“And bleed red blood?” she said. “I noticed one of the little ones had a cut on its hip.”
He nodded. “I’ve never heard of vertebrates on planets with atmospheres comparable to Purvel’s bleeding any other color.”
She seemed to ponder that as she finished the nutrient cube. “I saw some nuts we could try.”
He’d seen some, too, and had noted the leapers’ lack of interest in them. “We should cook any nuts we find before trying them. Many nuts on Purvel are bitter and can make you ill if they aren’t cooked first.”
“Okay.” She still seemed weighted with concern though.
He took one of her hands in his. “What troubles you, Ava?”
She sighed. “I’m just worried that anything we try might make you sick.”
“Only me?” he asked.
One shoulder lifted in a shrug. “The virus the Gathendiens infected me with renders me immune to all illnesses and poisons.”
“On Earth,” he pointed out.
Her brow puckered slightly as she stared down at their clasped hands. “True.”
When the Gathendiens had thrust her into his cell, he had worried that the viruses the grunarks had exposed him to would infect her, but they hadn’t. “We’ll be careful.”
She nodded. Lifting her gaze to meet his, she tightened her hold on his hand. “I just don’t want to lose you.”
The words hit him right in the chest and affected him as strongly as her kisses had.
A heartbeat passed as they stared at each other. Then Jak’ri swept the canteens aside, rose onto his knees, and reached for her.
Of the same mind, Ava was already on her knees and tilting her face up when he locked his arms around her and drew her closer.
She hummed in pleasure when he claimed her lips, her tongue darting out to stoke and tease his as she tunneled her fingers through his hair.
Heat seared him. “I like this tongue kissing,” he growled.
“I do, too,” she said breathlessly before he captured her full lips once more. Shifting, she rubbed her breasts against him. So different from the chests of Purveli women. So incredibly soft and alluring. Her hips sought his. “Lift me up,” she whispered, barely breaking the kiss.
“Srul yes.” Sliding his hands down her narrow back to clasp her bottom, he lifted her until her breasts rubbed against his chest instead of his upper abdomen. Then he sat back on his heels.
Ava parted her legs, knees sliding to either side of his hips as she scooted forward until the heart of her made contact with his hard shaft.
“Yes,” both breathed.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Ava tugged at Jak’ri’s shirt. “Take it off.”
He swiftly yanked it over his head and tossed it aside.
All those muscles, she thought as she stared at him. Firm. Rippling with every movement. No excess flesh anywhere. And that skin…
“I love your skin,” she whispered, running her hands across his broad shoulders and down his strong biceps. “Or scales. Is it scales?” Upon close inspection, it looked like scales. But it felt like skin. Soft. With a silvery hue that did the same thing oil in water did… creating flickers of rainbow colors in certain lights or at certain angles.
“Scales,” he murmured distractedly as he sought the ties on her shirt and unfastened them.
Ava felt a moment of uncertainty as he parted the fabric and pushed it off her shoulders, leaving her bare from the waist up. She wasn’t by any stretch of the imagination what one might call big breasted and had often envied some of her friends’ fuller figures. Add to that the weight she’d lost when she was too sick to eat anything during her transformation, her more prominent rib cage, and…
Yeah. She would never qualify as a lingerie model.
But Jak’ri exhibited no disappointment. Instead, he looked enthralled as he studied her pale flesh.
Excitement skittered through her as he rested his big hands on her shoulders.
“You aren’t built like our women,” he said softly. His words bore no condemnation though. Instead, he seemed… entranced.
“How am I different?” she asked softly.
“Your shoulders aren’t as broad. It lends you an air of fragility that I know is alluringly deceptive.”
For someone who had envied Eliana her strength and wished to be viewed the same way, that compliment topped any others she had received in her life.
He drew his fingers down over her collarbones, drifting closer to her breasts. “The muscles here on our women are often as developed as ours.” Judging by the heated look in his eyes, he didn’t mind at all that she had breasts instead of muscular pecs. “And here…”
Her pulse picked up as he cupped her breasts.
“You’re rounder here. Softer. Fuller.” He squeezed them gently and drew his thumbs across the hard, sensitive peaks.
Ava sucked in a breath as sensation shot through her. “Do that again.”
He brushed his thumbs across the tight buds again, toyed with them, and gave one an experimental pinch.
Ava jerked and arched against him.
“You’re sensitive here,” he murmured.
“Yes.”
His lips captured hers once more, tasting and tempting as he explored her breasts and ratcheted up her need. She and Jak’ri had been nearly bare with each other countless times in their dreams as they swam and cavorted in Runaka Sea. But they had been out in the open. And the dreams had felt so real that she would never have thought of pursuing her lustful inclinations there for fear of being discovered.
Now, however, they were alone. They were free. And the cave enclosing them might as well have been a honeymoon suite at a secluded resort. So there was no reason for her to hold back.
She moaned.
Jak’ri certainly wasn’t holding back. The women of Purvel might not have breasts like hers but he sure as hell knew what to do with them, teasing and tweaking and squeezing until she squirmed against him, her breath shortening.
“Jak’ri,” she whispered, tunneling the fingers of one hand through his thick hair while she slid the other down his back and rocked against the thick, hard ridge concealed by his pants. “I want you.”
Nodding, he trailed heated kisses down her neck. “I want you, too.” One of his big hands left her breast and cupped her ass, grinding her against him. “Are you ready to release your eggs?”
Sensation shot through her. “Hmm?”
“Are you ready to release your eggs so I can fertilize them?” he murmured, clutching her closer.
Her eyes flew open. “Wait. What?”
He leaned back. “I assume you reproduce the same way Purvelis do,” he said, dragging his eyes up from her breasts to meet hers. “You release your eggs. Then I fertilize them.”
She stared at him, stunned. Release her eggs? Did he mean like a… like a fish?
Her gaze shot to the barely discernible scales that coated his broad chest and handsome face. Did Purvelis not have sex the way humans and Lasarans did?
His lips twitched as his eyes danced with mirth.
Relief filled her. “Oh my gosh!” Laughing, Ava shoved one of his shoulders. “You are so bad!”
He laughed. “Apologies. I couldn’t resist. My scales seem to fascinate you.”