Cassie nodded, exhaling hard. Once she was sated, Örim gently pulled her down beside him, finding he wanted her in his arms.
She lay against his chest with the tiny seed crystals of his ejaculate scattered beneath them. Örim stroked her hair away from her face, finding her covered in a thin sheen of sweat. “Did you… did you enjoy our coupling aöseria? If you tell me what to do differently next time, I’ll make changes. Or if you don’t want to do it again, we won’t.” He resisted the urge to rub nervously at his wrist node, instead tracing a circle between Cassie’s shoulder blades.
Her body pulled back from him slightly signing,again is good. Later though. Want to sleep next to you. She curled into him. Warm against cool. Hard against soft. Örim wondered how he could be so lightning struck. She was the fiercest storm he’d ever weathered. This female, who should by all measure, want nothing to do with him, had accepted him into her bed and asked him to stay.
“I will stay, Cassie. As long as you want me.” He gripped her tighter. “But you have to promise me you’ll stay too. No matter what, aöseria, you need to stay.”
She was quiet for a long moment before her hands fluttered against him.I promise.
Örim gripped her tighter, holding her until her breathing slowed and she was asleep in his arms. No one would harm her. No one would make her suffer ever again. He found unexpected purposefulness in something far beyond his research. He was never going back to Teös.
CHAPTER 34
Cassie
Rhea, Swift, and Piper huddled around her as the IA agent herded them through the spaceport. Cassie had never seen so many people in her entire life. She didn’t even realize that many people existed. How many of them knew about the Aviary? Did any of them know about the Aviary?
Swift grabbed her hand as they nearly got sideswiped by some sort of floating vehicle.Are we going to be ok?
I don’t know.Cassie responded.
When Cassie woke alone in Örim’s room the next morning, she found herself aching. It wasn’t painful, just low, dull throbbing emptiness. She could hear Örim doing something at his workbench in the shared living space. She reached between her legs and found herself wet. It must have been what he wastalking about the night before. Her fingers explored, and she started rocking against her own hand. She didn’t have the same girth or texture as Örim did, pushing inside herself, but she could choose her own tempo.
There was still a sense of wrongness in what she was doing. Rules at the Aviary regarding appropriate body behavior fluttered around in her mind. Cassie shoved them aside. She moved her fingers faster, pressing into herself with a need she didn’t know she had. No one had ever taught her about herself, especially not this part of herself. A small sound startled her from the building sensation. When her eyes flew open, Örim was quietly watching her. He still hadn’t put any clothes on for the day, and in the dim light filtering through the blinds, his mating node was a much deeper blue than the rest of his body. Jutting slightly from his pelvis, she recognized the textured crystalline bumps along its surface that had brought her to climax the night before.
“Can I help you, aöseria?” His voice was low, husky. “Otherwise, I’m happy to watch.”
The ache between her legs intensified at the thought of him watching. Already stripped bare, with her fingers inside herself, Cassie felt strangely emboldened. She reached for his hand, drawing him down beside her.Watch first, she said.
“Can I touch you here while I watch?” Örim asked, cupping her breast.
She nodded as she bit her lower lip at the increased sensation as he thumbed her nipples. Cassie closed her eyes again, focusing on the intensity of feeling as she dripped over her fingers. Finally, she summoned the courage to move her thumb over her clit. It was almost too sensitive to touch directly. Her whole body shuddered as she brought herself to climax while Örim watched. As she removed her fingers, Örim was quick toreplace them with his much thicker, textured ones, stretching her as he entered.
“You said you might be able to go again. Is that still true?”
Yes.
He pumped into her slowly, filling the persistent ache with his hand. His fingers curved upward, hitting something inside of her she couldn’t name. “How does that feel?”
Instead of responding, she reached for him, holding onto his shoulders as he continued. The thumb of his other hand rubbed lightly against her clit, increasing in pressure until he brought her to another ferocious orgasm. It left her spinning. Cassie blinked through the pale blue haze around her vision.
“Aöseria, are you well?” he asked.
She took a moment to catch her breath before responding.Yes. Just a lot. What about you?
“Don’t worry about me. We have to leave soon. I’m gratified to see you taking an interest in your own pleasure. There will be more time for me later. I find watching you orgasm is enough satisfaction.”
Cassie blushed. The way he said it, laid it out factually, made it sound so normal, so acceptable, like a conversation mates might have over a meal. Mates. That’s what he’d said they were. Hisaöseria. Cassie’s heart felt full in a way it hadn’t since she’d left her flock behind.
She curled against him, not wanting to get up, but knowing it was time to start the day. Örim held her for a long moment.
“You should eat something before we leave.” He ran a hand through her hair.
I need to get dressed.Reluctantly, she rolled herself up and went to pick out some clothing for the day. Örim dressed efficiently beside her in his standard black pants and tunic.
“Do you know what you want to eat?”
Are you cooking again?Cassie eyed him. He’d tried to make human food for her on several occasions, insisting he could handle it, but it was obvious he had never eaten a bite of food in his entire life.
