Alien AI's Marine (Warriors of the Lathar Book 14)

by Mina Carter

  “Didn’t mean to scare ya,” he said, keeping his voice low and his movements nonthreatening. “I just… wanted to…”

  He broke off and ran a hand through his hair. Short and dark, it stood up in ruffled spikes. “I never spoke to a Lathar female before.”

  She kept her expression level and her gaze on his face. Was he trying to trap her into admitting she wasn’t human?

  “I’m not Lathar. I’m human.”

  He snorted a little. “Human… Lathar… don’t seem like there’s much difference between the two from where I’m standin’. So, you’re a little smaller. Unless that male is a runt or somethin’.”

  Amusement filled her. “You mean my husband?”

  Berr’s nose wrinkled. “That’s just a fancy word for mate, ain’t it?”

  She shrugged. “There’s a little more to it than that, but yes, he is my mate.”

  She made sure to stress the last two words. If she was already mated, none of the B’Kaar should pay much attention to her since she wasn’t an option for claiming.

  “Yeah… about that. I just wanted to say—” Berr cut himself off, clearing his throat. He studied the wall of the corridor behind her. “Human males seem kinda frail. If somethin’ happens to him, then well… I’d offer you my protection.”

  She blinked, surprise rolling through her. Even though the intent had been to portray her as a mated female so none of the B’Kaar would consider her for claiming, she hadn’t actually expected any of them to be interested. Yet here was a warrior who even a few months ago would have filled her electronic dreams with the need to be real.

  Then she’d met Jay and her tastes ran to blond-haired, warm-eyed humans with a crooked smile and the safest arms she’d ever felt.

  “Err… thank you.”

  She didn’t know what else to say, so she just gave him a small smile instead. He was still dangerous, to her specifically, but now she knew that his intense interest in her was…in her. He wasn’t looking for anything that would indicate she was an AI wearing a human body. He was looking at her as a potential mate.

  “Ya’ welcome.”

  He moved a couple of steps closer, warily, his gaze locked on hers. She took a half step away, her back colliding with the wall and he put his hands up again.

  “I ain’t gonna hurt you,” he murmured, flicking his gaze up to the ceiling and around pointedly. She got the message. They were being listened to.

  When she nodded, he moved in closer, crowding her against the wall. She tensed up, but he didn’t touch her, his hands still out at his sides as he locked gazes with her. His ke’lath flared for a second.

  “We have to be quick,” he said in a low voice. “I can’t hold this for long. Why is there a privacy filter in your rooms?”

  She blinked to hide her surprise and plastered an innocent look on her face. “A what?”

  “At first I thought it was just an intermittent glitch that had affected this area and a couple of others.” He watched her face as he talked. “But that glitch is too intermittent to be random. Then I started to look at the areas that are always off.”

  She shook her head, trying desperately to keep her heart rate down and not show her panic.

  “It’s okay,” Berr said, his deep voice like rocks over a cliff. “You don’t need to be scared. I ain’t told no one. But, none of them warriors wi’ you are rated for that kinda programming. So it’s gotta be one of you humans.”

  Her eyes widened before she could stop them and her voice was a bare whisper in the air. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  There was a hint of a smile under his heavy beard. “Yeah, sure you don’t, kelarris. Just, tell whoever it is to be more careful. Okay? Risyn ain’t daft, and he’s dangerous when he’s pissed.”

  She was so shocked she didn’t even respond to the Latharian endearment. Normally she would have railed at it. Kelarris was only a term used between mated couples or couples who wanted to be mated.

  “You don’t need to say anything,” he said when she opened her mouth. “Just watch yourself.”

  She nodded and watched as he walked away. The door to the main corridor toward command slid shut behind his tall, broad-shouldered form and she sagged against the wall. Taking gulps of air to try and calm herself, she headed toward the door to hers and Jay’s quarters. She needed to feel safe, and only one person made her feel that way…

  12

  Jay looked up as soon as the door opened, his smile fading as he saw the look on her face.

  “What happened?” he demanded, on his feet in an instant.

  She crossed the space before he could and buried herself in his arms. He didn’t argue, just altered his stance to absorb her momentum as she barrelled into him. With a small sound of… something, she wasn’t sure what… she nestled into the safety of his embrace, her face hidden against the curve of his neck.

  Closing her eyes, she shuddered slightly and breathed in, her lips mere millimeters from the skin of his throat. His scent, familiar and comforting, surrounded her. If she stayed still, she could forget everything going on around them and pretend it was just her and Jay. That they really were a couple. Because she wanted that, really wanted that.

  “What happened, sweetheart?” he murmured, trying to pull back. She made a small sound of distress so he stopped.

  “It’s okay. I’m not going anywhere,” he said softly, sliding a hand down to stroke her back reassuringly. “You’re safe. I promise.”

  She lifted her head to look up at him. His handsome face was full of concern. For her. He studied her expression, and his tightened.

  “Did one of those bastards say something to you, or hurt you?” he growled, anger flashing in his eyes. “Which one? I’ll fucking kill him.”

  He tried to put her aside, his gaze on the door, but she stopped him the only way she could think of. Lifting on her toes, she pressed herself against him and kissed him.

  He froze, hands on her waist. When she pulled away, he looked down at her.

  “You asked me to sleep with you,” she reminded him and bit back her shiver as his eyes darkened. “Do you still want to?”

  Wariness fought with need, the expressions visible on his face.

  “Of course I do,” he ground out. “But you’re… you were only born a day or so ago. It… oh fuck—”

  He broke away, shoving a tattooed hand through the short spikes of his hair. “I’m trying to do the right thing here. Give you space to make your mind up about things.”

  She stalked toward him, rapidly closing the gap he’d managed to put between them.

  “I have made my mind up,” she told him, tilting her chin to look him in the eye. “I might have only been in this body a short while, but I’ve wanted you for far longer than that.”

  Lifting on her tiptoes again, she pressed another kiss to his lips. This time she let her hand trail down the front of his body. He started, his gasp a small exhalation as she cupped him. He was already hard, his cock a steel bar beneath the fabric of his pants.

  “Oh my god!” He grabbed her wrist. “Where the fuck did you learn that?”

  “Why?” she asked, tilting her head back to look him in the eye. “Did I do it wrong?”

  He pinned her with an intense gaze, holding her so she couldn’t touch him. She relaxed in his hold, not fighting him. He wasn’t hurting her, but to be honest, she didn’t care. He could hurt her all he liked if he looked at her that way.

  “No,” he bit out and then his expression tightened warningly. “Who taught you that?”

  She blinked and then eased closer. “No one.”

  “You shouldn’t know that.” His free hand snapped out quicker than she could process, sliding into her hair to hold her still.

  “Which man have you been talking to?” he snarled. “Tell me, Keris. Now.”

  He was jealous and angry. It was written in the harshness of his voice and the hand in her hair, hard when he was usually gentle. But the question didn�
��t make sense. Why was he bothered about other males? They were both here. She didn’t want to talk about other males.

  “Berr B’Kaar was in the hallw—”

  She didn’t get a chance to reply before he yanked her up against him and his lips crashed down over hers. Their kiss in the hangar was imprinted in her brain, easily recalled at a nanosecond’s notice so she could relive it time after time. And she had, trying to anticipate him kissing her again. What it would be like if he claimed her. She had a legion of daydreams all based on that one exchange but now they were here…

  This kiss was nothing like the last one.

  Before, he’d been soft and gentle, persuading her to open up for him and leading her into new experiences. He’d tutored her with soft brushes of his tongue, taught her to play with tender kisses and held her cradled against him. It had been a give and take with only a rush of pleasure and sensation as the goal.

  But this time, it was like he attacked her with his mouth. The kiss was hard-edged and intense. His lips parted hers and she felt his anger, felt everything he’d shielded her from before. Letting go of her wrist, he spread his hand over the back of her hips and yanked them against his.

  She gasped at the feeling of his cock against her belly, her knees threatening to give out as a rush of heat escaped her. In any other situation, she’d have been worried about yet another odd biological reaction, but not this time.

  This time all she could do was moan and cling to him, parting her lips in surrender as he claimed them. He thrust his tongue past her lips and she whimpered.

  She’d been worried about not being real enough for him, that somehow she was different from a born biological female, but he was displaying all the possessiveness and anger of a male who felt his position with his female was threatened.

  He broke away with a ragged gasp. “You’re not talking to fucking Berr B’Kaar again. You’re my wife. I get to be the one to touch you first, to kiss you first… to make you come first. You understand me?”

  She nodded, too stunned to do anything else, and satisfaction filled his eyes.

  “Good,” he murmured, his voice a low rasp as his grip in her hair gentled and then relaxed. He slid his hand through the thick locks. “God, you’re so beautiful…”

  His words were low, more to himself than to her, his expression softer. Then he focused on her. “Say no now,” he told her in a harsher voice. “If you don’t want this.”

  Her breathing caught at the heated promise in his eyes. “I do…” she whispered. “I do want this. I don’t know what I’m doing… but I want it. Please.”

  He smiled, the expression little more than a curve of his lips on one side, but it sent the butterflies in her stomach into overdrive.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll show you what to do…” he murmured as he bent his head again.

  This time she knew what to expect, parting her lips as soon as his touched them. She felt his smile, but then he was kissing her and she stopped thinking. Between delicious strokes of his tongue against her and soft kisses, he transported them from a simple room on an abandoned base to heaven.

  Each kiss made the tension in her body tighter and she pressed closer to him. His hand slid from her nape down her back and then up again. She gasped and then moaned in delight as he gripped her hair, pulling her head back so he could kiss along the length of her throat.

  Each touch and caress was something new, a journey of sensual exploration she never thought she’d experience, and now she was. She intended to make the most of it.

  Sliding her hands up his arms, she tested the corded muscle there before exploring his shoulders. He was a little shorter than the average Lathar male but just as heavily muscled. He groaned as she ran her hands down his back, her little nails biting into the soft fabric of his clothing.

  Before she could pull his shirt up so she could run her hands over his skin, he put some space between them and yanked it off. It fell to the floor behind them unheeded. Her breathing caught as he looked down at her.

  “Touch all you want,” he offered and her eyes widened. Biting her lip, she ran her hands over his broad chest, little fingers teasing the flat discs of his nipples. He shuddered but stayed still for her.

  She grew bolder, tracing his abs. Looking up, she watched him watching her. His nostrils flared as she reached his belt but he didn’t say anything. Didn’t stop her. Then she slid her hand down and cupped him boldly.

  A tiny muscle in the corner of his jaw pulsed but he stayed still. Her fingers traced him through the fabric, exploring the length and breadth of him. He was as big as any Lathar male.

  “Are all humans built this way?” she asked, fascinated. The size of his penis was definitely not in proportion to his physical build.

  He shook his head, a short, sharp movement. “No. I’m a little more… gifted in that regard.”

  She smiled. “Good.”

  “How—” His voice sounded strangled and he cleared his throat. “How do you know how to do that?”

  She grinned. “Indra said men are easy to deal with. You just have to touch their dicks.”

  “Son of a bitch!” he hissed as she teased the head of his cock through his pants.

  She shook her head. “Indra is definitely female.”

  “She’s definitely something,” he ground out, the little muscle at the corner of his jaw going into overdrive. Covering her hand with his, he stopped her gentle touches.

  “I can’t take much more of that, sweetheart,” he said roughly and then leaned down to capture her lips again.

  She melted against him, a soft sound of pleasure in the back of her throat as he held her against him, warm against his naked chest. His heart beat reassuringly under her hand, the slight rasp of the hair over his chest tickling her fingers.

  Without breaking the kiss, he scooped her up into his arms and turned to walk toward the back of the room. To the bed. He stood next to it, still kissing her. Between each kiss, he paused for a second, their lips bare millimeters apart as they shared breath.

  “The first time…” he stopped and frowned. “It can hurt, sweetheart. I’ll try to make it easy for you, but I just wanted to warn you.”

  A warm feeling spread out from the center of her chest. He was concerned for her, truly and honestly concerned about her. No one had ever done that before. She was an AI… no one worried about AIs.

  Leaning in, she kissed him. “I’m biological now. Believe me, everything about this body hurts in one way or another. You seem to live in a constant state of ‘what was that?’ and ‘maybe it’ll go away.’ It’s most disconcerting.”

  13

  He chuckled, the deep rumble of amusement wrapping around her as he let go of her legs. She slid down the front of his body, his hard hand at the back of her hips causing her to twist and press against him as she did. The wicked look in his eyes as she gasped again told her it was deliberate.

  “That’s why we do things to make ourselves feel good,” he murmured as he reached out to unbutton her tunic. His hands were gentle and dexterous, but the heat blazing in his eyes as her top parted made her ache.

  “And this… this feels really good.” His words were a promise as his fingertips brushed her skin.

  “Being here with you, touching you…” His voice dropped an octave. “I’ve never wanted anything more in my god-damned life.”

  Emboldened, she bit her lip and took over for him, sliding the tunic off her shoulders. Beneath it she wore some kind of human undergarment Gracie had given her. By the sudden tightening of Jay’s face, he liked it. He liked it a lot.

  “Good.” She undid the ties on her pants, letting them drop to the floor around her ankles, and then kicked them away.

  “You can touch all you want,” she offered in an echo of his earlier words.

  His gaze flicked to hers and then back to her body, revealed in the tiny scraps of her underwear. “Oh… don’t worry, I’m going to.”

  Whatever she’d expected from this mo
ment, however many hypothetical scenarios she’d run in the privacy of her head, none of them could match up to reality.

  He stepped forward and a second later she was in his arms. Her hands went to his upper arms as he pulled her up against him and claimed her lips again. There was no hesitation in his touch or his kiss. He handled her like he owned her. Like she’d always been his and, in a way, she knew she always had.

  Until she’d rescued him from that D’Corr cell, she hadn’t ever wanted to be anything other than what she was, an AI. But the moment she’d looked into his eyes, it had been like a switch had been flicked and she’d wanted more. She’d been his ever since.

  He tilted his head to deepen the kiss and her hands tightened on his arms as he lifted her. A second later the cool sheets of the bed met her back. He lifted his head and there were no nerves as she met his eyes—just anticipation.

  “You are so beautiful,” he murmured between kisses.

  His hands swept over her, touching and caressing. Pleasure coursed through her as she arched into his touch, offering everything she was to him. She wasn’t pliant, caressing him as well. She was greedy for each new sensation and experience. His skin was warm satin under her hands, the steeliness of his muscles underneath—the latent strength in his body—thrilled her.

  He settled himself over her, one hairy, muscled thigh nudging between hers. Large hands cupped her breasts, and a second later the thin covering was gone. She shivered as his callused palms brushed against her skin, his thumbs rubbing over her nipples. Goosebumps washed over her, her hips rocking of their own accord as he bent his head and…

  “Oh lady!” she breathed as his lips wrapped around the beaded nub. Her hands speared through his hair and she held her to him as he nibbled and kissed, alternating with soft suckles on her that sent an arc of tight pleasure down to between her thighs.