by Pearl Foxx
She writhed beneath him as he teased her clit. Her hips moved in time with his finger, riding his cock as if she couldn’t get enough of him, as if she just needed to feel him. He felt she was close again already as her tight muscles closed around him again.
He smirked down at her. “I don’t intend to.”
9
Noaz
Noaz woke in his bed with Maeve curled against his side, tucked perfectly in the space beneath his arm.
He rolled over to put his chest to her back and pulled her tighter against him. She murmured in her sleep but didn’t wake. He’d taken her many times, in many positions—most of which she’d demanded and he’d been all too happy to oblige—and when she’d gone limp in his arms from exhaustion, he’d used his mouth on her. He’d been delighted to find she liked his tongue on her clit just as much as his fingers.
He’d left her only to grab them food and set the ship on an autopilot course in a slow back-and-forth pass along either side of the wormhole’s entrance.
A quick check of the time showed he’d slept nearly eight hours. He hadn’t even had Maeve on board for a full twenty-four hours, and he felt as if he’d been irrevocably changed by their brief time together.
Lost in the passion between them, he’d easily ignored his lies to Rayner and the issue of her knowledge. Not to mention what she’d seen and what he’d freely told her. If anyone from Kladuu knew how much information she had, she wouldn’t be safe. Unless he returned her home.
His heart twisted painfully at the thought. It went against everything he thought he knew to put her back where he’d found her. But she couldn’t stay with him, no matter how much he tried to figure out a way. If he brought her back to Kladuu, she wouldn’t be close to the stars that fascinated her so. Vilkan females lived deep within a hollowed mountain on the planet to stay protected from the warring clans on the surface. Aside from the fact that a human would never be accepted by his clan, just imagining Maeve beneath that much rock, unable to see the sky, tortured him. She would hate it, and he would have to watch her each day, knowing that he’d stolen the one thing she loved just so he could have her beside him.
He couldn’t do that to her.
She stirred, shifting her velvety skin against his side. Sweeping her hair back from her face, she rolled over and smiled up at him. “I need my glasses,” she mumbled.
He grimaced. “Your vision enhancers are most likely shattered to bits in that tin can you call a space ship.”
“I was going to say I needed them so I could see more clearly how handsome you are, but since you insulted my ship, you can just kiss my ass.”
He grinned, wicked thoughts spreading from his mind straight down to his cock. “I think I did that already.”
A sweet blush spread across her cheeks. “Hmm, well, maybe. What were you thinking about so hard a minute ago?”
“How did you know?”
She rubbed her finger down the middle of his forehead, between his eyebrows, to smooth the lines she found there. “You were frowning, and your eyes looked sad again.”
He took a deep breath and told himself he was strong enough to put her back where he’d found her. “Do you remember when you told me you would be fired if you returned to the station empty-handed and in a stolen ship?”
She rolled her beautiful gold-flecked eyes. “All too clearly.”
“What if I said I might be able to keep you from getting fired?” She perked up, and he rushed to clarify his plan. “I can’t let you have the wormhole data, but I could give you something else. Something your superiors would be interested in.”
It was her turn to frown. “But nothing that would lead them back to you and your planet, right?”
His chest ached. She was trying to protect him. Her intentions made his heart swell with such happiness, such need for her, that he almost wavered in his resolve to do the right thing by her. Maybe they could live in the ship and fly through the stars together. He dismissed the thought. This was no life for Maeve, and his people would never allow a human to have such free rein. “No. Nothing like that.”
“What is it?”
He leaned down and kissed her. He’d never get his fill of her mouth against his, but he forced himself to pull away after a long moment. “Get dressed and I’ll show you.”
10
Maeve
“What is this?”
Maeve rotated the fist-sized crystal in her hand. It glowed ever so slightly, its edges soft and rounded. Deep within it, a crimson-colored nugget seemed to pulse against her palm.
She had to drag her eyes back up to Noaz’s when he said, “I found it in an asteroid field rotating near the wormhole. All the asteroids were covered in them. This is the sort of thing your people hunt for, right?”
Maeve had no idea what the crystal was, but it was something. Thom and Commander Gideon would salivate to feel its heat and the heartbeat-like thump from within it. “They would go crazy for it.”
“Is it enough to keep you from getting fired even after stealing a ship?” His mouth twitched into an almost smile at the words.
“I’d probably get a promotion.” At least. If not two. And a nice pay raise that could afford her some better equipment in her lab to study the crystal. And the wormhole, although that would be just for her and never to be shared with anyone else.
Noaz gave a sharp nod as if that decided it. “Take it with you. Show it to them. Tell them it came from an asteroid orbiting Saturn. It’ll explain your proximity to the planet.”
But Maeve hadn’t heard anything after he’d said, “Take it with you.” She was leaving. He was letting her leave. But did she even want to?
“You’re letting me go?”
He took her face in his hands and leaned down close to her, close enough that, even without her glasses, she could make out every trace of color in his ice-blue eyes. “I’ll bring you and your ship back through the wormhole. You’ll have disappeared from your station’s tracking devices when we came onto this side, but they’ll think it was the planet’s rings interfering with the signal.”
Maeve nodded numbly. “They always have problems around Saturn. It’s a real bitch.”
Smiling fully now, he planted a quick kiss on her lips before releasing her. She had to force herself not to lean back into him. “Once you’re on the other side, they’ll pick your signal back up. Your communicator array is broken, but the signal will be strong enough that they will see you and come for you, especially because your boss has likely reported you missing by now.”
“Yeah,” she mumbled. “They’re all looking for a thief.”
He took her hand and closed it around the crystal she held. “This is your ticket, okay? Don’t let them threaten you. I’ve never seen anything like this in all my years out here. It’s special.”
Traitorous tears threatened at the back of her eyes. This was what she’d wanted, to return home, so why then did it hurt so badly to think about? “Is my ship even running?”
He dipped his chin. “My nanites got it working while we …” His eyes glittered with the memories of their time together. Maeve blushed, feeling an echoing hum of tightness deep inside her body. “Anyway, it’s fixed enough for you to be towed home. I’ll keep an eye on you.”
“They won’t see you, right?” Fear spiked at the thought of Commander Gideon getting his hands on a life form like Noaz. He was too special, too good. It couldn’t happen.
“Don’t worry about me. My ship has cloaking tech. No one will see me.”
“You promise?”
He smiled. “I vow it.”
She took a deep breath. For a moment, she stared at the crystal in her hands. Was it enough? Not to keep her from being arrested, but enough to leave Noaz behind? She wouldn’t take home the wormhole data, but she had this. And the knowledge that she was right. But was it enough? Had she found more in this patrol ship than she had in all her late nights of studying data, collecting and analyzing, putting together reports for Fal
coner exploration missions?
The answer was yes. So very much so yes.
Noaz kicked studying data’s ass any day.
Her fist tightened around the crystal in resolve. She looked back up at him. He was the best solution she’d ever discovered. And because of that, she’d do everything she could to protect him and his planet.
He took the resolve in her eyes as her wanting to stay. “Maeve, you have to go—”
“I know.” She pocketed the crystal in her tattered Zynthar uniform. “I have to go to keep you safe.”
He shook his head, still not understanding. “I know you won’t tell anyone. I trust you. I trust you with my life and my peoples’ lives.”
There were those damned tears again. She shoved them away. “No, I mean I put together all the Falconers’ missions. I analyze all the final data for their reports on where they should explore next. I can keep them away from you. I can keep them away from your planet.”
He cocked his head, studying her as he had when he’d first carried her on board and she’d opened up a deluge of questions. Before she could explain further, he pulled her to him, enveloping her in his embrace and kissing her so deeply, so completely that she thought his ship had fallen out of orbit and was spinning out of control. But it was just her. Just his effect on her.
Still recovering, she smiled woozily up at him. “What was that for?”
“Kladuu,” he breathed out like his greatest promise, his deepest vow. “My planet’s name is Kladuu.”
She shook her head when she realized what he was saying, what he was doing. “Noaz, don’t! I don’t want to know.”
But he just smiled at her, his eyes happy and bright. “I trust you completely, Maeve. I want you to know the name of the place you’re protecting. I want you to know the name of my home.”
She couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. They tumbled down her cheeks, but she grinned up at him, her arms wrapping around his waist. She pressed her cheek to his chest as he hugged her. Against her hair, he pressed a lingering kiss.
“We need to get you out there,” he said quietly as if he might break the spell.
She squeezed him harder, and then a thought occurred to her. “You said your ship has cloaking tech?”
He leaned back to look down at her. “Yes?”
“It completely hides you from detection on the radar?” He nodded, uncertain what she was asking. Her grin ratcheted up a notch, and her heart hitched with happiness. “Then maybe the next time you pass by the wormhole, you can come pick me up. We can go for a ride around the galaxy again.”
Laughter rumbled deep in his chest, and she reveled in the sound, the feeling. He kissed her again. Thoroughly. Completely.
But it wasn’t goodbye.
Not even close.
THE END
Get The Vilka’s Servant Book One in
The Shifters of Kladuu series now on Amazon
Available in KU
The Vilka’s Servant
Get The Vilka’s Mate Book Two in
The Shifters of Kladuu series now on Amazon
Available in KU
The Vilka’s Mate
About the Author
Pearl Foxx is the author of epic space adventures with steamy romance you will never want to stop reading. Join in the fun at www.PearlFoxx.com.
