Page 16 of Hunter’s Harvest

“Nellie,” he growled in warning.

The sexy sound had my whole body trembling. But I was beyond the warning. My body was lit on fire, and I needed someone to douse the flames.

“You don’t scare me, Var’n.”

One moment I was straddling him, exploring him through the soft leather, and the next I was on my back, his body pinning me to the floor of the shuttle. I was glad I’d had the foresight to stuff some of the packing material we’d used to protect the oranges under the tarp I’d laid out on the floor. The padding was thin, but at least it wasn’t cold and metal.

But that was all the thinking I could do because his mouth was crashing down onto mine again with so much hunger, possessiveness, and heat that I wondered whether either of us would survive the burn.

And I wanted to burn. I wanted to burn more than anything else I’d ever wanted before.

Var’n’s fingers were rough against my skin as he shoved the fabric of my shirt up and over my chest, sliding the soft sports bra over my breasts with it. The cold air teased my skin, and I arched into his touch. My nipples pebbled as his thumbs brushed over them.

“You are so soft,” he growled against my neck.

He moved down my body, leaving a trail of open-mouthed kisses down my neck and collarbone. His lips closed around a nipple, and his tongue swirled around it. The graze of his teeth had me gasping, and I found his horns with my hands.

He moved lower, yanking my pants down my legs and exposing me to the cool air. I barely had time to react, because his mouth followed, kissing and nibbling a trail down my belly. I held my breath, wondering what he would do.

They said that Xarc’n warriors worked mostly on instinct when it came to things like this. They’d never had females of their own but somehow knew what to do when the time came. Were his instincts telling him to go down on me now? Did I want him to?

I was suddenly self-conscious. I hadn’t shaved down there since god knew when, and we’d been trekking through the forest. What if I smelled? What if I didn’t taste good? What if—

“Var’n—” I squeezed my legs together but only managed to squeeze against his horns, which were now keeping my legs apart. My cheeks heated up. I can’t believe I was about to say this to a Xarc’n warrior. “I haven’t showered. I probably smell; why don’t we—"

I did not expect him to bend down and bury his face into my crotch. I squealed and clamped my legs around his horns.

“So good.” His eyes were glazed over when he met mine, and he looked positively feral. He licked his lips like he couldn’t get enough and buried his face back between my legs.

Okay. That was… that was kind of hot.

I gasped as his thick, strong tongue found my entrance and thrust in. His claws were retracted, and his fingers dug into my ass, kneading it. I felt the vibrations of his rumbling chest through his tongue and lips, and it had my vision blurring as I tried to focus. My fingers tightened around his horns, and I recalled that their horns were considered erogenous zones.

They had to be, because he was nearly out of control now.

I rocked against his mouth, moving as if my hips had a mind of their own. My breathing was shallow, my eyes half-lidded, and when his thumb found the tiny nub over my entrance, I keened.

How did he know to go there? Surely intuition didn’t include human female anatomy. Perhaps he’d done his research.

But any thoughts were quickly driven away from the slow, torturous circles that had me shaking and moaning as my body climbed higher and higher. Then he thrust in deep, his tongue curling just right and hitting something inside that made me see stars.

I cried out and came apart. My body shuddered as wave after wave of pleasure overwhelmed my senses. Then his body was covering me, his mouth crashing down onto mine. I tasted myself on his lips. His hands were gripping my ass possessively and lifting my hips.

Everything skidded to a halt when he suddenly went rigid, and not in the sexy way. He froze, unmoving.

“Wha—”

He covered my mouth with a big, fleshy hand, though I wasn’t sure what that would do, considering all the sounds I’d already made.

And then I heard it too.

Many small scratching noises. They were quiet, but coming closer and closer.

My eyes went wide, and a visceral fear seized my body. Anyone who’d survived this long through the bugpocalypse recognized the sounds of scuttlers. Usually they only came out during the day, but sometimes a group got caught outside the nest and stayed out all night. My screaming had called them straight to us.

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

It was like we both decided to move at the same time, me scrambling for my clothes and him for his weapons.