by Lisa Lace
“My apologies.” As Cas rose to his feet, his legs grazed against my knees. “I’ll let you get back to it, then.”
“Wait.” The sound of my voice surprised me. “Would you stay? I could use your help.”
As Cas turned back to face me, I rose to my feet and untangled the sash on my robe. The silky material fluttered around my ankles and fanned out onto the sandy-gold carpet. He strode toward me, drawing me in and putting an arm around my waist.
My legs wobbled as my breasts flattened against his firm stomach. I felt small in the alien’s hold. I sensed he could snap me in two pieces if he wanted. His strength tantalized me.
“Why don’t you get yourself started?” Warm breath tickled my neck as his hands traveled down my back. He fondled my ass with his hands, fingers punching into my flesh. “I want a front seat view.”
While Cas made himself comfortable on the chaise longue, I sat down on the edge of the bed. I shuddered under the lustful look in his eyes which scrutinized every inch of my naked body. As he goaded me with a flick of his chin, I picked up the toy and spread my legs open.
I was about to reach for the lube hidden under my pillows when I realized I was already sloppily wet. Cas seemed to notice, too. He leaned back, stroking his tent through his jeans. I ran two fingers between my legs, and as I pulled them apart, a sticky clear string stuck to both ends.
Knowing that I held his eyes prisoner with my body sparked something inside of me. Staring directly back at him, I rubbed my left nipple until it glistened with my juices. I looked at his moving hands and moved up in the bed. I curled my toes around the edge for support, flinging my legs open. In front of me, Cas undid his belt and zipper, sliding a hand into his pants.
I pushed my middle finger into my slit, groaning. “I’m ready.” I retracted my damp finger effortlessly and pressed the head of my dildo against my pussy. By now, Cas had his thick cock in full view, throbbing to the sight of me pleasuring myself. I gave him what he wanted.
Sliding the whole length of the dildo past my pussy lips, I threw my head back, hair whipping around my shoulders. Cas stood up, completely stripping off his jeans before making his way toward me. As he came closer, I fucked myself with the dildo, making sure to shove the head up against the protruding spot inside me.
Cas loomed over my body. He stroked his cock with one hand and brushed hair out of my face with the other. The mix of lechery and gentleness in his actions sent another tormenting shiver down my spine.
“You have no idea how beautiful you look right now, do you?” His fingertips swept across my quivering thighs. “Come here. I want to show you something.”
I gasped as he pulled the dildo out of me and scooped me up with one hand between my legs. He flipped me over, making me face the floor-length mirror on the closet next to the bed. I peered at our reflection, heart racing as I watched him lick my juices off the palm of his hand. He lightly slipped his palm around the back of my neck, pivoting my head forward.
All I could see was the image of myself on all fours. Cas tucked some of my hair behind my ears and pushed the rest over to one side of my neck. Taking the dildo from his hands, I reached behind me, pushing the soft silicone length through my yearning sex. Hovering from behind, Cas grunted, softly kissing the exposed skin on my neck. He held onto my chin firmly, keeping it steady.
“I want you to look at yourself, Michelle.”
My eyes opened reluctantly, staring back at myself. My mouth hung open, and my eyebrows curved upward. As I powered the dildo in and out of me, I could feel my pussy growing tender and raw, but I couldn’t stop. Cas shifted his position, kneeling next to me. He began to help me out, kneading against my pearl with the perfect amount of pressure. Whites flashed in my eyes, my chin going limp in his hand.
When Cas slowed down, I paused to look back at him. His unblinking eyes fixed on my lower back. I eased the dildo out of me.
I twisted my head further, peeking down my back. “Are you looking at my birthmark?”
“Were you born with that?”
“I was. I used to think it was strange that it’s shaped like a cross, but I’ve grown to love it.” I pushed myself off the bed and onto my knees. “Is something wrong?”
Chapter Fourteen
CAS
“Brother, are you feeling all right? You’re looking extremely pale this morning.” Botu slapped a hand on my shoulder as he joined me in the buffet line.
“Aye, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?” Botu arched his bushy brows. “You piled on too many eggs onto your plate too, don’t you think?”
I looked down at my plate. The yellow mountain of scrambled eggs had toppled over to the side, covering all the crispy strips of bacon. “Aye, I meant to do that. I’m starving.”
“I would be too if I pulled an all-nighter like you did last night.”
“What are you talking about?”
“We ran out of ice on our floor, so I went downstairs to refill a bucket. I saw you coming out of Michelle’s room this morning.”
“Right.” I nodded, saying nothing more about it. I closed the lid of the steaming dish and moved on to the sausage puffs.
“Is that all you have to say?” Botu followed me to the next table, clicking his tongue knowingly. “I overheard Indira with Nala the other day. She says you won’t touch her. And I know you snuck out of the Diamond Tower early, too, so don’t get me started on that. Why are you keeping secrets all of a sudden?”
“It’s nothing you need to concern yourself with.” I mindlessly loaded more food onto my plate.
“Is this because of Michelle? Who would have thought that a human would finally get you thinking about settling down? I can’t say I’m not surprised because I am. You know something? I have been noticing more and more human brides around.”
“Shrewd observations, brother. I’ll have to catch you later.”
After a quick look around the room, I carried my plate to a table in the darkest corner of the restaurant. Splynter was its only occupant. He sat hunched over the table, inhaling his breakfast. Breadcrumbs and food morsels covered his braided beard.
I pulled up a chair opposite from the old Keeper.
“Take it easy. Azgoth’s beard, it’s like you haven’t eaten in days.”
Splynter looked up from his plate and slowed down his chewing. His bad eye stopped spinning, twitching as the milky iris pointed vaguely in my direction. He beamed, showing the red and green food stuck between his silver teeth.
“You’ve found her, haven’t you? I can tell from the look on your face.”
“Listen to me.” I looked around to make sure no one was watching, dropping the tone of my voice. “What I’m about to tell you doesn’t leave this table. Do we understand each other?”
“I don’t know who you think you are, boy, but I assure you I have no interest in talking to any of these people about anything interesting, much less about you.”
“Good, good.” I started on my plate, thinking as I chewed. “I was with her last night, and I spotted a birthmark on her lower back. It was small, so I almost missed it. It was half the size of my thumb.”
“Aye, and what of it?” said Splynter distractedly. His functioning eye was poorly focused on his cheek as he peeled off the dry skin around his burn.
“The birthmark was shaped like a cross.”
“A-ha! And that, my boy, is why they call me the best.” Splynter grinned, stretching out his leg on the chair next to him.
“Could it have been a coincidence? Help me out, here.”
“It could be, unless it’s not.”
“Don’t give me any of your nonsense,” I snapped, waving my fork at him. “What does it mean?”
“Only you can answer that question. What does your heart tell you?” Splynter leaned back in his chair, looking around at the Keepers scattered across the dining room. “So, tell me, which one of these morons is she?”
“None of them.” I pressed my fingers together, looki
ng at him intently. “She’s a human. Is that even possible?”
“Human?” Splynter fell silent. He pulled out his flask, dumping half of the contents into his soup. “It is certainly curious, but not impossible. The flaura does not discriminate.”
“And how do you know this? Have you ever heard of such a thing?”
“Mine was human, too. Her name was Chanel. I met her on a stopover here over forty years ago.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” When I saw the broken look in Splynter’s downcast eyes, I erased the smirk from my face at once. “You found your flaura? Why is this the first time I’ve heard about this?”
“No one’s ever asked me before.”
“What happened to her?”
“I was only on this planet for less than a week. It wasn’t too far from here, just a couple of towns over. I met Chanel at a dancing club – a disco, I think they called it. If you asked me how I knew she was the one, I wouldn’t be able to tell you. There was just something about her. I knew she felt the same way about me, too, but when I asked her to come home with me, she turned me down.”
“We’re here now, aren’t we? Have you tried to find her?”
“Aye, I did.” He lifted his bowl to his lips, but not all of the soup made it into his mouth. “I talked to her neighbor, after scaring the wits out of her. Chanel’s been dead for five years.”
“Well, that explains your absence for the past couple of days. I’m sorry, Splynter.” I bowed my head. “Lagnar sheba. I mean that. The other day when I walked past you in the elevators, I didn’t realize what was happening.”
“Life goes on,” Splynter muttered. There was definite emotion in his voice. “Seeing that I dislike you least around here, let me give you a word of wisdom. If you think this girl is the one, hold on to her and you make sure you never let her go. I wonder what could have happened between us every day. Over time, it consumes you from the inside out. Look at me now.”
“That sounds terrible.” The communicator started buzzing in my back pocket, and I pulled it out. “Sorry. I have to take this.”
“I’ll see you around.”
I managed to shove a few more forkfuls of breakfast into my mouth before heading up to my room. By the time I returned to my suite, the communicator was still ringing. I shook off my boots, pushing the red button on the side of the device.
“Enya – how goes it?”
Blue light and white noise burst from the communicator’s projector. When the connection strengthened, the static ceased, and my mother’s face appeared on the hologram. She leaned forward, pushing up her spectacles with one hand and her orange-red hair away from her face with the other.
“Cas? Can you see me?”
“Aye, I can hear and see you just fine. The connection is crystal clear.”
She pushed out her bottom lip, wrinkling her nose. “Why haven’t you called me since you crashed on that planet? I’ve been worried sick. I thought something terrible had happened to you.”
“I’m sorry, I should have called. Are you doing all right over there?”
“Aye, everything is good here,” said my mother hurriedly. “But what about you? When do you all plan on returning? King Izbul and his men are getting anxious. Princess Tazmin filled me in on all the gossip when she visited yesterday afternoon. She brought me a delicious engelberry pie, bless her.”
I thought back to my conversation with Jethro the other night. As I mulled over his sudden reluctance to leave in my head, I decided to keep it to myself. He was still trying to come to terms with his sister’s impending coronation. I was going to give him a few more days to feel sorry for himself before I started to worry about him.
“If everything goes well, we think repairs on the ship should be complete by the end of the week.”
“The Princess has been trying to get through to the prince, but he has blocked all of her calls. Do you think you can speak with him? Tazmin came to me because she knows how stubborn Jethro can be. You’re the only one who can talk any sense into him.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Thank you, Cas.” My mother pinched her lips musingly. “Something seems different about you.”
“How so?”
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you seem happy. It’s a welcome change, but it’s unusual.”
“Thanks for the compliment, but I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t lie to me, Caspian. I am your mother. I know something’s going on with you.”
Hearing a movement on the other side of the door, I jumped up from the edge of the bed. “Hold that thought.” I lowered the communicator. My eyes looked at the distinct shadow projecting under the door gap. But as I looked through the peephole and cracked open the door, all I saw was an empty hallway.
“Cas? Are you still there? What was that?”
“I’m still here.” I shut the door. “It was nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
Chapter Fifteen
MICHELLE
I found myself flattened up against a marble pillar, the cold stone kissing the naked back of my halter top. One of the custodians shot me a one-eyed squint as she pushed her toiletry cart into the next room. My feet were rooted to the ground and wouldn’t budge. I only slunk out of my spot when I heard the click of Cas’ door and dashed toward the closing doors of the elevator. As the droning elevator started moving down, I rested the back of my head against the corner, thinking about how I had gotten here.
This morning, I had woken up to find Cas gone. After my shower, I decided to drop by his room to see if he was inside. I managed to get as far as approaching his door, but I chickened out before I could bring myself to knock. It had suddenly occurred to me that he vanished from my room for a reason. His reaction to my birthmark was a little peculiar, and though I lost count of how many times he brought me to sweet climax, he seemed distant. There was nothing I needed to say to him anyway, and I didn’t want to look like I was hunting him down after what might have been just another night for him.
I heard the sound of his mother’s voice as I turned away from the door. It sounded like she wasn’t in the room, but her voice was strikingly clear. The call was entirely in Yarian and I couldn’t follow most of the conversation. I did hear him refer to her as “enya” – one of the few Yarian words I did know.
Before I knew it, I found myself eavesdropping. The mild-mannered way the rugged alien addressed his mother brought an unconscious smile to my lips. But when I heard Cas’ heavy footsteps drawing closer towards the door, I quickly realized I had been creepily lingering outside his door for over a minute. I didn’t want Cas to catch me in an embarrassing position, so I leaped behind the pillar. It was the first thing I saw that could hide me.
The elevator slowed to a stop. As I walked out of the ringing doors, I reached into the pocket of my denim shorts. My phone was vibrating. I swiped right on my screen. “Hello?” I crossed the lobby, making my way toward the dining room.
“Michelle, how are you feeling? It’s Richie.”
“What’s up, Richie? Hold on a minute.”
The host stopped me before I could enter the doors. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but there are no phones allowed inside the dining hall.”
“That won’t be a problem. I’ll finish my call out here.” I smiled at the host before settling a few feet away from his podium. “What were you saying, Richie?”
“I’m sorry to bother you on your vacation. Lord knows you deserve it. I thought you’d want to know that you’re running out of room in your cubicle for all of these gifts.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. Did more stuff come in today?”
“Yup. But don’t worry, we’re having a field day over here. We finished three boxes of the European artisan chocolates on your desk, but there’s still about twelve left. The barbershop quartet that came by last night really livened up the office. They were stand-up guys. They finished their song set even though you weren’t around, so
we invited them to eat some of your chocolate cake. You know, so it doesn’t go bad. We’re looking out for you.”
“Have at it. I’ll be back the day after tomorrow. I plan on throwing everything out, so make sure you tell everyone they’re free to take anything they want.”
“Are you sure about that? We’ve put away some of the jewelry already, and I know some of this stuff is worth a fortune.”
“Yes, that too, I suppose. Feel free to take some home for your wife.” My words trailed off as I noticed someone at the hotel entrance and I did a double-take. To my horror, it was none other than Tate. Even though it was over a hundred degrees outside, he wore a cashmere sweater with his collar popped and an expensive maroon scarf wrapped around his neck.
“Michelle, that’s generous of you, but I’m not sure if I’m allowed to do that.”
“I insist you take it. Sorry, Richie, but I have to go.”
I stuffed my phone back into my pocket and snuck behind a folding screen next to the restaurant entrance. With one hand holding onto the bamboo edge of the partition, I was able to spy on Tate. His bodyguards shadowed him as he walked up to the front desk, engaging the receptionist in a muffled conversation.
My stomach rumbled, and I frowned. I hadn’t even eaten breakfast yet. It was too early in the day for drama. Tate wasn’t just a manipulative, lying narcissist. He was still trying to smother me even after we had broken up. It was like he wanted to outdo himself every time he interacted with me.
I asked for no money, none of his things, and none of his time. All I wanted was for him to give me some space. Even after I had specifically asked him to back off and threatened to call the police, he was ignoring what I wanted, like he always did. I wasn’t sure if I would ever be able to drill my message into his dismally thick skull.
Thoughts rattled off in my cluttered head, one after another, until I remembered Tate shouldn’t have known my location. The last thing I told him was that I was staying at Allison’s place temporarily until I could find an apartment for myself.
“There you are, my friend!”
