by Liza Probz
“I’m still hard inside you,” he said, with a small thrust that caused her to moan. His head lowered to her breasts where he began to lick and suck, suck and lick until her nipples were two hard and aching points.
“How come you get all the fun?” she asked when she could stand his teasing no more. With a shove, she rolled him onto his back.
He let out a disappointed sigh as his cock slipped out of her.
Kat laughed, lying on his chest and starting to lick at his neck.
Jeffrey growled, latching his hands to her backside and squeezing. Kat licked her way down to his nipples and gave him a taste of his own medicine, teasing them until they stiffened in her mouth.
“Woman,” he groaned. “What are you doing to me?”
“The same thing you do to me,” she said. “Driving you crazy.”
“You got that damn right,” he said, then moaned again as she worked her way down to his stomach.
The bunk was narrow and short, and she couldn’t position herself to gain access to the area she really wanted. She climbed down, kneeling beside the bunk. “Turn this way,” she said, pulling at his hips until she was positioned between his thighs.
“Kat, what are you…?”
His words gave way to a groan as she gripped his cock and guided it to her mouth. “Holy fuck,” he breathed as she began to slowly lick up and down his member, making it even harder.
She could feel the veins throbbing against her tongue and it aroused her so much, she felt a rush of moisture from her core. Kat started to suck in earnest, taking him deeper and deeper into her mouth until he hit her throat.
“Yes,” he groaned, his hands tangling in her tendrils. “Don’t stop.”
I won’t. She took him deep and slipped back to the tip, just to swallow him again.
Over and over she teased him, not stopping, just giving in to the lust she felt for the human male. With abandoned she sucked him until he put his hands on her shoulders and pulled his cock from her mouth.
“Goddamn,” he said. “How can you do that for so long without passing out from lack of oxygen?”
Kat laughed. “I can hold my breath for a really long time.”
Jeffrey gave her a smile. “Come here,” he said, patting his chest.
Kat climbed atop him, her legs straddling his thighs, her chest pressed to his.
“Kat, I-“
“Don’t,” she whispered. “Please, let’s just make love once more. Then we can talk about whatever you want.”
Jeffrey gave her a soft grin. She could tell that her words disappointed him, but he would abide by her wishes.
He grabbed her ass, squeezing it while guiding her into position. Kat slowly slid down his engorged cock until he was completely inside her.
“You are fucking perfect,” he said with a growl, pulling her head down to kiss her lips.
Everything felt so right in that moment, so pure, that Kat felt her heart opening in a way she’d never experienced. She’d known for a while now that what she felt for Jeffrey was like nothing she’d had before, but this was beyond even that.
I love him. I’ll never love anyone like this again.
She rode him slowly, her hips sliding up and down. She stretched up, putting her hands against his chest as she took her pleasure on him.
In that moment, she decided that she did belong to him. There was no one that could ever mean as much to her as he did.
She quickened her pace, spurred on by his hold on her ass and hips. He pulled her back down again, nibbling at her neck, holding her tight by her shoulders. He began to move, pistoning upward until Kat cried out in ecstasy.
“You’re mine,” he whispered to her, his tongue exploring her ear. “I’ll never let you go.”
She could feel her core beginning to contract as her climax drew toward her. And…and there was something else…something different…she could feel it.
The membrane that guarded her egg was starting to retract.
Even if she wanted to, she didn’t think she would stop it. This was her one chance, right now, to conceive, and she wanted it to be with the man she loved.
“Ride me, sweetheart,” Jeffrey crooned, his face flushed. “Take all of me!”
“Yes,” she whimpered, jerking her hips back and forth as she massaged his thick shaft with her body.
His words drove her to new heights, and she increased her pace, her movements becoming too frantic to sustain. He gripped her tightly from below and drove into her, deeper than ever before. “Come with me, Kat,” he groaned.
His cock began to throb inside her and she knew he had reached his climax. The feeling of his seed starting to spill in her core sent her over the edge and she screamed out her pleasure.
It was more intense than anything that had come before. Kat collapsed on top of him, panting, her energy gone in a blaze of passionate glory.
She shifted gently to the side, then cuddle up behind him.
“Rest, precious,” he whispered, and with those words, she fell into a deep and contented sleep.
Chapter 20
Jeffrey lay in silence beside the woman he loved, her skin cool against his. She felt so right here in his arms. He wished they’d never reach Zanthar, that they could live here in this perfect moment for all eternity.
Unfortunately, he could feel time slipping away from them already. He clutched her tighter, and she sighed happily in her sleep.
“My precious girl,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to the tendrils on her head that had finally gone still.
He was exhausted, his emotions having wrung him dry. When he’d seen her with the Hareema crouching over her, his insides had gone cold with fury and fear. When she’d told him that she would never obey him willingly, his rage had been white hot. And when she’d made love to him so sweetly, he’d realized that he could never let her go.
Jeffrey knew that there was a preponderance of challenges facing them. They were from different planets, in different fleets, halfway across the galaxy from one another. But none of that meant anything to him.
He would do whatever it took to keep her by his side.
With a smile on his face, Jeffrey finally allowed himself to drift off to sleep.
When he awoke, he was disgruntled to find himself alone in the bunk. He stumbled out of bed and pulled on his flight suit, wondering where Kat had gone to. The bunkroom was empty, and so was the mess. That only left the bridge, and as he made his way there, he tried not to let his disappointment engulf him.
“One of these days, I’m going to wake up with her beside me,” he muttered. “Even if I have to chain her to the damn bed.”
He entered the bridge and found Kat seated at the central console. The navigator turned around at his entrance.
“I didn’t wake her up, I swear,” he said, his hands coming up in front of him, palms facing outward.
“It’s alright,” he said, waving wearily at him. “Report.”
“We are less than ten minutes from Zanthar.”
Jeffrey scowled, eyeing Kat accusingly. “Were you just going to let me sleep through the landing? Get yourself off the ship and out of my clutches as soon as possible?”
She arched a brow at him. “Just following orders, Sir. Trying to get us home.”
Her voice was neutral, with no emotion in it. Flat.
Like his feelings.
It seemed the Ice Queen was back. He didn’t know why she always resorted to distance after they made love. But he was getting tired of the walls she kept putting up between them.
“Before we land, I’d like a word with you, Lieutenant.”
“I’m sure we can speak later,” was her reply.
“I seem to remember you promising to talk, after we made lo—“
“Okay,” she said, jumping up from her seat and shooting an embarrassed look toward her crewmate. “Let’s talk in the mess.”
He followed her down the corridor, enjoying the gentle sway of her hips as she headed down the hal
lway.
Once in the mess, she rounded on him. “What do you want?’
Jeffrey took a deep breath, attempting to keep his emotions in check. “I want to get a few things straight before we land. I was serious about what I said before. You belong to me.”
Kat’s eyebrow quirked upward. “I belong to you? I thought Earth outlawed slavery several centuries ago.”
His eyes narrowed at her response. “You know what I mean. You’re mine. And I’m yours.”
Kat stared at him. “I’m not sure what use I’d have for a primitive human male. I’m afraid we stopped keeping off-world species in zoos some time ago.”
Jeffrey recoiled from her words as if he’d been hit. Where was this flippant hostility coming from?
“Look,” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I get that you’re scared. I am too. This thing between us is intense. But I’m not going to let you go, now that I’ve found you.”
“You don’t have a choice,” she said, pushing his hand off of her. “The mission is over. And this…thing…as you call it, it’s over too.”
She pushed past him, striding up the corridor, leaving him feeling as if she’d ripped his heart out of his chest and taken it with her.
Go ahead. I have no use for a heart now.
The landing on Zanthar went smoothly, even if it did take an hour for the protocols to be followed. He was subjected to yet another test of his humanity and he barely stopped himself from stumbling to the ground under the force of the bioelectric blast.
He made his way off the ship and to the briefing room, not bothering to notice if she was near him or not.
Jeffrey was in a daze, going through the motions, unable to make the world feel like anything more than a gray haze of hopelessness. She had rejected him. And now she sat across the table in the briefing room, talking as if nothing had happened between them. As if she hadn’t stolen his heart then thrown it in the trash.
The regent commended them for their valiant capture of yet another Hareema, and then allowed his brother, the Minister of Defense, to detail his plan for determining the extent of the Hareema forces on Earth. The plan hinged on his returning with the human crew to Earth aboard their vessel.
“Well the engine is shot,” Jeffrey stated. “The Earhart won’t make it back to Earth without major repairs.”
“Then get to it,” the minister replied.
The next day, after a night of tossing and turning at the memory of a pair of seductive dark eyes, Jeffrey found himself back in the engine room of the Earhart.
He forced himself not to replay the scene in his mind again, but he can’t help picturing Kat’s unconscious body at the mercy of the Hareema. He was standing there, staring down at the empty catwalk, when Captain Brooklyn walked up behind him.
“Not sure where to start, huh?” she said, giving him a smile. “How about a level one diagnostic?”
They worked over the panels, trying to isolate the problem. Jeffrey worked in silence, making the repairs while his captain called out the malfunctioning areas.
“Well, I must say, this is the first time I’ve seen you not live up to your name, Lieutenant Cheerful,” Captain Brooklyn said after a couple hours of work. “Want to tell me what’s eating you?”
Jeffrey sighed. “I just want to get home, Captain.”
“That’s not what I would have expected from you,” she replied. “You’ve never been homesick before. Are you sure this doesn’t have something to do with that attractive lieutenant you were paired with on your mission?”
He looked at her and realized that she already knew. “How could you tell?”
“Well, I knew something was up when I first made it to Zanthar. The way you two were looking at each other, I figured it had to be love or hate. And I don’t think hate would make you look like a broke-dick dog, pardon the expression.”
Jeffrey gave a small laugh that faded away fairly quickly. “You’re right. It’s definitely not hatred. At least on my end.”
“What happened?”
He launched into his tale, not bothering to hide their intimacy. “I just don’t understand it. We have a chemistry like you wouldn’t believe. But it’s like she’s a different person afterwards.”
“Maybe she’s not sure how to handle all of this. It seems like she’s the type who keeps a tight rein on her emotions. You could be rattling her, too much, too fast, you know?”
“Maybe. Or maybe she was just trying an alien on for size. She pretty much said she was slumming it with a barbaric human.”
Brook frowned. “Hmm. I think I have to give her more credit than that. I don’t think Major Ontarii would have a brutal bitch as his second in command. My guess is, you’ve gotten too close and she’s scared. She probably said that to hurt you, to drive you away so she can build back up her defenses.”
Jeffrey let out a heavy breath. “I wish you were right. But at the moment, I don’t think she’s afraid of me. In fact, I bet she isn’t even thinking about me at all.”
Chapter 21
Kat couldn’t stop thinking about the human lieutenant, and it was starting to interfere with her duties. Major Ontarii had enlisted her to help in the interrogation of the Hareema prisoners. So far, they’d been unable to garner any information from them, but it wasn’t helping that she was so damned distracted.
“Lieutenant Yarr, are you even paying attention to me?” Major Ontarii’s voice boomed. He’d been irritated all day, probably because he was forced to spend several hours away from his mate.
I’m irritated too, she wanted to shout. I drove my mate away because I couldn’t deal with the feelings, so back off.
At least, that’s what she wanted to say.
“I’m sorry, Sir,” is what she did say, trying to focus on his complicated plan for extracting information.
“Right. Now tell me, what are you to say when I tell them that we’re planning a move on their prison planet?”
Kat searched through the empty hallways of her mind but could come up with nothing. “Uhh, that we’ve already moved our fleet into position?”
“Dammit, Yarr,” he yelled, slamming his hands down on the briefing room table. “We’ve been over this three times already!”
“I’m sorry, Sir.”
“And that’s the tenth time you’ve apologized this hour. I’m beginning to think you’ve been replaced with a Hareema plant set on tormenting me.”
Kat saw the streaks of yellow starting to work their way up his skin and she shrank back. “I’m sorry!”
“Tell me what the hell is going on, or I’m going to throw you into a cell until we can make certain you haven’t been replaced.”
Kat wanted to groan. Why was he trying to force her to tell her secrets? Couldn’t he just leave her alone for Noruma’s sake!
“Answer me!”
“Fine!” she shouted, burning her commanding officer with a fiery gaze. “I’m in love with the human lieutenant.”
“I see,” Major Ontarii said, settling back down into his seat. “Well, I must say, that explains some things.”
Kat burned with embarrassment, aware that her skin was flushing orange for the major to see. “I’ve been trying to hide my feelings, to behave as if he doesn’t affect me, but the truth is, I’ve never wanted anyone more.”
Major Ontarii gave her a small smile. “I know the feeling.”
Kat had always looked to the major for guidance, but would have never imagined coming to him for romantic advice. Especially in light of her persistent crush on him that she’d only recently abandoned.
Still, Major Ontarii himself had chosen a mate, and very recently to boot. Maybe he had some insight that would help her out of the mess she found herself in.
Even if she’d already decided that she’d missed her chance.
“I understand how it feels, to be struck suddenly by love when you’ve never really given it a thought in your ordinary life.”
The major stared off into the distance, a look
Kat had never seen before on his face. It was somewhere between dreamy and surprised. Awestruck by love. Her heart beat harder.
“At first, I couldn’t understand my attraction to a human. I mean, a human! One of the most backward races in the system. But the longer I spent with Brook, the stronger the feeling felt until I had to give in to temptation.”
Kat knew exactly what he meant. Although it had gone against everything she’d ever thought about the laws of attraction, she’d had to surrender the pull of the human lieutenant.
“It didn’t take long to realize that my feelings went beyond the sexual,” Major Ontarii continued, his eyes focused on a point in the distance as he reflected on his memories. “There was something about her, something special, and I’m not talking about the fact that she’s from a different species.”
The major’s smile widened. “She was beautiful, but she was also smart. Her tenacity amazed me, even as it frustrated me. She was loyal, strong, and had a sense of humor that made me remember how good it could be to laugh. How could I walk away from that?”
Kat ran a hand through the dark tendrils on her head that had been waving agitatedly for the last several hours. “But how do you deal with the rest of it? You’re both in command, with people relying on you. How do you build a life together when you’re literally worlds apart?”
Major Ontarii leaned back and crossed his arms over his expansive chest. “Our relationship is new, so we still have plenty of things to figure out and fight about. But the most important thing is that we’ve both made the decision to be together, no matter what. We put each other first, which means that, as much as I’ve always been devoted to duty, my career comes second.”
Kat nodded. She wasn’t sure if she could be so cavalier about walking away from the life she’d so carefully built for the past decade, but seeing her C.O. saying he would sacrifice anything to be with his mate gave her hope.
She realized then that she had unconsciously been rubbing her belly, her hand tracing slow circles on her still-flat stomach. She lifted her hand away immediately as if she’d been burned, and brought her gaze back to Major Ontarii’s face.
