If he snuck into driving me back down to Earth, then he knew where I lived, which meant he definitely had started acting out some of the things detailed in the contract already.
"You noticed me?" he asked, his words having an undertone of a rumble I could feel in my toes.
"Of course," I said.
He moved so quickly I didn't see him move. One moment he was standing by the door, the next he was looming over me, his arms around me to grip the sink, to cage me against his as he leaned it towards me, his eyes still narrowed as he lowered his head closer to mine. My skin prickled with the awareness of his closeness, of his heat.
"Great, I don't want to wait either," I breathed out in a rush.
I reached up, wrapped my arms around the back of his neck, and kissed him.
Chapter
Two
VLACUL
My mate didn't wait to confirm it was me.
I could have been anyone under that disguise, and she didn't even wait for me to speak as her warm arms wrapped around the back of my neck and her succulent lips brushed over mine as she arched her back and pressed her body into me, like she could mold her form to fit my own.
My lips parted as her tongue teased them, and I tasted sweetness and intoxicant, fermenting inside of her. I wrapped one arm around her lower back, lifting her up so her rear was settled on the edge of the counter. Her legs parted for me as I pressed in between them, bringing myself against her heat.
I could take her here, now, fast and quick, if she decided to try to escape me. The cloth that covered her was thin, a paltry defense that I could tear or push aside. I could penetrate her, seed her, and leave her dripping if my body was triggered to hardness.
But I couldn't mate-lock her here.
I needed to invade her home for that.
There was a window at the far end of the room, big enough for me to drag her through to take her back to her home, but I wouldn't be able to get my shoulders through it. There was another exit, back behind the bar, but if she put up any resistance, the Norratar in the room would be quick to intervene. I could take one a single surprised Norratar, but fighting any of them would violate my provisional visa. I was allowed to hunt her. I could fight to protect her, as was customary by Norratar law, but I couldn't fight others who sought to defend her from me at her request.
It was an annoying clause, one that the Chyrrith rulespinner sought to use to get me to agree to a fully monitored, artificial mating. They offered to provide actors, gladiators, I could fight even as I chased down my mate and carried her away from them.
It didn't appeal.
Hunting her here, where she was comfortable, where her requesting help from the Norratar peace keepers was a genuine threat, that was enticing.
She moaned and rocked her hips, and it felt so... perverse.
She was clinging to me like I had already proven myself.
Her fingernails ran up into my hair, and she found the base of my two horns. Her fingers traced up the right one, finding the dulled edge of where I had broken it. She ran her fingers over it, scratching at the blunted end that was itchy as it slowly healed. I shuddered with the sensation, tilting my head to give her better access, and she rewarded me by giving it the exact attention it needed. She broke off the kiss, and I resisted the fleeting urge to chase her lips. I had been stalking her for a week of human time since I subdued her shuttle driver and took her back down to her planet. It was simple to follow her back to her home. I had already altered several of her locks, entering her home as I pleased, to watch her sleep and accumulate the details of her life so I could put together a plan to court her.
As the week went on, I left more and more obvious signs of my intrusion and presence, leaving my scent saturating her house, but she hadn't reacted. She was supposed to try to drive me from her home, but she just... ignored me.
Now she clung to me as if we were already mated, giving me no signs that she intended to initiate a formal courtship. The contract was clear about how my species mated, and if she wanted me to fill her, there were different requirements than for humans. What she was doing now was enjoyable, but not stimulating. The feel of her body against mine, so soft and supple, delicate with the hum of her blood thrumming under her skin, was decadent. The scent of her arousal was thick in the air, and it filled me with equal measures of delight and confusion.
She bit her lip as she glanced down between us, where her arousal had soaked the front of my human-made trousers with a wet splotch.
"I'm doing it wrong," she said, a deep flush floating through her skin, darkening her cheeks, neck, and shoulders. "I'm sorry! I got so excited that I forgot."
That was even worse.
She was apologizing to me.
"This isn't going to work," I said. Perhaps the Chyrrith were correct, and we needed a curated scenario. The idea soured in my stomach. Turning what should be a natural hunt into an orchestrated scene wasn't how I envisioned my mating, but I was willing to try it for her. The problem was, I wasn't sure she wanted me, despite signing the contract. I'd been in her home for a human week now, and she hadn't acknowledged my presence to start the formal courtship that was required for me to mate-lock to her. Once I had bitten her and let my venom change her so no one could see her but me, we could explore all sides of her species' courtship rituals.
"I can do this," she said, her voice full of determination.
