She clung to Terig, not letting him leave. “Whatever wrongs you’ve committed, I see the respectable man you are. You deserve to believe in yourself again, as your clanmates do.”
“You are so sweet. So naïve,” he half-laughed, half-groaned. “I’m only trouble. A failure. You can’t want me.”
“But I do.” Piper sank to her knees before him, her hands trailing over his thighs. The armored formsuit couldn’t disguise the graceful shape of his long, muscled legs. She inhaled his spicy-sweet scent of desire with yearning. Kalquorian men smelled so yummy when they were aroused, reminding her of a cinnamon dessert. She licked her lips. “I need you inside me. I wish to taste you.”
His eyes widened. A fine trembling broke out over his body, as if he fought a war within—to accept her invitation, to refuse her for fear he wouldn’t be able to keep from injuring her.
Piper was glad Terig had no inclination for finesse, because it was far down her list as well. She rubbed her palm directly over his crotch, though the thickness of the fabric between her flesh and his told her he couldn’t possibly feel her eager touch. But perhaps the sight of her fondling him and a blatant invitation would tip him over the edge. “My mouth is yours. Take it.”
It worked. With a shout, Terig grasped the crotch of his uniform and pulled apart the seam. His cocks, wet with excitement, burst out.
Piper gave him no time to think. She enveloped the lower cock, drawing it to the back of her throat before releasing it and sucking deeply on the primary. Now it was Terig fisting her hair, his groans loud as she moved between his livid members, sucking and stroking their undersides with her tongue.
She delighted in the frantic pulse drumming through the veins of him, in the delicious flavor that his scent had only hinted at. The manner in which his legs shook as she serviced him was its own tribute. Every harsh gasp praised her as she offered herself for his pleasure.
And hers, as well. Piper thrilled to the wildness in Terig’s expression as he watched her suck his cocks, at how his eyes darkened when she choked on his lengths. Showing him that she held nothing back, that she found him worthy of all she could give.
“You—you look beautiful—with your mouth on me,” he grunted. “Gagging on me. On your knees—fuck. Ancestors, I could come this way.”
She paused to tell him, “Yes, you could. I’ll swallow whatever you give me.”
“Mother of All!” His expression was strained. “Don’t say such things. I can’t take it.”
Another pause. “I’ll open my mouth wide so you can watch your cum fill it.”
“Fuck!” He jerked against her tongue as she went down on his primary. He shouted again. “Fuck!”
Piper concentrated on his larger dick, wrapping her hand around the other. As she ministered to the groaning Nobek, she stroked her wet cunt, rubbing her clit with an educated thumb. Her senses suffused with delight, both from her own touch and from Terig’s excitement.
“No. No, I must have that Earther pussy too,” Terig insisted. “That’s where I want to come.”
Moving with dizzying speed, he pulled himself from her, bent down, and picked Piper up. An instant later, the metal table was beneath her shoulders, under her ass, with her legs hanging over the end.
She didn’t get a chance to consciously react to the cold surface that sent chills racing over her skin. Terig was too fast, his mouth locking on her womanhood and devouring her with the same ardor as Nako had.
It was Piper’s turn to cry out as lips, tongue, and fingers plundered. Electric sizzles zapped through her. She twisted so desperately that Terig had to yank her from the edge of the table before she tumbled off.
“You will come for me first,” Terig promised, settling his palm beneath her collar bone, holding her down. He shoved fingers in, fucking her as she kicked helplessly. “You’re not going anywhere until you climax. It’s been a while, but I do recall Kalquorian women having a place inside…right about here…”
His fingertips rubbed on the inner wall of Piper’s pussy. An incredible surge of rapture made her buck, ripping a ragged cry from her throat.
“The same for Earthers? Lovely. Now, do we go gentle or hard?”
He slowed the pace, his thick digits slipping through her channel like silk while he circled her clit with his thumb. Piper stopped kicking, but she clung to his forearm with both hands, holding on as the molten tide rose more gradually.
“That’s it,” Terig crooned, watching her avidly. “Nice girl, pretty girl, with her eager little pussy begging to be fucked. With her clit swollen and tender. That feels good, doesn’t it? You love this.”
Piper more than loved it. It was heaven, being held down by this insistent beast, helpless as he slid in and out of her, his thumb teasing. He kept her suspended in bliss, stroking to make her desperate for more.
Yet she made no demands, despite her senses straining for that next level of pleasure. Terig was in control, he mastered her, and she couldn’t imagine exerting her own will. Even needs that grew more insistent with each stroke had no power to force her request he satisfy her. From the moment she’d knelt at his feet, she’d devoted herself to what he wished. Mounting ardor didn’t override that.
“This is nice. But I think I enjoyed you out of your mind with excitement too. Let’s return to that. I must see you crazy.”
With that, he pounded his fingers into her, shoving in fast, again rubbing the sensitive spot. His palm clapped against her clit, and agony blasted through her. It quickly transmuted into a heady bliss that took her to the brink of orgasm.
“Please!”
“It excites you? Then you shall have more, my lovely,” Terig promised.
Again and again, he drove into her. Again and again, his hand smacked her clit. Piper thrashed, but there was no escape. Climax roared through her, eclipsing all but the rapid thud-thud-thud reverberating from her pussy, up her spine, to burst through her skull.
A voice in her ear, barely heard above her strangled screams. “Again.”
As if her body had been trained to obey, a new shock blasted her womanhood. Shattering aftershocks rolled through her in its wake, unaffected by Terig pulling free of her sex.
Mists cleared from Piper’s mind, making her aware of a thicker, more adamant pressure at the entrance to her channel. She gasped as Terig hooked her legs over his arms, yanking her towards him as he thrust into her pussy and ass.
It brought another heady pain, another immense orgasm. One that continued to pulse through her as Terig plunged, fucking her with relentless insistence.
“Yes! Yes, my beauty. Keep…coming…clutching my…cocks…fuck…squeezing them…yes…Mother of All, yes…so fucking…good…”
His bearded and scarred visage hung over her, not angelic like Ulof at his best, but heroic, a tragic beauty that was all Terig’s own. Riveting. Noble, despite him straining to hold off sensual gratification.
Seeing Terig in that light set Piper’s heart to beating fast. She hoped she granted him some respite from the guilt and doubts that plagued him, just as he released some of the poison of her failings.
When his weight settled on her, his cries ringing in her ears, his cocks jerking deep within her as he filled her with his passion, Piper kissed his scarred face, the pressing her lips to each mark, every external hurt he’d suffered that she could reach. She wished she could soothe the internal hurts too, along with erasing the errors the proud warrior couldn’t forgive himself for.
Terig groaned as seed unfurled from his cock in enthralling bursts, flowing into the tender sheath holding him tightly. The warmth of her sexual clutch spread through him, a haven of comfort. A shelter of care.
He knew almost nothing of the woman, but he’d do anything for her. Piper was incredible. Brave enough to tame a Tragoom, to fight free of a Bi’isil master. A soft, welcoming embrace where a tired and hurting warrior could rest. The kind of person Terig would fight the most hopeless of battles for, whom he’d die to save.
And how would you do
that? The way you fuck things up, she’d be space debris in a week. You’re not the Nobek Piper needs.
The voice of blame was right. Defending people from getting killed was beyond Terig’s capabilities. He could no more accept responsibility for her welfare than he could for the raider’s crew.
But who else was capable? Sesin? That was a laugh. Terig wouldn’t trust that fool to find his own dicks, even if there were a couple of naked Plasians clinging to them and shouting directions.
Nako could handle it, but Nako was a Dramok first, a protector second. As captain, he had too many duties—not to mention now the fate of the Kalquorian Empire—on his hands. He couldn’t make Piper’s well-being his priority.
It was Terig’s place to keep her safe. But he couldn’t. He’d end up failing her if he tried.
We’re going into danger. Someone has to watch over her.
He gathered her in his arms as her lips caressed his cheek, his stomach knotting. Sweet, trusting female. Stuck with a failure of a Nobek as her best defense.
Chapter 11
Take on a little responsibility, whatever you can handle, even if it’s only a laughably small amount. On Earth, we called it, ‘sticking your toe in the water’. Rebuild, Terig.
Piper’s advice rang in the Nobek’s brain as he retired to his clan’s quarters. He’d been tempted to stay with her, to watch her as she slept in her assigned berth, but she had insisted that he talk to Nako.
The door to the small, private space he shared with Nako and Ulof opened obligingly at his approach. Terig went in and stopped short to see only his Dramok, who stood by the large, empty sleeping mat, staring at its smooth surface with a drawn expression. Nako lifted his head and met Terig’s gaze.
Terig couldn’t help but compare the man before him with the still-vid photo hanging on the wall behind Nako. In the shot, his Dramok, beaming from ear to ear, stood next to his favorite writer, Imdiko Miragin. A far different Nako. One who wore many of the same scars, but somehow didn’t appear as beaten.
Ancestors, he looked exhausted lately. And miserable. How long had he been standing here, all by himself? Terig had forgotten Ulof was pouting in his kitchen.
He wondered if his Imdiko had overheard his sexual encounter with Piper. Probably.
“Earthers are damned incredible, aren’t they?” Nako was fully aware of it as well, his sense of smell picking it up as unerringly as Terig had detected the Earther on him.
“One Earther female is, at any rate.” At least his Dramok was speaking to him again. Rebuild, Terig. “I’ll go on any away missions we undertake with Admiral Piras’s spies, my Dramok. As subcommander, I’ll—I’ll make it my duty to ensure Sesin doesn’t fuck anything up. You have my word on that.”
The dejection in Nako’s demeanor eased. A smile ghosted over his handsome face. “As you wish, my Nobek. Thank you.”
It abruptly occurred to Terig that he’d had an automatic instinct to protect Piper in the aftermath of making love to her. Why did he have to fight for that in the case of his crewmates? His clanmates?
Fuck. As their Nobek, it was his obligation to protect Nako and Ulof. Yet by refusing to see to the ship’s safety, he refused to watch over them too. Had he fallen so far from honor?
He had. Yet the idea of taking on his natural calling, of being a real Nobek to his clan and raider, felt as heavy as a lead weight in his chest. The sensation he was smothering made the room tilt.
I can’t do this. It’s too much. I’ll get everyone killed!
Instead of shoving that burden off, which the jabbering voice in his skull insisted he must, Terig forced the next words out between his teeth. “If—if Sesin does something to jeopardize us, I’ll take command.” The room was definitely rocking now, but Terig forced himself to repeat the awful declaration. “If I’m needed, I’ll take command.”
“My Nobek. You can’t fathom what this means to me.” Nako smiled for real. He stepped close, resting his hands on Terig’s shoulders. Somehow, that steadied the floor, made it easier to breathe.
I can do this. For him. For Ulof. For my shipmates and Piper. I can manage this little bit, and I won’t destroy them all in the process.
Perhaps recognizing the advantages of diverting Terig from such a monumental shift, Nako glanced at their empty bed. “Ulof is making good on his threat to sleep in the kitchen tonight. Knowing him, he’s not sleeping at all.”
“More likely, he’s punching the walls and not bothering with calming exercises. Especially since he’s most certainly aware I was enjoying a woman while he was sulking and waiting for an apology.”
“I suppose we should go fetch him. Quiet him down, help him gain control over his temper so he doesn’t do anything he’ll hate himself for later.”
“I’ll bring an extra set of cuffs.”
“Excellent plan.”
In sync once more, they left their quarters to collect their clanmate.
* * * *
Six hours after enjoying the delights of Matara Piper, Terig left the phased shuttle he’d flown into enemy territory with twenty of Nako’s finest security, as well as Weapons Commander Sesin. They joined Captain Kila and the men he’d brought on board the destroyer they’d crippled. The low illumination of backup lights and lack of humming engine sound told Terig the enemy’s systems had not been restored.
“You know where to go, what to do,” the murderously smirking Kila told his men. “If they’ve gotten anywhere with fixing their weapons, wreck it. Chief, deploy those nanospies and find all their codes. Same with com records.”
“Yes, Captain.” Imdiko Lokmi hurried off with a contingent of ten other engineers.
Kila eyed Sesin. His glance strayed to Terig, who struggled to keep his expression bland. He wondered if Nako had tipped Kila off as to the weapons commander’s unworthiness.
“Captain Nako’s crew, you’re with me. Let’s go find the captain of this vessel.”
Kila took point, and Sesin didn’t object. The spy captain led them from the shuttle bay, where they’d left their phased vessels with none of the destroyer crew the wiser.
Terig glanced at the silver pin attached to his uniform. He had decided he wasn’t a fan of phasing. Being in two different dimensions of space, passing invisible through objects and other men, was uncomfortable as fuck. He grimaced as an unaware enemy walked right through him without breaking stride. It produced an odd, dragging sensation in Terig’s body.
This is fucked up. Give me a stand-up fight any day. Not this skulking around like a disembodied, cowardly spirit.
If it would do the job, he had to bear up to the uneasiness. He’d have his chance for face-to-face confrontation soon enough.
The invaders gained the destroyer’s bridge in short order, Kila knowing his way around such a craft. The deck was semi-dark and the scent of smoke hung heavy in the air. Frowning uniformed men engaged in repairs. Most of the computer podiums were manned, which Terig supposed meant they were making inroads.
“Captain’s podium.” Kila jerked his head at one man standing at a post in the middle of the bridge.
Except for his stubbled jaw, the destroyer’s captain was the model of respectability with his worn but clean uniform, brushed shoulder-length hair, and notable lack of scars. For that matter, most of the crew was as politely turned out. A disciplined bunch, at least as far as appearances were concerned. Terig was willing to bet none had ever set foot on a raider, where every man, even dressed in his best, still held an aura of wildness.
“Okay, pick your targets and stand ready. Remember, officers are most important.” Kila sidled to the captain.
Terig singled out a Dramok who seemed intent on checking up on the repair crews and those bent over podiums. He followed him from the helm to the weapons podium, where his quarry paused.
At Kila’s signal, the party de-phased, appearing from out of nowhere to the startled destroyer crew. Alarms went off, but other than a few shocked cries, no one moved. Terig reasoned that was proba
bly due to the trespassers having blasters trained at them, prepared to fire.
“Good morning, traitors! We’re here to have a conversation. Or blow your heads off. I’m happy either way,” Kila boomed.
He would have done well on a raider. He had the attitude. Terig had to fend off a smile of his own, lest their prisoners believe there was mercy to be had. He doubted he could pull off Kila’s alarming leer.
As for the destroyer captain, the snarl of a cornered animal erupted on his face before he ordered, “Everyone, stand down. Computer, turn those damned alarms off.”
The blaring ceased. Kila’s hale-and-well-met attitude increased. “Excellent! I’m tempted to believe that siding with Dramok Maf doesn’t mean all your brain cells have died off, then. Give me your name, asshole.”
“Captain Hilg. I know who you are. You’re not welcome on either side of the war these days, Captain Kila,” Hilg sneered.
“I enjoy thinking for myself and not being led about on someone’s leash.” His grin was fearsome, promising bedlam and destruction if he was pushed too hard. Terig’s respect edged up another notch.
Hilg wasn’t so smart. He folded his arms over his chest and looked Kila over, as if not impressed by what he saw. “You haven’t finished the job of destroying my ship. You want to talk. I must be valuable to you in some fashion.”
“Not really. Anyone on your destroyer will do for what I’m after. Piss me off, and I’ll kill you and move to the next in the chain in command. If your first officer pisses me off, he dies too. And so on down the line until someone gives me what I want.”
“Which is?” Hilg’s haughty bearing faded a touch.
“Deliver a message to Maf. He needs to meet with Admiral Piras immediately about a threat making its way to the Empire from Bi’is. A threat that will kill every single Kalquorian in the empire.”
“Bi’is is helping us hold off our enemies.” Hilg snorted, taking refuge in arrogance. “You believe the empire will win. You hope that by turning us against our allies, Kalquor will welcome you home.”
Alien Outcast (Clans of Kalquor Book 12) Page 11
