by Kyle, Celia
He falls silent again and returns to his meal, suddenly very intent on finishing. As one who typically doesn’t like to discuss my own feelings—clearly—I easily recognize when I’ve hit a nerve in others and leave him to it.
We eat in an easy silence, despite the din of conversation surrounding us. The deep, rich tones of the Kilgari blend musically with the lilting speech patterns of the human females, a resonance I find I quite enjoy.
When Grantian’s plate is finally empty, he leans back in his chair and once again stares me dead in the eye.
“So, who’s your girl, Monty? You never told me her name.”
I have nothing to lose by telling him. This man is of my race and my crew, more a brother to me than a friend. I’m just about to open my mouth when the comm device on his hip crackles to life.
“Grantian, I need you to secure the tactical gear for the Perseus mission. We’re about an hour from approach. Find Montier and bring him with you.”
“Lucky for you, I’m staring right at him. We’re on it,” he responds.
“Saved by the boss,” I tell him.
“If you think I’m letting you off that easy, you’re dreaming,” he says with a wicked grin. “You can tell me on our way down to the hold.”
Chapter Five
Fiona
Checking the nav screen, I note that we’re about an hour away from approach to Perseus. My stomach, normally a calm sea, is undulating with waves as if stirred by a storm.
Although I’ve been involved in missions before, it’s never been in such a direct manner. I’ve usually stayed behind the scenes with my face in a datapad. I know once I get into the building, I’ll easily be able to hack into their systems, but that’s only provided we’re not met with armed resistance.
I hope that’s the case, but it seems like whatever luck we were initially graced with is beginning to run out. Gods, don’t let today be the day it disappears entirely.
Solair’s voice interrupts my thoughts of dread. “Fiona, you should head down to the hold and gear up. Due to your size, it’ll take some time for Grantian and Montier to outfit you properly. We must ensure one of our most valuable assets is protected, yes?”
“Sure thing,” I answer, hearing the unsteadiness wavering in my voice and hoping he doesn’t.
The captain’s kind eyes regard me for a moment before he speaks again.
“All will be well, Fiona,” he says.
I nod and leave the bridge, allowing his words to fill both my head and my heart.
All will be well.
I will it to be so.
As I’m making my way through the Queen’s twisting corridors, I hear voices echoing ahead of me. My body reacts before my brain does, recognizing immediately that one of the voices belongs to Montier. Heat immediately rushes to my cheeks and between my legs and when I realize it’s him, speaking with another Kilgari male some few feet ahead. My feet increase their speed, as if they wish to match the now-hammering pace of my heart.
It takes me no time to catch up with him. I’d heard Solair’s order for him and Grantian to report to the gear hold to prepare for the Perseus mission, so it’s no shock to find them together, but I wish Montier was alone so we could finish our conversation from earlier. I’ve been dying to talk to him ever since, my mind wandering every other minute back to the color of his eyes and the easy smile he seems to give to only me.
Deciphering the data I’d stolen from the IHC servers on Cadrinda was of the utmost importance, but it couldn’t have come at a worse time. I’d basically served myself up on a platter in that swimsuit, just waiting for him to kiss me. I’m nearly certain he’s my fated mate, but if that’s the case…why must fate sometimes seem so cruel, interrupting us at a time like that?
I greet them both with a wave but give a wide, open grin to Montier alone. Grantian is cordial in his returned hello, merely standing off to the side as he waits for Montier to pick his jaw up off the floor, where it’d fallen upon my approach.
“Fancy meeting the two of you here,” I say, despite my knowledge to the contrary. “Solair sent me down to gear up. He mentioned something about it taking longer to outfit me since I’m so compact. Does that sound about right?”
Montier simply stares at me, his eyes raking down my body. He begins at my face, pausing there as if he’s trying to memorize every one of my features, and then gradually trails his eyes down my torso, stopping at the swell of my ample breasts before lingering on my hips and the apex of my thighs. Once finished, his golden gaze flicks back up to settle on my mouth.
Still, he says nothing until Grantian elbows him sharply in the side. The object of my affections jumps nearly a foot as he returns to his senses, and I can’t help but laugh.
“Uh, yes—yes, that’s right. We don’t typically, uh, have tactical gear in your size but, uh, we—we’ve been able to rig some up for Varia and I’m sure we c-could do the same for you, Fiona,” he stammers.
Hearing him tripping over his words like a schoolboy with his first crush is so adorable I want to jump him right there, not caring one lick that Grantian is observing it all. Montier is usually so stoic that seeing him like this is like seeing a fish fly instead of swim. He’s completely out of his element and it’s completely turning me on.
“Well, old friend, it appears you don’t have to tell me anything. I understand it all now,” Grantian says cryptically. “Why don’t I just meet you in the tactical room? Take your time.”
With that, he disappears around the curve of the corridor and we’re finally, blessedly alone.
“You know, you’re really cute when you’re nervous,” I say, staring up into his eyes and pressing in closer to him.
He looks down at me, mouth open and breath coming hot. “How do you know I’m nervous?” he asks.
“Oh, a girl can tell. I can tell. I only ever see you this rattled when I’m around.” I drop my voice to a low, seductive purr as I move in closer still, reaching up to trail a hand down his deliciously broad chest.
I’m not usually so forward, but I can barely control myself around him. I’m sure it has something to do with us being mates. I’m nearly certain of it now because I can hardly stand how badly I want him. It feels so foreign and new and almost dangerous that it’s taking everything in me to hold myself back. Even though I’m not hiding the way I feel, I want him to make the first move.
He watches my hand trail down his chest and settle on the waist of his trousers. “How could you not make me nervous? You’re so smart, Fiona. Your brain runs circles around mine. You figured out all of this stuff about the IHC all on your own and you’re barely a woman grown.”
I can’t help but blush at his words. His praise means more than he’ll ever know. I’m not an idiot by any means, but I’m not nearly as smart as someone like Thrase. Databases and servers just…talk to me, somehow. I understand them.
“Did I say something wrong?” he asks, his voice suddenly soft.
I smile up at him. “No. You always say exactly the right thing.”
“Are you nervous around me?” he asks.
“Strangely, no. Never. You make me calm. I know I’m always safe with you,” I say.
“Are you worried about Perseus?”
“Yes. And no, at the same time. I’m confident in my abilities. I just don’t know what we’ll find there. I feel so conflicted about my role on the bridge. I’m good at it, but I only have it because we lost Lokyer. I don’t want it to happen again.”
I haven’t yet told anyone how I feel about my “promotion,” but it doesn’t surprise me that I feel comfortable sharing it with him.
“You don’t have to worry about anything on Perseus, Fiona. I won’t let anything happen to you. I swear it, on my life,” he says, his voice husky.
I’m suddenly aware again of how close we’re standing, especially now that his hands are wrapped around my waist and settled on my lower back. I don’t even know when that happened. Our movements are so automatic and comfor
table now. His warmth spreads throughout me and I lean in even closer. He’s massively tall, but if I stood on my toes and he leaned down just slightly, our lips would be just near enough to touch.
“I can’t stop thinking about the beach.” My voice is nearly a whisper, but whether it’s intentional or not I can’t be sure.
“About how I nearly kissed you before your damned datapad so rudely interrupted us?” he asks.
“Yes. That horrible device. I just—I think you’re super sweet, Montier. I’m lucky to have someone like you looking out for me.”
Oh, fuck it. I’m not waiting any longer for this. I raise up on my toes, wrap my arms around his neck, and press my mouth to his in a quick, yet full-on kiss. In reaction, his entire body freezes against mine.
Unsure of what comes next, I pull back and attempt to move away, but his hands move lightning-fast from my back to under my arms, turning me as he lifts me up. Without even thinking about it, I wrap my legs around his waist. He backs me up against the wall and slams his mouth down onto mine, kissing me hard with more abandon than I’d ever experienced before.
I lose my breath as his tongue presses against mine and he pours himself into me. Tangling my hands in his hair, I pull back only for a moment to stare into his eyes.
“Take me somewhere you can take my clothes off,” I tell him, not wanting to waste another second not being with him.
I don’t have to ask him twice.
Chapter Six
Montier
The moment our lips touch, I know it.
Suspicions turn into facts, doubts into certainty, and one simple word takes over my mind: jalshagar. More than knowing it, I feel it. Electricity crackles under my skin, my blood simmers inside my veins, and a violent heat spreads all over my body. Even my thoughts have been thrown into disarray, much like a quiet pond someone has thrown a rock into.
Placing both my hands on her hips, her curves fitting under my palms in the most perfect of ways, I push her back until I have her pinned against the wall. She offers no resistance. Instead, she surrenders into our frenzied kiss, parting my lips with the tip of her tongue while her hands tug at my shirt.
Everything is just I imagined it would be.
The raging storm of emotions, the deep-seated certainty that I’ve just found my mate, and the feeling you get when putting the final piece of a puzzle in its rightful place. The only thing ruining the mood is the timing. We are, after all, about to embark on one of the most dangerous missions we’ve had yet.
“We should get to the bridge,” I whisper against her lips, feeling her hands running down my torso until she has her fingers hooked on my belt. That’s enough for all of my body heat to concentrate between my legs, my two erections straining against my pants in a vicious manner.
“We definitely should,” she says, but her tone makes the meaning behind her words perfectly clear. We should, but we won’t. Fully knowing that I can’t fight this, my emotions gripping me so tightly I can hardly think, I take Fiona by the hand and lead her down the corridor. “Where are we—oh.”
Unlocking the door to my workshop, I lead her inside and immediately pin her back against the wall. I close the door with the tip of my boot and, once I hear the locking mechanism engage, I let my instincts take the steering wheel.
“You have no idea how much I’ve wanted this,” I tell her, placing one hand on the nape of her neck and threading my fingers into her hair. Looking straight into her eyes, I hold her gaze until time seems to slow down to a crawl. Right now, nothing but the magnetic pull of her body matters.
“Well, I’m right here.” A smile spreads across her lips, her expression that of someone who has just issued a challenge. Good—I like challenges, especially when they come in such a perfect package.
With one hand on her waist, I spin her around and push her against one of the workbenches. I crush my mouth against hers once more and, at the same time, I sweep all the tools and used parts from the bench. They clatter down to the floor, but I barely register the noise. I just pull Fiona up, making her sit on the edge of the bench, and she responds in kind by opening her legs.
Standing between her legs, my heart beating at a thousand miles per hour, I feel like a puppet whose strings are being pulled by lust and desire. Right now, logic and rationality have checked out, and the savage beast inside me has been freed from its cage.
“You feel it. Don’t you?” I find myself asking her, the words slipping out from between my lips before I have the chance to stop them. “This…this pull. There’s something drawing us together.”
“Yes,” she breathes out, her voice brimming with lustful tension. “I know we haven’t talked much ever since I came aboard, but I feel it. Every time I see you, every time I hear your voice…”
“We are mates,” I say. “Jalshagar.”
“Jalshagar,” she repeats, the twang in her accent making my heart tighten into a fist. Even her voice is enough to drive me crazy. It seems like everything about her was designed to elicit a response in me.
Driven mad by lust, I pull her shirt over her head.
The moment her bra comes into sight, the upper curve of her breasts demanding all of my attention, my heart almost jumps out of my chest. Unable to control myself, I lean in and place my mouth between her breasts while I unclasp her bra. The cups droop slightly, revealing the pink contour of her nipples, and I simply tear the damn thing off her body.
“You are perfect,” I whisper, allowing my tongue to make the hike up her right breast. I only stop when I find her nipple and, gently, wrap my lips around it. She lets out a quivering moan as I twirl my tongue around it and then takes both her hands to my horns, her fingers gripping them so tightly it almost seems like she wants to rip them off my skull.
More, my inner voice says, I need more.
I’m happy to oblige.
Resting both my hands on her hips, I hook my fingers on her waistband and yank her pants down her legs. She lifts her backside off the bench to make it easier and then kicks her boots off. When she sits down again, nothing but the flimsy fabric of her thong covers her body, all of her curves in display. The sight is enough for all my blood to rush out of my brain, her body making me as hard as I’ve ever been.
Suddenly, she reaches for me with one hand, her fingers making a dive toward the bulge in my pants. I’m faster than she is, and I grab her by the wrist. She looks up at me, confused, and a devilish grin takes over my face.
“There’s time for that later,” I say. “Right now, this is about you.”
I don’t give her the time to say anything.
Flattening the palm of my hand between her legs, the wet fabric against my skin, I apply just the right amount of pressure for her to give me another one of her moans. I keep massaging her over her underwear until she leans back, her elbows resting on the bench, and only then do I pull the thong down her legs.
Her nakedness is intoxicating.
I don’t even have to think about what I have to do.
Allowing instinct to guide me, I lean down and kiss her right knee. Gently, I lay soft kisses on her naked skin, my mouth tracing a downward path to her inner thigh. Without any warning, I then brush the tip of my tongue against the tender flesh on her thigh, my mouth dangerously close to the sweet spot between her legs.
“Please,” she breathes out, her body begging for more. As much as it pains me to do it, I ignore her. I just keep on teasing her endlessly, my lips and tongue inflicting a painful sense of anticipation upon her body. I want her nerve endings to bloom like spring flowers, to leave her body ready for a perfect storm, but it takes time for that to happen. I don’t mind it. “Please, I don’t think that I can—”
Her words die in her throat as I move in for the kill, placing my mouth right between her legs. I reach for her with the tip of my tongue and, doing it in the most devilish of ways, I gently brush it up the length of her drenched inner lips, only stopping when I finally reach her clit. Sucking it into my mouth, I
then drape one forearm over her waist, keeping her pinned down while I devour her.
“Oh, this feels so good,” she moans, arching her back.
Reaching down, she grabs me by the horns once more at the same time as she thrusts up. I respond by pressing down with my forearm again, doing my best to stop her from moving, but it’s almost impossible. Endorphins are rushing through her like a forbidden drug, and she has already thrown all self-restraint out the window.
It’s time for me to up the ante.
Placing two fingers against her wetness, I part her inner lips, and she holds her breath in anticipation. This time, I don’t bother with the teasing. I just ease my fingers inside her and turn them around, stretching her inner walls.
Fuck, she’s so tight.
It’s perfect.
Ravaging her with my mouth and fingers, her sweet flavor inundating me, I lead her toward the edge of oblivion. It doesn’t take long before I feel the pressure rising inside her, all of her muscles tensing up at once. She’s like a dam on the verge of bursting. Wanting it to happen, I push my fingers all the way in, pressing my fingertips against that hidden spot inside her.
A fraction of a second later, she comes undone.
She arches her back and, gritting her teeth, lets out a violent moan, pleasure turning into sound. I can feel my brain overheat as it struggles to process the ecstasy in her voice, and time becomes a meaningless concept. I just keep my mouth pressed against her, my lips enjoying the tiny spasms of her flesh while her inner walls tighten around my fingers.
Only when she collapses on the bench do I pull back.
Breathing hard, she props herself up on one elbow, her wide eyes searching for mine.
“This was—”
