Page 8 of Spawn

"What was amputated?" she asked.

"My wings," I said. Cool air replaced the warmth of where her hands had been as she lifted them off my skin. Was she rejecting me? I rushed to explain. "I am not an infiltrator unit, so I had no need to blend in with my origin species, and wings have no purpose in space."

She made a soft, tender sound, and I turned to see that her eyes were wide, tears glimmering at the edges of them, her hands up with just her fingertips covering her mouth.

"I cannot present to you without them," I said. "In my origin culture, the brightness of the feathers and the size of the wingspan are an important part of courtship. In that culture, I would be considered a damaged male, much like Garlithian is considered damaged by his origin culture because of his failed mating bond."

"You are not…" Noelle said, the words catching in her throat, like she was responding to an urge to say one thing before her mind caught up with her speech. "What you have lost is incalculable, but you didn't lose your worth as a male, and when I look at you, I don't see someone who is broken. I see someone who is happy and excited about life, who enjoys everything he does and everyone he speaks to. When I look at you, I see the kind of male I would love to have as my mate. I don't need you to present to me; I need you to be present with me and tuned into what you need to be happy, and you do that every day."

Warmth flooded me, a bolstering current of affection and also relief.

I reached out, my fingers finding the curve of her jawline.

"I would like to perform a human courtship action," I said.

"What kind of action?" she asked.

"I believe it is called a kiss?" I said.

FIVE

NOELLE

"Kiss me then," I said, tilting my face up toward his, relishing the soft caress of his fingertips on my jaw.

I wasn't expecting this.

From what he had said, it sounded like the moment I invited him into my room, he was going to barge in, dance about a bit, and then fall on top of me in a fit of feral, uncontrollable lust that would make him my mate in a rather permanent way; at least that is what he claimed. I had held my own interest in him back because of how much he glorified the space pirate character who slept around. I didn't want to get involved with a male who was going to wander off the second he found someone else more interesting. The idea of someone committing to me with such an intensity was downright appealing, especially when that someone had shown himself to be a friendly, happy person who enjoyed spending time in the kitchen with me.

This slow connection, this gentle touch, this unfolding of old scars and opening up to the idea of the future together… this was what I craved.

His thin lips pressed against mine and I lifted up on my toes, leaning into the kiss as my palms pressed against his bare chest. Electricity tingled on the nerve endings in my lips, and I parted them, wanting more, as heat coiled deep in me, teased by the gentleness of the moment.

I traced the edge of his lips with my tongue.

His lips parted, and his tongue chased mine back into my mouth, and then I realized that it was only the tip. Thick meat filled my mouth as his hands snaked around my waist, pressing my body against his hard lines, and then his tongue just kept on coming, and I gagged as it was too much.

I pressed my palms against his chest, and he let me go as I pushed away, his huge tongue sliding free. For a moment it dangled outside his lips, the seam of his mouth suddenly seeming quite a bit wider as the long log of muscle glistened in artificial light, thick, wide, and dark black like a flattened blood sausage before he pulled it back up into his mouth.

He made that strange motion with his shoulders again, his body attempting to present his nonexistent wings to me.

I stared at him, my mind whirling as I mulled over the possibilities. He stomped one of his feet suddenly, his body rolling as his eyes fixated on me, and I realized that he was on the edge of snapping into that rut state he described.

If I wanted something from him, I needed to voice it now.

"Kiss me down here," I said, gesturing down between my legs. I didn't wait for him to agree; I just grabbed the edge of my shirt and stripped it off as fast as I could, eager and excited as I backed over to the bed, hopping on one foot then the other as I tripped my way out of the rest of my clothes.

He danced after me, his body shifting, his abs twitching, his shoulders making those same strange motions. I climbed up on the bed, intending to flip onto my back, but the moment I was on my hands and knees with my ass in the air, his hands wrapped around my hips, thumbs pressing into my glutes, and then he licked me.

His thick, long tongue slapped against my belly button, the base of it hitting right between my lower lips, and he dragged it backward into his mouth, sliding slippery down over my clit, stroking me in one long glorious rub of pleasure.

"Oh fuuuuuuu…." I said, my legs spreading and then he reversed the motion, tonguing his way through my lower lips, parting them as he rubbed back and forth, sliding that flat, hot piece of lubricated meat against me, curving and rolling against me as he tasted me in one long lick. Then he pulled it back again, the curve of it sliding over my drenched opening, and he pressed his tongue against it.

"Yes!" I said, pushing my hips back and he pushed that fat tongue inside of me. He groaned, and his heat filled me, and I rocked back against his face, my ass bumping against his forehead as he thrust his tongue inside me, and I shuddered with the increasing waves of pleasure. I was so close already, revved up from his description of a rut, teased with the sight of his body, and lifted upwards by the fervent worship of his mouth against me, his tongue inside me.

But as that peak started to curl my toes, he slid out of me, and I let out a moan of protest. The bed let out a soft creak as his chest pressed against my back, and suddenly his weight was on me. My arms buckled, and I fell down, my arm underneath me, his body pinning me down as his knees pushed mine apart, his hands on my hips angling them up as I felt the press of something else against my opening, something I needed so desperately.

I felt his entire body flex.