Cruel Union (Brutal Universe #1)

19. Aurora

19

AURORA

“ T his is ridiculous!” I muttered to myself as I curled into an even tighter ball. “ Why is it so cold in here?”

It wasn’t like the air circulation system was set on high or anything like that—in fact, the room temperature seemed quite moderate. I was the one who was cold. It was like I was freezing from the inside out.

There was something else going on with me too—my nipples were so tight they were painful. When I barely brushed them with my fingertips, I had to bite back a yelp of pain. They were so tender! But just half an hour before in the bath, they had been fine. Slade had tugged them and pinched them and teased them and they hadn’t hurt at all. In fact, it had felt really good…

Stop it, I told myself. Stop thinking like that!

But I couldn’t stop. My mind was filled with images—snapshots of his naked, muscular body…of his thick shaft…of his golden eyes watching me as I touched him… Goddess , what was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I stop these lustful thoughts?

I scooted closer to Slade’s broad back, being careful not to touch him. His big body radiated heat like a furnace, which was really nice. But still I was freezing.

I got closer and closer until finally I could feel his heat against my cheeks and my frozen nose. I honestly felt like I’d been outside in the winter with no clothes on for an hour—that’s how cold I was!

His warm, spicy scent seemed to call to me—to draw me like a magnet. I began to wonder if I could get even closer—if I could touch him without waking him up. I couldn’t see much of anything in the dark room, but the big Enforcer seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Maybe if I was very careful…

Slowly , I eased closer until my breasts and belly were pressed against his back. Oh Goddess , that felt so good! He was so warm. So? —

Abruptly , Slade moved, causing me to jerk backwards.

“ Hey , Princess —that you?” he mumbled sleepily. “ Feels like an ice cube pressing against my back.”

“ Sorry ,” I muttered. “ I’m just cold but I didn’t mean to wake you up. Go back to sleep.”

Slade didn’t go back to sleep though—instead he turned over so he was lying on his side, facing me. I could tell because his golden eyes glowed in the dark.

“ C’mere , baby—let me warm you up,” he rumbled.

I hesitated.

“ I don’t know…”

“ Nothing else, I promise—just going to get you warm,” he insisted.

I couldn’t hold myself back anymore. Taking a moment to pull the silk robe I still wore close around my body, I allowed myself to slip, shivering, into his arms.

“ Mmm …” Slade pulled me to him, tucking me into the curve of his big body as he wrapped his arms around me. “ Poor little Princess …you’re shaking,” he murmured. “ Let’s get you warm.” And he pulled me even closer.

I stiffened at first, but he didn’t try anything sexual—he just held me close, rubbing his big hands up and down my spine and letting me bask in the heat of his big body.

After a moment, I began to relax and let myself melt against him. I didn’t even mind that my breasts were pressing against his chest. It just felt so good to finally get warm.

There was still a problem though—even though I was finally getting warmed up, my nipples were still painfully sensitive. Even the soft silk of the robe I was wearing seemed to scratch their tender points painfully, making me wince and pull back.

Slade seemed to notice my discomfort.

“ What’s wrong, Princess ?” he murmured sleepily. “ Why are you so twitchy?”

I debated not telling him, or else telling a lie…but then I had a thought. What if all these problems I was having—the extreme coldness and the tender nipples—had something to do with the Holy Wine I had drunk during our Binding Ceremony ? Was that possible? It was, after all, an alien substance that I had put into my body. What if the aftereffects were giving me these problems?

“ Slade , I was just wondering,” I began, trying to find a round-about way to ask.

“ Mmm -hmm?” he rumbled.

“ Wondering if…if the, uh Holy Wine —the Blood of the Goddess —that we drank during the Binding Ceremony could have any, uh, strange effects.”

“ You mean like getting really cold in the middle of the night?” he asked and I could imagine his eyebrow raised in question, though I couldn’t see it—just his eyes glowing in the dark.

“ Yes ,” I said, nodding. “ And if so, what other, er, effects might it cause?”

“ I don’t know—why don’t you tell me what’s going on with you and we’ll talk about it,” he said.

“ Never mind—it’s not important,” I said shortly, irritated by his non-answer.

I shifted around in the bed some more, feeling restless and tender. I wanted to scoot away from him but when I tried the cold came back, stronger than ever, and I was forced to press against his big body again.

“ Just tell me, baby.” Slade’s voice in the darkness was low and intimate. “ Whatever’s wrong, let me help you with it.”

“ How do you know something’s wrong with me?” I asked defensively.

“ The way you’re acting. And I can feel it— Fated Mates get a kind of sixth sense about each other. Right now mine is telling me you’re in pain somehow. So what is it? What’s hurting you?”

“ It’s my nipples, all right?” I said in a low voice. “ They hurt—they ache . They’re so tight it’s painful but I don’t know why . Just like I don’t know why I’m so cold when I’m not touching you!”

“ Hmm , I think I know,” he murmured.

“ Well then could you please tell me? Because it’s driving me crazy!” I exclaimed. “ I’m so restless I can’t sleep and my nipples really hurt!”

“ It doesn’t have anything to do with the Holy Wine we drank at the ceremony—it’s the Need , baby,” he explained.

“ The Need ? What’s that?” I demanded.

“ It’s a group of symptoms a woman develops once she finds her Fated Mate and starts getting close to him,” Slade explained. “ That is if her Fated Mate is a Brute , like me.”

“ A group of symptoms?” This sounded ominous to me. “ What are you talking about? What other symptoms might I get?”

“ Let’s not get into that right now,” he said. “ For now let’s deal with the ones you’ve got—extreme cold and painful nipples. Is there anything else?”

I thought about telling him that my pussy was throbbing with desire…and pushed the idea away at once. That would only give the big Enforcer ideas. So I just shook my head.

“ No —that’s all.”

“ Hmm …not sure if I believe you, Princess . But let’s deal with what we’ve got. First , the cold.”

And without even asking, he began stripping off the silk robe I was still wearing!

“ Hey , what are you doing? Stop that!” I demanded, sitting up to get away from him. But the minute I did, the cold came back full force and my teeth started chattering.

“ Relax , Princess — I’m trying to give you more skin-to-skin contact,” Slade said. “ Look , the thing you have to realize is that every symptom of The Need can be cured, but only by your Fated Mate —that’s me. So I’m just trying to help you.”

“ Help m-me bu-bu-by stripping me nuh-nuh-naked? R -right,” I scoffed, but I could barely get the words out. “ J -just stay away f-f-from m-me!”

Slade’s glowing eyes narrowed in the dark.

“ I don’t think so. I’m not going to let you freeze to death just because you’re stubborn, Princess . Come here!”

He reached for me and before I knew it, I found myself wrapped in his long arms again with my entire nude body pressed against his.

“ You …you bastard!” I exclaimed, twisting in his arms. But as angry as I was, I could feel the cold chill leaving my body almost at once as he pressed me against his naked warmth.

“ Yeah , I’m a bastard for not letting you turn yourself into a human icicle,” he growled. “ Hold still for a minute and let me warm you up.”

I finally stopped struggling—mostly because I could tell it wasn’t doing any good—and lay still in his arms. My nipples were still aching—even worst than before—but I wasn’t sure what I could do about that and I didn’t want to ask Slade for help when I was angry with him.

But he brought it up himself.

“ All right, now that you’re getting warmer, let’s talk about your other symptoms,” he said calmly, sounding almost like a doctor. “ How are your nipples feeling now?”

“ They still hurt,” I said sullenly. There was no point in lying. “ But I’m sure you know a way to make them feel better, right?” I didn’t bother to keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

“ I do, actually,” he said mildly. “ Remember I told you that every symptom you have can be cured by your Fated Mate ?”

“ Which according to you is you,” I pointed out. “ That’s pretty convenient—don’t you think?”

“ I’m not just your Fated Mate , I’m also your husband .” His voice had dropped to a low, warning growl. “ Don’t forget that, wife.”

I wanted to talk back—to “sass him” as my maid, Pansy would have said. But I couldn’t deny his words. We were married and according to the way I had been raised, the big Brute owned me now. So I stayed silent.

“ All right,” Slade said. “ Now listen, the cure for your nipples is the same thing that would cure the other problem you’re having—if you’d only let me do it.”

“ What other problem?” I demanded. “ What are you talking about?”

“ I’m talking about how your soft little pussy is hot and wet and achy—how badly you need to come,” he growled.

“ How …how did you know about that?” I demanded, squeezing my thighs together.

“ Because that’s the number one symptom of The Need ,” he said. “ Also , I can feel it radiating off you—the need to come—to reach the peak.”

I thought of all the nights I had touched myself and then stopped just before I tipped over that magical edge I could feel hovering so close. I thought of all the times fear and guilt had kept me from taking myself all the way. Was that what Slade meant when he said I need to “come?”

“ So what’s the cure then?” I demanded, deciding not to answer him directly.

“ My mouth on your body.” He sounded positively hungry. “ I can heal you of this pain—the same way I healed your wounds,” he went on. “ You just need to let me taste you, baby. Let me suck your sweet nipples and soothe them. Let me spread your thighs and bathe your soft little pussy with my tongue until you come nice and hard. Let me help you.”

“ Help yourself, is more like it!” I snapped. “ Why do you have this obsession with putting your mouth on me? Is that a Brute thing?”

“ Yes , actually, it is,” he said dryly. “ It’s the male counterpoint to The Need —we call it ‘ The Thirst .’”

“ So …you actually need to…to…”

“ To taste your sweet nipples and pussy and make you come with my tongue—yes,” he said shortly. “ But I’m trying not to force you, Princess . Since you humans on L’Crist have such Goddess -damned backwards ideas about sex and pleasure.”

“ We do not have backwards ideas!” I exclaimed, stung by his derision.

“ All right—then why don’t you tell me how sex is supposed to go, according to your people?” Slade challenged me.

“ Fine !” I cleared my throat and started before I could lose my nerve. “ Well first, the man and his wife go to bed together. And if he’s going to…to take her that night, he lets her know so she can wear a special gown.”

“ A special gown? What kind of gown?” he asked and his voice in the darkness sounded like he was frowning.

“ A gown with a slit cut in it—so he can, you know, put his manhood in her sex without too much physical contact,” I said primly. I knew all of this because of listening to the married women at Court and gossiping with Pansy . “ Then he moves inside her until he spurts his seed in her cunny. And that’s the proper way to have intimate contact with your husband,” I finished.

“ Wait —go back. What does he do to get her ready?” Slade sounded confused.

“ Get her ready?” I asked, frowning. “ What do you mean?”

“ I mean, you skipped some steps. He can’t just go in dry like that,” Slade growled. “ That’s fucking barbaric! He needs to get her ready first—get her wet enough so his shaft can slide into her pussy without hurting her.”

I could feel my cheeks getting hot at his frank words.

“ I don’t think… I don’t know if that’s proper,” I said at last.

“ Who gives a fuck about proper?” Slade rumbled. “ He has to do something to get her wet for him. I know you humans don’t believe in putting your mouths on each other, but does he at least tease her nipples or rub her clit a little before he goes diving in?”

“ Well , no. Not that I’ve ever heard,” I confessed. “ And it’s not that we don’t believe in using our mouths—we kiss, you know.”

“ Do you? Or was that kiss we shared during our ceremony your first?” he asked.

“ I kissed someone before you!” I exclaimed, stung. “ I was sixteen and he was the son of one of the nobles at Court . His name was Jonas .”

“ Oh yeah, and what happened then?” Slade sounded honestly curious. “ Did you do anything else with this ‘ Jonas ?’”

“ Of course not!” I snapped.

“ Why not?”

“ Well , because…” I trailed off for a minute, unwilling to go on.

“ Because why?” Slade prodded.

“ Because one of the gardeners in the Royal Gardens saw us and told,” I admitted at last. “ Jonas and his family were banished and…and I never saw him again.”

My voice dropped to a whisper on the last word. I could still remember how I had cried and how my mother had lectured me about the fact that my virtue must be above reproach so I could never, ever be with a male again.

Slade was silent for a moment, then he let out a low curse.

“ Fuck …that’s fucking harsh, Princess .”

“ Well , I wasn’t ever supposed to be able to marry, so it wasn’t right for me to have a suitor,” I defended myself. “ And after that, I didn’t want to get anyone else banished. So I just…”

“ Ignored your own needs so that stupid brother of yours could rule once your father was gone, even though he’s not remotely fucking qualified,” Slade growled.

“ Look , we’re getting off topic here,” I pointed out. “ I was just trying to tell you that we do kiss on L’Crist . In fact, a married woman is allowed to perform ‘ The Kiss of Pleasure ’ on her husband before he tries to make a baby in her.”

“ Hmm , you left that part out,” Slade rumbled. “ And what exactly is this ‘ Kiss of Pleasure ?’”

“ It’s where she…she puts her mouth on his shaft to make it wet,” I explained. I could feel my face getting hot and I wished I wasn’t pressed naked against him during this particular conversation—it was embarrassing! “ So you see, the wife doesn’t have to be wet as long as she gets her husband’s shaft wet,” I ended triumphantly. That ought to prove that we weren’t as backwards as Slade seemed to think.

But when he answered, he didn’t sound impressed.

“ So it’s not considered demeaning for the wife to put her mouth on her husband’s body but it’s wrong and dirty for him to put his mouth on hers,” he said flatly.

“ Yes , but the point is, he’s not, er, ‘going in dry,’ as you put it,” I pointed out.

“ Yes , he fucking is. Her giving him a blow job before he fucks her isn’t a service to her—it’s just more pleasure for him,” Slade argued.

“ I don’t know about that,” I objected. “ I don’t think?—”

“ You know what I think?” he interrupted. “ I think all this fucking nonsense you’ve been taught about how it’s ‘wrong’ and ‘dirty’ for a male to put his mouth on his wife’s body is just something the males on your home world made up because they’re fucking lazy. Too lazy to give their Mates pleasure.”

“ Oh and I guess that Brutes aren’t lazy because they want to lick their wives all over?” I demanded.

“ It’s not about that with us—it’s The Thirst ,” he growled. “ The need to give our woman pleasure—to taste her sweet pussy and drink her juices—to make her come .” His voice dropped to a low growl and his golden eyes went half-lidded in the dark. “ Just like you need to come right now, Princess .”

“ I don’t…don’t know what you mean by that,” I said, my words coming out breathless and uncertain.

“ Then why don’t you let me show you? With my fingers— not my mouth,” he added, when I began to protest.

“ Well …” I squeezed my thighs together and felt a bolt of pleasure/pain shoot through me. My little clit was definitely getting more swollen and achy— I couldn’t deny it. “ What about my nipples though?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

“ Will you let me suck them?” Slade asked. “ If you won’t then I can’t help you.”

“ I don’t know…” I bit my lip, squirming restlessly against him as I battled with my guilt.

“ Goddess damn it, Princess —if you keep rubbing your curvy little body against me like that I’m going to fucking lose it!” Slade’s voice was rough and hungry. “ Let me prove it to you—let me suck one of your nipples so you can see how much better it feels.”

I wavered on the edge of indecision.

“ Do you promise to stop if I ask you to?” I asked at last.

“ Yes .” Slade blew out a breath but I couldn’t tell if he was exasperated with my hesitation or relieved that I was finally agreeing to let him taste me—or at least taste my nipples. Possibly it was a combination of the two. “ Yes , baby, I can stop myself— I won’t hurt you,” he promised in a low voice.

“ Because all my life I’ve heard that once a man gets started…doing, you know, sexual things, that he can’t stop,” I said. It was one reason my mother had been so upset when she heard about me kissing Jonas in the Royal Garden .

“ Don’t you know that men are like wild beasts?” she’d demanded, glaring at me. “ Once they start down that path, there’s no going back for them! Even a simple kiss can lead to the loss of your virtue and your reputation!”

“ Some males might claim that—if you ask me, it’s just an excuse for rape,” Slade said flatly, cutting into my train of thought. “ Any male of worth can stop himself at any time. He might not want to, but he can. I can.”

His words rang with sincerity and when I looked up, I saw the same emotion burning in his eyes. I was tired of fighting with him and my nipples really hurt. I decided to just give in.

“ All right,” I said at last. “ Go ahead then—taste me, Slade . Make me feel better.”

“ I will, baby. Just relax…here, let’s get you comfortable.”

He repositioned us so he was lying on his side and I was on my back, with my head pillowed on one of his biceps. It felt like warm, flexible steel beneath my head.

Slade was looming over me in the darkness and for a moment I felt afraid. Then he cupped my cheek in one hand and leaned down to kiss me.

I had been expecting him to go right for my breasts, so the soft kiss was surprising. My heart started pounding and before I knew it, I was kissing him back eagerly, tasting his familiar cinnamon flavor and even reaching up to run my hands over his curving horns and through his thick hair.

“ Mmm …” Slade rumbled softly and then I felt his big, warm hand stroking over my bare body. He ran his long fingers around my breasts and then cupped one, thumbing the nipple lightly.

To my surprise, it didn’t hurt—in fact, his light touch sent a jolt of pleasure thought my body. I moaned in surprise and Slade swallowed the sound eagerly and then teased my other nipple the same way to make me moan again.

By the time he finally broke the kiss, I was nearly panting with need.

“ Slade …” I whispered. “ Please …” I couldn’t make myself say any more, but my new husband seemed to understand me.

“ Just relax, baby—let me know how this feels,” he murmured.

Then he dipped his head again and sucked one of my tight nipples into his mouth.

I tried to hold still— I really did. But the effect was so sudden—so unexpected . I felt a burst of pleasure as he laved my tight peak with his tongue that made me arch my back, silently begging for more.

Slade growled softly in his throat, acknowledging my reaction, but he didn’t stop. In fact, he sucked and licked and teased my nipple with his tongue for a solid five minutes before he finally looked up.

“ Well , Princess ?” he rumbled. “ What do you think?”

“ Do …do the other one,” I begged him arching my back again. “ Please , Slade !”

“ Mmm , happy to, baby.” He bent to suck my other aching nipple and as he did, I felt his big, warm hand slide down my trembling body to cup my cunny mound.

“ Oh , Slade !” I protested as he spread my outer lips and began to slide his fingers around and around my aching little button. I was so slippery and wet and it felt so good I could hardly hold still. “ Slade , what…what are you doing?”

He let my nipple slip from his lips.

“ Going to make you come, baby,” he growled hoarsely. “ You said you don’t know what that is—well I’m going to show you. But first…”

He pulled his hand away and I heard sucking sounds, which led me to believe that he had put the fingers he’d been touching me with in his mouth.

“ What …what are you doing now?” I panted.

“ Getting some of my compounds so I can make your little pussy feel better,” he answered. “ And tasting your juices— Goddess , you’re fucking delicious , Princess .”

“ I … I am?” I asked uncertainly. All my life I’d believed that a woman was dirty between her legs—disgusting and awful and repulsive. It was a place only fit for a shaft to enter and a baby to come out of. I had never considered that any male might think differently of my obscene and forbidden areas.

“ Yes ,” Slade said firmly. “ Can’t wait until you finally let me get between your legs to taste your juices right from the source. But for now, just spread your legs wide for me like a good girl and let me work on you.”

Then he ducked his head and went back to sucking my nipples while his long fingers slid into my wet, open cunny once more.

“ Oh … ohhh!” I moaned, twitching my hips. His hot mouth and talented fingers were sending sparks of pleasure shooting through my whole body and I couldn’t stop myself from reacting. The way he was circling my aching clit with his fingertips…dipping down every once in a while to gather more moisture from my well and then coming back to stroke me again, was almost more than I could bear.

I began to feel like the edge was getting near—like I was standing on a high place and getting ready to jump, if that makes any sense. Slade was pushing me closer and closer to the ledge—the one I’d always been too afraid and too guilty to reach myself. And I was getting wetter and wetter as he stroked and sucked me until I felt like I was going to explode!

“ Oh , Slade !” I moaned, grabbing for his horns because I had to hold on to something. “ Oh , Slade , please! I’m so close! I feel so close!”

He looked up again for a moment, his fingers still busy stroking my pussy.

“ That’s right, baby,” he growled softly. “ You’re about to come. Just relax and let yourself be open to the pleasure—let yourself go while I pet your soft little pussy and suck your nipples.”

Then he ducked his head again and began sucking even harder than before, taking as much of my breast as he could into his hot mouth as he continued to circle my clit with his fingers.

The combination of pleasure from above and below was simply too much. With a gasp of surprised pleasure, I felt myself reaching the edge at last…and jumping off of it.

As the intense sensations shot through me, I felt like I was soaring upwards, into the sky. My back arched, my toes curled, and my fingers tightened around Slade’s horns, tugging hard as I writhed under him.

“ Oh … oh!” I cried as I soared upwards on waves of sensation. It felt in a way like my new husband had taught me how to fly. It was intense and amazing .

Slade knew how to draw out the pleasure, too. Just as it was starting to ebb, he stopped circling my clit and slid his fingers deep into my cunny mouth.

I moaned in surprise as I felt my inner walls tighten around his invading fingers.

“ Oh , what are you doing?” I gasped as he began to thrust them inside me, deeper and deeper each time until I could feel him touching bottom at the end of my channel.

Slade looked up at me, his eyes blazing.

“ Fucking you, Princess ,” he growled softly. “ Fucking your sweet little virgin pussy with my fingers the same way I’m going to fuck you with my cock when I breed you. Do you like it? Does it feel good to get your little pussy fucked?”

His hot, dirty words brought a blush to my cheeks and made my heart pound even harder.

“ I … I don’t know,” I moaned, arching my back and pumping my hips to help him get deeper into me.

“ Little liar—you know ,” he growled. “ You wouldn’t be spreading your legs for me and begging for more if you didn’t love having your tight little pussy filled. You’re such a good, proper little virgin but you need to be fucked—admit it, Aurora .”

“ I … I can’t help it!” I moaned as I rocked my hips up some more. I loved the feeling of him inside me. “ It …it must be The Need ,” I added, grasping for an explanation for my wanton behavior.

“ Yes , the Need ,” he agreed. “ And you’re better get used to it, Princess . Because you’re going to need to come a lot from now own.”

“ Wh -what?” I stammered. “ But you…oh Goddess ! I thought this…that you…you cured me?”

Slade withdrew his long fingers and I heard him sucking them again, savoring my juices.

“ Sorry , baby—there’s no cure for The Need ,” he growled hoarsely. “ You can treat the symptoms but once you find your Fated Mate , you need him to touch you—to help ease your desire.”

“ So this…this has to happen again?” I panted, gesturing to myself—the way I was cradled naked in his arms as he held me.

“ Again and again and again,” Slade growled in my ear. “ And I’m going to fucking love making you come every…single…time, Princess . So get used to it.”