“Get out!” Talia and Lukan shouted at the exact same time.
Mar-ee turned and glided out. “Well, that was most uncalled for,” she muttered. But if Talia and Lukan could have seen the expression on her face, they would have seen that she was smiling with satisfaction.
Chapter Ten
But Talia and Lukan were far too focused on each other.
As she looked into the face of the fierce, handsome warrior, Talia’s heart ached at the thought of what he had gone through for her. He hadn’t even told her about the var-hool, hadn’t tried to pressure her in any way.
His lips were parted, his breathing shallow, and she could feel the hard ridge of his erection pressing against the moist flesh of her pussy through the thin, sodden silk of her robe. Yet he didn’t move to kiss her, or roll his hips to press more firmly against her. He was trembling with self-restraint, every muscle tense. His heart thundered against her palms and his pupils were dilated as he gazed at her.
She leaned down and murmured into his ear, letting her warm breath tickle his skin. “So,” she said. “I’ll tell you what I want. I want a tour of your room. Right now, I’d like to explore that fur rug in front of the fireplace. And then your bed. And then maybe this chair, or your table.”
Lukan gave a heartfelt groan and wrapped his arms around her, drawing her into a hard, passionate kiss. He curled his tongue against hers, biting her lip when she tried to pull back to snatch a breath.
She could feel her pulse beating in the slick flesh between her thighs. His big hands roved over her body, pressing against her spine so that she arched towards him, then smoothing down over the silk-clad curve of her waist to cup her ass and pull her closer against him.
She gasped against his mouth and shivered.
Lukan pulled away just a fraction, his lips still close enough that she could feel his breath on her skin.
“My heart,” he said to her, his voice gravelly with arousal. “I am going to taste every inch of your sweet, delectable body. I am going to brand your flesh with my lips, from head to toe, until you tell me you are mine.”
He grasped the flimsy fabric of her robe and tore it away from her body, allowing the fragile scraps of silk to flutter from his fingers. Then he stood, lifting her easily in his strong arms. She wrapped her legs around his hips, wriggling slightly in his grasp and whimpering at the friction of her hot flesh against the thick length of his erection.
He kneeled on the rug, Talia still clasped against his chest, her legs wrapped around him. He cupped the back of her head in his palm and kissed her, lying her back against the rug, his big body a pleasant weight. His cock twitched and strained against the slick petals of her pussy, and she wriggled against him.
“Please,” she gasped, running her hands down his broad, muscled back to clutch his taut buttocks. “Please, Lukan, I want you inside me.”
He groaned, burying his head against the side of her throat, and she shivered with anticipation as the broad head of his cock teased her entrance.
But then he pulled away, shaking his head. “No, my heart. I want to taste you. I want to kiss and lick every delicious inch of your body until you are crying out my name.”
His eyes were like dark, hypnotic pools and she found herself lost for words as he placed a soft, possessive kiss on her lips. Then he bent his head and left a trail of soft kisses down her throat, He cupped her full breast in his large palm, allowing the pert, pink nipple to peek between his fingers so he could take it between his lips and suckle, sending a silvery thread of sensation shooting directly to her core. Her pussy clenched, and she could feel the sticky juices on her thighs as she shifted restlessly beneath him.
He lavished the same treatment on the other breast, then moved lower, licking and sucking the soft flesh of her belly and dipping his tongue into her navel. The ticklish sensation made her giggle, but the giggle turned into a gasp as his fingers slid up the inside of her thigh and tangled in the damp curls that covered her mound in a neat triangle.
He parted her folds with dexterous fingers, then dipped his head and gave the glistening pink flesh a single long, slow lick. Talia moaned and threaded her fingers into his silky black hair.
He wrapped his lips around the tingling nub of her clit and sucked. Talia’s back arched violently with the intensity of the sensation and she cried out, twisting her hands in his hair. He didn’t complain, even though she must be hurting him – just continued to lap eagerly at her clit as he worked first one and then two fingers into her sopping channel.
“Oh god,” she panted, “don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”
But he did. He looked up at her again, fingers working in and out of her pussy as he favored her with a slow, lazy grin. “You taste as sweet and intoxicating as the finest tharfaberry wine,” he said. “I feel drunk on you.”
“Please…” she begged, barely able to form words. She forced her hands away from his head and clutched at the thick, soft fur of the rug.
“I am going to make you see stars,” Lukan told her, never stopping the smooth pumping of his fingers inside her. “I want to hear you screaming my name.”
He began to lap at her flesh again, pushing her higher and higher towards some impossible pinnacle of bliss. The sensation spiraled inside her, every muscle of her body tensing, fingers scrabbling at the rug for purchase as she flew apart, the orgasm sweeping through every taut muscle and leaving her boneless and gasping.
“Lukan…” she gasped. She didn’t have the strength to scream his name. Her flesh was still tingling and pulsing from the touch of his lips and tongue. He gave her that lazy grin again as he hauled her into his arms and pulled her against his chest.
“It’s a start,” he said as their heartbeats started to return to normal.
Neither of them stirred when Treffon stopped outside the door, keeping his appointment to discuss the cyborg threat with Lukan. As he raised his hand to knock, he paused and sniffed the air. It was redolent with sex. “Perhaps now is not the time to be too punctual,” he murmured to himself, and turned away with a smile.
Chapter Eleven
“Soon I will take you home,” Lukan said to Talia. “We will make up for all the time we lost because of Alexandra’s lies. I will show you how beautiful Ilyria is, allow you to fall in love with your new home. And I will give you anything your heart desires. But there is an important matter to attend to, and as my Reginar-La, I want you to be part of this.” Reginar-La was the official title of the Reginar’s mate.
He had taken her and Mar-ee to the building where she had first arrived on Ilyria, the tower in the neutral zone.
“And as Talia’s personal guardian and caretaker, of course I am included in the meeting,” Mar-ee said.
Lukan shot her a look of annoyance. “No, you’re just here because I didn’t have time to drop you off back at pack property.”
“I am Talia’s RBF,” Mar-ee said with pride. “That stands for Robot Best Friend. She informed me of this, and Talia does not lie, so therefore it is true.”
Talia snickered quietly, which made Lukan smile. If Talia was happy, he was happy.
It was around midday, and Talia was pleasantly exhausted. She had showered, eaten an enormous breakfast while Lukan met with Treffon, and then put on a dress that Mar-ee had sewn for her overnight - an ankle-length red silky gown with a scoop neck, which was apparently the latest in Ilyrian fashion. Cora Lee had given her a pair of low-heeled red shoes that were made of some fabric that somehow molded perfectly to her feet. Then they had climbed into Lukan’s skimmer vessel and flown to this building in the middle of the capital city of Donnelle.
Lukan was wearing black trousers and a black jacket with a silver seam down the front, with the symbol of his clan sewn onto the jacket above his heart. He looked strong and elegant, and a shudder of desire and anticipation ran down Talia’ spine every time she looked at him. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was, and how easily she could have lost the opportunity to find true love i
f it hadn’t been for the mix-up at the party and Mar-ee’s unswerving loyalty.
Lukan guided her to a meeting room, where a dozen people had already gathered, some sitting in cushioned chairs arranged in groupings around the room, some milling about.
One of them, Talia saw with dismay, was Alexandra. Alexandra was sitting at a small, round table, next to a man with bright blue skin, eyes of pure black with no white whatsoever, and antennae. He wore a silvery uniform with an insignia portraying the Milky Way galaxy cluster. Alexandra looked at Talia, walking hand in hand with Lukan, and her face went white with fury.
Lukan squeezed Talia’s hand reassuringly, and she looked away from Alexandra’s livid face and smiled at him. She didn’t need to be reassured. She had nothing to fear from the glossy professional matchmaker – her lies had been exposed, and Talia’s days of biting her tongue around the bitch as she doled out snide remarks and crappy busywork were over. But she rubbed the pad of her thumb over the back of Lukan’s hand in silent thanks. She looked back just in time to see Alexandra turn away with a flounce, flipping her beautifully coiffed white-blonde hair.
There were a group of Vulfan men from Lukan’s clan; Talia could tell from their suits and the insignia they wore.
“That is my brother Fangor, and my brother Salvi.” Lukan pointed at two huge men who looked like him. “And that man with Alexandra—” he spat her name out as if it tasted bad “—is Patrivar, a representative from the Galactic Federation. They oversee all interplanetary matters. Their main concern is the protection of commerce; they don’t tend to get involved on a local level.”
He marched up to Alexandra and slammed his hand down on the table so hard that it cracked, causing Alexandra to jump and let out a squeak of dismay. She cringed away from him, huddling close to Patrivar. Lukan’s brothers glanced at each other uneasily.
“You lied to me,” Lukan snarled at Alexandra, his eyes blazing with rage. Even in humanoid form, his fury made him look feral, untamed, as he defended his mate. His biceps flexed beneath the dark fabric of his tunic, and he looked every inch of his seven feet in height.
“I did not,” Alexandra said angrily.
“Pardon me, you have not begun this meeting in the proper fashion,” Patrivar interrupted in a scolding, officious tone.
Lukan snorted in contempt. “I am Reginar Lukan Anders of the Wor-Lan Pack, this meeting is now called to order, and Earther Alexandra Van Der Willig is the lying bitch sitting across from me. You told me that Talia Fisher had three children by three different fathers, and that she had cheated on each male parent.” Lukan’s glare burned into her. “Was that the truth?”
“You can’t talk to me like that,” Alexandra wailed. “I’m under the protection of the Galactic Federation!”
“Request permission to female-dog-slap her,” Mar-ee said to Talia.
“You mean bitch-slap her? Probably best if you don’t,” Talia said. She looked at Alexandra with contempt. The things she’d said about Talia, the unnecessary suffering she’d caused Lukan and Talia for the past year… “Although I might, any minute now.”
“What the hell is wrong with that machine?” Alexandra demanded, looking nervously at Mar-ee.
“Nothing,” Lukan said. “I programmed it, I mean her, to make Talia happy. Now answer the question. Were you telling me the truth when you claimed that Talia had three children?”
“You must answer him,” Patrivar informed her. “You are his business partner, and therefore are expected to be truthful in all your dealings with him. This meeting will determine whether the partnership should be dissolved or renegotiated.”
Alexandra glared at the ground. “Not exactly,” she muttered, unable to meet Lukan’s eyes.
“Not exactly,” Lukan mimicked her. “She has no children at all. You will admit that you lied. Now. Say it.”
“All right! I lied! I did it for your own good, and you should thank me for it,” Alexandra said, her face bright red with humiliation. “I knew that fat whore would get her claws into you—”
In one smooth, fluid motion, Lukan shifted, exploding out of his clothes. It took approximately two Earth seconds. He lunged across the desk, his jaws snapping at Alexandra’s throat. She screamed and fell over backwards out of her chair, and landed on the floor with a thud. Patrivar leaped to his feet in alarm.
Lukan shook himself and melted back into humanoid form. His fur sank into his flesh and his snout retreated, molding itself into humanoid facial features. He was naked now, standing in the tatters of the clothing he’d been wearing.
Even as the crowd buzzed and stepped back from the furious Vulfan, Talia couldn’t help but notice the strong, sleek lines of Lukan’s body; the way his muscles moved underneath his skin as though oiled. Her gaze slid down his broad chest towards his strong thighs, and she blushed and looked away before she was caught ogling him in public.
Patrivar held out his hand and yanked Alexandra to her feet.
“Look what he did to me!” she wailed.
“If you ever insult my pair-bond mate again, I will ignore our pack’s rule against harming women, and I will tear your throat open,” Lukan snarled.
“But I’m here under the protection of the Federation,” Alexandra whimpered, hiding behind Patrivar. “That would be a declaration of war.”
“Any Vulfan leader who let his mate be insulted in such a fashion would be betraying his people and displaying weakness. Such a leader would swiftly be overthrown,” Lukan said coldly.
“Actually, he is correct,” Patrivar said. “You know full well that your contract requires you to respect the customs of the people you are doing business with. Insulting the Reginar’s intended mate is a grave violation of that custom.”
Alexandra glared at Lukan, her eyes glittering with tears. She held her hands out to him in a final appeal. He stepped back. “I would be a much better bride-to-be than…that woman. You should choose me.”
“You have disgusted me from the very moment I began dealing with you,” Lukan said. “Everything from the gallons of what you call perfume, dumped on you to mask your foul scent, to your unpleasant personality, to your hideous garments. I have wanted Talia from the moment I laid eyes on her, and you caused both of us a year of unnecessary suffering. Every single day that I could have been with her, I hold against you. I am ending our business relationship because I can no longer work with you.”
“We do have a problem with that,” Lukan’s brother Fangor said unhappily. “We need a liaison on Earth to help us get brides. She is responsible for eight successful matches so far, although of course we had hoped for many more. But she is our only liaison. It might take years for the Federation to approve a new Earth contact.”
Alexandra flashed a triumphant smirk at Lukan. “You need me,” she said. “And I…I won’t work with you unless you break up with Talia.” Her eyes gleamed with malice. “So if you want your race to carry on, you need to choose me. You haven’t claimed her yet – she bears no mark on her neck. It’s not too late. The survival of your species depends on it.”
Talia sucked in her breath in dismay, and Mar-ee lunged at Alexandra. Talia grabbed her arm. “No,” she said.
“Fuzz-killer,” Mar-ee muttered.
“Buzz-killer,” Talia corrected her quietly.
Lukan scoffed at Alexandra. “Nothing in this world could induce me to set Talia aside for any other woman – least of all for you.” His lip curled with contempt. “Besides, you are making a fortune from us, and I know you won’t give that up,” he continued, more coolly. “Also, Cora Lee was Talia’s idea, so you have can only claim credit for seven successful matches. In the past year.” He gave her a look of scorn.
“Nonetheless, we have no other options,” Fangor said. “I will take your place at the agency so you do not have to endure her presence. I will travel to Earth on the days that you used to travel there; you will give me a briefing on the workings of the agency. If she lies to any member of our pack again, we will terminat
e our arrangement with her and find a new partner, no matter how long we have to wait.” Fangor gave Alexandra a look of contempt. “You will sign a new contract with Patrivar now, agreeing to this change, or we are finished with you.”
Alexandra’s lips were compressed into a thin, furious line. She gave one sharp, abrupt nod.
Lukan led Talia out of the room, with Mar-ee and his packmates following.
“I wish to speak to you about the rumor that you are considering a truce with the Thorolf pack,” Salvi said, scowling at him.
“It is not a rumor. It is fact.”
“Unacceptable,” Salvi gritted out. “We will never make peace with those bastards. Being forced to enter that disgusting business partnership with them was enough humiliation—”
Lukan spun to face his brother, his eyes glowing with anger. He pushed Talia gently but firmly behind him, shielding her with his body. “I am the Reginar, not you. Do not challenge my will again.”
His brother immediately dropped his gaze and angled his head to the left, baring his neck. “Acknowledged, Reginar. But I would like at least to discuss it with you.” Salvi’s gaze was downcast, his brow furrowed.
“We shall see,” Lukan said coldly. “Right now, my priority is showing my true mate her new home.”
Chapter Twelve
Lukan got dressed as they headed back to the Wor-Lan territory. He apparently always kept extra clothing in his skimmer, in case he shifted at some point. Pity. The tunic and leggings were certainly flattering to his muscular frame, but the sight of him naked was simply breath-taking.
“Is there some kind of party going on?” Talia asked, puzzled, as the skimmer hovered over Lukan’s castle. Sunlight bounced off the twisting spires and domes and globes of the massive, sprawling building. Off to the right, in a huge grove, there were dozens of banquet tables, and there was a big empty stage. Hundreds of people were gathered, milling about.
“Not that I know of,” Lukan said. “I have not yet officially announced that I’ve found my true mate.” He winked at Talia. “That is you, by the way.”
The Vulfan's True Mate (A BBW Paranormal Romance) (Starcrossed Dating Agency Book 1) Page 6
