by Kali Argent
Mirroring Sion’s stance, Tariq turned his back and lowered his voice. “Cami says we can, and I trust her.”
“His heart rate never increased, and he showed none of the usual signs of deception. What the hell is going on around here?”
“I don’t know, but we’re going to find out. Once we have that list, maybe Cami can find something the commander overlooked.” Which brought him back around to the topic of her wanting a job. “I know it makes sense to let her work in the atrium, and Naira wouldn’t let anything happen to her. I don’t like it, though.”
“After what just happened?” Nodding back toward the restaurant, Sion turned and started walking again. “I don’t blame you, but I think you have to let her do this. Have a little faith, my friend. Maybe she’ll surprise you.”
She always surprised him. He’d been off-balance since the moment they’d met, and he didn’t see that changing anytime soon.
“I’m going to shove my foot so far up their asses, they’re going to be licking my toes.” The muscles in Scarlett’s jaw ticked, and her eyes burned with pure hatred. “Tell me Sion bit Becks’ dick off.”
Tariq and Sion both winced at the vivid mental image she painted. It would have been no less than they deserved, and Tariq liked the female a little more for her vehement anger on Cami’s behalf.
“Calm yourself.” Naira rubbed soothing circles on Scarlett’s back. “It’s over now, and they’ll be punished.”
“Now, that is the kind of mate I want.” Sion blinked innocently when Scarlett curled her lip at him. “It was a compliment, I assure you.”
“Oh, go find a litter box to squat in.” She gave Cami a brief hug, snarled at Sion again, and stomped off in the direction of the lifts.
Cami pressed her lips together into a thin line, but she couldn’t hide the amusement shining in her eyes. “Well,” she said after a pregnant pause, “that was awkward.”
Still watching Scarlett retreating back, Sion shrugged. “I really did mean it as a compliment.”
Tariq knew it, and he guessed Scarlett did as well. Something else had gotten under her skin, something more than the trouble with the two lieutenants. A week ago, Tariq wouldn’t have cared less. Cami had changed everything, though, and now, he worried about the malcontent gypsy.
“Is she okay?”
Staring down at her feet, Cami scuffed the toe of her boot over the floor. “Yeah, she’ll be okay. Just a rough day.”
Tariq sensed there was more to the story, but he didn’t push. “Did you order?”
“Uh, oops.” Her genuine look of contrition melted him. “I got kind of distracted what with Scarlett threatening violence on everyone and everything.”
“Not to worry.” Lifting her hand, Naira beckoned one of the servers to her. They spoke quietly for a moment, and then the server nodded before hurrying off to the kitchen. “It’ll just be a moment.”
Cami thanked Naira and then pressed herself against Tariq, resting both hands on his chest. “What do you say we take the food back to our quarters and have ourselves a little private party?”
Cradling her cheek, Tariq bent and whispered a kiss over her soft lips. “I say that sounds like the best idea I’ve heard all day.”
* * * *
After dinner, Cami cleared away their mess and then snuggled down on the sofa with Tariq to watch a movie, but she couldn’t concentrate. As much as she wanted to forget about everything she’d learned from Commander Cain, she had a hard time letting it go.
“Do you really think Derrek could be dead?”
Pausing the movie, Tariq gathered her into his arms and sighed. “I don’t know for sure, angel, but I imagine he is.”
“I don’t understand, though. That’s why I had to leave home. That’s why Lucas sent me away.”
“Your brother? He’s the one who told you this man was in your house?”
Cami nodded slowly. “Lucas said…he told me I had to leave. He said I have to leave before he found me.”
Tariq stroked her hair back from her face, but the pity in his eyes frightened her. “Did he say Derrek’s name? Did he say it was Derrek he needed to protect you from?”
Cami thought back to that moment. Lucas had been adamant about her leaving, about saving her, but he’d never actually mentioned a name. She’d spent so long living in fear that Derrek would return for her, it had seemed like the only logical explanation at the time. He’d found her, and he hadn’t come with good intentions.
“No, he never specifically said it was Derrek. Who else would he want to protect me from, though?” Everyone else in the universe thought she was already dead. “None of this adds up, and my head hurts every time I try to make sense of it all.”
“Derrek, he was your other father, correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.” Though, she hadn’t thought of him that way for a long time. To her, he was just the guy who went crazy and killed her mother. “And now, my father and my brother are on their way here to take me home.”
Tariq’s chest vibrated with his rumbling growl. “You are mine, angel, don’t forget that. They won’t be taking you anywhere.”
“Oh, I don’t intend to go anywhere.” The only way she was getting on that ship was if they drugged, bound her, and carried her kicking and screaming. “I’m just letting you know what’s going to happen when they get here. Neither of them are used to hearing no, and it’s not going to be pretty.”
“To hell with them. They’ve done nothing but hurt you.” He pulled her into his lap to straddle his thighs. “I will support whatever decision you make, but you don’t need them. We can go anywhere you want to go, do anything you want to do. We’ll make our own family.”
Gods, she loved him for saying it, but that dream would never happen. “No, we won’t.” She’d been dreading this conversation, and she prayed he’d still want her when it was over. “If Becks and Parsons had succeeded in claiming me, they’d have been very disappointed.” Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and released it slowly. “I can’t have children, Tariq.”
A knot formed in her stomach as the silence stretched on, and when she opened her eyes to find Tariq just staring at her, she thought her heart would shatter. Hurt and embarrassed, she tried to scramble out of his lap, but his hands clamped around her thighs, holding her in place.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I know I should have told you before you marked me. I just didn’t know how.”
“Cami, look at me.” He held her jaw, forcing her head up until she had no choice but to look at him. “Tell me what happened.”
“When I was shot, the doctors were able to repair most of the damage, but they couldn’t save my uterus.” She didn’t have any experience with babies, and she didn’t know if she even wanted to be a mother, but it should have been her choice. “It happened after I got this.” She slid her fingers over the intricate scroll on her face. “I’m sorry,” she repeated.
“Stop it,” Tariq chided her. “Angel, I love you because you are the most beautiful, generous, and amazing creature I have ever laid eyes on, not because of your ability to reproduce.”
Cami couldn’t breathe. Her stomach fluttered, her pulse raced, and tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. “Say it again.”
Tangling his fingers in her hair, he tugged her closer until their lips rested just a breath apart. “I love you, angel, and I will spend every day proving to you just how much.”
“I love you, Tariq, and you don’t have to prove anything to me.”
He slanted their mouths together in a deep, sensual kiss, and Cami melted into him, filled with so much happiness she feared she might burst with it. When she’d arrived on Station 4, she’d been a broken mess with no idea what the future would bring. Then Tariq had picked up those pieces and put her back together.
He’d mended her—heart, mind, and soul.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Urging her legs around him, Tariq shifted to the side, lowering her to the sofa as he loom
ed over her. Their mouths clashed again in a hungry, urgent kiss, and Cami bowed up from the cushions. She needed more of him, needed to feel him against her, inside her.
“Off,” she demanded, clenching the bottom of his shirt and pulling at it.
Tariq obliged by tearing the fabric off and tossing it over the back of the couch. “You’re turn.”
With a quick jerk, he managed to pop off every single button on her shirt and parted the fabric to expose her breasts. Her nipples hardened at his appreciative moan, and moisture gathered between her legs. Cami knew she didn’t look like other enhanced women, but Tariq always made her feel powerful, sexy, and desired.
Cupping her left breast with a gentle squeeze, he bent slowly, watching her as he laved his tongue across the tight bud of her nipple. Shaking from the onslaught of pleasure, she arched into his mouth with a needy whimper. She could never get enough of him, and his slow seduction tortured her in the most delicious ways.
Tariq kissed his way down her belly as he unfastened the closure on her jeans and slid them off her body in one sweeping motion. Her simple, blue panties were the last to go, and he showed them no more care than he had her shirt. At this rate, she’d have to get a job just to replace all the clothes he ripped.
Returning to his exploration of her body, he scraped his fangs across her hipbone, not hard enough to break the skin, but just enough to drive her wild. The scars on her neck tingled, spreading warmth from her neck down to her aching breasts, and Cami had the intense desire for him to bite her again.
Her mouth watered, and wet heat slicked her pussy when Tariq finally removed his own pants, freeing his long, throbbing erection. Cami couldn’t think straight, could barely remember her own name, and she and a deliciously naughty thought entered her mind.
Hesitantly, she reached out, curling her fingers around his hot, thick length, gasping when it pulsed within her grasp. His strangled groan had her jerking her head up. “Did I hurt you?”
“No, angel.” His breathing turned unsteady, and his fists clenched at his sides. “Keep going.”
Encouraged, she leaned closer, exploring the pulsing veins as Tariq swayed on his feet. Worried he might topple over if she kept going, Cami instructed him to sit.
Once she had him seated, she shimmied down to the floor and knelt between his parted thighs. “I want to try something.”
“What are you doing, baby?”
She grinned wickedly when his eyes heated with desire. “I think it should be obvious.” She’d never touched a man like this, and she wanted to taste Tariq in the worst way. “Relax,” she whispered, repeating his words back to him.
Fisting his rigid length around the base, she leaned closer, heat sizzling down her spine when his cock jumped in her hand. She moaned at his musky scent, shivering with desire as her pussy slicked with a rush of moisture.
Tentatively, she swiped her tongue across the tip, gasping when his salty taste exploded across her taste buds. Cami wanted more, needed more of him, and she knew of only one logical way to get it. Wrapping her lips around the crown, she echoed Tariq’s moan when the hard flesh stretched her lips wide.
Like velvet-lined steel, his cock throbbed against her tongue, hot and heavy as it filled her mouth. She couldn’t take him very deep, not without choking, but she worked the base with her hand while she sucked greedily on the end.
“Enough,” Tariq growled, grabbing her under the arms and lifting her from the floor. “I can’t wait anymore.”
Encircling his waist with her ankles when he lowered her back on the sofa, she jerked him forward. A desperate groan welled up from her chest when the head of his cock rubbed against her swollen clit.
“Tariq, please,” she begged. “I feel like I’m on fire. Please.”
“Tell me what you want, angel.”
Delirious with need, Cami blurted the first thing that popped into her mind. “I want you to shut up and fuck me.”
His light laughter morphed into a low, deep groan as he pushed two fingers inside her clenching core. “Is this what you want?” He pumped his hand, thrusting the digits into her in a torturously slow rhythm.
“More,” she demanded as lights flashed behind her closed lids.
His free hand slid up her stomach and round the heaviness of her breast. “How about this?” he teased. Pinching her nipple, he rolled it between his fingers, tugging just hard enough to send electricity coursing through her veins.
“Tariq!” She screamed his name and arched up from the cushions. If he didn’t take her soon, the top of her head was going to blow off. “Please.”
His fingers eased from her center, replaced swiftly by his swollen erection. The teasing tone vanished, and he groaned as he pushed into her, sliding deeper until he could go no farther.
Echoing his groan, Cami wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him close as he rocked against her in slow, control glides. She didn’t want his control, though. She didn’t want him to be gentle with her.
Catching his earlobe between her teeth, she nipped at the flesh and drew her fingernails down his back. “More.” She didn’t know what had gotten into her, but she couldn’t get enough.
Tariq didn’t disappoint. Looping his arm under her knee, he lifted her leg, spreading her open as he thrust harder and faster. His thick cock filled every inch of her, stretching her inner walls until she molded around him like a glove, and each demanding snap of his hips pushed her closer to the edge.
Then, when she hovered on the precipice of orgasm, Tariq buried himself to the hilt and pierced the side of her neck with his fangs. The slight sting of pain quickly faded into a blinding pleasure, and Cami cried out his name as she hurdled over the edge of oblivion.
Damp with sweat and utterly spent, she floated on a cloud of perfect bliss that she never wanted to come down from. “I love you, Tariq.”
“I love you more than my own life, Camille Brighton. If you will have me, I would lock my life with yours. I would make us one in mind, body, and spirit.”
She knew what he was asking, and she wanted that more than anything. “Yes,” she breathed.
Lifting his middle finger to his mouth, he scored the skin on his fang and brought it to her lips. “It only takes a little.”
Cami opened readily, sucking his finger into her mouth and swirling her tongue around the digit. She didn’t know what she’d expected to happen, but a mild sense of disappointment washed over her when she felt…exactly the same. Maybe it hadn’t worked. Maybe they weren’t meant to be together after all.
“Believe me,” Tariq said with a wide grin as he eased out of her, “it worked. And never doubt that we were meant to be together.”
“Holy smokes! You can hear me? I mean, my head.” No, wait, that wasn’t right. “I mean, you can hear my thoughts?”
Grinning like an idiot, Tariq ducked to kiss her again. “Yes, I can hear your mind, angel. It’s a bit of a mess in there to tell you the truth.”
This is going to take some getting used to.
Tariq arched an eyebrow at her. “Now you know how I feel.”
* * * *
“Just tell me where we’re going,” Cami called from the bedroom.
“You’ll see.” Tariq had spent the past three days setting up the surprise, and he wouldn’t ruin it now. “Are you ready?”
Cami emerged from the bedroom, dressed in a low-cut, pale pink dress that shimmered in the light when she moved. She’d foregone any accessories, but she’d worn her hair up in an elegant bun to show off his mark on her neck.
His heart swelled each time he saw those two little starbursts, and he didn’t know if he’d ever understand why she’d chosen to be his. He thanked the stars that she had, though, and he’d do anything, be anything, to be worthy of her.
“Can’t you give me a hint?”
“Nope.”
“Well, can I at least know where the dress came from?”
“Naira made it for you.” The morning after they’d life-locked,
he’d gone to the female, put aside his pride, and practically begged for her help. “The fabric is saedea. It’s made from a plant that grows on the D’Aire home planet.”
“It’s beautiful. It’s so light and smooth, almost like silk.” She ran her hand down the skirt and sighed. “I love it.”
“Look again,” he instructed when they stepped out into the hallway. “It changes color it different light.” The pale pink had darkened to a rich, navy blue that contrasted gorgeously with her fair skin.
“Oh, wow. Tariq, this is amazing.” Cami held his hand in both of her own. “Thank you.”
She continued to marvel over the dress in between prodding him for information, all the way up the lift and to the atrium. Tariq found it adorable rather than bothersome, and he enjoyed teasing her each time she asked where he was taking her.
Stepping into the atrium, the navy blue of her dress faded again, this time into a dazzling, pale gold. “I think this one is my favorite.” He ran his knuckles down her bare back, grinning when she shivered from his touch. “Have I told you today how beautiful you are?”
“Yes. Twice.” She spun in a neat little circle that fanned the skirt of her gown. “You can tell me again, though.”
“You are extraordinarily beautiful.”
Cami giggled when he winked at her. “What’s going on at Starscape? Oh, look at it.”
The tables and chairs had been pushed back against the walls, and each had been adorned with a flickering candle centerpiece. Blue and purple, twinkling lights floated down from the ceiling, and soft music played in the background. Their friends waited for them in the center of the room, each of them dressed to the nines and grinning from ear to ear.
“Cami, you look breathtaking.” Naira greeted them each with a kiss to the cheek. “Tariq, you do clean up nice, my dear.” Her dark purple dress clung to her tall frame, and she’d twister her silvery hair into a nest of curls on top of her head.
“You look so gorgeous.” Cami sighed, and some of the enthusiasm dimmed from her eyes.
Tariq didn’t need to know her mind to know what she was thinking. Holding her chin, he made her look him in the eyes before he covered her mouth with his own. “You take my breath away,” he whispered in her ear before pulling away.
