Flicker by Viola Grace Page B

felt so good on her overheated skin. It reminded her of something. “I think I will require quite a bit of water if we are going for a marathon workout here.”
    He chuckled again, on her left. “I will keep that in mind. Are you sore?”
    He stroked his fingers down her back, probably so he would not startle her. When two of them entered the channel he had just been in, she did jump a bit.   “Yes, I am. To be expected since I am a little out of practice for this sort of thing.” She tried not to sound defensive, but she was slightly insecure. “Was it okay? Did I do anything wrong?” Geez. The one thing she had hoped she would not do.
    He grabbed her hands and kissed them both. “It was fine. Wonderful. Beyond what I thought would happen when we finally mated.” He sighed heavily. “Should I remove the mask so you can see that I speak the truth?”
    “No. Remove the mask only when it is time.” She smiled slowly. “I can feel it in your voice that you are telling the truth, and in your touch. I trust you.”
    “Good. Now, let’s get you clean.”
    After the short shower, he ran a bath for them and lifted her in, settling her on his lap. She snuggled in and simply enjoyed the warm scented water and her new husband. They both felt good. After she relaxed completely, he began to clean her from head to toe. She could not even help as she couldn’t see what he was doing so he moved systematically from limb to limb, telling her what he was doing.
    “Did you know that you only turned invisible twice while we were together? And oddly enough, it was when you first started responding to me.”
    “Yeah, I thought so. I am somewhat insecure when it comes to making love with anyone. Especially someone I love.” The words were out of her mouth before she knew it. The care, the sex and the freedom of not seeing his face let emotions out of her that she would not normally admit to in the light of day.
    “So you love me?”
    She jumped at his whisper when came to her out of nowhere. “Yes. I do. I have for a while.”
    “Why didn’t you tell me?”
    His voice moved again, this time from near her breasts. “Um. When I first realized it, you thought I was male. I did not think you would like the announcement. Besides, we were co-workers, nothing more.” His mouth had to be hovering over one nipple, she was getting a wave of his breath across it and it brought the soft skin to a hard peak in seconds.
    “Interesting. So if Xara hadn’t tried to seduce me?”
    “We would have continued as co-workers and I would have died a little inside every time you took a new woman to your bed.” The instant his mouth made contact, she moaned. It was better than she had imagined, his mouth on her breasts. Strong suction, light nibbles and the threat of those teeth. Her body gushed moisture at the thought. His fingers stroked up her inner thigh and she moaned through clenched teeth.
    She was almost sure that her body was going to boil the bathwater, but her orgasm would not come. No matter how his hands moved or how she shifted her weight, her orgasm eluded her. When she began to hiss in frustration, he drew his head away from the breast he was suckling.
    “I did wonder. Now I know. You are a better match for me than any other woman in the Alliance. Only my true mate would link to me like this in my mating fever.”
    “What? You mean I cannot come unless you are ready to. No fair!” She smacked the water with her hands.
    “It simply means that while my body is trying to get you pregnant, you will not want to have sex with anyone other than me. That includes yourself, or my hand.”
    “You should really warn a girl before you strap her into the mask.”
    He was amused again. “Where would the fun be in that?”
    The next twelve minutes were spent with him dodging her and her trying to drown him in the tub while the mask was on. It was a damned big tub.
    “Don’t worry, once your oestrus is passed, you will be able to have an