Page 14 of The Naga Wanderer’s Wounded Mate

Chapter 12

Jasmine

Waking up curled in Ekkire’s arms was very different from how I’d woken up the morning before. The soft glow of the lightsource still filled the tunnel, but it was impossible to tell if it was morning or still night. I wanted to burrow closer to him, let that enticing scent of his fill my lungs and mark my clothes. I couldn’t remember ever lying with another man this way, and realized this was probably a first. Safe, not pressured—just both of us simply resting. It didn’t need to mean anything else; it simply was.

As I roused more, I began to remember what we’d talked about last night. He had demanded to know who’d hurt me, hellbent on avenging me. Exactly the kind of thing a mated naga male would do for his human. I’d heard more than one “I’ll kill him” or “I’ll kill it,” simply because a girl at Haven had stubbed her toe. What was far harder to shove aside was his fervent promise that I didn’t need to carry my hurt alone. That was… that was intimate, and it had gotten under my defenses in a hurry.

Perhaps he and I weren’t so different, and perhaps he wasn’t the kind of man—male—who would try to change me. I didn’t think Ekkire would coddle me in ways that would make me feel smothered. Maybe, I dared to hope, Ekkire wouldn’t demand of me what I wasn’t ready to give. He seemed far more patient, withdrawn, or just quiet, than any other male I’d met since waking on Serant. Even more eye-opening, he had been as surprised when his sigils lit up as I was, and as unwilling to face them at first. He really had no control over them; this was pure chance. Or maybe it was fate, if I believed in that sort of thing.

Dove had rolled onto her back during the night, paws in the air and wings outstretched. I discovered that Ekkire had cupped a hand around her so she couldn’t slide off, and he was still protectively cradling her even in his sleep. He was seriously at risk of making me like him, a lot. Especially if he kept being that sweet to Dove while it was obvious he did not understand the concept of a pet…

I stared at his face and cataloged all his differences. He was definitely not human, starting with the most obvious: a tail instead of legs, protective scales instead of skin, and a horn jutting from his chin that looked sharp and dangerous. Then there were the finer details, like his split tongue and slit pupils. Long, dark green lashes fanned against the carved slopes of his cheeks, while spiky ridges took the place of his eyebrows.

The color of his scales was this exquisite emerald hue, while his hair was a deep, dark green. Hints of gold swirled at the edges of some scales, while black darkened the edges of others. I traced them with my fingers and was surprised by how soft the scales felt beneath my touch. I’d expected armor, but it felt like warm, slightly bumpy skin. It made me realize I’d never paid any attention to what naga scales felt like before. I’d been at Haven for three months and made it my business to prove to each male there that I wasn’t their mate. I’d done that by touching their scales, and it had never registered how nice they felt.

“What are you doing?” Ekkire said, startling me and catching me red-handed, feeling up his abs. The surly tone of his voice made me feel like I’d done something wrong. However, when I snatched my hand back, he trapped it against his abs with one of his in a lightning-fast move. Heat warmed my cheeks, but there was no anger or accusation in his eyes. I was pretty sure that was heat instead, the kind that made my toes curl. On just the one foot, though, the other still hurt far too much for any toe-curling.

“I, uh… I was curious?” I admitted, my voice husky, and it wasn’t from sleep. Dove responded by lifting her head and swiveling to stare at me with her large, silver eyes. She sniffed as if she knew exactly how my thoughts had begun to spiral into the gutter when I’d focused on Ekkire’s abs. With a huff, she seemed to decide it was time to make her retreat. She stretched like a cat, all arched spine and twitching tail, then leaped from Ekkire’s chest to start sniffing around the tunnel we were in.

Ekkire and I both watched her go, the silence between us stretching. He cleared his throat. “Curious? About my… scales?” Oh, he didn’t sound so surly now; he sounded shocked. He sounded like he couldn’t quite fathom why I’d be intrigued by the play of colors over those defined ridges. Maybe he didn’t know how pretty it was, and how attractive I was beginning to find not just his scent, but all of him. He was like a green, scaly version of Poseidon with his trident, and apparently I had a thing for Poseidon-like aliens.

“Yeah,” I said, a little more boldly. He was still confused, and it occurred to me that this guy had never been flirted with in his life. Oh, hell, he might even be a virgin. Now why did that make me feel safe? I leaned a little closer, perching my elbow on his chest. It made me twist my broken leg awkwardly, but it was a dull, deep ache, not a sharp pain.

“I’ve been thinking,” I told him. “You and I, we’re not that different. You wander the world, and I think I know why you do it. It’s this restlessness, isn’t it? This itch in your bones to go, to move, to see new places?” He began nodding with each word I spoke, slowly at first, but much more firmly as I finished, a spark of recognition lighting in his eyes.

“Yesssss,” he hissed. “That’s exactly it! I feel trapped staying in one place, and the itch becomes unbearable until I leave. That is why I am not right for a mate. I could never give you a home.” His tone turned mournful, but it sparked more hope inside my chest. See, this might actually work. It really might. Ekkire was so like me when it came to this need to see new places; it was uncanny. There had to be something to this mate bond thing after all.

“I feel that too, Ekkire. I haven’t wanted a mate because I thought I’d feel trapped, and it sounds like you thought the same…” I left the words hanging there because I was uncertain where I was going with this.

There was one thing I was certain of: I was not ready to commit to anything. This was simply a tentative exploration of what might be if we allowed it to develop. He did not seem to have a clue how to answer, either, but perhaps it didn’t need words. A tilt to his mouth made it curl into this sexy, seductive sort of smile. His eyes filled not with that mournful look of loss, but with a spark of hope. It made something throb inside my chest, not arousal, though that was there too, but something much warmer and much more fragile.

“Ah, Jasmine, you don’t know how much that pleases me to hear. All I need to do is adjust to having company, like a sleara, and we’re all set.” When my eyes widened, a hint of panic sparking in my veins, he threw back his head and began laughing, the sound raspy and hoarse, like he had not laughed in so long he’d almost forgotten how to do it. “It will take me a long time to do that, do not worry, and if not, you could always shoot me.”

Shoot him? The thought was so horrible I reared back and began shaking my head. No, not this guy who’d literally risked dying to prevent me from getting hurt in the fall. The guy who’d dragged his, uh… tail every step of the way, yet proved with gesture after gesture that he was a total sweetheart. Trustworthy, patient, loyal. I knew that to be true even after two days. That very first night, he’d made me realize, shamefacedly, that he was a total gentleman and would never demand the things any of my clients back on Earth had. Never.

So what I said was: “Have you ever kissed a human?” which was a stupid question because, duh, of course he hadn’t. Naga didn’t even know what kissing was until we showed up on this planet last year, or so I’d been told in Vera’s introductory class on naga. Ekkire’s sigils began to glow brighter than ever, a flash of light that almost surpassed that of the light source lying next to us on a rock. He knew what I meant; he must have seen it at Haven, even if he’d somehow missed seeing me.

“The mouth mating, is that what you mean?” he asked, voice so low it came out almost like a growl, a rumble I felt deep in my belly. It made me clench my thighs together and forget all about my broken leg and how much I didn’t want to get close to anyone, least of all a guy. I nodded, my mouth already going dry with anticipation. “No, I have not,” he said simply, with no judgment in his tone. There was curiosity, that heat that lit his eyes and the marks on his chest, but nothing to suggest he thought I was an idiot for even asking.

Taking a deep breath, I took the plunge, leaning in and quickly pressing my mouth to the corner of his. Not quite a kiss, but almost. I began to lift my head, the touch so fast I’d barely felt the texture of his mouth or captured his taste. He caught my hair in his hands, refusing to let me go more than an inch. “No,” he growled. “Do it right or not at all. Do not tease me, Jasmine.”

He tilted his chin, and this time the kiss was full contact. Lips to lips, breath mingling with breath. There was no pain from my leg then, just him filling my senses. I should have felt trapped; he was holding me by my hair, refusing to let me retreat. I felt powerful instead. Ekkire arched beneath me, his long tail shifting across the rubble and winding around me, ever careful of my injury. Only gold and green filled my vision, and the sound of his deep, unfiltered moan filled my ears.

I’d never had a man respond to a simple kiss the way he did. Like I’d shocked him with a live wire, he’d gone tense, but every sound he made was filled with pleasure. “Jasmine, stars… By the sacred streams, I never… I can’t believe… Ah, do it again, I beg you.” His hands might be holding me, his tail might be tangled around me, but I held all the power. I could give, or I could take.

I kissed him again, this time darting my tongue out to press against his lips. He gasped, and I licked the edge of his fang and the roof of his mouth. I lost control then, but I didn’t mind. His pleasure was beautiful to see, but now my own body began to sing. He was a mixture of sweet and savory, a tang of spice; a hint of those special ration bars he made. Rolling us, I found myself spread on the fur I’d worn around my shoulders for warmth. Yet I still didn’t feel trapped.

This kiss awakened something in him that was all passion and tenderness. His touch was soft as he went from gripping my hair to cupping my face. He held himself above me without pinning me, yet he wasn’t using his hands. No, this was all core strength and the balance his tail provided. “Tell me to stop,” he muttered, a sound barely heard over the pounding of my heart. Like hell. I wanted him to make me forget, to kiss me until both of us felt only pleasure.

My hands shot up, finding his hair and the bumpy texture of the scales along the edges of his ears. He groaned at the touch, the kiss deepening when his tongue shot out to tangle with mine. Taking the claim I’d staked and making it more; a dominant stroke of silk, a burst of taste that seared into my brain. It reminded me of what it should feel like between two willing people. The give and take, the freely felt pleasure.

When Ekkire’s hands began to roam, I arched into them, welcoming the touch. Even when he began to shed my coat and peel my shirt from my body, I welcomed it. I was back in college, back in my parents’ home, fumbling around with my first boyfriend. Untainted by everything that came after.

“These kisses, are they mouth-matings only, or can I do this?” Ekkire asked, and then he caught me off guard by dragging his mouth along my chin, down my throat. His fangs nipped the edge of my collarbone with the tiniest pinch of pain, and pleasure shot through me, hard and sharp. I arched, moaned so loudly the sound echoed against the cave walls, and I felt the smirk curl the edges of his mouth in response. “I’ll take that as a yes, little hunter.”

I was in a haze, pleasure fogging my brain. My knuckles ached from gripping his shoulders so hard. He laved my skin with his long, split tongue, dragging it down my throat to the valley between my breasts. My shirt had vanished, slipping with a flutter over my head, but my sports bra stayed in place. I didn’t realize until later that was probably because he didn’t know how to undo it. His hands stroked my skin with reverence, blazing trails of fire over sensitive flesh. I arched beneath him, clinging shamelessly, as he pulled sensations from me I didn’t remember feeling before.

Ekkire might never have kissed anyone before, but he was an eager student, finely tuned in to any sounds I made. When lapping at the slope of my breast made my breathing stutter, he did it again. When his thumb found the hard tip of my nipple through my bra, I moaned, so he circled it over and over. Heat mounted between my thighs, so fierce I knew I was on the verge of something great.