Hard Sands: Warlords of Atera Read online

  The smile that tightened his lips told Kalinda he was definitely interested.

  He took her words as permission to go after what he craved and grabbed the waist of her pants. He curled his claw-tipped fingers beneath the elastic and tugged, peeling her clothing off her body with ease. His strength, his determination and drive, added to Kalinda’s excitement, reminding her of Nakan’s strength. He was a beast compared to her—a feral animal held under tight control.

  Her control. And she loved it.

  Once she was unclothed, he returned to scent her again, this time drawing even nearer. The sunken nostrils on his face teased the skin of her mound and her breath caught in her throat. It’d been so long since she’d been touched there, and the dry scales that made up his skin teased her smoothness.

  She grew even more wet just knowing what was to come, how Nakan would soon touch her. She told herself to temper her excitement because she couldn’t be sure what would happen next. She’d had plenty of bad oral sex in her day with human men who got it all wrong. It was probably a little unreasonable for her to expect Nakan to blow her mind on his first try, yet… She shuddered, pussy clenching and clit twitching as anticipation overtook her in a wave.

  “You smell so good, my kode. I have never scented anything so tempting.”

  Kalinda nibbled her lip and whispered in return. “Thank you?”

  How else was she supposed to answer?

  His warm breath fanned her bare mound, heat teasing her wet flesh, and she went rigid with anticipation. She stared at him, those gray eyes on hers as he opened his mouth and exposed his thin, forked tongue, readying to explore her.

  It slipped past his thin lips slowly and she stared at the split tip, dying to know how it would feel against her bundle of nerves. It was long and angled, and surely it could do things human tongues merely dreamt of.

  He reached her slick lower lips and slipped between them with ease, unerringly finding her clit. That first touch, the first flicker, had her gasping and arching her back as she pressed into that first tentative exploration. It was pure coincidence that he started where she craved him most. He had no reason to know where to find that spot of pleasure, but she wanted to make sure he knew she loved that caress.

  “Yes, yes, right there,” she moaned.

  He slipped his tongue from between her sex lips for a moment. “This is where you like to be touched, my kode?”

  She whimpered at the loss of sensation. “Yes! Don’t stop!”

  Nakan lowered his head, forked tongue emerging once more and slipping through her juices to find her clit again. He circled the nubbin, the strangely shaped part of him flicking and teasing the bundle of nerves. Bolts of lightning traveled through her with the caresses, her body jerking and twitching in response to his ministrations, and she couldn’t help but moan in response.

  It wasn’t as good as a human man. It was better.

  It had taken mere seconds for him to learn how to touch her and she couldn’t believe she had ever doubted Nakan. He provided pleasure she’d never experienced before. His tongue was so much more powerful than a human’s could ever be—phenomenally muscular like the rest of his body.

  For a male who had just learned of tasting a woman, he knew how to please Kalinda with all the right moves. As his tongue circled her clit, his hands drifted, sliding over her bare body and tracing the curves of her hips to venture higher toward her breasts.

  Kalinda made no move to stop him. She had no desire to halt his sensual attentions. Just as she’d been curious about what it would feel like to have his tongue pressed between her thighs, she wanted to know what his scaly skin would feel like against her breasts.

  Nakan reached her breasts and first cupped the heavy mounds, giving them a gentle squeeze and causing her nipples to harden in response. Firm and aching and just begging to be touched. His gaze drifted to those firm nubs and then he ran one claw-tipped finger over the hard piece of flesh, flicking her nipple with the sharp edge of his nail. He could slice into her vulnerable skin with ease with that deadly claw, yet he was gentle in his teasing. He gave her only the slightest hint of pain with the pleasure his mouth created between her thighs.

  She rolled her hips against his talented mouth and arched her back, pressing her breast more firmly into his rough palm and aching for more of his touch. He grasped the nipple between his fingers and gave her a soft pinch, another sharp ache to add to the pleasure he elicited. She rollicked in ecstasy. To have his tongue rolling over her clit as his fingers pinched her nipples… She couldn’t believe Nakan had never pleasured a woman before. How did he know how to touch her? How did he know how to make her pussy ache for him and body silently beg to be taken by his alien cock?

  Then he did this thing with his tongue… A twisting twirl that had her shuddering from head to toe and her pussy clenching on air. She shook with the pleasure that consumed her veins and she decided questioning his abilities was overrated. She was too enthralled with the feelings he gave her to bother with anything else.

  “Yes…” she hissed.

  Nakan pulled his mouth from her and she whined in response. “This is what you enjoy, my kode?”

  “Yes,” she huffed between heavy, panting breaths. His fingers continued to tease and torment her breasts, drawing her arousal onward despite the loss of his mouth. “This is what I like.”

  He smiled, a sharp tightening of his thin lips. “I love the way you taste. It matches your scent and I have never tasted anything so sweet.”

  “Then keep tasting,” Kalinda reached for him, cupping his cheek for a moment before urging him to place his mouth on her once again. She surprised herself with her boldness. She’d never been one to really give direction or demand what she wanted, but… But she wanted to come, dammit.

  And yet… she didn’t want to come too soon. She enjoyed his ministrations so much she wanted it all to last as long as possible. Yet she couldn’t exactly have it both ways. She could either have the best sexual pleasure of her life and allow the inevitable orgasm to overtake her or ask Nakan to slow and stop it from approaching.

  Screw that. She wasn’t going to ask him to slow down.

  He circled her clit with his talented tongue. Round and round he teased those nerves, sparking them all to life with his every flick. Then he surprised her by sliding down her slit, venturing south toward her center. He grasped her breasts as he continued his explorations, squeezing them tightly as his own excitement grew. Kalinda stared down at her alien lover, at the way his gray scales shined in the dim light, the way the scale-covered muscles in his shoulders and arms bulged. She couldn’t see below his waist, but she wondered if any other part of him bulged, as well.

  As he ran his tongue up and down her slit, she imagined what it would be like to be penetrated by him. To be fully taken and claimed, fuck the consequences. It was so very tempting… How big was he? Was his alien cock so very different from a human man’s? Based on his physique, he had to be bigger than a human. Right? Perhaps he could reach places others had never even gotten near. After all, his tongue was far more capable than any man from Earth’s.

  Then he reached her core and all thoughts of his cock ceased because Nakan didn’t just tease her opening or circle her center. He pressed against that most intimate place with his tongue and eased inside her. It wasn’t the penetration she’d been craving, but it eased some of the harshest need consuming her blood. She gasped and reached for his wrists, needing to brace herself in some way as this new pleasure overtook her.

  She dug her fingernails into his hard scales as he fucked her slowly, his tongue sliding in and out of her wet sheath. He eased deeper with every thrust forward, touching new places, teasing never-before explored nerve endings. He wriggled his tongue deep inside her and she couldn’t stop her body from moving—trembling—in response to his ministrations.

  With her movements, Nakan abandoned her breasts and brought his hands to her thighs, bracing them wide and holding her steady for his tal
ented mouth. He held her down with force, muscles bunching and immovable as he silently demanded she give in to his superior strength.

  And that turned her on even more—the way he overpowered her to give her more pleasure, the way he pinned her to the furs with his scale-covered arms and body so he could continue tasting her wet pussy. He held her so effortlessly despite the fact that she lurched and jerked in his hold. With every new wave of ecstasy, she moved and wiggled against his tight grip.

  He darted in an out of her pussy with his alien tongue, fucking her with the forked tip and driving her pleasure higher and higher with every movement. He responded to her every move, moving faster and faster with her soft mewls and quiet begging. She wasn’t sure how he could move so quickly, but he slid in and out of her faster and faster.

  Soon he was moving so quickly she wasn’t sure how his motions were even possible. How did he have so much control? How could he move so fast?

  He’s an alien…

  That was her last conscious thought, her ponderings overtaken by her rising orgasm as it grew and grew within her belly. She struggled to hold it back, delay its arrival, not yet ready for the unending bliss of Nakan’s attentions to come to a close.

  But it was not to be. The pleasure grew and grew within her, starting around her clit and increasing to encompass her pussy. The juncture of her thighs pulsed with bliss, the ball of cascading joy stretching to trace every nerve ending in her body. She felt aflame, the blood in her veins bursting to life with the overwhelming pleasure Nakan drew from her.

  Her muscles tensed and relaxed in waves, all sense of control no longer within her grasp as his attentions stole all semblance of autonomy. And still it all grew, blossomed deep within her bones and spread to encompass her from head to toe. The bubble stretched and filled with gathered pleasure, threatening to overtake her in one massive wave at any moment.

  Still Nakan continued, not knowing what was to come but somehow sensing her need for him to keep going. She needed more. Just a little more and more and soon she’d come all over his lips and forked tongue, bathing him in her release.

  She moaned and groaned, begging, pleading and gasping out words even she didn’t understand, but he somehow did because then he did this thing with his tongue and Kalinda…

  Kalinda screamed as that bubble of pleasure burst and bathed her in a blanket of ecstasy. She yelled like an animal, howling out her pleasure for anyone to hear, and the sounds echoed throughout the chamber. The guttural noises drove Nakan to please her further and he continued pumping his tongue in and out of her core through wave after wave of her orgasm.

  It ran from Kalinda’s head to her toes, encompassing her in the bliss of release. She was rocked with the sensations, chills rolling down her back as she arched and writhed while basking in the feelings. Her pussy pulsed around Nakan’s tongue, milking him as she would milk his cock someday. Or would she? The way she felt at the moment made it seem inevitable.

  She wasn’t sure how long her orgasm lasted. It seemed to go on forever, and she felt as if she had disappeared from herself. In that moment, she wasn’t Kalinda. She wasn’t even human. She was merely a beast receiving the greatest pleasure imaginable.

  It took a while for her to catch her breath, her breasts rising and falling as she huffed, and Nakan took notice of her heaving chest. His gray eyes darkened with lust and a wave of guilt swamped her. He’d put in so much work and Kalinda hadn’t done a thing for him in return.

  “Let me touch you.” She reached for him, fingers tingling as thoughts of exploring his body took hold.

  Nakan didn’t understand. “How do you mean? You have been touching me.”

  “I mean,” she grumbled, still hating having to talk about sex. She just wanted to get to some doing instead. “You pleasured me. Now I should pleasure you. Is there anything I can do?”

  He tipped his head to the side. “Is this common on your world? You must reciprocate pleasure?”

  Kalinda paused for a moment. He had a way of making her reconsider human customs that she took for granted. When he said it like that, it did feel a little silly.

  “Yeah, when you do someone a favor on Earth, they do one back.” Kalinda shrugged.

  “And… you think pleasure is a mere favor.”

  He made her reconsider everything. “Well, no… It’s intimate, I know, but—”

  “I did not touch you and taste you because I wished for your touch in return. I did it to please my kode. I do not know how men behave on your planet, but if they only please a female so that they may be pleased in return, they are shameful. I will do anything to keep my kode happy. I find joy in yours.”

  Kalinda’s heart fluttered. She’d never thought of it in that way, but it was clear Nakan was intentionally selfless.

  It brought her comfort. She didn’t want to admit it aloud or give in to her feelings, but it was true. She liked the idea that Nakan was dedicated to her happiness. Period.

  She wondered if things had gone as planned, would her original intended mate treat her in the same way? She hadn’t succumbed to the idea of staying on this planet but the thought was crossing her mind. Would staying with Nakan—an alien male dedicated to her happiness—be so bad?

  “Okay, even if you didn’t do it to get something in return, is there anything I can do to pleasure you?”

  His face twisted with his confusion. “But I have said you do not have to give me pleasure. Why would you ask this?”

  “Because even if I don’t have to, I want to.”

  Nakan’s eyes widened with his surprise. “You wish to pleasure me?”

  “Yes, perhaps I do.” Kalinda nibbled her lip, a little embarrassed to admit the truth, but after the intimate moment they shared she was feeling more open to the large alien male.

  “All of my pleasure lies within my mating pouch and cannot be accessed until my mate is prepared to lay claim.”

  “Right.” Kalinda wasn’t there quite yet. “And if I, er, lay claim, you can never mate with anyone again.”

  “Yes.”

  The thought of staying with Nakan may have crossed her mind, but she was far from sure about the decision. She wasn’t about to determine his future on an impulse.

  “You look upset, my kode. I thought I pleased you.”

  “You did,” Kalinda responded. “Trust me, you have. Maybe better than anyone ever before. Actually, definitely better than anyone before. I’m just disappointed that you did so much for me and I can’t do anything in return.”

  “My kode, I told you. I do not need you to gift me pleasure. If you are only sad because you have been conditioned to believe that all your pleasure is owed to someone else, please do not be. That is no longer your life, not with me. You will always receive pleasure willingly for all your days.”

  Kalinda couldn’t stop a faint smile from crossing her face. She couldn’t deny that the idea excited her—pleased for the rest of her days. She could get used to that.

  Nakan shifted his position and moved to lie alongside her once more. He took her in his arms and pulled her close to him. “Come, my kode. You need rest.”

  Kalinda didn’t protest. As the pleasure of her orgasm waned, the typical after-sex sleepiness overtook her body. She rested her head on his scaled arm and allowed herself to drift off into a heavy sleep.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Nakan woke after a peaceful night’s sleep, Kalinda still pressed against the hard planes of his front with her curvy body curled in his arms. Her skin was softer—smoother—than any surface he had ever known. He had never experienced the touch of an Ateran female—not in such an intimate way—but he imagined the scales of a female of his own kind was nothing compared to the sensual, smooth pink skin of the human sharing his furs.

  Cradling her in his arms, he could scarcely believe Eana had gifted him with such a treasure. He was blessed in a way he had never before experienced. Her touch alone filled him with warmth. Staring at her delicate face and savoring the touch of
her round behind pressed against his mating pouch filled him with intense desire. He grew hard behind the slit that kept his cock hidden from view. It ached to burst past the thin skin that reflected his purity. To press unencumbered against her firm ass.

  He recalled the feel of her touch just last night, when his kode had touched him so intimately. He had struggled to resist the urge to take her and damn the consequences. He fought even harder now, with her nearness, the way she seemed so peaceful. His biological urges demanded he claim her now without delay. If only he could listen to his body and forget about is honor.

  He pressed himself more firmly against her lush body, imagining what it would feel like to slide into her waiting, willing body. It took every ounce of his self-control to pull back and resist his raging desires.

  Kalinda stirred, rolling to her back, and he eased away, putting much-needed space between their bodies.

  “Good morning,” she whispered.

  “May the day greet you well.” Nakan focused on her features, watching her expression for any hint that she knew of the liberties he took. Did she notice the way he had pressed so close?

  She did not speak and instead glanced around the sparkling cave, seeming to remember where they were. She sighed and lifted her arms over her head, toes pointed as she stretched and groaned.

  A sound a female should make only as she was loved by her kode. A sound he wished to cause many, many times.

  “I’m hungry.” She turned her gaze to him. “I don’t suppose there’s anything to eat down here.”

  “No,” he shook his head. “We can return to the dining hall before we address the business of the day.”

  “What business is that, exactly?” She lifted a single brow.

  Human eyebrows… so expressive on their own.

  “I must speak with my people. We struggle with many issues and they need my guidance.”

  “And me?”

  Nakan tightened his lips in a smile and stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. “You I shall cherish until the day my heart stops.”