“It’s not pain. It’s hot and exciting and I want more.”
“Then that is what you will have, my aria.”
Despite her eagerness, he took his time, pumping a single digit in and out until she softened, then coating a second finger and stretching her further. She still felt impossibly tight, but when she tugged impatiently at his shoulders, he could resist no longer.
His mate needed him.
He knelt over her, lifting her hips so that his kotra aligned with her entrance. The dark purple shaft looked far too large for her small body, but as he slowly pressed forward, her soft pink folds flowered open around him. The lingering warmth of the healing lotion mixed with her own natural sweetness, helping to ease his path, but he still had to work his way inside an inch at a time. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from where their bodies came together, where his thick shaft gradually penetrated her perfect body, until at last she had taken all of him.
His ring already throbbed eagerly, and when he looked up and saw her watching him, he lost his last shred of self-control. He growled and began to thrust, no longer slow, no longer patient, but she met each stroke, her soft cries urging him on. Her channel tightened even further and an electric spark raced down his spine as his seed erupted in hot, shuddering pulses. His ring expanded, locking them together as he collapsed, barely remembering to keep his weight off of her small body.
As soon as he regained his breath, he carefully rolled them over so he could cradle her in his arms. Her soft breasts pressed against his chest as he stroked her back, the bare skin impossibly smooth beneath his touch.
“Are you all right, my aria? I was not too rough?”
She raised her head and smiled at him, the movement sending a shock of pleasure through their still joined bodies.
“You were perfect.” A shadow briefly crossed her face, but then she pressed a quick kiss to his chest. “I’ve never met anyone like you before.”
“Or I you.”
His hand drifted lower, first cupping the lush swell of her ass, then teasing the small crevice between her cheeks. She wiggled into his touch.
“Are you ready for more?” she asked, her voice low and sultry.
“Your body is fragile.” The words were for his benefit as much as hers. He had to remember how delicate she was.
“And your healing lotion is remarkably effective. You should buy stock in that stuff.”
“Buy stock?”
“I mean invest in it.” She grinned at him. “I suspect we’ll be using a lot of it in the future.”
His heart soared. His female was happy and smiling in his arms and she was talking about their future.
“I shall purchase it by the case,” he promised her, already searching for the small pearl that triggered her desire.
When satisfaction—and exhaustion—finally brought their lovemaking to a conclusion, they curled together in the small bunk and watched the stars trickle past outside their window.
“It was fascinating to hear about all the different planets,” Isabel said softly. “I never realized how varied life could be. We’re so used to thinking of Earth as the center of the universe.”
“I’m sorry that you cannot show me your planet,” he said truthfully. If she had wished to return, he would have accompanied her, no matter how primitive life there would have been. “I would have liked to have met your family. I know they will miss you.”
Her body stiffened and she looked away from him. “No, they won’t. It was only me and my father and he couldn’t have cared less.”
“I do not understand. Did something happen which caused an estrangement between the two of you?”
“The fact that I was born?” she asked, bitterness filling her voice. “My mother died giving birth to me, and my father never cared for me. Maybe it was because he blamed me.”
“But that wasn’t your fault.”
“I know,” she said, but she didn’t seem to believe her own words. She shrugged, but it was not a casual gesture. “It might not have been because of her death. Maybe he just never wanted to be a father.”
Not want to be a father? He could not conceive of such a thing. Hothians valued children as the precious gift they were. Even when his father had been devastated by the loss of his first mate and chose to hide away inside their cave, he had always had time for Baralt and his brother. Although, he remembered, after his father’s second mate had died, his father had just seemed to give up, and Baralt’s half-sister had spent her time with her mother’s family. But Isabel hadn’t had anyone.
“Did he mistreat you?” he growled.
“Not exactly. It was more that he was… indifferent. When I was little it was small things, like not showing up for school events or forgetting to pick me up for hours at a time. Then once he’d decided I could take care of myself, he was literally never there. I would go two or three days without seeing him.”
Her voice was flat, but he could hear the echo of a frightened child. If they ever found the location of her home planet, he would be tempted to teach her pathetic excuse for a father a painful lesson.
“I will never leave you, my aria,” he promised.
“You couldn’t go far on this ship anyway,” she said lightly, but her dark eyes still looked haunted.
He suspected that it would take more than his words before she believed him, so he let the matter drop for now and smiled at her. “Tell me more about your planet and these mysterious yetis of yours.”
Chapter Eighteen
“This is Hothrest?” Isabel asked doubtfully as she stared out of their window at the frozen expanse extending from the far side of the small spaceport.
“It is,” he said, following her gaze. He had never thought to return—had never thought he would want to return—but the familiar sight caused an unexpected ache in
