’Hargen shuddering violently beneath her.

  “Kathryn,” he rasped, “show me how I should touch you.”

  Her mind spun into a whirlpool of uninhibited ecstasy. She gasped for air, for control.

  Agh, sweet mother, T’Hargen, you know how to test my limits.

  She drew in a shuddering lungful then cupped her breasts and squeezed. Arrows of pleasure ripped from her turgid nipples straight to her sex.

  “Is this what you mean?”

  T’Hargen’s gaze roved her body. A look of possessive awe lit his eyes. She undulated on him, rode him slowly. He gave a sharp nod.

  “More,” he demanded.

  She ran one hand down her body, delving into her curls. Moisture lubricated a path to her clit. Lush bliss swelled in her bud. She dropped her head back and moaned. She rode him a little harder, drove his rigid length to dominate her core more forcefully.

  “Show me what you’re doing.” Harsh demand roughened T’Hargen’s voice.

  She fluttered her hand down from her breast and spread her labia. His hips jerked, shuddered, then danced with hers. Multiple electrical sparks of extreme pleasure zapped from irregular points of the solid length of his arousal, kissing her channel. Almos
t unravelling her. She gasped.

  “God Almighty, what was that?”

  Strain tortured his roguish grin. “You inspire me.”

  He choked a groan, his muscles bunched.

  “Kathryn, now. Make yourself come now!”

  His demand reached into her, strummed the wild ache blooming in her clit. She rubbed herself faster. A spark from him exploded against her G spot, hurling her into a huge wave of orgasm. Rapture billowed, blazing into each cell.

  T’Hargen writhed beneath her and a great bellow tore from him. For long moments, euphoria blitzed her mind, her body, then she collapsed onto T’Hargen’s heaving torso.

  Chapter 11

  T’Hargen lay flat on his back, breathing hard, his arms restrained. His body had been offered for his woman’s delectation and he’d never felt so powerful. She’d taken him to paradise and bathed him in passionate fire. Then she’d cleaned them both with scented wipes.

  She half lay across him, tucked against his side, one leg bent across his, her beautiful face nestled in the hollow of his shoulder. He rejoiced in their skin-on-skin contact. One of her fingers traced the edge of his pectoral plates where they met in the centre of his chest. A minute vibration still trembled her hand. They may have been quick, but their passion had been all consuming. If he’d been going to rise again it would have been when she’d cleaned them both and studied the slowly receding pebbling on his shaft.

  “Is that what made those wonderful sparks inside me?”

  He wallowed in the husky pitch of her voice, the gentle puff of her breath across his chest.