The words were barely out of her mouth before Gerrit was on her, pressing her back against the deck floor with his massive body covering hers. His lips crashed against hers, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, digging her nails in for purchase during the storm.

Gerrit’s body hovered over her as they kissed, tongues and teeth in a battle for control during the onslaught of emotion. He settled his weight against her, crushing her breasts against his massive chest. His already hard cock rubbed against her leg, straining against the loose pants he wore.

Fuck, he was big.

She would hurt in the morning, and she couldn’t wait.

Jude bit his lower lip and arched up into him as she ran her hands down his sides, feeling each ridge of hard muscle. Her short nails dragged against his skin, and Gerrit growled against her lips. He slipped his hand under the hem of the oversized shirt, inching his touch up over her thigh to her hip.

Jude closed her eyes and leaned her head back, letting the simple touch fill her body with pleasure.

He brought his lips to her neck and kissed gently, sucking on her skin just hard enough to make her squirm for more as his hand moved so slowly it drove her insane.

“Fuck …” she groaned, grinding her hips up against him, lifting her thigh against his hard cock, hoping she could spur him on. She needed more of him. She wanted all of him.

When his hand finally came to her rib cage and the slow, gentle touch had chased away the last of Jude’s functioning brain cells, she pushed against his shoulder, rolling them over so she sat astride his hips.

His massive cock pulsed even harder now that she had settled her wet core against the material of his pants.

Gerrit growled at her sudden movement, but his hands now kneaded her upper thighs, coming close, so close to where she desperately longed to be touched.

“You’re taking too long,” she said, unbuttoning her shirt.

“Not out here,” he stilled her hand with a touch. “Merick or anyone might be watching.”

“I don’t care.”

“I don’t want anyone else to see you.” Gerrit’s eyes were on fire from the reflection of the moon and the depths of his own desire. The heat in her belly flared and spread out in response to his.

Before she could reply, Gerrit sat up, and with his strong arms, he pulled her up against him and off her feet. He planted another searing kiss on her lips that made her forget everything until she was dizzy with need. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms up around his neck.

She gripped his impossibly large biceps. Just touching them made her swoon, a word she had never applied to herself, but there was no other way to put it. She needed him. These moments of just kissing and touching had filled her with so much contentment and desire; she’d never felt this alive. The only thing that came close was her dreams of flying.

With Gerrit, she was flying, and she didn’t even care if they crashed.

With a grunt and a forceful kiss, Gerrit gripped her waist, holding her core tight against his cock. “We have to go inside before I can’t control myself anymore.”

“Don’t control yourself,” Jude panted against his mouth. “I want to be out of control for once.”

The primal sound that came from Gerrit was something she’d never heard before, and it sent shock waves through her body, causing her core to practically combust with desire.

Gerrit carried her back inside and straight upstairs. He dropped her on the inset mattress without a word and stared down at her, his eyes tracing every inch of her skin.

Jude’s body felt like it was on fire. Everywhere his eyes touched burst into flame with need. What would it be like to have him touch her, to have him inside her? She shook with the need to find out.

She unbuttoned her shirt while Gerrit watched, a strangled sound leaving his throat. As she revealed her breasts, pink nipples hardening under his stare, Gerrit clenched his fists, and his skin vibrated with restraint.

“Why are you still standing there?” Jude said, unbuttoning the last button and sitting up to shrug the shirt off her shoulders. She reclined back on the pillows, naked and ready for him with a wicked smile on her face.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t.”

“But I could. You don’t understand … Your smell … I barely feel like a man.”

Jude ran a hand over her belly, daring him with her eyes to resist. “You look like a man to me.”

Gerrit growled, and his shape shimmered slightly out of focus in the dim light. He reached for his pants and unbuttoned them, letting the last remaining bits of clothing fall to the floor.

Holy shit, he was huge.

His cock visibly pulsed and was a soft red color Jude desperately wanted to taste. She began to sit up, but Gerrit stopped her with nothing more than the look in his eyes and a tilt of his chin.

He grabbed himself, pumping his beautiful cock with his oversized hand, the pink tip gleaming as he stretched the skin and milked the precum from his erection. All the while, his eyes were trained on Jude, raking over her body like a caress.

Jude’s nipples hardened past the point of pain, and the ache between her legs made her squirm. “If you don’t get your ass down here and fuck me, I’m going to have to do it myself,” she moaned, licking her lips.

Gerrit knelt at the foot of the bed and traced a line from Jude’s foot up her calf and along her inner thigh.

“Please,” she moaned, squirming beneath his touch.

The mattress dipped beneath his weight. She bent her legs and let her knees fall open for him, ready to receive him, but when she felt his tongue lap at her inner thigh, she gasped with surprise.

“Gerrit …”

“Let me taste you first.” He ran his nose along her sensitive flesh, his inhale pulling cool air along her skin. “Your smell has been driving me insane since I found you next to your ship. I have to know how you taste.”

Jude leaned back as Gerrit lifted her thigh, draping it over his shoulder, and settled down like a worshiper before their god. His breath was warm and fast against her, and when his tongue dipped into her slit, Jude fisted the silken sheets and arched up off the bed.

The feeling of his hot tongue lapping slowly against her folds was enough to drive her insane. He explored every part of her, adding pressure when he found a place that made her gasp before pulling her inner lips into his mouth.

Jude was lost on a sea of sensation.

Gerrit’s strong hands wrapped around her and held her down as he dove into her, licking and sucking with such thorough precision Jude began to see stars.

When he came to her opening, he slipped his tongue inside her and moaned. The vibrations of the sound ran along her nerves like fault lines. She was going to come just from the sound of him.

“You taste so fucking good,” he murmured against her before dragging his tongue along the length of her slit and stopping on her clit. He moaned against her as he licked and mouthed her most sensitive spot, lavishing attention and adoration on her body all while gripping her hips so hard Jude was sure she would have bruises.

As her body condensed down to only her clit and the feeling of his mouth against her, she leaned back, bucking up against his firm hold on her. Each touch sent her higher and closer to an orgasm. Her spine tightened with the sensation.

Smelling her closeness, Gerrit growled, and she lost it. She screamed with her release. As she came, she felt like she was flying through the universe with nothing but Gerrit’s strong arms and mouth to keep her from flinging out into the sun and burning up.

He tightened his hold, burying his face between her legs and licking and nipping at her clit until she shook with aftershocks of pleasure.

Jude fell back onto the mattress and looked down at the mass of blond hair between her legs, the giant shoulders scrunched up under her thighs as he nuzzled and mouthed at her soft core.

Like he couldn’t get enough of her.

And when he finally looked up and met her eyes, she knew that was exactly the case. He had a look of hunger on his face like he could eat her up.

When he placed a chaste kiss on her mound before nipping at her flesh again, she giggled.

Giggled.

Jude didn’t fucking giggle.

But the look of delight on Gerrit’s face took away any self-conscious need to toughen up. His smile filled her chest with a warmth and acceptance she never could have imagined feeling before she met him.

“So, which is better? Taste or smell?” she teased.

Gerrit’s smile made fluttery flip-floppity things happen inside her belly. “Definitely taste.” He ran his tongue over her stomach and up to her nipple as he crawled up her body.

When he loomed above her, the smile he released was one he must have been holding back for so long that she wondered if he even realized he had shared it with her. With the smile, he looked full of youthful happiness, like he had his whole life in front of him. He looked like her mate.

Mate?

Had she really just thought that?

She wasn’t his mate. She was only helping him and his people in return for him saving her life. That was it. She would be leaving soon.

But when the thought of leaving came into her mind, her chest constricted and her breath caught.

“What?” Gerrit settled on his side next to her and placed a hand on her belly. It covered the width of her whole stomach and the warmth of his touch centered her. “What just happened? Your smell changed.”

“Nothing,” she lied.

“I know that’s not true.”

“I told you to stop smelling my feelings.”

He frowned. “Did I do something wrong? It seemed like you enjoyed—”

“Yes! I mean, yes, I liked it. You didn’t do anything wrong.” She took a shuddering breath. “I was just thinking about returning to Earth, but just thinking about it makes me feel like I’m drowning.” She looked up at him and saw the same fear and vulnerability she felt staring back at her. “Do you know what I mean?”

Gerrit’s jaw flexed. “I know exactly what you mean. I feel it too. I’ve never wanted someone as much as I want you.”

“Me too,” Jude whispered. She cupped his face in her hand, running her thumb along his moist lips. “I don’t want to lose you, but my sister thinks I’m dead. It’s my job to protect her.”

He nodded, his eyes cloudy with storms of conflicting emotions. Just as she knew he would, he understood her. He brought his lips to hers and kissed her.

He kissed her with the taste of her core still on his mouth.

She ran her hands over his hard chest, feeling the planes of his muscles and exploring the dips and divots of his body.

His hand settled on her hip as she threw a leg around him, bringing herself tight against his cock. Its heat made her gasp when it touched her belly. All she wanted to feel was him inside her.

With their desire mounting, they kissed, their tongues battling as they rolled around on the bed, neither backing down. Jude pulled herself up so that she straddled Gerrit, his cock tucked tightly between her folds. Growling, he thrust up against her, moving along the slick flesh of her core.

Trembling with anticipation, Jude guided his cock back to her entrance before lowering herself down. His thickness filled her with heat and fire that destroyed any hope she had at restraint. She sank the rest of the way onto his cock, stretching around him enough to make her groan. Her head fell back, and she closed her eyes against the sensation of him filling her up, of taking every inch of him.

Gerrit reached for her, pushing one hand through her hair and using his other to grip her ass. She moved slowly against him, reveling in the feeling of his hard length moving deep inside her. Slow and deep, she stretched to hold him, mixing pain and pleasure as she rode him with slow, deliberate movements.

“More,” he growled, pulling her mouth to his, biting her lip, and digging his fingers into the cushion of her ass. He pushed her hips down as he thrust up, slamming himself deep into her.

Pleasure sparked in a place so deep inside her it left her trembling against his chest. He took control, and after a few more thrusts, he flipped them over. Jude’s back pressed into the cushions, and she blinked up at him, her lips parted as she watched him pull one of her legs up and over his shoulder. With his gaze locked on hers, he stroked into her, thrusting with building speed until Jude clenched his shoulders and cried out with pleasure from each rock of his hips. Their bodies moved together like they’d been lovers for lifetimes. He knew just what angle to hit, just how hard to hold her. But still, it wasn’t enough.

She wanted more. He was holding back as if he thought he’d hurt her, but she wanted all of him. The need to have him inside her and pumping away with abandon overwhelmed her.

She moaned as he sucked at her neck, rocking his hips against her with a strength that should have been impossible. But she held on, legs high around him, arms clinging to his shoulders and biceps.

“Please,” she begged. She writhed up against him, grinding harder against him.

“You want more?” Gerrit’s voice came out low and strangled.

“Yes,” Jude panted.

“I’ll give you more.” He pulled out in one swift movement, but before she could complain, Gerrit flipped Jude over onto her stomach and grabbed her hips, pulling her up to her knees and back against his cock.

Her body was on display, but no shame or worry filled her. She wanted him to see her, to know her.

Gerrit dipped his head down and licked along her sex’s swollen folds, dipping into her opening and sinking inside like he was seeking water in a desert. His hands raked up her thighs, holding her in place against his face as he explored her body with his tongue.

“Fuck me, Gerrit,” she demanded with a choking gasp. “Please!”

The words must have been what he needed to hear because Gerrit howled, slamming his cock so deep inside her that Jude screamed.

They stayed like that for a moment, his cock throbbing inside her as her inner walls clenched around him, wanting more. But for just a beat, they held still, lost in this moment with him sheathed deep within her and her laid out bare in submission before him.

She felt his skin rippling behind her. Tossing her hair over her shoulder, she stared back at him over her shoulder. His face was raw, primal need. Desire. Love.

“My mate,” he growled. And then he started to move again.

He fucked her like it was the first and last time they ever would, and Jude found tears coming to her eyes as she lost herself in the unforgiving pace he set. All she could do was hold on and surrender to the waves of ecstasy that rolled over her body.

Gerrit held her against him with one hand on her hip and the other on the small of her back. His fingers gripped her flesh, his body so tight against hers that she could feel the bones of his hips ramming into her ass as he thrust deeper and deeper.

She lowered her body, pushing her backside up toward him, begging for fuller, deeper thrusts. All of him, she needed all of him.

Gerrit plunged into her one more time, and he howled again, a full-throated sound that sent a spasm through Jude’s body. Her vision faded out as she screamed her own primal mating call and succumbed to the oblivion-inducing orgasm rocketing through her body.

She squeezed his cock in the pulsing pattern of her own cascading orgasm, sending ripples of pleasure through them both as their breath slowed.

Exhausted and spent, Jude whimpered as Gerrit pulled out of her. He collapsed on the cushions beside her.

“That was …” She fumbled, her mind scrambled. She stared up at the ceiling and tried to remember what words were. “I mean, you’re big. Obviously. But that’s not enough to make me feel like that. I mean I can’t even think …”

He chuckled, tucking her into his side and pulling a silken sheet over them. “Sleep, my mate,” he whispered against her ear.

Jude should have argued against the title. It wasn’t hers. She was leaving. But the complaint died on her tongue, her body and mind too exhausted to fight sleep any longer.