Free AFamiliarFace by Marie Harte Page A

thought, floundering in sensation. In the shadows, in the stark reality of Core’s world, she surrendered her body, mind and soul to her lover’s touch.
    He sucked and nipped and tugged on her flesh. Her clit plumped painfully, her arousal a thirst only he could quench. He pushed a third finger into her pussy, then penetrated her anus with a finger from his other hand. All the while he lapped her cream, swallowing her scent.
    “Core.” She shattered, his fingers and mouth more than she could bear. She rocked into him, her orgasm obliterating all thought. Pleasure pounded, coursed, and filled her until she could see nothing but Core’s eyes, feel nothing but his hands on her body.   
    “That’s it, kina . Now I truly wear your scent, as you wear mine.” He sounded more than satisfied as he took his time setting her clothing to rights. With a last lick over her sensitive clit, he rose and snapped her trousers in place, lowering her shirt as well to cover her sticky belly—covered in his cum.
    “You did that on purpose,” she gasped. He’s marked her like his possession.
    “Of course I did.” He smiled, a large, toothy grin full of smug male superiority that should have irritated. Instead, he tore down more of her walls guarding her heart. Such an arrogant, loveable warrior. “I would not have it known I cannot satisfy my mate—my lover.”
    She frowned. “Your what?”
    “Come, kina . The nest awaits.”
    “I’m not finished with you.” She followed him past several grinning warriors now visible in the long grasses and slim trees they neared. How insane was she that she’d just had mind-blowing sex in front of half a dozen men? Crazy in love, Sheila would say. And the thought had her stumbling over a root in the ground, right into Core’s back.
    “Easy, kina . I know you’re eager for more of me, but wait a little bit longer.”
    “Very funny.” She caught the bright smile he flashed over his shoulder and realized how much she liked seeing him happy. Whether it was the incredible sex or the return to his people, Core acted like a man satisfied with life.
    As she entered a hidden cave nestled under a ton of vines and the spiky black bark of protective trees, she considered the Talians and what she knew of them. The males couldn’t hurt the females, a notion drilled into them from birth. The warriors lived to serve the nest—a group, like a neighborhood—of Talians. But to Core, his nest meant the whole of his people.
    According to what he’d told her during their journey here, the population raised their young, a notion both foreign and welcome to Mallory. She could only wonder what her life might have been like had anyone but her selfish parents raised her. Really, she surprised herself at how differently she’d turned out, when by rights she should have been a spoiled, self-serving rich witch— bitch . Same thing.
    They had walked for several minutes in sheer darkness before Core guided her left and into the faintest trace of light.
    “Let your eyes adjust,” he said quietly and turned to address the men she hadn’t heard following her.    
    She could feel their eyes on her while they conversed with Core, but thankfully no one remarked on her candid sexual escapade. Lord, what would Sherm and Sheila say to that? Knowing Sheila, probably, “Go girl.”  Mal couldn’t help but grin.
    Though she missed her friends dearly, she wouldn’t have traded one minute with Core in this place. A certain change from what she was used to, time spent in this danger-filled land made her appreciate what life should really be about.
    “Mallory, I have to see to the wounded. Perhaps you would go with Luar and Blite to tour the site?”
    “Let me come with you. I might be able to help.”
    He stared at her a minute and nodded, the faint light surrounding them making him appear larger in shadow.
    They moved into a larger space and several of the men following broke off, while three remained in