TICEES

by Mills, Shae

  “Do not fret, my Lady,” he soothed. “We know all, and he knows nothing of you. You will never see him again as long as you shall live. I stake my life on that.”

  Chelan closed her eyes. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  Korba kissed the top of her head as he looked at Fremma. The warrior’s eyes met his, and a mutual understanding flared between the two men. No one would harm their fair Lady again. No one.

  *****

  The next two weeks passed by uneventfully, and during that time Chelan continued to work through her emotions and her pain toward recovery. She still required an inordinate amount of sleep, but her bouts with depression were declining. Whenever she was stricken, however, Korba and Fremma were always there to help pull her through.

  As her convalescence progressed, she was finally able to talk to them about her decision to leave and of her life within the Dead Zone. She could also speak briefly about Shan and the baby, but she could never mention Ticees. Her time with Shan and her pregnancy were nurtured and born out of love, and their memory to her was a cherished dream. But Ticees was still a brutal reality, a recurring nightmare, and she felt his lurking, oppressive presence even though Korba assured her she was safe.

  And she had another critical reason for not speaking of Ticees. As far as she could tell, Korba had chosen to let the situation slide. Chelan had come to the conclusion that Korba’s complacency was a result of the time lag between the event and his knowledge of the attack. And Chelan wanted it to stay that way. Her whole reason for entering the Dead Zone was to spare him a direct and potentially fatal confrontation with Ticees. She knew that if she spoke of the Emperor, it would only inflame the Overlord, and she did not want the nightmare to begin all over again. She had gladly sacrificed all to spare the man she loved so much. To have that goal crumple and fail at this stage was simply not an option she could endure.

  Eventually, they entered the first week of the systems testing. Fremma was gone much of the time, and Korba spent nearly night and day at the computer. She knew that he had not slept more than a few hours in weeks, but she also knew that the vast ship’s overhaul was a time-consuming and arduous task. Add in the additional task of replacing and testing all the weapons systems in the thousands upon thousands of individual fighters, and the painstakingly elaborate undertaking was truly daunting.

  But overall, Chelan was more than content. Korba insisted on lying with her just before she went to sleep, and though she always awoke to an empty bed, she did not mind. She was completely at ease just knowing that he was close by. For security reasons, no one else on board RIBUS 7 other than Stose and Fremma knew of her existence. Korba demanded that extra men be stationed outside all the Command Center entrances, with orders to block anyone from entering save Fremma. As always, Lazen took up his duties unquestioningly, the man inadvertently insulating Chelan from discovery and from the Emperor.

  As time drew on, even though Korba was available to her throughout their time in the Command Center, she still could not bring herself to make love with him. She knew that it was simply too soon after so much, but the giant man understood completely and respected her choice. He made sure that she knew that she could take all the time that she needed. For him, as long as he could hold her and lie with her, that was simply enough.

  But Chelan craved his touch, and as the days progressed, his sensual hugs were turning into tender caresses, and each time she allowed herself to respond just that much more. Though at times she wondered if she would ever be whole again, a tingling warmth was beginning to invade her at the sight of his virile masculinity at work. Whether he was laboring over the computers or putting his hard body through a workout, the feelings returning to her told her that it would not be long.

  But Chelan’s thoughts were not totally ensnared by her black-haired mate. She was also looking forward to the end of the weapons testing. With its completion, she knew that not only did it allow RIBUS 7 its freedom, but it also coincided with Dar’s return. She wanted desperately to see the blonde Warlord, and her heart melted each time she thought of him. Their last night together had been extraordinarily special, their minds and bodies singing out a harmony together that nothing else could replicate. It had meant everything to her during a period of raw, visceral bleakness, and she wanted to tell him that with all her heart.

  Chelan awoke this morning, alone again, but she felt different. She felt restored, a sense of optimism transfusing her with life itself. She knew that time was beginning to heal her wounds, although she was well aware that she would carry the scars throughout eternity. But all that had happened was in the past, and nothing could be rewritten. It was time to walk in the present and to welcome what was offered to her now.

  She dressed and walked out into the Command Center, finding Korba in front of the consoles as usual. She stepped up behind him and encircled his neck with her arms as she kissed the top of his head.

  “You know,” she began, “if you sit in front of that thing much more, it’s going to attach itself to you.”

  Korba chuckled as he grasped her arm and pulled her around and into his lap. “Oh, I don’t think so, my beauty,” he whispered as he nuzzled her delicious neck. “It has some strong competition.”

  Chelan grinned as she teased his mouth with hers. “Oh?” she breathed. “And from whom might that competition come?”

  “Oh, no one you would know,” he replied coyly. “Just some small alien woman from a strange and insignificant planet called Calley.”

  Chelan nestled in under his hair and bit at his ear lightly. “Maybe you had better describe her to me.”

  Korba released himself from her teeth and brought her lips back to his. “Oh, she’s petite by our standards,” he whispered, “with skin like soft, white powder. She’s warm, and she’s gentle, and she has such beautiful, deep brown eyes.” He settled her deeper into his lap, and his voice lowered to a seductive rumble. “She has the most wonderful curves, with breasts that steal my breath and depths that harden my loins. She has long, beautiful fingers that entwine in my hair and ignite my body. But most of all, she has a gentle nature and loving charm that bewitches my soul.”

  Chelan placed her hands on either side of his face and kissed him tenderly. Then she parted his lips with her tongue and entered his mouth, exploring, tasting. “Oh, I know her,” Chelan whispered, tracing his lips with her fingers. “She’s the one who stole the Empire’s greatest Warlord’s heart and who loves everything about him.” Chelan reached for his hand and raised it from her waist. “And she’s the one who gave her heart to him in return.” She hesitated, her eyes penetrating his as she kissed his fingertips and then pressed his hand to her ripe breast. “She is the one who wants to share her soul with him as well as her body, if he so desires.”

  Korba’s breath caught as his eyes searched hers. Cautiously, he moved his hand over her soft breast, feeling her erect nipple harden to his touch. He watched her as she straightened in his lap and pulled the gown straps from her shoulders in silent invitation, her beautiful eyes never leaving his.

  Korba could barely move, and his breathing took off, the intensity of his yearning nearly moving him to tears. Chelan stood and pulled her gown down, letting it drop to the floor. She remained still momentarily as his eyes soaked in her voluptuous body. Then she reached for the button on the console that locked down the Command Center doors. Slowly, she mounted him, straddling his lap, her knees resting on either side of his legs, her arms surrounding his neck.

  “Oh, woman,” he groaned as his hands slipped over her tight round buttocks, and Chelan rose up, presenting her aroused breasts to him. Korba shuddered as he took each nipple in his mouth and tenderly tasted them.

  Chelan gasped as she felt a warm rush of fluid between her legs. “I want you inside me,” she moaned, her voice pleading. Korba was instantly and helplessly seduced. The ship could have crumbled about him and he wouldn’t have noticed. His hands moved over her bottom and pressed up into her soft feminine
folds. He could feel her creamy enticement, her sexual scent of anticipation breaking down what precious little control he had, and his erection surged.

  Chelan reached down and released him from his uniform, positioning herself over his straining arousal. She slid her hands lovingly around his thick penis, retracting his foreskin fully, exposing all his sensitive nerves, all his hungry need. Then she guided him into her softness and eased herself down around his hardness, taking him within her with enrapturing slowness.

  A moan from deep within his chest erupted as she melted over him. The sensations she afforded him were pleasures he never dreamt he would feel again. Just the sight of his heavy organ slipping into her left him weak with passion.

  She absorbed him to her core, his solid length and wondrous thickness stretching her so tight she was once again amazed that she could take him at all. He was magnificent, and she was in paradise. Her hands entwined in his thick mane, and she closed her eyes, rising up over him and then slipping back down. God, he felt so good. And it was finally as it should be, her man so deep within her, filling her so completely.

  Korba shook himself back to reality and clenched his teeth. He wanted to be all over her and in her in every possible way. He wanted to taste her sweet acceptance of him, to bury his face in her essence, and to coat himself with her love. But most of all, he wanted her ever so tenderly. He reveled in the feel of the beautiful woman pressed against him, and as she sheathed him in his entirety once more, he knew that if they never moved again, he would be content a lifetime.

  Chelan settled down on him, his hands caressing over her hips, his fingers finding where their bodies intersected. Tenderly he massaged her most intimate flesh, his additional caress causing her to contract with ecstasy. His tongue ran up her neck as he tasted her, his lips taking her ear. His masterful fingers worked around his engorgement to his final goal, and just as he squeezed her swollen clit, he growled. “Come for me, pretty woman,” and his teeth took her neck.

  Chelan couldn’t have stopped herself if she had wanted to. She cried out, her muscles clenching about him, his fingers swirling over her, his penis pulsing within her. Wave upon wave built within her, sensations so powerfully overtaking her that she felt as though she would faint. As she came again and again, she couldn’t believe that she could experience so much pleasure even though he remained unmoving within her depths. Only the blood pounding through his member resounded through her pelvis, the combination of sensations with his fingers’ rhythm giving her a peak so intense she became mortally weak. Then she sagged into his chest, panting for air. She was where she wished to be, embraced by him, protected by him, filled by him. He was everything.

  His fingers left her moist depths and trailed kisses of sensual touch up and down her sinuous back, over her shoulders, around her neck, and down her arms. His hands brushed through her hair, the silk cascading over her soft skin, pooling behind her like strands of melted honey. Her sexual warmth surrounding him was sheer perfection, her breasts upon his chest, divine. If there was a heaven, he had arrived.

  Finally, he urged her up from him as he whispered a kiss upon her lips. He slipped from her body and then stood, cradling her easily in his arms. He entered his chambers, and there, he laid her across his bed and stripped away his uniform. He knelt on the floor before her. He took her foot and kissed each toe, his strong fingers massaging her. His tongue trailed kisses up her calves, her knees, her inner thighs. He left no part of her flesh unattended, her soft moans to his touch causing his heart to burst. He was totally, helplessly in love.

  When he thought he could bear no more, he parted her legs wide and looked at her delicious folds. He spread her feminine lips gently, and his body quivered as his tongue stroked the length of her. He closed his eyes, her taste, her softness, her scent, everything a lethal combination intoxicating him as she had always done. He wanted to linger forever. And when she began to writhe to his touch, he was in ecstasy. Her skin was velvet, her moisture the milk of gods, and he wanted all she had to offer and all that he could take.

  He explored her fully as she strained to be filled once again. His fingers parted her labia wide, exposing her swollen nodule to him, and he began to suckle her. She shuddered. He entered a finger into her heated depths and then withdrew. Chelan arched, her eyes wide. He entered two fingers deep, touching, stroking, petting. His tongue swirled over her, around her, and in her.

  She whimpered as she looked at the ceiling. There was no other like him. No one aroused her like he did, no one touched her like he did, and no one could fill her like he could. “Oh god, please,” she cried. “Please come inside me,” and she reached for him.

  Korba relinquished himself to her wishes, unable to deny her or himself of their most intimate coupling. He rose up, positioning himself at her opening, and she looked to him, her full breasts heaving, her eyes imploring. Her fists knotted in the sheets. “I love you so much,” she gasped, and he slipped into her milky tightness.

  Once again he couldn’t believe the sensations that coursed through his loins, right up his body and into his heart. He watched his thick organ penetrate her as she coated him with the nectar of her love, and his muscles quivered.

  Chelan watched her Warlord as he took dominion over her, and he was perfect. He was all sculpted muscle and cat-like sinew. He was bronzed power and masculine heat. He was nearly 300 pounds of raw sex tempered by true love and tenderness. And he was all hers.

  She reached for him, grabbing his blue-black mane and drawing him to her. He leaned forward over her, pressing part of his weight into her as he knew she liked so much. Her hands surged through his hair, and she kissed him passionately, her legs surrounding his waist, offering herself in her entirety.

  Korba stayed within her a long time, moving slowly so as not to damage her, and she in turn responded to his gentleness by allowing his possession of her innermost recesses indefinitely. Their fingers entwined in rapture, and their moist bodies melded, their souls transcending. After a long and beautiful time, he brought them both to a feverish peak, and they further bonded in the throes of mutual orgasm.

  When both their tremors receded, Korba slipped out of her depths and rolled from her moist body, but only temporarily. He moved up the bed and pulled her up with him, settling her over him. He realized that she was exhausted, but for now, he would not allow her to sleep. That she would need to do as evening descended upon RIBUS 7.

  And as the darkness of night fell on Iceanea, so would his unexpectedly violent and vengeful wrath. This morning, his potent body in an act of love had gently and tenderly washed over Chelan. But come night he would be transformed into a mighty angel of death. In an act born of rage, his powerful body would wash over Iceanea, eradicating it of all that had hurt his pure and innocent alien woman. Tomorrow’s light would bring with it a new day, and if he were successful, it would bring with it a new Empire.

  Chapter 33

  Korba kept Chelan occupied for the rest of the day, and when evening came she was ready to drop from exhaustion. Korba laid her down and sat with her for no more than a minute before she receded into a deep sleep. Korba kissed her forehead gently and prayed that RIBUS 7 still existed when she awoke in the morning. He left for the Command Center.

  Over the weeks he had gradually added to the ship’s crew, ostensibly for training purposes, and now she was almost two million strong. Finally, Korba was ready to start the weeding process.

  He quickly checked the homeward progress of RIBUS 8, the only true threat to the success of his plans. Then he ordered Fremma and Tarn to the Command Center. Korba drew a deep breath and waited patiently. The two men arrived and greeted Korba warmly. Korba nodded to them and then entered a series of security codes that would summon all his top officers to him.

  As the two men stood quietly awaiting their orders, Fremma glanced toward Korba’s quarters, uneasy about Chelan’s presence with Tarn around, but Korba seemed unaffected.

  Tarn was the first to speak. “The
refit is complete, and the weapons testing has been both flawless and impressive, my Lord. I must admit that the Telesians have outdone themselves this time. This ship will go down in history as the most elite fighting machine the galaxy has ever known.”

  Korba smiled. “Yes, she shall indeed go down in history.”

  Tarn smiled back. “So, where is our exalted Emperor sending us next?”

  Korba shrugged casually. “I’m not sure yet, my good man. I have not received any orders as of this moment.

  Fremma had remained silent, watching his Commander carefully. There was a quiet reserve or restraint surrounding the Warlord, and Fremma flinched. Acting on his intuition, he confronted Korba directly. “What’s happening?” he asked cautiously.

  But Korba did not answer, and at the same instant the Command Center doors opened and in streamed forty-five of his highest-ranking officers, all of them well known to the three men in front of them. Fremma felt a shiver go up his spine. This was not a good sign, and he looked back to Korba, noticing for the first time the proliferation of well-concealed weapons beneath the Warlord’s shroud. Fremma closed his eyes. Another bomb was about to hit, but this one would boggle the mind and shake the soul. Instantly, he knew where it would be directed, or more accurately, at whom it was directed.

  The officers stood silently at attention as Korba signaled to them in battle language. He separated out nine of them by name and asked them to wait across the hall in Fremma’s quarters. The nine men nodded obediently and left.

  Tarn was becoming concerned, and he stared directly at Korba. The Warlord’s eyes were simmering with a hot blue flame, and Tarn’s throat suddenly dried.

  Korba looked back at the two of them. He studied them closely, reading their every thought. Neither man spoke, but intuitively they nodded their allegiance, and Korba’s eyes ignited.