The distant roar of the weretigers’ spaceship flying over Sea Den shook the ground under his feet. The dull ache in his chest intensified to a sharp, blinding pain. He closed his eyes, swallowing. Jain was gone. It was well and truly over now. He felt…empty.
Jain found Kesuk lying in her bed, the covers still mussed from their lovemaking, his arms folded behind his head, staring at the curved ceiling.
“I couldn’t do it.”
Jerking upright, he twisted to stare at her. He blinked, his expression blank for a moment. “You’re supposed to be on the ship.”
“I couldn’t leave. I was there, ready to board and do what you wanted, what you thought was best. Hell, what was logical, but I just…couldn’t do it.” Spreading her hands, she shrugged.
“I told you I didn’t want you here.”
“You lied.”
He blinked. “What?”
“You lied. I understand—you were trying to do the right thing. I really do get it.”
He rolled to the edge of the bed, his booted feet landing on the fur rug. “You won’t be able to leave for another Turn.”
“Yes, that ship has sailed.” She grinned, starting to enjoy his confusion. It was about damn time she had the upper hand in something.
“Jain…” He trailed off, at an obvious loss for words.
“I’m staying. I already decided and there’s nothing you can do about it. Be angry if you want, but I’m still here. You won’t stay mad long, though. You want to know why?”
“Why?”
“Because you love me.”
He choked.
“That’s right, you love me. It took me a while to figure it out, but now it all makes sense. You try to make me happier with myself, more comfortable in my own skin. You worry about me all the time. You sent a whole legion of soldiers to guard me today. Did you really think we needed that many? You saved me from the snow, treat me with respect even when you’re being a bossy jerk, and you get angry when people try to hurt me.”
“I would do the same for anyone under my protection.”
“Maybe, but you didn’t have to bring me under your protection in the first place. The Blacks wanted to buy me, so you could have gotten rid of me if you wanted to. You didn’t want to. You wanted to keep me.”
“Blacks are scavengers. I wouldn’t—”
“We can argue about this all night long if you want, because I’m here for another year, so we have plenty of time. Or we can occupy ourselves with something more entertaining.” She smiled at him and unbuttoned her heavy fur-lined jacket. Her tunic quickly followed, and his gaze locked on her bare breasts. She bounced on her toes a little to make them jiggle for him, their tips peaking tight.
He sucked in a hissing breath. “Jain—”
“Touch me.” She leaned forward so he could do what she wanted.
His hand lifted to stroke down the slope of her breast, fingers plucking at her nipples. Using his other palm to cup her ass, he pulled her forward and buried his face between her breasts. He breathed deeply, nudged her soft flesh with his nose, and slid his tongue up to swirl around the crest before sucking it deep into his mouth, pulling back to worry the very tip of her hard nipple between his teeth.
She caught her breath, rising on tiptoe to get closer to that wicked mouth. She moaned deeply, fisting her hands in his hair. She loved the silky feel of it.
He sucked a deep breath, let go of her nipple, and rested his chin on her chest. “I did the right thing.”
“You did. So did I.” She stroked his hair, tears gathering in her eyes.
“Kiss me.”
A wicked grin played over her lips, and she dropped to her knees between his spread thighs. She slid a fingernail up the seam of his pants toward his cock. It strained against the leather as she traced the lacings to the top and tugged the strings open. “As you wish. You didn’t get to have me as your slave very long. Maybe I should make it up to you?”
“Ah, little bear. I do love how your mind works.”
His heavy dick slipped free, and she wrapped her fingers tight around the base and stroked to the tip. Rotating her hand around the head of his cock, she licked a bead of pre-cum from the tip. She sucked the whole head in, her lips slipping down to the shaft as her hands worked his flesh up and down, slow at first, then faster and faster.
He groaned, his fingers slipping into her short hair, using his grip to pump her mouth as if it were a pussy. His cock touched the back of her throat. “Hmmm,” she hummed around his dick, looking into his eyes so she knew he saw her envelope his cock in her mouth.
“Jain!” Panting hard, his hands slid under her arms, lifting her off the floor and away from his cock. He rolled them onto the bed and jerked at the lacings on her pants, which tangled tight.
She laughed. “Hey, I wasn’t finished yet.”
“I very nearly was.”
“That was kind of the point.”
He growled in frustration, ripping her pants open, the tough leather snapping under his strength. “Lift your ass.”
She obeyed, leveraging her hips up to help him slide her pants down, trusting him to take her where she needed to go. He had her naked in a few seconds and rolled her to her hands and knees. He slid his fingers between her pussy lips, stroking her clit. She moaned, pushing back into his hand. He pressed down on the small of her back, arching her ass up.
The head of his cock pushed at her opening and then slid hard and deep into her pussy. She dropped down, pressing her face to the covers, gasping at his deep penetration. His hand reached around to stroke her clit in time with his slapping thrusts.
“I can’t—”
“You can.” He rotated his hips, grinding her in a different rhythm.
“Kesuk…”
“Straighten up,” he ordered. His hands pulled up on her ribcage until her back pressed to his chest.
One of his hands resumed stroking her clit. The other fondled her breasts.
She reached back to tug on his hair, twisting her head around to pull his mouth to hers. His lips captured hers, stroking his tongue into her mouth. Their tongues rubbed, stroked, dueled as their bodies moved together in hard, pounding rhythm.
Blood sang through her veins, pumping her heart fast. She rubbed her ass against his pelvis, bouncing on his hard cock. He broke from her mouth, his teeth moving to her shoulder and biting down.
“Kesuk.” She clawed his strong thighs, which flexed to pump his cock into her hot pussy.
He pressed down on her clit, rode her on it with his thrusts, pinching her nipple hard.
“I’m coming! Kesuk, I’m coming!” She twisted under the lash of pleasure, her pussy spasming hard. Her heart pounded so hard she could feel the beats just under her skin, her whole body flushing. Oh, God.
“Yes.” He pounded with short, jerky strokes, his breath harsh against her neck. Stiffening, he froze, shuddering his orgasm.
Gasping hard, they collapsed onto their sides. He wrapped his arms around her, cradling her back against his chest, burying his nose in her hair, breathing deeply.
She rubbed her hand over his forearms in lazy circles. “I was right. That was definitely more fun than arguing.”
He grunted, his arms tightening. “You had your chance to go. I let you. Now you’re mine.”
“And you’re mine. Forever.” She sighed, snuggling back against him, content.
“Forever.”
“I love you, Kesuk.”
“I know.”
“I know? That’s all I get?” She clawed his arm in retaliation.
He chuckled. “I love you, too. Now kiss me.”
His cock rose between the cleft of her ass, and she gasped in surprise, pushing her hips against his hardening flesh.
“Again?”
“Forever.”
In Heat
Wereplanets, Book 2
Chapter 1
The snow tigress was in heat.
His nostrils flared. He could smell her desire fro
m across the ballroom. Her scent called to him, tempting him to cast off the veneer of civility and take her in any way he could.
Mahlia Najla Mohan.
His mate.
Longing warred with sadness at the thought of her. Of their lost child. Pain exploded in his chest, choking him. No. He would not think of that. He could not. The agony would drive him to his knees.
“Amir Varad.” His manservant’s voice pulled him back to the present. Varad pasted a charming smile on his face, appearing the besotted male who would soon have his mate begging him for the surcease only he could grant her. And possibly conceiving an heir to the Vesperi throne. A new heir.
“Welcome back, my brother.” Taymullah’s hand clapped on his shoulder.
Varad quirked a brow at the shorter man. And he was a man—the boy he’d left behind six months ago had grown into someone Varad hardly recognized. The last half Turn had been a difficult time for all of his family.
Taymullah’s face settled into serious lines as he turned to look over at his brother’s mate, Mahlia. “You have a great deal of work before you, Varad.”
“I know.”
Varad swallowed, his gaze tracking her movement. Mating on Vesperi was a complicated affair, only lasting from a woman’s heat cycle to the next. Because Varad was here, no one would touch his woman. Had he not returned in time, it would have been a different tale. However, she could always choose to mate away from him. His gut clenched. No. Mahlia was his. Had been his since the moment he’d looked into her ice-blue eyes, so rare among his people. His treasure. She would have no other for as long as they both lived. Whatever tragedy they shared could not destroy the depth of emotion that had always pulled them together.
Gods, he was tired. Six months on a spacecraft for the trade run was more than he cared for, but he doubted the werebears on the planet Alysius would trade with anyone except him personally. Lord Kesuk was not a trusting man.
A genuine smile tugged at Varad’s lips as he thought of the Arctic Bear Clan leader. He wondered how the enormous man had fared after Varad had encouraged the tiny human woman to return to the werebear’s caves. The man hadn’t stood a chance. Lady Jain would have seen to it. Varad’s grin widened. Mahlia would like Jain immensely.
And Kesuk would try to kill him when Varad returned next Turn, no matter how happy the werebear lord was with his lady. It would be an interesting fight. Varad flicked a barely visible piece of lint from his sleeve as he wondered who might be the winner. A tiger versus a bear. Yes, interesting.
He shook his head, marveling again that a spaceship could have drifted among the stars since before the Earthan sun had died. Two unaltered humans, Lady Jain and a young scientist, Sera, had survived a crash landing on the werebear planet. Humans were extinct now, having had no way to survive the harsh environments of the four colonized planets. Only gene-splicing with different animal species had made it possible for humans to survive at all.
He wondered how the two women would fare. Lady Jain had her new Bear Clan to contend with, but Sera had insisted on journeying to Aquatilis, the planet that maintained the greatest level of technology from old Earth. He suspected her choice had more to do with her fascination for a certain merman ambassador than her need for machines.
“Amir, your guests await you.” Varad’s valet bared his teeth a bit at the word guests. Varad chuckled as he descended the curving staircase from the wide balcony. Unlike Taymullah, one of the few who had supported Varad’s expeditions, his manservant disapproved of the trade relations with Alysius.
“Well, we shouldn’t disappoint our valued visitors.” A warning was in Varad’s tone. He was the king here, the Amir, and his wishes would be obeyed by all. If he bore the responsibility of leadership, he demanded the respect that came with the position.
“Yes, my Amir.” His servant bowed and backed away.
Trade had always been maintained between Vesperi and the Harenan weredragons, but many had thought Varad mad when he set out to find the other two planets. It had been a risk, he admitted. But what was life without risk? None could deny that the new flood of goods from the werebears and merpeople were good for all four planets. No matter how much his doubters might like to protest. He tried to cover his laugh in a discreet cough.
He sobered abruptly, the grin falling away from his face. Many of his people agreed that trading with the seemingly barbaric werebears was a mistake. They were a rough people, but he’d grown to respect them, especially Lord Kesuk. He sighed, the weight of his responsibilities riding heavily on his shoulders. He shrugged as if to shift the burden, but nothing could ease his troubles.
A sweet laugh rippled across the ballroom, and he wasn’t the only one who turned to smile at the source. Mahlia. Another challenge to face. Whether it pleased either of them or not, he would soon have her.
The room gleamed with white marble and wildly colored swaths of fabric—all the ostentation a feline could need. He worked his way across the vast ballroom to her side, nodding to his guests, noting the flashing scales of the Harenan weredragons, the imposing bulk of the first Alysian werebear ambassador, the violently colored hair of the Aquatilian merpeople. An interplanetary gathering, just as he had hoped. Excellent. When he reached Mahlia, she was entertaining a merman and the werebear ambassador with a story about her inability to master the waltz as a child.
“Amira Mahlia.” Varad’s hand stroked down the length of her bare arm, tracing the tan stripes on her creamy skin with a fingertip. He savored the feel of her, enjoying the way her servant had gathered her long cream-and-bronze-striped hair on her head, leaving her shoulders bared in a laced black corset. One of her legs was exposed by the filmy deep-blue skirt slit to her waist. His cock hardened, the need to have her fisting his gut. A deep breath dragged her scent to him yet again. Only because he was so focused on her did he hear the soft catch in her breath before she turned icy blue eyes on him. The natural black lining that surrounded all weretiger eyes made hers stunning.
“Amir Varad.” She attempted to curtsy before him, but he quickly squeezed her elbow to keep her upright. Even after a Turn, she was not accustomed to her role in society. Or perhaps she was still uncomfortable with him. It mattered not. His mate would not bow to him. She was his equal—the only true partner he had in his world. He inclined his head to her, and after the briefest of pauses, she followed suit.
“Your Amira was just telling us an amusing story, Amir.” The sub-bass rumble of the werebear split the silence, and a white smile flashed in his dark face. The hammered metal circlet welded around his massive bicep, a mark of his standing among the Bear Clans, glinted in the light from the glowlight chandeliers.
“Yes, the Aquatilians wish you all felicity in your return.” The merman’s nasal tone and sophisticated speech demonstrated the difference between the merman’s culture and that of the werebear. Only Mahlia could have charmed the two into maintaining a peaceful conversation for more than a few minutes.
“Welcome home, Amir.” He turned to see Katryn, his mate’s closest friend, approaching their group. Her dark hair rippled to her hips, and her golden skin was set off in a stunning white gown reminiscent of an ancient Grecian toga. The weredragon was beautiful, but the first thing one noticed about her was the purple scaling that crept from her wrists to her biceps.
Still, no other woman had ever called to him as Mahlia had. Anticipation tensed his muscles. Soon. Soon he would have her. Would have her legs about him as they rode each other, her slick heat tight on his thrusting cock. He bit back a groan and traced a finger down the lacings of her corset. Her breath panted as her scent increased, surrounding him, commanding him.
The hunt would begin soon.
The hunt would begin soon.
Heat spun through Mahlia’s body, a force she could not control. Need made her hands tremble and her legs shake. She turned her desperate gaze to Katryn, but her friend just shrugged. Mahlia closed her eyes. No. No one could save her from this. She could not even sav
e herself. Sweat beaded on her upper lip. When she breathed, it was only to pull in Varad’s scent. Desire slammed into her, dampening her pussy.
The endless, relentless need of her breeding time tightened her core until she bit back a scream. Her breath panted between her lips. She didn’t want this. She did not want another child. Ever. Losing her young was more than she could bear.
Her physiology did not care what she wanted.
Varad’s hand splayed across her back, easing up over the naked skin of her shoulders. She didn’t look at him, but she knew he craved her. The heat rose, tearing into her with the fierce claws of the tiger within her. A low snarl pulled from her throat, and her fangs bared as her head tilted back against her mate’s shoulder. His gaze clashed with hers, the slitted pupils in his golden eyes expanding wide, his nostrils flaring.
He could smell her need. His fingers moved to spread over her lower belly, pressing her backside to the rigid line of his cock. It burned through the thin material of their clothing. They locked together in that moment, the animals buried just beneath the surface rising to strip them of anything but the instinct to breed.
Her control spun away, and it began. A tiger scream ripped from her, and she jerked away from Varad. The whole ballroom turned to look at her, most of the tigers’ lips curving into knowing smiles. She was beyond caring, beyond embarrassment, beyond anything but the driving need to have her mate buried deep inside her. Her eyes darted to the nearest exit. Yes. There. Run. Make him catch her.
She leaped forward, her legs burning as she pushed herself to get a head start on Varad. His roar sounded behind her, the crowd parting to allow them through. She slid through the arched doorway, the rich tapestries lining the walls blurring into a rainbow of deep color as she sped past. His pounding footsteps echoed behind her, gaining on her. Where could she go? She needed to go faster.
The dune-racers. She could get away on one of them. Where was the corridor that led to the dune-racer bay? Lust clouded her thoughts, made her want to run without a plan. Straight and fast and long until she was caught. The end of this game was inevitable. She knew it, but she could prolong the anticipation. Adrenaline pumped through her system, and the freedom of the hunt made her laugh. She broke left, rushing headlong toward the open racer bay.
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