Tempted by Celestial Bodies

Chapter 5

chapter five

pheromones gone wild

Consciousness came slowly, as if swimming through a luguwart slime swamp to reach the surface. My head throbbed with a dull ache. I groaned and snuggled deeper into the velvety heat surrounding me. My hand rested against a hard, hot surface that rose and fell beneath my touch.

The most delicious scent filtered into my nostrils; spicy and smooth, musky and sweet. Sex . It smelled like how mind-blowing sex should feel.

I knew that smell. My eyelids fluttered and snapped open.

“Pheromones,” I croaked and licked my dry lips.

“Shh.” Thrash gently brushed hair from my face, tucking it behind my ear. He drew his legs up, curling me against his chest. “It can’t be helped, but I won’t take advantage. We can take measures if it gets to be too much.”

Too much? How did that alien make it through life, inciting orgies everywhere he went? Apparently, he couldn’t go a full day before his blockers wore off. He hadn’t arrived with any form of preventatives when he joined the team. What had he done before?

I pushed upright in his lap, away from his wonderfully naked chest but froze when the room tilted.

“Careful, Tori. Blowback from the explosion caught you on the temple.” He shifted to sit behind me, bracketing my body with his legs and keeping his hands on my shoulders for support.

That explained the throbbing in my head and lack of helmet. Protocol indicated Thrash remove the gear and check for damage if I was unconscious. I leaned forward, away from his supporting form. Another wave of dizziness crashed over me, and I swayed.

His hands tightened, holding me steady. “Take it slow.”

“Storage—”

“Was mostly wiped out by the raiders,” Thrash answered my question before I could finish.

Blinking the grit from my eyes, I looked over the room. My gaze rose to the emergency lights mounted along the ceiling, still intact. The shock-proof casings on the lights had saved them, and the dim illumination allowed me to quickly assess our situation. The doors on two of the three large storage closets hung crooked on their hinges. They’d been completely cleared out. Even the awful never-goes-bad packed meals were missing. Dents and holes peppered nearly every piece of machinery. Debris and dust covered everything. The entrance to the ramp had completely caved in.

We were trapped.

I wouldn’t panic. Not yet. It was only a matter of time before our continued absence would be noted back at the base. Since the climate control was out, the team would know where to look. The danger lay in the damage to the tunnel and the cave system as a whole.

If it was only the tunnel, we could be out by the end of the day, but if the integrity of the cave system was jeopardized, things would get tricky. It could be a month or more before they could safely dig their way inside.

Thanks to Thrash’s body heat, the cave’s frigid climate wasn’t an issue. The underground ice would be difficult to reach but solved the question of hydration. My gaze slid toward the ravaged storage closets. Food was another issue. It had been a long time since I’d looked inside, but hopefully something remained in the untouched inventory.

Resigned, I sucked in a deep breath. Unprepared for the sultry scent that invaded my senses, a white-hot bolt of lust arrowed straight to my core, causing my pussy to clench.

Sweet, scorching solar systems! Slowly, my locked and straining muscles relaxed.

Thrash scooted forward, his groin behind my ass, broad chest against my back. The scent of him was doing things to me.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I bowed my head. My hair fell forward, hanging heavy and loose over my shoulders.

I laughed quietly to myself. On the bright side, it wouldn’t be long before I wasn’t concerned with food. Thrash’s pheromones would soon be all-consuming, and I would be consuming him.

The touch of his fingers against my neck as he moved my hair behind my shoulder sent a cascade of shivers over my body. He drew his hand down my back to rest against my spine. “Are you okay?”

Not trusting myself to speak, I nodded.

“You won’t like this suggestion, but I can bind you here and go to the other side of the room.” Gently, he gripped my chin and turned my face so that I could see him over my shoulder, seated behind me. “It’s the best I can do. I’m sorry.”

Laughter grated against my raw throat. “How do you live like this?”

“I don’t.”

My brows drew together. “What are you talking about? If you aren’t popping those pheromone blockers like candy, the base is a nonstop sex party.” Not that anyone but me complained. “I thought Drakovian could control their pheromones.”

Like a weapon .

“Of course we can,” he said. Treating me as if I was woven of atohi yarn—fragile, delicate, and beautiful—he drew the back of his knuckle along my jaw. “But once we meet our mates, we lose control. It’s a biological mechanism that ensures we attract our partner. This is how I know you are mine.”

Something inside my chest cracked open. His touch and his words swept inside, while his scent continued to build, faster than I’d ever experienced. With each heavy beat of my pulse, my core tightened, and inner muscles clenched. I was a goner. “It could be anyone on the team.”

And damn if that idea didn’t turn my stomach. What was wrong with me?

“My pheromones did not slip the leash until I met you.” His hands continued their gentle caresses, roaming along my throat, my shoulders, down my ribs and up my back. “And I met you last.”

He was right. “I’d been on a remote job.”

“A solo remote job.” He clarified. “I was with the entire team for two days before you returned, and my pheromones flared.” He smiled, and my gaze dipped to those kissable lips. “You, Tori, are my mate.”

He inched back then, and I felt the loss of his touch like I’d stripped off my clothes. Bare, naked, and vulnerable.

“If you’re near, I won’t be able to keep my hands off you.” His voice was deep and rough.

Exactly how I wanted him to fuck me.

Holy void! Where had that come from? Flustered, confused, and also never more sure of something in my life, I shook my head. I knew where that came from. I’d thought about having him inside of me from the moment I’d first laid eyes on this beautiful man.

I’d just returned from a remote mission and was greeted by my overly excited team who informed me that we had a new crew member. Annoyed at being assigned a new member without any notice, I went to learn who UFIS had the audacity to send and found Thrash exercising in the heavy gravity room, muscles flexing with exertion, and that glorious body glistening with sweat.

Immediately, I wanted to know him on every intimate level, and I knew I was in deep shit. I’d taken every opportunity to avoid him since.

And now we were trapped together in a cave. It was like the universe conspired to make this happen.

Thrash braced as if to stand. “If we are going to take precautions, we need to do it now.”

I shook my head. “We don’t have to do that.”

Behind me, he went still. “What are you saying?”

For someone so sure of herself, I had a helluva time putting what I wanted—no, needed—into words. “Stay.”

He didn’t move. Fine tremors of restraint shook his body.

“I want you, so fucking bad, but it’s the pheromones making you say this.” His laugh was more of a growl. “I want your taste on my tongue, and my cock inside you, filling your tight, wet pussy, making you mine. I need it with the same violence of a newborn star, but not against your will. I will not coerce.”

Weird thing for an alien from a race built for coercion to say, which was reason number five-hundred thirty-three he’d worn me down. I envisioned him doing everything he’d just declared and felt dizzy. My thin breath came out in quivering pants.

Time for full disclosure—for the raw truth. “It’s not about the pheromones.” Unable to meet his eyes, I tore my gaze away to look straight ahead, still keenly aware of his all-consuming heat at my back. “I want you. I’ve wanted you from the moment we met, but thought if I gave in, I might never walk away from this life. Maybe not even this planet. But right now, who knows if we’ll walk away from this cave.”

He went so still I’d believe I was alone if I wasn‘t trapped between his muscular legs. For a man who never missed a chance to come on to me, his brain crashed harder than a dimodian satellite when I gave him explicit permission.

“If that wasn’t clear enough, I’m telling you I want you.” Still, he didn’t move. Had he fallen asleep? I twisted at the waist and angled my head to where I could see him seated behind me. Heat raced under and over my skin. I met his burning gaze and told him exactly what I wanted. “Fuck me so hard they’ll hear me screaming your name from the base.”