The evening following their scalding-hot tryst was benign by comparison. Ella and Draikis’s attraction was absurdly evident when they were together, and they came to the conclusion that perhaps they should distance themselves a bit, especially given the increasingly critical stares Ella drew every time she was around the other brothers.
It wasn’t her fault. She had been brought in as an injured survivor. A victim. But now that she bore no signs of her previous ordeal, grumblings about this outsider female remaining in their midst were increasing.
No one dared voice them directly to Draikis. At least, not in a way that would be perceived as a direct attack on the woman he’d taken under his wing. Her recovery was a testament to his careful attention to her healing process, after all, and that reflected well upon the brotherhood as a whole. But that didn’t mean they had to like having her there.
Draikis brought her a delightful selection of foods for her dinner, but as others saw him when he arrived with it at her quarters, he reluctantly handed off her meal then bade her agood evening. His eyes said what his full lips could not, and Ella very much felt the same.
“Tomorrow?” she asked as he turned to leave, the ache in her belly growing warmer from his mere presence.
He turned, a slight flush to his cheeks in spite of his best efforts.
“An outing,” he replied. “I thought you would enjoy visiting one of the local villages we trade with. You’ve seen much of Norvalian lands, it is about time you sampled the sights and delicacies of somewhere new.”
If only he knew the reality of her situation. That she had never seen any other aliens outside the Raxxians who had snatched her up. Everything was a delightfully novel experience, but even Draikis could not be confided in. Not yet. Her outsider status would put him at risk as well, given the time he’d spent with her, not only healing but also vouching for her.
Soon. I’ll tell him soon. But not just yet.
“I’d love that,” she replied, a smoldering heat to her happy grin.
“Then it’s settled. I will gather you tomorrow morning. I’ll ensure a hardy breakfast is delivered to you beforehand. We will take one of the small transport craft, but there will still be a good deal of walking involved, and I wouldn’t want you to be lacking in the energy department.”
His words referred to their outing, but the gleam in his eye carried a much more intimate meaning that made her pussy throb.
“Tomorrow it is. See you then.”
Reluctantly, she closed her door, her entire body buzzing with want.
“Get ahold of yourself, El. Tomorrow is soon enough.”
It was a pretty convincing statement, she thought, but her body protested vehemently, reminding her just how much shecraved Draikis, thoughts of their stupidly hot encounter earlier that day burning her mind’s eye.
Ella ate in quiet reflection, enjoying the fare as she replayed their encounter over and over. The little details that mattered. The way he was so powerful and commanding, yet tender and present at the same time. Yes, he’d used her for his pleasure, just as she’d wanted him to, but in so doing he was also dialed in on her own needs, reading her like a book and ensuring she was satisfied. And then some.
She moved to her bed and lay back, her fingers sliding between her legs, her body already quite primed and ready for release. Ella rubbed between her folds, her breath ragged in her throat with delight. She knew she should take it easy, given the meal she’d just enjoyed, but her swelling clit had other things in mind.
“Oh, yeah,” she groaned, enjoying the inside-your-head TV replay of their encounter. So primal. Direct to the point. And hot damn, so satisfying.
Ella came hard and fast, the tingles in her legs and arms leaving her a floppy mess for a few minutes as she basked in the afterglow. It was a wonderful feeling, but nowhere near the real thing.
“Tomorrow,” she murmured, wondering what new delights might be on their sensual menu.
Time would tell.
She wokeenergized and ready to take on the world, the covered tray of food outside her door a welcome end to her overnight fast. Her meal devoured with gusto, Ella prepared for the day, energized and excited, both for the outing, which would be exciting in its own regard, but even more for her time with Draikis.
The rune on her chest pulsed, glowing faintly at the thought of him, the connected runes across her body tingling slightly as it shifted in her flesh.
It had been an interesting occurrence, the changing of this rune on her chest. It had started small and of an ornate, delicate design, but as she and Draikis spent more time together it had grown into something new, and her attachment to him had only intensified in the process.
“Maybe there really is something to this thing,” she mused, running her fingertips across the design.
Draikis’s Infala, like all in the order, had supposedly been silenced, rendered cold and inert by powerful blocking runes, but she’d seen his Infala up close and personal, and it was dormant no longer. The black pigment may have still inhibited it, but it was fighting a losing battle. An opinion that was only reinforced when he picked her up for their outing.
The draw was unmistakable, and it was hard for them to keep their hands off each other on the walk to the landing area where their little transport craft was waiting. It was self-piloting, like an air taxi that would automatically get them to their destination in the safest and smoothest way possible. That meant the lovers had ample time to make out like hormonal teens once the door had sealed.
The flight was short, all things considered, and that was probably a good thing. Once they started down the sexytime road, there was no telling how long things might go on.
“That’s our destination,” he noted as a small town full of colorful awnings and tents surrounding a few gleaming spires that looked incredibly high-tech by comparison. “The core structures are for interstellar business as well as housing for the higher-ranked members of the society. The rest is a more primitive culture where trade and barter are the order of the day.”
