“Don’t lie to me. You’ve never lied to me,” she whispered, not moving.
“I don’t want to lie, Sky. Never to you! I just... I love you so much, and I know you’re so far out of my orbit that I can never, ever be anything more than a friend to you. But I’d always help you. I’m mad at myself for contaminating something good with my selfishness. Okay?” Dax swallowed, misery etched on his face. “Can I go now? Or can you go?Yougo, I’ll stay and cover. I won’t bug you if we get a call, I’ll get Marcus.”
Skyla slowly shook her head. “That wasn’t selfish. It wasn’t bad. It was... It was sweet and generous. Like you. Canid males are— well, most of them are amazing, but the bigger, rugged ones survive the longest and do the best in our society. A lot of them radiate ancient ‘alpha male’ traits in the wrong ways. Not like Jaxson. He’s a good leader, a kind protector.”
“Ah.Ahhh. You two—”
“No! Not him and me.Youand me. Dax, I love the way you let me lead sometimes, but you can step up. I love the way you’remy friend, not the ‘head’ of some pack I have to follow because ‘that’s just how it’s done.’ I love... I’ve loved falling in love with you, slowly. Being friends and partners. Giving you signals that would send a Canid male into sexual overdrive and seeing you wait and double check... You love me?”
He nodded, wavy blonde curls bouncing over his wide blue eyes. “Marcus said you liked me, too,” he croaked. “I didn’t believe him. I was afraid to hope for that much. I mean—I got my contract bought by Rupex and Layla so that I could stop being Metro Lab’s human test subject. I got a home with my family again, all the family I’ve ever known, anyway, and I got an education. I found work that I loved... People I loved. I couldn’t expect God—or Bastet and Anubis, or whoever is out here watching over all the people in the universe—to give me a gorgeous, amazing, badass like you on top of all that.”
“I’m a badass?” Skyla cursed the girlish squeal in her voice.
“Um, hello? Yes!” Dax made wild waves towards her—all of her. “You were in the military, you’re a medic, you can fix engines, and you—whooo.” Dax let out a deep breath as his eyes raked her. “I don’t know how to tell you the rest without being disrespectful.”
Skyla sashayed closer, this time letting her tail wrap around his waist, her breasts just under his neck. “When I’m in heat, everything between my mate and me sounds respectful. What do you like, Dax? About me?”
Dax licked his lips and slowly let his hands land on her hips, moaning in chorus with her when she let out a deep, needy rumble, almost a purr-like sound. “I like every single thing about you. I’d never met a Canid in person until I came to theComet Stalker. I had no idea how stunning they could be. Long legs. Long tail. Soft fur like thick silk.” His hand reached up and stroked down the wavy mane of long fur that cascaded down the back of her neck.
“This body—doesn’t turn you off?”
“No! Because you’re in it. I’m turned on by you, Sky. If that’s okay to say.”
“It’s very okay to say.” Skyla dipped her head, and he stood on tiptoe. Their foreheads rested together, and he kissed the tip of her nose, then her cheek, and then—then she pulled him in tight, and let him sink into her, his hands gripping her fur and his face buried in her neck with a moan.
“You said ‘mate’?” Dax mumbled as his hands moved down to her lean glutes and captured them, squeezing her closer to him, as if he wanted to be one with her.
“Mmhm.”
“Mate means partner. Like, permanently, right?”
“Usually.”
“Good.”
SKYLA DIDN’T KNOW WHATshe was doing, or why she was doing it. This was the heat talking. Responsible Skyla, a Skyla who wasn’t in a vat of hormonal lust and ecstasy, would never have pulled Dax into the back quarantine quarters. Nor would she have pulled the privacy screens around the chamber and started squirming when he pressed her into the wall, this time, his hand firmly between her thighs.
“You have to come, right, honey? You need to get off to feel better, baby?” Dax whispered, nodding as he looked into her eyes. “Is this how I do it?”
“Yes,” she hissed, “but not like—you don’t have to get me off first.”
“I want to. I want to learn every little thing you like—and trust me, I’ll like it, too.” Dax kissed her again, moving down her throat, gasping when she ripped open the front of her uniformand her breasts smushed into his face. “I love this holiday, by the way,” Dax grunted, face planted between them.
“Cupid must have been a doctor. This is the best medicine ever,” Skyla laughed as she pulled off his shirt.
He’s so pretty. All smooth skin—and scars. Lots of little scars on the insides of his arms. From the drugs they tested on him—all the little ports and shunts they forced him to have. Humans look so soft—and their hearts are so strong.Her muzzle nuzzled each scar on his strong biceps, tongue flicking out and licking every little imperfection, the salt of his skin making her insides clench.
Dax forced the material of her suit down over her hips and dropped with the fabric. His lips wandered through the white fur as it thinned, leading to where she was nearly bare, and only a thin coating covered her swollen, slick nether lips.
“We should—”
“Lay you down? On your back, with your legs around my shoulders?”
Skyla’s jaw dropped, and she found herself tipped onto the comfortable bed. She giggled when Dax used the buttons on the side to adjust the height and bring her up to his shoulders. “What are you going to do?” she whispered, hot and wet, desperate and nervous.What if this is too much for him? What if he’s turned off? What if...
“I’m going to love my Skyla and definitely figure out how to make her come. I’m expecting you to teach me if I’m messing up, just like you do with other stuff.”
“Okay,” she agreed, breathless, hands kneading the thin white sheet under her.
