They hadn't stayed because there was no reason to. There was no substance to him. He was nothing more than a good time, and for the past thirty-odd years, that had been enough. It wasn't anymore. Not when he held a woman like Lizzie in his arms and realized she was too good for him. That he didn't want to sully someone as pure and good as Lizzie.
That he didn't want to let her go, either.
She raised her head, eyes sleepy, hair tousled, and shook her head. “You're wrong, Finn. And, yes, I've been eavesdropping. Shamelessly, I might add, but angst doesn't suit you.”
“How do you know?” She was so damned cute. And young. Eight years younger than he was. Made him feel jaded and worn. “I might be the king of angst.”
She yawned. “I don't think so. Make love to me, Finn. I need holding tonight. Specifically, I need you. Need to know you're safe.” She rose up on her elbows, leaned over, and kissed him. Her lips parted, her tongue swept across his mouth, and he opened to her. Welcomed her in.
After a moment, she pulled back, rolled away to sit beside him with her legs crossed, and glared at him. “Do you have any idea how worried I was today? How afraid that you wouldn't come back? But I didn't feel as if I had a right to be open about my worry, because no one knows how I feel about you.”
He frowned right back at her. “I don't know how you feel about me, either.”
She grabbed the hem of his borrowed T-shirt and tugged it over her head. Finn couldn't even speak. He'd never seen such perfect breasts, such an amazing body on an absolutely amazing frame. Where the Nyrian women were all tall and lean, Lizzie was more compact, still lean, but not much over five feet tall with the body of a goddess.
Flat stomach, perfect little dark thatch of curls between her thighs, and the world's most beautiful breasts. He realized he was staring like an idiot. Licking his lips and staring.
She lifted her breasts and stared down at her tightly puckered nipples. “Well, my girls only stand up when they're really interested. What do you think?”
He couldn't have stopped if he'd wanted to. Leaning forward, Finn took first one nipple between his lips and then the other, sucking each of them hard, tugging just a bit and then releasing. “I think they're absolutely perfect.” His voice cracked and he cleared his throat. So much for playing it cool. “I think you're absolutely perfect.”
The smile spread slowly across her face. “Good. I sort of think the same thing about you, and that's just weird.”
“Why? Do you think I'm weird?”
She laughed. “Well, I thought you were really a jerk when I first met you. So did Kiera, if you'll recall.”
“I remember.” And he did. Would he ever forget the fantasy they'd given him on the long ride up to the DEO-MAP site that first day? He'd thought it was his own fantasy, tied hand and foot to a tree overhead and the ground beneath with both Kiera and Lizzie having their way with him. It had been absolutely amazing, at least until Lizzie shoved an imaginary purple dildo up his ass.
It wasn't until then he'd realized both young women had directed every single part of that fantasy, but he'd come so hard his dick hurt. The worst part was riding the rest of the way up the mountain in shorts sticky with his own spunk.
“I still want to know where the purple dildo came from.”
She crawled across his legs and stretched out on top of him, and if she thought he'd be able to keep his hands to himself, she was dead wrong. “No idea,” she said. “Will you ever forgive me?”
He cupped her face in his hands, leaned close, and kissed her. “I forgave you the moment it happened. I deserved it. Deserved worse, actually. You were really quite forgiving, considering how I'd been acting.”
“I know. But you've changed.” She shook her head and her long silky hair brushed his chest. “I like the guy I'm seeing now. A lot.”
“Enough to let him play with your girls?” He lifted one eyebrow and focused on her breasts.
“Oh, yeah.” She scooted down his legs until his dick was standing there between them as if it had a mind of its own. “As long as I get to play with this guy.” She leaned over and licked the sensitive glans. His hips jerked and he clutched the bedding to keep from grabbing Liz.
Then she raised her head and winked at him, bent over, and slowly sucked his rather sizeable length and girth much deeper than any woman had ever attempted.
His jaded, totally cool response was little more than a whimper. She was such a minx! Maybe she looked about sixteen and came across as a first-class nerd when they got to talking science and computers and all the stuff she excelled at, but her outward innocence hid the heart and soul of a truly adventurous vixen.
And with that single, sexy, adorable wink, Finnegan O'Toole fell.
Hard.
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She wondered if Finn knew she'd never gone down on a guy in her life, not until she'd met her first Nyrians. She was such a fake, but she must be doing something right because she could swear Finn's eyes just about crossed.
She'd read all the books and even watched more than her share of porn, but it was totally different, doing this for real. The Nyrians had tasted different, almost like cookies, but Finn had a musky, male scent and flavor that reached her on a totally visceral level. She couldn't get enough of him, and damn it, but she really liked the guy.
He wasn't the predator he'd said he was. Maybe he had been, but like the rest of them, he'd changed. She knew she had. She'd learned more about herself over the past few days than she'd ever dreamed. She was stronger than she'd thought. Sexier, and much more self-confident.
And she'd discovered that she really, really loved sex. The Nyrians had taught her that. It was easy to be uninhibited with them, knowing sex would help save their lives.
Maybe it was time to save herselfâand Finn. She swirled her tongue around Finn's penis and teased the tiny eye at the top. He was already leaking those first, pearly drops, but unlike Xinot and the other guys, his tasted salty, almost bitterâand somehow absolutely wonderful.
Suddenly he had his big hands on her arms and he was lifting her away, rolling her over and holding her flat to the bed with his fingers tangled in hers. He loomed over her, all muscle and tousled hair, his chest heaving with each breath and those gorgeous green eyes glittering like chips of emerald.
His cock was so hard that it rose up against his belly in a graceful curve, all shiny from her mouth. She wanted it inside her. Now. So much it was hard to breathe for wanting him.
Finn tightened his grip on her hands, holding her still. He let out a big breath and his nostrils flared. “Lizzie, I've been trying my damnedest not to push you. You're so young and I had you pegged as sweet and sexy but a little too innocent for a guy like me. I didn't want to hurt you, but girl, that's not how it is at all, is it? You are sweet, and for all your bravado, I think you're still pretty innocent, but I'm afraid that if anyone's going to get hurt, it's going to be me. Do you have any idea what you do to me? How much I want you?”
Her eyes filled with tears. So not cool, but he looked so desperate and even a little afraid, and that was more touching than anything she could imagine. “Actually, Finn, I do know. I want you just as badly, and you do things to me I never imagined. I didn't see this coming, did you?” She laughed, but the sound broke on a sob and left her sniffing and wishing she could wipe her eyes before the tears spilled.
Finn leaned over and kissed the tears from the corners of her eyes. Kissed her lips, her throat, her breasts. Then he turned her hands free and slid down between her legs. He took his own sweet time about kissing his way from her knees, along her inner thighs, around all the important stuff to the slight swell of her belly.
She arched her hips and he grinned at her, but then he lowered his mouth between her legs and she started crying for real. She'd never experienced anything like this. Never, and it was beautiful and sweet and scary because he made her feel things she hadn't expected.
Made her want even more. Her first climax rolled through her and she clamped her knees against his shoulders, but he kept licking and sucking until he took her over again. She'd barely caught her breath when he backed away, grabbed his cock in his hand, and aimed it directly between her legs.
Damn, she wasn't even close to being a virgin, but she'd never taken anything this big in her life. He filled her, stretched all those tender places, and she cried out because it was so damned good, so perfectly beautiful to have him deep inside and to be looking into those glittering eyes and know she'd done this to him. She'd taken this totally sexy guy, expecting to have some good sex, and she'd gotten so much more.
She felt her third climax building, but she didn't want to go alone. She clutched at his buttocks and pulled him close, digging her nails into the taut muscles. He sped up, thrusting hard and deep in short, fast strokes, taking her with him, taking both of them over the top. As she hung there, suspended for an interminable period of time, she felt his thoughts clinging to hers, felt the need and the love and the amazement that they should be this good together.
And then, as quickly as they'd connected, she joined him in free fall as they tumbled over together. The connection faded, but it couldn't be denied. More than their usual telepathyâthis was something altogether unique.
Long minutes later Finn got up, went into the bathroom, and came back with a warm washcloth. He sat on the bed beside her and gently parted her thighs. Embarrassed, she tried to press them together. He stopped her with a gentle hand on her belly.
“Let me do this. Please?”
Heat flooded her chest and face, but she nodded, and he carefully bathed her, washing away the sticky remnants of his ejaculate, treating her as if she were some delicate porcelain doll. When he was finished, he carried the washcloth over to the hamper and tossed it in. Then he crawled into bed beside her and tucked her close against his shoulder.
“Thank you, Lizzie.” He took a deep breath. “I didn't expect that.”
“Expect what?”
He shrugged. “You. Me. That amazing connection. I felt something similar with Tara and Duran, and it blew me away. This, with you? It was even more powerful. Sorta scary, you know?” He leaned over and kissed her.
“I know,” she said. She was glad he'd admitted that, because it was scary. Because she didn't know what it meant, but she fully intended to find out. And that was good, too. It was all good. Then she had a weird thought. “Have you ever made love with a friend before?”
He shook his head. “Until Tara and Duran, I'd never made love. Had a lot of sex, but never made love. You're the first, Lizzie. The first real friend I've ever made love with.”
He kissed her again. Slowly. Softly.
“Me, too. You. Me.” Damn. She laughed. “I are a good talker, huh?” He chuckled softly and she licked her lips. Tasted him and decided it was a really good taste. “You're the first time for me, too, Finn. It makes everything . . .” She shrugged, still at a loss for words. “Special. Really, really special.”
She was still thinking of all the good in her life when she finally fell asleep, wrapped in Finn's arms.
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Mac blinked, vaguely aware that the sun was up and it was shining directly into his bedroom window. Squinting against the brilliant light, he stretchedâand bumped into Dink. He rolled his head to the side and grinned. Hell, Dink even looked good asleep. He tried to remember if he'd dreamed of Zianne, but he'd slept the night through.
Damn. He was really hoping that those dreams would become a regular thing. She'd come to him the first time because of fantasy. Why not now? And then he remembered that first time he'd had sex with Dink over twenty years ago, how they'd awakened the next morning, he'd rolled over and . . .
He rolled over, and found himself gazing at the most beloved face he'd never thought to see in his bed.
Zianne?
He tried to say her name, but no sound came out. He reached for her, wanting to wake her but afraid he'd discover she wasn't real.
Damn, but he couldn't stand the suspense.
He stretched his fingers out to touch her hair, and his calluses snagged in silken strands. Carefully, gently, he ran his hand over her dark hair, along her shoulder, following the line of her hip. She groaned softly and stretched, and then she turned to him and opened her eyes.
Amethyst eyes. Perfect violet eyes, framed in lush, dark lashes. “Mac? Am I here? Really here?”
He nodded, almost afraid to speak. “How?”
She shook her head, obviously confused. “I was so weak, so depleted, that even with my soulstone I couldn't maintain any form. I remember Nyria, and making love with you, but I wasn't strong enough to stay.”
“Will you stay now?”
“I think so. I feel . . .” She held up her arms and turned her hands this way and that. “I feel good. Like me again. I think my soulstone needed time, but I'm whole, now.” She looked past him. Raised up on her elbow. “Hello, Dink. You're here, too!”