Bringing Heat Read online

He chuckled. “You will have to get used to touching me sometime. May as well start now.”

  “I... You aren’t wearing anything... are you.”

  He smiled. “I am wearing you at the moment.”

  “At the moment?” She got nervous. The song in her head rippled through her and soothed her.

  She blinked. “How did you do that?”

  “It’s a skill I have not had a chance to hone. All my people used to have the knack for it. Our females can be rather high strung and occasionally violent. Having a way to sooth your mate is a definite benefit.” He pressed his forehead to hers.

  “So, why do I have music in my head. There wasn’t anything about it in the diaries.”

  “They weren’t my mate; therefore, they could not hear my song.”

  She nodded slowly. “So, the in-brain radio is a perk?”

  As they talked, he headed down steps.

  He stepped into a pristine living space with enormous ceilings. There was a wide balcony, and it overlooked the city that was emerging from the ice and snow.

  There was a sound coming from thirty or more floors below. “What’s that sound?”

  “The tower has lit up. They are cheering.” He let her legs slide to the floor and held her as she stabilized.

  He wrapped his arms around her, and they looked out at the night sky. The desperately joyful cheering from below was all for Los.

  “They are happy that you are back.”

  He chuckled. “They are happy that you have been bringing heat.” His palm covered her ribs and the other her lower belly.

  His hands on her skin caused a surge of that heat, and her thighs got slick.

  He chuckled. “That was an addition thought of by the people of Los. It enabled me to have lovers over the centuries I have been here and bonded to Los.”

  She cocked her head. “So, you are an avatar?”

  He chuckled. “You know of such things?”

  “A little bit. I had the whole flight out to do research, and Minerva-Gaia told me to look into avatars. Los is the planet; who is the Drai?”

  He tightened his hands on her. “You have heard of my people?”

  “Yeah. A few have hooked up with my people, after the alterations for the uh... connection.”

  “Hooked up?”

  “Mated, had offspring.”

  The music in her head went joyous. She touched her head. “Ow. A simple... yay... would have been good.”

  He chuckled. “Apologies. I got a little excited.”

  Idalia could feel his excitement, and it wasn’t little. It was a molten bar pressed against her lower back.

  She tried to remember the last time she had sex and could only remember holding Douglas’s hand before he headed out on his final journey. Both of his hands would have been the same size as one of Los’s.

  He stroked her cheek. “You are sad.”

  “I remembered a dead love, and it made me sad. I have spent more time mourning him than living.” When someone tiptoed around in your mind, you needed to tell the truth or things got ugly. Gaia had shown her that as well.

  “Does it hurt you to remember?”

  She looked up at him. “It aches. We had plans for the rest of our lives, and then, they were taken away. It has become softer with age, but it is still there.”

  “I feel the loss of every one of my consorts every moment of every day that I walk the world.” He smiled softly. “They were in my life for a short time, but they had an impact. They became part of me and the way I see this world.”

  She smiled. “As it should be.” She thought about how he was going to file her into his list of the dead eventually.

  He turned her to face him and made a fist in her hair. “Mates don’t leave, Idalia. We’ve got each other now.”

  Chapter Six

  Her mouth opened in surprise when Los kissed her, and the heat of him sank into her core and lit a fire. His tongue slid along hers, and she reached up to touch the dark silk of his hair. She remembered this kiss. The feel of him.

  Idalia pulled back with a gasp. “You were kissing me in my dreams.”

  He chuckled and rubbed his cheek along hers. “I was. I wanted to get your subconscious used to the idea of me.”

  She blinked as she tried to remember. “What else did you do?”

  He stroked her jaw with his thumb. “Give it a minute. It will come to you.”

  He pressed his thumb against her lower lip, and she licked the digit out of reflex. Her eyes went wide. That was not a reflex that she had ever had before. She analyzed where the sex kitten had come from and took the thumb into her mouth, swirling her tongue around it.

  He growled in approval, and with a thick voice, he murmured, “On the dreamscape I made you a pledge, my body is yours to do with as you will. I will stop when you ask me to stop and resume when you wish me to resume.”

  She released his thumb with a pop. “So, I just let myself go?”

  “It took a few days, but you saw the logic of the dreamscape, and we played a little.”

  “How much playing?”

  He slid his hand down her hip and moved to cup her sex. “A little, just so I would know what you liked.”

  “And so touching you wouldn’t freak me out.”

  He grinned and nodded. “That too.”

  She didn’t look down, but she turned and pressed against him. It felt really familiar.

  She reached out and touched his arms, shoulders, chest, and reached behind him to stroke the base of his wings.

  He shuddered, and his arms came around her. “Would you prefer to join here or inside?”

  She paused and inhaled the warm musk of him. He smelled like a hot male pine tree, and she loved pine trees.

  “I am out of practice.”

  He started to back her into the living area. “We have practiced. You will remember.”

  Idalia’s cheeks heated, and he grinned as he slowly backed into the private space, carrying her with him.

  “Where are we going?”

  He grinned. “To a bed that isn’t made of stone.”

  She saw the bed behind him as he continued to back up with confidence. “Um, I might light it on fire.”

  He whispered in her ear, “I am counting on it.”

  When he was next to the bed, he knelt at her feet, and his head was still even with her breasts. “Remember, Idalia, I can take no for an answer. We are not in a hurry.”

  She smiled slightly stroking his cheek. “Then, let’s go down and walk through the city.”

  His hands tightened on her hips. “I will stop, but you need to stay with me. I have been waiting many lifetimes for this moment, and if you just want me to hold you, I will simply hold you.”

  She smiled and brushed her lips against his. “Would you be satisfied with that?”

  He growled. “No, but I would accept it. A mate is worth waiting for.”

  “But you have been waiting, and I am here.” She smiled. “Maybe you can help me fill the shadows in myself, and I can do the same for you.”

  He closed his white eyes and opened them again. “Can you avoid using terms like fill? It is sparking images. I notice that you are avoiding looking below my chest.”

  She chuckled. “A few decades of celibacy leave me a little shy when it comes to looking, stroking, tasting—”

  “Stop. Please.”

  She looked at him, and he was shaking. “Why am I stopping?”

  “You may have forgotten our interactions in your dreams, but they are very vivid for me, and once you give yourself permission, your inhibitions are stunning to experience.”

  “Thank you. I seem to remember my lover mentioning something similar. Once I got going, there was no stopping me.”

  He looked at her and bowed his head. “I put myself into your hands.”

  She blinked and looked over the shining grey skin. Her mouth watered, and those new glands sprang in
to action. “Fine. Step one is even the playing field.”

  She undid the breast wrap that she had, unbuckled the belt, and let her skirt drop. When she was as naked as he was, she tugged him to the platform. “I get that you can’t lay back, but have a seat.”

  He shifted and sat. “I can lay back. It takes some planning, but I can do it.”

  She smiled and stroked his jaw. “Then, lay back so I can move around you without having to stand on you.”

  Los lay back, and he settled on his wings. The bones and cartilage simply went where he wanted them to. He lay framed by the wings.

  She blinked. “Let me know if I kneel on anything I shouldn’t.”

  “You are so slight, we won’t even notice. Do your worst.”

  She nodded and smiled. “Let me know if you want me to stop.”

  She crawled onto the bed next to him and stroked his thigh before moving past the tower of his erection and proceeding to his chest and the expanse of his shoulders that she found fascinating.

  His skin was thicker than hers and hot, but she liked the feeling of his heat as she caressed and then kissed all parts that she found interesting.

  Her breasts dragged against his chest as she moved her way up his neck, and she smiled against his skin as she licked slowly. When she made it to his jaw and then over to his mouth, she kissed him deeply until his body was exceptionally tense, and she whispered, “I didn’t realize only one of us could touch the other at any given time. Reciprocal foreplay is going to take forever.”

  He looked at her with his white eyes. “I can touch you?”

  “You can touch me anywhere and in anyway you like.” The words were out of her mouth when she felt a hand between her thighs exploring the new moisture that she had been creating as she went exploring. Her yelp of surprise was genuine.

  The sudden contact with her sex as he fingered her drove the air from her lungs. She kissed him again, and he held her head while their tongues duelled, and she whimpered as her hips rode his hand. She circled her hips against his hand until he was stroking her where she needed it.

  Her voice and breathy cries indicated she was on the edge, and she gasped, “Stop.” Her lips were an inch from his.

  His hands stilled. “Why?”

  “I don’t want to be selfish here.” Tears were in her eyes.

  “Be selfish. I will join you when you have removed your urgency. I plan on taking my time when I am inside you.” The memory ripped through her, and her eyes widened as she came.

  Her hips jerked and flexed against his fingers, and she shuddered as deep spasms rattled through her. She moaned low and long as her body revelled in the memory of the sex she had had in the dreamscape.

  Idalia relaxed on him, her head against his neck. He chuckled. “What set that off?”

  “How often did we have sex in the dreamscape? I can remember seven times, but that doesn’t include foreplay.” She mumbled it against his skin.

  “You are correct. Seven times I was inside you and four out of those seven times we reached climax together.” He stroked her hair. “I believe that it is a good goal to have in the physical world. So, you were thinking about sex?”

  “I relived it. You over me, the fire between us building and then a white-hot release. The memory alone caused my little episode.”

  His tone was warm. “Ah, yes. That day. That was a very good interaction between us, but the physical feel of you is far beyond what I could have anticipated.”

  She felt her skin warm, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to continue. As she had that thought, she moved her hand down his abdomen and reached for his cock.

  He inhaled sharply as her fingers gripped him. “Idalia!”

  His hips lifted while her digits caressed him, learning how to grip as much of him as she could and trying to remember how he reacted when she touched him. She was a little surprised when he gave off the same kind of fluid that she was creating. Her fingers started to slip and slide on him. He groaned and lifted his hips to gain more of her grip on him.

  She murmured, “I don’t remember you being quite so slick, Los.”

  He rumbled through gritted teeth. “I don’t remember you teasing. You were very direct in your dreams.”

  She chuckled and leaned toward him. “Just the difference between dreams and reality. In reality, there are more senses to investigate.”

  He hissed as she crept down and pressed her mouth to him. Idalia kissed and licked the length from his hips to his tip. The top of his erection was lightly armoured, which would feel interesting when inside her, she was sure of it. She shivered and felt more of her own lubrication ease outward against his fingers. He tasted distinctly male. The slick substance had a sweet hint and a salty aftertaste. It wasn’t unpleasant, and she went in for more, licking and slurping around the wide head of his cock.

  His fingers flexed and slid against her, and she groaned, pausing in her play.

  He gripped her hips, lifting her and levering her up and over. When she stopped panting at the sensation, he was snaking his tongue into her while his fingers rubbed at her clit.

  She moaned and continued to stroke at his cock. She had to stop and pause to catch her breath, but eventually, he moaned low, and his cock bucked in her fingers, she moved her head, and the spurting fountain shot out of his cock and decorated him and her in thick streaks of white.

  Idalia idly licked at her fingers and then at the flaring and angry head of him that was still leaking slightly. The cum had a creamy factor that made the sweet and salty very desirable.

  She licked at him and cleaned him up then started on herself.

  When he regained his senses, he grabbed her by the waist, lifted, and turned her to lie on her back. He loomed over her, and his breathing was still fast. “I did not expect you to do that.”

  She chuckled. “I could tell.”

  She drew a finger across her breasts were the white stuff remained and sucked on that same finger. His eyes went through a dozen colours of fire. “That’s... You don’t have a resistance to...”

  She smiled and stroked his cheek. “When with a lover I trust, I don’t have many inhibitions. Is that an issue? I can act all demure and maiden-like if you wish.”

  “No!” His shout echoed in the chamber. He shuddered. “I have had my fill of maidens. They are timid and weepy and those factors got worse as time went on.”

  She lapped at her finger with delicate, cat-like flicks of her tongue.

  He leaned over her and used his tongue on her breasts and shoulders as he lapped slowly. His tongue was rough in a way she hadn’t appreciated before. “Ohh.” The scraping against her skin gently abraded her nipples, but she remembered how thick her skin had become and wondered how rough that tongue would have been against her human flesh. Idalia wove her fingers through his hair, and he bit lightly at the side of one breast before settling his mouth over her nipple and sucking strongly.

  She arched her back, and the sound that came from her throat wasn’t human. He sucked slowly with long draws, and it felt like he was pulling her soul out through her breast.

  He moved a hand between her thighs, and his fingers slid in easily. Two fingers worked their way inside her and then a third. She gasped and twisted when he went to the other breast, and she started shaking when his fingers curled upward and sought her g-spot. He moved his fingers rapidly over that raised pad of tissue, and she heard her voice as if from a distance getting higher and louder until she arched silently and her body was pinned by his while she jerked against his hand.

  She gasped as she tried to even her breath, and then, he moved over her, and he blotted out all light from the moons.

  She looked up at him. “Enough foreplay?”

  He chuckled. “I think we have proven familiarity. Are you willing?”

  “I am.” She cocked her head. “Are you determined?”

  He grinned as she saw sharp teeth and glowing eyes. “I am.”


  She rocked her hips against him. “In that case, proceed.”

  He didn’t hesitate.

  Chapter Seven

  Idalia watched as the head of his cock sank into her. Her head was bent to watch the space between their bodies as he moved home.

  She groaned and arched into him, pulling her legs wide and tilting her hips. He inched into her with a surprising amount of care for someone with a savage expression on his face.

  Idalia gripped his shoulders as he rocked back and forth; the heat of him was something else.

  She stared up at him, not quite sure if she was supposed to respond or not when he kissed her surprisingly softly for someone who was balls deep in her. Wait, did he have balls?

  He lifted his head. “Yeah, I do.”

  She blushed furiously, and he chuckled as the slow rocking turned to long strokes that drew the heat nearly out until only the tip of him was lodged in her opening, and then, he slid in deep. The air rushed out of her lungs as if there was no room for it with his cock inside her. She looked into his eyes, and her mind started to spin as she saw more than the creature inside her, she saw the world itself.

  Her mind sank into his as he sank into her, and she heard a murmuring, “Ah, no, Idalia, not quite yet for that.”

  Her breathing was hitching, her mind was spinning, and she arched against him, moaning long and low as he continued to move inside her.

  When he dropped low to her chest and continued to move inside her, she mewled in confusion, and then, something within her lit up, and fire licked along her nerve endings again, and the inner caress carried her off.

  Wait. What the hell is moving inside me? She gasped as she took in the realization that his cock was swirling inside her, and then, she arched and screamed as she held tight to him.

  He chuckled and groaned as he held his hips against hers. She actually felt the jet of heat inside her, and then, she felt it again and again. When he lowered his body over hers, she felt the tremendous warmth against her and wrapped her legs around his hips. If she held him close, maybe she wouldn’t have to meet his eyes. There was something about the moments after sex that she had never come to terms with. The vulnerability that she had let herself feel when she surrendered to him was now mocking her. He had what he wanted, and he was done. Would she be sent to another world now that he was here and taking charge of his domain again?