by Eva Priest
My skin felt tight, aching to learn the planes of his body.
Heat rolled off his body and I just wanted to wrap all of him around me. “Touch me, kitten. I know you want to. I feel your need to touch me."
That voice. I’d do anything he asked if he would just keep talking.
I smoothed my hands over the contours of his body. He held me lightly, his big hands resting against my back, content to sit there for my ministrations.
“Your skin,” I crooned. “I can’t get enough. It feels like velvet. No, better. Like the softest suede.”
He cocked his head to the side, an animal gesture that suited him so well. “I do not know this ‘suede.’ Based on your reaction, I will assume it is good.”
“Good. Very good,” I said more to myself than to him. My hands traveled down his body; my fingertips were intrepid explorers over uncharted terrain. I swallowed hard, bracing myself to see what had been hidden under the blanket.
“Holy God,” I exclaimed. I was definitely dreaming. Because that massive cock rising from his hips was like the size of my forearm.
A delighted male chuckle rumbled from his chest. “I’ve never had my cock likened to a deity before, but you are welcome to worship as you please.”
In my waking life, I would have shut down that male arrogance so fast. But if anyone earned the right to be ‘cocky’ it would be this guy. And, since this was my stress-induced dream, I wanted to enjoy him, too.
My dream allowed me to be bolder than I ever would be while awake. I promptly wrapped my hands around his length. I needed both hands to wrap around his base; his girth tapered somewhat at the tip. Soft ridges spiraled around his shaft and grew harder under my touch.
I giggled. “Ribbed for my pleasure.”
“Yes,” he hissed. “For you.”
Oops. I didn’t think I'd spoken aloud. I peeked up at him through dark lashes. His eyes were bright, glowing a dark amber as his intensity grew. He was a mass of rippling tension under a tight knot of control. Yet his hands remained still and passive on my back as if we were having a casual conversation and I didn’t have his cock in my hands.
I began to stroke him, up and down, slow and sensuous.
The purring from his chest intensified. A rush of heat flooded between my thighs, dampening the blanket. He closed his eyes, a look of euphoria overcoming his face. “You smell delicious.” His eyes were bright and blazing. “I can’t wait until it’s my turn to play with you.”
“Your turn?” I asked. It was getting so hard to grasp words when all I wanted to do was act.
His thumb rubbed over my lower lip. “Was that an invitation?”
A haze of pleasure clouded my senses at his touch. I nodded, but he merely stared at my mouth. I licked my lips, his eye tracking my every movement. Wait, was he waiting for an answer? What did he ask again? “Yes,” I stammered out. “Invitation.”
As soon as the word tumbled from my mouth, he gathered me close crushing me in his arms as he claimed my mouth for a kiss. I clung to his neck, burying my fingers into his hair. It was as soft as I'd imagined.
Despite his grip on me, his lips were surprisingly gentle. “Your lips are so soft,” he said in awe. He swept his tongue over the seam of my lips, an unspoken request to open for him.
I did more than that. I darted my tongue into his mouth, exploring his taste and texture. His tongue had little ridges on it, too, and I couldn't help but think of the possibilities there.
“You taste so good. I can’t get enough.” He sucked at my lower lip, then nibbled along my jaw. Kissing down my neck, raising me higher to nip at more flesh. He lifted me as if I weighed nothing. He nuzzled my neck, murmuring words I couldn’t quite hear but I figured out the general sentiment.
I gasped and shivered as he licked my neck. Yes, his tongue was already magic. “More,” he said gruffly. With a swipe of his hand—were those claws? —my shirt was ripped from my body. He cupped my breast, nipples puckering and begging for attention. "They're so pretty; made just for me. My perfect mate."
Mate? The word pushed through the haze of my mind. I tried to grasp why that was odd, but then he claimed one nipple.
I melted under his attention as he lapped at one and then the other.
He laid me gently against the cot, which never felt this soft or warm. His gaze ravished me. “Present yourself to me.”
I should have been embarrassed to spread myself in front of a stranger. Instead of shrinking from him, my nerves were on fire, and I wanted to do anything he told me to, anything to get him to touch me more.
I bent my knees up so he could see me. He placed his hands on my knees and spread me even farther apart. Thank you, yoga.
“You’re so beautiful. Touch yourself.” His burning eyes willed me to move.
I parted my pussy lips and showed him how very wet I was. Dragging my finger over my seam, I circled over my clit. The look on his face, one of pure lust, made it even more exciting. My breath came in gasps as my pleasure mounted.
"Do not come yet. Only when I say.” The command rocked through my body.
A whimper died in my throat. I wanted to plead with him but didn’t know his name. As soon as I thought about it, a word formed in my mouth and spilled from my lips in a gasping moan. “Cade. Please.”
“I do love to hear my mate beg. It means she’s ready for me.” He flashed a wicked smile before he descended onto my body. He dragged his tongue over my seam, lapping up my hot slick. When he swirled his ridge-tipped tongue around my clit, my entire body seized under him. My muscles tensed, legs quaking under his torment.
“Come for me now, Solana.”
I thought I had orgasms before, but I never had any that compared to this. My back bowed as I yielded to his command, magnified all the more when he used my name. I felt his words in the deepest parts of my soul. The place where dreams and hope and love resided.
I was a wreck of babbling words and incoherent sounds.
The purr he emitted from his chest vibrated against me, priming me for another orgasmic wave. I needed more, though. Needed his weight on me. Need the feel of him inside of me.
I wasn't above begging. "Please," I moaned, pulling on him. I needed him covering me.
“I know what you need, my Solana.” His large hands roamed my body, massaging my breasts and teasing my nipples. I felt him smile against me as he licked me with his magical tongue. He carefully slid one finger into me. Then another. Sliding them in and out, stretching me until he could squeeze one more.
A fine tremor quaked over my body starting from my core and radiating outward. The wave of pleasure hit me hard and I fought to maintain a semblance of control.
"Look at me, kitten. Show me those beautiful eyes."
I obeyed. Cade hovered above me, lining himself up against my body. He rubbed his tip against my opening. "I want you looking at me when I fuck your pretty cunt."
He pushed in, easing himself in and out when he met resistance until he bottomed out. He ground his hips against me, and I gasped in pleasure. There were ridges that pressed up against my clit. As he thrust, he rubbed against me. Each sensation brought me higher, closer to the edge.
"Say my name, Solana. I want to hear it when you come. Do it now.” His thrusts grew faster, more urgent. Demanding. Between that and the purring, I was gone.
"Cade!" I screamed his name loud and long over and over again with his every thrust.
Mine! The word repeated inside of my head and in my heart. Mine, mine, mine.
I woke gasping his name on my lips.
I pressed a hand between my legs. An aftershock of pleasure rolled through me. The dream faded, but I could still feel him inside of me. The throbbing ache made me feel lonelier than ever.
This jungle heat and humidity. It made all my senses crazy. I fumbled for my watch.
Dammit! I slept in!
I rolled out of my cot, willing my tired body to move. I gave myself a quick sponge bath and swiped on a lot of deodorant. M
y discarded shirt was on the ground next to my cot, and I pulled it on over my sports bra since it was cleaner than my other clothes.
When I stumbled into the main tent, I saw a note from the TA that the rest of the team were going out to check on the hide-highs.
Bastards. Did they even try to wake me up?
The pot of coffee was little more than tar, but I choked it down with a mouthful of water. I popped a caffeine pill for good measure and grabbed my gear. After I secured the camp, I set off to look for the rest of the team.
And, if I couldn’t find them, I could at least continue on with my own research. It wasn’t like they could kick me out of the team now that I was here. But they could make my life hell. It was already hard enough to be taken seriously as the only woman on the team. Dammit. I picked up my pace up the mountain.
3 CADE
The angelic voice that cried out my name in tormented pleasure morphed into Dorn’s persistent nagging.
“Cade? Cade. Check in. Reaper One this Reaper Two, check in.”
I needed a moment to ground myself and remember that I was anchored to a branch halfway up a tree.
A minute ago, I’d been inside my mate’s sweet cunt, driving her hard to say my name. The feel of her was incredible—hot, wet, tight—and that had only been a dream. My aching cock raged at me to find her and finish what was started.
“Cade? Did you die?”
I ignored my body and tried to get comfortable, but failed, and ended up in an awkward seating position and slapped my hand against my chest to activate the comms. “Checking in,” I snarled.
“What a bucket of sunshine you are, boss,” Talus said.
“Ignore him,” Dorn said. I didn’t know if he meant it toward me or toward Tal. “Jungle problems?”
It wasn’t the jungle. It was the damned dream. Solana.
That was the name that came to me when we were in our shared mind. Unity was something mates talked about, and I barely paid attention to. Why should I? Most enjoyed the company of their heart-mates. Only a rare few ever found their fate-mates.
So how in the hell did I find mine in this backwater hole in the middle of the Savage Lands? Not knowing pissed me off even more.
She could be anywhere on this desolate rock. But to have a shared dream so strong, she had to be near. In this same jungle.
I pushed my senses out, hoping to capture a hint of her scent on the breeze. No such luck. That would have been too easy. And nothing of worth came easily.
At the edge of my range of hearing, explosive sounds echoed over to me, followed by an eerie silence.
It could only mean trouble.
“Something is happening,” I reported.
“You found them?”
“I found something. Hold.”
The comms quieted. The rat-tat-tat of explosive gunfire rang in the distance.
The most unusual feeling of dread washed over me. Cold fear gripped my heart, I could barely breathe. I’d never felt anything like it.
Then I realized that it wasn’t my fear. I felt it, but it didn’t come from me.
Solana. She was afraid. The possessive need to find her and protect her strained my senses.
“Possible local trouble. I need to check it out. Whatever is happening could chase our quarry away.”
“If they do, it could be an advantage.”
Understanding dawned. “Rush ‘em, and flush ‘em.” It was a good plan. Force the poachers’ hand and get them to speed up their timetable. People make mistakes when they rushed and needed to improvise on the fly.
I reeled in my anchors and turned on my cloaking shield. “How far out are you?”
“A solar hour from your position. Tops.”
“Good. Because something else has happened. I think I’ve found my mate. Scratch that. I know I found her. And she’s in trouble.”
SOLANA
* * *
I traveled for almost an hour. No sight of the others. I took notes on some of the elusive jaguar’s territorial markers as I walked but kept an ear out for the rest of the team.
I’d circled the place where they said they would be for the past hour. If they were supposed to be at these coordinates, then they were either lost or they lied about where they would be.
Dammit, I thought we were supposed to be above all this “good ole boy” bullshit.
At least the jaguars were doing fine.
A burst of gunfire echoed through the valley. It sounded way too close. A bad feeling gathered in the pit of my stomach.
I rounded a bend, and it was like a scene in a movie. My research team were on their knees. There was already a body on the ground. Other men walked around them, guns in their hands.
Just beyond them were acres of neat rows of crops.
Drugs. Somehow the team had managed to make their way to some secret territory that was controlled by drug runners.
And here I was within view of them.
I ducked behind the tree, staying low to the ground, trying to think. Stark terror seized my mind.
The drug runners pawed at the team, pulling anything technical out of packs, pockets, wherever. When they unclipped the TA’s radio, he held down the button.
The radio at my hip screeched with feedback. I yelped, frantically twisting the knob to turn off the sound.
One of the drug runners spat out, pointing toward my location. “There’s someone else!”
A desperate voice screamed out. "Run!” The staccato burst of automatic gunfire blanketed the valley.
Run. I needed to run. Fast.
The jungle blurred by me. My backpack, radio, everything was discarded as I ran.
I took the trail toward the temple site I wanted to explore more the other day. They wouldn't think to go there, since the major foot traffic would lead toward the camp site.
God, the camp site!
Would the drug guys raid it? Would they connect us with our friends and family back home? Were they in trouble?
The possibilities of figuring out friends, family, work, and the university buzzed in my head so loudly that it took me a moment to realize that I was no longer being followed.
The forest was quiet. No more voices or gunshots. Maybe I lost them? But my brain finally caught up to that eerie feeling of something not quite right. It was too quiet. I couldn't even hear the chirp of cicadas or the call of howler monkeys.
Though the forest was around me, I felt exposed. Like I was being watched. I pushed myself to move.
Over my shoulder, I saw a shimmering light. God, had I run toward a trap? How did the drug runners get around me?
I swerved away from the light and ran hard up the trail—
It was as if I hit an invisible wall. My body locked up and then I was floating. It felt like I was suspended underwater.
Excited buzzing like angry bees grew louder, and two skinny dudes dressed all in black approached me. A helmet covered their latex-y outfits.
Were they another dig team? Why were they wearing space geek cosplay? Weren't they hot?
The buzzing noise came from them, and it kept getting louder.
I could see myself reflected in their visors suspended in the air, arms and legs locked as if I was frozen mid-stride.
One of them raised a hand and pointed a remote control-looking device at me.
I tried to speak but I was so sleepy, and soon lost my fight to keep my eyelids open.
CADE
* * *
Another wave of anxiety trembled over my legs. She was running. I could almost see the terrain in my mind. The overwhelming need to get to her clawed at my insides. I ran through the forest toward the sounds of a fire fight.
I tapped my suit, rendering me invisible. The other reapers burned atmo to get to me. They would come in with guns blazing to help me. Fate mates were once in a lifetime, maybe not even that. Most Rodinians never experienced the unity bond of their fated mate; when it happened, it was sacred. It was like a cosmic recognition. An epiphany. Th
e closest thing to a religion we had.
Heart mates were more common, if we decided to mate at all. We took the responsibility seriously because we mated for life. A unity bond would form after we decided to take each other.
I would find out how and why my mate was out here in the middle of the Savage Lands. But now wasn’t the time. The only thing that mattered was to get to her and keep her safe.
There was a group of men up ahead. They stank of stale sweat and old blood. Savage brutes. Threat. They traveled all in a line. Easy enough to dispatch one by one.
The wind shifted, and a heady perfume filled my senses. Solana. Mate.
The men were pointing ahead and shifting their trajectory toward her.
The threat was heading toward my mate. I felt my body stretch and morph into my battle form. Claws. Fangs. Unspeakable rage.
In two powerful strides, I launched from the ground and landed atop the one closest to me and ripped his throat out. One by one, I tore them apart.
Whatever these men did in a previous life, at least they wouldn’t be able to do it any longer. I relaxed back to my base form and continued on to her trail. There was a familiar tumble of hair up ahead. It was tied up and pulled back and away from her face, bobbing along as she navigated the winding terrain.
At least she was safe.
I vaulted up a tree and ran along the canopy to narrow the distance between us. I’d be able to cut her off before she reached the main steps toward that ancient landing site.
Something was happening. A forcefield raised the hackles in my neck. I tried to fight against it but I couldn’t move forward.
Solana was captured in its net. Two figures pointed a device at her and pulled her along back toward the landing site. They wore a ridiculous disguise, all in black wearing huge helmets even while on-planet.
As they retreated, so did the forcefield so I was able to run after them. Whoever they were, they would pay. I cleared the trails to the landing site, and it was a shuttle assigned to the ship I’d been tracking. The Lucky Duck. A junker of a smuggling ship captained by none other than Silar Praxis.
