"I love you, too.You’re mine.I’m never letting you go.”
He lifted me off my feet and carried me the rest of the way to his home.When we were inside, the heavy door braced against the storm, he set me on my feet in the middle of a small, cozy living area.
He lit one lamp.Amber.Small.Placed on the low obsidian shelf near the valley-facing wall.The amber and the white lightning mixed in the space and cast everything in warm gold threaded with electric blue.
I stood in the middle of his home andlookedat it.At the spare, deliberate arrangement of a warrior who had lived alone and hadn't needed the space to be more than functional.At the smooth, obsidian walls.At the node network I could feel pulsing through the floor.Some sort of panel covered an entire wall, cut so thin and perfect they were like colored glass that perfectly framed the cliffs and skyline outside.Lightning arced outside in a stunning display of power and sheer, heart stopping magnificence.I’d never seen anything more shocking in both power and magnificence.
The reflection of the single amber lamp he had lit for me glowed like a firefly behind me.I watched him come for me.My mate.The energy in his body shifting and flowing like water in a river.Couldn’t wait for all that energy to flow into me when he kissed me.Touched me.Made me part of him.
I loved an alien.His honor.His courage.The way he refused to leave my side.The devotion I could feel flowing through him when he touched me.I loved the way my body recognized his, tuned itself to his rhythm.Loved the way I felt alive when I was around him.Alive.Aware.So much stronger than I was before.
"I have been waiting for you since before I knew I was waiting."He spoke as he undressed me, his voice was low and unhurried and entirely unguarded."Every storm I have navigated in my life was practice for the storm that brought you to me."Leaned down and kissed the bared marks covering my collarbone.My shoulder.One kiss.Two.
Three.
I was going to spontaneously combust.He was moving too damn slow.
I tugged at my suit, the one thing that I carried from my old life.I never wanted to put it on again.
My head dropped back on my neck and I leaned away to give him better access.I was more than happy to give him everything.
He must have felt my surrender through the bond because his eyes flashed silver and his hands tightened around my waist."I need you to know that I love you, Sloane Carter of Earth.Not the Skybond.Not the bond's biology.You.Your curious mind.Your courage.Your determination to save my village and your crew.You are amazing, mate.The storm chose well."His eyes held mine."I love you."
The words broke down that last wall I had around my heart, a barrier I hadn’t even known I was still carrying.The wall that would have let me survive leaving him, getting on my ship and going back to my old life.
"Show me.”My voice came from somewhere deep and undefended.I looked up at him — at the silver eyes blazing in the storm's light, at the marks at his collar that were mine as much as his now.
My marks blazed.This was home.
Not the structure around us — though it was beautiful, all flowing curves of polished obsidian and living light that pulsed from the crystal veins in the walls.Not the soft furs on the floor or the scent of rain and ozone that permeated the air.This.Him.The way his hands moved over me as if he was touching a dream.The way my body answered, without thought, without hesitation, a perfect echo to his call.
His fingers traced the silver lightning that now lived permanently under my skin, a roadmap of our journey from strangers to this.Each touch sent a soft, thrumming pulse of energy through me, not the violent surge of our first joining, but a deep, resonant hum that settled in my bones, in my soul.I was no longer just Sloane, the human who crashed on a strange world.I was Sloane, loved by Sorik.Part of Sorik.
"Look at me," he whispered, his voice a low vibration against my temple.I opened my eyes, and the sight of him stole my breath.His silver eyes, once so alien and unreadable, were now an open book.In them I saw desperate need.Awe.I saw the future.An endless stretch of days and nights, of discoveries and passions, of a love that would only deepen with time.
"I'm looking."I stroked the sharp line of his cheekbones with my thumbs
His skin was warm, a living thing under my touch.I could feel the faint thrum of his bioelectric system, a steady, reassuring rhythm that called to the new current humming in my own veins.He leaned into my touch, his eyes closing for a moment, a look of such profound contentment on his face that my heart clenched.
I did that for him.Made him feel that way.
"I love you."The words seemed both inadequate and absolutely perfect."I love you so much."
A slow smile spread across his face, transforming it from something handsome and alien to something devastatingly familiar."And I love you, Sloane.More than I ever thought possible to love anything."
He lowered his head, and his mouth found mine.This was nothing like our first kiss.This was a homecoming.His lips moved against mine with a tender reverence that brought tears to my eyes.There was no urgency here, no desperate need to consume or be consumed.There was only a deep, abiding connection.Two souls finally, irrevocably, finding their other half.
His tongue traced the seam of my lips, and I opened for him without hesitation.The first touch of his tongue against mine sent a soft, pleasant jolt through me, a spark of the lightning that now lived in my blood.I met his exploration with my own, our tongues dancing in a slow, sensual rhythm that was both intimate and incredibly erotic.I could taste him — a complex flavor that was uniquely Sorik, a mix of ozone, rain, and something darker, spicier, that was all his own.
His hands moved to the hem of my shirt, and I lifted my arms to allow him to remove it.The cool air of the room was a shock against my heated skin, but it was quickly replaced by the warmth of his hands as they moved to cup my breasts.His thumbs brushed over my nipples, and they pebbled instantly, aching for his mouth.
"Sorik," I breathed, my head falling back as he lowered his head to obey my unspoken command.
His mouth closed over my nipple, and the pleasure that shot through me was both familiar and new.It was the same lightning strike I had come to crave, but it was softer now, more controlled, a gentle current that flowed from his mouth, through my breast, and down to pool in my core.I moaned, my hands fisting in his hair as he lavished attention on first one breast, then the other, his tongue and lips and teeth working me into a state of feverish need.
But there was no desperation in his movements.There was only a deliberate, thorough exploration, as if he was committing every response, every gasp, every shudder to memory.He was learning me all over again, but this time, he was learning me as his.As the woman he would love for the rest of his life.
He straightened, his gaze meeting mine as he reached for the fastenings of his scant clothing.I watched, my breath catching in my throat, as he revealed himself to me.His body was a work of art, all lean muscle and dark, teal skin that shimmered in the soft light of the room.The bioluminescent nodes along his spine pulsed with a gentle, blue-white light, and the silver lightning scars that marked our shared experiences were a stark, beautiful contrast against his skin.