Chapter Twelve

She was sitting on the side of the bed waiting for Thrice to come out the bathroom. She wanted to march in there with him but decided to allow him the last bit of privacy he may ever get.

He walked out wearing those joggers, and she discovered she had a growl of her own. She hated those things. He wore them like a shield, hiding from her.

“Thrice, we sleep together every night, but you never come on to me. You don’t even pull me close. I’m the one who has to roll over to you. I’m not saying I’m so sexy you can’t keep your hands to yourself, but not once. Why?”

“I don’t want you to see.”

“See what?”

“Me.”

“I see you. I’ve seen you.”

“Not really.”

She looked at him and realized he was right. She saw always saw his face and his body with clothes on. When he took off his shirt, she never saw his back unless the light was off, and he never took off those joggers.

“Will you trust me enough to show me.” Hell no, she wanted to holler. She barely trusted herself, and she wanted him to trust her? Tonight, she had been ready to flay him alive with her tongue. Don’t trust me, she screamed inside of herself. She wanted him to trust her, and she wanted to be worthy of that trust.

He turned around and showed her his back. The marks on it showed a man who had been beaten. No, beating was too benign of a word. He had been tortured torn apart and put back together. His hands went to the waistband of those joggers.

He took a deep breath and pushed them down to his ankles. She stuffed her hand into her mouth to keep from crying out, but she couldn’t stop the tears that poured down her face. Every part of him was scarred.

He flexed his shoulders before he turned. It was so slow that she thought of someone walking to their execution. When she could finally see him, she knew what he had been hiding. Her arms wrapped around her stomach to keep from throwing up, then she landed on her knees in front of him. His cock was cut and abused. It looked like he had even been burned there.

“Did the Scientists do this?”

“In the name of experimentation.”

“Do you still have feeling?”

“I do. I was supposed to lose the use of it, but I never did. More's the pity.”

How many reminders would she need that abuse went both ways until it was permanently fixed in her mind?

“Can I touch you?”

“Yes.”

She crawled over to him. When she was in front of him, she went up on her knees and wrapped her arms around his waist laying her head on the flat planes of his stomach.

“If I asked if you wanted to have sex. What would you say?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Sex is painful.”

“Have you ever made love before?”

“I don’t know what that is.”

“Why is sex painful?”

“Every time it happened, I was either hung up and beaten at the same time or strapped down and tortured.”

“How did you get a, you know erection?”

“Drugs. Sometimes they would bind me tight with a material that forced blood into it.”

No, no, hell no. There was no way she was going to let him believe that making love or even just having sex was supposed to be painful.

“I’m sorry Jill touched you, that she put her claws into you. I should have killed her.”

“You defended me.”

“Not fast enough, but I learn from my mistakes. I want to touch you.” He stiffened. “I won’t hurt you, but if I do anything you don’t like you have to promise to tell me immediately. I’ll stop; I swear on my mother’s grave.”

“You can touch me.”

She stood up and led him to the bed. “Maybe later we can burn those joggers. I really hate them.” She gave him a smile as he laid down. She waited several minutes before she joined him. “I thought we could go shopping, Buy some mirrors and other furniture for the house. I love it here, but it’s rather under furnished.” She rambled on as his shoulders loosened and his hips finally touched the mattress.

Then she curled up next to him. Carefully she stroked his chest. For the first time in her life, she was happy that her nails were short. They were painted a soft pink. She loved the way they looked against his darker skin.

“I love your chest. It’s solid and muscular. I used to watch bodybuilding competitions, but you put them all to shame. I would always wish I could attract a man like that, but I knew I wasn’t thin enough. Then you showed up and liked me just like I am.

“I love how you kiss and how you taste. Slightly salty and all male. I’m going to kiss you now.”

She slanted her lips over his softly. She gave a slight press. Then he opened wide allowing her tongue to dip in. She groaned at the taste of him. He allowed her another taste; it was different, deeper. A wildness he kept to himself. Something she bet he never shared before. His tongue touched hers as they battled for dominance. He went to concede, but she wasn’t having it. She stroked his tongue again. He woke up and took her head between his hands and kissed her until her toes curled. Her male was definitely dominant. He just had the control of a saint.

She kissed the side of his face before she nibbled along his jawline. Her fingers caressed the strong column of his neck even as she kissed it. She stopped to take his earlobe into her mouth and suck. He made a sound that had her backing away.

“It tickled.” He gave her that shy smile the one he only shared with her.

She took his earlobe into her mouth and sucked again. There was wonder in his eyes as his laugh vibrated his chest. He had never connected fun or joy with having a woman touch his body. Hell, she felt like a superhero.

One hand caressed his shoulder while she kissed the other shoulder. She gave him gentle bites before she sucked on the skin. He tensed for a few seconds and then relaxed. His hand went to the back of her head to encourage her to do it again.

“Should I be doing something?”

“You’ll get your turn. Right now, it’s all about you.”

He relaxed and watched as her hands stroked his shoulders and down his chest. She rested them on his Pecs before she rubbed a finger over a nipple.

He tensed. Memories of torture trying to surface. He took a deep breath as he reassured himself that Piper wasn’t out to hurt him. Her head laid on his chest, and her hand cupped his nipple as if it were precious.

“You stopped.”

“We’ve got all night, tomorrow and the day after. I won’t go faster or further than you're ready for.”

“A bad memory surfaced.”

“What did they do? You don’t have to talk about it.”

“I want to. They would take two large clips and place them on my nipples. Then they would run electricity through my body.”

“I want to kill them.” It came out harsh and anguished. He could hear the truth in every note of her voice. That’s what calmed him.

“They are long dead in the time I come from. Touch me with your hands?”

“Gladly.” She began to rub his nipple until he calmed down, and it got hard. Then she flicked it with her finger before lifting and taking it in her mouth. She sucked hard, and he let out a ragged growl.

“Do that again.”

Her dominant alien was making her pussy wet. Down girl, you’ll get yours later. She sucked on him again, her hand going to his other nipple. She stroked him and gave him gentle pinches. She stayed away from anything she thought might cause pain. She blew on his nipple and felt when his cock jerked.

The wildness in his eyes told her, he wasn’t expecting that. She rubbed down his chest.

“Don’t worry Thrice. If I’m doing it right, your cock should react just like it did.”

“My cock.” He said it as if it were a foreign word. For him, it probably was.

“It’s time for the two of you to become acquainted with each other.” Her hands traveled down over his abs while her mouth stopped to kiss them along the way. Her finger went over a slight indentation on his stomach. It wasn’t deep enough to be a belly button.

“Do you have a mother?”

“There is female DNA that is used for every created ever born.”

“Born?”

“We are assembled in the lab. Once they are sure the embryos have a chance at a viable birth, they are transferred to artificial wombs.”

She wanted to hear the rest, but not now. Her fingers tangled in the hair that led down to his cock. It was semi erect.

“I’m going to touch you, love, but I won’t hurt you.”

“Love?”

“Yes, love.” Her hand went down to the base of his cock, and she ran her fingers lightly over him. He jumped in her hand, she fought to keep the smile off her face.

She ran her hand up his shaft feeling where he was cut or hurt. His deep indrawn breath told her he was waiting for the pain. She kept lightly running her fingers over him as he thickened and lengthened. When his cock stood straight up, she knew they tortured him because they were jealous. He was scarred and still his cock was a work of art. Any man without self-confidence would be jealous when they saw him.

“You’re beautiful.” She leaned over and licked the head while she stroked his shaft.

The hot wetness of her tongue made him hiss with pleasure.

“You touched me with your mouth.”

“Has anyone done that to you before?”

He nodded. A shiver went down his spine. “Teeth.”

“Don’t worry lover I figured out what to do with my teeth a long time ago. If you thought that was good.” She took the head of his cock into her mouth and sucked. His hand went to her hair and tightened. A word she didn’t understand came from him. His legs tightened, but his hips tried to buck, so she sucked on him again.

He made a noise somewhere between a hiss and a growl. She wanted to smile, but the taste of him was doing her in. Did she say salty earlier because he tasted like cinnamon with heat. And she loved it.

She sucked him in deep allowing the heat of her mouth to surround him as she hummed sending vibrations through his cock. The more she sucked and stroked the tighter he clutched her hair until finally his hand wrapped around hers making her squeeze him harder. He was ready. She took as much of him in as she could while her other hand played with his balls. She could hear the hard pants coming from him as his hips started thrusting upward. He tried to stop but couldn’t seem to control it.

Her name was torn from him in a deep throaty sound that almost had her coming. When his hips clenched, and he didn’t seem to know what to do with himself, she redoubled her efforts. His legs started to shake. He looked down at her with wide eyes, and she wanted to reassure him. But she couldn’t stop; he needed and so did she.

When a growl filled with pleasure and terror left his mouth, she pumped him harder. He erupted in the back of her throat. She moaned as she swallowed every drop. He tasted much different than she expected, and she loved it. Hot, sweet, hers.

When he finally relaxed, she licked him getting the last drop before she climbed up his body. He opened his mouth, but she kissed him introducing him to the taste of himself. She curled around him placing her dripping mound against one hard thigh before she slipped over into sleep.

Thrice held her for a long time as his mind worked out the difference between sex and making love. For the first time since he was released, he didn’t want to die. He simply wanted to make love with his mate.