Dawn Autumn (13 page)

She was dizzy, dying. He’d never taken her so far, never shown he could wipe her mind of everything but his mouth moaning into hers, his hands tracking her body, inflaming her breasts. She started whimpering into his mouth, gasping into his kiss. When his hands touched skin, her legs buckled. He kept her pressed against the wall until she was senseless, trembling like a songbird in the talons of a hawk.

She wasn’t sure how they made it to his bed, but the next minute they were sinking in it. Her shirt was a memory. He snaked one arm under her back and raised her breasts to his kiss.

Jay cried out and pushed at him, the sensation was so intense. Arched over his arm, she gasped and cried out as his mouth did things to her that made lava pool between her legs.

With a growl, his mouth moved down, devouring her belly. His tongue circled her navel. His lips caressed the space just above her jeans, and his tongue dipped inside.

She cried out and tried to escape, but he only laughed as he dragged her zipper down and lowered her panties within the exposed triangle. He buried his face in the patch, breathing deeply.

Electric sparks flashed up her nerves. She was so scared, so hot. “Fred!”

His tongue dipped down, tasted the bud just under the panty line. She gasped and jumped away, but he chuckled wickedly and stripped off her remaining clothes, tossing his shirt to the side with them. Sitting on her hips, he tossed his hair over his shoulder and pinned her arms to the bed. Slowly, he slid down until his chest caressed her breasts, his groin flush between her thighs. He moved against her, just the slightest bit.

Jay groaned.

He dragged up against her, breathed in her ear.

She moaned, long and loud.

“Little one, the things I’m going to do to you,” he whispered, and she jerked as white lights exploded behind her eyes, her body actually lifting his off the bed.

His wicked laugh was almost as devastating as the finger he slid inside her. There was no controlling her then. She writhed. She twisted with a power she didn’t know she had. She wanted, she needed...Ah, couldn’t he just give it to her?

A second finger joined the first, shooting her over the edge so many times she couldn’t count. There was only the moment, only her wild lover driving her body through showers of stardust. Her nails raked him, gripped. Perhaps she even drew blood, but she couldn’t control it. He made her bite, made her scream, and every wild movement made the heat in his eyes flame hotter.

With a savage movement, he erupted from the bed and ripped off his pants—the boots were long gone. Putting both arms under her back, he spread her legs wide and slid just inside her.

Jay was so far gone, she nearly sobbed. She shook, nothing in her head but the point of fire between them.

It was supposed to hurt. Everyone she’d ever asked said it hurt, but she felt no pain, only blinding, lightning-charged lust. So good! Maybe he had an alien way to control the pain, maybe he was just so damn good he could take a woman’s virginity without a twinge, but he was seated between her thighs as thick and as deep as he could go. She erupted into an ear shattering climax that shook the entire bed.

He lightly bit her neck and held still as death, waiting her out. It was a vain attempt. The first shock fired off a volley of explosions, finally prompting him to laugh. Through gritted teeth, he swore, “Thank God I had no idea what I was getting, baby. If I’d known, you wouldn’t have stayed a virgin past the first night we met.” The rest of the ride was a blur of red hot passion. He rode her like a rodeo, drove her like racecar. In the end, it wasn’t just the fans screaming their jubilation as they roared into the finish.

Later, she drifted on the edge of sleep, his chest as her pillow. Too exhausted to think, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of his hand stroking her back. Content, she slipped into sleep.

* * * *

Jay woke slowly, cocooned in warmth. Her skin felt unusually silky, her body languid. With a contented smile, she opened her eyes—and gasped. She was wound around Fred’s naked body like linguini on a fork. Memories crashed over her with vivid clarity, making her cringe. With a chagrined moan, she buried her head under the blankets.

“I hope you’re planning what I think you’re planning, sweetheart. Every man’s fantasy is to wake up with a woman’s mouth on his—“

“Shush!” she blurted, poking her head out of the covers. “How can you even joke at a time like this?”

He blinked sleepily. “Why? Has someone declared war or something?”

“Yeah, me!” She tried to get out of bed, but he snagged her with an arm like iron and rose over her like a panther intent on his kill.

He nuzzled her breast. “Okay. Show me what you’ve got, baby.”

She gasped, but wouldn’t be sidetracked. “You slept with me!”

“I know. I was there.” He leisurely suckled her.

For a moment she lost the thread of her complaint. “We’re not married! You know I ... know that ...
uh
.”

“Sure we are,” he told her breast, then switched to the other.

For a moment she couldn’t grasp what he was saying, because the odious man had positioned himself between her thighs and was slowly inching in. Just as she gasped in comprehension, he slid home. She tried, but she couldn’t talk. From the satisfied look on his face, he’d planned it that way. She had one second to narrow her eyes before he started to move. After that all she could do was moan.

A long while later, when she was too sated to move, he leaned over and kissed the cuff on her wrist. “We signed a green card marriage when I first brought you here. That could have been annulled quickly enough, but I gave you the cuff last night. That’s my personal signature, the way my people use to claim their wives. We can get you a ring later, when you’re ready to acknowledge your part in it.”

She really was too tired to fight, but she said it anyway. “I didn’t agree to marry you, Fred.”

“Hm. Felt like it last night. Not that I’m a hypocrite or anything, but I think you ought to make me an honest man. I’m starving. How about I heat up some takeout and we can fight over breakfast?” He patted her butt as he got up.

Irritated by his cheerfulness, she glared at him as he used the laser shower, to no effect. The man was far too content to rebuke.

He slid into pants, not bothering with anything else. “Meet me in the kitchen after your shower. Unless you want to eat in bed,” he said, raking her with a hot look.

She didn’t think for a moment he was joking. The man had an appetite for more than food. With a disgruntled sigh, she slipped from the bed after he’d left, quickly showered and dressed. She had to talk sense into him.

Fred gave her that slow, smoky smile as she entered the kitchen, sliding a drink in front of her place as she sat down. Ignoring her blush, he gave her a sweet, hello-kind of kiss, then sat down and attacked his food.

Surprisingly hungry, Jay ate as she formulated her arguments. She knew enough about Fred to know they’d have to be good. “Listen, we have too ….”

“Do you love me?” he asked, surprising her into silence.

She blinked at him. “I just ... that doesn’t matter right now.”

“You love me and it doesn’t matter?”

“Well, it matters, but ….”

“Do you think you’ll stop loving me anytime soon?”

“I didn’t say I did love you!”

“Are you going to lie about it?” he asked curiously.

She clamped her mouth shut. Opening it only got her mired.

He took another bite and chewed thoughtfully. “You were thinking about marrying me, right?”

“It crossed my mind until I knew your eyes glowed in the dark and you lived in another galaxy,” she said indignantly. “You withheld information, Fred. You’re the one in the wrong here, not me.”

He cocked his head. “So you’re not one of those, ‘love conquers all’ believers?”

She heaved an exasperated sigh. “I believe that people have to talk about things. Passion alone won’t drive a marriage long. Secrets get in the way.”

Fred shrugged and took another bite. “So now you know all my secrets. We should be fine.”

She gaped at him. “Are you crazy? I don’t even know if you can father a child. We never even talked about kids.”

“Oh, I intend to have kids, as many as you like. After last night, you could be carrying already.” His look was hot and mischievous.

She blushed. He hadn’t given her time to think about birth control or anything else. Making love with him hadn’t been a yes or no question—more like an exclamation point.

He leaned his chin on his fist and regarded her fondly. “Look, why don’t we give this time? Back on Earth, if I’d asked, you would have said yes. I could have married you there and then brought you here. So we skipped a few steps, sidestepped some questions. My guess is, we’ll work out just fine. Why don’t we just give it a shot and see what happens?”

As she stared at him, a lump rose in her throat. There was something vulnerable about his open expression. She didn’t want to hurt him. “And if it doesn’t?”

His smile was hopeful and sad at the same time, but his voice didn’t reflect it. “Then I’ll drag you into the bedroom and make love to you until you change your mind. I’m not giving up on us, Jay. We’re going to make this work.”

She couldn’t help a half smile. Who couldn’t love a man with his kind of confidence? “You have that much faith in yourself?”

“No. I have that much faith in you.”

* * * *

An hour later, she was still shaken by his answer. They’d cuddled on the couch watching alien comedies on the TV. She didn’t get all the jokes, but she loved laying in his lap, his hand stroking her hair. Could it be this easy? Was it possible to skip over all the angst in a courtship and just slide into contented marriage? She didn’t know how well she could adapt to his world, but she didn’t really have any issues with him. She didn’t want to fight, but she still had questions. “What about Tark?”

“Tark, who?” he teased, tickling her ear.

She swatted at him. “We have to talk about it, you know.”

“Hm. I’m handling Tark. He’s not the only one with friends in low places.”

She sighed. “You’re not going to tell me not to worry my pretty head, are you?”