Then, hot warmth spills into my mouth. I look up at him and see he’s watching me, so I open my lips and let his spend slide down my lips and chin, because it’s the most obscenely sexy thing I can think of. And he comes even harder, gritting my name out between clenched teeth and covering my mouth in endless amounts of his come.
He falls back to the floor a moment later, taking a huge breath, and I use the back of my hand to wipe my chin clean.
“I am undone, my mate. You have unraveled me like a knot.” His hand reaches up to caress my cheek, even as I use the hem of my tunic to clean myself up.
“I’m glad you liked it,” I tell him with a smile. I kiss his palm and hold his hand to my face.
Just because we’re not mated for real doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy each other.
Chapter Sixteen
TIFFANY
The orange, scaly hand moves along the bars of my cage. There’s no escape. Even in here, we’re so cramped we can barely move, and another girl’s stinking flesh is pressed against mine, her body cold with fear-sweat. The alien guard stares at us with those weirdly-lidded eyes, and then his hand raises. He’s pointing.
He’s pointing and I should move, because if he points at me, I’ll be chosen.
I try to move away, but there are arms and legs everywhere, and that finger keeps pointing closer and closer to where I am. I can’t let it land on me though. Not me. Not me.
I belly-crawl on the floor, not caring about the filth that cakes my clothing as I do. There’s a space behind one of the other girls and I worm my way toward it. I don’t care that I’m pushing someone else in front of me, I just…I can’t be chosen.
Not me.
Her, the creature says, and there’s screaming and gasps of horror. The girl in front of me, the girl I’ve burrowed behind is grabbed and dragged away. I sit up, shocked, as a familiar round face contorts in horror.
It’s Josie.
I’ve traded my safety for hers.
“Wait,” I cry out. “Not her! I didn’t mean to push her in front of me!”
No one’s listening. Josie kicks and screams, but they’re still taking her away. I try to get up, but it’s like my legs are full of cement.
“Wait,” I cry out again.
A hand touches my arm, startling me. I open my eyes, not really seeing Salukh’s face near mine. I’m still lost in thoughts of the cave, of Josie.
But I can move now. I can move, and the need to escape is overpowering. Everywhere I look, I see metal and spaceship, and it’s just like when I was stuck in the hold when the aliens first grabbed me. I can’t take it.
I have to get out.
I bolt up from the warm bed of furs I’m sharing with Salukh and race toward the closed doors of the old ship. “Open up,” I scream. I need out. I need sunlight.
There’s a sound like ice cracking, and then the doors slowly slide open to reveal…
More white.
There’s nothing but white snow piled on top of white snow. There’s no sky to be seen. We’re completely buried.
“Tee-fah-nee?” Salukh walks up behind me and gently touches my arm. “What is it?”
I shrug his touch off and start to claw at the snow. It’s wet and cold, and falls forward in massive clumps, chilling my body. I keep clawing, desperate to see sunlight, to dig a tunnel so I can see the sky above. So I can know I’m on a planet and not back in space.
“Tee-fah-nee?”
“I have to get out!”
“Why? Why do you do this?” He pulls me away, and my fingers feel like ice-cubes, wet with slush and holds them in his big warm hand. “You will harm yourself if you continue—“
“I have to save Josie,” I tell him, hot tears starting to spring to my eyes. My nightmare flashes through my head. The dream is calling me out for being a coward, because I sacrificed Josie’s safety so I could stay here with Salukh and play house. And now there’s God knows how many feet of snow on the ground and she could be out there, turning into a human popsicle—
“Jo-see is likely back at the main cave now, drinking warm tea and sitting around the fire.” He rubs my arm and then steps in front of the snowy mess I’ve been making. “Why all the panic over Jo-see?”
I bite my lip and fight the sob threatening to escape. “She traded her safety for me! She’s not safe!”
He leans down and cups my face, staring into my eyes. “Tee-fah-nee, life is not safe. Life is full of danger. There are sweet parts and there are terrible parts. The not-knowing is what makes it worth living.”
I tremble, my body caught by his intense stare. “I’m afraid.” God, I’m afraid of so many things.