Читать книгу Ascension Saga: 8 - Grace Goodwin - Страница 8

Destiny, Planet Alera, The Royal Palace

“Harder.”

With my ankles over Nix’s shoulders, he was bottoming out in me with every deep thrust. The raw sound of flesh slapping flesh filled the room, mixed with our ragged breathing and a growl from Nix every once in a while. My pussy should have been sore. Hell, it should have been broken by now.

We were two days into our little staycation at the palace and my Ardor hadn’t been soothed. Our bodies were sweaty, we were covered in cum, because while Nix had put it all deep inside my pussy every time he came, I’d barely let him out of me and it had all slipped free. My thighs, my belly, his belly, his balls, his thighs. The sheets. It was everywhere.

I lost track of how many times we’d come. Nix’s balls should have shriveled up and fallen off by now. But no. He was still hard, still pounding me with an insatiability that matched my own. Thank God. Because I wanted more.

His hands gripped my ankles and pushed forward—I’d never doubt a yoga workout ever again—and he did as I requested. Took me harder. He leaned over me, bending me into a pretzel; the new angle had the base of his cock rubbing my clit, pushing me to the brink.

“It’s not working,” I sobbed, my head thrashing on the sheets.

Nix’s jaw clenched and his eyes met mine. “It’s working, mate. You should be unconscious by now from all the orgasms.”

Tears slid out of the corners of my eyes. “That’s just it. I’m not. I need more. How can I need more?”

A wicked grin spread across his handsome face. “Because you’re mine. We belong together. Your pussy is mine. It knows me. Needs me.”

“Yes, but this much?” I asked.

He pulled back, stilled. I whimpered. What the fuck? He couldn’t stop.

“If you are thinking and talking in coherent sentences, then I am not doing it right.”

He gripped both my ankles in one hand and turned, rolling me unceremoniously onto my stomach. Carefully, he lowered my legs so my toes touched the floor. One hand tucked under my hips and banded about my waist as his foot kicked my own wide. Then wider.

I felt the wide crown of his cock at my entrance and he slid in again.

My eyes fell closed and I groaned at the new position, at the way his cock stroked over new places. My fingers curled into the bedding and held on as he took me even harder.

“You. Are. My. Mate.” Each word was punctuated by a deep thrust, fucking me in cadence. “You. Need. Orgasms. And. I. Will. Give. Them. To. You.”

My clit rubbed against the mattress and I came, the hard pounding exactly what I needed.

I cried out his name, sobbed through the pleasure, the feel of him swelling and coming, filling me again with his seed. But that was nothing to the ravenous hunger I had for his skin, his heat. His energy. My body pulled at his, that was the only way I could describe it. I drained his heat, absorbed it into my skin. Sucked it up like a sponge.

Somehow, he knew, leaning over me, pressing every inch of his chest to my back, his hips to my ass, his thighs to mine. Contact. Skin. Heat. It was better than any drug I’d ever experimented with on Earth. Better than a hot bath, a massage and hot sex rolled into one. Combined with the orgasm, and his seed, and the megawatt of energy my body was absorbing on the inside—from his cock—I was blissing out.

At once, it was like a drug fix. The clawing need to fuck eased.

I began to count, silently, in my mind. I made it to thirty before the need came back to life inside me, clawing and twisting its way through my cells like a fever. Or a curse. I wanted him again. Needed more. More. More. Jesus.

“Fuck.” I moaned the word into the bedding, hoping he wouldn’t hear me. This damn Aleran Ardor was a relentless bitch. I didn’t know how Nix was still walking, let alone feeding my body energy along with his seed. He must be some kind of Superman.

No. He wasn’t human. I had to remember that. He was Aleran. He was built for this shit. I was not. Being this dependent, this freaking needy was not making me happy. The human half of me was sulky and depressed. Confused and pissed off. I shouldn’t be this desolate at the idea of him removing his cock from my body. It was insane.

Nix pulled out and I hissed, not used to feeling empty. His seed trickled down my thighs.

He spanked my ass with the palm of his hand, not hard, but enough to sting. “I thought that’s what we just did. Again?”

I climbed up onto the bed, then dropped, sighed. The tangled sheets felt cool on my heated skin. All at once, I was tired. Bone weary. Exhausted. I still felt the tingle beneath my skin, the need that I knew would grow from a smoldering fire to an inferno soon enough. And the worst? I wanted Nix to climb up onto this bed, wrap his arms around me, and hold me. Hold me?

Two words I had never spoken to a man in my life. What. The. Fuck? That screamed dependent, needy, weak female. No man would want a woman that clingy. Especially not a warrior like Nix. He was hard core. I knew a soldier when I saw one. A no bullshit, no drama, alpha male. They didn’t go for women like me. They wanted control and I refused to be controlled. Which led me in a circle back to my original problem. Ardor.

“Dammit. When’s it going to stop? When will I stop needing you?”

Out of the corner of my eye, Nix stilled. His cock was still hard, still a dark plum color and pointed straight at me. It glistened with our combined fluids. God, he was gorgeous.

And pissed.

“You are my mate. You will never stop needing me.” His voice was flat. Emotionless.

I closed my eyes, rolled over and tugged at my hair. We’d fucked in more places than just this bed. Against the wall, over the desk, in the shower. My black hair was starting to change back to purple from being washed so often.

“Nix, you’re not making it better. It’s not going away. It only took Trinity two days to get over her Ardor.”

“Are you implying that you would rather have Leo in your bed?” I thought his question was a joke, until I lifted my head and saw the fury simmering in his eyes. And my sister’s mate? Gag.

“Hell no. Gross. Sisters do not break the sister code. I can’t believe you said that.”

“I did not. You did.” He prowled closer but did not touch me. “Believe me, Destiny, the only male who will be in your bed is me.”

“About this mate thing. We haven’t discussed that, Nix. I’m not sure—” I was about to say I’m not sure I’m the right kind of woman for you, but he interrupted before I could finish the sentence.

“We spend two days in bed. I give you everything. Soothe your Ardor. Make you mine. Claim you as my mate. Yet you speak as if you will toss me out with the trash once your Ardor is soothed.”

I curled up so I faced him, lying on my side. I’d hurt him. But how could I not? I didn’t answer to anyone. Sure, I’d had sex before Nix, but not like this. I craved him. I craved more than his cock. I actually liked him. A lot. Too much, if I were being honest. And the idea of him in another woman’s bed made my blood boil.

But that didn’t mean I wanted an alpha male bossing me around. Forever. And once I agreed to this mate business, I was pretty damn sure he was going to get even more bossy than he already was. Not that I minded, in bed. But out of it?

His words from our first night together came back to me often. In fact, they damn near haunted me—you are my mate and you will bend to my will. Oh, and the other classic— You will stop your searching and return with me to the palace.

Seems he’d won that battle, thanks to my traitorous pussy and this alien Ardor business I had going on. Thanks to my body, I was simply not myself. And that fact alone made me nervous. Nix didn’t know me. Not really. He knew the sex-starved, submissive, begging version of me. And that wouldn’t last.

I was not a wallflower. I was a fighter. And I loved being a fighter. If I had to sit in meetings all day and act the politician or learn to run a household like a bona fide lady, I’d lose my freaking mind. He continued to insist that I would not be allowed to be in danger. As if. I wasn’t allowed to do anything. Hadn’t been for years. Even my parents gave up—although I did generally do what they wanted out of respect. But not fear. Never fear.

So. Yes. Nix and I were going to have a problem. A serious problem. Why couldn’t he see that?

“You’ve got a job to do and so do I, a serious one. You can’t have me underfoot when you’re working, and I can’t sit around the palace eating bonbons while my mother is missing—”

He grabbed my ankle, tugged me so I was flat on my back. He dropped his hands so they were on either side of my head and he loomed over me.

All I could see was him. God, what a view. He really was magnificent in every way.

Get a grip, woman. You can’t keep him.

“Even after we get Mom back, I’ll—” What could I say? I’ll go crazy if I have to be locked up in this palace like a prisoner. I wasn’t a criminal, I was royalty. But that reality had seemed a lot more romantic and special back on Earth. The Disney princesses in the movies didn’t seem to have this kind of problem.

“You’ll what?” he asked.

I licked my lips, thought. I had no idea, actually. I just knew I didn’t want to be tied down—to my title as princess or to the dictates of a man. And I really didn’t want to be addicted to a cock. Since I didn’t have a good answer, I chose not to say anything.

“What will you do, Destiny?” he asked again. “Go back to Earth?”

My eyes widened. “What? No!” I’d never been asked that before, never considered it, but my response was immediate. I wanted to stay on Alera. I knew that. Going back to Earth now would be like… well, I didn’t know what it would be like. But my sisters were staying here with their mates. My mom would be here. Hopefully my dad could come live at the palace. “There’s nothing on Earth for me. I don’t want to go back.”

“So, you’ll continue to sneak into dangerous places you have no business being and risk your life?”

I took objection to that. Faith had snuck into the Jax mansion and pretended to be a maid. She was just as snoopy as I was. “I’ll have you know everything that’s happened wasn’t my fault.”

“I know that, mate. But that doesn’t answer my question.”

I pursed my lips. Duh. Of course I was going to get into trouble. That’s what I did.

“How do you plan to defend yourself, Princess? An army of one out there alone wandering the planet? No guards?”

“No babysitters, you mean.” His hips were nestled between my legs, his cock so close to my core all I had to do was lift my hips and he’d slide right in. But he was heavy, and if he didn’t cooperate, I’d look like an even bigger fool than I did now. Didn’t stop my pussy from clenching like a grasping, greedy little animal. Still, I wanted to try. Angry sex was good. Arguing and fucking was good. Possibly great. Nix made me crazy. I made him crazy, that was obvious. That’s all there was to it.

“The queen’s guard is dedicated to your safety. As am I. We do not watch over infants, although your stubborn pride is making you sound like a child. You have responsibilities to the people of Alera, and to me.”

Now that just made me mad. How dare he lecture me? I pushed against his chest, tried to get him off of me. Tried. “Nix, I’ll have you know—”

There was a knock on the door. The first sound from outside of this room in two days. “Princess Destiny. Nix,” a man shouted.

Nix closed his eyes for a moment. “Not now. Fuck,” he growled. Pissed we’d been interrupted. He wanted whatever this was between us worked out. I was all for delaying because I had no answers.

“Who is it?” I asked Nix, who obviously had recognized the owner of the voice.

“Captain Turaya. Leo’s father.” Nix leaned back, away from me, and instantly I shivered with cold. “We can’t ignore him. He is my commanding officer, and he knows you are in your Ardor. He would not interrupt us if it was not urgent.”

Nix pushed off the bed and grabbed my hand, tugged me so I was standing before him.

“Duty calls, Princess,” he replied, all lust or even playfulness gone from his voice.

He walked over to a couch where I’d tossed a robe… yesterday? I contentedly watched the taut play of his ass muscles as he walked away, then took in the sight of his cock as he turned about and returned to me.

“Here, put this on,” he told me. “No one needs to see you as I do.”

I would have protested the order, but I was not interested in Leo’s dad seeing me naked. And the gesture was kinda sweet. And I was kinda cold.

He went to the door, clearly unconcerned for his own modesty. He arched a brow as he looked back at me, hand on the knob as he waited.

I tugged on the silky robe, tied the sash. Only then did he open the door.

The older soldier in the doorway kept his gaze affixed to Nix’s. He didn’t react to Nix’s nakedness, although it appeared he was too professional to gawk. But then, he was a soldier. He’d probably seen more naked men than I could if I took a new man to bed every night for the rest of my life.

Not that I wanted to do that. The only man I was currently interested in having in my bed was a chest-pounding, overly protective Aleran. And I had no idea how we were going to come to terms. Or if we would.

Captain Turaya bowed slightly to me, looking over Nix’s shoulder. “Princess Destiny, Captain Nix. Princess Trinity requests your immediate presence in the main salon.”

I pushed at Nix, trying to get to the door, but he blocked me in a stop short motion of his arm, so I ducked under. “Why?”

Nix’s hands settled on my shoulders.

“You have received another notice from Elder Cleric Amandine. The meeting location has moved. And the names of several attendees have been included in the missive.”

“She knows who the traitors are?” I asked, excitement pounding through my body like electricity. Finally, I could go kick someone’s ass.

He shook his head. “Only Princess Trinity has read the note. She awaits your arrival.”

“Okay. Thanks.” Nix’s hand lowered to rest at the base of my spine, and I wasn’t sure if it was meant to offer support or remind me that I wasn’t allowed to leave him behind again.

The first would be fantastic, but I was pretty sure it was the second.

“We will be there as soon as possible,” Nix told him.

Captain Turaya nodded and turned to leave. Nix closed the door and went to the S-Gen machine on the wall.

“Nix,” I said, not sure what to say. He wanted to control my life. I loved the sex, but I didn’t want forever with a man who would try to keep me in a bubble. I needed to be able to fight. To protect my sisters. To do… something.

Being a pampered princess mated to a guard who protected them—and me—wasn’t the same thing at all.

“Go, Destiny.” He cocked his head toward the bathroom. “Take a shower.”

“What about you?” I asked. We were both a hot mess. His seed slipped from me and down my thighs even now.

“I will wait until you are done. If I join you, we will keep your sister waiting.” The growl in his voice made my body burn, and so did the way his cock was aimed straight for me, but he was right. Duty called. We had to save the world.

Then we could figure out what the hell we would do about… us.