She backed up a step to let him in and closed the door just as quickly, half afraid that he’d flee if she didn’t cut off his escape route. With Raze in her quarters, they shrunk to half their usual size, his bulk taking up every spare centimeter. A person’s size was never more clear than when they stood on a space ship. Planets had a way of dwarfing a person, distance and space giving a false sense of perspective. But in her little room, where she could touch opposite walls at the same time if she stretched her hands out far enough, there wasn’t any disguising Raze’s bulk or height, and that sent a not so secret thrill through her.

She’d never paid much attention to the heft of her lovers before. A man could be just as pleasing if he stood a head taller than her or if she had to look down at him. But standing next to Raze right now, she felt safe, protected, like he would stand beside her and fight any battle with her and prevail against any foe.

Had she really only known him two and a half days?

“What are you doing here?” she finally asked, finding her voice. “Is everything alright?” Just because her mind went to a naughty place anytime he got into close proximity to her, didn’t mean that he was ready to lay down on the bed right behind her and see exactly what they could make one another feel, how much pleasure they could conjure between them.

She really needed to get her mind out of the gutter, somehow, or the next three days were going to be absolute hell.

“Everything is fine,” Raze reassured her. “Toran and Kayde are resting.”

Hope fluttered in her belly, but she forced herself not to jump to any conclusions. He wasn’t even touching her, even though all he’d have to do was lean forward the tiniest bit and they’d be pressed flush up against one another. “That’s good. I’m sure we could all use some sleep.” No, why did she say that? Raze tried to take a step back and she shot a hand out to keep him from moving. “I mean, eventually.”

“Most of the women out there seemed to be settling in. Your pilot switched the lighting over to sleep mode.” He ran his fingers lightly over the back of her hand, tapping out an unfamiliar beat.

Sierra glanced at the clock on the wall. “It’s late,” she agreed.

“I couldn’t end the day without seeing you,” he confessed, his other hand coming up to rest on her shoulder.

She smiled, “I know the feeling.” She stepped forward, wrapping her arms around his waist and laying her head against his chest. Tension loosened in her spine and some of the day’s troubles melted away as she absorbed some of his warmth. She never wanted to let go. “Will Toran give you trouble for being here?” she forced herself to ask. As much as she wanted to be near her man, she didn’t want to cause strife on his team, not when they were all stuck in such close quarters.

“He didn’t forbid it,” Raze said, which wasn’t exactly an answer.

“Why would he?” Her heart hammered as the comfort of the hug shifted to something deeper, something treacherous and terrifying and full of hope for something she’d never known to dream about.

“I think he suspects something,” was all Raze said.

She knew the suspicion had little to do with sex. And so she forced herself to ask the question she was terrified to have him answer. “Is it that I’m your mate?”

***

The pain had come in fits and starts throughout the last few hours. Whenever he saw Sierra, suddenly Raze could breathe again, but when she went away, his lungs filled with sand and his organs twisted into unnatural shapes and squeezed him from the inside out. Touching her now was the first time in hours the pain was completely gone, and that, more than anything, proved to him that she was who he knew she had to be.

He saw the hope and the fear in her eyes and knew it was reflected in his own. They had somehow stolen another three days of togetherness from the hands of fate, but things had become even more uncertain since they’d made plans to meet at Honora Station in a few months’ time. But none of that mattered now. They could figure out the future later. He had Sierra in his arms, the soft press of her skin warm against him. There was nowhere else he’d rather be, no matter what it cost him down the line.

“You are my denya,” he told her. “It shouldn’t be possible, but you are my miracle.”

Her tongue darted out to wet her lips and Raze’s desire stirred deep in his belly, his cock twitching. “Show me,” Sierra said, taking a step backwards towards her bed and pulling him along with her.

Raze captured her mouth with his, crushing her close so that no distance kept their bodies separate. A fire of need flooded his veins and his focus honed in on her and only her. His Sierra. His woman. His mate. She opened under him, her tongue meeting his in an ancient dance of longing. One of her hands came up and dug into his hair as she let out a moan loud enough to nearly echo around the room.

His heart and his body pulsed at him to take her now, quickly, before they were interrupted by any of their responsibilities. But Raze needed to take his time and savor Sierra, to make this right for the both of them.

They both wore too many clothes and their hands tangled as they tried to get at each other and remove jackets and shirts and pants. Sierra pulled back with a gasping laugh and placed her hand on his chest, eyes bright. “Hold on,” she said. “Let me watch you.” She backed up further until her legs hit her bed before falling backwards and sprawling like a decadent queen viewing her humble supplicant.

Raze wanted to fall to his knees and worship, but her eyes were dark with hunger and she’d asked him for a show. There was no wish he wouldn’t grant for his denya. He started with the zippers at his neck and worked his way down, his eyes flicking over to hers every few seconds to see her reaction as he bared himself for her. His outer jacket came off to reveal a thin, long sleeved top, and though his first instinct was to rip it off and throw it away to get naked as fast as he could, he teased her, his hands gripping the bottom hem and pulling it up slowly, revealing his abs before pulling it back down and reaching behind his neck and pulling the top off completely, baring himself from the waist up to his denya.

She moaned again and her chest rose and fell quickly, her cheeks flushed and eyes bright. She could demand anything right then, but all she said was, “More.”

***

He was male beauty contained in corded strength and bulging muscles. Every bit of skin he bared for her only made her want more, want to see, to touch, to taste. She’d expected him to be that same green with silver undertones all over, but his chest was a surprise. He was covered in marks from his shoulders down across his chest in a deep vee, the dark, nearly black squares almost like birthmarks or moles. Her fingers ached to feel and she rolled up from her lounging position to get a closer look.

“Do you like my clan markings?” he asked with a grin.

Sierra reached out a tentative hand and flicked her fingers against the dark patch. It was thicker than his normal skin. “It doesn’t hurt, does it?” She’d never had sex with an alien before and didn’t want her ignorance to cause him any suffering.

“No,” Raze promised. “It feels good.”

She flattened her hand against his naked chest, but before she could do more than take the smallest feel, he stepped back, pulling a sad mewl of loss out of her throat.

“Uh uh,” Raze said in a tone she’d never heard from him before. From anyone else, she’d call it playful. “Your turn.” He pointed to her top and suddenly the heat in the room shot up by thirty degrees.

She tore at her jacket, casting it off like it was made of hornets. Raze grinned at her, eyes hungry and devouring. But when she went to unbutton her shirt, she forced herself to slow down. He’d given her a show, and even though she was flushed, wet, and ready for pleasure, she wanted to return the favor. She laid back on the bed, spreading herself out for him like an ancient sacrifice to a terrifying pagan god. His eyes flared red as she flicked the top button on her shirt and bared her throat to his gaze. She could feel the burn of his regard all the way to her toes.

A second button came undone and the top of her breasts was suddenly in sight, on display for her mate. Raze took half a step forward before he seemed to realize what he was doing and Sierra couldn’t help but grin up at him. “Do you want to touch?” she teased with a smile and placed a finger on the next button.

The strangled noise that came out of his throat went straight to her sex and she pressed her legs tightly together, her hips rising off the bed as she imagined him between her thighs, pressing into her with the heat of his cock. Instead of showing them both mercy, she let her fingers flit down to the bottom button and undid two, until three buttons in the center of her top were all that covered her undershirt.

Raze stepped forward and fell to his knees beside her bed. His hands found the top and he gripped both sides, ready to rip it open before her eyes flew wide and she placed her own hand on his wrist. “Wait! I don’t have anything to mend it.” As soon as the words tumbled out, she wanted to call them back. She had this handsome barbarian at her feet and she was worried about her clothes. Was she crazy?

Her mate seemed to sense her regret. He met her eyes with those searing red pools of his, his voice gruff and just on this side of control. “Do you really care?” he demanded.

“Not a bit.” She grinned. Maybe she should have been terrified, especially when those claws she’d only felt before slid out, and he traced a careful line around each of the buttons until her shirt fell open, leaving only the thin, white undershirt. She wrestled the sleeves of the buttoned top off and Raze placed a clawed finger on her shirt over her sternum.

He met her eyes, black flooding back over the red. “Do you trust me?” he asked, his words heavy with more than sex, more than affection, filled with something she wasn’t quite ready to name.

“One hundred percent.”

He tore through the thin material of her tank top and the built in bra underneath it, exposing her bare skin to his hands and claws. The claws disappeared between one heartbeat and the next, disappearing into his hands like they’d never been there in the first place. He flattened his hands on her sides and explored her by touch, his calloused palms tough against her sensitive skin. She writhed underneath him and spread her legs, trying to urge him closer.

Raze’s head bent down and he trailed his lips up from her belly button to the valley between her breasts, teasing her with gentle nips and playful swipes of his tongue, driving her crazy inch by tortuous inch. She wanted to return the favor, but every time she made a move to touch him, Raze made a sound in the back of his throat that pinned her in place, commanding her to stay still without any words necessary. It was his turn to bring her pleasure, he said with that one syllable, a gift that she had to lay back and take.

But she cataloged every kiss and caress, ever swipe of his tongue and pinch of his fingers, just waiting to drive him to crazed insanity in the same way he was driving her.

When he made his way back down to her waist, she gasped as he undid the clasp of her pants and eased them down over her hips, taking her underwear with. When her boots got in the way, he let out an inarticulate growl and this time Sierra did have to speak out.

“Seriously,” she warned, “I need those boots. Don’t tear them.” He glanced back up at her face with those red eyes and any other teasing words died in her throat at the intensity writ large in his expression. With almost reverent care, he undid the straps and slid first one boot from her foot and then the other, placing them under her bed so they wouldn’t get lost or get in his way. Then, he was yanking her pants off again until she was completely naked and laying on the bed, a feast for his eyes.

He ran a hand over his cock, still trapped by layers of fabric that Sierra wished would just spontaneously combust so she could see the goods. She started to lean forward to undress him, but he darted forward and plastered her hands to the bed, covering her with his hot, heavy body, the length of his cock pressing hard against her stomach, the length impressive even through his pants.

“Mine,” he growled against her ear, possessive and a bit feral.

A thrill shot through her, even though she’d never gotten off on that shit before. But now the need to claim ran just as hot in her blood. She captured his lips, tugging at his bottom lip with her teeth until he hissed against her and released her hands to cup her head. She held herself in place; no matter how much she wanted to touch him, she wanted his control in a way she’d never known to want before. He conquered her mouth until there was nothing left but the heat and the connection burning like a conflagration between them.

It was too much. It wasn’t enough.

She needed more.

***

Any more pleasure and his heart might give out. Any less and he would die. There was no part of Sierra that he didn’t need to touch and taste, no ounce of pleasure he couldn’t wring out of her. She was bared before him, all her strange, human beauty his for the taking, and the only thing he could do was devour her lips, taking her taste into him with one swipe of his tongue against hers at a time.

She moaned under him and his eyes flicked up to watch her hands reach out until she gripped the edge of the bed to keep them in place, to keep herself from reaching out. If she touched him, he’d come undone, and they’d barely even started. He would let her touch him later, for now this was all about giving her exactly what she needed and taking everything that he wanted.

He slid down her body with a trail of kisses and licks, the salt of her skin sweet against his tongue. He could explore every hidden secret she had, but for now, he had only one goal in mind, the wet heat radiating out of the crux of her thighs. She opened under him, her hips arching up in a silent plea as he kissed over her abdomen and down one thigh. A wordless sound came out strangled as he licked over the soft skin of her thighs and back up over her mound, teasing her without any relief. She arched up again, her hips coming fully off the bed as she searched for his tongue with her body.

“Please!” she finally gasped, the sound echoing in her tiny room.

Raze showed mercy, using his tongue and his fingers to bring her pleasure until she was gasping against him, one leg kicked over his shoulder to give him more access to her core. She let out a string of curses when he hit a particularly sensitive spot, and when he circled his lips around the seat of her pleasure, she cried out and writhed against him, begging him for more.

With a shout, she let go, shuddering around him and breathing hard as he took her over the edge for the first time. Her hands tugged him up and he came willingly, kissing her again as she tried to regain her breath, sweat coating her and the heat between them still as strong as it had ever been, stronger.

“I need inside you,” he murmured against her lips, the sound a muffled exchange.

“Now, yes,” she panted, reaching down for the clasp of his pants and struggling in her haze of pleasure to get them undone.

Raze’s own hands were shaking and he was so hard he knew he wouldn’t last long. But he needed her now, today, forever. He pushed his pants down, freeing his erection, and settled himself back between Sierra’s thighs. With care, he guided himself to her entrance and met her eyes, knowing his own must be glowing red with how much emotion overpowered him, urged him on.

“Do it,” she said, placing her hand over the one he had braced on her hip. “Make me yours.” She might not have known all the technicalities of the denya bond, but he could see in her gaze that Sierra understood just how important this was, how much it meant.

She was slick with pleasure and open for him. He forced himself to go slow, easing in to the tortuously pleasurable heat until he was seated all the way in, joined as completely as two souls could ever hope to be. And then he began to move, driving into her, finding his pace and touching her reverently until her own eyes clouded over with pleasure and she let out contented little moans and gasps, begging him for more.

Sensation washed over him, almost painful, and something cracked inside of him, whipping out and reforming him, reaching out for his mate from the depths of the soul he thought he’d lost and tying them together in the most visceral connection of his people. Sierra shuddered again, her walls rippling around his length and with a roar, Raze came, emptying himself inside of her and sealing the bond between them.

His vision went white and on the heels of the greatest pleasure he’d ever known, pain stabbed through his chest. He gasped, reaching out and trying to stabilize himself as a hurricane of emotion roared into him, tearing him apart from the inside.

As he slumped to his side, everything went black.