Monsters Under Mistletoe

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

H e smiles and gently sets me on my feet.

“Because that’s what you are,” he says matter-of-factly. “My mate.”

He turns the water back on, this time to a more comfortable temperature, and focuses his attention on washing me. I let him soap my skin with his big hands, strong fingers kneading the tight muscles of my shoulders until my eyes drift shut and my head lolls on my shoulders.

“But what does that mean?”

“Hmm?” His fingers are now gently working their way through my hair. “What does what mean?”

I turn in his arms to face him, sliding my hands up his chest. My head only reaches the middle of his chest, so I have to lean back, but he holds me so I know I won’t fall. The water that falls from the shower has slicked his hair to his skin. He’s so different from me. How could we possibly make a relationship work?

Hah! Who’s thinking about a relationship?

“Mate. What does being your mate mean?” I ask.

Now it’s his turn to pull back, alarm written over his features. “You don’t have this term in your language?” he asks, tapping behind his ear where his translation chip lies under his skin. I know, because that’s where mine is located.

“Well, yes. It means being a friend.”

He laughs as if I’ve said something completely adorable. “Oh no, that’s not what it means, little one.” He smiles and drops a kiss to my nose. Apparently, some things are universal. “It means life partner. Lover. Soulmate. The only person for me in the entire universe. The one other who is destined for me, and I for them. For you.”

My mouth falls open, and I blink at him. “What?” It’s incredibly sweet, but he can’t really believe that … can he?

He frowns. “Your scent tells me you are my mate.”

“My smell?” I say, lifting an arm to sniff my armpit.

“Yes.” He nods as if smelling someone and knowing they are ‘the one’ is the most normal thing ever. I suppose, to him, it might be.

He drops his head to my neck and breathes in deeply, groaning in pleasure. “The first time I scented you, I knew you were mine.”

I feel his tongue on the side of my neck as he kisses and licks his way up to my ear, where he nibbles on my earlobe.

Whenever a man has gone for my ears before, I’ve been so grossed out that it’s completely killed the mood. But K’Laus? Everything he does is a turn on. I drop my head to the side to give him easier access and let my head drop back, my eyes falling shut.

My thighs are slick with my arousal. Can he smell that too?

“Humans don’t choose their partners by smell,” I say before his lips cover mine.

His lips tease mine, nipping gently on my bottom lip and then delving inside with his tongue. He pulls away briefly, his eyes locking onto mine. “You don’t like my scent?”

Now that he’s pointed it out, I have noticed he smells absolutely divine. I’ve met others of his race, though not many, and none of them have a smell like his. K’Laus smells like cinnamon and ginger, but a deeply masculine version that is entirely just him. It’s hard to explain, but when he’s near, I feel safe. But it’s more than that. He makes me feel like I’m the only woman in the world—in the universe—and that I’m beyond special to him.

Didn’t he just say that?

Oh.

Maybe there’s something to this scent thing?

“I like how you smell,” I admit.

He gives me a pointed look. “How do you know I’m not your mate, then?”

I try to ignore his tail as it slides up the inside of my thigh, coaxing my legs apart so it can reach my pussy. He uses the tip to stroke my clit and I have to focus really hard to answer his question.

“Humans choose their life partners through getting to know each other.” I pause as his tail smacks against my clit in a way that sends pleasure spearing through me. My legs buckle, his hands steadying me, and I swallow a moan. What was I saying? “Ah, we get to know each other. We spend time together to see if we’re compatible.”

“Good. We are spending time together. We are getting to know each other, as you say. You will see we are compatible,” he says with a nod as if that decides the matter.

Going by the way his tail is causing me to forget my name, I suspect we’re more compatible than I thought.

The shower makes a beeping noise, indicating the maximum allowed hot water usage is almost up, and we make quick work of rinsing off and then using the blow-dry like function to dry off. When it’s done, K’Laus picks me up and carries me into the bedroom.

“I can walk, you know,” I say, but I’m quite enjoying being carried around. I’m not a small woman, and have never been carried by a man before, so I’m enjoying the novelty of the experience.

He doesn’t reply, but I can see his smile from where I’m looking up at him. He lowers me to the bed, and I wriggle back to lie against the pillows as he prowls towards me on hands and knees.

The light in the bedroom is softer than the harsh lighting in the bathroom, casting shadows over his face, making him appear predatory. That impression is reinforced by the tail that flicks back and forth, and I’m reminded of a cat ready to pounce.

I shiver.

And then he’s kissing his way up the insides of my thighs, stopping to swipe his tongue through the folds of my pussy as if he can’t resist tasting me, and then dropping kisses up my stomach until he reaches my breasts.

He drops to his side next to me, one thick thigh splayed over my legs, holding me still.

“K’Laus?”

“Mmm?” His lips have now captured one of my nipples and I gasp as he nips and then uses his tongue to soothe.

“How do your … cocks … you know.”

Oh god. Could I get any more like a bumbling teenager?

“You want to know if I’m going to use both of them on you at once?”

Now that he puts it that way, I’m suddenly all wriggly and hot. Images flash through my mind of K’Laus taking me from behind, one cock in my ass and the other in my pussy. And then I’m imagining him stuffing both into my pussy at once, and I feel heat wash over my body. My face has never been so red in all my life, I swear.

I try to speak, but choke and nod instead.

“Do you want me to use both at once?” he asks, a fiery look in his eyes.

If my eyes got any wider, they’d pop out of my head.

“Well, Holly?”

Oh, what the hell. A girl only lives once.

I nod. “Yes, yes, I do.”

He grins. “Whatever my mate wants, she gets.”