by Ashley West
Cullen's eyes flashed with the challenge, and he pushed her back just enough that he could get to his feet and shimmy out of his shoes and pants.
Apparently his people didn't believe in wearing underwear, because there was his cock, jutting out all hard and thick. Sadie's mouth watered to see it. It was lovely and just a little curved, flushed red with arousal. It was also nearly as big as her forearm.
She supposed that made sense, considering his size compared to hers, but she had no idea how she was supposed to deal with something like that. No way to know but to try, clearly.
Cullen sat back down, watching her with something like concern on his face. Sadie flashed him a confident smile. She didn't want him to be worried, she wanted him to want to do dirty things to her.
"Come here," he said finally.
And she did, though probably not the way he'd been intending. She sank to her hands and knees on the floor and then crawled her way over until she was back between his legs. His cock was right there, staring her in the face, and she leaned in and pressed a kiss to the thick head of it.
Cullen's breathing hitched at the gesture, and a bead of fluid welled at the tip of his cock.
That was all Sadie needed to see. She licked the precome from his slit, delighting in the ragged moan Cullen released for her, and then she took the head of him into her mouth.
His cock was warm and heavy, velvety soft and hard in her mouth as she sucked. One hand came up to assist because there was no way she was going to be able to work all of him into her mouth, and she let herself enjoy it.
He was clearly enjoying it as well if the noises he was making were any indication. He tangled fingers in her hair, holding on and pushing her down further just the slightest bit. It was hot, though, so she allowed it, letting him use her mouth a little.
After all, it was the least she could do since he'd saved her, she thought, allowing that fantasy to take hold. He'd come in and fought through however many of K'varot's minions, so she owed him. He'd never suggest that she pay him back with her body, but that was fine. She could make that decision for him in a fantasy context just because it felt good.
She looked up at him, wanting to see his face. He was looking down at her, the flush spreading to his cheeks. His eyes had gone dark with lust, and Sadie felt proud of herself for getting this reaction out of him. She hummed around his cock, and he swore in a language she didn't understand, his fingers tightening just that bit more in her hair.
It wasn't rough by any stretch of the imagination, but there was something firm and possessive about it that she liked. They didn't know each other well enough to be an item, but as she licked and sucked at his cock, she was realizing that she was more than fine with them doing this again.
Sadie had wondered what it would be like to have him come in her mouth, but she didn't get to find out.
"Off," Cullen growled, his voice raspy with his desire and pleasure. He pulled her off of his cock by the hair, and she gasped sharply in surprise and enjoyment.
With her on her knees like she was, he towered over her, and she licked her lips, wondering what he was going to do.
She didn't have long to wait to find out. He leaned down and scooped her up before practically tossing her onto the bed. She bounced a little and ended up sprawled out, legs open, leaving nothing to the imagination.
Her thighs were slick with her arousal, and Cullen stalked over to her, climbing up and pressing his hand between her legs.
Sadie gasped and arched, rubbing against him. "Cullen," she moaned. "Please."
"Please what?" he asked her, his head tipped to one side. "What do you want?"
The glimmer in his eyes said he knew exactly what she wanted and was just being a prig about it to get her to say it, and Sadie laughed breathlessly. "I want you to prove it," she said. "That you're not going to share."
That was clearly good enough for him. Something almost feral passed over his face, and he smirked. "I can do that."
She didn't know how much time had passed since he'd come into her room, but Sadie did know that she was exhausted by the time he left. And a little bit sore, but it was a good pain. Cullen's cock had stretched her and made sure that she was going to feel this for a couple of days, but it had been amazing.
He'd been the perfect combination of gentle and playful, and he'd pressed her down to the bed and pushed into her, taking his reward, as it were.
They'd both gotten off, and then Cullen had cleaned her up before saying that he should go.
Part of her had wanted him to stay. It would have been nice to wake up with someone else in her bed, to not immediately feel alone when she got up in the morning. But she understood. It would be awkward to explain to the rest of his people. Overon would probably have a conniption. And if something happened, they would need to be able to find him.
So she'd just smiled and said goodnight and then spent the rest of the evening with her pillow clutched tightly to her chest, wondering why she felt so empty and alone.
Chapter Seven: Something to Lose
The atmosphere aboard the ship was very tense when K'varot returned. He'd been having a 'meeting' with one of the human leaders, making his expectations known, giving them a timeline to comply in, that sort of thing.
It was important to give clear and concise directions for how one expected things to go, otherwise it was hardly fair to hold people to the proper standards.
He was going to be strict with these humans, maybe even cruel, but no one would be able to accuse him of being unfair.
At any rate, when he arrived back at the ship, the Gilots he had put on guarding it were shamefaced and sheepish, which instantly let him know that something had gone wrong.
All he had to do was step into the ship, and the answer became clear. Bodies were piled up in the middle of the floor, and he didn't need anyone to tell him what had happened. The water and slowly melting ice on the bodies told him all he needed to know.
"What happened here?" he asked anyway.
"Well, my lord," said one of the Gilots, standing there with his back straight, weapon in hand. "I wasn't here when it happened. But it looks like...it looks like we were attacked."
K'varot closed his eye. Sometimes he wondered what he had been thinking when he employed these utter dunces. They were a complete waste of time to deal with, and aside from being good muscle and back up, they served no purpose other than to irritate him.
"Does it?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at them all. "Does it look like we've been attacked? Because the pile of dead bodies wasn't a good enough give away for me. Pray tell, who do you think is responsible for this?"
The three of them who were standing closest to him exchanged looks. "The...the Ithilir, my lord?" one of them ventured.
"Are you asking me or telling me?"
"Telling?"
If he believed in any deities, he'd be asking them for strength. "Well, at least you're sure about it," he snapped. "How did this happen? Why are they here? The Ithilir don't care about what happens to anyone other than themselves. They never come to the aid of anyone else."
None of his companions had anything to say to that, and K'varot gave them a one eyed glare and stormed off to his quarters. A perfectly good mood, completely ruined.
It was no surprise that the human woman he'd been keeping caged in his quarters was gone. Apparently the Ithilir had suddenly taken up caring about other people, and it made him want to break something.
He lowered himself into his chair and sighed. This was not going according to plan at all. The Ithilir were meant to fall to him, but not yet. Not until he had time to put together a plan that would destroy them once and for all. He needed time to build, time to get his army is shape. He'd assumed that the army was already well enough, but after what had happened here, he was not so sure anymore.
With a sigh, he turned his chair and faced the wall behind him, pressing a button to make the biometric panel slide out of the wall. He punched in the code that wo
uld bring up the footage from the room he was currently in, and then leaned back in his chair to watch it.
There was one of the Ithilir, coming in like he owned the place. K'varot's lip curled with anger. The icy thing walked in, and he spoke to the woman in the cage, K'varot's prisoner! The one he had gone to so much trouble to catch and keep. Their exchange lasted for a few moments, and then the Ithilir was getting the woman out using his ice powers. The woman collapsed and the Ithilir carried her out.
K'varot switched to watching the feeds from the other parts of the ship until he had a full picture of what had happened.
Somehow, the Ithilir had found out what his plans were, and it was clear they meant to make sure that they failed. They had chosen to protect this planet and the miserable beings on it, and he didn't understand why.
If they were smart, then they'd be shoring up their defenses and working on defending their own city and planet. He'd already proved that their walls meant nothing to him. But clearly that wasn't enough.
Clearly, they were going to need another lesson.
He watched the feed from his quarters again, watching the gentle way the Ithilir warrior cradled the human woman.
Alright. K'varot could work with this. If they were going to open themselves up to others and try to be heroes, then he would make them regret it.
They could try and protect the humans all they wanted, and it would just make it worse for the vermin. K'varot would kill them twice as hard and twice as fast. He would run through them like a plague, leaving nothing but corpses in his wake.
The Ithilir would see that they were no match for him and that they were terrible at protecting people. And then, once they'd had their morale crushed, he'd take his crusade to Fora and their precious walled city, and he would crush it.
Just thinking of it lifted his mood, and he let his mouth curl into a smile once more. There. That was better. Having a plan always made him feel more like himself. Ever since he'd climbed his way out of that acid pit, he'd refused to ever be caught off guard like that again. He would always be one step ahead, always have the upper hand. No one would ever toss him aside again.
He steepled his fingers and let out a satisfied huff. This would be better than he had even dared to hope for.
Getting to his feet, he moved back into the main part of the ship. “Call on the Yndri,” he said. “I have a task for them. We are going to get to know our enemy very, very well.”
Chapter Eight: Gaining Ground, Losing Focus
“Cullen? Cullen!”
Cullen startled back to focus to see Overon glaring at him with a look of disgust on his face.
“What?” Cullen snapped, rubbing a hand over his own face.
“You’re not paying attention.”
“Yes, I was.”
“Then what did I say?”
“You were talking about figuring out the Gilot’s patrol circles. They’re leaving the ship and coming back to it in some kind of order, and we need to figure out what it is.”
Overon looked suspicious, but he sighed. “Fine. So you were paying attention.” He launched back into what he had been saying, leaving Cullen alone.
The truth was that Cullen hadn’t really been listening. He was just very good at keeping one ear open while he was thinking about something else completely. Ever since he’d gotten up that morning, his mind had been fixated on what he’d done with Sadie the night before. He could remember the way she’d tasted, the way her mouth had felt on his body, the way she’d trembled under him and moaned his name when she came.
She’d been everything he had expected to her to bed and completely different at the same time. Not passive in the slightest, but more than willing to let him lead at times.
She was beautiful spread out against her own sheets, but Cullen was definitely interested in getting her spread out against his. He hadn’t planned for this to happen, but there it was. She was everything tempting, everything seductive, and he didn’t even think she was trying to be, which made it all the better, honestly. He just didn’t think he could have enough of her.
And it would be frowned upon, of course. There was no mistaking that. People would see them together and they would say that it wasn’t right for him to be doing this with a human of all things, but Cullen had already decided that he didn’t care about that.
He was on Earth, the first time in his life he had been off of Fora, and he was going to experience things before he had to go back to the way things had been.
He found Sadie later in the canteen, sitting alone, as she usually was on the ship, picking at her food. It wasn’t abnormal for him to sit with her, and he told people it was because he viewed her as his responsibility. He’d brought her here, after all.
She looked...almost melancholy, and Cullen was seized by a grip of worry. Was she regretting what they had done? At the time, he knew she had been just as invested in it as he was, but that didn’t mean that she hadn’t come to see it as a mistake with time.
"Are you alright?" Cullen asked as he came up to her.
She looked up from her tray and smiled thinly at him. "Sure."
"That's not really reassuring, you know," he said, moving to sit down. He didn't pay any attention to the mutterings he could hear from the others in the canteen, knowing they'd be talking about how he needed to keep his distance from her. Cullen was tired of hearing about that.
"Sorry," Sadie said and then sighed. "I just didn't sleep well. Which, I know, is ironic considering..." She trailed off, making a vague gesture with her hands that Cullen completely understood.
He had slept perfectly, worn out and sated, the memory of what they had done easing him into restful sleep. But it disturbed him to think that it had been one sided.
"Was it...did you not like it?" he asked, keeping his voice down.
Sadie's eyes widened, and she shook her head fervently. "No, Cullen, it was wonderful. I had a great time. I'm just. I don't know. Lonely? I miss Jasmine, and I'm the only human on this ship, and I know your people don't like me.
"That isn't--" She cut him off with a sharp glare, and he relented. "They are wary. You know that my people have no experience with humanity in this way."
"You don't have any experience with any other kinds of people except for fighting them," Sadie corrected, and Cullen inclined his head in acknowledgement because she was right about that. The Ithilir fought and kept to themselves. No more, no less.
"I'm sorry," Cullen said. "I don't want it to be this way, but..."
"But there's not much you can do about it," Sadie finished. "I know, Cullen. I'm not blaming you, I'm just telling you how I feel. Because I trust you with it."
That made him feel warm inside, and he wished he could take her from the canteen back to his room and hold her until she felt better. It wasn't the answer to her problems, and he knew that. Holding her wouldn't bring her friend back, and it wouldn't make her any less of an outsider on the ship. All it would do, all it could do, was offer some modicum of comfort.
"Do you want to go for a walk?" he asked her.
"Around the ship?"
"Outside."
Sadie looked surprised. "I thought I wasn't allowed out."
"You're not a prisoner, Sadie," Cullen said firmly, trying to make sure that she knew that. "I'm not keeping you here. You can leave any time you want to. I'm just trying to keep you safe."
"I know that, Cullen," she said, smiling indulgently at him. "I didn't mean it like that. I only meant that I thought we had decided I wasn't going outside."
"I'll be with you," he said. "Nothing will happen." Cullen said it with absolute sincerity and confidence, and he watched the smile grow on Sadie's face. Somehow, being able to make her smile was one of the highlights of his days now, and he could only imagine what his people would say if they knew that.
"Can I ask you something?" Sadie began as soon as they had stepped off the ship and walked a distance. It was amazing how she changed when she wasn't under the constant sc
rutiny of his people. She walked beside him, arms overhead as she stretched and took in the fresh air.
Earth was beautiful. Cullen was coming to learn that. The sunrises and sunsets were bright and gorgeous, colors and sounds and sights and smells everywhere, too much to be able to take in all at once. Cullen felt loyalty all the way down to his core for his home, for Fora, but he had to admit that it was slightly dull and grey compared to Earth.
In turn, Earth was slightly dull and grey compared to Sadie when she was happy.
Cullen shook himself, tearing his eyes away from where he'd been staring at her. "Of course."
"What is this?"
He looked around, confused. "I don't understand."
She laughed, the sound light and airy. "I mean...what are we doing? Is this just some kind of fun thing you want to try while you're on Earth? I'd be okay with that, if it was, you know. If I was the only human woman you were ever going to sleep with. It's flattering. I just want to know."
She phrased it like it was simple, but honestly, nothing could have been more complicated. He wasn't human, and when this was over, he was expected to go back to his planet and continue to live his life there. No matter what they managed to build together, he would have to say goodbye to it, to all of this, and it made his heart ache slightly to think of it.
"I don't know," he answered after what felt like long minutes. "I don't know what it can be."
"Okay," Sadie replied, seemingly not bothered. "That's okay. I just wondered."
Cullen wondered, too.
“Come with me,” he breathed when they returned to the ship, much later that evening.
“Where?”
“To my room.”
Sadie hesitated. “Are you sure? What if someone comes looking for you?”
He was so close to just saying that he didn’t care. That they could come looking, that they could find out that he was sleeping with her, he didn’t care. Sadie looked apprehensive, though, so Cullen leaned in and kissed her, right there by the hatch to the ship. If someone had come out just then, they would have seen it.
