Apodis shook his head vehemently and squeezed her hand in a gesture of comfort.
“No, no. Of course not. You triggered rut for me, which can happen when an alpha is near an omega in heat. And even before that, I was…am… very much interested in you.”
Gemini bit her lip, arousal replacing some of the fear infiltrating her body at Apodis’ words, his voice hoarse with lust.
“So why don’t you want to have sex? What happens if we do? Does it make us alien married or something?”
Apodis chuckled, breaking some of the tension filling the room like a dissipating cloud.
“No, not alien married. I’ve had sex with other omegas before.”
Gemini growled, possessive of the male sitting next to her in a way she had no business being. She cleared her throat, trying to focus on understanding exactly what his hesitation was.
“So? Why are you so against it? Won’t it help both of us if we have sex?”
“This is not you, Gemini. Not really. I don’t want you to do anything you might regret.”
She started giggling at the absurdity of his concerns, and it took a while before she could rein herself in, the puzzled look on Apodis’ face only furthering her mirth.
“I wanted to bang you as soon as you carried me through the woods. You don’t have to worry about me being out of my mind,” she explained, and it was the truth.
Sure, she was definitely feeling above average arousal right now, but she’d been into him from the first moment when he’d rescued her like an alien prince.
“It’s my fault you got hurt in the first place,” Apodis said somberly, continuing when she quirked a brow in question. “I was… stalking you, so to speak. I scented you when you were in my territory, and I couldn’t resist following you.”
“Scented?”
“It’s how we can tell someone is a compatible mate.”
“You knew all the way back then…” she breathed, shock winding its way through her bones.
“Yes, in a way. Though I didn’t really understand. I wanted to deny it.”
“I scented you too!” Gemini blurted. “That’swhy I wandered so far away from my camp. You smell like a pine forest.”
Apodis smiled shyly, though he still seemed upset.
“It’s the scent of omorlalla trees. They aren’t native to this mistforest. I’m really sorry, Gemini. I should’ve told you sooner and brought you back to your camp. We might have been able to avoid all this.”
Gemini shushed him, pressing a finger to his lips.
“I don’t want to go back to my camp. I want to be here with you. And if you’re comfortable fucking, I am too.”
Apodis’ eyes blazed, his gaze raking over her breasts and his nostrils flaring as if he could smell the slick she was dripping onto his bed sheets. He tangled a hand in her hair and crashed his lips to hers, a bruising kiss that sent an electric tremor through her.
Gemini moaned into his mouth, parting his lips with her tongue and brushing it over his own. Slowly, he lowered her to the mattress, caging her to the bed with strong limbs, his tentacles waving erratically behind him. His mouth dropped to her neck, and he suckled her flesh, her back arching on instinct as a desperate cry left her lips.
Oh, she didn’t know what she’d do if he denied her again, if he refused to give her what they both so fiercelyneeded.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he whispered in her ear, and she grasped his cheeks, pulling him to face her.
Silver hair hung in his darkened eyes, and she traced the lines of his face.
“I can take you, Apodis. Iwilltake you.”
A growl reverberated between them, a primal sound that she wasn’t sure came from her or him.
“Even my knot?” he asked, his fangs extending in a swift click and sending a tremor of excitement through her.
