Before long, she was naked beneath him and she was tugging on his clothing eagerly. One of them was overdressed.
When she had him bare, she spent time rubbing against his heated skin. Alvian body temperature was a little higher than a human’s. She loved the feel of his warmth against her, teasing her, comforting her, but she wanted more.
Wrestling him into a roll, she straightened atop him, straddling him, her hands on his muscled chest. She smiled down into his questioning eyes, petting him and purring like a kitten. She loved the feel of him under her.
“Let me touch you, Grady. We’ve never really had time to explore each other. I want that. I want to learn your body’s secrets. What makes you gasp. What makes you moan. What makes you come.” She interspersed each sentence with a teasing lick of her tongue over his flesh. Bending over him, she teased him, loving the way his temperature rose and his breathing increased. She was having an effect on him. That was good because he was affecting her as well.
Already she could feel dampness gathering at her core. It would ease his way when she was ready to claim him. She liked the feeling of power he gave her. She knew he could easily reverse their roles, but he was giving her this time, this exquisite moment, to learn about him as she wanted. She loved him for that…and for so much else.
What she felt in her heart for Grady was deep and true love. She didn’t know what that would do to their futures, but she had to take the risk. She had to act on the love pouring out of her heart for him. He was so alone. He needed…so much. She wanted to give him everything, be everything he needed, to stay with him forever.
But circumstances were against them. They both knew it and yet were powerless against the love that drove them both toward each other.
She teased his hard body, loving the way he was letting her have control. He was so much bigger than she was, in close quarters like this, he had all the physical advantage. If he’d wanted to fight her for dominance, he would surely have won. But he wasn’t fighting. He was letting her do as she liked and oh, boy, did she like his hard body.
“You are beautiful.” Her words whispered against his sternum as she kissed her way down his chest.
She felt his chuckle. “Men are not beautiful.”
“You are.” She took a moment to meet his gaze. “On the inside. You have a beauty of spirit. A sense of honor and a gallantry about you that women dream of. And on the outside…you’re just plain hot.”
He seemed uncomfortable, squirming a little from side to side. “My body temperature is higher than a human’s—”
She cut him off with a finger over his firm lips. “That’s not what I meant. I love that higher temperature, by the way. You keep me warm.” She smiled and licked her lips. “I meant hot as in, totally buff, handsome and gorgeous. Your body is hot—wickedly attractive to the opposite sex. Women drool over your physique, and men are jealous of the feminine attention you get.”
A perplexed frown creased his forehead. “Really?”
She kissed the frown away. “Really.” She sat up, moving downward, straddling his thighs. “And I get jealous every time a woman looks at you, but I know you’re all mine. And then I gloat inwardly. They’ll never know how truly magnificent you are.”
“Yours, eh? I like the sound of that.” He reached up and stroked her hair away from her face with one hand as she lowered her head again and began kissing her way from his chest to his abdomen.
“All mine. So don’t even think of spreading your love around,” she teased.
“I’m a one woman man, Gina.” The teasing had gone out of his voice. “You’re the only woman I want or need.”
Gina paused, her hands on his hips, his cock hard and needy only inches away from her head.
“I love that, Grady. I don’t know how this will work. How it will end for any of us. But I love that you want me as much as I want you. I love you, Grady. I want you to know that and never doubt.”
If she were a betting woman, she would bet she rocked his world then, sliding her tongue downward, around his hard cock. She took him inside, bathing his sensitive ridges with swirling licks and light suction that increased as his response did. From the way his thigh muscles strained against her hands and the groans he couldn’t hold back, she knew he liked what she was doing.
That was good because she’d never considered herself any kind of expert when it came to giving head. The opportunities in her past had been few and far between. Truth be told, she’d never felt so strongly about any of her past partners that she wanted their pleasure first and foremost above her own. With Grady, that all had changed. Jim too, she had to admit. What was it about these two men—so different, yet so alike in the way they made her feel?
When she cupped his balls in one hand, Grady stiffened and reached down to hold on to her shoulders. He moved fast, shifting his hands under her arms and lifting, drawing her away from his cock and back up his body.
“Now why’d you do that? I was just getting into it.”
Grady laughed aloud at her teasing. “So was I. A little too much if you must know. I want to be inside you when I come, Gina. I want you to come with me.”
“Oh.” Her body revved up at his words. “Okay. I can do that.” She grinned at him, reaching between them with one hand, positioning him. All she had to do was raise her hips and then lower…
“Let me go, Grady. Let me do this. I want to make love to you this time.”
“You always make love to me, Gina.” He drew her head down for a quick kiss that he met halfway, his abdominal muscles rippling in a way that made her mouth water. “Every time.”
But he let her have her way, releasing his grip on her arms and allowing her to do as she willed. She enveloped him, bit by bit, dragging out the pleasure of their initial joining, loving the way he filled her. He was long and strong, hard and hot. He filled her so completely she wanted this to last.
Passion rose and she was helpless in the fierce tide that swept over her, dictating her actions. She began to ride him, her thighs working alongside his as she met his upward thrusts with downward pulses of her hips. It started slow, and quickly rose to a fever pitch to the point where she was crying out at every thrust. He fit her perfectly, hitting the secret place inside her that set her off like a skyrocket.
Just when she thought she couldn’t take any more and stay sane, she felt him gathering beneath her. Having all that raw, male power between her thighs was something she could easily become addicted to. The only thing that could make it better was if Jim could share in this moment somehow. Even as she made love to Grady, she missed Jim, illogical as it seemed.
Grady tensed, pulsing up into her as she met his thrust eagerly. She was so close, she knew she’d come the moment he did. And then she didn’t have to wait anymore. Grady came with a roar of her name, and she screamed as she climaxed long and hard.
She felt his heat inside her, and it set off another spasm of pleasure. She collapsed over him after long moments, placing drowsy kisses along his chest.
“I love you, Grady,” she said just before sleep claimed her.
“I love you too, my mate.”
Jim woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Any side was the wrong side when Gina wasn’t in the bed at all. She hadn’t come to their room last night, though her pack was still in one corner. He had her stuff, but not her.
Of course, he knew damned well where she’d spent the night. With that bastard Grady.
Jim tried not to let it get to him, but damn it, it hurt. Without even a word, she’d gone to the alien bastard. She’d forgotten Jim easily, it seemed, but he knew he’d never forget her.