Rykhan (Book 1 of Mate Search Series) (18 page)

“I would very much like for you to see where I
sleep,” Rykhan explained, seeing the hesitation in her eyes. He
realized he had not spoken the full truth and centered himself in
order to admit to what he was feeling. Dropping his voice, Rykhan
used the hold he had on her hand to pull her closer to where he
stood at the bottom of the stairs. “Actually, I would really enjoy
sharing another kiss with you but do not want to be
disturbed.”

It apparently was the right thing to say
because her eyes came to his and a flare of heat appeared in the
dark green depths. Without another word between them, they slowly
ascended the stairs. Moving quickly to the hallway on the right,
Rykhan continued in silence passing several doors until he stopped
next to the one at the end. At his pause, Leah looked up at him in
question.

He had no explanation for his hesitancy in
opening the door to his bedroom, only knowing that having her in
his private space would change things, to shift something between
them on such a level he knew he’d never be the same. Armed with
that knowledge, that sureness, he paused to give her time to
decline.

His heart soared when she didn’t, choosing
instead to be the one to open the door to his large room, stepping
into it with a confidence that stole his breath away. He followed
and only remembered at the last moment to close and lock the door
behind him.

Rykhan followed her gaze as it settled on the
different furnishings, trying to see it through her eyes. A
king-sized bed, covered in a teal and brown comforter and dotted
with a myriad of pillows took up most of the space, bracketed by
two small chests, each with a gold lamp topped with a teal-colored
shade. There was a desk and chair seated underneath the largest
window, with two doors to the right of it: One led to the cleansing
area and the other to the room that held his clothing.

“You could almost fit the whole of my place in
just this room,” she mumbled into the quiet area as she ran a hand
over the top of his larger communication device. His eyes traced
her profile as she leaned towards the window that looked over a
portion of the large backyard and the small house that Bronsyn had
appropriated as his own.

Rykhan stepped up behind her and
swept her dark, chestnut layered hair to the side, exposing her
sweetly vulnerable neck. Just the view of its curve, the aroma of
her heated skin had his legs to quaking. Pressing his lips against
the pulse-point, as it beat an erratic rhythm; he wrapped his arms
around her small waist and drew her back until she was leaning
against his chest. The feel of her combined with the aroma of her
lightly fragranced skin had his
tailpor
throbbing. He took a chance
and touched his lips to her flesh, sliding them over her skin. A
move that found both of them trembling with unbound
desire.

“I need to kiss you again,” he urged, nipping
and sipping at the flesh exposed. Skin so sensitive she shuddered
as his move.

“Isn’t that what you’re already doing?” she
breathed as she shifted, dropping her head back onto his
shoulder.

As a goal-driven warrior, Rykhan spoke from his
heart. “I want to be in your mouth, the same way we were kissing
last night.”

“Liked that, did you?” Her throaty
question made his
tailpor
flex and he involuntarily pressed his hardness
into the rounded flesh of her bottom.

“Yes,” he growled, impatiently turning her body
until they were chest to chest. “I dreamed of it and
you.”

“I know,” she responded with a sultry smile as
she dragged her fathomless green eyes up his. “You said so in your
text this morning.”

It was all the invitation he needed before his
mouth crashed into hers, already opening in order to plunder, to
seduce her in the only passionate way she had taught
him.

He soon recognized that his female, in the
little responses she gave, was the one who was performing the
seduction with nothing more than almost inaudible sighs and
wiggles. The way her tongue tangled against his, sliding and
twirling as it moved, set off a reaction that he could not
control.

Leading her without ever disconnecting his
mouth from hers, they were soon next to the bed. When they next
came up for air, Leah glanced over her shoulder and a small, shy
smile appeared on her swollen lips.

“While I’m on the pill and it’s been a couple
of years,” she started. “I’m guessing a guy like you probably has
some condoms put away for a happy, unexpected occasion.”

Rykhan knew what a condom was since there was
so much talk of how males needed to use them on the internet of
Earth. There were even vids on how to put on one in a special
website, but since Rykhan had never had sex and had absolutely no
intention in preventing pregnancy, he had only given the
instructions a passing glance. “I do not.”

Leah seemed startled and then crestfallen by
his confession. “No glove, no love, big guy,” she announced with
true regret evident in her voice. Luckily, he had heard that
distinctive American saying expressed on another vid and knew he
needed to assure his mate of his sexual history.

“There have been no other females,” he said
firmly, dropping his forehead to hers. “I’ve never joined with
anyone else, my Leah.”

She straightened in shock and he found the need
to tighten his arms around her. “But you…I mean, a man who looks
like you do…”

Rykhan shook his head, the skin of their
foreheads rubbing together with his move. It was important for her
to understand that she was his one, the only female he would ever
join with. “I have been waiting for you all my life.”

She pulled back as far as his arms would permit
her to move. “That’s crazy! Are you trying to tell me that you’re a
virgin, for Christ’s sake?”

He was surprised at her tone, amazed that she
seemed almost stunned at the thought that he had waited. Had
postponed being with anyone until he’d found what he had always
wanted. While other men’s needs had been strong enough to urge them
into a male/male joining even to a formal pairing, it had not been
that way for him. He’d never found arousal in the thought of being
with another male even if it was sure to have caused a break in the
abject loneliness that had surrounded him throughout the
years.

“Yes, that is exactly what I am
saying,
mica
tisha
,” he answered on a sigh. He
tried to bring her back into his embrace but Leah sank to the edge
of the bed, slipping out of his arms.

Feeling her astonishment, he sat down next to
her. He knew she needed quiet in order to think but he could not
understand her distress at his confession. Hoping to re-establish
their connection, Rykhan reached for Leah’s hand. While she did not
actually respond, she kept her palm against his and he took
heart.

“Why me?” she whispered after more than a few
moments. “Why did you choose me?”

He closed his eyes at her plaintive tone and
wondered how much information to give her. Bronsyn had warned them
of human’s predilection to attack anything not understood but he
hoped Leah was not of that sort. So he answered as honestly as he
knew how. “I believe we were destined to find one
another.”

“Destined?” she breathed, turning her beautiful
face towards him. The look in her eyes spoke of both hope and
disbelief.

“Fated might be a better word though it means
the same,” he countered with a nod. “All I know is that you are the
woman I want to be with for the rest of my days.”

He watched her eyes widen and heard her take in
a deep breath that she held for more than a few heartbeats. “But
you don’t know me, Rykhan. Not really. We haven’t been seeing each
other all that long.”

Raising his farthest hand, he placed it gently
in the middle of her chest. “I know your heart, my Leah. And for
the moment, that is all I need to know.”

*.*.*.*.*

Leah felt as if she had slipped into some kind
of alternate dimension, one where the hottest of guys actually said
he’d been waiting for her all his life and she was the only woman
he could consider having sex with.

But that couldn’t be true, could it?

Men like Rykhan didn’t look at her twice in
real life. Nor did they continue to ask her out, kiss her until her
panties went up in flames, and then reveal to her that he bore the
same metal bracelet that she did. That just did not happen in the
real world!

He had whisked her away from the painful speed
dating thingy to a wonderful dinner, asking for her number before
they parted. When he’d called the next afternoon, they’d gone for
another meal that had led to more dates. Outings that had been fun
but hadn’t moved in the same direction or at the same pace she had
experienced previously.

‘
What if he took it slow because he
just didn’t know how to date?’ her mind questioned as she gazed at
the hand he had placed on her chest. ‘What if his country has
different rules for courtship?’

On the heels of those questions, Leah felt like
she was attempting to justify her desire to get the man of her
fantasies naked and moaning.

Did she believe him when he admitted to being a
virgin? Sure, in light of how he was so hesitant to touch her, of
how she’d had to ask for a kiss. Nevertheless, it was hard to
believe. With his face and body, most of her friends would be
dropping their panties first and asking questions later.

“Can I kiss you again?” He whispered, as the
hand he’d placed on her breastbone moved to her furthest shoulder
and turned her towards him. She didn’t say a word, almost couldn’t
with all the thoughts running through her mind, but simply pressed
her mouth against his. As they twisted their heads to better align
their lips, Leah felt the band on her arm begin to pulse and heat
although that time, and at that particular moment, it didn’t hurt
in the least. In fact, it seemed to add to her body’s sensations,
increasing her desire in some fashion she didn’t
understand.

Soon her back was on the mattress and Rykhan
leaned over her, his chest pressing and moving over hers. Her
nipples tightened sharply in the confines of her bra while she
heard her own moan escape in response to the molten lava his kiss
had created deep inside.

Not to mention her heartbeat that had taken up
residence between her legs. Such an insistent pulse that her hips
were making small movements in cadence to its beat.

“Oh, Rykhan,” she sighed when he lifted his
mouth from hers in order to take a deep gulp of air.

“I want, Leah,” he’d growled. “I feel such a
burning want for you.”

At his words, one of her hands drifted to the
back of his head, tangling in his shoulder-length hair to return
his face to hers. It wasn’t enough, wasn’t near enough for the heat
he’d generated inside her and her hand moved to his shirt, brushing
the material aside as her fingers demanded to feel his
skin.

Rykhan’s own groans began at her
unencumbered touch and his hips pressed closer as he began to rock,
to stroke himself against the side of her hip. “Oh
Tsiran
! That feels so
good!”

Leah agreed, but it was a dance meant for two
even though only one of them was actually taking things
forward.

She took one of the hands he had placed on the
bed next to her and moved it to her belly. Instead of realizing she
was giving him approval to explore, his fingers simply remained
where she’d left them. With a small mewl of annoyance, she shifted
it until it pushed underneath her t-shirt, forcing it to rest
against the warm skin of her stomach. “Touch me, baby,” she
breathed against his mouth. “Touch me like I’m touching
you.”

It was then their dance began in earnest with
her leading and Rykhan following. As her fingers roamed, his did as
well. When her lips moved to kiss the sensitive strip of skin
beneath his ear, his lips copied the move to lick and lave. When
her fingertips found his flat but aroused nipples he pulled
back.

“You are wearing too many clothes,” he advised
his eyes hot with desire as she gazed up at him. Without a shred of
shame, Leah lifted her shirt over her head and tossed it aside.
Arching her back, her hands found the clasp of her bra behind her
and shoved the straps down off her arms before pinching the center
to pull it away from her chest.

Watching every one of her movements as if he
would be tested on it later, Rykhan let out a low dark stream of
unintelligible words at the sight of her unclad breasts.

“I hope those were compliments,” she teased,
trying to keep her voice light but it was hard with the pounding
desire throbbing through her.

He didn’t answer right away, not with words, as
his eyes devoured the flesh she’d uncovered to his gaze. Soon
though, his head began to dip and she allowed her body to answer as
she again arched up, pushing her aching nipples towards his mouth.
His tongue laved and lapped, swirled and licked but soon he became
frustrated at how her rosy, sharp peaks kept slipping out of his
mouth before he determined how to anchor her breast into his palm
to hold it still.