Jin-Bennu

by Vivienne Savage

  The moment Navi touched her, pure, primal rage had come over him. Veryn was his. The Mating Frenzy had come on so strongly that he'd been taken unawares, startled by its ferocity.

  Why now? he asked himself. Why not before on the Exemplar?

  Something had changed. What that something was remained elusive.

  And he couldn't allow the others to know. If they realized how much he truly cared for her and how important she'd become, she would only become a pawn used to bend him to their will. He had to remain on equal footing with them as an ally.

  One wrong move, and they would both die.

  Then there was the matter of getting word to Amun about the group's plan. Having the twins on board made it too dangerous to risk any sort of mental communication. Even brushing Veryn's mind had been a risk. He had to hope that the compulsion he pressed into the mind of the prison guards would be enough for the moment.

  "You're thinking too loud."

  He startled and turned his head, finding Veryn watching him, the covers pulled up to her chin.

  "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

  Even saying that much had been foolish.

  Ideas danced through his thoughts of being under surveillance. On one hand, only amateurs would risk discovery of hidden devices, a risk sure to insult Bennu and drive him away from their cause. On the other, Vashta had all the cards, and they were at her mercy. Even if he were to discover some object concealed within their stateroom, what could he do about it?

  Plenty. Bennu eased into a sitting position and glanced over the room, letting the weight of his heavy thoughts hang exposed without revealing their content.

  Veryn frowned. "You didn't, Master. I was awake and fantasizing about when we would touch solid land again."

  Damn if he didn't like her little submissive act.

  "Whenever our hosts deem it necessary. Any more than that, you don't need to know."

  She frowned, pretty little lips pursing. He wanted to kiss her, wanted to pull her into his rack and roll her beneath him.

  "Come here," he said, voice firm. She arched a brow but didn't argue and followed his instruction. He spread his legs and directed her between them then gestured her down to her knees. Anger and passion stirred in her eyes.

  "What does my master command?"

  "You know what I want."

  Bennu needed her hands on him purely for the opportunity to brush minds again without others knowing, physical contact required. But he also wanted her touch for purely selfish reasons. The thought of her mouth on his cocks again made him harden in an instant.

  "Your mouth has only one use. Don't forget that."

  Her fingers traced the lower hem of Bennu's shendyt. At home or alone in his quarters on the Exemplar, he would have slept nude. That had not been a habit since first realizing Veryn was aboard his private ship, and it was certainly unlikely while they were on an enemy vessel.

  His heart sped. One touch. One flicker of contact between them would be enough. Veryn drew out his anticipation instead, and he wondered if she misunderstood, if she was loathing the idea and thought he'd truly commanded her to—

  Delicate fingers popped the fastening of the light kilt and exposed him to her view. Her hands caressed and touched him, driving out all thought of good intentions to communicate with her.

  Gods, help me.

  The gods were no use to Bennu. She took him in each hand and stroked up and down, bringing him from half-mast to full erection within seconds of contact. He groaned and leaned back, supporting his weight on both elbows.

  I want this.

  Her voice was a soft whisper in his mind.

  Not an act.

  He couldn't have withstood it if she'd—

  Her hot mouth touched his left cock, engulfed it in heat and moisture that made his hips jolt. He groaned involuntarily and cupped one hand to the back of her head.

  The idea that they were being watched never left his mind. He wanted to tell her what she meant to him, how good she made him feel, but he could say none of those things. Taking pleasure from a human slave was fine. Granting pleasure in return, showing affection, would be a sign of weakness to those around them.

  I know.

  She came off his left cock with a soft pop and gave her attention to the right, her slender-fingered hands busy with both. She lavished him with her full attention, without pressing him for information during the task. If he were honest with himself, he hadn't suggested it to speak with her. He only wanted her.

  "More," he said, his voice a soft, deep growl. The hand in her hair tightened, fisting the colored strands.

  More than he wanted the comfort of her body, he wanted to stake his claim and prove no other belonged inside her. His breath quickened and heart raced. He moved his hips to the rhythm of her hands and shut his eyes, only for memories of their sparring to crash through his imagination.

  Fuck.

  Veryn beneath him, astride him, to her side as he raised one of her long legs and pounded her from behind, sawing one cock inside her then trading it for the other.

  He wouldn't last long. She knew, with only one morning of desperate coupling, everything he loved.

  "Take all of it, pet."

  She did. Her mouth slid down until he penetrated her to such a depth he wondered how she could breathe.

  Bennu wasn't able to wonder for long. Her throat clenched, tightening around him. It all went downhill from there as he came faster than he ever orgasmed in his life, gasping out low groans of pleasure into the otherwise silent stateroom. While one cock shot its load, she jerked the other desperately, faster and faster, never losing rhythm even as she dragged her mouth from his softening dick and claimed the still tumescent twin. Lost in ecstasy, Bennu allowed the moment of his climax to overcome him.

  He wanted to do something for her.

  He wanted to be inside her balls-deep, driving inside both her holes.

  When Bennu came, Veryn knew she'd put on a good show for their captors. Except... for her, it hadn't been a show. All she wanted since stowing away in Bennu's ship had been to feel his skin against hers once more. The potential audience didn't matter. Their surroundings didn't matter.

  She placed all her faith in him that they would emerge from his mission safe and whole.

  And she placed all her effort into making him come like a runaway freighter. She watched his abs tighten, his body flex and tense with need. She delighted in the way he groaned with his first release, how for one split second, she felt the true Bennu beneath the alias designed for Vashta.

  When the final pulse of his second cock filled her belly, she slid her mouth off of him with a pop. Her lips were suckswollen, and both cocks gleamed from her work.

  “Sleep well, Master.”

  “Clean me first.”

  “Of course.” His words tempted her to bite him instead, a hurricane of pettiness arising like a summer storm—so suddenly, she questioned if it was her own mood or the gene therapy at work.

  It had to be the gene therapy. Feline DNA, in hindsight, had been a terrible idea.

  She left him long enough to step into the small bathroom and fetch a rag, dampening it with water. When she returned to him, Bennu lay across the bed with a rather bored expression on his face. She admired his acting.

  “Clean it all, pet. Get all traces of yourself off me.”

  She worked in silence, taking great care with the warm rag as she wiped him clean. Warmth brushed against her thighs, nearly startling her. God, she wanted him so much she was hallucinating. Getting back to the task, lifting his sated cocks in hand to clean beneath, another touch ghosted between her legs, causing her to shudder in pleasure.

  Bennu.

  He gave no outward indication, but each time her fingers touched his skin, he granted her pleasure through her mind, weaving his will in such a realistic fashion that she actually felt his fingers delve within her aching pussy, stroking in that perfect spot.

  Don’t react. Don’t reac
t.

  He knew how to touch her. Before, he plucked it from her mind, grasped everything she ever thought she discovered about herself sexually within seconds of their encounter. This time, the ghostly caress came from memory. She trembled. Her core clenched, so empty she initially struggled to maintain her focus.

  Concentration returned to her after a tumultuous moment when she desperately, more than she wanted her next breath, wanted to throw off all her clothing and have him inside her.

  He teased before about having both her holes.

  He practically promised it, only to lose apparent interest in recreating their encounter and carrying forward with her.

  Would he now, aboard the ship, if it meant maintaining their cover?

  Another jolt of pleasure scorched through her. She tamped down her eagerness and gently fastened his loincloth. A quiet breath parted her lips, and she licked them.

  “Master, the sight of you... I... would like very much to come. May I touch myself?”

  “Have you earned the privilege?”

  Fuck, he was too good at this. He was torturing her, and she sensed he enjoyed it.

  “N-No,” she whispered, rewarded with another mental caress. “I am never worthy of you.”

  He sat up slowly, looking down at her. "That's right, pet. You aren't. You receive no pleasure unless I grant it."

  Another stroke, fingers curling deep until her body clenched down again, and the first ripple shuddered down her spine. She wanted his real fingers. His true touch.

  "Would you come on my command, pet?"

  On his command? She'd come on anything he wanted her to if it meant she had relief. Every time she inched toward ecstasy, he denied her. In those split seconds she desperately fought to maintain control of her thoughts, she gleaned he didn't merely like the show they put on. He loved it.

  Then why won't he fuck me?

  It occurred to her that they may have been without surveillance, their hosts more honorable than to lace the room with hidden cameras and microphones.

  It also occurred to her that she didn't care whether they watched or not if it meant the dull throb of relentless need could be sated.

  "I would do anything for you, Master."

  "Then come."

  Sensation buzzed across her clit. She tensed and arched her back, eyes squeezing tightly shut as an orgasm shuddered through her.

  Deep down, part of her hoped they were under Vashta's eye.

  Let her see the attention he gives me that she can't have.

  And while she wished she had come at his physical touch, there was something deeply intimate about the psychic caresses. She had never allowed anyone so close before. Never allowed them past her mental wards.

  "Now get to bed. You've served me well tonight."

  "Thank you."

  "And pet? No touching yourself while you sleep."

  Fucking bastard. "As you command."

  11

  Vashta summoned Bennu after his midday meal, calling him not to the bridge but to her private stateroom. He expected to see Khepri, but the man was nowhere in sight.

  “We have a problem,” Vashta said the moment the door slid shut behind him. She stood across the room, a ceremonial khopesh held loosely in her left hand.

  “What problem might that be?”

  “A spy. Aboard my ship.”

  Alarm bells went off in his head. Outwardly, he presented a visage of calm. “That does present a problem. Who do I need to kill for you today?”

  A smile curved her lips. “This is what I like about you, Bennu. You don’t have any of that pathetic human hesitancy. You’re direct. Decisive.” She crossed over and set the edge of the curved blade against his neck. “Loyal, I think.”

  “For your safety, I would suggest lowering your sword. I am neither a spy nor a human.”

  “No, you certainly are not.” The blade came away from his neck. She flipped the weapon around and extended the hilt to him. “You'll find Massui in the biodeck fucking his pet. Kill the human spy. Make it messy. Massui has formed some small attachment to him.”

  “The human.”

  “Yes. That creature is an agent of the human queen, and I cannot have that on my ship. Now that he’s given me the information I want, he’s no longer needed. Massui can find another cock puppet anywhere, but I cannot allow this to pass without punishment.”

  “I see.” Bennu concealed genuine disappointment behind a thin veneer of mental fortitude, enough that, if Vashta proved to have even a speck of the psionic gift, she’d read it if she tried. Some warriors like Tal-Amun lacked enough control to earn the title of Jin but were gifted in minor, subtle ways, such as reading emotions or surface thoughts skimmed from an unguarded mind.

  “This seems beneath me and a task most suited to Massui, if true anguish is to be inflicted upon him for the failure to detect his slave’s transgressions. As you wish, however. Who am I to question your authority?”

  Every word had a purpose.

  He couldn’t be viewed as a weak puppet to blindly follow her words.

  A challenge had been necessary prior to acceptance, forcing Bennu to walk a precarious tightrope.

  “Then I trust you to handle the situation as you feel fit. He’s... attached to the thing. Much the same as you are to yours, except he’s crossed a line. I could handle this myself, yes, but I thought letting him see that you’ve taken his place as my enforcer would send the better sort of message.”

  “I see.” His mind churned, looking for any way out of this without lessening his position. Killing innocent people was not part of his plan if he could help it, and he’d prefer to send agents of the UNE back to their organization in one piece. “You have verified this human is a spy and know with certainty he is an agent?”

  “I do.”

  “Then allow me to present another option, one that would better serve our cause.”

  A brow lifted. “I’m listening.”

  “Use this man. If he is able to get information out to his queen, then use him to misdirect her.”

  “And let Massui continue his affair?”

  He smirked. “Of course not. Take away what Massui values. His pet will become mine. As you already know, what is mine, I do not allow to be touched, making Massui’s former possession an object he can no longer enjoy and the subject of lasting anguish.”

  He couldn’t feel relief. Another emotion suited the situation better. Vindication.

  Bennu’s method provided the best strategic outcome, and he wanted her to know that he was aware of it. He wanted her to feel the sense of his satisfaction, those emotions billowing from him in waves of arrogance.

  Intrigued silver eyes gazed back.

  He had her.

  He knew she wanted him.

  And he didn’t feel even a stirring of arousal for her in return, his thoughts so wrapped in the very idea of when he could have Veryn again that nothing else produced excitement in him. He would live and breathe for Veryn. He would kill for her.

  Vashta’s gaze dipped below his waist, and a smug smile curved her mouth. “All right. Have his pet then. Enjoy.”

  “I will.”

  Without another word he turned about and left, not even doing her the courtesy of excusing himself. He didn’t need to, and they needed to remember he was not a subservient peon for them to order about like cannon fodder.

  The biodeck served as the literal heart of the ship on all Lexar space vessels, providing fresh air, water, and a source of endless pleasure for those who sought meditation. Bennu discovered Massui and the spy in the open, both dressing in the aftermath of their coupling.

  “What is it, Bennu?” Massui asked, a hint of irritation simmering in his tone.

  Ignoring the human for now, Bennu folded his arms across his chest and leveled his gaze on the other Lexar.

  “Vashta has orders for you.”

  “And you’re the messenger she sent?”

  “I am. Your pet is no longer integral to her plans. As
such, she has deemed him a distraction to your performance and gifted him to me.”

  Massui tensed, every muscle rigid and defined. “He is mine.”

  “Not according to your leader. You are to report to her for new instructions.”

  “Vashta would not do that.” Rage slid across Massui's face, contorting his expression with undeniable fury. “Lying cur, I’ll—”

  Bennu barely flicked a finger, nothing else required to direct the shockwave of psionic force ebbing from him in three tremendous pulses. Power struck Massui and rocked him back, followed by two more waves. The Lexar stumbled on the last and fell to the deck.

  The fear in the human’s eyes told Bennu everything he needed to know. Vashta’s intel was correct.

  This human expected to die for the UNE.

  “Call me a liar again, and I won’t be so forgiving.”

  He turned and started back the way he had come. “With me, human.”

  Soft footsteps were the only indication he'd been heard and obeyed. He didn't look back, striding from the biodeck while the spy followed, leaving Massui behind. He’d have to watch that one, but for now, he had accomplished his goal.

  Now, he had to hope he could convey his true intentions to the man while also protecting Veryn’s identity.

  While Bennu dealt with diplomatic matters, Veryn went down to the galley to acquire their midday lunch. What better time was there to learn her way around the vessel? It was no Lexar warship, nor even as large as some of the human vessels such as the Jemison, but there were enough corridors and chambers that she remained uncomfortable with the idea of not learning her way.

  Everywhere she encountered humans, they seemed docile, loyal servants. Some radiated fear in cold pulses, and others seemed almost like programmed automatons. Khepri’s own slave, a quiet young woman with golden, waist-length hair, avoided eye contact as she passed a tray bearing two covered dishes.

  “Your master... Jin-Bennu. He seems kind for a Lexar,” the woman said shyly.

  “He is fair,” she said after a moment’s hesitation, careful not to make him appear weak to someone who likely would report back to their master. “He believes it is a waste of energy to beat an inferior individual.”