Grady's Awakening (10 page)

Grady had even gathered a few blossoms from the surrounding forest and placed them in a glass of water at the center of the tablecloth. He knew females appreciated flowers, and he also liked the scent.

Gina turned to him as they reached the clearing, and she saw what he’d arranged. There were tears in her eyes he found hard to interpret, and his heart stilled.

“You don’t like it?”

“No, I love it.” She bit her lip to still whatever emotion she was feeling while Grady’s emotions rode a wave of high and low. He didn’t understand. Was she happy or sad?

“Something is wrong?”

“No.” She turned to him, placing a hand on his forearm, squeezing once as she looked up at him. “This is the nicest thing anyone’s done for me in a very long time. I could almost believe I’m back in the old world, on a picnic. You thought of everything. Flowers, dinner and is that wine?”

“It is.” He began to feel better about her reaction, though the tears in her eyes worried him. “Do you like wine?”

“I do. Even living with the
Zxerah
, I don’t get to have it often. Only on very special occasions.”

“This is a special occasion, Gina.”

“Our first and last date.” She looked so sad. He had to kiss her. Just once. Just a light brushing of lips to take her mind off whatever he’d done to make her sad.

Grady leaned forward, taking her in his arms at the same moment he claimed her mouth with his. She was as sweet as he remembered, as warm, as delicious in every way. The salt of her tears brought a pang of regret to his heart. He didn’t want to think of how little time they had together before they had to part. He pushed that thought aside in the glory of holding her, the feel of her feminine curves that were made to fit so perfectly against his body.

She gasped when he pulled her closer and he took advantage, licking inside her mouth like he wanted to lick her lower down. Soon that wasn’t enough. He ran his hands over her lithe body, wishing the fabric that separated them away. Eventually the distraction of her clothing brought him to his senses.

He lifted away from the kiss by gradual degrees, his head spinning in the most amazing way.

“Dinner first,” Grady said when he could speak. The smile she gave him tempted him to forget dinner altogether, but good sense won out. For the time being.

He led her to the edge of the blanket, charmed when she kicked off her shoes. He followed suit and assisted her to sit, though in truth she needed no help at all. He didn’t want to completely let go of her and the lovely tone they produced when they touched. It vibrated through him, making him feel alive as nothing else. Even the new emotions coursing through him and making his life so very precious these last few months was nothing compared to the sound of their Hum.

“You shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble.” Her quiet words brought back his wandering attention. “This is really lovely. I haven’t been on a picnic in years, and never in such a romantic setting.”

“I’m glad you like it.” He reached for the wine as he sank to his knees opposite her, across the center of the improvised table setting. Removing the already loosened cork, he poured two glasses of the light-colored vintage.

Dinner progressed from there. They ate slowly, savoring the excellent food, the exceptional company and the beautiful night. Gina enchanted him with her conversation. At first they talked of simple things, recent events and their thoughts about the
Zxerah
. Eventually, they strayed to more emotional topics. Gina told him about her family and her sorrow at losing them. Then she asked him about the experiment and what prompted him to take part. She went further, asking him what he thought would come next and Grady felt a sense of ease, sharing his hopes and fears with this warm, intelligent woman. Her compassion was genuine and easily seen on her beautiful face. She also had some good insights into things that had plagued him.

“It was difficult to accommodate the aggression at first. Warriors are trained to control it, of course. Even that training failed when I felt real anger for the first time,” Grady admitted. He’d never discussed this with anyone—not even the techs who had witnessed his near meltdown.

“What did you do?”

“When I started fantasizing about smearing one of the scientist’s faces against a wall, I took myself to the gym for some unscheduled training. I pummeled a training droid, all the while imagining it was that scientist.” He had to laugh at the memory now. “I actually broke the droid.” Gina gasped, then laughed along with him. “I knocked its head clean off. The gym tech said they’d never seen anything like it before.”

“We have a few of those things at our home base. They’re built solid. I can’t believe you did that!”

“Neither could I. The gym tech explained it away, saying the droid must’ve had a flaw in manufacture, but the lab techs walked wide around me for the next few days. They’d heard the story and had of course been monitoring my levels. I wore sensors at all times in the early days of the experiment. It was actually an adrenaline surge that gave me that momentary strength. The techs were dumbfounded by it at first. Apparently the level was off their charts.”

“Oh, I’ve heard about that kind of thing in humans. In moments of utter rage or dire need, an adrenaline surge can give someone a moment of super strength. It’s not common, but in the old world, it did happen.”

“Well, it hasn’t happened in Alvians—at least not at that level—in generations. They tried to get me to repeat it, but I never could. Frankly, I didn’t want to feel that kind of raging anger ever again. I was close to murdering that man. It’s not something I’m proud of or want to repeat.”

“That says a lot for you, Grady.” She raised her glass and drank, watching him over the rim of the stemmed wine glass. “And the fact that you controlled your anger and channeled it into something that wouldn’t hurt anyone. Well,” her eyes sparkled with merriment, “except for the droid.”

She made him feel better about the black moment in his recent past. He even joined in her laughter, charmed by the way she saw the good in what could have been a very dangerous—not to mention deadly—situation.

“You are good for me, Gina. I never thought I would meet a woman like you. Or that such a woman would want to spend time with me. You do, don’t you? You’ll forgive me if I’m not good at interpreting your preferences. Emotions are new and often confusing to me.”

“Don’t worry, Grady. I wouldn’t be here tonight if I didn’t want to spend time with you. If I had more time before my mission, I’d spend it all with you.” She put one soft hand on his face, cupping his cheek, and the Hum enveloped his senses in an almost drugging tingle. “I only regret we have so little of it.”

He turned his head, kissing the soft palm of her hand with slow deliberateness, holding her gaze. His pulse leapt when her eyes widened and her pupils dilated with pleasure.

“We have tonight. That is something.”

“It’s not enough.”

He moved closer, putting one arm around her shoulders and drawing her near.

“I begin to realize that eternity would never be enough with you, Gina.”

A smile tilted her lips. “You say the sweetest things.”

He closed the gap between them, kissing her sweetly this time, slow and steady, heady and drugging. He placed his other arm at her waist as her hands slid around his neck, her fingers digging into the short hair at the nape of his neck. It was both ticklish and divine. Never had a woman caressed him in such a way.

He eased her downward, onto the blanket, supporting his weight above her so as not to crush her delicate, delectable body. She made room for him between her legs, spreading them as if to invite him between. He wasted no time taking the offer, placing his hardened cock against the place it most wanted to go. Layers of cloth separated them, but the heat they generated together was undeniable.

Grady felt his temperature spike. He’d been warned about such a reaction by the techs. While it was normal for Alvian physiology to have raised body temperatures during copulation, it seemed that among those in the test group who had indulged in closely monitored sexual activity for the scientists’ benefit, the temperature spikes were more intense.

“Gina,” he panted, breaking the kiss to look deep into her eyes. “We have only tonight. For this one night, will you be mine?”

She seemed to think about it for a heart-stopping moment, during which he suffered the pangs of uncertainty and a fear of rejection he’d never felt before. She rewarded him with a smile that melted his bones and made his cock even harder, if such a thing were possible.

Gina realized Grady was giving her the choice. He wasn’t seducing her into anything. No, if she made love with him, it would be with full consent, knowing what she was doing before he swept her off her feet. She respected him for it, but in one way, she’d rather have had the need for a conscious choice taken out of her hands.

Still, this was best. She knew how new he was to emotions. She knew he needed reassurance that he was reading her correctly. And damn it all, she wanted this. She wanted him. Tomorrow she was going on a mission that could end badly. For tonight, she wanted to cling to these feelings only Grady elicited.

He was something out of her experience—a man who stirred her senses, challenged her mind and who seemed genuinely dazzled by her, though she was by no means a dazzling sort of person. He made her feel that way. Just being around him, seeing that special light in his eyes when he looked at her made her feel special in a way no man—human or Alvian—ever had before.

For this one night she wanted to bask in that wondrous feeling. And if they had to part tomorrow, she wanted to know what it felt like to be with him tonight.

“Yes,” she whispered, loving the joy that lit his eyes, the expression of wonder that graced his handsome face. She felt like she’d given him the world. She felt treasured. Cherished even. And it felt good.

She suspected he’d make her feel even better before long, and she couldn’t wait to find out. Decision made, she lifted up for his kiss, meeting him halfway with an equal aggression, an equal ardor. She wanted him, and she wasn’t going to let anything stand in their way.

Her hands pulled at his clothes and her own, meeting his fingers bent on the same task. Between the two of them, they got the most important parts of their clothing out of the way.

She nearly screamed when he bent to lick her breasts. He tongued one nipple, then the other, even using his teeth in a gentle, provocative bite that set her senses reeling. Nobody had ever handled her so masterfully, owned her so completely.

Not to be left out, she swept her hands over his hard body. He was built like a Greek god, sculpted out of flesh and bone in the most perfect way imaginable. He was big and muscled, but not overly so. He had the lithe physique of a natural fighter, honed by years of study and practice. His abdomen had that ripped texture that she loved, his biceps bulging as he used his arms to keep the majority of his weight off her.

But she wanted it all. Nibbling on his shoulder, she used her teeth, her hands, her entire body to tempt him. His groan of pleasure made her grin, knowing she was getting to him.

“I can’t wait.” His voice was harsh at her ear, his body hard between her legs as he covered her, pushing her into the ground with his bulk. She loved it. He was powerful and rugged, the way a man should be, and his huge frame shuddered with anticipation…of her.

He was shaking—just slightly—for her. It was a silent, stark statement of his need and it touched her more deeply than all the words he could have said. He needed her. And she craved him in return.

“Don’t wait. Do it, Grady. Hard and fast.” The whispered words were barely out of her mouth before he pushed inside, forceful and deep, just as she wanted.

He thrust, pumping into her with strong movements, sending the fire of passion through every nerve ending she possessed. Each thrust made her gasp and he held her gaze throughout. She could see in his eyes the overwhelming fury of his desire, paired with the concern, regret and joy along with even more complex emotions.

It was the emotion in his gaze that touched her heart. She looked into his eyes as he took possession of her body and her responses. She could see his struggle for control down to the flicker of an eyelash. When his eyes narrowed as he neared his crisis point, her own body followed suit. She was perfectly attuned to his every move, his every silent command. He owned her body and her passion.

Short digs made her think he would never be apart from her again.

“I can’t hold it. It’s never been—” he panted, his gaze going in and out of focus as he tried to withhold his climax.

“Ssh. I know. Same for me.” She cupped his cheek as he pounded home once again, his massive body dwarfing hers, simultaneously pushing her up and deeper into the loamy ground beneath the blanket. “It’s never been this good. Make me fly, Grady.”

The last was said on a gasping cry as her climax overtook her, almost too fast to keep up with. She’d told the truth. She’d never come so hard or so quickly for any other men. Not that there’d been a lot to compare him with, but a few. And they all lacked in comparison to this hurried, desperate coupling under a canopy of leaves, stars and dappled moonlight. No other experience could equal this. She had a feeling nothing ever would.