by Megan Hart
"Del?"
"Yeah?" His voice was husky.
"You don't expect me to turn into a simpering, quiet, little pinhead, do you?"
"Sheol, no."
"Good." She enfolded his cock in the circle of her grasp and slid up and down until his hips lifted. Then she closed her fingers around the head and squeezed gently. "Because you know that won't ever happen."
Del put a finger under her chin and forced her to meet his eyes. "Linna, I don't want you to change. I love you the way you are."
She still couldn't get over hearing him say that. "That's a good thing, Del. Because as much as I love you, I can't be anyone's servant, or anyone's whipping post."
"I know that."
She stroked him more firmly, loving the way he bit his lower lip in response. She moved in to kiss him and took his lip between her teeth. She tugged gently enough to make him hiss, then let go and licked the small hurt. She tongued his lips softly until he opened them, then delved inside to taste him. She ran her hands over the tight curls on top of his head.
"Weren't you going to take care of this?"
"Yeah. Someone interrupted me."
She kissed him again. "Want me to leave?"
His hands cupped her ass and pulled her closer. "No."
She touched his chin, equally as scruffy as his head. "Want me to shave you?"
"Now there's something you don't hear every day."
She laughed and rubbed the top of his head again. "You scared?"
He rolled his eyes. "No."
"I pretended to be a Kompanion for a long time," she reminded him. "I had to shave a lot of things."
That earned her a chuckle. He captured the hand rubbing his hair and brought it to his mouth for a kiss that made her wetter even than the bathtub. "Okay."
Linna pushed him back against the tub and straddled him while she hooked the tray with one finger and pulled it closer. Her pussy rubbed against his erection, but that was just part of the fun. She ground herself onto his thighs a little bit, just to see him squirm.
"You have to stay still, Del."
That made him stop moving. "Are you sure you've done this before?"
She leaned close to whisper in his ear. "Honey, I can shave you so smooth and so close, you'll think you never had hair."
"That shouldn't sound as kinky as it does."
She wriggled again, moving closer, and grabbed up the small jar of shaving soap. "Some razor."
It was really a dagger. The blade glinted lethally in the light shining in from the skylight. She tilted it and marveled at the sharpness of the edge.
"Are you--"
"Hush. I'm sure." She took a palmful of the soap and smoothed it over his head, making sure to cover it completely. The soap smelled like the bath water, delicious and exotic, musky and sweet at the same time. The smell made her nipples perk up...and so did Del's hands, which had crept up to massage them.
"Don't distract me," she warned. "I like both your ears where they are."
He'd bent forward to slide his tongue along her neck while he tweaked her nipples. "I'm Xanderran, remember? Thrive on danger and all that shit? Go ahead and do it. I dare you."
His mouth moved lower to taste her nipples before he slid up along her body again and shot her that damned clit-tingler of a grin. "I won't move my head again. I promise."
He hadn't said anything about his hands, though. As she stretched upward to smooth the soap on his head, his fingers played along her spine. She wiggled. The dagger in her hand wavered, and Linna took a deep breath to keep from moving.
She put the blade to his skin and scraped forward. True to his word, Del didn't move his head. His hands slid lower to cup her buttocks. His fingers curved underneath to the supersensitive skin of her upper thighs. He brushed her lightly and the tickling sensation tightened her pussy.
Linna flicked the soap off the dagger and put it back to his head. Another scrape, another stripe of clean skin, and Del brushed his fingers further in, along her soft outer folds. Linna had a lot of self-control. She wanted to rock back and forth along that touch, to feel him slide inside her, but she kept herself still.
Scrape. Caress. By the time she was done with his head, Linna thought she might come just from the pressure of her clit against Del's belly. If she moved, just a little...but she didn't. This had become a game, a challenge, and she still hadn't finished his beard.
She cupped some water in her hand and poured it over his head to clean the last of the soap off it. Then she dipped some of the creamy lather from the cup and smoothed it onto his chin and cheeks. Scrape. Caress. Her thighs began to shake. Scrape. His hands drifted back up over her buttocks to play along her spine again.
Linna pushed upward on her knees again to reach for more soap, and when she came back down, his cock nudged her opening, slick with arousal. There was a moment when she could have pulled away, but Linna gave in to temptation. She slid down onto his erection until he filled her.
Both of them sighed.
"Think you can keep your hands steady while you do this?"
She rocked slightly to settle herself even further onto him and put the blade back to his cheek. "I guess we'll find out."
"Who's going to scream first?" Del asked, a twinkle in his eye. "Difference is, I doubt I'll make you bleed."
She scraped a line of clean skin onto his cheek and shivered as he slipped a hand between them to press against her clitoris. "I'm not going to make you bleed. I won't hurt you, Del."
She saw recognition light up his eyes. "Are you sure?"
It seemed strange to have such a big, brawny man look so vulnerable. Linna's heart went out to him, so uncertain about the way love worked. Lack of trust was an issue she knew well.
"As sure as I can be," she replied, not wanting to force false platitudes from her lips even for the sake of romance.
He nodded, understanding. "Same here."
Letting the blade clatter to the tile floor, she leaned in to kiss him. "I have an idea. Let's see how loud I can make you yell without a knife in my hand."
His answer was a thrust of his hips that made her moan out loud. Being filled by Del was delicious, glorious. It made her feel wild and calm at the same time. It made her feel...complete.
"I love you, Del." She whispered the words, aware of the power they gave him over her. "And I am behsherit to you because of that."
He settled his hands on her hips to guide their pace. "I used to think I'd never find my behshera. I didn't think there'd ever be any other person I'd want to spend the rest of my life with. Until you."
He put a finger back on her clit again, to circle on it while he moved inside her. Their mouths locked, tongues darting and sliding. The water made her nearly weightless, so Del could move her with one hand.
She locked her thighs on his hips to move on him, but he put pressure on her hip to stop her. "Let me do this for you."
She wasn't going to argue with that, if it's what he wanted. They hadn't yet been together so often she couldn't recall each and every time they'd made love. She was completely aware that for Del, each time was not just once more with her, but once more altogether. She was willing to give in to what he wanted, especially when she knew it would be good for her, too.
"I love making love to you," he whispered into her ear. The caress of his breath sent a shiver down her spine. "I love the way you shiver when I do this."
He pressed his thumb against her clit as he moved her downward on his cock. She shivered. He smiled and ducked his face into the crook of her shoulder.
Her head dropped back as ecstasy filled her. Del's mouth teased her nipples, back and forth. Threads of pleasure twisted between her legs and joined with the joy his mouth was giving her. Bliss suffused every limb.
She reached the edge and crested there, riding the waves of desire. Del quickened the pace. He took his thumb away from her clit, but pushed her closer to him so she rubbed against his belly.
Her orgasm ebbed, then surged
through her again as the pace quickened. The final burst of it eluded her, just out of reach, and Linna could no longer think of anything but reaching that pinnacle. She could see nothing, hear nothing, feel nothing but Del. His hands on her back, his mouth on her nipples, his cock inside her, his muscled stomach against her clit. Everything was Del and the pleasure sweeping through her.
The universe opened up in his eyes and sucked her in, the way a black hole swallowed an unwary starship. She lost herself in his gaze, filled with lust and love. Starfire swam in her veins.
She came, gasping, and he came with her. Water sloshed over the sides of the tub. She came again with his final thrust and clutched him hard enough to leave marks on his shoulders.
For about a minute, the only sound was the sloshing of the water in the tub and their heavy breathing. Then Del began to chuckle. His body moving against her sent aftershocks of pleasure through her, not quite another orgasm, but wonderful just the same.
"Why are you laughing?" she asked him.
Del looked into her eyes. "This is so much damned fun."
Then Linna began to laugh with him, and together they made the bathroom ring with the sound of their shared joy.
Bright light pierced his eyelids, and Del threw up a hand to cover them. Beside him on the bed, Linna groaned a protest. He cracked one eye open against the glare.
"Good. You're up."
It was his mother. Garzina Tennvic folded her hands inside the sleeves of her high-necked robe and peered down at the bed, her face twisted with disdain. She sniffed loudly. Del recognized the look...and the sniff.
"Good morning, Ima." He sat up and swung his feet over the side of the bed. "Ahat, please close the blinds."
The servant hesitated before obeying, looking at Garzina with a wary expression on its face. Garzina shifted her gaze from the bed to the Esheetha and nodded her permission. Del sighed. She hadn't changed.
With the blind lowered, the bright morning sunlight wasn't so harsh. Del scratched at his head, now smooth, and then ran a hand over his cheeks and chin. Not so smooth. He smiled, remembering just what, exactly, had interrupted his grooming.
"I can't believe you're still abed this late in the day," his mother said. She snapped her fingers at Ahat and Shney, who scurried forward bearing a pile of clothes Del didn't even want to look at, much less put on. "Don't you know you've got to address the melekim today? Where's your head?"
"On my shoulders, same place it's always been."
Another sniff, this one louder. "Very amusing."
Linna sat up next to him, blankets puddled around her waist. "Good morning."
Garzina ignored her. "Delek, get out of bed and let me help you dress. I've got your breakfast waiting, and I want to go over what you'll say to the melekim."
There'd been more than one reason for him leaving Xanderra seven years ago, and Del was quickly remembering more of them. "Thanks very much. You don't need to bother. I'm sure you're very busy, Ima. I'll take care of things for myself."
She dismissed him as she always did, with a wave of her hand and a tutting noise. She swept to the dresser and began rummaging through the contents on top of it. Worthless junk, most of it, but it was his worthless junk. Del got out of bed, pulling loose a sheet to wrap around his waist.
"Go on," he said to his mother, who turned with a look of disbelief. "I can take care of all this myself."
She put her hands on her hips. "Next you'll be telling me you can order your own breakfast."
Del didn't say anything, just stared his mother down. She pursed her lips and frowned, then looked over his shoulder to the bed. "I suppose she's wooing you into acting this way?"
Del crossed his arms over his chest. "Don't start."
Garzina gasped as though he'd slapped her. "Delek! I am your mother!"
"And I'm an adult," he told her. "Linna is my behshera. I know what I have to do today, Ima, and I'm grateful you want to help me. But I can do it myself."
She shook her finger at him, but didn't seem able to find anything to say. With another glare at Linna, Garzina swept out of the room, leaving the two servants behind, still holding up his clothes. Del took the piles and dismissed the Esheethim then sat down next to Linna and waited for her to comment.
"Wow," was all she said after a minute.
He rolled his eyes as he looked at her. "Now you know why I left."
"Are all Xanderran mothers like that?"
"No. I just got lucky."
Linna laughed and put her arms around him. Her kiss made him feel a whole lot better. "Did she really expect you to let her help you get dressed?"
Del nodded. "Sure."
Linna laughed louder, then dropped back onto the pillows. "Wild. How old are you, Del? If you don't mind me asking."
"I've turned with the sun thirty-three times."
"How does that equate to Earth years?"
He thought for a minute. "About the same, give or take a year or two."
"And if you'd stayed, would your mother still be expecting to dress you?" Linna stretched her arms behind her head, a position that tilted her breasts temptingly upward.
"Unless I'd become behsherit, yes. And even then, I'm sure she'd have had a lot to say about what I wore, or ate, or where I decided to live."
Linna wrinkled her nose. "Not real big on fostering independence, is she?"
"No." Del spread out the pile of clothes he'd taken from the servants. "My mother doesn't know how to deal with not being needed."
"Is she like that with your brother?"
Del lifted the heavy shirt from the pile and held it up to his chest. "Yes, but he loves it. Let's Ima and Aba do everything for him they can. At least, that's the way it was when I left. I don't have any reason to expect things have changed. He's not behsherit, so I'm sure my mother is still picking out his clothes and holding his hand before big speeches in front of the Melekim Gadol."
He hadn't meant to sound so bitter. He looked at Linna, still stretched out, and held up the shirt for her to see. "Think this is my color?"
She laughed and touched the stiff shirt. "Um...Del, what is that thing?"
He stood and held the shirt up so she could see the whole thing. "It's part of the traditional garb. Shirt, tunic, trousers, headpiece. The works."
"It doesn't look very comfortable."
"It's not." Del dropped the clothes and put his hands on his hips to stare down at the pile. "And I don't want to wear it."
"So don't." Linna sat up and hugged her knees to her chest. "Del, do you want to address the Council? Do you want to talk to your father about taking your brother's place?"
That was the real question. Did he want to take his brother's place? Putting his brother out would give him real pleasure, but it would be brief and the price high.
He looked down to the heavy shirt in his hands. He hadn't forgotten what it felt like to wear it. Del put the shirt on the bed and stared at it some more.
"Del?"
He looked up. "I don't know, Linna. I didn't think I'd ever come back here. I didn't think I'd ever find my behshera."
She slipped her hand into his. "I know."
"But I am back here." He looked at her. "And I did find you."
Linna nodded, then rested her head on his shoulder. He couldn't see her face, but her shoulders heaved as she sighed. Her voice was pitched low. "I know, Del."
He put his finger under her chin to lift her face toward him. "You don't like it here."
She made a show of looking around the room. "Here doesn't seem so bad."
"On Xanderra."
She sighed again. "Del, I don't know if I fit in here. I'm not sure what place I can really take in your life. All I've seen of your planet is the jungle--not too nice, by the way--and these two rooms. I barely got a glimpse of the rest of the house or anyplace else. The people I've met have been...different. I've been almost killed several times, and more if you count the way your mother looked at me."
"You want to see the c
ity?" Del stroked her cheek and kissed her. "I can show it to you."
Her mouth parted beneath his. "Are you trying to distract me?"
"A little." Del deepened the kiss, then broke away. "Come on. You'll never be able to decide if you like it here if you don't even see it."
She tilted her head. "Is it important to you that I like it here?"
"Of course it is," Del replied with another kiss. "You're my behshera."
Did he imagine a ghost of concern clouding her gorgeous blue eyes for a minute? It passed as soon as she smiled. She kissed him this time, hard enough to knock him down on the bed.
"Show me everything this place has to offer." Linna tugged away the sheet from his waist. "After you make love to me until I can't stand it any more."
"I'll see what I can do," said Del, and did his best to give her what she'd asked for.
Chapter 14
"God-of-Choice," Linna murmured. "I've never seen anything like it! Not in real life anyway."
She looked around the cobblestone streets, low stone buildings and the plethora of greenery. Even this early in the morning, the sun was very bright. Hot enough to make her glad for the protection from the veiled hat Del had given her to wear. That, along with the high-necked robe and its full-length sleeves and ankle length, kept her completely covered from the sun.
Seeing the sun itself had palled pretty quickly. Now she knew why the Newcity founding fathers had built the Dome. Sunlight was hard on the eyes, and even though Newcity's faulty ventilation had made the air hot and muggy, it was nothing compared to the atmosphere on Xanderra.
"I thought the jungle was bad," she said aloud, waving her arms to get a breeze going. "At least there was shade."
Del, on the other hand, seemed to be having the time of his life. He'd stripped down to just a pair of loose-fitting trousers, dark blue instead of black, and embroidered with a pattern of green and red vines. Every muscle on his bare chest gleamed with the oil he'd applied before leaving the house, and the glint of a gold nipple ring kept catching her eye.
Piercing had been in and out of fashion in Newcity for decades, and with plastic surgery that could easily heal even the most punctured bodies, lots of people tested out body jewelry. She'd noticed Del's ears had been pierced, though in Newcity he'd gone without earrings. She'd never checked his nipples, and the sight of the gold hoop kept catching her unawares.
