“Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise.” He carried her around the outside of the house to where an odd-looking cart was waiting, hitched to a sarlag. Curved sides curled up to create a cup shape, and the whole thing was perched on two long runners. Baralt lifted her in, and she discovered that the interior was filled with warm, soft sarlag wool.
“What is this? A sleigh?” she asked as he joined her.
“We call it a hantsu. Our ancestors used these for traveling. I thought you might enjoy a ride.”
“That sounds like a wonderful idea.”
He picked up a set of reins attached to the sarlag’s horns, and they took off. Since their house was located on the edge of town, they were quickly out on the open plain. She laughed as the sarlag raced ahead, the light vehicle not hindering its speed.
“I would never have thought about a sleigh ride, but this is an ice planet. It makes sense.” A memory suddenly surfaced. When she had been an undergrad, a friend had persuaded her to join her family at their cabin in the mountains for the Christmas holiday. The small town where it was located had been filled with visitors, all of them excited to try the various winter activities.
“Do you use skis?” she asked thoughtfully.
“Skis?”
“Long strips of wood you fasten to your feet to go down a hill. Or across country.”
“We don’t have wood. But we do something similar with the rib bones of a marlax.”
“What about skates? Smaller…bones you would put on your feet to glide over ice.”
“Yes, we have those.”
“I know you have confined offworlders to Port Eyeja, but have you ever considered opening up a little more of the planet to tourism?”
“Tourism?”
“On Earth, people like to take vacations to different climates. To have different experiences and try new things. Like skiing or skating or sleigh rides.”
“You would want to open the planet to these people?”
“Only a little bit of it. If you set up a resort for people to visit, you would still be controlling where they went, but it would have a different atmosphere. It could be very exclusive—and expensive—or you could create something more family oriented.” The more she thought about the idea, the more she liked it.
He looked thoughtful. “I’m not sure that our people are suited to that type of work.”
She had a sudden vision of Njkall with his claws at the neck of a rude guest, and she giggled.
“Perhaps not. But some of them might be. And you could always hire people. If you make this a destination—a place people want to come—you make it much more difficult for someone to argue that it’s just a primitive planet.”
“It is an excellent idea, and one that would be well suited to our goal. We should discuss it with Njkall.” The thoughtful look vanished as he turned to her. “But right now, I have something else in mind.”
“And what might that be?” she asked, her body already responding to the heated look in his eyes.
“Did you know that a sarlag can run for hours?” He parted her cloak and opened the buttons on her shirt one at a time, gradually exposing her skin. Despite the frigid air, between the warmth of his body and the wool surrounding her, only a mild, exciting coolness touched her skin. When he spread apart her shirt to reveal her breasts, her nipples were diamond hard, but not from cold.
“Beautiful,” he murmured before he bent his head, and a shockingly hot mouth closed over a taut peak. She buried her hands in his mane, arching into his touch as he tugged off her pants and slid his hand between her thighs. He murmured approvingly when he found her slick and ready. He never seemed to get over the thrill of knowing how much she wanted him. As he circled her clit lightly, teasing her, she tried to reach for his cock, but he hovered just out of reach.
“Baralt!”
“Not yet, my mate. I want to watch your pleasure before I bury myself in that sweet little cunt.”
“Then hurry up.” Her body was already quivering expectantly.
“Such an impatient mate.” Despite her urging, he continued the teasing, keeping her on the edge of climax until her entire body was tingling, then pushing her over the edge into a slow, rolling climax that seemed to last forever.
When she finally opened her eyes, he was smiling down at her. “You see? Wasn’t that worth waiting for?”
“Mmm.” She gave a lazy stretch, then put out a hand when he started to move over her. “But I think it’s your turn.”
“I agree.” Once again, he started to lower himself, and once again she stopped him.
“I have a better idea. Lie back.”
He gave her a doubtful look but obeyed. She crawled up and kissed him, delighting in the eagerness with which he always met her kiss. His cock, thick and insistent, was pressing against her leg when she finally drew back. She bent down and pressed a kiss to the wide purple tip, humming with pleasure as his sweet, salty taste filled her mouth.
“My aria…”
“What was it that you said? About wanting to see my pleasure first?” she teased, flicking her tongue down the heavy shaft and circling the sensitive ridge at the base.
“I want to take my pleasure with you,” he protested.
She had intended to make him wait, but since he insisted… Straddling him, she let his cock slide between her folds, shivering with pleasure as his ring pressed against her clit. It had already begun to swell, and she knew it wouldn’t be long until he came. Suddenly, she was just as impatient to have him inside her. Rising up on her knees, she positioned him at her entrance and slid down over him. As always, her body had to work to accommodate him, sending an exquisite pang straight to her clit as he stretched her open.
His fists clenched
