“After confirming Rena’s stories today, I think now I was compelled to go by the entities controlling us at the time. The being in Rena probably made me think it was the best idea. I was happy on your ship—I truly was. We could go back to the Paladin if you want to. Right now, I think I would be okay with that,” Seta said.
Ji sobered. He had thought of going back more than once. He had just never thought Seta would return with him. “I would like to discuss this at a future time when your emotions have settled. To extract such a promise from you now would be very unfair of me.”
Seta rolled to her back, sniffling at how dry her throat was. “It doesn’t matter what I decide. There is no one who cares what I do. I am more alone in the world than ever.”
Ji placed a gentle hand against her stomach, moving his body slowly until it was aligned protectively alongside Seta’s. He sent calming waves into her.
“I feel that,” she said.
“Do you want me to stop then?” Ji waited, hand stilled, for her answer.
“No,” Seta said finally. “I want anything that’s going to fill the hole in my gut that Rena put there by leaving.”
Ji pressed a kiss against her shoulder. “Not even the most accomplished Siren could distract you enough to forget your grief for your sibling, but I can at least make you feel a tiny bit better.”
“I accept with gratitude. Can I stay with you for a while?”
Ji took his time answering. Saying forever would probably scare Seta out of her grief, and into bolting from his bed. But even if it didn’t, he would never feel right that she stayed with him just because she had been vulnerable.
“You can stay with me as long as you wish. I’m glad to offer you comfort. I’m also glad you came to me. Just before you knocked, I had been pacing around in my room like a caged animal.”
Seta shook her head against the pillow. “Don’t be so nice to me, Ji. Just don’t. I’m not ready to need anyone. I just want to survive this pain.”
“Contradictory, contrary, and completely disarming. You are a dangerous creature to care for,” Ji said, closing his eyes and focusing on calming himself so he could calm her. He had never practiced soothing much. He supposed it was long past time for him to learn it.
Seta reached up and touched his closed eyes. “Look at you. You are so beautiful as a male, Ji Warro. On the Paladin, your sleep cycles were almost never spent alone. Why have you never mated?”
Ji’s eyes flew open. “I have never wanted to commit to any female. And my family . . . well, they have arranged something for me when I am ready to go back to Rylen to live. It is not exactly a mating contract, but rather more like a suggested pairing that would be amenable and produce children both our families would welcome joyfully.”
Seta nodded and closed her eyes. “So that’s why you’re not really in the market for a permanent female. Somehow that makes me feel slightly better. It helps me believe that you really do just want to get past your obsession with me. Perhaps I will agree to that just to repay your kindness.”
Ji frowned at Seta’s assumptions about his reasons for not mating. Those were his plans—until she came to his door weeping and flung herself into his arms. And he certainly didn’t want her to bond with him out of pity. Did he?
“Why don’t you try and sleep now? Crying must have drained your energy. I’ll watch over you while you rest,” Ji said, laying his face where he could smell her hair. She smelled of spices. It made him wonder how she would taste. He pushed the longing to find out away so he wouldn’t go completely mad.
“In case I forget to tell you later, thank you for being here for me,” Seta said, patting the hand that was still gently rubbing her.
Ji whispered Siren affirmations while he lost himself in enjoying the way her body settled bit by bit under his touch.
“I wish my father had sold me to someone like you, Ji. My life might have been very different. I might not have minded being a mate and bearing children,” Seta said.
Ji stopped rubbing, opened his eyes, and rose up to peer down at her closed ones. He wanted to roll over onto Seta and rock into her body. He wanted to create so much bliss for her that she would forget any other male had ever shared her body before him.
But she was asleep.
And vulnerable in her grief in a way she had never been with him before.
He laid his head back down and decided that having Seta’s trust was worth more than all the relief his body so badly needed.
***
“Do you do this every day?” Angel asked, arms crossed as she watched the naked male in front of her turning to view his body in the mirror. “I don’t see the need. I fixed this for you when I was here before. Your senses should be just as fine-tuned as any fully corporeal being.”
Malachi rolled his eyes and turn to face her. “Sometimes I skip checking, but this has been happening routinely,” he said, pointing to his state of arousal.
Snorting, Angel walked over and looked down. “I know what to do about it, but I find myself reluctant to offer my help.”
“Bonded with a lot of males, have you?” Malachi said, smiling into her puzzled gaze.
“Not personally,” she said, “but I did share the experience of the Greggor doctor mating with the Sumerian I was in. They cross-stimulated each other throughout the whole process. They routinely achieved multiple energy releases. I got bored after a while.”
“You mean they had climaxes and orgasms,” Malachi said.
“No, I meant energy releases. They seemed happier and healthier for their efforts. May I try something?” Angel asked.
Malachi laughed. “You can try anything, so long the only the fist you make is one wrapped around my erection.”
She ran fingertips over and around his bonding organ. “I would think it would be difficult to insert this inside even a willing female.”
“Norblade males usually put it in their females when it is less erect. They let it fill up the space of whatever female they are in. The connection is quite snug and painful if broken before release is achieved. Liam and Ania have perfected the process. Of course, they have added manual and oral stimulation to their routines for variety,” Malachi said.
“Is this painful for your body?” she asked.
Malachi took her hand in his and wrapped both around his now exceedingly hard organ, squeezing and twisting her hand inside his. “That is painful, but also quite pleasurable at the same time. It is a strange dichotomy.”
“I would like to stop now,” she said.
Malachi eased his hand away, sighing loudly when hers followed it. “This isn’t happening tonight, is it?”
She backed up a few steps, putting some distance between them. “What isn’t happening?”
“Us. Bonding. Spending the night pleasuring each other’s host bodies.”
“Oh,” Angel said, “I wasn’t thinking it would happen so quickly. I think we should probably get used to each other first. Could I rest my body in your bed for the sleep cycle?”
Malachi considered her request and smiled. “I can’t promise not to try and get lucky.”
“Luck is about chance. I’m trying to be as forthcoming as I can make myself be. I would like us to form some sort of trust bond. I have too much work among these people to be concerned about your actions.”
“Hmmm . . . interesting. I just want to bond until our bodies suffer for it. Then I want to tangle with your energy until people can’t tell us apart,” Malachi said. “I haven’t done the bonding act alone in a while, but I’m fairly sure I could figure it out without needing anyone’s help.”
Angel snorted. “I am considering the limits of sharing our bodies. We are never mixing our energies.”
Malachi frowned. “Why not? That’s what mates do.”
“That’s definitely not happening with us,” Angel said. “I like what I am and I plan to protect that form of me. The Creators took that away from me once. I don’t want to risk them doing so again.”
“Well, if resting together is the best offer you’re willing to make this sleep cycle, I suppose I’ll just have to settle,” Malachi said. “Will you at least rest without your clothes so I can have hope?”
“I suppose that is an acceptable request,” she said.
Malachi bowed his head. “Thank you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to use my cleansing area and resolve this annoyance. I won’t be long. I’ve grown quite proficient at taming this reaction.”
“May I watch?” Angel asked. “In case I ever have to take care of myself that way.”
“I believe it would work a bit differently with a female host body, but sure. Come watch. Lose your clothes first.”
He walked away, smiling as he listened to the rasp of fasteners being undone. It had been a long time since he’d felt so wicked.
***
Ji roused from sleep and felt his clothing being undone by quick and busy hands. “Seta? What are doing?”
“Shhh . . . this is just a dream, Ji. Go back to sleep.”
He laughed, swore, and rolled until Seta was trapped helpless under him. Or so he assumed. What he hadn’t counted on was that the determined Ethosian had freed him from more clothing than he had suspected. He half slid into the wet, welcoming heat of her before he could make the decision to do so or not.
“This is not how it should be for us,” he rasped, straining to keep from ploughing her in one push forward.
“No more talking,” Seta said, wrapping her bare legs around his waist and pulling his hips to hers as he slid the rest of the way inside. It felt so right that it justified her devious action of taking away his choice.
Ji sighed and raised himself up on one arm. “You’re taking unfair advantage, Seta. I have gone to a lot of trouble not to end up here with you under these kinds of circumstances. The only reason I’m not insane right now is because of the libido control implant Synar made me get.”
“I offer my body freely to you, which is something I have never done with any other male. Now take your pleasure and let me repay your kindness to me,” Seta demanded.
Ji moved slightly and Seta’s answering moan of pleasure was his undoing. His groan of satisfaction echoed in his quiet room. The female he’d longed for was finally open to him.
“Praise the Creators for you,” he whispered. “If we are to do this, give me your mouth too.”
A little frightened at his commanding tone, Seta shook her head but it was to no avail. Ji dove down and plunged his tongue inside her mouth. She felt him pull her arms out to the sides of the bed and trap her wrists. She waited for the panic of her past to find her, but it never did, even though Ji held her pinned down in every way possible. His groan as he plunged deeply didn’t even frighten her. Excitement forced the life force through her veins. She heard him talking in Siren, but had no idea what he was saying until he switched to English.
“Your lovely heat calls to me Seta, but first I will have your pleasure,” Ji ordered.
While he moved persistently in and out of her body, a pressure built inside her, piercing her until she wanted to scream for him to give her what she sought. He released her mouth abruptly and buried his face in her hair. She heard him groan and then her body lifted from the bed, skewed by the pleasure his was suddenly sending through her.
There was heat and light and sounds of bodies connecting, but more there was explosion after explosion going off inside her. Somehow Ji had managed to slide his pants off and soon he was lifting her bare hips to his bare hips. It was so very real that the stark reality of it hit her. She tried to struggle free at that point but then remembered this was her fault. She had started it. So she went completely still beneath him, not moving at all.
“I tried to be noble,” Ji said. “Now I can’t stop.”
“I know,” Seta said, biting her lip. “You did nothing wrong, Siren. This is my fault. Finish it. I won’t fight you.”
Ji laughed into her ear, making her shiver. “Yes, you will. You’ll fight me and you’ll hurt me. You’ll tell me no and scream and yell in anger. I’ll hold you when you cry and grieve and storm. But from this moment on, you’ll let me pleasure you when I damn well want to pleasure you because that’s how it’s going to be between us. So pleasure me back and be part of this, Seta. If I have to finish it, then by the Creators, so do you.”
Something broke inside her at his words. Some desire to have all the things she’d never had hit her. They rolled and this time she was on top. She was in control. She could either climb off Ji or do as he asked. She could finish it.
Moving happened without thought. One minute she was thinking about what she should do to please a male that had known more females than she’d ever even met in her short life. The next moment found her surging on him and moaning at the exquisite rush of taking her pleasure from the male beneath her. She felt pressure building again and slowed.
“No. Don’t stop. Go faster and harder. Do whatever you can to . . . raging fires of Helios, you have the power to destroy me. Now, Seta. Do it now,” Ji said, folding them both up until she surged in his upright lap. He pressed his face to her neck as she exploded around him. The relief he felt at her intense release was so intense for him that he almost passed out in her arms.
“I didn’t know it could be like that,” she whispered.
His hands came up behind her, grabbing fistfuls of her hair to hold her close. The female he adored had never had pleasure. All those vile males and no one had shown her one bit of what it was supposed to be like. He wanted to kill all those who had ever touched her. He wanted to wind back the clock and be the only one that ever had. Neither was possible.
“Seta, it’s supposed to always be at least like that,” Ji said softly. “Never forget it. However, it can also be many other things.”
She moved until he had to lift his face and look at her. “Show me then,” she said. “I now trust you in this.”
Ji’s hands tightened. His heartbeat was the only sound he heard in the entire room. He knew she had no idea what she was asking him to do. He knew he would have to be careful to not make it permanent. Perhaps the implant would help him. It was the only hope he had of not staking a permanent claim.
Because he wanted to. Raging fires of Helios, he wanted to.
“You did not find release yet,” she said.
“No. It takes a while for Sirens, but we’ll get there,” Ji said.
“Okay,” she said.
“I need to kiss you now,” Ji said. “A real kiss, if that is okay.”
“What’s a real kiss?”
His moan echoed loudly. So innocent. So perfect. So his.
“May the Creators give me strength,” he prayed.
His lips brushed Seta’s, whispering endearments. Every brush along her skin brought a whimper of delight from her lips vibrating against his.
“You are more exquisite than any dream I had of you,” he said, catching her pleasure with his tongue as it erupted from her throat. “How am I supposed to be honorable when I want you this much?”
“When will I feel your release, Ji? I want it with a desperation I don’t understand,” Seta said.
Ji hissed as his body climbed the pinnacle at her demand. She had no idea that she could control him, no idea what her surrender did to him. “Are you sure you want this?”
Her hands came to his face. “You’re the first male I’ve ever willing pleasured. Yes. I want this.”
His body surged into hers until at last he lost himself in the wonder of what she had brought him. The arch of her body beneath his had him choking out her name. He mumbled incoherently in Siren, hoping with everything in him that Seta didn’t understand the language.
When he was done, he gathered her weeping, willing, now lax body against his and wept himself.
“Do not leave me tonight,” he begged. “I would not survive the loss. I would be as empty as you professed to be when you came to me earlier.”
Seta nodded against his head. “Okay
. I won’t. Thank you for filling the emptiness. And for the pleasure. I will never forget it.”
“Nor will I,” Ji said.
***
“Tell your body to go to sleep and leave mine alone.”
“Can I at least put one hand on your breast?” Malachi asked.
“Only if it will help you rest,” Angel said.
Malachi reached across her body and ran a hand over the mound until he covered it completely. “Look. It’s a perfect fit for my hand.”
Angel snorted. “You’re making the end of it hard. That’s not very comfortable.”
“Welcome to my world,” Malachi said.
“Would that be the world of dark demonic urges?”
Malachi laughed. “Yes. It’s the world every male shares. It came with the host body the demon master gave me.”
Angel laughed. “Do you often ask females to let you experiment on them?” Malachi’s rumbling laugh in reply echoed in her over-sensitive ears.
“No. In fact, I expressly haven’t asked other females for the privilege. Some were just not meant to be mine. Others seemed too much trouble. Mostly I see now that I was waiting on you. I’ve had access to this body you’re in for some time. It always aroused mine. However, now that you’re in it again, I feel the urge to explore it more closely.”
When she didn’t reply, Malachi tightened his hold, but lowered his hand until he could capture her peaked nipple between two fingers.
“Your body is equally interested in mine, you know. This,” he said, flicking the nipple with his finger and making her jump, “is a sure sign of physical arousal.”
“If you make it hurt again, I will make you sorry,” Angel said.
Malachi leaned close to her ear. “Would you like me to kiss it and make it feel better?” When her nipple tightened further under his fingers, he had to bite back a groan of satisfaction. He imagined all males probably thought this about a female now and again. The one beside him was delightful and he was ecstatic to be with her.
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