Once she’d crawled through the low entrance of the small hovel, she slipped out of her dress and lay on the rug covering the earthen floor, enjoying the play of soft qiviut against her skin. It took hours for the Blashians to pull enough clumps of wool from the coat of a muskox to make a single rug. Traditionally, these rugs had been used as beds. Now they only served this function on a Blashian’s wedding night.
Renaei shivered. The mere thought of marrying Lorne and binding herself to him for eternity caused her clitoris to swell and ache. By the Ine, she wanted him so badly. She licked the pad of one finger and began to circle a nipple, sighing in pleasure. Still more fingers crawled down her thigh to dance teasingly along her slick folds.
She was ready for him. But he wasn’t there.
Renaei filled her mind with images of his body, hoarded from that brief glimpse she’d had of him back on the ship before this mission had started. His hard lines were belied by the softness of his hazel eyes and his smooth skin was crossed with pale scars, mementos from the battles he’d fought and the procedures he’d endured. He had refused to let GLEA’s surgeons obscure any of them.
Each mark represented a victory. He never saw them with anything but pride. She wished she could touch them, kiss them, lick them.
Renaei groaned and slid two fingers into her throbbing core, pumping rhythmically. It wasn’t enough. Her other hand abandoned her breast and slid an index finger over her clitoris, swirling the nub in time to each thrust. The need to find release grew and grew, until she could no longer refuse it. Her fingers twisted and curled up inside her, pressing against that sensitive spot.
Renaei opened her eyes just before her orgasm hit, suddenly aware of being watched.
Lorne had followed her.
She gasped as her core tunnelled around her fingers, sending out waves of pleasure that spread into each limb, each finger and toe, and then into each sensitive follicle of hair on her scalp. Renaei lay still for several moments, smiling, until her breasts tingled, impatient for another’s touch.
Lorne was hunched over by the low entranceway, his breathing as hard as her own and his pants evidently too tight for comfort. As for his mind…he could barely contain the thoughts and desires that fell over each other.
Renaei stood for his inspection.
His eyes darkened until they could have reflected the depths of the ocean.
She felt her folds clench again, desperate to be parted by something much more satisfying than her own fingers. Renaei took one step towards Lorne, knowing that he could take her there, to oblivion, where their souls could join and bask in the radiance of each other.
Lorne’s lips parted. She saw him consider leaving.
But he didn’t. He shed his coat and stayed right where he was.
CHAPTER EIGHT
She stood before him, clad only in golden bangles and matching tresses of hair that fell over her breasts. Her skin glowed in the uneven firelight — no shadow dared to linger on her for too long — and above her hips ran slender faded lines, the perfect tracks for his trembling fingers.
Lorne straightened to his full height, unable to shift his eyes from the divine body of his goddess. He wasn’t sure he would even if he could. She was an amazing sight.
‘Lorne,’ she said softly. ‘Can I see you? All of you?’
‘Ren…Renaei…’ His voice failed him so he switched to mind-speech. You don’t know what you’re asking. You’re a goddess. You’re perfect. And I’m…
You are my equal, she insisted.
Because you made me your equal, he pointed out, his annoyance failing to chase off his arousal entirely. You gave me all these powers. More than you gave any of the other guards.
Renaei’s forehead creased. You were my equal long before I recruited you. And you have treated me as your equal — as your colleague, as your friend. You’ve cared for me in ways no one else ever has.
You have cared so much for us, Lorne replied. You deserve to have someone to care for you. Someone to hold you, kiss you…
His thoughts scattered as his mind filled with what he wanted to do her, all night, every night. But he couldn’t, he just couldn’t.
This isn’t my first time with a mortal, she said, smiling. And past worship hasn’t stopped Fei, my sister-in-law, from bedding her husband, the rainforest god.
Lorne supposed it shouldn’t surprise him that the sub-level gods had chosen mortal spouses.
His heart faltered. Spouses.
‘I’m not asking for that, Lorne.’ Renaei slid her hands down her form in a mesmerising fashion, pausing to cup the mounds hidden beneath her hair. ‘All I ask of you is one night, not thousands.’
He didn’t interrupt, didn’t call her on the lie. She needed comfort and he was the only one in the entire galaxy who could give it to her. This was a duty that no one else should be allowed to fulfil. She was his and his alone.
‘But Ren…’ He drew a long, deep breath. ‘I need to tell you something first. Make sure you’ve got the right expectations.’
‘It’s alright, I know this won’t happen again,’ she said quickly.
‘This isn’t about that,’ he assured her, wetting his lips. Gods, how he wished he was brave enough to think about tomorrow. But he wasn’t. ‘Look, there have been advancements in the past few centuries. GLEA’s surgeons were able to give me the best equipment out there — I can get hard and find my pleasure, but no one’s invented a procedure that lets me create semen.’
And why would they? he thought. Doctors in specialised clinics were able to merge the DNA of two people, regardless of their sex or species, to create children with relatively little fuss. Why would they bother when they can do that instead?
Renaei’s hips swayed as she closed the distance between them and Lorne was entranced by her sensuous movements, so much so he almost didn’t notice her fingers curling around the top button of his shirt. His hand closed over hers, halting her progress. ‘Ren, I need to know that you understand what I’ve told you.’
Then he found out where her other hand had got to — cupping him through his pants, finding him already stirred by her presence. He released the moan, unable to resist.
‘I understand,’ Renaei said, her voice firm. ‘And I don’t care. Your flesh is appealing, but it’s your soul that I admire. The only soul I trust with my life and my secrets.’
The warmth began in his chest, completely surrounding his heart before spreading lower into his abdomen where it settled, causing him to harden further. Lorne pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. Her scent was overwhelming at this range and it made him think of early mornings spent exploring the tundra outside his home, the cold air fresh and raw in his lungs.
‘I think you’re the only one, apart from my dad, who’s ever seen my soul,’ Lorne whispered.
His fingers fumbled on his shirt buttons for a few costly seconds, but then his hands were pulled to his sides by an invisible force. A mischievous grin played over Renaei’s lips. She had clearly heard the conversation he’d had with his guards earlier. Lorne glanced down in time to watch his shirt seemingly unbutton itself. His breathing became ragged as the shirt dropped to the floor, exposing his chest. His pants and thermal stockings quickly followed suit.
Lorne stepped back the moment she released him, hooking his thumbs into the hem of his boxers and yanking them down before she could use her powers on those too. He then presented himself to her with his arms spread wide, heart stammering as he waited for her reaction.
Her gaze lowered and took him in.
‘Mmm,’ was all she had time to say before he surged forward.
While his lips claimed hers, his fingers were busily finding those lines above her hips and stroking them. Renaei responded to his kisses with equal fervour, nipping his bottom lip and delving into his mouth. Lorne wondered what he tasted like to her.
Strength, survival, sex, she answered mentally.
A growl swelled in his throat. He skimmed his hand
s down her spine, then guided them lower still. She was soft and supple beneath his touch and he kneaded her backside intently, his nails marking her flesh. She gasped, her lips detaching from his.
Smirking, Lorne walked her backwards until she had nowhere else to go, the wall firmly behind her.
‘I want you in me, Lorne,’ she said, her words both a plea and an order.
‘Gods, I’ve wanted that since I was a teenager,’ he murmured. ‘Before I even could.’
He let out a hiss of air when she took his shaft in her hand, gently working it from base to tip and back again. Pleasant tingles soon transformed into an urgent, consuming ache. Lorne dug his teeth into her shoulder. He was close, so very close, but he didn’t want this to happen yet, he wanted to be buried inside her when he finally —
‘That’s enough,’ he said hoarsely.
Renaei raised an eyebrow as her hands drifted above her head, held there by his powers. Then her lips curled and she arched her back, offering him her body and anything else he wanted to take from her.
Lorne swallowed. How could she just…give herself to him? Without a single care for the consequences? He had no idea if his confused mess of feelings matched what he could sense inside her. She deserved someone who could return that love in full measure.
Lorne, she said, cutting into his thoughts, I’d like you to focus on this devastatingly gorgeous body you’ve got pinned up against the wall.
He laughed, his chest suddenly much lighter. ‘I can do that.’
Lorne gathered her hair in his hands and pulled it behind her shoulders. Her breasts, now completely bared to him, were more perfect than he’d ever imagined. He bent down and dragged his tongue over one nipple, relishing the sigh that parted her lips, and repeated this action several more times. His goddess began to make small mewling sounds as he devoted himself to worshipping each breast, loving the taste of her, loving her reactions even more.
Renaei writhed and bucked, each delicious brush of her skin against him sending sparks shooting straight into his groin. When he slid his thigh between her legs, to apply pressure to her clitoris, her slick arousal painted him with her scent. He bit her shoulder again, overcome with desire.
‘I’m wet for you, Lorne,’ Renaei told him in a low voice. ‘Only for you.’
He grasped her broad thighs in his hands. ‘I want these around me. Now.’
‘Can’t you use your powers to do that?’ she baited.
Oh, he definitely could. Lorne chuckled lowly. His hands moved to her backside, seating her while her legs wrapped around his waist, and then he bound her ankles together with a stray thought. Satisfied with their new position, he licked and suckled his way down her throat. Her impatient moan vibrated beneath his mouth. Smiling, Lorne guided his cock to her weeping entrance, teasing her, stroking her with his tip. Renaei tugged on her hands but his powers held them fast.
She whimpered with frustration. ‘Lorne, please. I need you.’
‘Yes, my goddess,’ he said huskily and slid inside her.
‘Ah!’ she cried as her walls squeezed around him, a firm and delicious pressure. Her expression became transported. ‘Yes. Yes. Don’t you dare withdraw! I’m not done!’
Lorne couldn’t have disobeyed her even if he’d wanted to. Her peak had passed but the grip she had on him was still intense. With difficulty, he adjusted his hips and shifted an extra inch into her. Renaei immediately spasmed around him again and threw back her head — which he quickly cushioned with his powers so she wouldn’t hurt herself on the wall. His name fell from her lips, a low, throaty exultation.
‘Again?’ he said breathlessly.
She laughed. ‘It takes more than a few orgasms for me to reach my limit. And I’m sure you’ll do your best to take me there.’
Lorne grinned into her neck. ‘Oh, I will.’
He increased his thrusts, burrowing deeper inside her, feeling her clench tighter with each stroke until he could barely move. He was so close, skating along the edge, but he didn’t want to let go, not yet, not when he’d rather make her cry his name all night long.
‘I can see why you’re proud of that cock GLEA gave you,’ his goddess whispered against his ear, sending shivers straight down his spine. ‘It’s hitting all the right places.’
Lorne paused, panting heavily. He was seconds away from falling right off that edge.
‘Ren,’ he warned.
She nipped his earlobe. ‘Take it, Lorne. Take your pleasure. Take it.’
His hips jolted forward and he rammed into her. Heat erupted low down inside him before surging along his length, gathering potency as it went. His entire being was reduced to the sensations exploding beneath his navel and he went blind from the intensity of his release. A strangled sound escaped him, something between a pained moan and a relieved sob.
Gods, how he wished he had the seed to fill her with. But there was nothing, he had nothing, so he gave her his soul instead.
When Lorne finally regained his senses, he found himself lying on an impossibly soft rug, his damp skin bathed in flickering firelight. He looked down his body to locate the source of the kisses trailing along his thigh — Renaei. She grinned up at him. ‘Are you completely spent, lover?’
Lorne skirted his eyes between his arms, which were pinned to his sides by her powers.
And then he grinned back at her.
• • •
She woke to his lips on her shoulder and his fingers running over her back. His touch dipped lower, around her waist and across her abdomen, but he deftly avoided her most sensitive areas. Moaning, Renaei propped up her hips and thrust out her backside, exposing more of herself. His chuckle crept over her as his hands continued to move along her skin, from her stomach to her breasts.
When she huffed with impatience, Lorne kissed her neck and asked in a soft rumble, ‘Should I give my goddess what she desires?’
‘Lorne…’
‘Yes?’
‘I’m at your mercy,’ she whispered. ‘Completely under your control.’
‘Oh, you most certainly are, my beautiful Ren.’
He twisted himself around and slid underneath her, his kisses travelling up her thigh. She arched her back to accommodate him — and so that she could watch what he was doing to her. Sensing her gaze, he delivered a quick swipe of his tongue right between her throbbing folds, causing her hips to jerk. Renaei swallowed her gasp and refused to beg, to give him the satisfaction. But her thoughts were as bare to him as her shivering skin.
Her thighs tensed. Smirking, he wrapped his lips around her aching clitoris. Sparks shot through her as he kept suckling, increasing the pressure and sending her tumbling towards the abyss. Then, just as the crescendo of pleasure had nearly fizzled out, he pressed a finger inside her, to that sweet spot — and her climax roared into something else, something completely encompassing, a hot burst that kept going and going…
‘Lorne!’ Renaei cried out and collapsed.
Trembling, she lay boneless on the rug and barely managed to turn her head towards Lorne when she heard him laughing. She smiled. He had such a handsome laugh.
Now propped up on his elbow, he reached over and lifted the hair out of her face. ‘I enjoy making you squirm.’
‘And you also enjoy having power over your goddess,’ she said tartly as she rolled onto her side, mirroring his pose. ‘Especially since those fantasies of me aroused you endlessly in your youth.’
Lorne raised his eyebrows. ‘You weren’t the only object of my arousal.’
‘But I am now.’
‘Yes, because now I know for sure that you are the most attractive woman in the galaxy,’ he agreed, grinning briefly. Then his hazel eyes grew serious. ‘Ren, where do we go from here?’
‘Aside from breakfast? Don’t tell me you haven’t worked up an appetite.’
‘Ren…’ he scolded.
Renaei brushed a kiss over his cheek. ‘What happens now? That’s your decision. I wanted my night with you and you gave
it to me. I will not ask anything else of you.’
‘I don’t want to share you, Ren,’ Lorne said and pressed his lips together, seemingly incapable of saying more.
‘You won’t have to,’ she assured him. ‘Why wouldn’t I devote myself to you? You’re amazing.’
‘Not just in bed?’ he asked.
Her chest tightened when she felt his urgency, his need to know. ‘You give me so much more than sex, Lorne. I hope I give you more than that too.’
Lorne ran a hand through his hair, his frustration obvious. ‘Of course you do. I lo — I like your company. A lot.’
Please say what you were going to, she pleaded silently.
He said nothing.
Renaei looked down at her lap, her eyes burning as they filled with tears. His gentle fingers curled around her chin and pulled her gaze back up to his.
‘I’m sorry, Ren,’ he murmured. ‘I just…I just can’t. Not right now. But I’m working on it. Give me some time to adjust to what I’m feeling, okay?’
Ignoring her racing heart, Renaei nodded and allowed Lorne to kiss her instead of saying the words he couldn’t.
CHAPTER NINE
It all seemed to be going well. So far.
Lorne remained at his goddess’ side, standing between her and the sea as she sat down at a table with her people and those who had once been her brother’s. It had been decided that formal documents were to be written up and signed, making the Driftwood and the Blashians official partners. Both of them would be pledging to guard the waves and hills. Together.
Lorne felt uneasy without his lasgun but Silvia, who was signing on behalf of the villagers, had insisted that no weapons be present in the clearing while the agreement was being ratified. It was supposed to be a moment of peace.
Despite this, Lorne had discreetly made sure that the Guards of the Goddess he’d posted outside the clearing were armed and carrying their personal shielding devices. His was still broken and he’d refused to let the other guards give him theirs. Merryn had argued with him, pointing out that he would be using his powers to shield Renaei instead of himself. But Lorne disliked the idea of anyone going unprotected in his place.
The Galactic Pantheon Novellas Page 24
