Silently, the force of his pressing ribs lowered me to the bed where he carefully hovered his weight.
Who cared if he crushed me? I just wanted him thrusting home. Rubbing me in the most sensitive of places.
His silver gaze darkened.
Like he became possessed.
One by one, he used each knee to push my thigh out of his way before he locked the smooth head of his cock in my sex's notch, and shoved home.
Pressure wedged its way inside me.
A luscious force. Leaving me starving for a bite of something. Like Keylime Pie. I latched onto his throbbing jugular and licked my way across his tangy skin.
He groaned, stretching his neck back, pounding all the way into me with the strength of a man on crack mindless to anything but obtaining his goal. And I was so ready for him to drop his payload. Deeply. So blessed deeply inside me.
Something strange filled me. A different presence. Scraping absolute bliss from the sides of my sensitive channel.
He twisted his neck loose from my tongue and stared me in the eye with fierce determination.
Whatever. I just needed air. To breathe.
The sensation changed to drive another wave of need throughout my body.
Pushing little squeals from my lips. Driving my face to one side where I tried to bite back the building need to scream. Until the scraping metamorphosed into indescribable ecstasy. Something firm and knobby focused on that little bundle of nerves. My G-spot. And nothing could keep my mouth shut. I screamed, clawing into his shoulders.
He dropped his forehead to my temple, pumping, grinding his hips, gasping for breath in my ear.
Searing liquid spurted inside me.
God, his cock lurched. And lurched. And he continued plowing into my soul.
Yes. Soul. I'd damned sure be his soul if he made me feel this way. Over and over. For as long as his nanites forced me to live. Sex with Vult, the enormous blond god, made my future amazingly brighter.
His hips slowed to a dying halt causing him to crouch slightly off me where his firm shaft seemed glued to me with the stickiness of our lovemaking, his chest heaving for appeasing breaths.
When could we do that again? I slid my palms up his corded neck until my palms found his slick cheeks and pulled his strong features over to stare into his half-shuttered eyes.
His clipped breaths proved he'd enjoyed himself.
Good. Because I needed more Keylime Pie.
"Was our mating satisfactory to you, Goddess?"
So perfect I'd let the title pass without a scold. “Yes.” I kissed his salty bacon-infused lips and snaked my arms around his neck. “So wonderful that you'll be doing that a few more times before we have to go agonize over every leaf and stem in the gardens tomorrow."
One of his blond eyebrows cocked. “You will assist me in my duties?"
Anything beats following Olwan around. Especially with the promise of bacon and dessert. I nodded.
"Release me.” He shoved upward a smidge until I dropped my arms, snatched me upward, and laid my body down the way a person should sleep in a bed. “You'll sleep with me from now on."
After what he made me feel, no argument. Although, I might bitch a little when the brunt force of the pheromones from our touching dissipated in my system. But a girl had the right to bitch.
He climbed into bed, wedging his supple length against my side, brushing a palm across my belly. “All your sweet curves fit perfectly beside me.” He sighed. “And your softness."
Interesting little note there. Nothing a robot would say. Too biased. I had to find common ground between us. Even if it meant he'd be digging the foundation with his lovely tool.
He snuggled his nose into the crook of my neck.
Nice. Cozy. I could sleep now.
His palm skated up my side over my ribs to pause at the curve of my breast.
Would he attempt another round of devouring his goddess? I was so game it wasn't funny.
"I want to have children, Cassie. Lots of children. Laughter. All the intriguing naivete in simple questions. The smiles and bright eyes. All of it."
More than yearning resonated in his confession. “You sound like you've had children before.” What if he had? I suddenly wanted to snatch back my statement.
"They died from the mutation-induced allergy."
My heart swelled to the point of cramming into my throat and forcing tears to pool in my eyes. I gulped. “We can have children.” And that damned sure wasn't the pheromones talking.
His head suddenly hovered overhead. “Forgive me. My intent wasn't to make you cry.” One of his thumbs wiped the moisture of a single traitorous tear across my cheek.
Hell, I looked weak. “It's alright.” I sucked in a deep breath. “I don't like it when children die."
He planted a soft warm kiss on my forehead and touched his nose to mine. “They didn't have nanites."
Nanites he'd helped develop. To save others from losing loved ones. To save his people from death. All the passion he had for his people burned in his silver eyes. I could love that. And he said he'd protect me from blindness. What did I have to lose from embracing such passion?
Maybe a little bit of what made me an earthling. Was that so bad? Hell, I'd probably lost quite a bit already with whatever the nanites were up to. Just what were those robots doing? I snaked my arms around his shoulders, then wove my fingers into his hair to draw back the cloak of barely-yellow hair curtaining our faces. “What will your nanites do to me?” Hell, I hadn't even looked in a mirror. Maybe I changed already?
He studied me with the uncertainty of a man answering a question like, do these pants make my butt look big?
Damn, what had changed? “Tell me what changes you see, Vult. My friend was spattered with silver sparkles and her hair grew with a mind of its own. Tell me what your nanites did to me."
"There was no reason for your appearance to alter.” He waited.
Leaving me in a cloud of confusion. “But she said a !Dako's nanites mark his mate with the attributes he finds most attractive in females. Something must have changed. You're just being nice to me to avoid hurting my feelings."
His hand wouldn't allow my face to turn away. “No, Cassie. There was nothing to change with you. You are the perfect match to a wisened !Dako who has seen too many things to know better than to tamper with the universe's natural beauty.” He covered my mouth with his velvet lips and sucked the breath out of me.
Did he say I'm beautiful? Oh yes. So sweet. Oh so sweet. I kissed him back.
He shook loose of my liplock and shot me a stern stare. “Little one, I can't prevent everything. For this reason, you will slowly receive your bio-metallic skeleton. That change and nanite medical assistance will be all you experience."
Skeletal implant? Holy shit. That can't be pleasant. Surgery. Recovery. Entering the brain.
The walls closed in.
Out. I needed out. I shoved against iron.
"Cassie?” he begged. “What's happened?” His face blocked the view, his hair showering around our gazes, holding in the heat of suffocating hot air.
And the smoky scent of bacon.
Pheromones weren't going to trick me into another table dance or for transplant surgery. “Let me up."
"Calm down, little one. Tell me what's wrong. I won't let anyone hurt you."
Not when he's the cause of it. “Easy for you to say. You get your little baby incubator. What do I get? Every inch of my body carved open to allow you the luxury of your mate's skeletal implant. For what, Vult? Why must I endure this procedure?"
"Cassie, you're wrong. There is no surgery. Not one painful moment. Not even one moment to endure."
His eyes begged me to trust him.
"How can this be? I've heard the stories. I know what !Dakos do to their infants. My God! You'll do the same to mine.” I shoved against his immobile iron chest. “Let me up. Dammit. I won't allow you to torture any child I carry in my body. Any child I'm forced to damage
my body in childbirth!"
He blinked, thoughtfully, watching me.
What the hell for? Because I was his damned lab rat. How could I have been so foolish to drop my guard? To think I could accept him in my future?
"Cassie, the nanites slowly through time replace skeletal atoms one-by-one to strengthen our bones for life in gravity-free environments as well as general protection. There is no surgery."
What?
Relief flooded through me in a sinking wave.
"No?” What a redundant question. But sometimes sanity needed a little reassurance.
He rubbed my cheek until his thumb lingered lovingly on my lower lip. “Where did you hear this?"
"It's what everyone thinks of !Dakos."
"But not my huv'ria. Not anymore.” He smiled with a reassuring nod.
No. I'd just learned a huge lesson in prejudice. Maybe two today. Forget preconceived ideas. Open eyes to the truth. Live like I've already lived twelve-hundred years. Just like Vult. And trust the man who wears my mark. Bamboo. A symbol of life.
I would have expected time to pass more quickly. But Vult was changed. Considerably. He walked at my side, slowing to take more time, as we walked through the garden on his rounds, glancing into my eyes often with those silver orbs.
Glowing. As if they were siphoning off something from our interaction like I was some fuel source for him. And I kind of enjoyed the attention. So when I tripped and he caught my arm, I didn't dwell on his split-second reaction time. No, I sank deeply into the cozy pool of his doting attention.
He knelt next to a knee-high tuft of vegetation covered in orange blooms resembling daisies.
Yes. Cyborgs dote. Not like I'm a cute fluffy kitten with a pathetic meow. No, more like I'm his breakable playmate. And I really craved the skin-to-skin contact I wasn't getting with his hand gloved. I sighed and crouched near his side.
He shot me a curious sideways glance and turned back to a flat broad bloom.
I guess dealing with the fact we weren't going to rub our velvet skin together again until we returned to our personal quarters was just a fact of life. Or a universal law like entropy—the movement of things toward disorderliness while breaking down into smaller units in the bigger picture. The way of the universe.
"You're quiet,” he said softly.
Firmly. Yet, in a matteroffactly kind of way. I turned from the orange blossom he studied and caught his silver gaze locked on mine. Again. “Just thinking."
"That's the seventh time you've responded with that answer today."
I shrugged. “It's a good answer.” The best I could offer while trying to digest what was happening between us.
One of his almost-white yellow eyebrows arched.
Worried man. Yes. Man. The kind of man who always treats me like I'm sweet. And those caring expressions. I could see myself happy with him for a long time. And time is what my Marshal duty is about. Time with a blood mate even though I couldn't create the blood bond with a non-psychic. Vult's nanites would see to the bond. And I'd just have to get used to being treated like a fragile piece of glass.
Sitting in my favorite little crook high up in the gardens’ ring where the red sun burned to the left and deep space spangled with the distant heat of stars, I rested after my run. Two days had passed since I awoke in Vult's arms. We awoke at peace with one other. Our truce molded from deconstruction of cultural misconceptions. Now I could run up on the catwalk while he worked below. He swore he could be with me in a heartbeat. How? Maybe he could jump really well. Like a Tiger Lord. I hoped I never had to find out though.
"Cassie,” he called.
I fell onto a hand, pressed the palm into the bite of the metal grating, and leaned over until I could see him among the low wide leaves below.
"Anwa reports a vessel approaching. I'm coming up. Wait for me."
The concern in his voice only made me want to choke back a smile. He really did fret over my safety. And it was kind of nice having such a big guy fawning over me.
By the time the clangs of his heavy augmented footfalls ceased where he halted a massive towering black form before me, I wasn't certain the crease in his brow meant his simple concern was quite so simple. “What's wrong?” I rose to stand before his serious gaze.
"Two vessels are approaching."
My mate was such a worry wart. “It'll be alright, Vult. I'll go to my quarters. I'll hide out.” I shot him a sexy smile. “You can wait with me if you think it will be best."
"This is not the time for mating, huv'ria. Traders don't normally travel in groups. Two ships indicates great care should be used in dealing with this situation."
"Very well. Why don't you just escort me back to—"
His eyes lost their luster.
Or his sight drifted inward. For only a moment. Then his gaze snapped back to mine. “There's little time. We'll wait here until the traders depart. Hopefully, nothing will happen."
So, I followed my massive warrior's long wide sword blade past the vegetation's canopy down to the garden's lush lower level. His black armor cupped his thigh muscles where it buckled over his bulging leather-covered legs so well that I started plotting how I could get him to take me back to my room. Back to where I could grab his perky ass. Maybe he'd assume the nude position Anwa first thrust in my face two days ago when the door whooshed open? On his belly, legs parted enough to reveal his family jewels.
Such lovely rocks.
Tucked up inside his armor. Ugh.
He led me through an area of dense-packed tree trunks, up to the viewport's cold glass, and turned to me. “We can observe here."
I didn't need to stand at the window to observe shit when I had an incredible view all the way here.
"Why are you looking at me that way, huv'ria?"
Would a confession get his hot rippling body between my legs? “I saw everything I wanted to see before we stopped here.” I shot him a wink.
"There is no time for mating, Cassie."
Funny. A few days ago that point would have pissed me off. But he was protecting me now.
"Here they come,” he droned, his body stiffening as if he could stand even straighter, bracing for things beyond unimaginable for me.
Hell, I really had no idea what could happen out here in deep space. All the training in the universe couldn't prepare me for what he knew. Expected. Understood. I followed his line of sight to two similar disc-shaped spacecraft.
Crellon slavers. Traders, yes. But everyone knew they dealt in flesh. I stepped against the solid strength in his side.
He wrapped his arm around my back.
"Do they come here often?” Probably so given they were the culture everyone associated with trading.
"Yes."
Such a brief answer. Maybe he hid something too?
"Don't worry, Cassie.” His determined silver orbs locked on my gaze. “No one will bother my huv'ria. Nor will any harm come to the Five's Goddess."
Then why couldn't we return to my quarters? I was anything but up to facing extraterrestrial shit in my not-so-warm-and-supportive running clothes. If anything happened to affect life support, my ass would be frozen in a nanosecond. Surely the traders were speaking with Anwa and Olwan. “Do you know what they want yet?"
"They request to board and negotiate a trade for fresh vegetables.” His hold tightened slightly around my back. He shot me a knowing glance before turning his gaze back to what was a standard-UFO-type spacecraft in Earth stories. “We trade vegetables often."
"Then why are you and I standing here in the garden? Hiding?"
He chuckled but didn't look away from the gliding spaceships. “You will soon understand that the Five will protect you above all else. That you are more sacred than any DNA on this vessel.” His armhold loosened, and he slid his palm down to cup my ass.
Not so bad. Kind of nice. Like the tight squeeze of my spandex bike shorts. Extra attentive in all the most intimate of places. But I didn't need the best of the best sex slavers
getting any more ideas about my value from my mate. “If the Crellons are boarding for business, I'd rather appear serious. So, could you release my ass?"
A smile curled into his cheeks. But he didn't relinquish his view of one Crellon slave ship docking with the space station. Nor did he release my ass.
Talk about possessive. He sure was working up my possessive meter. Like he didn't want to have sex. The man would perform just as soon as I could get him in the right location.
I couldn't decide how much time passed. The waiting had become tedious. I finally grew comfortable enough to dislodge myself from my mate's bacon-scented form. How could anyone cling to something so delectable and not skim her hands up, down, left, and right down to where his steely hard-on strained against the warm luscious leather of his pants? So when he arched an almost-white eyebrow, I had to smack my lips and relocate an elbow against the cold hard glassy polymer containing Anwa's wonderful gusty artificial breath inside our little oasis.
Like anything would happen. These Greek-looking traders would gather up some phallic-looking fruits and vegetables, then high-tail it back to their ships, and get on with all the bumping-uglies they were known for. Why did my stupid sarcastic subconscious have to cough up bumping uglies?
Damned tight spandex.
"Stop looking at me like that, Cassie."
Well, shoot me. I hadn't intended to slide my gaze back to the bulging crotch of his black leather pants. I managed a gold-winning eyeroll, with a masterly half-blink, landing solidly on the red-orange sliver of sun off the portside of the space station.
Sticking the landing with gusto.
Yes. A real gold-winning move. But what was a girl supposed to think when her running shorts squeezed her in the most intimate of places? God, if the Crellons see me in these clothes, it's like a looping nightmare where I'm in my underwear walking through high school. Crazy. I met Vult's serious stare. “I really need to change my clothes. I feel naked."
He winced with realization and exhaled loudly. “Let's go."
We were back secured in my quarters with him leaning against the viewport in less than five minutes. He studied the black swath of space while I yanked on my leather and boots. Once again the wannabe mercenary, I stepped to his side. “Has Anwa told you what they want yet?"
Feral Series V: Feral Foretaste Page 9
