Page 123 of Tempting Fate

“Wait. Let me.”

We slid the garment up together, my hands lingering on the hard planes of his chest. He shivered as my fingers brushed his headspines.

When we’d wrangled the shirt over his head, he threw it to one side, our faces so close I only needed to lean in a fraction to touch my mouth to his. He would taste so good. And he’d kiss so well, too, learning with the same care and attention he paid to everything. He wouldn’t just learn to kiss—he’d learn the best way to kiss me, what I liked, what made me melt, how to kiss me to make me relax, how to drive me wild until I demanded he fuck me.

Which we shouldn’t do any more. It would only make parting even more painful. I sat back on my heels with a sigh. “And these.”

He let me remove his trousers. His dick strained, already hard and reaching for me.

Airida groaned and slumped against the pillows, the telltale slackness in his muscles signalling kalidi.

What a strange thing kalidi was. Strange to experience, to bring two strangers together, two very different circumstances bringing us here, to this planet, light years away. How many tiny sparks of fate had to ignite and combine to bring us here?

How many more would it take to keep us in this bubble forever?

With a wrenching of my heart, swelling painfully inside my chest, the truth settled in me. I didn’t want to leave him. Not now. Not ever.

Could a person be a home?

If anyone could, it would be Airida. My beautiful man who cared for a flying lizard, who laughed at trashy soap operas, who gazed at me like I hung the stars and painted the moons. Who understood me like nobody else ever had.

“Marni, can you get the oil?”

I squeezed my eyes closed and reached for it. He’d come back safe—he had to—and then I could unpack everything. Until then, I just needed to survive.

I drizzled a generous amount over his straining length and focused on him. “Stroke that pretty dick for me, baby.”

His hand glided over his shaft, his chest rising and falling with the exertion. “Talk to me more. Please.”

Oh, Airi. He was still mine to help, to care for, just for now. I lowered my voice to a purr. “Are you nice and hard for me?”

He shuddered a breath. “Yes, Marni.”

I dared a glance at his face. His jaw had slackened, falling open, his eyes glazed, that beautiful lust-drunk face I knew so well. “That’s it, stroke that big dick for me. Imagine it’s my hand.”

He moved faster, sweat beading over his torso. “Marni, I…” His breath came in laboured pants. “I can’t.”

He dropped his hand away and a pitiful snarl tore from his throat. “It’s too much. I won’t.”

Baby, you have to. I pushed flint into my voice. “No. No attitude. You’re going to grip that dick, and you’re going to come for me, Airida mai Tasra.”

He whimpered, shudders running through his whole body, and took himself in hand again.

“Good boy.”

The sight of him stroking himself had my clit tingling, but frustration knitted his brows, and his strong arm muscles trembled.

He’s not ready for this. I covered his spined hand with mine. “Let me help. You hold, I’ll move.”

We worked him together. His fingers slackened as his beads swelled between them, and I gripped him harder. “Squeeze them nice and tight, baby, imagine its my pussy as I come around you.”

Airida tipped his head back, a low moan ripping from his throat.

God, I could listen to him forever. “That’s my good boy. Come for me, kitten.”

Long ropes of opalescent purple streaked his face and chest as he juddered and gasped, while my praise peppered the air.

Once his orgasm eased away, he flicked out his tongue, catching some of his release. He drew it to his mouth, his eyes on mine. “I like the taste, my moonlight.”