But as Dizzy’s hand slid back down his arm to his chest, Venom got the impression she wanted to have her turn at exploring him. Hoping to encourage her confidence with him, he allowed her to touch him however she pleased. Her hands swept over his pecs and down his abdomen a few times before coming very close to the waistband of his shorts.
There was no way she had missed his massive erection. It tented the front of his shorts. No doubt she had recognized how much larger he was than the human males on her planet. Was she having second thoughts about letting him be her first?
Their gazes clashed as she curiously caressed his hard length through his shorts. He held his breath when her fingers traced him. Grasping him through the fabric, she mischievously flicked her tongue against his lips. “I want to touch you.”
“You are touching me.” He growled his response as the tether on his control remained tenuous at best.
“Without clothes,” she clarified, her voice wavering with nervousness and excitement.
He pushed down the front of his shorts and released his cock from its fabric prison. Taking her hand, he brought it down to his rigid shaft. “I’m all yours, sugar.”
Her sweet mouth curved with a playful grin. She nipped at his lower lip and wrapped all ten of her fingers around his thick length. He bit back the curse word that burned the tip of his tongue. Heat speared his belly as she idly stroked him with both hands. Up and down, her curled fingers caressed his hot flesh.
When one of her hands moved even lower to cup his sac, Venom nearly came. He clamped down on the overpowering urge and managed to hold his climax at bay. Her soft fingers massaged his balls while her other hand continued stroke him from the base to the blunt crown. Pre-cum oozed from the slit there. The copious, glistening fluid slicked her fingers.
“Am I doing this right?” She sounded so unsure of herself.
“Hell yes.” He punctuated his gruff reply with thrusts into her stroking, fondling hands. “Tighter. And faster, baby.”
“Like this?” She followed his orders perfectly but seemed too timid to move her hand as quickly as he wanted.
“I won’t break.” He wrapped his hand around hers and guided it up and down his shaft at a quicker speed. “You can be rough with me.”
Hoping to encourage Dizzy’s curiosity and confidence with him, Venom kept her hand trapped beneath his to show her what he liked. The hand cupping his sac massaged him a little harder, just the way he wanted it. He dipped down to claim her sweet mouth, stabbing his tongue between her pliable lips and swallowing her excited whimpers.
He had never imagined something as simple as a hand job could feel this damn good. It occurred to him that it was the connection between them that amplified every sensation. He realized that in all of his adult life he’d never allowed himself to truly feel anything with a woman.
Like so many soldiers, his first time had followed his pinning and graduation ceremony at sixteen. Highly skilled women who worked in the pleasure sector were usually brought in to initiate the new graduates as a kind of reward and good luck send-off before they were rushed onto the front lines. There was nothing romantic or gentle about those encounters. It was sex devoid of emotion or intimacy.
Even later when he had discovered his love of rope bondage he’d simply sought out prostitutes who allowed that kind of thing. Very few of them had actually found any excitement or fulfillment in being tied up in his intricate knots and harnesses. For most of those women it was an added fee to be pocketed and nothing more.
So he’d erected a wall around himself, refusing to allow emotional entanglements. Before he had sworn off visits to the pleasure sectors at various sky ports, he would get in and out as quickly as possible. There was no softness or intimacy. The most foreplay that occurred happened during the fee and scene negotiations.
Right now with Dizzy, Venom allowed himself to feel. He allowed himself to indulge his protective instinct and welcomed his growing affection toward her. He eagerly awaited the chance to take this long, erotic journey with her, to discover what made her come the hardest or scream his name in pure ecstasy.
“You’re so hard.” Her awed whisper sent electric jolts through his chest. His muscles started to tense. Balls tight, he sped up their caressing hands to increase the friction where he needed it most. Her lips touched his neck, planting ticklish kisses on his skin. “Come for me, Venom.”
Dizzy’s whispered plea flung him right over the edge. Groaning her name, he went rigid as his blazing-hot cum rocketed through his cock. His climax punched the air right out of his lungs. The ropy bursts of seed spilled onto her thigh and belly, drawing a surprised gasp from her.
As he shuddered against her, Dizzy sought his mouth for a deep kiss. She caressed the back of his head and the knotted muscles between his shoulders as he recovered from his orgasm. He reveled in the tender comfort she offered him. “Thank you.”
Drawing back so he could peer into her eyes, Venom asked, “For what, sugar?”
“For being so gentle and easy with me. You could have taken this all the way. You’re so much bigger and stronger than me that you could basically force me to do anything you want—but you haven’t. You kept the promise you made in the forest.”
“I never break my promises, Dizzy. Especially not to you,” he added before kissing her. “I am bigger and stronger than you but I would never, ever use my size to intimidate or hurt you.” Horrified by the very idea of it, he instructed, “If I ever make you uncomfortable, you need to tell me. I don’t ever want you to be afraid of me.”
“I’m not afraid of you.” She studied him for a moment. “I’m curious about you. I’m attracted to you. But I’m not afraid of you.”
“Good.” He relaxed at the knowledge that he’d put her at ease around him. “Wait here.”
Venom slid out of bed to retrieve a couple of wet wipes from the nearby cabinet. When she realized he was going to clean up her belly and thigh, she twisted away from him. “I can do that.”
“I’m sure you can.” He dragged her onto her back so he could wipe away the evidence of their heavy-petting session. “I made this mess. I’ll clean it up.”
The corners of her mouth lifted with amusement. “Does that extend to housework as well?”
Venom laughed. “Sure does.” He leaned down to peck her cheek. “I didn’t Grab you so I could have a house slave. I’ve lived on my own enough years to be fully capable of doing my own laundry or cooking dinner.”
“You cook too?” She straightened her hospital gown and scooted over to the edge of the mattress to make room for him. “I might be even luckier than I thought.”
“You have no idea.” He crawled back into bed with her. This time she didn’t try to turn her back on him. Instead she rolled onto her side to face him. For a long while, he simply enjoyed staring at her. He took in her bright eyes and full lips and that pale-blonde hair spilling around her shoulders. The vision of her bare breasts, nipples hard and flushed, tormented him. The sweet sampling of her had whetted his appetite for so much more—but not tonight.
He allowed himself one final kiss before rubbing her arm. “Get some sleep, sugar.”
She answered him with a silent nod and shut her eyes. Following her lead, he let his eyelids drift together. The exhaustion of a long day finally got to him. His emotions had vacillated all over the place today. Excitement, arousal, panic, fear, lust, desire, jealousy, protectiveness—he’d felt them all multiple times and it had worn him out physically and mentally. A good night’s rest was definitely in order.
But every time he started to succumb to the lull of slumber Dizzy fidgeted next to him. At first he assumed she was trying to get comfortable. He imagined her bed back on Calyx was smaller and softer than these big, hard hospital mattresses.
When she rolled onto her other side he hoped she’d found a comfortable spot. A few minutes later she squirmed again and flexed her feet. She blew out an annoyed breath amid her restless search for sleep.
“Dizzy, is something wrong?”
She didn’t answer him immediately. Eventually she admitted, “I can’t sleep like this.”
He frowned. “Like what?”
Sitting up, she rubbed her face between her hands. He sensed she was embarrassed to reveal something to him.
“Tell me how to help you.”
“I have a weighted blanket at home. I couldn’t bring it because it was too big and bulky for my bag. I…I can’t sleep without it.”
She sounded so humiliated to admit that she had a special blanket. If anyone else had heard her confess that, she might have been met with laughter or teasing. He knew better.
“Dizzy, honey,” he touched her arm, “it’s okay. Don’t be embarrassed. It’s not as uncommon as you’d think.”
Her gaze whipped toward him. “Really?”
“Sure.” He slid his arm around her shoulders and tugged her down into his waiting embrace. “Men who suffer from siege shock often have trouble sleeping. They actually sell weighted blankets and sleep masks programmed with the sound of rainfall and crashing waves in the commissary.”
“This didn’t start with the bombing. I’ve always been like this. My dad was the one who figured out that I needed constant pressure to sleep normally.” She snuggled against his chest. “He actually rocked me to sleep every night until I was almost seven.”