by Mel Teshco
Colin pressed close to her legs and peered up at her through the dust cloud, seemingly urging her back to the donya.
“You knew this was coming, didn’t you?”
She strode faster, shielding her eyes with one hand from the sting of coarse sand and fine dust; inwardly swearing as many of her much needed leaves fluttered from the bowl. She screwed her eyes half-shut and pressed a hand over her bowl.
She had no idea how long these storms would last, or how dangerous they were, and she and Colin needed all the food they could get.
She scrambled into the donya with Colin just as the deluge hit, a heavy, relentless downpour that was matched in its fury only by the screaming wind. As the hanging shield closed, she was amazed and relieved when it all but sealed itself into the donya fabric, enclosing her safely.
She glanced at her empty bottles. Her store of water was even more precious than her food supply. She tipped the remaining leaves into the smaller bowl, and with the larger bowl in hand she strode back to the hanging shields. As the doorway cracked open she plunked the bowl outside the donya and prayed it would fill with water before it was blasted away in the wind.
Colin trotted over to her, snuffling low in his throat and looking pitiful in his distress. She stepped away from the doorway, allowing the hanging shields to close before she bent and stroked Colin’s long back. “It’s okay, I know how you feel.”
Though Genesis had said donyas lasted as long as an Earth home, she had no idea how strong the fabric of one was in a severe storm. The wind was making a hell of a noise, shaking the donya as though a rag doll, the rain hammering down as if a stampede of bolishtas.
She chewed her bottom lip. The bolishtas had galloped to higher ground. Was it possible it would flood?
She’d never once experienced cold on Carèche, but a chill settled over her body that had little to do with the drop in temperature. She bent her head close to Colin’s as the donya shook and shuddered. “I think we might have to get out of here.”
And go where? Sit on the mountain with the bolishtas, getting lashed by wind and rain?
She waited it out, alert and listening intently to the world outside her donya, ready to make a dash for the mountain if need be. With the rain still pelting down, she had no idea how long it’d been before she realized the wind had at last ceased much of its violence. She was only glad it was one less threat to worry about from Mother Nature’s arsenal.
“Eden!”
Through the din of rain she sat up, eyes wide and ears straining. Someone had called her name…she was hearing things, surely?
“Genesis?” she croaked.
Only when Colin dived under the pelt for cover and the hanging shields unsealed from the fabric and cracked open, did she realize it really was her intended.
Genesis pushed through the shield, filling the donya with strength and purpose and a whole lot of dominance. Wet and windblown, she’d never seen a more glorious sight.
“Thank the Gods you’re all right,” he rasped, crouching low and taking her into his arms to hold her tight.
“I’m…fine.” Even wet his body warmed her through, stripping away all her fears. She curled her hands over his shoulders, her emotions almost overwhelming. “You came back for me.”
“I couldn’t stay away,” he conceded gruffly. “I didn’t count on an unseasonal storm to hit while you were here. Nothing in this world—or yours—could have kept me away from you.”
She stared up at him, weakness suffusing her body that had little to do with her meager diet. The cold settled into her bones again. If he only knew there really was something—someone—in the world who’d soon have him change his mind. He just didn’t know it yet.
“You’re shivering,” he said huskily. “Come, let’s get you under the pelt and make you warm.”
She glanced at the barely noticeable lump that was Colin at the far end of the pelt. She shook her head. “No. I’m fine, really—”
But Genesis had already stalked to the fur, lifting it to wrap around her. He froze. “What the—?”
Before she could react, Genesis dropped the pelt and pushed her further back, simultaneously reaching for the erfos,his big body fluid grace in motion. Only as he aimed it at a cowering and hissing Colin did she shriek, “Genesis, no!”
The barrel pulsed green as he growled, “This is no Earth cat, Princess, it’s a zadmet.”
Her eyes widened as his hand clenched over the barrel, his knuckles white and his jaw clenched, inflexible. She stepped forward, tone pleading, “Please. He’s harmless.”
“His massive claws contain shock cells that could easily kill you in one strike. Hell Eden, even a caltronian fears them.”
The apparently massive claws explained the size of Colin’s paws. Yet he’d never once unsheathed them, even when he’d felt threatened. Even now. She curled a hand around the erfos barrel and pushed it downward. “He hasn’t once tried to hurt me.”
Genesis cast her an incredulous look. “Give him time and he’ll—”
“He’s been with me almost right from the start.”
His breath hitched sharply. “I should never have left you alone.” He cast a dark glance Colin’s way. “Zadmets can’t be trusted.”
How ironic. Colin wasn’t the one he needed to worry about. “Maybe you should give him a chance to prove himself,” she said softly, speaking as much for herself as the zadmet.
Genesis’ nostrils flared distrust. “When the storm breaks I’m taking you home with me, away from here.”
She shook her head. “No. This is my sentence and I want to serve it.” It’s the least she deserved. “No favors. No shortcuts.”
His eyes glittered. “And if I commanded that you return with me?”
“I’d fight you every step of the way back.”
Colin slunk around Genesis until he was beside her, growling low in his throat at the obvious undercurrents between them. Genesis stared at her, lips whitening and a muscle jerking to life in his jaw. But he also seemed transfixed by her defiant stance—as much by the sight of a zadmet protecting her.
She released a little breath before resting a hand on Colin’s head. “See, he’s defending me…not attacking.”
Genesis’ mouth abruptly curled into a disbelieving grin, a laugh bursting free. “You have a way with animals, Sheehar.”
No, that is my sister’s gift.
“And your flame-red hair is clearly matched only by your fierce loyalty.” His eyes became slumberous. “My Sheehar, you’re remarkable.”
She shriveled a little inside. Her only remarkable feat was developing a penchant for deception. The possessive glint in his stare steeled her spine. Maybe she needed to stop dwelling on what had become her negative qualities and focus on her positive.
She raised her chin. “Thank you. I guess we’re quite the match.”
His face darkened, desire seemingly tempered only by his consideration. “We are.”
Colin was apparently satisfied the danger had passed and moved away from them to flop onto the floor, watching them with large, unblinking amber eyes.
Genesis returned the erfos on the floor near the hanging shield doorway. When he straightened he conceded gruffly, “At least now I know you’ll be relatively safe.” He eyed off the zadmet. “Though I’m not sure I completely trust him.”
“Colin.” She cleared her throat. “His name’s Colin.”
He arched an amused brow, “Of course it is.”
“I guess Colin will have to earn your trust,” she countered.
Just the same as I hope you’ll give me that courtesy once I admit my ruse.
He stepped close, his outspread hands taking hold of her hips. “I’m not leaving you until the storm passes—until I know your safe from that much at least,” he said, determination glinting in his eyes.
She nodded assent, all too relieved.
Colin snuffled, clearly anxious but probably hungry too. She smiled at Genesis. “I think he’s hungry.” S
he indicated what little there was left of what she’d gathered. “I’d better cook him some of the nepsh.”
Genesis clasped her chin and brought her gaze back to his. “Allow me,” he murmured. “You look exhausted,” his stare moved downward, over her body, “and you’ve lost weight.”
Genesis retrieved the pelt and straightened it back into position on the other side of the donya. Colin hissed when he stepped close to retrieve the bowl outside that was full of water. Genesis ignored the animal as he emptied the water into a bottle and placed the bowl back outside, before retrieving the other bowl with its sorry looking bits of leaves and berries.
Emptying the contents into a pile on the floor, he strode toward the door. But before he exited the donya he suggested over a shoulder, “Rest. Have a sleep. I’ll collect enough plants, herbs and nuts to make you a decent meal.”
It was nice lying stretched out on the luxurious pelt and watching as someone else prepared a meal…especially when that someone happened to be Genesis.
Muscles flexed and shifted along his bare, still-damp back as he knelt on the floor and concentrated on the task of grinding some herbs or nuts—whatever the hell he’d found, right then she didn’t much care—into a paste. He lifted the other bowl, which she’d left outside to fill with rain, and tipped some of the water into the clay -red-colored paste.
She sniffed the aromatics released into the air about the same time as Colin did. The zadmet mightn’t be a cat, but he had taken on all a cat’s qualities as he snuffled at Genesis’ heels, his fear and distrust now superseded by his hunger.
Genesis turned around, shook his head at the animal and mused aloud, “You’re little more than claws and teeth in a docile body.”
“He’s a gentle soul,” she corrected distractedly, dragging her gaze from the corded lines of his back to defend her friend.
Genesis smiled at her, expression knowing. “If you say so.”
He proceeded to toss some plant shoots into the bowl before placing it under the syklak and allowing it to do its thing.
As the leaves shimmered and the concoction he’d made began to sizzle, she was glad for the heavy rain outside covering the sound of her growling stomach.
Genesis poured the remaining water from the bowl into one of her empty bottles, then placed the empty bowl back outside in the rain to refill.
She stuck a hand under her head and propped up on an elbow, she asked, “What was your life like, growing up on this planet?”
He shrugged. “I had a great, loving mother and three fathers. I couldn’t have been more spoiled if I’d tried.”
“And yet here you are,” she said softly, “an amazing man and a great prince whose people love you.”
His eyes glinted as he hunkered beside her and asked huskily, “And what about you? What made you such an intriguing woman?”
“I definitely wasn’t the spoiled one in the family,” she murmured, thinking back to how much she envied her sister for their parents’ devotion. She’d never been a jealous person at heart, and she knew her mum and dad had loved her dearly, but still the pain of their inattention stabbed deep.
Oh their neglect had never been deliberate, they’d just been so caught up in the knowledge Aline would be taken from them that sometimes they overlooked the quieter child in the background, who’d wanted their attention desperately but didn’t want to take it away from the sibling who’d one day be gone.
“You weren’t an only child?”
Even over the heavy rain drumming on the donya, the question rang in her ears as though gunshot. She swallowed, realizing too late her stupid slip of the tongue. Genesis was smart, clever and astute. He wouldn’t let this one slide by.
“No,” she said slowly, mind spinning. This was the perfect opening to tell him the truth, all of the truth. But doing so meant she’d probably lose him, sooner rather than later. That stood to happen eventually anyway, but until then she’d soak up every minute with him. And while there was a chance she could still save Aline, she had no choice but to spin her web of lies further. “You surely didn’t think they’d only have one child?” she asked.
His eyes hold hers, searching, searing. “A sister?”
Something inside died a little even as she boldly held his stare and said flatly, “A brother.”
He nodded slowly. “That’s a shame. Trasean and Auron were next in line for an Earth woman.”
He straightened as the mouthwatering aroma of cooked food, vague hints of garlic, caramelized onion and something she couldn’t quite define, filled the donya. He returned, sitting back on his haunches beside her and placing the bowl between them. With an encouraging smile, he said, “Eat.”
She sat and dipped a finger into the bright paste before sucking it clean. Her eyes widened. “Wow.”
A muscle ticked into life on one side of his face. “Wow, indeed.”
She dipped again, a larger dollop this time. The flavor exploded in her mouth, smoky, charred and just about better than anything she’d tried before. She closed her eyes for a moment, savoring every molecule.
“The secret is in the combination of plants,” he murmured throatily. “I guess you could say it’s the same way each intended is fated to be together, a joining of souls.”
Suddenly the food didn’t taste so good. She looked up, changing the subject as she bit out, “In the old days on my Earth you could have been a chef.”
His chuckle was disbelieving. “My skill lies in memorizing recipes handed down from past generations, I don’t have the natural flare for cooking that some do.” He dipped a finger into the bowl and placed another dollop between her lips. “Have some more,” he prompted.
She accepted, opening her mouth a little and trying not to think on how sexual the act felt as she suckled his finger clean. Empowered by his shuddering breath and gleaming eyes, she was unable to stop just at that. She finished with a swirl of her tongue around the blunt-ended tip, the simple act causing her own breath to squeeze tight from her lungs even as her nipples spiked, her pussy flooding with wet lust.
Rubbing her clit with anxious fingers in the days she had to imagine what sex would be like had nothing on the real thing…nothing even on the innocent foreplay to the real thing.
She grazed her teeth along his finger as he pulled it free, his expression fierce and all kinds of turned-on as he dipped once again into the mix and had her suck it clean off his finger. And all the while she imagined it was his cock she sucked the delectable mix from, his cock she licked clean.
“You’re playing with fire, Princess,” he rasped.
“Must be the hair,” she quipped a little too breathlessly.
The same finger he’d inserted into her mouth reached beneath her dress, drifting along the petals of her sex. “I wonder what your pussy would look like with its own thatch of flame-red hair?”
Oh God. Emotions too complex to be examined burned as if acid in her gut. Her sister, his real intended, sported a fine triangle of pubic hair. “You’d prefer me like that?” she asked hoarsely.
His grin was all sexual heat. “No, Sheehar. I prefer you just exactly how you are.”
Relief thundered through her body. But when he slid his finger deep inside, her pelvis rocked forward involuntarily, her mouth falling open on an, “Oh,” as desire eclipsed all else.
His thumb swiped across her clit and her mouth fell apart wider still.
“You like, Sheehar?”
She nodded. “I really, really do.”
His finger still inserted deep, his free hand held the bowl to her as he said hoarsely, “Hold the bowl and finish your food while I make you come.”
She did as he asked, her hand trembling as she scooped up more of the amazing mixture with a finger before sucking it clean, barely restraining a moan as he fingered her hungry cunt with leisurely strokes, completely at odds to his serious expression.
It was beyond arousing, eating while the suctioning sound as he pushed his finger in and out filled their e
nclosed little world. But she could no more hold the bowl as she could eat what was left of its contents as lust built and built.
The bowl thudded unnoticed to the floor as she spread her legs wide, dizzy with the escalating needs about to completely overwhelm her.
She wanted to grip his shoulders, his hips…anything. But he was just out of reach, his arm that was much longer than hers put to good use. She all but sobbed resentment, only vaguely aware Colin had taken hold of the bowl’s rim with his teeth and tugged it away from them to lick clean its contents with his back to them.
Genesis abruptly pulled his finger free, gently rubbing at her clit and keeping her dangling close to release…so close.
“Not yet,” he said throatily. “Not without me.”
He pushed into a kneeling position and pulled his pants down one-handed. His erection sprang free, the shaft hard and knotted with veins. When she licked her lips, he laughed as though in pain. “I want to be inside you now, filling you,” he said, withdrawing his hand.
The musky scent of her arousal drifted to her nostrils as he entwined his fingers with hers, then pulled her up and around in one swift motion, so that he lay sprawled on the pelt and she on her knees above him.
“Ride me, Eden. Take all of me.”
She closed her eyes for a second against the tantalizing image of him nude and redolent, all for her. She only wished he really was all hers to take.
He clasped the base of his cock when she knelt either side of his hips, his skin hot against her inner thighs even as she lowered herself onto him, bit by bit. His entry burned a little and yet felt oh so good. Fully seated, she watched his face tighten with restraint, his jaw clenching in what appeared an obvious effort not to spill inside her.
God she missed this, missed him. Missed everything about being together. Her breath hitched. She couldn’t even think about him casting her aside for another. Not right then.
Clasping the hem of her dress, he half-sat and in one slick motion dragged the dress up and over her head, discarding it nearby. His eyes devoured her, even before she began to move, finding her rhythm, her bouncing breasts soon caught up in his large and calloused hands while his thumb and forefinger pulled and tweaked her nipples, distending them further.
