Just a Kiss [The Tiburon Duet] Read online

  "Right. Sorry. How did she die, anyway?” Gabrielle tried to change the subject at hand again.

  "It was ... just her time. Thinking on it now, I believe she must have known this was her final trip abroad. She lived a long and happy life, but she wasn't expected to pass on during this trip. I was her husband for a long while, and she was a very dear soul. I'll miss her."

  "Uh-huh. She was older than you, I'm guessing?” Gabrielle hated this subject.

  "Yes."

  "I don't want to be your new fifth wife, Keller,” she stated clearly, trying to get him to understand. Lip touching expert or not, orgasms while kissing not withstanding, bottom line, Gabrielle still didn't want to life partner with someone and then share him with his other women.

  Not going to happen.

  "Okay,” he agreed, and his eyebrows scrunched again in confusion.

  They were talking, but she had a feeling they were not necessarily communicating. If kissing meant two different things, then perhaps other words were multi-meaning, too.

  Gabrielle gave herself a pop on the forehead, resisting the urge to say ‘Duh’ to herself.

  "What does life partner mean?” she asked.

  "It means we will be together for the remainder of our lives. One flesh. We will have children to proliferate my lineage. We will go to social gatherings together. Sleep together. Live our lives together."

  "Then what does wife mean?"

  "Husbands and wives are—” he stopped to search the air for a word, “—in a trade together."

  "Do you have any husbands?” she asked, smiling with sudden clarity.

  "Yes, of course. I have fifteen of them."

  Gabrielle laughed out loud. He gave her a sour look in return. Clearly, he did not understand her amusement.

  "So wives and husband do not touch mouths together."

  "Of course not. We merely conduct business for commerce, like a job in your world."

  "Okay, then I'll stop feeling jealous,” Gabrielle said quietly.

  "I know what jealous is,” he responded with an amused smile on his face. “Are you jealous of my wives? You have no reason to be. You are the only woman who has ever touched my lips."

  "Why were they in such a hurry to get you to your wife Maura then?"

  "She is renowned in kiss ... I mean, hand touching. She has a gift. She could have healed me quickly. That's all. No mouth kissing.” He stepped closer to her, but not quite into her personal space as if to lend sincerity to the words he spoke.

  "Okay.” Gabrielle nodded. Perhaps they were communicating after all.

  "You will life partner with me?” he asked, his utter surprise showing.

  "No, just..."

  "I see I must still convince you to be my life partner. What can I do to persuade you? What is your primary objection?"

  "How about—we're strangers? How about—we're different species from different planets, for God's sake?” She waved her arms about in exasperation, at least as much as she could with the stupid chains still on her wrists.

  "We are no longer strangers, Gabrielle.” Keller said her name for the first time, and it stopped her cold. Poetry on his lips. She shook her head, refusing to be lulled by his sultry, sexy voice.

  "Yes, we are strangers. We only know what each other's mouth feels like. While the experience is wonderful, it's not enough to base a lifelong relationship on.” She genuinely tried to sound convincing. In fact, lots of people married for much less, as she well knew.

  Stop it. Do not let him talk you into this.

  "What do you need to know to life partner with me, Gabrielle?” he asked, crossing his arms and sounding entirely too reasonable. He caressed her by merely saying her name. He leaned closer. She did not step away.

  "Lots of things. For example, what do you do for a living?” At his puzzled look, she added, “What job do you have?"

  "Well, besides future King of Tiburon, I'm an explorer and scientist. I was on a mission to Earth to learn about your physical space, land forms, and indigenous plant life."

  "Really, all that brawn and a brain, too,” Gabrielle muttered to herself.

  "What else?” he prodded.

  "What do you do for fun ... or recreation?"

  "Recreation...” He looked up again as if to seek an answer from the dome of stars above them. “I love adventure. I like to explore in my ... spare time. I love watching the universe. I crave ... excitement."

  "On my planet, you'd probably be an extreme sport's guy.” Gabrielle gave a long sigh and said under her breath, “And so not my type."

  "What do you like to do, Gabrielle?"

  I really like to touch my mouth to yours, she thought and felt her face immediately go hot. She was thinking about what he would look like with his armor off. Sexy, probably. All those rippling muscles displayed for her tactile pleasure. She couldn't stop her eyes from straying to the space below his waistline. She'd yet to see him hard and erect. Would he be impressive? Probably, but then again, since they seemed to have sex with their mouths, maybe his equipment was average. Good Lord, she was wondering about the size of his penis! What was wrong with her? Her eyes strayed back up. His face, and especially his eyes, displayed his amusement. Maybe he could read her mind.

  "Your cheeks are suddenly full of color. Are you—embarrassed?"

  "Maybe. I was wondering about your ... size,” she admitted.

  "My size?” He grinned with question in those beautiful silver eyes of his, trying to get the joke.

  Gabrielle gave him a heated look. “Your ... uh ... penis size.” She should check out that area before any further discussion of marriage or life partnering.

  "Oh, I imagine it's adequate enough in size to get the job done."

  "Now, there is proof positive you are not from Earth. All men on my planet think they are massive."

  "Do they now?"

  "Yes. So, are you massive, Keller? Would you fill me to the brink?” She felt a sudden rush of moisture gush below as if in preparation for the possibility he might whip out his mighty cock suddenly to test the capacity of her brink and his ability to fill it.

  "Do you want to find out firsthand?"

  "What? How?” Another gush of wetness released between her legs, and a quivery feeling in her stomach immediately accompanied it. Yes, she wanted to find out.

  Keller smiled deviously and uncrossed his arms. “We could try out some Earth-styled—live porno, as you called it."

  "Now, wait a minute,” Gabrielle said as a tendril of pure want tingled its way down her spine. “I don't think that's a good idea."

  "So, it's okay for us to touch mouths whenever you get close enough to put your lips on mine even though you know it is the ultimate sexual experience for me, but when the tables are turned, you become shy and hesitant. How is that fair?"

  Keller advanced on her as she tried to think of a reason why it wasn't fair. Why shouldn't they check out how they would fit together? There had to be a reason why not. Think, Gabrielle. She couldn't think of a reason right now. Absolutely nothing came to mind except the answer to her question about how big his cock was. She couldn't think as he approached her. The closer he got, the less her brain pathways worked, and the wetter she got in anticipation of the notion she was about to have sex with him. Earth-styled sex with a man who could already make her climax by simply touching his mouth to her.

  Wait! shouted the shy voice deep inside her. What about protection?

  "I don't want to get pregnant.” Gabrielle said rationally, mentally thanking her deeply buried voice of reason.

  "You mean reproduce?” At her nod he said, “Not a problem, I can control it."

  "You're trying to talk me into bed. You are just like an Earth man after all."

  Keller crossed the boundary of her personal space and placed his hands on her shoulders. She sucked in a breath at his touch and closed her eyes to hold herself from launching herself at him with her legs open in invitation. She was wet enough to receive whatever he wa
s about to offer.

  He leaned in and whispered in her ear, “I can become fully erect and easily insert my—” he paused as if to search for the Earth word “—cock inside you without losing control, Gabrielle. While it feels like any other skin touching skin and not at all unpleasant, I promise, you won't become pregnant. You can determine if I am massive enough in size for you to consider life partnering with me."

  "Okay,” Gabrielle said more dreamily than she should have. Her insides were liquefied with sexual need. What was she about to do anyway? She hoped she was dreaming because she would never allow a man to talk her into bed this fast in real life.

  Alien or not, he was slick in the seduction department, and now, she was very slick in anticipation of testing their respective ... size capacities. She wanted him with an unreasonable need guiding her. She did want to know whether he was massive or not. The shy voice inside spouting advice of caution and refusal was summarily overruled by her starved libido shouting, ‘Yes! Yes! Yes!'

  "Come over to the table,” he said motioning her, “and I'll show you."

  "Don't you have a bed?” She looked around the austere room. The only decoration were the stars still visible through the glass dome above her.

  "Not needed. The table is more comfortable than it looks. Come.” Keller placed his hand on the surface of the marble, patting it twice in invitation.

  "Can you get these chains off me first?” She held up her wrists to him.

  "Of course, I'm sorry.” Keller pulled a small key from his belt and approached her.

  "What about the others ... your friends? I don't want them walking in on us,” Gabrielle reasoned as he removed the chains. He tugged at her wrists, propelling her along with him as he retreated back to the stone table. He set the chains on the floor.

  "They will not bother us,” he said quietly. “The door will stay locked until I want it open."

  "You act like this isn't a big deal,” Gabrielle said. “What we are about to do..."

  "We've already done from my point of view, twice,” he said sternly, but then he softened. “I'm sorry. I don't mean to take this lightly. We don't have to do this."

  Oh, yes, we do—at least according to her now-hyped libido. “So—you truly don't get excited by groin-to-groin contact?” Gabrielle was let down in a way. Perhaps this wasn't going to be a body-rocking experience. Or maybe it would be, if he was massive.

  "It's not unpleasant,” he said shrugging. “It is considered more of a ceremony on my planet. Making children is not taken lightly. It's a natural function and not necessarily regarded as a pleasure."

  "But it can be?” Gabrielle asked, climbing up on the unusual slab where he'd lain before. It was softer. It looked like slate but felt like a mattress.

  "I suppose so. I expect with you, it will be a very exciting experience,” and he smiled like a wolf about to dine on lamb.

  "I guess there will be no mouth touching,” she said regretfully.

  "Perhaps later, but let me show you the regular ceremony. You may be surprised. I'm hoping my adequate size will appeal to you once the ceremony is at an end,” he said. “I'm doing this to convince you to life partner with me."

  "Yeah, me, too,” she replied as sultry excitement rippled through her.

  Liar, said the overruled shy voice stuffed way down deep inside.

  * * * *

  Keller removed her clothing slowly. Deliberately. He watched her, carefully. This was pure science for him. He tried to think of it as mouth touching for her sake, but mostly, he diligently watched her reactions to his ministrations. He so wanted to please her and make her happy.

  Once he showed her the ceremony, he intended to place his mouth on hers at the very end. His hunger—his craving for the sweet, exciting taste of her mouth might make him lose control. He would place his mouth on hers—just a peck. Anything deeper would be dangerous for him.

  A heated thought came to him as he wondered what it would feel like if they shared mouth and groin contact at the same time. Gabrielle would be sexually satisfied at the same time he would feel fulfilled. Perhaps he could talk her into a second round to experiment with combining their sexual satisfaction techniques. But first, he needed to convince her they were meant to be together. He believed, with his whole heart, that they were meant for each other.

  He removed her outer clothing, noting that she even had on beautiful underclothing. Her lace-covered breasts with peaking nipples showed though the form-fitting garment. The fragrance of her skin, sweet and yet exotic, was intoxicating, assailing his every breath. He leaned down, pushed the lacy bottom of her camisole upward with two fingers, and nuzzled the soft curve directly below her breasts. The delicious taste of her skin made his lips tingle in anticipation of the ceremony.

  "Do you talk during this ceremony of yours?” she interrupted his fantasy to ask.

  "Not usually, but I could if you like. What do you wish me to say? Complimentary things about your hair and eyes and your tiny form?” He laughed lightly.

  "No, I like quiet. I mean ... no words. Conversation distracts me from the sensations I'm experiencing."

  He slowly pulled her camisole over her head and placed the garment aside, watching the blush that spread from her face down to her pert, bare breasts jutting enticingly at his face. The taut, pink peaks begged to be touched and sucked on. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Almost frail, but he knew she was stronger than she appeared.

  "No talking then. I certainly don't want you distracted.” Keller pushed the lacy wisp of her underwear down her slender hips and gazed in wonder at her perfect stomach and the gold curls at the apex of her legs. Gabrielle was so different from the women on his planet. He took note of every part of her body as he exposed it.

  Keller slid his fingertips lightly up and down her petite body. She possessed the softest skin he'd ever stroked. Her legs, although not long, were slender and sleek. He put his mouth on one of her thighs then brushed his lips lightly across the gold curls. She was wet. The musky scent of her arousal enveloped him, and he wanted to taste her. Soon. He pulled away to finish looking at the rest of her. She had tiny feet with red-tipped toes. Unusual. Incredibly beautiful. He was completely enthralled with her.

  "Can I put my lips on your neck and other places during this ceremony of yours?” she asked.

  He pulled away from her to gain some measure of control.

  No, not a good idea at all, he thought.

  To calm himself, he began the process of removing his body armor.

  "If you want to,” he said, taking pause as a streak of desire ran through him.

  Having her mouth anywhere on his skin was foreplay in his world, but he didn't want her to be afraid to touch him. He'd have to pay attention and not lose himself. If he lost control and impregnated her, it would force the union. Besides, he promised her he wouldn't. He wanted her to come to him willingly.

  At this point, there was a small chance the Council, especially his mother, would not force him to life partner with an indigenous Earth dweller—no matter how much he wanted it.

  Physiologically, their races were nearly identical. However, life partnering with an alien race would set precedence in his royal lineage. Others from Tiburon had mated with beings from the planets they visited, but this was a rare occurrence. Thus far, it had never happened with a member from the royal house. He wondered if his mother was what earthlings called a snob—another interesting word he learned during his brief research about Earth leaders.

  Keller knew he didn't want to be talked out of taking Gabrielle as his life partner. She was the most exciting and delightful woman he'd ever met in any world. Regardless, he couldn't life partner with Lena now. To that end, Maura would be saddened. She was his favorite wife, and he highly respected her. Since he was no longer pure of mouth, his life partner options had become severely limited. Lena, with her impeccable lineage, would no longer be available to him.

  If Gabrielle was deemed inappropriate and
not allowed to partner with him, he still needed to find another partner, someone no longer pure of mouth. If no one existed for him, he might well end up alone.

  The royal line was still safe as his younger brother Kyle could be named heir, but his mother would be disappointed. She had trained him from birth to lead their people. Perhaps no longer being pure of mouth constituted the same loss of stature for his line. He might be forced out.

  The thought should distress him, but he found it did not.

  "Are you ready?” Keller asked, peeling the last of his armor off and then his underclothing. Gabrielle nodded and leaned back, her eyes closed. The expectant look on her face made him smile. He must resist the urge to touch his mouth to hers.

  He crawled up onto the slab, and it automatically expanded wide enough to accommodate them both. Keller lay along her side and propped his head on one hand as his eyes moved over her naked form again. Gabrielle took his breath away, from her engaging blue-eyed face framed with golden hair all the way down to her red-tipped toes. He hardly knew where to start because he wanted to taste every part of her, to touch her everywhere, to love her for life.

  The warmth radiating from her body infused him with raw desire. He trailed a finger from one shoulder, tracing her collarbone, down to the swell of her breast with the rosy tip. He moved his finger across to the other breast, circling the nipple that promptly pebbled under his caress. He ran his thumb across the tip once before skimming his fingers back up to the other shoulder.

  In his scientific opinion, she was absolutely beautiful.

  "Let the ceremony begin,” he said formally as was the custom.

  It was time to convince her that she was his life partner.

  Chapter Five

  Keller placed his hand on her breast and stroked the peak with his thumb until it pebbled. He then did the same to her other one. His touch was tender. His face was a mask of concentration when she dared to peek at him through the slit of her barely open eyes.

  Gabrielle lifted her hand to stroke his face. He closed his eyes in seeming appreciation. His lips grazed her palm in response, then he lifted himself over her until he was on all fours above her. She suddenly lost her nerve and stopped herself from checking out his size just yet. Surprise added a certain thrill. Besides, she wasn't ready to discover him inadequate. Secretly, she hoped he had a massive shaft to match his massive warrior build.