by A. G. Wilde
Down he went, his lips forming a trail of wet sucks and kisses as he headed down toward her belly button but he didn’t stop there.
Nia’s eyes widened, her mouth falling open in a loud moan as his lips closed over her center.
And her moan was matched by his own.
Ka’Cit fell to his knees before her, both hands settling on her ass as his tongue curved into her before slurping up her center.
“Fuck.” Nia’s eyes rolled over in her head.
She didn’t have the energy to stand anymore and was happy there was a wall behind her that she could lean against.
Her response seemed to spur him on and as her fingers threaded into his hair, caressing his head, Ka’Cit growled against her clit.
He gripped her ass tighter, pulling her forward toward his lips as he spread her pussy apart with his tongue, and when the thick wet organ slipped into her, thrusting as he sucked, she couldn’t contain herself anymore.
A scream ripped through her as she clung onto him, her orgasm pulling all the energy from her head straight to her fucking toes.
And it kept on going, he kept on going, till she was trembling against him, spasms of pleasure forcing their way through her body.
Ka’Cit finally released her and when she looked down at him under her heavy eyelids, she could see her wetness glistening on his lips.
There was a low rumble in his throat as he rose, lifting her with him as he put her over his shoulder.
Hell, she couldn’t protest. There was no way she could walk after what he’d just done and when he set her down on the bed anticipation began building within her again despite her weakness.
She was facedown, her legs hanging off the side of the bed, and she gripped the bedding with both hands as she felt him settle behind her.
“Hard,” she whispered.
Ka’Cit growled. “Ta’ii don’t say those things. I do not want to become undone before I even seat myself within you. And…I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Please,” she whispered. “Hard. You won’t hurt me. I can take it.”
She wanted to feel him. Every inch.
She wanted to walk and hobble when they were done.
She wanted it all.
Her legs moved as he grasped them, positioning himself at her entrance, and a jerk of his cock rubbed his head against her center.
Nia whimpered at the contact.
She’d never wanted anyone more than she wanted him.
In this moment, he was everything.
As Ka’Cit eased inside her, they both moaned.
There was tension in the arms that were holding her thighs and she knew he was trying his best to hold back. All because he didn’t want to hurt her.
Well, if she was going to feel pain because of good dick then so-fucking-be it.
“Ka’Cit,” she clenched her vaginal muscles and he let out an open-mouthed roar before he surged forward.
Her scream of pleasure was dampened by the bedding and Nia buried her face into it as he pulled back and surged forward again.
He was giving her everything. She was taking it all. And as he pistoned into her, driving her into the bedding beneath them, Nia let out another cry as she reached her peak once more.
Ka’Cit growled and surged into her a few more times before stiffening, another roar leaving his lips as his own orgasm overtook him.
As he collapsed on top of her, he pulled her with him up on the resting slab, cradling her close as he kissed her on top of her head.
“Nee-ya…” he groaned, “did I… Are you hurting?”
A warm feeling filled her and she snuggled back into him some more.
“No, Ka’Cit. You didn’t hurt me. I told you that you won’t hurt me.”
He stiffened a little, enough for her to notice, but he didn’t reply.
She was suddenly tired enough to fall asleep again and as they lay there in silence, simply enjoying the aftermath of their lovemaking, Nia’s eyes slowly began to close.
She was almost off to sleep when his words floated to her ear.
“That’s what I’m afraid of most, ta’ii. I don’t want to hurt you. It terrifies me that I will.”
She would have reassured him again, but sleep was already claiming her consciousness.
So, instead, she took his hand in hers and pulled his arm around her.
Sleep.
When they woke, he’d realize he’d been worried about nothing.
32
Nia’s eyes opened to movement within the room.
She’d slept much more soundly than she’d expected, being that she was in a strange place and all, but Ka’Cit’s hard, warm body tucked against hers had been comforting.
He was getting dressed now, his mask was already on and his trousers too. He caught her gaze as she sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
Dropping what he was doing, he moved toward her, his tail waving lazily behind him.
Everything about the day before came rushing back and Nia felt a deep warmth spread through her at the sight of him.
With one hand, he brushed a finger against the side of her cheek and memory of everything they’d shared came flooding back.
“You’re awake,” he whispered.
Nia nodded. “What time is it? You should have woken me up.”
His eyes studied her through the slit in his mask and she got the impression he was smiling underneath it.
“I think you needed the rest.”
Nia smiled, her cheeks warming a little. “You’re getting dressed.”
“Our ship is fixed.”
That woke her up.
“What? So soon?” A pang of disappointment she hadn’t expected to feel followed those words.
“The Torian did not sleep till he was done. It almost feels like he wanted to get rid of me.”
Nia chuckled and pulled the bedding up around her. Then a thought hit her. “What about the job? The package? Those humans that need our help? Could we still make it now that the ship is fixed much sooner than we thought it would be?”
“You are very concerned about the rest of your kind, aren’t you?”
“I am.” She was hopping off the bed now and heading toward the shower stall. “Even though I don’t know them, they’re all I have in this new universe. We’re together in this.”
Ka’Cit’s gaze tracked her as she reached the shower stall and when she turned to glance back at him she couldn’t read the look in his eyes.
“It’s nice,” he said.
“Nice? What is?”
“To belong.”
His words felt deeper than their surface value and she paused, not sure of what to think of those words.
“We’re too late.” He broke her train of thought. “I got word the deal is already done. The package has already been smuggled. It would be impossible to find it now.”
Something fell and died within her and she leaned against the door to the shower.
For a few moments, she just stared at the sleeping slab as a sick feeling developed in her stomach. She’d still been hoping there was something they could do to help the humans.
“Do you really believe that group, the Restitution, will find a way to help them?”
Ka’Cit took a deep breath as he slipped his tunic over his shoulders.
“They always do.”
Nia nodded.
If one thing was clear, she trusted him.
She’d have to take his word for it.
“I should shower,” she murmured.
As she stepped behind the transparent barrier and got the water going, Ka’Cit sat on the edge of the sleeping slab, watching her.
It felt intimate, the way his gaze followed the movements of her hands across her skin and she was surprised there was no self-consciousness in her movements.
His attention made the nerve endings across her skin become alert and it was almost as if his hands were the ones moving across her skin.
He looked at her like he
was memorizing every detail of her body.
The only sound being the water falling against the floor, even the silence between them felt intimate.
As she brushed the drops of water off herself, shaking as much as she could to get dry, Ka’Cit stood with her cloak in hand, his gaze not leaving hers as she stepped out of the bathing area.
The way he was looking at her, as if he was ravenous, only brought back memory of what they’d done together and the thought made her body react.
No one had ever looked at her like that before. Ever.
When Ka’Cit looked at her, it made her feel like the sexiest, most beautiful woman alive.
He made a sound in his throat as he outstretched her cloak toward her, but he didn’t let it go.
Instead, he moved even closer and began to help her get dressed.
“Come. We eat in the lounge then leave.” He paused and let out a breath. “Time for me to take you home.”
Home.
It felt like an eon had passed since she’d left the Sanctuary.
As the cloak settled over her shoulders and she put her underwear back on, Nia slipped into her shoes and took hold of what was now her blaster.
She hid the weapon underneath her cloak once more and with the hood over her head, she stepped with Ka’Cit into the lift.
“So this is it, huh?” she said. “Life goes back to normal after this.”
They’d spent time together, shared a lot, and it even felt like…like she didn’t want it to end. But she knew that regardless of what they’d shared, it didn’t mean that life changed for either of them now.
She wasn’t about to demand anything from him—just as he wasn’t demanding anything from her.
She could admit though…there was a sense of loss when she thought of hardly ever seeing him again and that was something she had to think about.
He never visited the Sanctuary.
As the lift opened to the lounge, Nia expected the room to go silent this time and she wasn’t disappointed.
She kept her head low under the hood as they walked forward toward the bar.
The bartender greeted them and Ka’Cit ordered some food, but she hardly heard any of the exchange.
All she could think about was…him.
She liked him.
A lot.
The short time she spent with him felt like much longer and, inside her, something had changed.
It was hard imagining returning to the Sanctuary and continuing life as usual.
Waking every day, feeling alone even with other people around her.
Fuck.
It dawned on her.
She was falling for him…or she’d fallen already.
When had that happened? She wasn’t sure.
Nia gulped as she risked a glance up at him.
His gaze was focused on the steaming meals the bartender had placed before them and he seemed to be caught up in his own thoughts.
“Zeregga meals?” She kept her voice low but loud enough for him to hear.
His gaze focused and he nodded. “More well done this time. You should be able to chew it.”
Nia nodded and smiled.
Why did she feel so sad inside?
What was wrong with her?
She was just about to put a mouthful of the food in her mouth when new patrons entered the lounge. She wouldn’t have noticed them if they were not so loud and when the color drained from the bartender in front of her, a bad feeling sprung up in the pit of her stomach.
More of those terrible aliens that had grabbed her the other day?
Ka’Cit glanced back and stiffened immediately before turning back to face the bar.
If she wasn’t looking at him, she wouldn’t have seen the reaction.
It was that fast.
One hand reached for the blaster he’d placed on the counter and the other rested against her back.
He lowered his head so he could speak directly into her ear and apart from the noisy new entrants to the lounge, Nia realized that the entire room had gone silent once more.
“Don’t move,” Ka’Cit whispered. “Don’t turn around. Don’t do anything to draw any attention your way and maybe we can make it out of this alive.”
Terror shot through her at his words and the food she’d grasped slipped from her fingers to fall back on the tray.
“What is it?” She kept her voice so low, she could hardly hear her own words but Ka’Cit’s hearing was perfect.
“Hedgeruds.”
Hedgeruds?
She’d heard that name before, but she didn’t keep the species’ names in her head. There were far too many to remember by name.
Still…where had she heard that name before.
What did it refer to?
All of her instincts told her to take a look so she could know what she was dealing with, but more than that, she trusted the man beside her.
He’d told her not to move or turn around and so far, she was still alive because of him.
Logic said she should heed his advice.
Ka’Cit’s hand grew firmer against her back as if he was holding her still and as soon as that feeling caught her senses, so did another. The air behind her moved as a large figure walked past and to her side.
Nia turned her head just a fraction and from her peripheral vision, she caught the sight of a long alligator-like tail.
Her spine turned to ice that shattered into her veins.
Suddenly, the name made sense.
Hedgeruds.
She knew this species.
She knew them because they were responsible for her being taken from Earth.
They were the guards that worked for the High Tasqals. The same guards who’d come to the Sanctuary and tried to take Lauren away from Riv. The same guards who’d hunted Sohut and Cleo in the jungle.
What the hell were they doing here?
For a few moments, she worried they might be there for her and she pulled her wrist up enough to look at the tattoo that was there.
Another spike of fear went through her.
She’d taken a bath.
The fake tattoo wasn’t on her skin anymore.
She had no way of even bluffing her legal status.
Fuck.
FUCK!
One more glance at Ka’Cit and he was as still as stone.
No one in the lounge made a sound except the Hedgerud—no, Hedgeruds, plural.
Judging from the voices, there were at least four of them.
“—deliver the shipment.” One of them was talking and she only realized this fact now that she’d calmed down enough to listen.
“Don’t know why the qrak we have to go to the excrement center that is Port Six.”
“You know they give our team the bad runs. Maybe if you’d pledged allegiance sooner we’d get better assignments.”
“You should talk to the boss about it.”
One of them scoffed. “And get my head chopped off. Qeffing qrak. I have a life to live…jekins to phek.”
They chortled at that and it caused a painful memory. Images of being in that alien slave ship and their laughter came right back to her like it was yesterday.
They had yellow eyes and elongated snouts with wicked teeth. They hadn’t cared how frightening they were. They would laugh right in her face, if only to scare the shit out of her.
And it had worked. It had worked so well that they’d kept doing it.
They were scum.
“It’s talix metal though. Why Port Six? We’ve never sent talix through Port Six before.”
There was a sound like someone got hit over the head. “Shut your mouth. These degenerates don’t need to know what we’re carrying.”
But the Hedgerud had already said enough.
Talix metal.
Wasn’t that what Ka’Cit said had been in that package? The one they needed to retrieve from the smuggler?
She glanced up at him and realized that he’d been as still as stone because
he’d been listening far earlier than she’d thought.
His gaze met hers and they turned from cold ice to warm green. Then alarm passed through his eyes.
He shook his head a little to tell her no.
“We have to try,” she mouthed, her whisper almost inaudible.
“Not on my life. I’ve already put you in enough danger. If they so much as see you…”
She knew what he meant.
If she was caught, they were going to bring her right back to the slavers.
But there were humans that needed her help.
On this side of the universe, they were outnumbered and the odds were always against them.
She couldn’t simply not do anything.
“We can do it.”
Ka’Cit studied her. “That’s not what I’m worried about.”
Nia frowned a little. “Then what are you worried about?”
He paused. “If you get hurt…”
Something warmed within her but she shook her head. “I won’t. I trust you.”
Again, something passed through his gaze that she could not read and he closed his eyes for a moment.
She leaned her head against him and for all looking at them, she supposed they looked like a couple being intimate.
“I trust you, Ka’Cit. Now, you have to trust me.”
Ka’Cit let out a breath.
“We really shouldn’t do this…” he murmured.
“The risk isn’t greater than the reward.”
He studied her for a moment and she knew he was weighing the options in his head.
“They need our help.” And she was right. As far as they knew, the Restitution didn’t have another plan. They’d needed that package.
They needed this talix metal.
Unsaid words passed through their gazes and she and Ka’Cit stared at each other.
But, they didn’t get the chance to make a move.
Fate already had things planned.
“You!” The voice of one of the Hedgerud’s echoed in the silence of the lounge and at his exclamation, his cronies stopped their chatter.
The place was so silent now, she could hear her own breathing.
She didn’t know why, but she knew they were calling out to her.
It was the gator-guard to her side, the one whose tail she’d seen, and he stood from his seat, a weapon that looked like a wizard’s staff pointed in her direction.
