Snowed in With the Alien Warlord Read online

She turned her back to him and removed her shirt. She efficiently washed her front but less efficiently got her shoulders and lower back. There was a spot between her shoulder blades that she just couldn’t reach—

  Kol took the washcloth from her. “I will assist.”

  She tensed, unsure what the alien intended. His first strokes were clinical. He applied enough pressure to get her skin wet, followed by the soap, followed with another swipe of the cloth to rinse off the soap. There was no groping, no gentle touches, or any caresses to let her know that he appreciated her soft skin—

  No! She did not want his appreciation, or his anything, really.

  Penny pulled away. “Thanks. I got the rest.” She quickly did her legs and feet, keeping her panties on the entire time. Next she knelt by the pot and dunked her hair, worked in the shampoo and rinsed. Finished, she toweled off and dressed in the fluffy robe laid out on the mattress.

  He watched her with a heated expression and held out the cloth.

  He really wasn’t one for words. Penny sighed, taking the cloth. “Turn around. I’ll get your back.”

  Kol was a mountain of muscle. That was the only way she could grasp the expanse of him. He was firm, like steel and so warm; his skin soft like velvet. The cloth worked its way down, following the line of his spine down to his tight waist. Her own hands, sepia in tone—aunt Jasmine always said she was as brown as a walnut— contrasted against the red of his complexion, and he was red. Cherry red.

  She couldn’t stay impartial. Red or not, he was overwhelmingly masculine and divine to touch.

  She reached his waistband. “What about your tail?”

  He grunted in acknowledgement, undid the buckle and removed the waistband. It came off like a belt. The trousers had a notch in the back that fit around his tail. Very clever design. Before she had long to admire the construction of the armor, he kicked them off and she had all the cherry red demon ass she could ever want.

  And she did want. She shouldn’t. Kol might not be the enemy but he wasn’t her friend. Still, each butt cheek had a dimple right at the top. The beginning of his tail rested right at the base of his spine. Before she could think better of it, she stroked the dimple. He was warm and this close she could appreciate that he had a pleasing, spicy scent to him.

  His tail twitched. Her hands dropped away.

  “You want me to get your tail?” The tail had to be non-sexual. It just flicked and twitched and generally got in the way, like a cat’s tail. She grabbed it at the base and ran the cloth down the length of it.

  “Be careful,” he said. “Do not touch the barb.”

  Penny rolled her eyes, like she was going to cut herself on his stupid barb. She finished the tail quickly with minimal caressing and appreciation of firm, cherry red butt cheeks. “All done.”

  Kol turned to face her.

  Penny stared. She couldn’t help but stare. She’d seen penises before—not a lot but genuine wieners— and nothing in all the internet porn or hands-on experience prepared her for that. “What is that?”

  Chapter Nine

  Kol

  “My penis?”

  He looked down. Everything was as it should be. He was hard, yes, but his mate had been touching him. Perhaps she did not wish to see the evidence of his arousal.

  “You didn’t have one before!”

  “I assure you, I have always had my cock.” His people did not keep their cocks constantly exposed like Terrans. He had been able to resist her firm and business-like touch as she washed his back. Then she caressed his tail and lathered the length of it. His slit opened unconsciously for his protruding cock, excited at his mate’s touch. He, perhaps, should have explained this part of his anatomy.

  “It has spikes! Why does it have spikes!” Penny backed away from him.

  He looked down again. He knew that Mahdfel were compatible with Terrans for breeding. There would not have been the treaty without compatibility. He had even taken it upon himself to do research on Terran mating and watched their informative breeding videos. The general motions and methods seemed similar. He never considered that their physiology was dissimilar. “Is it so different from a human cock?”

  “Yes! We don’t have spikes on our dicks.”

  “Spine. They are spines.” Short keratin spines formed under the head of his cock and at the base.

  She ran a hand through her wet hair. The curls that fascinated him before were now in tight formation.

  “They are flexible,” he said. “It will not hurt.”

  “But why?”

  “Evolution.” He took a step toward her.

  “Oh, no. You keep that monster away from me.” She backed up, tripped on the mattress and fell on her ass with a squeak.

  He crouched down next to her. He had worried that his size might intimidate her. He knew that Mahdfel males were often larger than Terran males, but there was nothing to suggest that a Terran female could not receive him. His concerns about breeding had only been vague at the start of this mission. He knew he might find a mate on Earth, or he might not. Now that he had found his mate, his Penny, he very much wanted her to not be afraid of him. Of all of him.

  Her eyes were fixed on his cock. He grew harder under her gaze.

  “It’s staring at me,” she said.

  “I will show you my cock,” he said, taking it in hand, “so you will not be afraid.”

  “I can see it just fine, you don’t need to touch yourself— And he’s touching himself.” She rolled her eyes. He couldn’t help his smile. His mate was not frightened if she was sarcastic, which was her favored means of communication. “Don’t look like you’re having so much fun. This is gross,” she said.

  Kol forced his expression to something suitably grim. “This is my glans,” he said, indicating the head of his cock. “The short spines on the underside are called glans saab.” His index finger brushed the short spines. A pleasurable shudder ran down his body at his own touch.

  Penny’s dark eyes were fixed on his motions. “But why? Why did that evolve?”

  “Rolusdreus females only ovulate when they climax,” he said. The translation cube made his words sound clinical despite the heat in his voice. “The spines help with stimulation. Would you like to touch?”

  Her fingers twitched. “I shouldn’t. It’s wrong.”

  “Nothing pleasurable between mates can be wrong.” And there would be nothing wrong in her touching him.

  Penny lifted her gaze from his cock and found his eyes. “Because I don’t want to give you the wrong idea. I’m not that kind of girl.”

  “No,” he said, “you are a human woman and my female. You are exactly how you are.” And she was perfection to him, made for him.

  She licked her lips, her pink tongue swiping over the crushed berries color of her lips. “If I touch it—you— don’t try anything. I don’t want to have sex.”

  “As you say.”

  She didn’t make him swear to it. She knew him well enough to take him at his word. Pride swelled in his chest.

  She scooted forward. He settled back on his heels, spreading his knees. His cock jutted proudly forward.

  Her first touch was light, barely a caress down his length, like a breeze skimming over his heated flesh. Her fingers brushed the tip of his cock, spreading the bead of his pre-cum. She circled the head, finger tracing a loop. On the second pass, she skimmed the ridge and brushed his short spines. He groaned and her eyes went wide, but she did not flinch. His mate was daring in that manner. His obvious pleasure emboldened her.

  She wrapped her hand around his length, fingers not meeting, and worked her hand up and down. Her touch was rapture and having sworn to do nothing was torture. Her thumb brushed his longer spines at the base of his cock, just as sensitive as the short ones.

  “My saab maxu,” he breathed.

  “Does it hurt?”

  “Does it look it hurts?”

  “You’re growling and your teeth are clenched, so it’s a little hard to judge.�
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  “I am focusing on my control. I swore to not try anything.”

  Her lips twitched in a half smile at him repeating her words back to her. Parroting, she called it. He couldn’t help himself, his tail swished happily.

  “They’re not sharp like your barb,” she said.

  “Of course not.” His barb had the edge of a razor.

  She reached for his tail. “What does this do, then?”

  “You must not—” He flicked it away quickly to avoid her grasp but it smacked against palm of her other hand.

  The barb pricked her hand.

  Penny

  Fire spread throughout her body. Not just fire, but desire and raw lust. Her nipples grew rock hard and stung against the terrycloth of the robe. They were heavy and ached, needing to be massaged and sucked to relieve pressure. Her thighs were slick with desire. Her body ached and burned and needed him. Now. She had never been so turned on and it frightened her.

  She cradled her hand to her chest. “What did you do to me?”

  “My barb contains a toxin.”

  “No shit!”

  “It helps the female achieve climax.”

  “An aphrodisiac? Are you kidding me?” She let her guard down and her curiosity got the better of her. She knew not to toy with the alien, but there she was with her hand on his cock—his delicious, thick cock hard like velvet over steel—and she just had to explore. But she wanted to explore more of him, with her hands and her tongue and her lips.

  She shook her head, finding a brief moment of clarity. “What’s happening to me?”

  “The toxins must be purged from your system.”

  “Okay. What do we need.” She crawled away. There was probably a bottle of ipecac in the medicine cabinet.

  “The only way is an orgasm.” He reached for her foot, but she kicked him away.

  “Don’t touch me! And I don’t believe you. An orgasm? And you’re just the guy to give me one?” But her traitorous body wanted him to be that guy. It took all her willpower not to roll over on her hands and knees and present her ass to him, to mewl and beg for him, for his cock, spines and all. She squeezed her thighs together, seeking just a bit of friction.

  “You need relief,” he said.

  “I’ll do it myself!” She tore open the robe and stuck her hand down her soaked panties. She was wet; wetter than she’d ever been. Her fingers glided over her clit. She rubbed and savored the temporary relief, like scratching an itch, except no matter how hard or fast she rubbed, it didn’t really scratch that particular itch. She rolled on her side, thighs pressed together as her hand worked, hips raising to meet a partner who wasn’t there.

  “Pen-knee—”

  The sound of his voice ramped up her need. “Don’t Penny me,” she warned. “You did this to me.”

  “Yes, and I can end this.” His large hands rolled her onto her back. Without thinking, her knees fell open, ready for him.

  “How?” Her body craved—demanded—his cock, but she didn’t want their first time having sex to be like this. When they made love, she wanted it to be tender and passionate, not this mindless need.

  “I can give you release.” His fingers brushed against the soaked barrier of her panties. Her fingers still worked her pussy. Lightly, his hand covered hers.

  Her hand wasn’t enough. Penny knew that. Kol had what she needed. “Okay. Please, Kol.”

  He hooked around her panties and removed them. His hand replaced hers, his strong fingers working her pussy. She bucked and moaned at his touch.

  “Rolusian females do not have this,” he said, circling her clit.

  “Do not talk to me about other females,” Penny growled. Jealousy coursed through her at the thought of her male with another woman. “Your cock belongs to me!”

  He murmured agreement, fingers breaching her channel. She sighed in relief, letting his fingers sink into her. She lifted her hips with each stroke, fucking his hand. It was good but she needed more. She needed to be filled completely. She licked her lips at the thought of his cherry red cock and those spines designed to only give pleasure.

  “I need more, Kol,” she said.

  He added another finger, then another. She stretched and burned and it helped soothe the fire, but she needed more.

  “More. Please, Kol. I need your cock.”

  He lowered his face to her pussy. His tusks scraped the inside of her thighs and she shivered in delight. She could feel them, right there, pressed against her pussy, firm and wicked and not designed for pleasure, but she loved the sensation of them as they pressed against her heated flesh. His hand continued to pump into her and his lips fixed around her clit. He licked, slow and firm. Her back arched and she cried, half in relief and half demanding more.

  “Just fuck me and put me out of my misery,” she begged.

  He kept up the rhythm despite her pleas. She rode him without mercy, taking everything he could give her. She was close, so close to climax and escape from the alien toxin, but there was one element missing.

  He sucked on her clit and she fell over the edge. Her thighs clamped around his head, tusks digging in sharply to her soft, inner thigh, and she clutched at him as her entire body quivered with relief, sweet relief.

  She held him in place, one hand on his head, as the orgasm worked its way through her. His ministrations fell still.

  Just as quickly as it came, the burning need for sex—for Kol— left.

  “Pen-knee, I am sorry you experienced that unawares. It should not be that way.”

  Panting, Penny stared up at the ceiling. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him, not just yet. She wanted to believe—needed to believe—it had been an accident. The translator cube conveyed no remorse in his explanation or apology, but that was the nature of the machine. If he wanted to fuck her, if he had planned to accidentally stick her with a toxin to ramp her libido into overdrive, he would have fucked her.

  But he didn’t stick her, she’d dumbly stuck herself. She begged him for his alien cock. Begged. But he held back, giving her just enough to find release and then scooted away to the foot of the bed. The fact that he didn’t fuck her meant it had to be an accident; that he was telling the truth. Two days ago he had been the enemy and now she didn’t want him to disappoint her.

  If she rolled over and found anything but concern in his eyes—

  She didn’t want him to be a liar. She wanted to believe the jab had been an accident.

  “Pen-knee.”

  “What evolutionary purpose could that possibly serve?”

  “The barb encourages Rolusian females to produce fertility hormones.” His weight shifted in the bed, the mattress dipping. That damned tail thumped against her bare calf. She flinched. “Are you well?”

  Penny covered her exposed legs with a blanket. For a moment she wanted to make a terrible joke about practicing safe sex by wearing pants but she didn’t have the energy. “I’m wrung out. Does your barb have that effect every time?” She couldn’t imagine the lust-fueled chaos if pricks from casual contact sent everyone into a frenzy. Those tails needed a cover. A barb cozy. She’d stick an old sock on his tail and call it good enough— or safe sex.

  Nope, still not funny.

  “No. I must be— Terrans seems especially… susceptible,” he said. The words from the translator cube were flat and cold but his voice, the voice underneath the computer, was warm and sounded almost sincere.

  Penny sat up.

  He stared at her foot, poking out from the blanket. She tucked it under and he lifted his gaze to meet hers. He looked like a man in hell, holding her gaze and waiting for her to reach a decision.

  Sincere.

  With a sigh of relief, Penny slumped back down to the mattress. “That really took it out of me. I think I’ll be fine once I sleep. Check on the fire, can you.”

  He added another blanket over her. “Rest. I will keep the first watch.”

  Chapter Ten

  Kol

  The situation wi
th Penny was not correct. As unskilled as he was at reading Terran body language, even he could tell that.

  She fell asleep immediately and did not curl up with her eyes closed, pretending to sleep as she often did when she wanted to ignore him. Her sleep was genuine and deep, judging from the snores rumbling from her throat.

  The incident with his barbed tail had been an accident. Foolish, perhaps, but accidental. He should have never allowed her to touch his tail. When she’d offered, he had sucked in his breath, unbelieving that she volunteered to touch him in such an intimate manner. He could not resist. She did not know that only mates caressed each other’s tails. Only the closest of friends or siblings could pull on a tail in a playful fashion but mates caressed the length of a tail, from the root to the barb. She did not know what she offered.

  He should have declined. He should have removed his tail from her hands but the temptation of being near her, surrounded constantly with her desert flower scent, eroded his better judgment.

  It was a poor excuse.

  He had never pierced anyone with his barb before so he was unsure if the strength of Penny’s reaction was to be expected or if it was particularly potent with Terrans.

  He needed more information. Before arriving on Earth, he had been briefed on Terran culture and customs but at the time he felt his energy was better spent learning the topography of Earth and studying Suhlik fortifications. He longed to talk to his past self and urge him to study the information supplied. Once again, he found his better judgment less than satisfactory.

  After feeding the fire, he patrolled the building. It had a similar layout to the building Penny had sheltered in, minus the fire damage and the tree through the roof. The windows were unsecure. Fragile glass would provide no barrier to a Suhlik soldier or a desperate Terran.

  Tomorrow he would barricade the windows properly and locate weapons. The physical work would do him good and allow him time to think on how to make amends.

  Penny

  When Penny woke, a great black figure blocked the light. For a moment, panic kept her pinned to the mattress until the figure shifted and the firelight highlighted Kol’s profile.