I can feel the mixture of our juices running down my thighs and I wonder if he’s cum.

But as he begins to pick up the pace, I know that can’t be possible.

My legs go weak and limp as Fer’ro takes us to the floor.

I’m on my back and he is above me, our bodies swaying as he fucks me slowly.

His gaze fastens on my breasts as they jerk with each thrust and his eyes become even more fiery, if that’s possible.

The moist sounds of our fucking is driving me on edge and my head tilts back as I give myself to him, my body jerking hard as he thrusts deep inside me.

I can’t see anything.

I don’t know if I’ve gone blind or if my eyes have rolled back completely in my head.

All I can do is feel…and when Fer’ro grasps my breast with one hand, right before his mouth closes over my nipple, all instinct, all senses, everything within me is lost.

I cry out as my body arches, a tidal wave rising and crashing within me.

The orgasm catches me off guard and my whole body jerks and shivers.

But Fer’ro doesn’t stop.

He is not done.

He growls against my breast as his thrusts pick up speed.

I’m being fucked out of my mind…

Now I get it.

Those women who I used to see do the walk of shame with their hair all messed up, their makeup history, and their clothes on backwards…this is what it feels like to be FUCKED.

“Fer’ro!” I scream as another orgasm crashes through me.

My pussy clenches around him and I hear him thrum hard.

And then he surges in me deep, pulling my hips toward him as he stiffens.

I only know he is coming because I can feel the pulses go through his cock from where we’re joined.

For a few moments, I am deleted from existence.

I am simply floating in an in-between as I stare up at the roof of Fer’ro’s quarters.

My vision is blurry but something blocks my view.

Him.

“Adee’ra,” he whispers, his voice still so coarse. “Adee’ra…”

Lava eyes search mine as I come back to reality.

He is backing away from me, his wide eyes on my body as he staggers backward.

My own eyes widen as I lean up on my elbows and my gaze falls to his crotch.

Fuck.

It’s bigger than I thought.

Big. Red. Veiny.

It has a thick dark line running down the underside of it and his spend is still dripping from his pointed tip.

I am shaken as I stare at it.

I can’t believe I just took all of that.

“Adee’ra…I am sorry.”

I blink at him, my gaze finally focusing on his face once more.

That’s not the sort of thing I expected to hear.

Sorry for what?

Sorry that he fucked me?

Disappointment starts to grow within me as my gaze meets his.

But he isn’t looking at me, per say. His eyes are moving over my body.

That’s when I finally look down at myself…and I pause.

My entire body is red, as if I had been rubbing myself against some hard carpet.

His ridges. The friction.

That’s what did this.

“Well, this is embarrassing.” I look like a tomato.

Not exactly what I’d call sexy.

I try to laugh it off with a low chuckle but Fer’ro is still staring at me as if he’d just committed some crime.

“It’s ok.” I rise into a sitting position fully. “It doesn’t hurt. You didn’t hurt me.”

He doesn’t look convinced in the least.

“It’s just how my skin is.”

“I was too rough.”

My gaze flicks back to his cock and I find myself staring again.

It jerks as I look at it and I find it hard to speak.

He wasn’t rough at all.

With that thing, he could have hurt me really, really bad.

“You didn’t hurt me. I enjoyed every second of it.”

I watch as his cock bends upward and slowly sinks back into that slit within his torso, still hard.

“Doesn’t that hurt?” I whisper.

Fer’ro is crawling back toward me now and his symbiotes are reappearing.

I kind of feel…bad about that.

Is he just going to leave now? Go back to his duties?

But instead, he picks me up from the floor and heads toward the bed.

“I should have taken you on the feathers,” he murmurs. “Vullan females prefer it that way.”

A spike of jealously shoots through me.

He sets me down before him and I suddenly feel naked and vulnerable.

Fer’ro sniffs.

“What is that scent? I do not like it.”

My eyes dart around. I don’t know what the hell he’s smelling now.

“You are…disappointed.”

My eyebrows lift. “You can smell my moods?”

His ears twitch a little. “Some.”

My eyes widen a little as I blink a few times.

Well, that explains their thing with sniffing so much.

“I have not pleased you,” he says and proceeds to open my legs once more, his head dipping towards me. I only manage to barely scramble away.

“No, trust me, I am well pleased.” I chuckle a little. And a little bit sore.

“Then…why are you disappointed?”

My mirth dries up as I sigh. “It’s just…it seems like you’re about to… leave.”

He rises and looks at me, his gaze studying me for a few moments.

“I have not fed you and you need medical attention for your skin. I was going to fetch both. I have no intention of ever leaving you.”

This time, I smile.

“I’m not hungry right now. I just…can you stay…here…with me?”

His nictitating membrane moves over his eyes as he blinks and I think he is about to say no.

Fuck.

If he turns me down right now, I don’t know how I could face him confidently again.

But without a word, Fer’ro moves onto the bed with me.

He takes me into his arms and pulls me against his chest.

His symbiotes disappear too and once again, we are naked together.

Silence envelops us and I allow myself to relax against him.

“This is the first time…” His words are low…mumbled against my hair.

“The first time what?”

“I have ever done this.”

“What? cuddled after?”

He takes a moment to think on this. “Yes. Female Vullan usually do not want such closeness afterward.”

“Hmm,” I mumble. Another spike of jealousy shoots through me and I realize…I don’t want to see Fer’ro with someone else. Ever.

I think on this as I settle back against him.

He’s comfortable. Warm.

I find myself drifting off.

“But…maybe it is different with you,” he whispers.

“Hmm? Why’s that?”

Fer’ro buries his nose against my neck and inhales deeply. “Because you are mine. My mate.”

My eyes open as I stare ahead but instead of panic, a comforting feeling fills my belly.

“Your mate?”

Fer’ro growls a little and brings me tighter against him. “Yes. Mine. Forever. Always. From this moment.”

A smile spreads my lips as a flutter goes through my belly.

I want to say something, but nothing seems to fill my tongue.

So I close my mouth and I bask in the feeling Fer’ro sends through me.

If I had to choose someone to spend the end of the world with, I couldn’t choose anyone better.

No one can replace the alien at my side.

The Vullan that has somehow made a place in my heart without me realizing.

I am his.

And he is mine.

Chapter Thirty-Four

FER’RO

For several clicks, I hold Adee’ra.

Still, she is fast asleep.

Even when I move, rustling the feathers beneath us, she does not wake.

It is concerning, this total lack of awareness while she is at her most vulnerable, but I treasure the moment.

She wants me to be here.

So I stay, even though there is no hope for me to also rest.

The feathers are far too soft for sleeping and even though the light is dim, I cannot sleep in it.

So…I hold her.

I cradle her soft body against mine and reflect on the past few clicks.

Her scent has changed. It is now a blend of my scent, mixed with hers.