Saving Verakko (Clecanian, #3)

by Victoria Aveline

Lily watched breathlessly as his hand trailed down and he gripped his own shaft. She whimpered aloud, and her core clenched again. This isn’t enough! She was empty, hollow. She needed him inside her.

“Let me sway you,” he rumbled. His forearm rose a fraction, making her head to rest in the

“Imagine my shaft filling you, reaching all the places inside you can’t reach.” Suddenly, Lily’s fingers felt larger, the sensation of being filled more intense. She arched her back, and her eyes slid closed.

An electric current flashed between her clit and her inner walls with every swipe of her fingers. She could feel his fist pumping faster behind her thigh, the mere brush of his knuckles enough to make her tingle all over. Lily’s hips started to jerk erratically.

Suddenly he roared, and his body stiffened. Then, without warning, his lips were on hers. She moaned into his mouth, shuddering as the last of her climax sizzled through her. For a moment, he remained still, just holding his lips in place.

She pressed a soft kiss to his firm lips. “That’s what you smell like to me. Cedar.” Verakko’s eyes widened for a moment, the bright green irises darkening until they almost looked black.

Mivassi. My alternative.

Ouch

Back and forth, back and forth her brain went on. There must be a way. There is no way. But surely there could be a way.

Was this half-minded simpering woman chasing after a man, truly who she wanted to be? She’d never felt so out of control or reliant on another person.

Was this how it’d be with a true partner? With him? Would she always feel this sense of fat, lazy, safety and stability? God, she wanted that.

Verakko’s gaze shot to the sky, and a deafening, pulsating roar tore from his throat. He sprinted toward her just as a gust of wind hit her back.

Lily swung out a leg and wrapped it around the man’s thigh, hooking her foot behind his knee to keep herself stable. She lined up her other leg between his legs and swung her heel up as hard as she could. With a howl of pain, he doubled over, diving toward the ground.

He gripped her wrist and let go of the rest of her, holding her in the air by one arm and clutching himself between his legs with the other hand.

Verakko’s eyes shot from her to her throat to the winged male. Inky black spread from the corners of his eyes, enveloping the whites and irises. He’d said blackening eyes revealed something about his health, hadn’t he? She frantically scanned his body but couldn’t see any injuries.

All of the air seemed to fly from Verakko’s lungs at Lily’s first gasp. He raised the spray to his face. A flash of silver near Lily streaked through the air and disappeared into the Strigi’s wing. He stumbled back, roaring in pain as she crawled away, coughing and inhaling deep, ragged breaths.

She rolled to face him, her eyes flashing to his as she hastily scooted away. The pungent scent of fear spiked. Is she afraid of me? Verakko’s breathing hitched.

In one swift movement, he snatched her wrist, making her cry out. He squeezed until she dropped her weapon, then pulled her into his arms. Her body remained stiff for a moment before she finally shuddered and threw her arms around his neck.

“Your eyes were black. I don’t know how, but you were hurt in some way. And you were going to let him take you. What if you couldn’t get free?” “I would’ve found a…a way to…” Verakko’s words stuttered out as her words finally registered. “My eyes?” The world around him slammed to a halt, the thunderous pounding in his chest freezing as though even his heart feared he’d misheard her. I recognized her? She’s mine.

Her brows drew together. Then, without warning, she leaned toward him as far as she could with her hands still pinned above her and kissed him.

All thought fled. His mate was in his arms, safe, and she was kissing him. He released her wrists and ran his hands over her slippery body as though he’d never get another chance. Her hands flew to remove the scrap of fabric at her chest, then down to his pants. He palmed her breasts roughly as she fumbled with the fastenings on his pants.

He groaned at the touch of her tongue to his and felt rare antivenom fork an icy path through the roof of his mouth, filling his fangs.

Lily slid a chilled palm onto the overheated length of his cock and whimpered sweetly into his mouth. He released her lips with a groan and descended on her neck, nipping and licking his way along the sensitive skin while she ran her hand up and down his shaft and scraped her nails across his scalp.

She panted his name in between wet kisses and wrapped her legs around his waist, rolling her hips and gliding her slick folds against him. Anchoring herself with one arm around his neck, she reached between their bodies, pressed tightly together, and gripped his shaft.

She rocked her hips against him again. Whenever the small nub at her entrance slid across the head of his shaft, she let out a little gasp.

“Are you sure?” he croaked in a husky voice, looking deeply into her gold-flecked eyes. “If we start, I’m not going to be able to hold back. I’ll have all of you tonight.” He let his eyes drift to her neck so she knew what he meant. “In all ways.”

“Yes?” he growled, his cock pulsing white hot in anticipation. “Yes,” she said breathlessly. Her hand snaked between them again.

Verakko pushed into her only a little; electricity seemed to crackle along every nerve. They both let out a low moan. He rested his chest against her breasts and inched in farther. He felt her belly tremble and held still, letting her adjust to his size.

He pulled out, then pumped into her again. Hard. Lily let out a high-pitched cry, her eyes widening. He watched her face for signs of pain or pleasure or both and when he only saw pleasure, pumped into her again and again. Each time he was buried deep, she made little mewls of pleasure.

From this position, the hard, flat area of his pelvis, just above his shaft, rested flush with the small nub she’d toyed with to reach her orgasm the night before. He seated himself inside her and ground his hips against the area experimentally.

She threw her head forward, biting down on his shoulder, and then her sheath convulsed and she came, moaning and whimpering into his neck.

She was still panting, coming down from her orgasm when he slid his arm in front of her hips and flicked the small nub again. She cried out and bucked back toward him. He bent at the knees and slowly guided his length into her slick channel from behind, his muscles shaking with the effort not to grip her too firmly.

Verakko brushed the hair from her shoulder and rumbled into her ear. “Lily, I’m going to bite you,” he ground out, barely able to utter the words. Lily gasped and peered over her shoulder at him, gaze bleary with pleasure.

“Open yourself up to me.” The percussion of his rattling purr drummed through his voice as he swayed breathlessly. “My fangs sinking into your neck will feel as good as my shaft sinking into your cunt.”

Verakko wanted to roar with pride when Lily frantically pulled her hair aside. He licked his fangs eagerly and ratcheted up the speed of his thrusts.

With a roar, Verakko sank his fangs into her, and she screamed. He smashed her against the wall with rough, erratic pumps of his hips. The antivenom from his fangs leaked into her, and his eyes rolled back at the feeling of release. He inhaled deep, shaky breaths through his nostrils, the blood in his veins pumping with renewed purpose. He’d finally recognized her, and now he was marking her.

She choked out a high cry, and her walls clenched around him again, forcing his own orgasm to overtake him. He released her neck and bit the inside of his cheek to keep from bellowing and hurting her ears.

Carefully, he waded backward into the warm water and dipped until their still-connected bodies were shoulder deep.

“Soap,” he said, raising one dark brow at her. Lily gasped and splashed over to him, uncaring of how desperate she must look. “What’ll you give me for it?” He chuckled, holding the bottle out of reach.

She gave him a sly smile and straightened her shoulders, pushing out her breasts. His gaze snapped to attention.

“Well, maybe if we get really clean all over,” she purred, running her hand slowly down his rock-hard chest, then beneath the water and over his firm stomach, “I might be willing to kiss you in some other places.” He jerked when she gripped his still-hard shaft, making her intention clear.

After she’d fallen asleep in his arms, he’d finally searched his hands, frustrated to find them still mark-free. But it didn’t matter. His eyes had changed, which meant he’d recognized her as a potential mate. Potential.

As though the universe sensed the importance of speed, his pace suddenly increased. His feet carried him across the desert faster than he’d ever gone before. Without stopping, he peered down at his hands and saw his marks. Bright blue and taunting.

She reached above her and found she was encased on all sides. Her heart began to pound faster and with each beat, shards of glass cut at her insides. Panic took over, and she thrashed through the pain. I’m trapped. Is this a coffin? Why can’t I see? Burning sobs tore up her throat. The tears building in her eyes felt like acid. Her breathing came in short gasps. Not enough air! “Verakko!” she screamed as loudly as she could and slammed her hands on the coffin. A thunderous banging sounded from all around her, along with the groan of metal and the tinkling of shattering glass. He was coming for her, she knew it.

“I cannot make you her guardian, so in public, you’ll treat her as a betrothed male would any female who wasn’t his future wife. If it’s reported to me that you’re in violation of the exclusivity clause in your contract, I’ll have no choice but to send you off-world. Do you hear me? I will not have the public’s respect for Ziritha or myself affected because of this, not now when we need their support and loyalty more than ever.”

A solid train of thought was hard to hold on to at the moment, but she noticed the sway tickling her senses and pushed it away. “Stop that,” she slurred, swiping clumsily at the hands holding her cheeks. “Verakkoooo’s the only one can do that.” She giggled as her own droopy voice played in her ears. “The. Only. One. Who. Can. Do. That,”

“Oh, thank the Goddess.” The hands moved from around her cheeks and gently glided over her forehead. “It’s me, love. It’s Verakko. I’m here.

“Hey!” she exclaimed, grinning like a fool. Whatever drugs they’d given her were most certainly working. Lily tilted her head, examining her alien’s beautiful worried face, and pouted. “I never wanna go outside again.”

“What happened?” She scanned the room and found another man settled in a corner glowering in Verakko’s direction. “You were stung by a vonilace,” Verakko choked out.

“Don’t let her go anywhere,” he hissed at the annoyed-looking man in the corner. The man frowned and quickly slid a forefinger and thumb up the point of his ear in a gesture Lily had never seen before, but somehow still looked rude. The equivalent of a middle finger, perhaps?

“Vonilace is a type of vining plant that hides under the sand in the Dakuun Desert. It spreads below the surface and produces one bulb at a time. If a stray creature happens to walk too close, the bulb will rise and inject the animal, or in your case, human.” He said the word slowly, like it was odd to him. “The toxin paralyzes then poisons its victim while the buried vines pull its immobilized prey under the sand.”