She blinked and looked away. Okay, so you enjoyed everything I did to you. Then why hang on to the stupid custom?
But of course she couldn’t ask that and insult his traditions. Especially not after he’d compromised and accepted one of hers. She flexed her hands and grabbed onto the poles. Only to frown at the masculine look of triumph that lit his face.
“Don’t go away.”
Three deep breaths later, she nodded. She had, after all, agreed to trust him a little. “I won’t.”
“Good,” he said and sat up.
He wasn’t gone long. Soon he knelt over her, the oblong box he’d snatched up before they’d rolled off the bed in his hand. The box was red and looked like it could contain a pair of glasses.
“On Dakokata, a man usually presents this to his woman before he has her spread naked on the floor.”
The possessive pronoun warmed her straight to her core. I want you. His. It seemed a little unreal to hear someone actually say those words.
She licked her lips. “We aren’t on Dakokata.”
He grinned. “A very good thing,” he said. “Now I won’t have to wait to use this.”
Before she could ask, he snapped open the lid. Nestled inside the case lay a teardrop pendant on a chain. Even within the protective canopy of Judan’s hair, the multifaceted yellow stone sparkled.
Hot damn, it’s the most exquisite piece of jewelry I’ve ever seen.
Unable to resist, she wanted to reach out and touch it. Only her arm wouldn’t cooperate. In fact, neither of them would move. And the man’s damn hair was in the way so she couldn’t see what was wrong.
“Judan!” She panicked. “I can’t move.” Choosing to hold onto the poles was one thing. Not being able to let go was quite another.
He bent and nuzzled her cheek. “Shh, it’s all right,” he said.
He set the still-opened jewel case on the floor, then gathered his hair in his hands, holding it aside for her to look. She quickly discovered that two of the braided and beaded strands, one on either side of his head, had wrapped themselves around her wrists and the pole, holding her fast.
She gulped in some more air. His hair certainly seemed to have a mind of its own. Given his height and the length of his hair, the braided strands made an effective rope. Given her proportionally smaller size, she was definitely at his mercy because he would have no trouble reaching any part of her body he wanted to.
“Why?” she asked. Her body already knew the answer. His possessive dominance made her hot, hot, hot.
“Once I start learning you, teaching your body to respond to my touch, it will be difficult, if not impossible for you to hold on.”
She shivered at the certain knowledge in his voice. Knowledge that said quite emphatically he could, would make her lose control.
“Judan.”
He lifted the pendant from its case before shoving the box away. The chain didn’t appear to have a clasp. Obedient because she had chosen to surrender herself to him, she lifted her head. With one hand still holding the pendant, Judan slipped the chain over her head.
“This pendant was made for you, Myrina,” he said. “It reminds me of the color of your hair.”
The stone lay warm and heavy between her breasts.
“It’s beautiful,” she said.
“No.” He straddled her, his hands on either side of her face. He bent and licked the pulse point at her throat. “You are beautiful, stretched out like this, offering yourself to me.”
“Yes,” she whispered, as he trailed kisses down the center of her body. Towering over her on all fours, his cock fully erect again and straining toward her, he was the one who looked magnificently beautiful.
“You will show me everything, Myrina.” He kissed her navel, causing her stomach to flutter madly.
“Yes,” she said, again.
“You will hide nothing.”
She shook her head.
“Then, Myrina deCarte, I will show you how the necklace makes you mine.”
He’d barely touched her and yet his hot words scorched her body. Every millimeter of skin ached for him. But he was taking his sweet damn time about seeing to her needs. She was wearing his necklace, dammit. She—
Saw his finger touch the rim of the pendant one moment, and the next three slim chains were shooting out of the rounded bottom of the stone, landing on her belly. She cried out in surprise. After all that heat, the chains were cool. Judan grinned.
“What?” she gasped.
“Your breasts are so pretty, Myrina,” he said. “They deserve to be on display.”
He plucked a nipple in his thumb and forefinger. She gasped, arching her body up, offering herself to him. He nodded, more to himself than to her and selected one of the chains. Releasing her nipple, he slid a thin hoop over the nub. She tensed in anticipation. Gently, he tugged on the chain, tightening the hoop. She cried out again as fire licked at her, coursing through her system straight to her pussy.
“That’s right,” he said.
He rubbed her stomach, soothing her. Lulling her into a state of semi-relaxation. He paused once to check the tension of the first chain, then, satisfied, he set to work harnessing her other nipple.
By the time he was finished, her breath came hard and fast. The pressure wasn’t painful. Still, she was intensely aware of the tiny hoops and the chains’ hold on her. Aware of the constant lick of flame feeding the growing inferno inside her.
He crawled backwards until his head was level with her thighs.
“One more,” he told her.
She couldn’t help it. She tensed again, imagining where the third and longest chain would go. He adjusted his position, so that now her legs were draped over his thighs, exposing her. To him. The pillow he’d tossed onto the floor earlier was within reach and he grabbed it, lifted her bottom and stuffed the pillow underneath her, displaying her pussy for his viewing pleasure.
And all the while his hands roamed over her heated flesh. Caressing, kneading, exploring. He bent his head low over her body and licked her navel. He had to hold her hips to keep her from rearing up off the floor.
“Do you see this small stone?” he asked holding up the third chain.
There, along its length, glistened a small, round stone. She nodded. Like a jeweler, he fitted the stone into the setting of her navel. He laid the remaining length of chain on her stomach. His fingers tickled her mound.
She rolled her head back and forth, trying and failing to control the spasms that pulsed in her pussy. He’d spoken the truth. Her hands were slick with sweat and she doubted she would have been able to hold onto the poles if his hair hadn’t bound her in place. The undersides of her breasts were damp, too, from the constant pressure of the hoops keeping her nipples erect.
Digging her heels against his thigh, she bucked against his hand. His fingers dipped through her curly hairs to part the walls of her labia. She caught her breath and cried out when his thumb scraped across her clit.
“Please,” she whimpered, wanting, needing more.
Apparently satisfied she was ready, he lifted the final length of chain. She shook her head, not sure she could accept more of this exquisite torture.
“Show me everything,” he said, fitting the final thin hoop over her clit.
A mini orgasm rocked her body. He slid two fingers inside her and her hips immediately bucked against them, her sheath clamping them tight inside her. He held his fingers still, letting her ride out the sudden storm. His free hand continued to caress her, soothe her.
When it was over, he pulled his fingers free. But it wasn’t over. Bracing his arms to hold her legs wide, he bent his head and licked the length of her pussy.
She screamed, tried to buck, her arms straining against the restraints. Too much. The tension was back, strumming though her veins. Her body cried out for immediate release as if she hadn’t just come.
He continued to lap at her juices, careful to avoid the ultra-sensitive nub. His tongue delved deep
inside her, mimicking the thrust of a cock. The walls of her pussy clenched, desperate for the hot, hard length of him filling her. Thrusting inside her. And still he continued to enjoy his feast. Bringing her close to ecstasy, but never over the edge.
In her mindless haze, she vaguely realized the little loops around her clit and nipples somehow prevented her final release.
She started begging long before her body went into convulsive spasms. And each time he’d simply whisper two words—”Show me.” When her entire body clenched, straining for release, he reared up on all fours, which caused her legs to slide further apart. An offering he didn’t seem to be in any hurry to take.
Instead, he crawled on his hands up the length of her body, surveying his handiwork. She melted under his sensuous gaze. Digging her heels against his thighs, she bucked, begging him to take her. He pulled back just enough to prevent her from taking what she wanted.
“My turn,” he whispered and bent down to nuzzle her neck.
She groaned when he allowed his cock to dip low enough to scrape against her mound.
“Please.”
“Soon.” He kissed her collarbone, working his way steadily downward and around the curve of one breast. Then he set to work gently removing the hoop before he sucked the nipple into his mouth, hard.
Too much. Her body cried out in pleasure-pain. She was super conscious of the remaining chains and hoops keeping her aroused. Preventing her release.
When he moved to the second breast, she tensed. Anticipating. Waiting. For him. How could one man do this to her? He bent over her, allowing his hot breath to fan her engorged nipple before he touched it with the tip of his tongue.
“Ahh!”
Her breath came hard and fast. Her exquisitely sensitive nipple tightened further against its restraint sending a flare of liquid heat straight to her pussy. The second hoop was off and her nub was in his mouth before she’d recovered. His wet mouth did nothing to douse the flames rising within her.
Slowly. Ever so slowly, he kissed his way down her body, past the curls to the hoop encircling her clit. By now anticipation rode her.
Please. I need to come so badly. Please. Please. Please.
He removed the hoop and sucked her clit into his mouth.
She screamed. Her legs would have thrashed violently if he hadn’t been holding them down, too. Shock waves surged out across her entire body sending it into total orgasm. Wave after wave after endless wave. She lost all sensory contact. Each upsurge consumed her and was rapidly followed by the next one.
Minutes, hours, days later, she didn’t know and didn’t care, the sensations died down until they were only tiny ripples echoing across her body. Boneless, exhausted, she lay on the floor unable to move. Barely able to think.
Judan’s face appeared above hers.
“You were magnificent, Little Warrior.”
Magnificent. Hadn’t she called him that?
“Don’t leave.”
He had to bend low to catch her words. She tried to shout but only a whisper of sound escaped. She was so limp, so helpless, she couldn’t move at all when his hair released its hold on her. Oh-so gently, he gathered her in his arms and carried her to the bed. The last thing she remembered was his body curling around her own. Giving her permission to sleep because he would be there, protecting her.
* * * * *
Myrina woke slowly, reluctant to open her eyes. How could she look around her elegant room without thinking decadence, sensuality, seduction?
Languidly, she stretched her limbs. Lazybones. A favorite term of the matron at the orphanage whenever Myrina or some other child was slow to get up in the mornings. But that’s exactly how her body felt today.
Lazy and deliciously sated.
Peeking through her eyelashes to the other side of the bed, she discovered it was empty. He’d left her then. But only very recently because she could see the indentation of his big body on the bed. She reached out a hand. The spot was still warm. Just as her body was. Still warm from his touch.
The scent of alam bark mixed with male sweat lingered in the bed with her. She rolled over, savoring the satiny texture of the sheet beneath her skin. A soft moan escaped her lips when the sheet, tangled in her legs, tightened against her pussy.
Sated? She was no such thing. The banked embers from last night’s inferno sparked to life. Her hips rocked against the sheet increasing the pressure.
Damn, she needed Judan here with her this morning!
She reached up and cupped her breasts. Both of them ached for his touch. Her thumb and forefinger searched and found her nipple jutting proudly from her areola. The other was the same. Anticipating their submission to him. She pinched and pulled them and her hips rose in answer.
Slowly, she trailed a hand down her rib cage and across her stomach. The bed wasn’t the only place where Judan had left his imprint. Maybe he had set out to learn her body, but it was her body that had learned his touch. Her legs parted and her hand dipped lower. Two fingers slid beneath the folds of her labia already slick with her juices. The tiniest brush of her finger against her clitoris forced her to cry out in pleasure-pain. Her entire womb was over-sensitized. Marked as his.
With each stroke the exquisite tension built. She sobbed and her body bowed as the flames fanned higher. It didn’t take long. When the orgasm hit she clutched the sheet, burying her mouth against the mattress to muffle her scream.
Myrina pushed herself into a sitting position, shaking her head to clear the grogginess. She glanced at the clock beside her bed. She’d already slept late when she’d woken the first time. After her self-induced orgasm she’d actually dozed off. Since sleeping at all aboard a spaceship was a minor miracle, she wasn’t sure how she’d rate dozing. A healthy round of orgasmic sex was the one cure to anxiety-induced insomnia she’d never tried before.
No, that made what had happened last night between her and Judan sound like a prescription cure-all, rather than… She glanced at the rumpled sheets. The outline of his body was still visible. Proof he’d kept his promise and held her all night. While, incidentally, she’d been aboard a ship traveling at faster-than-light speeds and doing crazy hyperslide stunts.
She scrambled to the edge of the bed. The first thing she saw was the pendant he’d given her last night lying on the side table. He must have removed it after he’d carried her to bed. She picked up the necklace, clutching the teardrop-shaped stone. When she ran her finger around the faceted edge she found the tiny lever that released the chains he’d adorned her with the night before. She was careful not to trigger the catch. Even without the secret compartment, the necklace was an exquisite work of craftsmanship. By far the most beautiful and, without a doubt, the most expensive piece of jewelry she’d ever owned.
Owned.
She now owned this necklace. The morning after was a bit late to decide she couldn’t accept such a gift. Besides, she’d accepted a lot more than a hunk of stone, gorgeous as it was, when Judan had surrendered himself to her. Yet she was the one who’d been overwhelmed by the primal honesty of his reaction.
Lifting the chain over her head she put the pendant around her neck. The rounded end of the teardrop sat nestled between her breasts. She would wear it today. A gift from her lover and a potent reminder of her gift to him.
Ten minutes later she was showered and dressed in the same pants she’d had on the day before plus a T-shirt. She’d never been one to waste time on the routine chores of daily living when she had somewhere else to be and other things to do. Picking up her towel from the counter, she gave her nearly dry hair another rubdown. Gorgeous—and talented—as Judan’s hair was, she preferred easy care. She hung up the towel and turned back to the mirror, then leaned closer for a better look. Sure enough, the dark circles under her eyes really were gone. With quick, light strokes she feathered her hair into some semblance of a style.
Strange. She turned her head for a better look. She must have Judan’s amazing hair on the brain because sh
e could swear she was seeing reddish highlights among the golden-brown.
Right. Time to quit fantasizing about great sex and get to work.
She spent the morning in the lab, after a short detour through the deserted galley for her morning meal. This time she focused on Lorre and an intense study of Dakokatan DNA, tracking the changes that had occurred in the dead Outposter until his death. The task was like searching for a needle in the proverbial haystack. Since she’d spent many a summer working on one of her patroness’s farms, she knew firsthand how seemingly insurmountable the task was.
But the job absorbed her thoughts and virtually blocked out the minute tremors that vibrated through the floor of the ship when the Speedlite took another space-time jump and then shuddered into the third hyperslide of their trip.
Judan visited her in the lab around midmorning. His eyes lit with pleasure when he saw she was wearing the necklace. Her heart did a crazy flutter when he reached out to hold the pendant and the back of his hand brushed against her. For a split second the push and pull of lust stirred between them, a remembrance of their night together. It was a little crazy, this madness they shared for each other in the midst of a crisis. And Judan must have felt the same way, too, because he gave Myrina—by their usual standards—a chaste kiss hello.
Then he asked for a status report, making the request sound almost routine. Only it wasn’t and they both knew it. Each hyperslide took them closer and closer to Hitani. Her time was running out. And with all but the most critical patients off their meds, the Outposters’ chances were running out, too, unless she had a solution in place by the time they arrived above the planet.
By midday frustration ate at her optimism. Each time she looked at the data she saw exactly the same information and knew she was missing a vital link. The key that had turned on the steady, intense breakdown of the Outposters’ bodies.
Figuratively throwing her hands in the air an hour later, she stalked out of the lab, intending to go to the mess room. Except when she reached the elevator, she rode it all the way up to the observation lounge on the top deck. The one, maybe the only, good thing about being aboard a spaceship was looking at the stars any time of the day. And suddenly she wanted to.
Love Partner Page 13
