Free Venomous: Erotic Science Fiction Romance (Alien Warrior Book 1) by Penelope Fletcher Page A

awed by my wetness, so the logical assumption was his species’ females were dry and the friction of pounding back and forth would hurt.
    “Listen, I....” I turned my head away. “How can I still be scared of offending you? I don’t want you think I’m weak, but how can you not when I behave this way?”
    “No fear. Lumen weak body. Venomous One born warrior. Am strong.” He brushed a ridged knuckle across my cheek. “Lumen warrior mind and heart. Know this. Light of the stars lead me do better. Speak.”
    I snuck a peek at him and found his gaze direct.
    Nonjudgmental.
    “This isn’t easy for me,” I mumbled. “I only had sex before this with my ex and it wasn’t a casual relationship. We were committed. Well, I was, at least. ”
    His body turned to stone under my fingers, the hiss escaping his lips the most menacing thing I’d heard.
    I cringed back into the furs.
    His eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. “Other male?”
    “Y-yes. Before I met you. Obviously.”
    His head lowered as he gave me that fearsome black glare.
    I felt oddly defensive, as if I’d broken trust with him.
    Come on, I don’t owe him jack.
    “I wanted to share that with him so I did.” I managed to glare back though mine was less scary. He didn’t react at all. “I thought we would be together forever, sappy as that sounds. I wouldn’t have wasted it on him had I known what a bad bet he was.” My bruised heart ached. I huffed, shrugging it off. “Why are we even talking about this? It’s not your business.”
    His body tensed further and his gaze turned icy. “L’Odo take from male’s lair?”
    “He left me over a year ago.” I repressed the old pain when it threatened to rise. “People tend to do that with me.”
    Lowering, his expression changed.
    He rubbed his forehead with infinite care against mine. “Mate die. Lesser mate leave unprotected. Mine poor Rä’Na. No worrying. Am very strong. Hard to kill.”
    Well, I wasn’t going to enlighten him of the erroneous notion my ex was deceased if it kept him friendly.
    Touched he tried to comfort me, hesitant, I squeezed his shoulders. “You certainly are.”
    Giving up the pretence of not being fascinated, I gazed upon him with a grudging kind of respect.
    I set aside how appalled I’d been to watch him fight for me.
    The other painful stuff, I blotted out altogether.
    I said, “You tore those things in the arena to pieces.”
    The benefits of having that kind of strength as my protection was nothing to sniff at.
    Amused, Venomous’ head tilted. “Because mine. Lumen awakened mine anima. Call forth seed stem.” He rubbed me up with his body. “Soft and smooth.” He stilled. “No other touch. Keep legs closed.”
    My mouth dropped open.
    Without thinking, I smacked his chest. “Did I deserve that? No. Yes, I had sex with you before I knew your name, but you didn’t give me a choice in the matter. I’m not like that under normal circumstances.” An indignant look. “I’m not.”
    “Sex musk sweet.” His tongue flickered. “Arousing.”
    I threw an arm over my eyes. “Sex musk? Seriously?”
    “Other males scent. Challenge He, Venomous One. Present no other.” His plated forehead tilted to a jutting angle, as if ready to charge an imagined rival. Warm hands gripped my knees as his other two bracketed my head. “Keep closed.”
    “Whatever you say.”
    Granted, Venomous was scary-looking, but he seemed to care enough for my safety to make me believe he’d keep the others from harming me.
    “You don’t have to warn me. I get this is the safest I’ve been since I got here. I have many faults, but a lack of intelligence isn’t one.”
    He stood pulling me after him. “Enough fucking.”
    I froze in the act of bending over to pick my panties up off the floor.
    Shuddered.
    He’d said the word fucking in English, and it sounded so inhuman coming from his lips chills rippled across my scalp and down my spine.
    Unconcerned by my reaction to his