There it was. He pulled the pack out and opened it, searching around until he found the sticks. He shook a couple to make them light up. Then he picked up the emergency pack, putting it on his back. Then he moved through the ship to where he’d been when he’d crashed. He looked in the drawers of his desk, grinning as he found the translator. Looking around, he spotted the bobble-headed Santa and grabbed that too. Then he quickly exited.
Laylla was where he’d left her but she’d dismounted. He dropped the pack and held out the translator to her. She looked puzzled. He placed it in his ear before pulling it out and pointing at her ear. She frowned slightly but nodded, and he placed the translator in her ear then switched it on.
Please work.
“Laylla? Laylla, can you understand me?”
Nothing. Shit.
“Damn it, I hoped that would work.”
Laylla stared at Rich in shock. She could understand him! “Rich, how can I understand you?”
His face lit up with a smile that turned him from gorgeous to breath-taking. “It’s working!”
“You can understand me too? Is this magic?” she whispered.
He laughed. “No, baby. It’s Kyle. A friend invented this. There’s a whole science behind it, but basically, when you wear it, you can understand and speak whatever languages are loaded on there. You’re speaking English, by the way.”
“English. This is amazing.” And a bit scary.
Rich reached out and grasped hold of her hand. “Laylla, why did you bring me here?”
She looked away for a moment then back at him. “Your people will be coming for you, yes?”
“Yes. They are due any day now. They had my co-ordinates, so they should come here first. Is that why you brought me here? So, they could find me? But I thought you claimed me?”
She straightened her shoulders. “I am revoking my claim.” And she swore she felt her heart break at those words. Ridiculous. It wasn’t as though she loved him. Females did not fall in love with males.
And yet the thought of him leaving was killing her. It was tearing her insides. Only the thought of holding him back from what he was meant to do hurt her more.
“Nate explained that you are needed on your planet. That your planet is different from here. That you have important things to do.”
“You’re letting me go, just like that?”
“Yes. Just like that.” She nodded firmly, determined not to let him see how much she was hurting. “It is my job to put your needs first. You need to return to your home. Is that not so?”
“Yes, I do. I’m glad we can discuss this like rational adults.”
“Yes.” Rational? She wasn’t so sure about that. But she wasn’t going to let on how difficult this was for her. This had to happen. Her feelings on the matter would not change that.
“Will you wait with me until they come?”
Her stomach unravelled slightly. She would have a slight reprieve until she had to say goodbye.
“Yes.”
He gave her a savage grin. “Good. Because there are some things we need to take care of before I leave.”
What could that be? He grabbed her hand and led her over to the trees. He walked until he found a small clearing then he placed his unusual-looking pack on the ground and opened it, pulling out a fur that was like nothing she’d seen. It was thin and looked to be finely woven. He placed it on the ground. He put another two blankets close by then pulled out some odd-looking sticks and shook them until they glowed.
“That is remarkable,” she said, staring at them in amazement. “You made light from shaking them.”
“He pushed the sticks into the ground around the blanket. Then he stood and stared at her. “Now strip.”
She took a step back, shocked by the fierceness in his voice. “What?”
“Strip. I have submitted to you often enough. Now it is your turn.”
“Females do not submit.” But she’d done it once and enjoyed it. With Rich. With anyone else, she could not stomach the idea, but there was something about him. Something special.
“Where I come from, sometimes females submit, sometimes males do. A lot of relationships are on a very equal setting although it always seems to me that one partner is more dominant. I like to be in control, I’ve been accused of being a control freak by some.”
Control freak?
“But I don’t mind letting you take charge in the bedroom. Sometimes. But not tonight. Tonight, it’s my time.”
“We are not in a room with a bed,” she said.
“Don’t act dense, baby. You know what I mean. It’s my turn to take control. Let me take command.”
“I do not know if I can.”
“You do. You’ve done it before. What’s more, you liked it.” His eyes were lit with pleasure and need and something else. Something that made her shiver. She wanted this, she realized. And what could it hurt for one night?
“Just tonight.”
“We’ll see. It might take a while for my friends to get here and I’m not promising that I won’t want to dominate you again.”
That should not have aroused her as much as it did, but she could not deny her need to be pleasured by him. She undid the plate that protected her chest then slid her suit off, baring herself to his gaze. He walked around her, studying her.
“You are beautiful, you know that?”
“Females are not beautiful. Males are.”
He ran his hand over her ass, squeezing tight. “That’s where you’re wrong, darling. You are gorgeous. And tonight, I get to finally find out how you taste.”
Her breath caught. Surely, he didn’t mean? She turned sharply towards him, and he nodded. “That’s right. I’m going to eat you out and enjoy every minute. Bend over.”
She glared at him. Eat her out? Bend over?
He smacked a hand down on her ass, and she jumped slightly, growling. He chuckled.
“You are enjoying this too much.”
“That I am, darling. That I am. Now, bend. I want to see every inch of you.”
She bent over, grumbling quietly to herself, her cheeks flushing a little as she knew he could definitely see every inch of her now. He ran his hands over her ass cheeks, squeezing them and pulling them apart.
“You seem to be obsessed with my buttocks,” she stated.
“I know. It’s the best butt I’ve ever seen. Tight and tanned. And so fucking delicious.” He leaned forward and nipped one cheek. She yelped and stood, turning as she rubbed her bottom. He grinned and pulled her close, kissing her. “I couldn’t resist.”
“I am not edible.”
“Oh, but you are. Lie on the blanket on your back, arms above your head and keep them there.” She lay back, her cheeks reddening further as he stood, staring down at her. “Spread your legs. Damn, that’s a beautiful sight.”
“Rich,” she half-protested as he knelt between her open legs and ran his hands up her thighs, just stopping short of the wet folds between her legs. Her passage tightened, wanting more, needing him inside her, but he merely drew his hands back down her legs. Leaning in, he took one long lick of her dew. She shouted, attempting to close her legs. No one had ever licked her there. Ever.
He held her thighs apart, frowning down at her. “Keep those legs apart or I’ll have to try and find something to bind you with.”
Her breath quickened at the thought, and he tilted his head to one side. “Hmm, I can see that thought intrigues you.”
She shook her head quickly, and he slapped his hand down on her mound lightly. “No lying. Lying is naughty, and you know what happens when you’re naughty.”
“I will be punished and sentenced to manual labor.”
“No,” he barked out, looking annoyed. Then he ran one finger up and down her folds, almost in apology. “No, no hard labor for you. I have a much more interesting punishment in mind.”
The sun drifted behind the mountains, but the glowing sticks bathed them in a soft light.
“What?” she asked suspiciously.
“Hmm, let me see. I might bring you to the edge of release over and over without letting you come.”
He wouldn’t! She glared at him in outrage, and he chuckled. “I might spank that delectable ass. Although I have the feeling that would be more pleasure than punishment for you.”
She blushed at that. He might just be right. He pushed a finger deep inside her and pressed it against that spot that drove her wild. “I might not allow you to suck me off. Seeing as you seem to enjoy that so much.”