As apologies went, Jape could have won clemency for murder.
The sensual tides were interrupted by a poignant nip from Jape’s front teeth. They were blunt, but the sting they delivered was riveting enough that Velia’s mouth flew wide open and she gasped.
“Too much?” he asked.
“No, I—any more would have been too far, but—that was—wow.” Could she explain the bolt of pure need that dashed from his teeth straight to her clit?
Explain? She couldn’t get a coherent sentence out.
Jape chuckled and returned to kissing and licking, all tenderness. His tails moved up to her thighs, rubbing, making her pliant to all he wished. Especially when they came close to her pussy.
She was falling into a hypnotized state when he nipped her again. Once more, it was more pleasure than pain, and Velia clutched his mane. Stroked down to his shoulders. Traced the musculature, fascinated with the swells, dips, and divots.
He regarded her with calm objection. “Not yet. Please? Let me do this.”
“It makes me happy to hold you.”
“And I am happy to be held by you. More than you can imagine. But this is important, Velia.”
She could tell it meant a great deal to him that he served her. It was the only reason she drove off the guilt that came from having all the fun.
She enjoyed being served. She could get used to it, if she could calm that impulse to reciprocate right away.
With her breasts tingling and warm, Jape moved down, investigating farther. He seemed intent on tasting each inch of her stomach, and Velia was surprised at how she responded to the attention. Or perhaps it was the anticipation of where he would end up. His tails had stopped moving up and down her thighs, the tips rubbing with almost tentative care in the creases between those and her sex.
Her wet, aching sex. Jape would not fondle her there soon enough.
When he reached her mound, he nuzzled the dark curls. He snickered, bringing Velia slightly out of her aroused fog. She lifted her head to look at him as he scrunched his nose. “What’s so funny?”
“Your hair tickled me.”
“Jeez, that’s sexy. Way to wake me from my dream—oh. Oh!”
Her head fell on the pillow, and she stared up at Cadi, its blue curve rising over the dome. All her attention centered on the warm, wet, openmouthed kiss Jape gave her pussy. A kiss that kept going, his lips and tongue working over her folds, dipping into her core, melting her like magma.
In the eternity of bliss that followed, Velia wasn’t sure if she drew a breath. She wasn’t sure of anything except the velvet of Jape’s mouth moving against her, dissolving her. Chirping cries joined the roaring in her ears and thunder of her heart. It was a long time before she realized those noises were coming from her, announcing each spasm that Jape’s mouthing drew.
He paused at last. “You taste so sweet, Velia. I could spend an eternity with you this way.”
The translator told her what he said, but Velia couldn’t make heads or striped tails of it. The swells of rapture between her legs garbled Jape’s words into nonsense. All she could discern was his contentment with her...and that was all she needed to find gratification beyond the sexual thrills.
The grips coiled around her upper thighs slid down, above her knees. Jape widened her legs and bent them up, spreading her. His face drifted down again.
His lips seized her clit as fingers pushed inside, searching for the sensitive spot. Velia shouted and sat up when he found it, then flopped down to writhe over the soft mattress beneath her. Sensation boomed through her as Jape drove in and out, applying friction that felt violent after the sweetness of his earlier kisses.
His tongue dragged over her clit, delivering another forceful wallop through her pussy. The gentle rolls of bliss that had built bit by bit while he loved her were leaping to find the summit. Jape kept licking, thrusting over and over, igniting fiery trails that had only one end.
Velia yelled, grabbing the rails of the headboard with all of her strength. Gorgeous destruction was thundering toward her, and she had nowhere to run. Her insides twisted tight, the furious passion coalescing into a point that got smaller and brighter with each stroke, drawing into a single mote of brilliance.
Then an unraveling, restraint snapping like an overstressed cord. It released inside her all at once, billowing wide. There was a moment of pure silence, in which the whole of the universe stood still.
Then, cataclysm. A terrific detonation, followed by tidal waves of ecstasy bursting through her, fed by Jape gently sucking on her clit. Velia tossed on the surges, consumed. Cries tore from her throat.
When it seemed she might emerge from the chaos, he licked her clit once more, setting her off again. And again. Until Velia was sure she must turn inside out before he would be satisfied.
At last, the surges eased, leaving her gasping and limp on the bed. Demolished. Wrecked. And joyous.
Jape crawled up until his face hovered over hers. His tails held her open, and something hot and broad settled against her pussy.
“Usually, we’d stop here,” he told her. “I would come to you again tomorrow night and continue to prove my worth. Since we’ve already gone far, I’ll leave it up to you. Your choice.”
This time, his words contained a little more sense. Velia’s brain picked through them and arrived at the conclusion that she could have more if she wanted.
As if there were any doubt. Shattered as she was, there couldn’t be enough Jape. If she was down to her final breath, Velia would desire him.
Even with his weight on her, even with his tails holding her, even loose limbed in the aftermath of explosive orgasm, Velia found the wherewithal to flex her hips and take the thick head of him within her. With a groan, Jape did the rest, sinking deep inside to make them both cry out.
What followed was a dream. When they weren’t kissing, they gazed into each other’s faces. Velia wrapped her arms around Jape’s neck, and he didn’t ask her not to. He gathered her close, pulling her yielding body to his harder frame. He moved within her, now slowly, now quickly, now stopped so they enjoyed the connection, now grinding against her.
Velia couldn’t call what they did sex. For her part, she made love. Though she’d been the advocate for trust-invested intercourse, for the first instance in her life, she understood the distinction between the two. Once, twice, three times, the night was spent that way, until exhaustion took them both, entwined with each other, as if they’d been fused into one.
Chapter Nineteen
Jape peeled his eyes open. His head felt heavy in the first light of day, but the rest of him? Damned good. All might not be right in the world, but for a few precious seconds, he could pretend it was. That was worth having a skull that weighed a ton from lack of sleep. Along with the reason he hadn’t slept enough.
He turned to regard the source of the warmth next to him. Velia was awake too, sitting up, propped on pillows as she stared at the brightening sky over the dome. Maybe she hadn’t slept at all.
The fatigue left him. At the start of the new day, she was more beautiful than before, radiant from within rather than the outside source. Her hair screwed in tangles from their night, and he loved seeing it so mussed—evidence of what they’d shared.
Emotion and trust during sex. The combination had blown all prior intimacies out of the water.
His pleasure muted as he saw the tight set of her jaw. Had he done something wrong despite all her seeming bliss the night before? As the sun chased away the beautiful secrets of the night, did she regret giving him a chance?
All-Spirit, don’t let this be over now that I’ve had the sense to start. Not when I’ve had a glimpse of all she is.
He reached for her, shy about doing so. The skin of her arm was warm beneath his fingertips. Jape scarcely breathed as she turned her gaze toward him. Hating to break the si
lence, he asked, “Are you all right?”
She smiled at him, the tension easing. She sank into his arms with a willingness that soothed his concerns. His whole being came alive as she melded to him.
“When it comes to you, I’m wonderful,” Velia said in that smoky voice that tickled his ears.
His fear that he’d committed an error eased. Yet, her expression had been troubled when he’d woken. “I’m glad it’s not me putting such a serious look on your face. Will you tell me what is?”
“I don’t want to mess things up all over again. I’m ready to be selfish and pretend last night was all my life has ever been and all it ever will be.”
His hearts beat faster, thinking of all the ways her statement could be taken. How much some of those paths appealed to him.
This is what happened to Nex when he met Anneliese. What Arga described happened to Kren when the first Earthling showed up.
It would be so easy to do the same. Jape knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt. He cared for Velia. It could be more, now that he saw her for who she was.
But that was a double-edged sword. Because he cared, he couldn’t allow her to dismiss what was important to her. He couldn’t allow her to deny what her spirit drove her to do. Not for him.
“You wish to pursue the matter of talking to your general. To finish your mission of helping the Risnarish come to a compromise with your people. I understand, Velia.”
Her dark eyes lit with that inner fire. Excitement vibrated through her. He could feel her joy.
All she wanted was to be heard. I will not deny her that again.
Best of all, she snuggled, as if they could get closer than they already were. “I wish we had something in hand to make General Thomas recognize the Monsuda for what they are. I wish we could convince him to come here, rather than you or Ehar having to go there.”
Jape understood that what he’d called blind, misplaced loyalty was no different from how he’d felt about his own people. Protection at any cost. He’d judged himself honorable for that, while dismissing Velia for the same thing.
I’m the one who is blind. But no more.
“Maybe we can convince your general to take a tour once he’s met with us. If I go to him to talk, perhaps he will return with me. I know what I’d show him too.”
“Would you? What about Ehar? What do you want him to see?”
Jape chuckled as she battered him with questions, her excitement growing as realization dawned. Was she delighted that they would open up communications with her general, or was it something else? He wasn’t dismissing her. He wasn’t telling her no. He was listening, taking her seriously. Which of those things made her happiest?
He chose the questions he had answers ready for. “I’ll tell Arga he’s in charge of Cas for a few days. We have to go somewhere, check into some important things.”
“Where are we going?”
“To our capital, Yitrow. You need to visit that hive in person, and I need to meet with the Assembly.”
* * *
Despite being as muscled as any gym rat on Earth, the handsome olive man with the brown stripes was far smaller than Jape in all ways. Height, bulk—Velia couldn’t figure out if he made Jape appear clumsy or if Jape made him look wispy.
He stood before the chamber Jape had led them to once they’d arrived at the Yitrow hive, several yards beyond the portal chamber. Olive Man put his hand to his chest. “From my spirit to yours. It is good to see you again, Jape.”
“And you, Nex. This is Velia Farrah. She is an engineer.”
“Ah, a fellow techie, as Anneliese calls me. Welcome, Velia.” Nex’s gentle demeanor softened more.
“Thank you, Nex. Is Anneliese here too?” It would be nice to talk to a sympathetic human.
“No, she’s drilling with the troops.” He’d said “drilling with the troops” in English.
Velia chuckled. “And contaminating your language.”
Nex shrugged. “It did cause some concern, but I reminded our leaders that we’ve added several Hisean and Thall terms to our language throughout the years. That calmed them down.”
Some of Velia’s pleasure dimmed at what lay ahead. “I guess visiting this stasis chamber in person is a lot harder than watching your video records.”
“Much worse. Are you ready?”
Velia glanced at Jape, searching for reassurance and wondering at herself as she did so.
I have his support now. A lot has changed in twenty-four hours. Or however long a Risnarish day lasts.
Velia squared her shoulders. “I need to see it for myself, no matter how awful.”
“Come on in.”
She followed Nex into the room, with Jape on her heels. She took comfort in having him behind her. She took strength from his presence, which startled her. Having Jape near was like wrapping herself in a warm blanket on a cold night.
As she entered the room, she noted on her left the typical, horrible lab setup that had been present in the other rooms. Her gaze tried to skitter nervously from the multiple-armed apparatus that hung over the lab table. She refused to let it, staring at the awful creation that had drilled, cut, and injected God knew how many innocent victims rendered helpless on the table.
If Retav survived hours facing that and all the horrors it gave him, I can deal with it from my safe six-foot distance.
Having proven her courage to herself, Velia turned to her right. Similar to the storage room at the Cas hive, row after row of the coffinlike stasis chambers hung in silent battalions.
In contrast to the Cas hive, half of these displayed faces in the clear-bubble head compartments. Some were striped with foxy ears. Some were not. Some were male. Some were female. Somehow, they were all identical, waxwork figures in a warehouse.
Nex’s expression was troubled. “This is the largest collection of our peoples, a lot more than what Hahz or Cas had. It’s taking a monumental effort to send them home.”
“Salno said some were from an earlier time, and you’re not sure what to do with them.”
“We’ve been placing them at the rear of the chamber until we figure out how to deal with their situations. The Assembly leans toward waking them eventually, because they deserve to live out their lives. After that...well, how do you tell someone who last saw their home two hundred and fifty years ago that everyone they loved is gone?”
“I can’t imagine.” Her stomach churned sickly. “The humans wouldn’t know how to live in my era. It might drive them insane.”
Velia gathered her resolve before walking toward the first row of twenty capsules. Sleeping people, lost to the world, only to be awakened to hellish experimentation. Retav had told her of his experiences, and the pain in his eyes had been hard to witness.
Here was his agony, more than a thousandfold repeated. The chamber stretched beyond what the eye could fathom, a vast space that three of Cas’s hive could have fit into.
It was a devastating view. Velia’s stomach grew heavy as she wound in and out of the rows of insensible people, stored like lab rats. It became hard to breathe past the tightness in her throat as she gazed at face after face. Perhaps she saw through the lens of atrocity, but every victim wore a hopeless despondency. As if they’d carried the crimes of their abductors into the depths with them.
She wasn’t sure why she continued, why it was imperative she bear witness to the horror they’d been through. Her feet kept moving, steering her among the senseless mass of Earthlings and Risnarish.
There are more hives out there. Do they all have people stored in chambers? People they continue to hurt? How many? Tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands?
Then there were those taken and returned to Earth regularly, their memories wiped. That escalated the number.
“Monstrous,” Velia whispered.
She’d seen enough. Her feet carried her o
n anyway, forced her to weave in and out of the rows of cruelty. Until her gaze fell on familiar features, and she stopped short.
It can’t be. I’m wrong. He wouldn’t be in the midst of this nightmare.
Velia stepped closer to the capsule, rising on her toes to peer into the bubble, at the man whose dark hair had turned white in a matter of the two years since she’d last seen him. Lines that hadn’t been there before had etched in his forehead, the corners of his eyes and mouth, his cheeks. But she had known him for too long to trick herself into believing the recognition was a mistake.
She couldn’t breathe. The constriction of her throat had tightened all the way, allowing no air in. She fought to draw breath, to scream, but she couldn’t.
Unaware of her distress, Jape and Nex spoke out of sight, tenor and bass making nonsense sounds at first. Then they grew stronger, and her brain registered the words her translator fed it.
“...concerned about Ehar. Elder Notlin has said she’ll meet with me tomorrow...”
Jape’s speech was a life preserver thrown into the vast ocean that tried to drown Velia. She grabbed hold of it, grasping it with all her might.
Her throat opened, and Velia dragged in a breath. She no longer needed to scream, not with Jape there. But she needed him near. She needed him next to her. It was shocking how much she needed him in that moment, but she couldn’t consider the ramifications of that. Her plate was full dealing with this.
“Jape!”
Both he and Nex came running, showing up at the end of the row, racing to her side. “What’s wrong? Velia? You’re so pale!”
“I know this man.” She couldn’t take her eyes off him.
“Who is he?”
“Captain Ronald Hunt. He worked with my father. What is he doing here? How can he be in here? He reported to General Thomas himself!” Her voice rose, the pitch growing higher, threatening to turn into a shriek.
Worlds Collide Page 19
