She buried her nose in Kojo’s neck and inhaled his unique warm scent. Maybe she could persuade him to bend the rules a little further and help her alleviate the ache swelling between her legs. He could use his mouth on her like Vadim had done. That had felt so amazing.
Immediately, she felt contrite as she remembered that Marco was still out among the terrorists. He could be hurt…or worse, and he’d never had the opportunity to secure his position with her.
“Kojo?” she asked when he laid her on the mattress.
“Yes, Anna.” His large hand gently brushed a length of hair from her cheek.
“Have you heard anything from Marco? Is he really all right?”
Kojo nodded. “I received a message while you were in the mess hall. He’s done as much as he can in First Quadrant, and he’s on a path to join us before we reach Fourth Quadrant.”
Her breath left her on a long sigh. “Oh, thank the stars.” And suddenly, she felt every tick of missed sleep from the previous night. Her eyelids closed heavily as her head rested on the surprisingly plush pillow. “I think I’m ready to sleep now,” she managed to push out between her lethargic lips.
The mattress on the other side of the berth dipped, as Kojo joined her. Then he wrapped his heavy arm around her waist, pulling her body snug against his, as her head rested on his thick biceps.
A sense of belonging, of being cherished, blossomed in her chest in the vicinity of her heart. A small smile played across her lips as she drifted into unconsciousness.
Chapter Seven
Marco fidgeted with the climate controls on the runabout’s panel in front of him. Traveling to the other side of the planet in a vehicle this small was far from ideal, but he had wanted to cause the smallest ripple as possible when he left First Quadrant. Vadim’s missive had stressed the importance of keeping the terrorists off Anna’s tail, and Marco would die before he put his intended mate at risk.
He rubbed at the bandage over his left biceps. Laser burns itched like hellitude as they healed, but he’d been a lucky blaster. Another couple of centimeters to the right, and the shot would have gone through his heart. Then he’d never have gotten his chance to mate with Anna.
His mind wandered to their first and only meeting as the runabout’s autopilot followed the course he’d plotted.
Anna was obviously as smart as any General he’d ever met, but she was also endearingly innocent. Or she had been until Vadim had taken her in such a forceful way. Damn the blasted General. Why had he stepped in on Kojo and Marco’s action?
Marco’s cock hardened as he remembered the feel of her small hand touching him through his trousers. They’d been off to a good start, until Kojo had tried to rush things. Then Anna had balked, giving Vadim the opportunity to step in and become first mate.
Blast him.
By now, Marco was certainly delegated to third mate. Kojo had surely found the time to become second mate. Not that the designation necessarily meant anything, but as the youngest of the men and the last to receive his third star, he hated to be in third place as mate as well.
He checked the navigation panel for an update on his status—only two hundred more kilometers until his rendezvous with his intended’s mate’s transporter. They were meeting on the outskirts of Fourth Quadrant to take the runabout onboard the larger ship before entering the General’s home turf as a complete foursome, better for protecting Anna. He was sure that was Vadim’s only motive, but Marco was glad to be reunited with her sooner rather than later. He wanted to be at her side when they entered their new home together.
It was obvious as he’d organized his security force and took inventory of the damages in First Quadrant that he couldn’t bring Anna back there. Not for the foreseeable future. The scientific sectors were nearly leveled, but surprisingly few deaths or even injuries had been reported. He’d only gotten shot in the arm because he’d surprised one of the terrorists as the man had been running from the scene of a bombing. The terrorist had actually looked remorseful for shooting at Marco.
He didn’t think the terrorists could have caused any more damage with less loss of lives if they’d tried. It made him wonder if the rumors he’d heard were true. Were the terrorists really only targeting places and things and not people? He’d heard the propaganda that extolled the Open Air Society as a force of revolutionaries, rather than terrorists. They fashioned themselves after the ancient militia of the American Revolution. As an avid fan of history, Marco couldn’t help but note some similarities between the Society’s dissatisfaction with their lack of voice on the Council and the ancient Colonists’ protests against England’s taxation without representation. Could the Open Air Society really be fighting for a just cause?
Marco shook the thought from his head. Lack of sleep was causing his brain to take irrational leaps. He set the chronometer alarm for fifteen ticks. Nothing like a quick combat nap to reset his brainwaves.
Shutting his eyes, he pictured Anna spread before him on a silk covered mattress, naked and glowing with her need for him, which made it practically impossible for him to shut down his brain, but he managed at least five ticks of sleep before the chronometer’s alarm sounded.
* * * *
“He’s approaching,” Kojo announced with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm from his seat in the pilot’s chair.
Anna leaned over his broad shoulder, scanning the displays on the control panel in front of her, looking for the one that would show her Marco’s runabout. But she’d never taken flight courses; her studies had been intensely focused on the biological sciences. In fact, she’d never spent much time in flight. After this past day airborne, she was yearning to learn more about the science of flight and the mechanics of the machines that flew.
“Which screen are you looking at, Kojo?” she finally asked when the data before her didn’t arrange itself into translatable knowledge after she’d been studying it for several moments.
Kojo tapped a datapad to his right near the communications console’s empty seat, and Anna narrowed her eyes as she tried to sort out the numbers and letters flashing across the screen. After five ticks, she still had no clue about the key to unlocking the data.
“So, we must be close to Vadim’s Quadrant. Should we wake him?” she asked. When Kojo and Anna had returned to the bridge this afternoon, Vadim had agreed to grab a nap and leave the transporter in Kojo’s capable hands.
“No need. We’re still eight hundred kilometers from Fourth Quadrant.”
“Close enough that I should be on hand.” Vadim’s voice behind Anna made her jump.
She spun around to face him. “Did you sleep well?”
“Well enough.” He strode the few paces to the communications console chair. As he sat, he tapped the comm channel screen. “Hawk One to Hawk Three, are you receiving?”
“Hawk Three receiving, sir,” Marco’s voice came through clearly over the speaker. “I have you in sight.”
“Proceed,” Vadim answered.
“Aye, aye, sir.”
Anna stood back and observed as the two skilled men handled the controls with ease and got Marco’s runabout onboard safely. She was fascinated with their precision and confidence. It made her miss her lab terribly, even though she’d only been gone a day.
She was tired of being out of her element, of not knowing what was going on around her, of not being in control of her life. But if she had to hand control over to someone else, she was grateful it was these men before her. They instilled confidence with their proficiency. The Council had chosen her mates well. The men didn’t seem to break a sweat as they handled this crisis with the Open Air Society.
“Hello, Generals.” Marco’s accented voice boomed from the doorway of the bridge.
Anna turned to look at her third mate.
“Hello, Anna.” His tone softened for his greeting for her.
“Hi, Marco,” she answered, feeling extremely self-conscious suddenly. She’d grown so comfortable with Kojo and Vadim, but Marco was
practically a stranger. They hadn’t had much time together before they’d been separated on First Quadrant. Her old insecurities about meeting new people surfaced, and she found it hard to maintain eye contact with him.
“Marco,” Vadim’s curt voice cut through her thoughts, “take Anna to the captain’s quarters. You need to complete the first step of the mating.”
Anna’s cheeks heated as she realized that Vadim was ordering her and Marco to go have intercourse. All her nervous awkwardness about sex returned.
Even though she’d enjoyed her experiences with Kojo and Vadim, she didn’t know how she was going to get through it with Marco. Vadim had taken her before she could get nervous. All she’d had to do was follow his commands. With Kojo, she’d felt like they’d had time to get to know each other a little, and she’d been attracted to him. Her time with Marco had been so brief in comparison.
“I see you took advantage of my absence to secure your position,” Marco addressed Kojo.
“I didn’t take advantage of anything. I only took what was offered,” Kojo responded.
The tension on the bridge made the hair on Anna’s nape ruffle, adding to her nervousness about mating with Marco. Vadim apparently wanted her to go into the captain’s quarters and join with Marco as if it were as routine as brushing her teeth. She glanced at the dark-haired, dark-eyed man. At least she felt the stirrings of attraction to him.
“Go now,” Vadim ordered, pointing to the hallway. “This needs to be finished before we get to Fourth Quadrant. Then, we will complete the final step of the mating in my quarters in sector forty.”
Oh, stars above. That just ratcheted up her anxiety to a whole new level. She’d been happily blocking out the thought of the four of them together all at once. One man at a time was sensory overwhelming enough. How the hellitude was she going to deal with all three men at the same time?
Marco reached for her elbow to guide her off the bridge, and she jumped at his touch.
“Relax, Anna.” His tone soothed.
She met his gaze and thought his eyes looked a little sad. Had she hurt him? Could he feel her reluctance to mate with him?
When they got to the captain’s quarters, she turned to face him. Hesitantly, she raised her palm to his cheek. “I’m sorry.”
He studied her for a moment. “For what?”
“For my uneasiness about our joining.”
His eyelids closed as he bowed his head. “I’m sorry I am not worthy of you.”
Anna’s heart lurched. “No!” With both her hands on his cheeks, she tugged until he met her gaze again. “That’s not at all what I meant. It has nothing to do with you. It’s me. Only me. You’re fine.”
A wry grin tipped up one side of his mouth. “A stunning endorsement.”
“I mean you’re perfect. There’s nothing wrong with you. I’m the one who’s freaking out over this whole mating thing.” She dropped her hands to her sides and looked away from his warm brown eyes. “It’s a bit much to deal with, as my entire life has been disrupted.”
Marco stroked a light finger down the side of her cheek. “What can I do to make this easier for you?”
Her stomach somersaulted at his gentle touch and kind words. He was so selfless, when he could have just demanded his right to take her as his mate and thrown her on the mattress. Instead, he was asking her what she wanted.
Suddenly, she couldn’t get the image of him sprawled naked across the berth out of her mind. A grin tugged at her lips, and she decided to initiate a new sort of experiment.
“Take off your clothes,” she replied to his question.
His eyes widened briefly. Then he was undoing the buttons at his collar and lifting the hem of his tunic up his tight abs and over his head. He paused with his hands at the waist of his trousers. “Everything?”
She nodded and licked her lower lip. “Everything.”
His erection bounced free as Marco slid his pants down his thighs, and she was startled by the shape. He was curved, whereas the other two men had straight rods. She wondered if he would feel differently inside her. Would he reach places the other two didn’t?
Once his shoes and trousers were off, he stood upright. “Now what?”
“On your back on the mattress,” she ordered, feeling a new surge of desire as she reveled in the power to command this large, muscular, military man.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied before complying.
She recognized the wet heat gathering between her legs, and nearly dropped trou and immediately straddled him on the bed. But she needed to complete her experiment first. This was the perfect opportunity to prepare herself for one of the things she’d be required to do once they got to Vadim’s quarters in sector forty.
She knelt on the mattress and crawled towards Marco’s midsection, finding it difficult to look at anything other than his erection. A thick vein along the underside throbbed as she watched, and she traced it lightly with her fingertip.
Marco sharply drew in his breath.
Feeling a bit giddy, Anna repeated the movement, and this time, Marco moaned low in his throat.
She wondered what he’d do if she used her tongue. Bending down, she raised her eyes so she could watch his face as she dragged her tongue slowly up his length.
“Oh, blast,” he ground out between clenched teeth, the tendons in his neck standing out.
She giggled, a sound coming from her that she’d never heard before.
She returned to the base of his erection and licked up it again, pulling another deep groan from him. This time she didn’t back away when she got to the tip. Instead, she swirled her tongue around the flared head. His skin was so velvety soft. She laved him again, tasting his salty muskiness. Then, she wrapped her lips around him and sucked softly on his tip.
He threaded his fingers through her hair as he whispered her name. “Anna…Anna.”
She liked his hand on the back of her head as his hips jerked up at her. She swallowed more of him in her mouth, licking around his rod. His hips jerked more rhythmically, forcing more of him down her throat, and surprisingly, she felt more wet heat flow from her core as she relished this pleasuring of him. She continued lapping at him, until he abruptly stopped and held her head tightly between his hands so she couldn’t bob down on him.
“Stop. I want to be in you for our first time,” he spoke with a gruff voice.
He guided her head away from his length and pulled her face towards his. He met her lips with a lick of his tongue. Then, his mouth pressed firmly over hers.
She wrapped her arms under his neck and gave herself over to his demanding kiss as she—still fully dressed—straddled his hips.
His fingers plucked at the buttons of her shirt and pulled it away from her body. Then he had her bra slipping off. His fingers eased under the waistband of her trousers, and she helped him slide them over her hips and down her legs, kicking them to the floor without losing contact with his mouth—his hot, spicy mouth with his tongue that mimicked the rutting that was about to commence.
He slipped a hand between their bodies and guided himself to her channel. With his hands on her hips, she eased down until he was fully inside her.
“Oh.” She broke their kiss with a gasp. He was in her so deep.
She raised her backside slightly, experimenting with the feeling of him in her core. When she lowered her bottom, a moan escaped her throat as he touched an exceptionally sensitive spot inside her.
His hands tightened on her hips. “Oh, sweet beauty,” he whispered against her neck. His warm breath tickled her skin, sending goose bumps down her spine.
She rose and fell again, and they both moaned.
“You’re torturing me, Anna,” he groaned.
She leaned back so she could see his face. And he did indeed look tortured. His eyes were squeezed shut as the muscles in his clenched jaw pulsed.
“Does it hurt terribly? Perhaps I should get off.” She moved her hips as if she was considering disengaging with him
, but instead, she gave them a swivel. If she’d learned anything from her experiences with Kojo and Vadim, it was that pleasure and pain could be as perfectly paired as a strand of DNA.
His fingers dug into her hips, heightening her own senses, as his eyelids popped open. “Don’t. You. Dare. Leave.” He glared at her, causing her unfamiliar giggle to reappear.
“You, tease,” he said, then he flexed his abs and sent his hard length pumping in and out of her in a quick rhythm.
“Oh, stars! Oh, yes! Oh, yes!” she yelped, grabbing his shoulders and holding on as he repetitively hit the internal spot that had her seeing stars behind her closed eyelids.
Just when she thought she couldn’t take anymore, her muscles seized and a tremendous wave of bliss washed through her body. A scream of pleasure rushed from her throat.
Marco’s hips thrust into her faster and sharper as he shouted out his own release.
When he’d finished, she lay on top of him, her muscles still rigid as she floated back to her body and mind. Finally, with a deep breath, she released her hold on his shoulders and flexed her fingers. Straightening her knees, she slid her legs down the length of his until she lay flat over him with her cheek resting on his chest. His heart pounded in her ear.
He trailed his fingertips up her spine, causing her to shiver. “I could stay here with you like this forever,” he whispered against the top of her head, and she murmured her agreement.
This was a rare moment for her, to be completely comfortable with another person. She could take a little bit of forever of this, as well.
“Too bad it’s time to get off the transporter,” Kojo spoke from the open doorway.
Anna startled, and Marco’s arms tightened around her. She glanced at Kojo’s tight expression. Was that what jealousy looked like? But Kojo had an equal share of the mating. Each man did. Why would he be jealous of something that he had an equal share of?
Anna and the Three Generals Page 7
