Текст книги "Alien werewolfe"

Автор книги: January Bell

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CHAPTER 5

AILEEN

I’m overwhelmed.

By the wild beauty of Wulfric, which amazes me. The city gleams in the dying light of day, the heat giving say to the cool kiss of nightfall’s breeze. The tech of the city buildings marries the wild forests and plains dotted with lakes and snaking rivers that were evident as the shuttled dropped through the atmosphere.

I’ve never been off a space station or ship before, and I can’t quite believe the difference in the smell of the air. The taste of metallic recyclers is completely gone, replaced by flavors and scents I’ve never experienced.

The air itself moves, and not from being pushed by a vent, but on its own, rustling through the leaves of trees I’ve never seen.

Then there’s Brekker.

The man—werewolf—I’m supposed to marry.

He’s huge. Imposing.

He looms over me, sucking up all my attention from the moment I step off the shuttle, my red silk dress whipping around me in the planet’s gentle wind.

Those tawny golden eyes are even more inhuman in person, and it’s a struggle to look at anything but him.

He commands attention.

When he holds me against him, tugging me away from the female werewolf, Tessa, I think, my mind goes strangely blank.

My body, however, goes deliciously tight and loose all at once.

Oh yeah, I’m definitely attracted to him.

Which… is slightly concerning.

I’ve had about a day and a half to get used to the idea of this: essentially, I’m a mail-order bride. My job is to marry this guy.

I get money out of it.

I get security out of it, something I’ve never had at all before.

All of that is fine. Good, even.

What I’m not quite used to, though, is the idea of having an actual husband out of it. Now he’s here, holding me up, one hand firm on my hip. The heat of his palm sears through the fabric of my dress, and when the breeze drifts across me, my nipples peak under the silk at the contrasting sensations.

He’s real.

Not just a hologram projection or an idea of security, but a flesh and blood werewolf who doesn’t seem to want to let me go.

I’m on edge.

Worse, I’m strangely excited by it.

It helps that he’s gorgeous to look at, all packed muscle and height and sharp, masculine features.

It also helps that he can’t seem to stop staring at me, a possessive edge to his gaze that has me equal parts thrilled and terrified.

I could have done worse.

We step into the grand entrance of the Clan Claw building, or compound, as Violet explained to me on the Starlight hub, and trying to hold all my thoughts together is like trying to hold water in spread fingers.

“Are you all right?” Brekker’s low voice sends a shiver through me.

I glance up at him, and his gaze slips from my eyes to my mouth.

Before I can answer, he strokes his forefinger over my bottom lip, loosening it from where I’ve nearly gnawed it raw.

“Are you afraid?” he asks again, his hand capturing my chin, his golden gaze darting between my eyes.

I don’t answer right away, swallowing around the lump in my throat, considering my responses.

Afraid? Not really, not necessarily. Overwhelmed, however? Yes. Thoroughly.

“I’m not afraid of you,” I answer, and I’m slightly surprised to find it’s the truth. He could rip my throat out, something I’m even more sure of as he smiles down at me, a hint of sharp canines beneath his lips.

“You should be,” he says, and it’s so low and serious I’m not sure if I’ve heard him correctly.

Something sharp pricks at my skin through the fabric of the dress, and I inhale in surprise.

Claws.

Of course it is.

“Are you trying to scare me?” I ask him, summoning all my bravery. I stop, and he does, too, pulling me close to him so our bodies are pressed together.

My brain stutters, and I try to hold on to my train of thought. He just feels… right next to me, the lizard part of my brain liking everything about him very, very much.

“I don’t need to try. I can scent your fear clouding your perfume.” His eyes dilate, and his nostrils flare delicately as he dips his head.

I inhale in surprise as his nose rubs a line across my throat.

“I smell arousal, too, Aileen. You can’t hide anything from me. Does that scare you?”

It should. It should, because I’m not an idiot, and having a stranger husband who can read my moods through my skin should be enough to shake me in my boots—or lack thereof—but it doesn’t.

“No.” The word is an admission, a breathy whisper that surprises us both.

His hands tighten almost painfully on my body, and my core clenches in response.

“They said you had to uphold the terms of the contract, too,” I tell him, and there is a blatant challenge in my voice. “Or I can leave and still get paid.”

I jut my chin up in defiance, and a growling bark of a laugh tears from his throat.

“Brave little thing. You think I’d let you leave after mating you?”

My heart skips a beat. Mating. That sounds… more intense than marrying. More permanent.

“I think you wouldn’t hurt me. Or break the contract.” I’m testing him, still pressing closer. “What would you stand to gain from that? You need me, or you wouldn’t have bothered with the Starlight Lottery.” It’s a gamble, a stab in the dark.

But his eyes flare, and a small smile kicks the corners of my lips up.

“What do you know about the Wulfric?” he asks. “What do you know of our ways? Of our mating ceremony?”

I throw my shoulders back, pulling away from him as Tessa, his sister clears her throat.

“I have a feeling you’re about to tell me what I need to know.” I toss my hair for good measure.

He doesn’t move, just leans closer, giving me a close-up look at his inhuman canines.

My, what big teeth you have.

I smile back. I have teeth, too.

“During the Wulfric ceremony, I will bite you.” His fingertips trace a spot along the place where my shoulder meets my neck, and I shiver involuntarily. “Here. It is a claiming bite.” His eyes flash gold.

I suck in a breath, riveted by him.

“They did not tell you that this is part of our contract, which cannot be undone. They did not tell you⁠—”

“You don’t have to bite her to marry her,” Tessa interrupts.

He growls at her.

It sends a shockwave through me.

“I will bite her. She’s mine now.” He turns his attention back go me. “Unless you want to say no. Do you want to say no to me? Or do you want to see just how far the rabbit hole goes, little human wolf?”

Mute, I shake my head.

“I’m going to need more than that.” His hand tangles in the hair at the nape of my neck, and I let out a small moan as he licks the spot he just touched. It sends an electric pulse through my body. “Tell me you want the chase, pet.”

I don’t really understand what I’ve gotten myself into.

“I will make it so good for you, Aileen,” he whispers in my ear, lips brushing featherlight against it.

I don’t know this man—alien, er, werewolf, whatever—at all.

But my body? My body knows it wants everything he’s offering and then some.

“I don’t know,” I say thickly. Heaven help me, but I do know.

I want whatever he is selling, but I’m afraid.

“I need time,” I say plaintively.

“Honesty. Good,” he says, releasing me. His nostrils flare as he inhales. His hands fist at his sides, his eyes darkening as he stares me. “We will take our time. You won’t be scared for long.” He pauses. “I can take my time.” The words are low and reverent, like he’s trying to convince himself.

“Your pheromones are affecting her,” Tessa says, frowning slightly, though there’s blatant amusement dancing in her eyes.

I sway, missing the pressure of his body, chilled and dizzy without the scorching heat and muscle there.

Then I still, coming to my senses. “Wait… are you smelling me?”

“Yes. He is. We are.” She coughs delicately, and I can’t help but think she’s hiding a laugh under it. “Our senses are much more, ah, delicate than humans.”

“Advanced is the word you’re looking for,” Brekker interrupts. “Our senses, our bodies, all more advanced.”

My throat goes tight as he looks at me meaningfully. “Right,” I choke out.

I close my eyes, willing myself to get some semblance of control over my body.

“This way,” Tessa calls out. Her bright blond ponytail swings down her back, caught up in gold ringlets that catch the light.

I follow, my feet cooperating in a way that my mind doesn’t seem to want to.

This was easier to think about on the Starlight Lottery hub. A life of luxury, a life I could have never made for myself on the last station, and a husband I had to tolerate at most.

Now, though, with the husband in question at my side—squeezing all the attention from my mind, taking up all the air in the hallway—I don’t think tolerating him is even close to the right word.

This werewolf I’m supposed to marry?

He’s a force of nature, and I’ll be lucky to survive him.

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CHAPTER 6

AILEEN

There’s no white dress, no string quartet or relative to walk me down the aisle.

There’s not really an aisle at all.

The moment I put my hand on the stone archway, all eyes in the huge room turn to me. I’ve never seen a space so big. After the station, it’s boggling. At least three stories high, metal braziers with real fire burning in them lighting the massive hall.

The smoke stings my eyes, and I look away from the crowd of aliens as I blink it away.

Blink it away and try to get my bearings all at once.

The stone arch teems with carvings. A deer, something I remember from an old Earth book, hides between thick foliage. A wolf stalks it, the arch displaying the progression of the hunt.

The deer ends up on the forest floor, the wolf’s fangs sunk into it, another wolf so lifelike behind it I can almost hear the howl coming from its open mouth.

My heart slams into my chest as the reality of what I’m doing truly sinks in.

I am marrying an alien.

An alien werewolf.

“Welcome to the newest member of Clan Claw, bride of Brekker Claw, Aileen,” a loud voice booms out from the end of the hall.

The werewolves congregated let out a blood-curdling howl. Goose bumps immediately prickle across my skin.

“I smell your fear, which means they do too,” Brekker’s lips brush the curve of my ear. “I need you to smell like something else.”

I can barely hear him over the noise. It grows louder as it echoes off the stone walls and high ceilings, reaching a crescendo that should terrify me.

But with Brekker’s chest presses against my shoulders, his hands wrapping around my waist, the fear recedes. Still there, still enough to make me feel antsy, but in its place is that heady, delicious lust for him.

“I present Aileen of Clan Claw,” Brekker shouts, and I curl back into him, surprised at it. “Aileen,” he roars my name. I try to step away from him, but he holds me close, his fingernails digging into the silken dress.

Not fingernails.

Claws. Holy shit.

“Aileen of Earth, do you accept me as your mate?”

I have an out. I can say yes, but if something goes hellaciously wrong, I can call Violet from Starlight Lottery. This is going to be fine.

It’s going to be an adjustment.

The hall falls eerily silent, save for a few high-pitched yips of excitement.

Better than the computer-voiced brain in a vial making lewd comments at me. I shiver.

Brekker starts touching me, though, and my thoughts fall away. The pads of his fingers rub small circles on my stomach, the bottom of my rib cage, making my breath catch.

Making me want, making me wet.

“Yes,” I say, and I’m surprised to hear how clear and strong my voice is.

“Good little mate,” Brekker breathes against my skin, the words warm against the curve of my neck and shoulder. I squirm against him, craving the hard length of his cock. It’s pressed against my lower back, and I want it.

“So small and⁠—”

Whatever else I am is cut off.

“No human has the right to lead Clan Claw as the mate of the Alpha,” a new voice sounds.

A low growl tears from Brekker. It reverberates through my chest from the force of it, and the hair on the back of my neck stands up.

“That isn’t your choice to make, Konrad,” Brekker says. He sounds inhuman, too much bite at the end of the words, like his mouth’s having trouble forming them at all.

“She smells like a human. Weak. Afraid. Prey.” The speaker, Konrad, finally pushes through to the front of the werewolves. His fingers have fully transformed, long claws where the nails should be, his teeth longer than humanly possible in his mouth. Violence radiates from him, and he’s not wrong—my first instinct is to turn tail and run.

“She smells ready for my seed,” Brekker growls. “She smells ready to bear my pups.”

My nose wrinkles. “Pups?” His seed? What the fuck?

Then his fingers start that absolutely spectacular circle beneath my ribs again, and I decide maybe I do like pups, after all.

“Do you agree to be my bride, Aileen of Earth?” Brekker asks again, and this time, there’s a possessive edge to it that makes me want to crawl into bed with him and stay there for the next month.

“Yep,” I say immediately. I cringe, though, because did I really just say yep? That’s how I answered my new⁠—

Sharp fangs dig into my neck, right where Brekker’s been breathing all over. Pain and shock war for my attention, the blinding pain turning into an aching throb.

“Oh,” I gasp. My knees give out, but Brekker pins me to his body, his arm a vise around my waist.

He bit me.

It hurts.

Blood roars in my ears, so loud it takes me long, too long, to realize the crowd is chanting my name. His claws dig into my flesh, and I struggle weakly against him, my stomach roiling.

Finally, the pounding rush of blood and pain in my shoulder gives way, and I sag in relief. Something cool rasps along the wound, and I flinch in surprise when I half turn toward it.

Brekker is licking me.

The gathered assembly of werewolves howls, a cacophony of otherworldly voices.

“Now we’re married,” Brekker tells me, still holding me so tight against him that I’m not sure I could breathe deeply.

I guess I won’t get a wedding at all.

Just a chomp. Wham, bam, chomp you, ma’am.

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CHAPTER 7

BREKKER

Her honeyed taste ignites my senses. My teeth sink easily into the soft flesh of her neck. The skin’s silken smooth, the salt and iron warmth of her life’s blood intoxicating.

Aileen shudders against me, a soft moan parting her lips.

My cock aches in my pants, and my claws extend without a second thought, my control slipping as they prick through the fabric swathed around her body.

Panic grips me in the next moment.

The faces of my clan, my pack, swimming around me, the riot of noise and scent unsettling me and challenging the control I so dearly need.

I cannot allow my clan to see anything but my iron fist—one voice of dissent is still too many.

If they knew I carried the blood lust gene, and that’s why I must take a human mate?

Clan Claw would be well within their rights to depose me immediately.

I inhale deeply, struggling with the beast that wants out, that wants to hunt. I catch Aileen’s sweet scent, and it grounds me.

My hands squeeze around her soft body once, and then I loosen my grip, forcing the beast down, down where he can’t hurt anyone—can’t hurt her.

Her hand slaps against the jagged puncture of my teeth on her collarbone, and I frown at the way her chest heaves, her forehead wrinkled in dismay.

She’s upset.

Why? I have given her my mating mark, and I’m the prize of Clan Claw—were it not for the blood lust gene, which a human is incapable of passing on.

A frown curves the corners of my mouth down.

“Come, my Aileen,” I tell her. “We leave this place.”

“You don’t want to show her where she’s going to be living?” Tessa objects, frowning right back at me.

“Not right now,” I say sharply, a growl rasping on the last syllable.

“What do you want, Aileen?” Tessa asks her.

“You would question me in front of the clan on the day of my marriage?” There’s no disguising the growl now.

“No one is paying attention. They’re all too busy getting drunk.” Tessa rolls her eyes. “Tell me, human sister, do you want to see where you’ll be living, or do you want to go with him?”

“I can see it later,” she says quietly, all warm brown eyes and softness. She dips her chin at me, and my beast roars with approval at her near immediate submission. “If he needs to leave, we can leave.”

“I don’t need—” I start, but Tessa’s snort of amusement brings me up short.

She arches an eyebrow at me, her gaze darting back and forth meaningfully between the small woman still in my hands and my eyes.

“Fine.” I grit my teeth. “I do need to leave.”

“You two are going to get along just fine,” Tessa coos. “The transport’s already ready.”

“You knew I’d want to leave immediately,” I mutter.

She laughs again. “As soon as Aileen stepped off the ship. You’re less mysterious than you think you are.”

“Where are we going?” Aileen’s voice is so quiet that if it weren’t for our evolutionarily advanced hearing, I might not have even heard her plaintive question.

“Somewhere safe.”

“It’s not safe here?” She glances up at me, her cheeks pink and eyes narrowed in not fear, but annoyance.

“It will be safer for both of you at the lodge.” Tessa reaches for Aileen, then thinks better of touching her when my lip curls from my teeth. She clears her throat, shooting me an annoyed look. “Wulfric need time to bond with their mates, especially after the, uh, wedding ceremony.”

“Oh, I see,” Aileen says, but it’s clear from the concerned furrow of her brow that she is lying.

“It will be easier to bond without the pressures of our pack,” I tell her.

“I’ll work on having all your things unpacked⁠—”

“I don’t have things,” Aileen interrupts. Her slender arms cross over her chest, and there’s a hint of steel in her gaze. “I don’t have anything to unpack. Only the things they made for me on the Starlight Hub. As part of the package you paid for.” There’s no censure in the words, but there’s a certain bitterness to them all the same.

I pause.

She’s alone in a new place, and there is no way she isn’t overwhelmed with her sudden place here on Wulfric. Her new husband.

A pang of regret goes through me.

What kind of female would agree to marry an alien male, sight unseen, and uproot her entire life?

A desperate one.

A woman with few options for this to be the best of them all.

“Do you want to come with me to the lodge?” My voice rasps across the question. Her eyes widen slightly. “It will be only us and a handful of servants. It’s traditional for the newly married couple to spend time together alone after the wedding. In our case, we can spend our time simply getting to know each other. I can teach you about Wulfric culture and our lives here, and you can teach me about… you.”

It’s not enough, this simple offer. Not nearly enough to extend it after both marrying her and biting her. Blood trickles in a slow river down her arm, and a pang goes through me.

I let my beast get the best of me. Again.

“You can trust me. We can…” I pause, trying to figure out what I could offer that might set her at ease. “We can sign a contract.”

Tessa blinks at me.

“Send a boilerplate contract with her information to my comms pad,” I bark at her.

She nods once.

Aileen remains silent. Conspicuously so.

I should have thought. I should have known that anyone entering into this sort of… arranged marriage would have to be desperate.

“A contract,” she finally repeats.

“Yes,” I say simply. “To protect your interests.”

“I already signed one with the Starlight Lottery⁠—”

“This one will be whatever you want it to be.”

She tilts her head slightly, something like surprise in her eyes. “That would be nice,” she finally says. “Lead the way.”

Seven words, small words, and yet, they mean the world to me.

They signal a new beginning.

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CHAPTER 8

AILEEN

I’ve never seen anything like this place.

Not in real life, at least. Vids don’t do this kind of thing justice, not really.

The planet seems endless—the sky so completely different from anything I ever imagined on my station. Instead of the press of black space and overhead tiles and lights, there’s blue. Blue and lavender sky, tufts of creamy clouds wisping on the breeze.

It’s strange.

I swallow hard, my mouth dry, watching the scenery outside the transport window.

Then there are the trees. Trees not caged or planned or approximated in hologram or in some museum exhibit but wild, huge, and everywhere. Big enough to blot out the sky once we’re fully out of the Clan Claw city.

Is there a reverse of claustrophobia? All that open sky, the vast expanse of forest and trees, it’s so much at once that it feels completely overwhelming.

And that’s not even taking into account the massive man sitting across from me in the transport.

Each time I glance up at my new husband, he’s studiously looking elsewhere.

The moment I turn back toward the window, though, I can feel him looking at me. The heated weight of it is a brand on my skin, the air between us tense and electric.

I don’t know much about this man, but there is no denying we have something. What it is, exactly, I don’t understand.

Pheromones, according to his sister.

If it’s just biology, I can understand that, I guess.

“Tell me about where you worked before…”

He falls silent, and I slowly swing my attention back to him.

“Before I married you?” I finish the statement for him, raising an eyebrow. “Why dance around it?”

“You smell uncomfortable.”

I blink. “Smell?”

“Yes.”

“Right. So. Ah, that’s not a human thing to say.”

He just stares at me. “I’m not a human. You smell worried.”

I sigh in exasperation. “I am worried.” I cross my arms across my chest and lean farther into the plushily upholstered seat. “Everything about this world is brand new to me. I’ve never lived anywhere but decrepit old ships and even more decrepit space stations. I’ve definitely never been married or even—” I stop myself from finishing that thought.

Or even liked someone.

My cheeks burn, though, and his nostrils flare slightly.

“How much, exactly, can you tell by the way I smell?” I ask, narrowing my eyes.

“You wear every thought on your face,” he says seriously. “It makes matching up what I’m scenting with the truth very easy.”

A blush heats my face, and I bite my lip, unable to deny what he’s said. Instead of a rebuttal, a small snort of amusement comes out.

“You’re nervous,” he says easily.

“Aren’t you?” I fire back. “You just married a stranger, but you don’t seem worried at all by that.”

Silence stretches between us, the low rumble of the transport’s engine louder in the thick tension.

“My sister hand-picked you. My sister, who knows me better than anyone, thought you were the best possible match for me.” His voice drops, low and soothing, honey sweet. “When I saw your image, I was captivated. When you stepped off the ship and I caught your scent, I was entrapped.” He leans back suddenly, but his gaze is just as intense as before.

My mouth goes dry. “Things don’t work like that for my species.”

“You asked what I could tell by scent.” His long, thick fingers drum against his seat. “I can tell you’re attracted to me. I can scent your interest.”

If I thought I was blushing before, it has nothing on the ridiculous heat wave traveling up from my chest now. I wonder if he can see steam rolling off me.

“Right,” I say, trying for agreeable and sounding like a mouse instead.

His gaze swivels to the dense forest whizzing by outside and then to the clock display in the shuttle, showing Wulfric time.

My heart beats a quick hammer against my chest.

“We should work out the details now.”

“Details?” I wet my lips with my tongue, the word a question between us, even though I’m fully aware of what he’s saying.

The details of the new contract between us.

He knows I know. I can tell by the slight upward tug of his lips. “I don’t want to move too fast. Your scent tells me you’re ready for me.” The words are a dark caress against my skin. “But I can see your nervousness on your face.”

He tilts his head, his odd hairstyle tipping with him.

I don’t know what to say. This is brand new territory for me.

“I need to know exactly what you are willing to do and what is a hard no,” he says.

My pulse increases, and I can’t deny the feeling of excitement going through me.

“I’ve modified the clan contract to include several clauses that cover any possibilities, and I’d like everything to be as spelled out as possible.” He leans closer, and his pulse thrums at the base of his throat.

It’s not as fast as mine—not nearly—but it’s a relief to know I’m not the only one affected by our proximity, by the fact that we’re alone in this small space together.

“Okay,” I say slowly, waiting for him to pass me the comms pad.

He doesn’t, though.

No, he clears his throat.

My eyes widen at the realization that he’s going to read it out loud to me.

“Willing sexual acts to include: oral sex, penetrative vaginal sex, anal sex⁠—”

Shocked, I wheeze slightly, my insides molten and my core clenching around nothing. “I don’t know about anal sex,” I start, absolutely interested in it and scared of the idea all at once.

“I can strike it⁠—”

“I’ve never had—” I clear my throat again, realizing I’ve interrupted him and suddenly worried that’s going to piss him off. I don’t want to piss my new alpha werewolf husband off.

“Anal sex?”

“Sex at all,” I whisper.

He goes still, preternaturally so, eyes ablaze and pupils blown.

I fidget in my seat, feeling strangely like I’ve let him down. Like he won’t want me at all now, now that he knows I’m completely inexperienced.

I don’t want him to send me back. I don’t want to go back to my old space station.

“I’m willing to try,” I blurt out in a rush of emotion, my chest tight and throat thick with worry. “I don’t know what I like, though, because I grew up on a space station with barely any humans, and I wasn’t interested in my roommates or the other alien species⁠—”

“You’re untouched.” It’s his turn to interrupt, and the words are a low groan.

I’m going to spontaneously combust from the heat of embarrassment.

“Moon goddess help me.” He drags a palm over his face, his claws extending, becoming sharper.

“I’m… I’m sorry,” I whisper. I squeeze my eyes shut, feeling so fucking uncomfortable that I wouldn’t mind swinging open the door of the transport shuttle and flinging myself into the forest.

Embarrassing as all hell.

“Please don’t apologize, little human wolf.” He unclicks the safety webbing, and before I can move, he’s wedged between my legs. The tip of his tongue darts out, touching the fangs that seem even longer than before. “We can forget the contract.”

“What do you mean⁠—”

He presses a finger to my lips. “I will not push you.”

A small growl of discontent escapes my throat, surprising us both.

He quirks an eyebrow, waiting.

I shouldn’t say anything. I should take the promised money and keep my mouth shut and let him play the gentlemen, but⁠—

“I want to have sex.” The words slip out of me.

They hang between us like a neon sign I saw once in the station I grew up on, blaringly bright to the point of ultimate distraction.

There’s no taking them back.

“I might not have been interested in the other aliens or the girls I lived with, but… they weren’t you.” I gulp, unsure of where I can look that won’t embarrass me, which is stupid, because I am completely embarrassed. “They weren’t you,” I repeat, finally making eye contact again.

The smile that breaks across his face is genuinely sweet. My heart squeezes a little, and it has nothing at all to do with the fact that I’m ready to throw myself at this hot alien werewolf.

I like him.

I barely know him, and that seems utterly ridiculous.

But I like what I’ve seen so far.

“You are in charge, Aileen. However you want to move forward, I put it in your delicate hands.”

It’s hands, however, that have my full focus. They span the width of my thighs, one on either leg, heavy enough that I can feel the weight of what he’s saying.

“I don’t know how to be in charge,” I admit. I bite my lower lip, and even like this, kneeling in front of me, he’s tall enough we see eye to eye. His broad chest forces my knees farther apart as he scoots closer.

“Can I touch you?” he asks, his voice a hoarse rasp.

I don’t answer.

He sits there, silent.

“I’m scared,” I whisper back.

“Your face?” he says, his gaze never leaving mine, anchoring me. “Can I touch your face?”

I nod. That seems like a safe place.

His fingers trace across my cheekbones, both hands finally cupping my face, so tenderly that some more of that fear leaks away, replaced by curiosity and desire.

“Have you… touched yourself?” he asks.

I go hot all over. “I…”

My nose scrunches up, and he huffs a soft laugh. His eyes crinkle at the corners, and I jut my chin out defiantly.

“Don’t make fun of me.”

“I’m not,” he says. “I just… it will be easier if I know that. It will help us both if you know how to pleasure yourself. If you do want me, like you say you do.”

The hands on my face tighten, just enough for me to feel the bite of his claws, then fall away.

“Yes,” I make myself say, finding the bravery that eluded me from the moment I was picked, hand-picked by his sister, for the Starlight Lottery. “I have.”

“Show me,” he says. Brekker leans forward, his claws swiping at the safety webbing compressing my body to the seat of the transport.

I gasp as it falls away into ribbons, caught between excitement and trepidation.

“What if we hit something?” I ask. “I have no idea what in the whole stupid Wulfric world we’d hit, but I’ve never been on planet like this⁠—”

“We won’t hit anything. I’ve got you.”

With that, he picks me up. All the breath leaves my body as he sits back down with me in his lap, a thick knee shoved between my legs. One arm wraps around my waist, the other clamped over my hand.

“Do you want to show me?” he growls. “It would please me to watch you make yourself come.”

“Right now?”

“I can scent how much you like the idea.” His lips, his fangs, graze the soft skin of my neck, and I tremble all over. He’s not lying. My pussy already aches at the mere thought of it. “But you’re in charge, Aileen. We go as slow or as fast as you like.”

I’m shaking. Not from fear, but from the greedy need that’s growing inside me, ratcheting up at the way his breath gusts over the sensitive skin of my neck, the way his claws tickle the inside of my wrist.