Kash looked away. “If you get back.”
“Thank you, Mr. Sunshine. Didn’t you just manage to shut down the engines?”
“I did and without shutting off life support.”
“Well, that’s something. How long do we have now?”
“At our current velocity, another two days at most.”
Victoria sat up straight and squared her shoulders. She gave Kash a long, appraising look. “In that case, what have you got to drink on this boat, Captain? I think we need to get drunk.”
Chapter Eight
“Do you think perhaps we’re taking too fatalistic an approach to the situation?” Kash asked in flawless English. After three flagons of Sha-Shiri mountain ale, he could no longer form words in his native language.
Victoria lay on his bed on her belly with her head hanging over the side. A half empty flagon of ale dangled from her hand.
“A fatalishtic approach to invet...invet...inevitable death? No. Not at all.”
“On Sha-Shiri, death is not considered something to fear.”
“I don’t dear--I don’t feth ... I don’t fear death. With another falgon--flagon of ale, I wouldn’t even fear a puppet or a clown for that matter.”
“What are these words?”
“Puppet? Puppets are terrifying fake people used to torment small children. I’m fuppet – pupfet ... puppet phobic. And clowns--don’t get me started on the horror of clowns.”
“I feel like we should be doing something besides drinking ale.”
“We should. We should be confessing our sins and divulging our deepest, darkest secrets to each other.”
“Is this a human custom?”
“It is.” Victoria sat up and Kash craned his neck to watch her. She wrapped her lips around the narrow mouth of the ale flagon and took a long draught. Kash’s gaze went to the long, pale column of her throat as she swallowed and he imagined licking the smooth skin there. If he pressed his lips to the pulse point below her jaw would he taste her heart beat? If he pressed his lips to hers would he taste ale and desire?
She swallowed and leveled a serious gaze at him. “You go first.”
“Go where?”
“Confess your sins.”
“Sha-Shiri do not believe in sin. I have done things I regret, but I have never committed an act for which I feel I require divine forgiveness.”
“Hokay. Then what are your regrets?”
“I regret taking on this mission.”
She blinked. “Oh.”
“There were others with greater experience who should have been chosen. The position was offered to me because I was young and virile and best suited for breeding among the volunteers. I regret I could not thwart Ashan and I regret that I’d begun to trust him and even enjoy his company to a degree. I should have seen through his subterfuge.”
“No one else did. Apparently he was a pretty good counter agent, too. And you saved me from breeding. That’s something to be proud of.” Victoria drank again and Kash indulged in dangerous thoughts. “Now tell me a deep, dark secret.”
He shifted position to face her. She loomed above him on the bed, a flush of color highlighting her cheeks and disappearing into the collar of her thin clothing. Her nipples peaked beneath the fabric, drawing his feral gaze. With the ale coursing through his blood, he felt bold enough to confess.
“For a moment--just one--I wish I was Val’tek. I would stretch you beneath me, tear your covering off, and bring you to surrender.”
* * * *
Victoria’s heart lodged in her throat at Kash’s words. His voice had grown deeper and fuller like it had been when he’d whispered false threats to her in the confines of the holding cell her first day aboard. She’d thought then, for the briefest moment, that he would do just that--claim her and force her to surrender to him--and in spite of her fear, she’d felt just a quiver of anticipation.
She dropped her gaze and bit her lower lip. Her body trembled and her clit tingled. “You would?”
“I would. I can smell your heat. I can practically taste your arousal. You are ripe for mating and my body cannot ignore the natural instinct to make use of a willing female.” They weren’t the most romantic words she’d ever heard, but good lord they made her hot. This wasn’t about romance anyway, it was about dying and never having the chance to feel anything this intense ever again.
“Oh, God! If I wasn’t so drunk right now, I’d be all over you. I mean hell, we’re going to die anyway.”
Kash leapt onto the bed with the speed and agility Victoria would have expected of a feline race. She reared back, but only slightly--afraid to admit how much the prospect of sex with Kash excited her.
He took her hand in his, raised her fingers to his mouth and bit her thumb.
“Ow! What’d you do that for?” She shook the injured digit and jammed it in her mouth to suck away the single drop of bright red blood that had formed.
“Forgive me. I know biting is considered rude, but the pain will dissipate the effects of the ale and cure your intoxication.”
Victoria stared at her throbbing thumb. The discomfort seemed to clear the ale-induced fog that had wrapped itself around her brain and within minutes she felt perfectly normal.
“That’s a neat trick. I’m not drunk anymore.”
“The adrenaline surge neutralizes the effects of inebriation.”
“Oh. I’m not drunk anymore. Damn. Who wants to die sober?”
She took another sip of ale and the liquid, which had become a soothing balm over the course of several hours, burned its way down her throat, igniting a line of fire to her belly. She coughed. “Ach--”
“It’s best not to begin drinking again so soon.”
“Now you tell me.” She looked up, took two deep breaths and nodded. “Go ahead. Fuck me.”
He growled. “I am pledged to honor the Avan’tek directive and preserve your honor.”
“So honor me by making love to me. I want you, Kash. We’re going to die--the Avan’tek will never know.”
Kash hovered close and the heat of his body made Victoria light headed. She wanted that heat all around her and inside her. She needed desperately to give herself to him and to feel alive for these last few hours before they fell into the sun. “I’m hot. I’m ripe, Kash. Use me.”
A battle raged within him, she could tell. He wanted her, wanted to know what it would feel like to be with her, but his beliefs held him back. Victoria pulled off her shirt and threw her arms around his neck. She pulled him to her, baring her throat to his mouth. “Taste me. Take off this harness and give me your cock.”
He shook his head, even as a low moan vibrated his chest.
“You want me. Don’t make me beg for it.”
With a growl he lowered his lips to her skin and one swipe of his hot tongue set Victoria to trembling. She pressed herself up against him, rubbing her taut nipples over his chest, feeling the contrast of his soft skin and the rough, jewel encrusted leather of the harness.
Kash’s chest rumbled with a sound that was half purr, half growl. His hands came around her and he traced lines of sensation down her back. Victoria rose up on her knees and spread her thighs, settled herself on his lap, and wrapped her legs around his waist. When she threw her head back, he licked the salty drops of sweat that trickled down between her breasts and slipped his hands into the waistband of her pants.
Lost in his intimate touch, Victoria shuddered and moaned. She reared up, forcing his fingers deeper into her panties until they brushed against the hardened nub of her clitoris. “Yes-- feel that? That’s what you want. Touch me ... please!”
With a ragged sigh, Kash surged forward and pushed Victoria onto her back. He dragged her pants down her thighs, the tips of his claws just grazing her sensitive skin. Her flesh rippled and the pungent, musky scent of her own arousal reached her.
“Is this how humans mate?” he asked when she kicked her pants aside and spread her legs. He pressed a palm to her mound, petting he
r dark curls and massaging her clit with his thumb.
Victoria gasped and writhed. “This is a good start....”
“There’s no chase? No ritual surrender?”
“Is that what you want? You want to hunt me?” Victoria shivered. She wasn’t sure her legs would be able to carry her, but if Kash wanted to chase her and claim her, she’d run for him.
“That is the Sha-Shiri tradition. The female eludes the male for as long as she can. Once I capture you, you will give me your body, like this ... you will submit to my will.”
Victoria smiled. “You want to tame me?” She slid from Kash’s grasp and headed for the door, reveling in her nakedness. Her body ached for release and her heart pounded in anticipation of the chase.
“I’m not sure I could tame you, Victoria ….”
“Well, why don’t you come give it a try?” She held his gaze for an instant, then she ran.
* * * *
Kash stalked his prey through the corridors of the Katavarri, his sex arching high against the tight confines of the codpiece he wore.
Once again he indulged in the forbidden fantasy of watching Victoria slide her body down over the pulsing shaft of his sex.
The chase had ignited his mating instincts to full throttle. His pledge to the Avan’tek cause was little more than a passing annoyance in the face of his need for release. When he found her, he’d teach her every aspect of Sha-Shiri mating rituals. He’d leave her body quivering, full, and dripping with his seed.
Her laughter echoed through the corridors, teasing and taunting him. He followed the sound, his senses heightened by the sexual fever that boiled his blood. He tasted her on the air. When he slowed his movements and stilled his ragged breathing, he heard her--the nearly soundless falls of her naked feet on the deck covering. He turned and she appeared at the juncture of the next corridor.
Sweet surprise registered on her face for an instant before she bolted away. She’d underestimated his ability to track her by scent. “Catch me if you can,” she sang before she disappeared. Kash ran after her.
* * * *
Victoria skipped through the corridors with Kash only moments behind her. Eager to be caught, she headed for the observation room where he’d taken her on that first tour of the ship.
There, she’d let him catch her. She was in complete control, but nevertheless, the thrill of the chase had her blood pounding and her body shaking with anticipation. She’d never felt like this before--so free and so powerful. The thought of surrendering to Kash, body and soul, thrilled her like nothing had before.
She ran into the observation room and stopped in her tracks, her bare feet skidding across the floor. All of the Katavarri’s thick sun shields were in place, blocking most of the brilliant glow. The huge fireball beyond the wide portal looked like a swirling sphere of dark orange lava. It filled the view port and not even a sliver of black was visible on either side. It looked as if they were already inside the star.
Solar flares lashed off the roiling surface like tongues of sentient flame. Just one lick and the ship would burn like crepe paper lit with a match. Death might be hours or only moments away.
Awed and frightened, Victoria knelt on the floor. She closed her eyes and let her head drop back, basking in the imagined warmth. Ashes to ashes, she thought. There’s no better way to go.
She let out a satisfied purr when Kash’s hand closed over her bare shoulder.
“I surrender,” she said. “Take me.”
Chapter Nine
Kash moved to face Victoria, his powerful shoulders momentarily blocking out the intoxicating light. Victoria’s body responded to the sight of his broad silhouette, her own muscles clenching in anticipation, her nerve endings bracing for the onslaught of sensation.
She allowed him to lower her body to the floor where, surprisingly, the deck’s carpet-like covering cushioned her as well as any mattress. He loomed above her, his tawny skin golden in the muted glow.
Victoria spread her legs, giving Kash access to kneel between them. Need pulsed warm and wet from her pussy as he reached down to remove his leather harness. The thick straps fell away and he cast his jewel-studded belt aside. The thin loincloth fluttered down, revealing a cock so long and thick that Victoria gasped. Involuntarily, she reached for him and he leaned forward, allowing her to stroke the velvet rod of flesh.
Shaped like that of a human male, though more finely made, his sex pulsed at her touch. The head, a darker shade of gold than the shaft, seemed to swell when Victoria ran her trembling fingers over it. “Let me taste you,” she whispered.
Kash seemed surprised but intrigued by her demand. He rose up on his knees and she curled her body toward him. With her eyes cast upward to gauge his response, she guided the tip of his cock to her lips and licked the head.
Velvet smooth and hot against her tongue, the wide slit opened under her attention and Victoria tasted Kash’s seed. She sucked the few drops of salty-sweet precome and worked her mouth down the shaft.
Above her he growled or groaned--the sound defied description. His thigh muscles trembled when she began to suckle him. She drew him in deep, teasing with her tongue against the swollen glands and rigid shaft. Instinct seemed to guide his hands to the back of her head and he pushed her forward, urging her to swallow him whole. When she’d worked him up to the point that a human male would have come, he pushed her shoulders back until she reluctantly released him.
“Is it ... customary for the human male to spill his seed ... into the female’s mouth?” His voice was rough and breathless.
Victoria gave his cock a final, languid brush with her tongue and sat back, grinning. “Not customary. It’s a special treat. Would you like that?”
He growled again, but rather than guiding her back to his cock, he placed his hands on her breasts and gently settled her back to the floor.
“I must taste you now.”
“Ah....” Victoria sighed and presented herself to him.
He lowered his head and flicked his tongue against her clit. Her body arched. “Oh, please ... please make me come.”
He leveled a feral gaze at her and went to work. His long fingers spread her, delved inside her one at a time, testing and exploring. Victoria moaned. The pressure against her inner walls felt so good, but she needed more. She needed all of him inside her.
When he bent to suck her clit against the rough surface of his tongue, she screamed and bucked her hips. “Do it, Kash, fuck me, please!”
He rose up and stretched his body against her. She squirmed beneath him, eager to feel the hard, wet heat of his cock between her legs.
“Can you take me?” he asked, concern coloring his husky voice while he positioned his cock where his fingers had been.
She nodded. “I’m ready. Please....”
He entered her slow and steady, a timed invasion rather than a haphazard plundering of her body. Exquisite.
Victoria sucked in a breath as Kash’s magnificent cock spread her, stretching her to the limit. Had she been hasty to invite him in so quickly? What if he was too big for her?
He eased over her, nudging her hips with his, urging her with soft purrs and whispers to open farther for him. She did, though her body protested. Pain and pleasure blurred until he seated himself to the hilt and his heavy balls rested against her ass.
“Oh, my....”
He bent his head and licked her throat and then her nipples. Victoria shuddered as a wave of pleasure cascaded down her spine, igniting an orgasm that left her panting and sobbing.
“This is your surrender,” Kash breathed in her ear. “The first of many....” He raked his hands, claws retracted, down her hips to steady her. His first thrust was slow, careful, and when she didn’t protest, he quickened his pace, plunging deep then retreating with a measured rhythm that perfectly matched the explosions of need arcing inside her.
“I never imagined this before I met you...,” he panted. “I could not fathom mating with a human--”
“Oh ... I’ve imagined....” Victoria gasped at each thrust. She felt him in her womb and her body relaxed by degrees, letting go of the desperate pulsing of her first orgasm, letting go of the apprehension that his cock would be too big. He filled her perfectly, deeply, like he’d been made to fit inside her. “I dreamed I’d be ... taken one day ... that someone like you would come and claim me like this--”
“Victoria.” Kash rose up and looked into her eyes. Her heart clenched as tight as her pussy and for a moment she swore she stopped breathing. “I wish ... I wish....”
“Don’t. Don’t worry about a future we don’t have.” She put her hands on his chest. Beneath her fingers his heart raced and within her his cock seemed to grow longer, thicker.
“Be still now....” He buried his face in her neck and his body went rigid. Victoria held, suspended in the moment. With her legs wrapped around him, poised on the edge of another orgasm, she tensed for his and welcomed the hot, liquid rush of his seed. In his wake, she came with his name on her lips.
* * * *
Trembling with exertion, his skin on fire, Kash called Victoria’s name as he exploded inside her.
Above him now, she arched her sinuous back and jutted her full breasts into his hands.
With a feral growl she’d learned from him, she folded her sweat-slick body down across his heaving chest and lay her ear over his heart.
“Good Lord, you feel even bigger when I’m on top!” she said. His body convulsed, pulsing what had to the be the last drop of his seed into her body.
“I’m spent,” he said with a groan. “I’m certain I have nothing left. My balls are dry.”
She laughed. “For now. I’m sure you’ll recover.” She slithered off him and lay on her back next to him, arms outstretched, one knee bent. Kash roused himself and rose on one elbow to look down at her.
“You seem certain of this.”
“I am. I give you an hour, tops, and I’ll be able to get your plumbing working again. You can count on that.” The mischief in her green eyes intrigued him. It was as if she’d forgotten their impending deaths. She was only light and love and laughter now and it made him ache for more time...though he knew even if they had forever, it wouldn’t be enough.
Hunters Mate Page 6
