Rosie stood there, soaking up the warmth of his hand, realizing this was the first time, she’d not felt alone since she’d woken up in the hellhole of green goo on the ship she and the other women had been on. She didn’t pull away. She didn’t flinch. She simply said the first thing that came to her mind.
“It’s ugly.”
“It’s an injury, it can be healed. And it is not ugly. It will be a scar. Scars speak to your resilience. They speak of your strength.”
Rosalita took a deep breath and slowly turned her back to Rokai ahl. She reached for the hem of the over-sized shirt she was wearing and lifted it until she pulled it over her head. Then she reached for the tighter shirt she was wearing and lifted it, too, but she didn’t completely take it off. She felt Rokai lift her hair and move it over her shoulder, then, she felt his fingers as he ran them just along the outside edges of her wounded back.
“I will kill him,” he said softly.
“Do you know who it was?” she asked, lowering her shirt and turning toward him.
“I suspect I may,” Rokai answered.
She started to put on her other shirt, and Rokai took it from her hands. “Let me touch you,” he said, stroking his hand down her face, to continue on down her chest and just barely graze her nipples.
“I don’t know you,” she said.
“But you feel safe with me, otherwise you’d never have gotten in the lift with me,” he whispered.
“Doesn’t matter,” she said. “I don’t know you.”
“You will if you accept me,” he said. “Allow me to show you how good it can be between us.”
“Are you sure you want me?” she said, her original plan to seduce a male and walk away standing up and taking notice of the goings on in this lift. Her inner player pleased that he was bringing the game to her rather than making her have to search him out.
“Oh, yes, very much. Let me touch you,” Rokai said.
“Well, maybe just a little…” Rosie allowed Rokai to kiss her. And the kiss almost made her lose her focus. Her entire body came to life. But she struggled to keep her wits about her. This male was a player — she had no doubt about that. None whatsoever. He thought to use her injury to make her trust him, so she’d give in to him and share her body with him. Then he’d disappear, and she’d never see him again. Obviously, this male had no clue that women of Earth could be just as cold as he thought he was, and in her case, even more so.
She unsnapped her pants and pushed them down to her thighs. “Will you touch me here?” she asked, her eyes peeking up at him, playing her part of the shy female daring to ask for what she wanted, trusting completely.
“I’ll touch you anywhere you wish,” Rokai said, leaning in to kiss her again. He ran his fingers over the teardrop on her face. “What does this mean?” he asked.
“It means I killed a man,” she answered, tilting her head to kiss him again.
He stopped kissing her and opened his eyes, so he could see if she was teasing or not.
“He raped one of my friends. So I lured him into an alley and I shot him. I shot him in the balls, then after a few moments of his screaming like a little girl, I shot him in the face,” she said simply. Rosie fully expected him to pull away and stop their encounter, but instead he smiled. Then he smiled even bigger and leaned in kissing her again. “You are a surprise, my Rosalita,” he purred to her.
Slowly he slipped his hand into her panties and began to stroke her.
The headiness of his scent, and what the hell was up with that? She didn’t remember him wearing cologne before. The warmth of his embrace, the feel of his fingers slowly sliding back and forth over her slit, gently probing, searching for her opening, and the power pulsing through her at the fact that this was on her terms, her way, her choice, had her panting and right on the edge already.
Rokai’s fingers left her as slowly he withdrew them from her body. He held them up and looked at them with heavy, aroused, hooded eyes. Slowly he slipped one after the other into his mouth, sucking them clean. Then he looked at her, brushing his nose against hers. “I want my mouth on you,” he said, dropping his hand to the waistband of her panties at the same time he used a knee to push between her legs and rub her with.
“Yes,” she answered boldly. “Please.”
Rokai dropped to his knees and pulled her pants farther down her legs to her knees. She did her best to spread her legs as much as she could with the hindrance of her pants at her knees, but she didn’t want to take them all the way off. She’d need quick access to them shortly.
He leaned over and blew across her bare skin, his fingers threading through the dark curls he found there. He inhaled deeply and swiped across her skin with his tongue. Then separated the lips of her vulva and looked his fill.
He used his thumb to smooth across her clit, causing her to shiver and tremble.
“You like that,” he said, thrilled with his new discovery. He leaned closer and suckled her clit into his mouth, running his tongue back and forth over the tiny bud while he held it secure with his teeth.
Rosie began to pant, her hands slapping the lift doors behind her.
Rokai bit down just enough to give her a little more pressure while he flicked her clit with his tongue, and she moved her hands to his shoulders, her nails digging into his flesh, her moans filling the space around them as her orgasm rushed through her body.
He gradually let up and got to his feet, pressing his hips against her.
“Thank you, Papi,” she said, reaching to pull her pants up. “I wasn’t sure if I could do that anymore. I appreciate it.” She slapped the control panel next to the door she leaned against, the doors opened, and she left him standing there as she sashayed away.
“What about me?” he yelled after her.
Rosie stopped and turned around to look at Rokai. “Papi, I got mine, now it’s up to you to get yours.” She shrugged her shoulder. “I said you could touch me. I never said I’d touch you. Thank you, though. I’ll sleep like a baby tonight.” Rosie blew him a kiss and turned down the corridor to her right.
She cringed and hurried to her room to hide herself away when she heard a roar come from the direction of the lift she’d just gotten off of.
Safely tucked away in her room, she leaned back against the door. “He did not sound happy,” she said, grinning. “The player has been played,” she chuckled, as she stripped out of her clothes and headed toward her bathroom.
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
Rokai stood in the corridor, his mouth agape, watching Rosalita tell him that she wasn’t going to satisfy him. He was harder than he’d ever been. His cock throbbing and leaking at her taste, her scent. And she just walked away! He let out a roar and stalked down the corridor intent on following her. Then he realized she’d done to him, just what he’d done to all the women he’d ever bedded. He’d taken what he needed and slipped away.
“I cannot believe she has left me like this!” he snarled. He stood there a few moments longer, then slowly he began to smile. This female was different. She was not a sniveling, needy, strangling you with her attempt to control you, female. She was strong. Like him, she’d killed. She’d righted wrongs through violence, and only a very few understood that. He nodded, adjusted his throbbing cock, and spoke aloud. “You may have this one, my Rosalita, but next time, I will not stop until I am satisfied.”
He turned, walked back to the lift and pushed the button to take him back to his own floor. He fairly snarled at everyone he passed, finally arriving at the room he’d been assigned. He dropped his hand on the scanner to open the door, hoping the damned thing would work properly this time and let him in. He needed relief, and he needed it now. Thankfully, the doors slid open, granting him entry. He wasted no time continuing his stalk to the cleansing chamber and quickly shoving his trousers down his legs. He took himself in hand and leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes and tilting his head back to rest against the smooth metallic surface behind him. He didn’t look do
wn at himself. He didn’t want to think about what he was preparing to do. He’d not needed to relieve himself since before his horns had begun to grow in. It was unheard of! Why would a male with the reputation of the infamous Rokai ahl have need to take himself in hand to find some form of satisfaction? Many a female waited for his attentions, not the other way around.
Rokai snarled to himself. Then an image of Rosalita came together in his mind. Her huge brown eyes rimmed with long black lashes, her soft, wavy, dark hair spilling over her shoulders and down her back. He licked his lips when he thought of the curves of her body, her small waist and rounded thighs and bottom. He thought of the warmth of her light brown skin beneath his fingers, and that was all it took. Just a full picture of her in his mind and he was growling out his relief as he spilled his seed onto the floor of the cleansing chamber.
He looked down at the mess on the floor. It was all Rosalita’s fault. If not for her, he could have bedded any woman on this ship. But no, not now. Now all his fool cock wanted was Rosalita. And she’d left him high and dry — after he’d pleasured her! “Fine. I will be patient. I will have her and begone. I am done with this ridiculous fascination already.” Rokai glanced around for a towel, snatched it from the counter top, dropped it on the floor and used his boot to wipe up the mess, then shoved his hands beneath the faucet waiting for the cleansing foam to cover his hands.
He stepped toward the shower, but on catching a whiff of Rosalita’s scent on himself, thought better of it. Instead he returned to the bedroom and stripped, climbing into bed and gradually falling asleep with visions of a particular curvy, sarcastic, snippy human dancing through his dreams.
Chapter 13
Rosie silently lectured herself as she sat at her preferred table against the far wall of the commissary. She pretended she was only here because she was hungry, but truth was, she’d not slept very well. She’d spent the night thinking of Rokai. Wishing he’d come to her door and demand she satisfy him.
“I cannot believe you even considered such a thing,” she whispered aloud for her ears only.
Several people having finished going through the serving line glanced her way as she spoke to herself, but they quickly looked away after.
She’d never in her life chased after any man, nor put herself in the position of ‘accidentally’ running into one, like she did now — sitting here, waiting for him to come to have breakfast, so she could know if the impact of just seeing him was as powerful as she thought it’d be, and at the same time hoped it wouldn’t be.
Her heart fluttered as she pictured him. It was all she could do not to moan when she remembered his voice in her ear. She loved his voice. It did things to her that should be illegal. And though she was the player in this particular hook-up, she craved more. She needed it like the air she breathed. And it irritated her beyond all measure. This was not the power play, power trip, prove to herself that she was still in control of the one nighter she planned for.
“Damnit!” she snapped, slamming her cup of Litah down on the table. “What is wrong with you, girl?”
As irritated as she was, she couldn’t convince herself to leave — he may be the next male to enter the commissary, and she really needed to see how that would make her feel.
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
“Rokai!” Zha Quin bellowed.
“What?!” Rokai yelled back, shooting straight up in bed, rubbing his eyes, still swollen from sleep and trying to focus. “What do you want?” Rokai shouted, slamming his hands down on the bed he slept in.
“Get up. Your hosting unit will be meeting for their morning workout before breakfast shortly. We need to speak before hand.”
“We’re speaking now. And why are you standing at the foot of my bed shouting at me while I sleep?” Rokai demanded, realizing Zha Quin had let himself into the room while he was sleeping.
“I requested entry at the door for five minutes. You didn’t answer.”
“Because I was sleeping!” Rokai half-shouted exasperatedly.
“I asked you to speak with me in the conference room yesterday evening. You refused to come. Hence my presence here now. We will speak,” Zha Quin stated firmly.
Rokai simply shook his head and glanced to his left to see how Gaishon could possibly be sleeping through this. Gaishon’s bed was just on the other side of the room. His brows came down over his eyes when he saw the bed still made.
“Where’s Gaishon?” Rokai asked.
“He spent the night with the two females he entertained at the dance club. He’s already risen, eaten breakfast and is now shadowing Ba Re’. He’s requested to learn engineering rather than be assigned to a military unit.”
“Well, isn’t that just special,” Rokai snarked.
“It is. He’s been very cooperative. He is apparently tired of the lifestyle the two of you have been living and aspires to a different way of making his way,” Zha Quin answered with an equal tone in his voice.
Rokai sat in his bed and let out an unbelieving sigh as he used one hand to rub his eyes.
Zha Quin stood at the foot of Rokai’s bed, waiting for him to get up so they could speak properly.
Finally Rokai gave in. “What do you want, Zha Quin?”
“I told you. I wish to speak with you.”
“Speak. You have my undivided attention,” Rokai answered.
Zha Quin had hoped to get Rokai to the conference room on the Command Deck so that he could address him formally, but perhaps this was better — a more relaxed atmosphere.
“Chairman Bartholomew contacted me to advise that you were on your way here,” Zha Quin started.
“I assumed as much,” Rokai answered, not yet looking up at Zha Quin.
“This is your last chance, Rokai. He said he will not be stepping in to negotiate on your behalf any longer. This was the last time. You have to be careful, Rokai. You have to make better choices. Bart will not be there as a safety net any longer. The next time could get you killed.”
Rokai’s eyes raised to meet Zha Quin’s, sparking with anger and resentment. “I didn’t ask for his help this time or any other time. And if he’s helped in the past, he kept it to himself!”
“I didn’t say you asked for help. I’m simply saying…” Zha Quin started.
“I know what you’re saying. And wouldn’t that just play into your hands? The horrible Rokai, the scourge of the Cruestaci people, blight upon their good name, killed as he deserved at the hands of a better male? Wouldn’t that just make everything easier for everyone?” he snapped.
Zha Quin sighed. He missed his brother. And all that remained of him was right here, on his very ship. But he was practically unreachable. “It is not what I want, Rokai. Your death is not a desired outcome to anyone. It would tear my heart out, and it would destroy Mother.”
“Mother? You mean the one that raised you, or the one that raised me? We do not have the same mother,” Rokai said calmly.
“You well know that we do.”
“The one that raised you paraded you for your people to see, proud of the little male you were — future Sovereign of your people. The one that raised me — she shipped me away so that I could be of as little embarrassment to her as possible. They are not the same,” he said quietly.
“It would seem that way, but you are wrong. You should give her the opportunity to speak with you,” Zha Quin said.
“Why? What could she possibly say? What could any of you possibly say that would make a difference? Just bide your time, and I’m sure at some point, the notorious Rokai ahl of Quarin will gamble one too many times. The blight on your great people will be gone, once and for all.”
Zha Quin shook his head, realizing he was speaking to a wall. There was no room for his words to be heard, and no will in Rokai to change that. He turned and stepped toward the door. “You are not as notorious as you would have others think. You have taken many chances stealing away those enslaved against their will and returning them to their lives. You steal from those who
steal from others, yet you keep very little for yourself. Granted, you dabble in trades you shouldn’t, and you are a bit of a scoundrel with females of nobility, but you are not a bad male, Rokai.”
Rokai raised his chin and dared Zha Quin to go on. He didn’t like the fact that his brother saw the good that he did. He much preferred to be the outcast, to live the role they’d shoved him into all those years ago. “Make no mistake, I have killed!” he insisted.
Zha Quin nodded, and moved closer to the door, causing it to open as it sensed his presence. “As have I when necessary. I do not wish your death, Rokai. Rather, I miss my brother — I always have.”
Zha Quin stepped through the door and allowed it to close behind himself, having said most of what he’d planned to say. Maybe some of it would soak in, at some point, but it was obvious this was not that day.
Rokai threw back the covers and got out of bed. He stretched his body left then right, his hands lifted high above his head. He yawned and headed toward the bathroom feeling physically better than he had in years — he’d slept, actually slept the whole night through. He stepped into the shower and pressed the button to release the cleansing foam, followed by the warm blast of air to dry his body.
Rokai dressed, then took a direct path toward the commissary. Or tried to. He approached the door to his quarters, the sensor lit up registering his presence, then… did nothing. It stayed closed. Rokai growled and banged on the door. The sensor lit up again, yet did not respond to his attempt to exit his room. He tried for several minutes to back up from the door, approach it anew, bang on it, slap his hand on the ID pad mounted inside the room beside the door, unlock and lock it again. Still it wouldn’t let him out.
With an ungodly snarl, he threw his head back and roared.
“May I be of assistance, Captain Rokai ahl,” the ship’s computer purred in the seductive female voice that had been chosen for its communications.
Haven 2: Redemption Page 10
