Wicked Ties (The Tether Trilogy Book 2)

I’m hardly ever surprised by anything, yet what I’ve encountered on Earth in less than two hours has been rather…interesting.

Their way of living is unique. Not a soul walks around with guns or weapons—at least, not that I can see. Everyone has a car, and I’ve not seen a single horse. There are enormous buildings that touch the sky, taller than any palace or castle I’ve ever seen. Willow calls them skyscrapers.

It’s all so new and fascinating…yet oddly terrifying. Now I see why she was so petrified when she came to Vakeeli. Here, she lives in peace. No one is pointing guns at her constantly or posing a threat with their words. Everyone minds their own or looks the opposite way. That doesn’t happen where I’m from. There, we’re all in survival mode, trying to stay alive another day.

When we’ve returned to her apartment, Willow locks the door behind me while I stand in the middle of the main room. There’s odd furniture here—a sofa shaped like the letter L with unusual brown material on it and a wooden table in the center. The kitchen is all silver and white, with bubble-ish hanging lights above the island. A wall of windows is ahead, revealing the outdoors. Vehicles are lined up closely, albeit neatly, and face our side of the building. I narrow my eyes to make sure there aren’t people inside those vehicles looking in. They all appear vacant.

I shift on my feet and release a slow breath. All of this is strange and foreign, and I’ve never felt more out of place. As if Willow senses that, she walks to me and says, “How about a shower?”

I nod, and she turns for a closet, taking down a thick white towel then walking across the room to a closed door. She pushes the door open, flips a light switch, and reveals a bathroom. I move closer as she places the towel on the edge of the sink.

“I can wash your clothes so you can wear them tomorrow,” she offers as she starts the shower.

“Why would you wash them? Where is your house maiden?” I ask.

She breaks out in laughter. “We do our own laundry around here, buddy. Come on, clothes off. I’ll see if I can dig through some of my brother’s old stuff and find you some shorts or something.”

She starts to leave, but I capture her by the wrist before she can go. Her eyes flicker up to mine, soft and burning with curiosity.

“Shower with me,” I murmur.

Her eyes expand and her throat bobs as she digests my request. The truth is I don’t want her away from me. I’m afraid to let her out of my sight.

I expect her to find an excuse, but instead, she walks out of the bathroom, collects another towel, then returns, shutting the door behind her.

When she does, the steam from the shower billows inside the bathroom and she drops the towel, pulling her shirt over her head and tossing that too.

“A little hand?” she asks, turning her back to me. She taps at the latch on the back of her bra.

“Right. Those dreadful Vakeeli bras.” I unclasp the first hook with a smirk, untie the string that keeps it together, and then undo the second hook. When it’s loose, she pulls the bra off, and I can’t help looking at her reflection in the mirror. Her breasts sit perfectly on her chest, her brown nipples piqued to perfection. Dropping the bra, she attempts to cover herself up.

“No.” I turn her around to face me, my eyes sweeping up and down the length of her. “Don’t. Let me look at you.”

She breathes evenly, standing before me, a woman in all her glory. I reach for the waistband of her sweatpants and tug them down. Then I help her out of her panties. When she’s naked, I scan her body, and my dick spasms at the sight of her. Other universe or not, my body still reacts in an insanely carnal way.

“You’re a treasure, Willow.”

She fights a smile, biting her bottom lip. “Are we showering or what?”

I step back to undress while she watches every garment come off with awe. When we’re both naked, there’s a shift in the energy and a buzzing in my blood. We study each other’s bodies as if we’ve never seen each other naked before, and I don’t know what it is about this moment, but I find it rather intense. Never have I laid myself bare for anyone, and I feel both powerful and vulnerable.

Here, our thoughts are inhibited, and there’s something oddly terrifying about that because now I long to hear her thoughts—to know what she thinks as she looks at me. However, there’s an allure to it—us trying to figure one another out. What we want. What we need.

I’m not sure what comes over me in this moment, but I want her. I want her more than I want my next breath. I crave her body in my hands, her flesh on my tongue, so much so that I pick her up and place her ass on the edge of the counter.

A small yelp escapes her as I clasp her face in my hands and maneuver my hips between her thighs. Like a flower in bloom, she opens herself to me, thighs spreading farther apart. My dick grazes her pussy and pulses to life as I tangle my fingers in her locs. She cups my face with a delicious moan, and I coax her mouth open, stealing a taste of what’s mine.

Dragging my lips from her mouth to the crook of her neck before trailing down to her breasts, I suck each dark nipple into my mouth until they’re firm, then drag my lips back up to hers again. There’s so much energy running through me, the blood pumping straight to my dick. I’m harder now, throbbing, and I bring her ass to the edge of the counter, angling her hips. I slide one finger inside her, then another, and she moans hotly on my mouth, her fingernails sinking into the flesh of my shoulder blade.

“My mate,” I breathe, and she moans. “I need to be inside you.”

She nods, kissing the corners of my mouth, my cheeks, my chin—anywhere she can place her lips. “I need that too,” she whispers.

I pull my fingers away, gripping the base of my swelling dick, and she spreads her thighs farther apart. The magenta flesh between them glistens, and a wave of heat rushes through me.

I need to taste her. Right now.

I lower to one knee as she draws in a breath, brewing with anticipation. My eyes flicker up to hers as I clutch her hips, and when they connect, I bury my tongue in her pussy. Her moans fly to the ceiling, bouncing back, and Love of Vakeeli, she’s delicious.

She threads her fingers through my hair, her moans growing louder as I circle my tongue around her swelling clit. I’m dying to be inside her, and I sense that ache as my dick pulses, aching with need, but she tastes too good to stop.

I almost lost moments like this—eating her pussy, devouring her whole. It would’ve been an unbearable loss, and the thought of it causes me to growl and slip my tongue into the tight hole of her cunt.

“Oh, God, Caz,” she whimpers, her back bucking. I look up, and she’s tossed her head backward, her hair a waterfall swimming over her shoulders and down her spine. Groaning, I suck her clit until it’s swollen then kiss it, nip it, devour it, until she detonates. She cries my name with a handful of my hair in her clutches.

The sounds she creates. Fuck. I can’t hold off any longer. I stand up with my dick hard as Vakeeli steel and thrust halfway inside her. She instantly clenches around me, and I’m surprised I don’t come from that action alone.

“Oh, Willow,” I groan. I expel a breath, bracing myself for the rest of my dick to be inside her. She feels so good. So tight and wet. She wraps around me like a glove.

I cup her waist, pushing farther in, inch by savory inch. Her mouth parts wider, and when I’m all in, her body tenses and her breath shudders, as if the size of my dick is almost too much to bear. When I thrust, that tension leaves her body, and she melts in my arms.

I lean forward so her back hits the foggy mirror. Her moans grow louder, and she whispers my name as I propel myself deeper, wanting her to feel all of me. Wanting to feel all of her.

“Look at you,” I breathe, clasping her chin between my fingers. “Taking me so well. So damn wet for me.”

Her eyes practically roll to the back of her skull, and I find delight in that—my words being enough to tip her over the edge.

I drop my mouth on hers, crushing her soft lips, swelling inside her, coming closer to climax. She clings to me, her arms wrapped tight around my ribs. The bathroom has doubled with thick steam from the shower, drowning us in a fog, and I don’t stop—not until a groan rips out of me and I’m left with no choice but to come.

“Oh, fuck.” My forehead drops to her shoulder as I come. There’s no way I can pull out right now. Are you kidding me? I’m literally convulsing with this release.

I empty inside her as she holds me close, laying gentle kisses on my cheeks and lips. Then I sigh when I realize this is home—here, in her arms. It doesn’t matter where we are or what world we’re in—as long as I’m wrapped up in her, I’m safe. Sluggishly, I withdraw, and she looks up at me with a sated smile.

“We can shower now,” I tell her, and she giggles.

We do shower, but when we’re inside, I can’t help myself as I cup her waist and reel her in to kiss her again. A heavy moan escapes her, but it’s nowhere near as loud as the moan I hear when I press her back against one of the shower walls and drop to my knees.

“Caz,” she breathes as the water spills over us.

“Be still,” I murmur, then I bring my mouth to her pussy. What can I say? I can’t get enough of her taste. She cries out as I feast on what’s mine. I circle my tongue around her clit, then lap it up and down, repeating these actions to work her up. I can tell she needs this—to be finished off again, to be completely satisfied—and I want to be the one who does that for her. I want to take away all the tension in her body and swallow it down. I want to be the one to rid her of all her worries, if only for now, so I eat my mate’s pussy and I don’t stop until she hums my name again.

She finishes herself off by thrusting her hips and grinding on my mouth, and when she stills, I lay a kiss on her pelvis. A soft moan fills the shower, and she looks down at me with a warm smile.

Standing again, I cup the back of her head and steal another kiss. I could go on forever, take her in every single way, but this is enough…for now.

A sigh breaks free as she kisses me back, and then we shower (seriously this time). I’ve never showered with a woman before, but it’s like we’ve done it many times together. It comes naturally with the way we wash, rinse, and steal kisses in between.

I like it and I want more moments just like this. And we’ll have them as soon as I figure out how to kill Decius.