Kirk held Kate to his chest.

Though he was concerned about the man who had frightened her, it was hard to concentrate with his mate warm and soft in his arms.

Kate had removed nearly all of her clothing and he could feel her smooth skin under his hands, and the tickle of the frothy looking fabric that covered her breasts.

The delicate scent of her reminded him of the wild flowers near the pond back in Stargazer.

His body was responding to hers in spite of the circumstances. He hoped she would not be offended. This was new territory for him.

Kate moved slightly and he prepared for her to pull away.

Instead she nuzzled his chest, sending lightning bolts of need through him.

“Kate,” he murmured in warning.

But when she looked up at him all he could think of was how beautiful her brown eyes were. How sweet the curve of her cheek.

He slid a hand up her back to touch her face and she closed her eyes and leaned into his palm.

The temptation to brush her cheek with his lips hit him again.

This time, he didn’t resist it.

In the back of his mind a thousand warnings sounded, reminding him that she had just had a scare, that she had said she didn’t want a mate.

But none of them could compete with her sigh of pleasure as his lips caressed her skin.

“Kate,” he said again, wanting to warn her, but unable to remember any of the words of this language but her name.

She took it as an invitation instead, and opened her eyes, gazing up at him with some nameless emotion he hoped was the beginning of love, then pressed her lips to his.

Fireworks went off behind his lids and some ancient knowledge ingrained into his human form took over, thumbing her jaw open, pressing her against him possessively, tasting the honey sweetness of her tongue.

Kate whimpered against his mouth and pressed herself closer still, as if she couldn’t get close enough.

A storm was raging inside Kirk, a beast clawing to be set free.

He fought his impatience and kissed her slowly, carefully, like the men in the movies. She was precious to him, and so delicate.

She trembled in his arms, slid her hand up his arm and threaded her fingers in his hair.

The slight pain mixed with the pounding desire was almost too much for him.

He walked her backwards to the bed.

“Wait,” she whispered, pulling away.

He nearly screamed with frustration, but saw that she had let him go only to sweep the flowers off the bed.

When there were only a few petals remaining, she crawled in.

Kirk’s mouth watered as she tantalized him with the movements of her round posterior. His cock yearned with a mind of its own, craving her heat.

But when she lay back on the bed and opened her arms to him it was his heart that truly ached.

He waited an instant, wishing he could memorize her soft expression of need, the curve of her outstretched arms, the creaminess of her thighs. The way she looked at him as if he were the only man in the universe.

Then his need pressed down on him with a force he was powerless to lighten. He crawled on top of her, inhaling her scent, pressing himself against her heat.

Kate moaned and clawed at his t-shirt.

He sat up on his knees and pulled it off for her.

“Oh,” she whispered, looking at his chest as if he were a sparkling gift.

He grinned. He was glad she liked this body he had been given. It was meant to bring her pleasure and he saw now that its design was effective.

But Kirk wanted to bring her pleasure on his own merits.

He lowered himself over her again, praying for control over the screaming demands of his own body so that he could attend to hers.

Kate kissed him again, nipping and sucking on his lower lip in a way that he could feel in his groin.

He pulled away, afraid of how those attentions would end, and nuzzled her neck.

She gasped and arched her back, offering up her beautiful breasts, frustratingly encased in tickling swirls of lace.

He kissed his way down to them, sliding his finger between her breasts to find the clasp.

“Like this,” she whispered, sliding her hand between her own breasts, releasing it.

He peeled the garment away.

Her breasts were beautiful orbs, soft and pale with dark nipples crinkling and pouting.

He had been shown filmed copulations in the lab in Stargazer. These movies were supposed to help him satisfy his own member and possibly click into his human form without the aid of a mate. The films had been interesting, and he had stimulated himself to many culminations. But nothing in those films had prepared him for this.

Nothing could have readied him for the feel of her beneath him, the feast laid out for his senses, the responsibility of satisfying the need he knew she felt.

She clenched her thighs around his hips and his cock throbbed in sympathy.

He lowered his head and nuzzled one of her perfect breasts.

“Oh,” she whimpered.

He licked one ruby nipple into his mouth, worked it with his tongue, sucking lightly.

Kate bucked her hips up against him.

The pleasure was dizzying.

He lavished her other nipple with attention, licking and sucking, as he slid his hand over to the other one, to stroke and tease her.

“Oh,” she whimpered again.

“Hush, my love,” he whispered against her ribcage as he moved down her body. “I know what you need.”

He rubbed his rough jaw against the softness of her stomach.

She giggled and he smiled as he pressed kisses against her belly button.

When he reached the lace of her underthings he waited, not wanting to do anything she didn’t want.

But Kate slid her thumbs under the waistband and dragged them downward.

He was struck with the image of her pleasuring herself as he had done in the lab, those delicate fingers sliding into her own warmth, and he had to close his eyes and breathe deeply to avoid losing control.

Kate lifted her bottom and he slid her panties off, flung them to the floor.

Kate lay back, her golden hair spread on the pillow, her dark eyes filled with need.

Kirk drank in the sight of her, then lowered his head to press kisses against her inner thigh.

She allowed her legs to fall open slightly and he followed the curve of her thigh, hypnotized by her irresistible scent.