by Raven Dark
“Beautiful.”
“Ohh, God.” I could feel his gaze heating my skin, drinking me in. Awareness of what he must have seen kicked in. He’d said he wanted me in his bed, ass up face down, and that’s precisely how he’d arranged me. My ever-loving ass was in the air, bared for his use, propped up at the angle he wanted, my hands gripping the bed. Leaving me with nothing to do but accept whatever he did.
So frightening, and yet so sexy.
“Breath, ra alia. Let your body relax. Feel yourself fall into the bed and let your muscles go,” he whispered in my ear. “Remember, breathe in, breathe out.”
Wasn’t I? I wasn’t. I let out the breath I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding.
The bed creaked with his weight as he sat up behind me. His fingers stroked my soaked folds, teasing my clit until the ache there turned almost painful. I rutted against his fingers and he withdrew them.
“No, no, no,” he crooned. “No coming without my permission.”
I whimpered but stilled.
He stroked a few more times until my thighs shook with the effort not to rock against him. Then he leaned over me and grabbed the lube from the nightstand. The cool gel coated my puckered hole. He lathered it up. One of his fingers slid inside.
Pain zinged along my back passage, making me jerk my head up and grit my teeth.
“Hurt?”
“Ow, yes… You fucker.”
He snorted a laugh and lightly swatted my ass enough to sting. “Name calling won’t help you. Relax. Breathe. In and out. Every time one of us does this to you, and we will do it a lot, just remember what I told you. Relax. Breathe.”
He pushed his finger in up to the knuckle, stretching me and stroking slowly. Getting me used to his invasion. I gritted my teeth, hissing in and out until the flashes of pain slowly gave way to waves of pleasure.
“See? It gets easier, yes?”
I panted and nodded, holding in a moan.
He slid a second finger in.
My mouth fell open on a silent cry of pleasure-pain. I thrashed my legs on the bed.
“Stop it.” I could hear the amusement in his voice.
“This is torture! It should be outlawed!” He didn’t need to know it was torture because it felt too good to be real, and because the pain only made me want more.
He chuckled and slid both fingers slowly in and out, then faster. My moans filled the room. I almost came until he stopped, sliding his fingers out.
I heard him work his pants open, and then heard him lathering his cock. I licked my lips, new tension pouring into me, while my pussy ached to the point of pain at that sound. Behind me, I could just imagine how hard he was, his thickness like a rod of steel. My ass clenched in anticipation. I gripped the edge of the bed hard.
“Are you breathing, little flower?”
I nodded, inhaling and letting it out.
“Good. This is going to feel incredible to me regardless. It’s your choice whether it does to you or not.”
Fuck, he made the idea that I was getting fucked regardless of my wishes sound so incredibly hot.
His fingers teased my pucker a little more. Then the head of his cock pushed at my ass, huge and hard as iron. I forced myself to relax and take what was coming.
Z’pheer pushed the head of his cock forward and the pressure was almost too much. He seemed to touch every nerve, nerves I didn’t know a woman had. I winced and tried to lie still, to stay relaxed.
He slid further in and I grunted. He slid in some more and I bit the pillow.
“Good girl. Take all of me.”
I mewled and buried my reddened face, waiting.
With a growl of pure lust, as if his control was on a knife’s edge, he buried himself inside me.
He set his palms on the bed to either side of me, leaning up on his elbows so that he wasn’t crushing me under his weight, then thrust in and out, deep, long strokes. My hips bucked, rocking into him, greedy for more.
Fuck, he felt so good, the waves of pleasure like a drug.
“You like that, don’t you?” His voice was gruff with need, stoking the mounting hunger in me.
I gripped the bed, my hips rocking, meeting him thrust for thrust.
“Son of a bitch…” I panted.
“Answer me,” he growled in my ear, fucking me harder, faster.
So much for not telling him.
“Yes! Yes, I like it!”
He moaned in approval. One of his palms cupped my chin, turning my face to the side. He devoured my mouth, his harsh hungry thrusts a never-ending torrent of pleasure that threatened to tear me apart.
I was going to die. This barbarian was going to be the end of me. I cried out into his mouth, fucking him back madly. He rumbled in pleasure, and then his control snapped.
Z’pheer sat up between my legs, seized my hips and pounded my ass savagely. The headboard thumped against the wall, the bed rattling as if it would come apart under his brutality. I thrashed and screamed, and it made him crazier.
I knew the whole ship heard me, knew Malek and Raul were probably both getting off on hearing me getting fucked. That thought only made me hotter.
“Fuck, you drive me crazy, alia. I’m going to spend the whole night inside you.”
The whole night. Oh, God, yes. I was flying so fucking high, I thought I’d never come down. The man was addictive. The pleasure was beyond describing; right then, I would have died for just one more minute with him, right here, right now, in this moment.
Z’pheer panted, getting close. He let out a string of alien curses that obviously had no translation, and it didn’t matter what they meant. He was losing himself in me.
He shoved his hand between us, stroking my clit. I howled.
“Come,’ he grunted.
I flew apart, crashing over the edge in a writhing, wild mess. Z’pheer swore and hammered me twice more, cursing his release.
Z’pheer moaned and eased out of me, his big chest rising and falling hard. He rolled us over and crushed me to him. I folded myself into him, panting just as hard.
“Oh my God.” I buried my face in his chest and clung to him as if he were a lifeline that could save me from the damnation I’d surely suffer for feeling such perfect pleasure.
“Rosht,” he agreed, running his hand down his sweat slicked face and massaging my nape. “We’ll get a bath in a few minutes. As soon as I can walk.” He chuckled.
Unable to form words, I nodded into his shoulder.
We lay there for a few moments while our breathing returned to normal. While the feeling returned to my legs. Then he kissed my temple and climbed out of bed.
“Stay there.” He gave my ass a light, playful swat.
His feet scuffled across the carpet. Water ran, and I heard him scrubbing himself. When he came back, he wiped me down with a wet cloth, cleaning me thoroughly and kissing my back as he worked. When he was done, he lay back down on the bed and pulled me into his arms, resting my head against his chest. His heart beat a soothing, strong rhythm in my ear as he wrapped his leg around both of mine, pinning them in place.
“Tell me how that felt, alia,” he murmured in my ear, stroking my nape.
I sighed and lifted my head, my cheeks hot. “You’re going to make me say it?”
He pushed my hair out of my face, waiting.
“You know how it felt. You heard me. The whole ship heard me,” I grumbled.
He grinned. “I want to hear you say it.” He turned my face to his. “No shame. No hiding, remember?”
I forced myself to meet his eyes. Somehow, when I saw the shameless way he looked at me, the open satisfaction in his eyes, it was suddenly easy to say it. To take that openness into myself.
I bit my lip and took the scary step. “I loved it.”
“So did I, little flower. So did I.” His lips crushed mine. There was so much heat, so much appreciation in that kiss. And something else I wouldn’t dare let myself believe I felt from him.
Something tha
t felt like gratitude.
God, I was falling so hard for him.
I couldn’t help feeling grateful to him. For allowing me to let go, to forget about my messed up life and just feel. For saving me from myself.
We lay together for a long time, and soon my thoughts inevitably returned to all the things I’d been thinking about before he’d found me in the galley. Like good food, a good fuck didn’t solve anyone’s problems. They were still there when it was over.
Z’pheer must have sensed my change in mood, because he tipped my chin up, bring my eyes to his. “What is it?”
I sighed and rested my chin on his chest, running my hands over the rippling power there. “I just…”
“Just?”
“I just don’t understand it.”
“What?”
“Shelly,” I finally said. “How can she do that? How can she love Haruuk? How can she just set me up and give me to her son like that and then expect us to just be friends, for me to forgive her? It doesn’t make sense.”
Z’pheer looked at the ceiling in thought. “Love is a complicated thing, alia. Often, when situations seem the least conducive to it, and when people seem the most ill matched, that’s when it happens. No one can control it. Raul’s mother was made for his father, just as you were made for us. I don’t think it would have mattered what he did to her. She would have loved him, wanted and needed what he did.” He met my eyes and stroked my shoulder with his fingers. “As for selling you… I don’t think you have all the facts.”
I raised my shoulders a little. “Maybe not, but what could she possibly tell me that would make any difference? Nothing makes what she did right.”
“It’s not that simple. This world never is. Not for a woman. I can’t answer for her, alia. Only she can do that.”
I let out a frustrated breath. He was right, of course, but I didn’t want to hear what she had to say. There was nothing she could say that would make this right, that would bring back what we had.
“She gave me that dolphin, you know.”
“The one you tried to throw away?”
I nodded sadly.
“Hang on.” He slipped out of the bed carefully and crossed the room. He picked up his belt and took something out of it, then returned and laid back down. He pressed his warm body to mine. Leaning against the headboard and the pillow there. “Here.”
My eyes widened. The thin necklace Shelly had given me dangled from his fingers. The little silver dolphin glinted in the low light. My gut twisted.
“I don’t want it, Z’pheer. I don’t even want to look at it.” It was a painful reminder of her betrayal, of all that I’d thought I’d had and lost. For all that it was made of silver, it was more worthless than a piece of tin.
“Take it, alia. Trust me, you may regret it if you toss it away.” He took my chin gently. “When we return to Xandar, Shelly will be there. Talk to her. Give her a chance to explain. Wear the gift she gave you until you hear what she has to say. Make no assumptions until you know all the facts.”
I made an annoyed sound. “I don’t want to give her that much.”
“Then don’t. Give me that much. Do it for me.”
“Why do you care so much?” I said softly. “Why do you care if I forgive her?”
“Because she is Raul’s mother, and Raul is my friend. I don’t want you holding hatred in your heart. Hatred is poison, alia. And because she is the one part of your world we can give you.”
I sighed one last time and dropped my shoulders. Why did he have to make it so hard to say no to him? I put my head down, offering him my neck. “Put it on, then. Do it. Quick, before I change my mind.”
He slipped the necklace on and did up the clasp, then kissed the top of my head. “Now.” He lifted my chin up again and kissed me on the lips. “Sleep, alia. Sleep and dream of your new home.”
I snuggled into him and soaked up his warmth, his strength as if it could save me from the sadness that threatened to swallow me whole.
When I slept, I didn’t dream of Earth, the way I thought I would. I dreamed of the planet Xandar, whose existence hung by a thread, and the friend I wished I’d never lost.
I dreamed of the Silverfox Barbarian I wished the hell I wasn’t falling for.
“Wake up, nayna. It’s time to go.”
Three days after the night I’d spent with Z’pheer in his room, I awakened to find Malek shaking my shoulder. Thinking we’d reached our destination, I lifted my head, nervousness wiping away any lingering fatigue.
“We’re there already?”
Malek flipped the blankets off me. “No. We’ve just stopped to fuel up. Come on, beautiful.”
I rubbed my eyes and swung my feet over the bed, some of the tension leaving me. Wherever we were headed to get this weapon that would supposedly kill the Rith, I was pretty sure it wouldn’t be an easy mission. The men still hadn’t told me much about where we were going, but they didn’t have to in order for me to know it would be dangerous.
“Here, stand up.” Malek held out a fresh slave’s dress, his hands through the hole in the top. As soon as I stood up, he slipped it over my head and adjusted it on my frame, quickly doing up the ties on the sides.
Out on the bridge, I could hear Raul and Z’pheer talking. Raul sounded like his usual impatient self.
“Malek, hurry it up, or you can stay behind with her,” Raul snapped.
Malek tweaked each of my nipples through the red material, then winked at me when he heard my intake of breath. Sneaky, sexy bastard. He nodded to the bathroom, giving me a few minutes to freshen up and comb my hair.
When we were both ready, he clipped my leash to his bracelet. Now fully awake, I noticed his laser sword was strapped to his back.
“Are we expecting trouble?” I asked him as we walked out to the bridge.
“No, but you never know.” He took my hand.
Out on the bridge, the other two were gearing up. Raul grabbed his axe, slipping it into the holder on his back. Then he put on Tarku’s collar and leash. Tarku leaped and wagged his tail excitedly, apparently thrilled to be getting off the ship with his master.
Malek put my muzzle on. Would I ever be allowed to go anywhere without that fucking thing?
Z’pheer picked up one of the chests he’d brought, and I figured it was for food storage or medical supplies. He made it look light with all those muscles, but I had a feeling it was heavy.
As soon as we stepped outside the ship and I saw where we’d the landed, my eyes just about bugged out. Oh, my God.
The fueling station was enormous, reminding me of an intergalactic airport. Ships of all sizes and shapes sat on raised platforms, aliens of every kind rushing this way and that, arriving or departing. A rainbow of skin colors made a feast for the eyes. I did a double-take when an alien twice the size of Raul, with two-foot high horns on his head, walked past us. I stared at it—him—dumbstruck.
My leash pulled.
“Ah. Nayna likes horns,” Malek said, making me look at him. “Is that where your Earth word ‘horny’ comes from?” He grinned and petted my hair.
Wow, Malek just made a joke.
I gave him a mock-death glare. Fucking muzzle.
Raul and Z’pheer laughed.
Malek swatted my ass lightly. “Remember what we told you about being in public. Head down, no eye contact.”
Shit. I’d forgotton. I nodded.
We walked down the ramp and I had a heck of a time resisting the urge to glance up and take everything in around me, instead settling for the occasional covert look around. The babble of talk in a hundred languages, none of which seemed to translate, created a constant buzz. Tech crews hooked up ships for fueling, and service staff stood behind counters admitting crews aboard ships that must have carried thousands of people. Huge monitors glowed everywhere, and a computerized voice announced departure and arrival times over a speaker in three or four alien languages. We’d stopped at a fueling station, but I felt as if I’d walked st
raight into the world’s biggest Star Trek convention, and I couldn’t look at anything beyond a few glances under lowered lashes. This was just cruel.
At least I didn’t hear or see any Rith.
“Z’pheer and I will go and get the fuel while you see about getting the supplies, Malek.” Raul nodded over to the shops. He looked at Z’pheer. “There’s nowhere safe to fuel up again before we reach Jarmok Station, so we’ll have to get enough fuel for at least a few days. We’ll meet at the cantina in a few hours.” Raul pulled on Tarku’s leash, and he and Z’pheer made their way through the crowd.
“Come here, nayna.” Malek wound the leash around his wrist, forcing me to walk right at his side with less than a foot of slack between us. He kept one hand around my elbow for good measure, always vigilant for trouble.
“I hope that’s enough money in that chest,” Malek muttered, his eyes tracking Z’pheer and Raul. “They have a habit of price gauging people out here. Pirates.”
I widened my eyes. That chest had alien currency in it? I guessed they didn’t have an ATM out here, but didn’t they have an interstellar equivalent they could use to pay for the fuel? It seemed like they were asking for trouble carrying that much money around.
We walked through the station, stopping at half a dozen stores for every manner of supplies, finally leaving the last store with a huge rented cart filled with water, food for the dispensers, soap for washing, and dog food for Tarku, to name a few.
I hated shopping, but I could have gotten used to doing it in a place like this.
Once we were done, we dropped the supplies off in the ship and returned the cart. Then we went to the cantina to wait and, as Malek put it, eat something other than the “synthetic tasting shit rations” on the ship.
We took a secluded booth near the back of the cantina. Tables were scattered throughout the large eating room, the babble of dozens of conversations in a plethora of alien languages filling my ears.
Not long after we sat down, Raul, Tarku, and Z’pheer showed up and sat with us. Malek ordered the food, and the three men talked while I continued to covertly take in everything around me.
