I watch as his cock bends upward and slowly sinks back into that slit within his torso, still hard.
“Doesn’t that hurt?” I whisper.
Fer’ro is crawling back toward me now and his symbiotes are reappearing.
I kind of feel…bad about that.
Is he just going to leave now? Go back to his duties?
But instead, he picks me up from the floor and heads toward the bed.
“I should have taken you on the feathers,” he murmurs. “Vullan females prefer it that way.”
A spike of jealously shoots through me.
He sets me down before him and I suddenly feel naked and vulnerable.
Fer’ro sniffs.
“What is that scent? I do not like it.”
My eyes dart around. I don’t know what the hell he’s smelling now.
“You are…disappointed.”
My eyebrows lift. “You can smell my moods?”
His ears twitch a little. “Some.”
My eyes widen a little as I blink a few times.
Well, that explains their thing with sniffing so much.
“I have not pleased you,” he says and proceeds to open my legs once more, his head dipping towards me. I only manage to barely scramble away.
“No, trust me, I am well pleased.” I chuckle a little. And a little bit sore.
“Then…why are you disappointed?”
My mirth dries up as I sigh. “It’s just…it seems like you’re about to… leave.”
He rises and looks at me, his gaze studying me for a few moments.
“I have not fed you and you need medical attention for your skin. I was going to fetch both. I have no intention of ever leaving you.”
This time, I smile.
“I’m not hungry right now. I just…can you stay…here…with me?”
His nictitating membrane moves over his eyes as he blinks and I think he is about to say no.
Fuck.
If he turns me down right now, I don’t know how I could face him confidently again.
But without a word, Fer’ro moves onto the bed with me.
He takes me into his arms and pulls me against his chest.
His symbiotes disappear too and once again, we are naked together.
Silence envelops us and I allow myself to relax against him.
“This is the first time…” His words are low…mumbled against my hair.
“The first time what?”
“I have ever done this.”
“What? cuddled after?”
He takes a moment to think on this. “Yes. Female Vullan usually do not want such closeness afterward.”
“Hmm,” I mumble. Another spike of jealousy shoots through me and I realize…I don’t want to see Fer’ro with someone else. Ever.
I think on this as I settle back against him.
He’s comfortable. Warm.
I find myself drifting off.
“But…maybe it is different with you,” he whispers.
“Hmm? Why’s that?”
Fer’ro buries his nose against my neck and inhales deeply. “Because you are mine. My mate.”
My eyes open as I stare ahead but instead of panic, a comforting feeling fills my belly.
“Your mate?”
Fer’ro growls a little and brings me tighter against him. “Yes. Mine. Forever. Always. From this moment.”
A smile spreads my lips as a flutter goes through my belly.
I want to say something, but nothing seems to fill my tongue.
So I close my mouth and I bask in the feeling Fer’ro sends through me.
If I had to choose someone to spend the end of the world with, I couldn’t choose anyone better.
No one can replace the alien at my side.
The Vullan that has somehow made a place in my heart without me realizing.
I am his.
And he is mine.
Chapter Thirty-Four
FER’RO
For several clicks, I hold Adee’ra.
Still, she is fast asleep.
Even when I move, rustling the feathers beneath us, she does not wake.
It is concerning, this total lack of awareness while she is at her most vulnerable, but I treasure the moment.
She wants me to be here.
So I stay, even though there is no hope for me to also rest.
The feathers are far too soft for sleeping and even though the light is dim, I cannot sleep in it.
So…I hold her.
I cradle her soft body against mine and reflect on the past few clicks.
Her scent has changed. It is now a blend of my scent, mixed with hers.
Between her legs, my spend still lingers, coating her inner thighs.
She surprised me…
I did not expect her to want to take me—had decided I would hold back because it was a surety that she wouldn’t.
But…she did.
Memory of the tight heat of her suu’ci makes me groan and my sazi throbs again.
Tipping my nose to her head, I inhale deeply.
My Adee’ra.
I came across the stars, seeking revenge, seeking to change the inevitable and through all that time, not once had I thought I would find…you.
She moans in my arms and turns to face me. I expect her eyes to open but the only thing open is her mouth.
A soft grating sound comes from her throat and my ears twitch as I listen.
She is still fast asleep.
How can something so vulnerable rest so unaware and so loudly?
I move my hands across her back, pulling her closer, and I can feel the column of symbiotes resting there.
She is even controlling them while she rests.
I do not believe she realizes just how integrated with her they have become…
She’s not so vulnerable anymore.
The ba’clan pulse against my hand and I feel the connection I once had with them.
“You knew this would happen, didn’t you?”
They pulse again.
I know they did.
“—ro?”
Adee’ra’s brow crinkles and so does her nose as her eyes squeeze tight.
She stretches a little and then as suddenly as she spoke, she bolts upright.
“I fell asleep.”
My gaze moves over her.
Her hairs are pointing every which way and there is a line of fluid that leaked from her mouth. It runs toward her chin and she wipes it away with the back of her hand.
I stare at her, transfixed.
She is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen across the stars.
“Shit.” She runs a hand through her hair. “We should go. The others must be so worried.”
Her gaze moves down me, hesitating for a second at where my sazi hides, and her cheeks warm.
My sazi throbs again, enjoying the attention, and I have to force my thoughts away from it.
Adee’ra would not be ready again so soon.
But that sweet spicy scent is growing around us and my ears perk at attention.
Adee’ra pulls her gaze back up to my face and then she leans forward.
We’re so close now, her breaths brush against my skin.
When she leans lower this time, I am not surprised when her lips brush against mine.
I am hungry for her and I thrum immediately.
Laying with her in my arms had been the sweetest torture. I had been aching, and now, here she is.
She moans against me as I rub the tip of my tongue against hers and then she is pulling away far too quickly.
I don’t let her.
I move with her until she is falling backward.
Her head hits the soft feathers and I am over her once more.
Adee’ra shudders a little, her gaze moving up my torso and higher. That sweet spicy scent of hers fills the air.