Starfish

Twenty-Nine

His clawed hand rested against the small of her back and his astonishingly soft, warm mouth tasted like the sea and sweet, tart sailorfruit juice as it pressed to hers. Whoa! For a moment Nina felt a swell of cool panic rising in her belly until her body began to respond to the gentle, curious workings of Ardus's lips and tongue, a flush spreading across her chest and up her throat. Oh! The hand behind her pressed, and Nina felt herself slide towards him across the counter. Oh... 

The hand crept up her spine, its palm spreading between her shoulders and bringing her closer. Slowly, tenderly, with his huge body leaning towards hers and his hand supporting her from behind, Ardus opened his mouth and Nina felt the lightest brushing of his dirks on her lips. Sea gods, he's good! She opened her mouth to admit more of his warm, dark tongue but Ardus pulled away with a horrified gasp, leaving her dangling and confused like a fish on a line. Ardus pushed back, his palms on the counter. "I am sorry, I do not know what came over me!"

"Ardus-" Nina tried to reassure him, but he babbled over her.

"That was extremely inappropriate, I am so-"

Nina seized his vest in both hands, giving him a shake. "Ardus!" The Dreen froze mid-word, his blue eyes wide and his pores fading to a dim yellow. "Ardus, it's fine." She pulled, knowing she wouldn't be able to move him at all, but at least she would have her claws in him.

Ardus stared at her for a moment, his large blue eyes enormous. "N-Nina...?"

"It's okay." She gave his vest another tug. "Please, come back."

The fear faded from his eyes and his pores began to brighten. Around his throat his Collar of Aku speckled blue, purple and green – happy colors, flaring out from the constellation in ripples that traveled out and down his arms and up his face. He pulled in a breath, catching it in his lungs briefly before the corners of his mouth began to turn up. Ardus gave a short, quiet laugh, more like an amused cough, before his beautiful smile fully took over. He pulled her towards his chest, his other hand coming to rest on her side just above the swell of her hip, folding her into his arms and pressing his cheek to hers. "Nina..." he still said her name funny, not quite right but close enough for her, "I have wanted this for...some time."

"Me too, big guy." 

At his nickname Ardus glowed pink and purple. He pressed his forehead to hers and for many seconds Nina stared into his sea-blue-on-black eyes while her fingers released his vest and wandered inside, her palms resting on pectorals the size of couch cushions. His huge hands squeezed her body carefully, thoughtfully, the one on her side just pressing its fingertips against her bare back. His claws barely grazed her skin, his touch unusually light for a creature of his size. 

Nina uncrossed her shimmering legs as he stepped closer, slung her arms behind his thick neck – his back far too broad to span – and pulled him deeper. He pulled in a breath when she pressed her knees against his sides, his hand on her side drawing into a slightly tighter grip. "Shh, it's okay," Nina repeated, stroking the side of his neck, "it's just me. Hold me, Ardus."

"Nina...bright little starfish..." Ardus's basso voice, barely a whisper, dropped off and instead of words he made soft, low sounds in the depths of his chest. 

Nina ran her fingers through the loose dark barbels at the back of his neck, encouraging him with little noises of her own. She lifted her chin and kissed the corner of his mouth and he turned his head to follow her lips, his breaths quickening and his pores beginning to dance. "That's it," she encouraged, "you can kiss me." Nina felt his mouth open again and his teeth nipped at her lips before his tongue pressed onward in exploration. She squeezed his hips with her thighs and Ardus rumbled a low, chesty growl.