I pressed reverent kisses to her temple and across Addison's forehead as I shuddered with my release. More than anything, I'd discovered bliss in her welcoming arms.

"I...do I stop?" She sounded unsure and nervous as she held me gently.

"I don't ever want you to stop." My voice was rough with pleasure and it surprised even me. Honestly, I'd stay hard for hours. In our Ilharus our bodies would be primed for bonding. It was almost like a short heat of sorts --at least that's the best description I could give by her human standards. But her hand left me, all the same.

I kissed a trail down the side of her face until I got to her lips. Those tempting lips that I could see in my mind's eye. She's biting it. I would bet anything on it. I kissed the corner of her mouth and found I was right.

I pressed closer to my female, snuggled against me in our bed. The sheets rustling sent up a plume of scent, hot and needy, into the space around us. "I want to touch you," I pecked her lips, giving small chaste kisses, over and over, "to bring you pleasure."

I felt her tense in my arms and immediately I knew that we were moving toward territory that she would be uncomfortable with. But, her scent deepened, turning into a heady rich flavor I could taste on my tongue when I breathed.

"I don't think..." her voice was barely a whisper, but it was a denial. Her body and soul may want me, but if her mind didn't yet I was unwilling to press. Regardless, the fact that she'd brought me pleasure and I'd given her nothing in return stressed some deep and primal part of me.

I hushed her worries that I could feel building between our bond, "I won't push you. I only ever want you to be comfortable," I debated sharing my insecurities with her. She's your mate you should be open with her. "I am nervous...too." I started hesitantly.

It was an unfamiliar territory for me. I shared insecurities and deep things with my Riniere, but they were an extension of me and we'd known each other for most of our lives. Addison, while my soul had known her since creation was a different creature that I was afraid of frightening away. Even now when I thought about the fact that she could choose to leave me in 6 months, my heart would stutter away in my chest feeling the phantom pull of that distance.

"You're nervous?" She sounded disbelieving.

"I'm always nervous around you. I want to please you. I want you to want to stay with me. I'm worried I'll make one mistake and scare you away from me. The fact that you touched me and pleasured me and I've given nothing in return...stresses me...desperately. Every part of my being is urging me to show you that I can keep you here in this bed pleasured and pink. It is an aspect of Val'Dornn culture that a relationship is a bond of equals the pleasure one receives is then again given to the other."

Her small fingers traced my brow down to my jaw and then drifted over my lips, "What if I told you it was a pleasure to touch you?"

Sometimes when she was bold, her voice would get huskier and a little breathy. It went straight to my cock. Her words sent a flood of heat through my body. She likes touching you. She likes your body. She still felt tense in my arms and I hadn't forgotten her refusal, so I pressed a warm kiss to her lips and tangled my tongue with her when she opened for me so sweetly. I pulled away, "I will not push you. When you are ready for the pleasure that I owe you, you only have to ask. I will be anxiously waiting and for each day that it's overdue my debt will increase. I will owe you more and more until the day that I can have you open in this bed for hours. Do you understand Addy?"

She sucked in a little breath, "I understand."

"Stay here. I will get a cloth to clean us up." I exited our bedroom that smelled so strongly of our mutual lusts and felt a faint pulse of nerves from her. I couldn't figure out what concerned her until I returned. With the door to our bedroom opened the faint dim light spilled onto the sheets setting Addison's pale curves aglow.

The nervous feeling in my gut got stronger the longer I stood there and stared at her. She was bare save the soft white undergarment that encased her hips and sex. Her freckles dotted her entire body from the swell of her small breasts to her hips and down her legs. I wanted to kiss each one of them and count them all until I memorized them.

She didn't hide from you. She stayed here so sweetly and is letting you look at her. "You are the most exquisite thing I have ever looked at." Just like the bubble of nerves in my stomach burst and was replaced by pleasure.

"You're beautiful too." Soft words, but they felt like a physical touch.

I craved it. I craved her approval, her pleasure, her love. Anything and everything that I could get, I wanted it. I was a greedy male when it came to my mate.

The bed dipped under my weight, "Can I touch you? To clean up this mess."

"Yes."

The word was a victory. I remember an Addison that would have never allowed this contact. I swiped the warm cloth along her stomach and up between her breasts, wiping away the proof of our intimacy. She involuntarily arched into my touch. From my position over her as I swiped at her skin, the action was almost too much.

I tossed the cloth onto the ground. I'll clean it up in the morning when I get up before her. For now, I want to enjoy the feel of her beside me. I rejoined her under the covers, "Do you want me to hold you whi--" I hadn't even finished the question before she'd pulled my arms around her and pressed herself up against me.

"Yes." She pressed her cool hands to my chest and snuggled into me.

Addison fell asleep quickly in my arms, between one breath and the next. I watched her for a few minutes, just enjoying the view of my female in my arms. "I love you, Addison Kane. With every thread of my soul, I love you." I liked to believe she smiled as I said it.

*****A/N*****

Super pleased I got this update up before midnight. Every Tuesday I go to weekly ranked trivia down at the beach near where I live and sometimes with it being so late and I all I have to fight the lazy part of my mind that keeps saying "it's late just go to sleep and do it tomorrow". If any of you knew me in person, you'd know that's never a good choice. I'm a serial procrastinator and quitter of stories. I'm trying to teach myself some manner of discipline and stick-to-it-ness.

That being said, updates may be a little sporadic over the next few days because my work schedule is a little suboptimal this week. I've got a bunch of shifts in the middle of the day to late closing, so I won't have time to write aside from the very early mornings. Next week I'm like off, though so I'm jazzed to have all that time to write.

Stay lovely,

Layla