He paused, watching Jill. She couldn’t speak. The horror of what he said sank in.

“There were months when I’d be free until their hunting parties would find me again. When my brother cyborgs rescued us from the planet we’d crashed on and realized my circumstances, they freed me from the females. The females no longer have control over my body but they of course retained the children who were created by my sperm.”

Jill didn’t think, just reacted. She reached up and cupped his cheek, stared into his beautiful eyes, and blinked back tears that threatened to blind her. “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

His eyes widened in surprise and his hand lifted to her cheek to gently brush away a tear that slid down her face. When he spoke, he whispered, “You shed tears for me?”

She nodded. “Don’t you ever cry?”

He pulled away from her touch and dropped his hand on the bed near her thigh. “A physical expression does not change the circumstances in my life or wash away the memories I must live with.”

“Aren’t you bitter?”

He shifted on the bed and looked away from her, shaking his head. “It would be a useless emotion that would only allow me to dwell on the wrongs committed against me. I wish to one day get past it and obtain a fulfilling life.” He cleared his throat. “I must make the best of what has been done to me since there’s no way to repair the damage to my implants.”

His strength impressed her and it went far beyond his muscled body. “You’re amazing.”

He frowned and met her gaze again. “How so?”

She wasn’t sure how to explain it to him. “You just are.”

He gave her a perplexed look and she knew he didn’t understand. She tried to find a way to express it to him. “When I got free of my ex-husband, I flat-out hated all men and swore them off. You’ve dealt with so much more and yet you haven’t hurt or taken it out on me for what was done to you. You could. You have me at your mercy.”

“You never harmed me, Jill. I’m in your debt and I’m willing to do this to repay you.”

A horrible thought struck as her gaze flew down to his na**d body. His erection had softened, his body reflecting his loss of interest in sex, and her mouth dropped open.

“Oh my God. I’m so sorry.” She scrambled off the bed and grabbed a pillow as she got to her feet. She turned and pitched it at Coal, aiming for his lap.

His reflexes were lightning fast as he caught it and his body tensed. “You’re attacking me with a pillow and apologizing for it?”

“No. Cover up. You did this for me, to pay me back, and you must hate me for putting you in this situation. You don’t have to force yourself to touch me as a way to thank me.” She spun, giving him her back. “I thought you were trying to get me to have sex with you but now I’m sure it’s just traumatizing you. I’m so, so sorry!”

Chapter Six

Coal slowly rose to his feet and dropped the pillow on the bed. Jill stood in front of him, keeping her body turned away to give him privacy. The human had shocked him deeply with her perception of the situation they were in. She truly believed what she’d said, though she had come to the wrong conclusion.

“I don’t hate you and I chose to fix you.”

“You don’t have to.” She spoke so softly he barely caught her words. “Just put your pants on and don’t do this to yourself. You’ve had enough women use your body for their own purposes and that’s not why I saved you. I didn’t expect anything for doing it. I just couldn’t leave you there knowing what lay in store for you.”

He took a step toward her and then another until he nearly touched her back. Desire heated his blood when he noticed just how much of her legs were exposed in her shirt. If she lifted her arms it would rise to expose the bottom of her ass. His c**k hardened and his hands twitched to touch her.

“I want to fix you but that isn’t the only reason I decided to show you pleasure is possible between males and females.”

Jill turned her head to stare up at him over her shoulder. Their gazes met and held for long moments. She had an expressive face and he liked that. The more time he spent with her the better he learned to read her. Right at that moment he knew she didn’t quite believe him.

“I’m very attracted to you and curious if mutual sexual relations between us would be pleasurable. I’ve had these thoughts since you cleaned the oatmeal from my body.”

“Really?” The tense lines around her mouth eased.

Coal bit back a groan. If he knew it wouldn’t frighten her, he’d show her how much he wanted her. He’d never ached to have a woman before without drugs or extreme forced stimulation. Jill just standing near him had him wishing he could toss her on the bed and take her. The memory of the taste of her arousal, the sounds she made as he’d licked her, had blood filling his c**k until it hurt—turning steel hard. He would never forget how soft, wet, and tight she’d been when he’d finger-fucked her.

“Take your shirt off and return to the bed.” He hoped she’d do it.

Jill turned to face him and her shirt brushed his protruding sex. He held still as she looked down at his cock. She backed away quickly as she gasped in obvious surprise at what she’d touched. He gripped her arms to keep her from tripping. They both froze.

“We’ll help each other get beyond our past experiences.”

Her hesitation made him regret what he’d told her.

“I―”

“I made a mistake by sharing too much of my past with you,” he admitted, stopping her from telling him no. “I believed it would put you at ease but instead I’ve given you the impression that sex between us would traumatize me. That’s what you stated. That isn’t factual. I want you.”

Jill took a deep breath and blew it out, not looking away as he watched her so intently. “I’m glad you told me everything.”

“I’m not, if you refuse to allow me to touch you.”

She couldn’t resist looking down at his hard-on. He definitely had to be interested in sex. She stared at the proof. The warm hands gently gripping her upper arms let go and he backed up to the bed. She held still and just watched him sit on the edge of the mattress, spread his thighs, and then he eased back to rest his weight on his elbows.

“Come to me.”

His commanding tone called to her for some reason as she gawked at his perfect body stretched out fully, na**d on her bed. The picture he made had her body responding to his strong sexual appeal.

“This is nuts.”

Coal smiled. “You enjoyed what I did to you with my mouth. Allow me to do it again. I want to. I take pleasure from it as well.”

Her ni**les tingled and her belly quivered in response. She took another step and then another until she paused near his legs. “Okay.”

He turned on his side and patted the bed next to him. “Stretch out here.”

Temptation and a rush of desire enticed Jill. She touched her shirt, considering taking it off, but then shyness gripped her. She got on the bed, her leg brushing his when she rolled over onto her back. Coal turned more on his side and she settled flat. Her heart pounded hard.

“I don’t know what to do,” she admitted to him.

The color of his eyes darkened with desire. “I do. Just relax and allow me to touch you. Trust me not to hurt you.”

Staring into those incredible eyes of his she wanted desperately to believe him. Her body relaxed and she gave him a sharp nod. “Okay.”

He lifted up and slid off the bed. She raised her head to watch him when he reached for something on the floor and didn’t say a word when he removed the vent seal from the pocket of his discarded pants. Her arms slid on her sheets when she used them to push her chest up to get a better look at the lower half of Coal’s body. In stunned silence she watched him stretch the band and put it on.

“Doesn’t that hurt?”

“No. It’s not too tight.”

She had to take his word for it but she couldn’t see how it wouldn’t. She lay flat again, thinking it better not to stare at his c**k any more or the green band he’d just fit snugly at the base of his shaft. Instead she tried to relax and not lose her nerve. Coal wanted to repeat what he’d done to her before, only this time she wasn’t tied down. Her fingers clutched at the bedding just for something to cling to.

Strong hands gently gripped her knees and Jill jumped slightly at his touch. Coal’s hold remained loose and he gave her a tense smile.

“Easy. Just relax. Close your eyes if that will help and just allow me to adjust you.”

She nodded, squeezing her eyes closed, and took a deep breath. She relaxed again and didn’t tense up when Coal’s hold tightened to spread her knees far apart. Her cheeks warmed, knowing he could see every part of her sex when he pulled her closer to the edge of the bed, parting her thighs wider.

“You have no idea how beautiful I think you are.”

The deep tone of his voice had her ni**les hardening and excitement raced through her when his warm breath fanned her inner thighs.

“If you knew how eager I am to do this, you’d never question how much I want to touch and taste you.”

Jill’s breathing increased as her heart beat faster in anticipation. The memory of what he’d done to her had her feeling a little eager herself. She tensed a bit when his thumbs spread her sex lips apart and his tongue lightly touched her clit. She made a small sound in the back of her throat when he hesitated and then licked the small bud.

A moan broke from her parted lips. Pleasure had her nails digging into her mattress where she clutched the sheets. She spread her thighs wider on her own to give him better access. Coal groaned against her sensitive flesh and the pace increased along with the pressure he applied.

“Oh God,” she moaned. “It feels so good it almost hurts.” She wiggled in his hold, breaking the connection between her body and his mouth.

Coal’s mouth left her and Jill’s opened her eyes to stare down at him. Their gazes locked but he didn’t speak. Instead he changed his hold on her legs, wrapping his big arms around them from the underside, lifting her lower body higher until the back of her thighs rested on his biceps. He reached over her, pinning her legs between his arms, and then spread her apart again with his hands. He looked away from her to stare at her pu**y a second before he dipped his head, mouth parting.

Jill arched her back, eyes closing again when she realized what he’d done. She couldn’t move her h*ps now. He had her thighs pinned open but his strength didn’t frighten her. His lips closed around her cl*t and he began to suckle her with strong tugs that had her crying out in ecstasy while the flat of his tongue rubbed furiously up and down on her throbbing bud. Pleasure turned into nearly raw pain and when she became certain she would die from it, the cl**ax tore through her. Jill cried out, her body shaking from the intensity of it.

She realized his hold on her legs eased and she didn’t even wonder what he’d do next when he released her legs and put her feet flat on the mattress. Her thighs remained open but she didn’t have the strength to close them. The bed dipped near the end as more weight came down on it. Hot skin brushed her inner thighs and then against her arm where it rested over her head. Weight eased down on top of her, pinning her flat, and that made her open her eyes.

Coal hovered over her, his body barely touching hers, and his beautiful dark eyes looked nearly black as their gazes held. He’d braced his arms next to her chest. His skin looked darker to her and passion hardened his features until he nearly looked grim but she understood.

“I want you. Please say yes. I’ll be gentle.”

He wanted inside her body. The image of his large c**k was fused into her brain. Coal wasn’t making her take him though, he had asked, and she knew he wasn’t her ex-husband. He not only didn’t look anything similar to the ass**le she’d married but Coal had shown her that sex could be amazing, intensely pleasurable, and she wanted to know if he’d feel good inside her. He also faced her, something her ex had never done, always taking her from behind after he’d pinned her.