The Iriduan’s Mate by Susan Trombley
Eighteen
Shulgi tasted amazing to Molly as his tongue delved into her mouth. Just as amazing as he smelled. Her hands slid from his waist up his chest to span the width of it. The twitching of his hard, bulging muscles beneath her palms thrilled her. She wanted him naked, suddenly viewing the beautiful robe he wore with a special kind of hatred that it kept the sight of his gorgeous body from her view.
Her fingers found the front seam of the robe just as Shulgi lifted one hand to the neck of it. She helped him jerk it open, sliding her hands beneath the fabric to stroke along his warm skin as he continued to shrug it off his shoulders and over his wings.
He broke their kiss to look down at her dress with a predatory gleam in his nearly black eyes.
“You’re wearing pants,” she accused in a teasing tone as her fingers trailed down his ripped abdominals and encountered the waistband of loose trousers.
“And you’re still wearing your dress,” he growled, his fingers sliding beneath the straps on her shoulders, pulling them down so the top of the dress sagged open, revealing her pert breasts, dyed purple and marked with green coiled tentacles.
She laughed huskily, then moaned as he cupped one breast in his hand, his palm warm and callused against her sensitive skin as he trailed his thumb over her stiffened nipple. She leaned against him to pepper kisses over the wide span of his muscular chest, teasingly licking him between each brush of her lips.
As he toyed with her nipple, his other hand undid the catches on the back of her dress. “I didn’t bring you here for this, Molly,” he said in a voice that rasped with his desire.
She chuckled, slipping one of her hands beneath the waistband of his trousers. He groaned when her fingers stroked along the rigid length of his erection, then curled around its girth. “Maybe I brought you here for this, Shulgi.”
“I’ve never wanted to be used more than I do now,” he said in a strangled tone as she began to stroke his shaft, her other hand pulling the waistband of his trousers off his hips then pushing them down his thighs.
She kissed one of his pecs, then glanced up into his handsome face, noting the stark desire in his expression. “I really do care about you, Shulgi. I want to be with you.” She paused in her strokes over his stiff flesh. “You make me feel good, just being in your company.”
“Don’t stop,” he protested, the hand that wasn’t on her breast lowering to grip her wrist and urge her to keep stroking him. “You definitely make me feel good too.”
She smiled, then kissed a path down his chest and abdominals. His fingers dived into her hair as her hot breath sighed over his throbbing shaft. She licked the tip of it, tasting the salty flavor of his precum that welled from it. Then she closed her lips around it and sucked him deep, keeping her hand curled around his thick girth below her lips.
“Molly, you don’t have to—Grand Spinner!” His tone turned guttural as his fingers tightened in her hair.
She lifted her mouth from his length just long enough to respond. “I want to do this,” she insisted, then proved it by returning her mouth to him.
The wet sounds of her sucking his shaft were broken by his low, deep moans and the humming sound of his wings whirring behind him. The clawed appendages at the base of his spine had unfurled and the pointed tips dragged along the skin of her arm. They vibrated, the segmented, chitinous shafts slightly rattling with the shivering motion.
As she sucked, she used her free hand to push his trousers all the way down his powerful legs until they pooled over the expensive boots he wore. Then she traced the lines of his thigh muscles with curious fingers, reveling in the taste of his arousal and his hard flesh between her lips.
She was so turned on by this time that her panties were soaked by her slick. She didn’t always wear them when meeting clients, but this time, she’d done so, uncertain exactly what would happen with Shulgi. She wasn’t likely to be wearing them long. Her core ached for him to fill it, but she was also enjoying having him in her mouth. She loved the way it made him moan.
“Molly,” he said in a rough voice, “you have to stop now. I don’t want to climax yet.”
He punctuated this plea with his fingers tightening further in her hair, gently but firmly pulling her away from him.
She gave him a last lick before relenting and rising to her feet to smile up at him seductively. He growled in response and bent to gather her into his arms, sweeping her off her feet to carry her into the other room.
He laid her gently on the bed, then tugged at the fabric of her dress impatiently until he’d pulled it over her arms, then dragged it down past her waist.
She stared up at him with all the desire she felt, hoping that the stronger emotions building inside her for him didn’t also show so obviously in her hungry expression. When he met her eyes as he pulled the dress off her legs, she saw a reflection of her own hunger. Perhaps there was more there, but she didn’t dare to hope too much.
He’d told her he couldn’t be what she needed. Nor could she be the mate he needed. The one who could make him forget that evil bitch who’d forced him to imprint upon her and kill his teammates. She regretted that they couldn’t be together, but she would make the most of whatever time she had with him. She wouldn’t dwell on regret.
As he lowered his head to claim her nipple with his lips, she delved her hands into his thick hair, entranced by the silkiness of it as it slipped through her fingers. Then she traced the lengths of his ears as she moaned from the feeling of his lips tugging on her sensitive nipple. She felt each hungry pull like it was happening much lower. Her hips bucked upwards against his naked belly as his weight pressed her into the mattress.
One of his hands cupped and toyed with her other breast as he suckled her nipple. His free hand trailed down her trembling belly to the waist of her panties. He hooked the material on his fingers and pulled it down, exposing her mound.
She cried out with pleasure when his fingers trailed through her folds to brush against her clit. His lips smiled against her throbbing nipple and then he released it to kiss a path down her body. Molly sighed in pleasure as he settled between her legs, parting her knees further, his dark gaze fixed on her core.
She moaned as his head dipped and his tongue darted out to lick along her seam, teasingly stroking over her clit. His fingers probed her soaking entrance, while his other hand pulled her panties down her thighs, then removed them completely. He tossed them aside as he licked her with long strokes over her tender nub. Her hips bucked when two of his fingers sank into her wet and eager slit.
With his tongue and his mouth, he brought her to a shivering climax that had her crying out in ecstasy. Then he rose to his feet, towering over the bed like a conquering warrior. He stood between her parted thighs, looked down at her with an intense gaze, his eyes now completely black. At his groin, his shaft jutted long and thick, the tip weeping with his precum. His clawed appendages writhed at his sides as his wings spread behind him.
“Take me, Shulgi,” Molly said in a voice husky with her desire, running her hands up her naked body to cup her breasts. “I want you so badly. Don’t make me wait any longer.”
His eyes never leaving hers, he lowered his body until he had braced his hands on either side of hers, then crawled his way towards her head, settling his hips between her legs.
She moaned as his shaft probed her entrance, then slowly penetrated her, filling her deliciously. His verdant hair framed a face stark with desire as his dilated eyes took in her expression of pleasure. She gasped in surprise as the claws on the tips of his appendages settled against her hips, then dug in enough to dent her skin without piercing it.
She had a feeling they might, if he grew too excited, but she was so aroused she didn’t care. He felt so good inside her that she cried out for more. When he responded by ramming home with a single hard thrust and a low growl, she clutched his powerful shoulders, holding on tightly for the exciting ride she knew was coming.
Shulgi thrust inside her with slow strokes at first, and one of his appendages left her hip to tease over her clit as he braced his weight above her. The vibration of the tip, the barbs that covered it lying flat for the moment, caused her to body to tighten in anticipation of another orgasm.
Trembling with need and arousal, she rocked her hips upwards into each of his thrusts, his thick length burying deep inside her before drawing out of her in a slow, teasing rhythm.
“You’re so beautiful, Molly,” he said in a guttural voice, his black eyes staring intently down at her face.
She framed his face with her hands, pushing his hair away from the hard planes of his cheekbones. “So are you.” She moaned as he shifted his hips to drag his shaft upwards against her g-spot.
Then he lowered his head to her lips as if he wanted to capture any other sounds from her. He claimed them hungrily as his thrusts sped up. She lifted her legs around his waist to lock her ankles behind him as his rhythm grew more intense and powerful, shoving her upwards on the mattress with each hard thrust.
She felt consumed by him as he chased his climax, his vibrating appendage now trapped between them on her clit as he lay more of his weight over her. That vibration brought them both to the edge, and Molly’s orgasm was followed shortly by a handful of rapid thrusts from Shulgi before he climaxed inside her. Her inner muscles convulsed around his shaft, milking all his seed from it as he pumped his hips a few more times before he lifted his head to look down into her eyes.
His own were returning to their beautiful green, his dilated pupils constricting back to a normal size again. He licked lips swollen from her kisses.
“Cursed silk,” he muttered, and it sounded like he spoke more to himself than her. “I’m sorry, Molly. I was once again incautious.” He slowly shook his head as he drew his shaft from her body, pushing himself further away from her with a flex of hard, rippling arm and chest muscles.
“Y-you regret this?” She tried to keep the hurt from her tone but suspected some of it still came through.
He quickly leaned over her again to kiss her deeply. “No,” he whispered against her lips, “never.”
He rolled off her and sat beside her on the bed, stroking one hand over her naked body as she propped herself up on her elbows to watch him, her heart thudding in concern over his withdrawal.
“I do regret not taking precautions.” He glanced at the crux of her legs as she pushed herself up onto her palms, feeling the gush of his seed soak her inner thighs. “I wasn’t thinking. I should not put you at risk like that.”
Her eyes widened, surprised by his concern. “Are you talking about coming inside me?”
He scowled, turning his head to stare at the wall rather than continue to meet her eyes. “I should have worn protection. This was reckless, and I know better. I even brought some, but….”
She placed a hand on his hard shoulder, massaging the firm flesh there in reassurance. “I am sterile, Shulgi. You could finish inside me a hundred times without fear that you would impregnate me.”
He bowed his head, staring down at his fists that clenched in his lap. The muscles in his thick forearms flexed and she marveled at how hard and strong his entire body was.
“Did Sha Zaska do that to you?” he growled in a low, deadly voice.
“I was sterilized well before I ended up in his service.” She released his shoulder and turned away, her back facing him. “It’s for the best. I… I don’t think I will ever be in a position to raise children.”
“That should not have been anyone’s choice but your own,” he said in an angry tone as his arms came around her shoulders, his hands smoothing down her arms.
He pulled her back against his chest, gently caressing her naked skin. “No one had the right to take that future from you.”
She leaned back into his strength, lifting a hand to bury it in his hair as she turned her head to kiss his neck. “If we were in a different position, I think I would want to have your children. But I’m not even certain that would be possible given our differences.”
He kissed her lips, one hand cupping her cheek. “It would have been possible. My people are more closely related to your own than you might think.” He traced her brows, his solemn gaze studying her face. “I wish you were my queen. Then I would have an excuse to abandon everything to be with you. I would feel no guilt, or sense of duty to anyone but you.”
She smiled sadly at him. “You said imprinting was like being enslaved. I wouldn’t want that for you. I wouldn’t want that for us.”
“I would gladly choose to devote my life to you, Molly. You make me feel… whole.”
Molly felt the same way, but she wasn’t sure it would be wise to say it, though her heart soared to hear it from him. This felt different from the other time when she’d been played. She didn’t doubt Shulgi’s sincerity for a moment. They had a connection, and he felt it too.
But neither of them could act on that connection. Neither of them could commit to the other.
