“More,” she gasped.
“I’m going to give you more,” he promised.
Without haste, she released her grip and snared his gaze with hers. His green eyes sparkled, the pupils flattened slits rather than round. Weird, but then he was from a different planet.
She set about exploring him, searching for differences. He had nipples—two of them, although she understood the women of his race fed their young. She’d have to ask questions—no, maybe not. The other difference she discovered was the color of his testicles. Her husband’s had been less visible and they’d gone blue on arousal.
Leo’s balls had hardened and risen beneath his cock. She’d been too enthralled with tasting him earlier to notice the more subtle changes, but she did now.
“Finished exploring?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Good.” He rolled her, taking control of her arms by holding them above her head while he feasted on her mouth and her breasts again. By the time she lifted her head, sobs of pleasure and demand spilled past her lips.
“Now,” she said. “Take me now.”
Leo remained silent and used a muscular thigh to spread her legs farther apart. His nostrils flared and a wash of embarrassment flooded her because the scent of her arousal perfumed the air.
Then she forgot her discomfort. Leo guided his cock to her entrance and thrust with one forceful stroke. She gasped at the drag of his shaft along her sensitive tissues, angled up her hips to receive his second drive home. More. She craved more of this unbearable friction.
Goddess, she’d missed this so much, missed her husband. She tried to hold on to the thought of her husband and his gentleness, but Leo shoved the memories aside with his vigorous plunges and his demanding personality. Her hands crept from above her head to clutch his back.
“Leo,” she cried out, the enjoyable sensations sapping any inclination to fight his dominance. Each touch was so good. The swell of pleasure grew and expanded until she thought she’d explode, unable to contain all the emotions within her physical shape. Leo withdrew, thrust and hit her clit at the perfect angle to make her implode with ecstasy. The blissful feelings tingled and sparkled inside her for long, long moments, and once they started to ebb, the tension released from her muscles.
“You look beautiful when you come.”
Her eyes snapped open and heat collected in her cheeks. The knowledge that he’d watched her throughout brought a rush of vulnerability. “I…don’t look at me.”
“Why?” He stroked into her, lazy and unhurried, then withdrew to repeat the move.
A shudder took her, another low-level climax already starting to build. A shocked gasp escaped her and his eyes narrowed.
“Something wrong?”
“I’m going to come again.”
His grin was a flash of sharp white teeth. His thrusts continued but at a faster pace.
She hadn’t seen him smile before. No, that wasn’t true. She’d seen him smile once in the market—her first glimpse of him. She stared and thought she saw something spark in his eyes before he closed them and shut her out.
His thrusts were rapid now and she gripped his shoulders, raised her hips and strained for her second climax. It burst over her, sharp and quick but still breath-stealing. Leo came with a shout, the wash of his seed warm in her quim.
Amazing, she thought. Her senses worked better on the dreamscape. Everything was brighter and sharper, the scents evocative while the feelings lingered because her backside still throbbed from Leo’s hand.
Leo pressed a kiss to the sensitive spot where shoulder and neck met, this time giving her a hint of teeth. The man seemed fascinated with that particular part of her, and she had to admit his raspy licks and nibbles pushed a raft of agreeable sensations to the fore. He could do that as long as he wanted.
He kissed her without haste. The kiss was sexy. It was passionate and pulled an appreciative groan from deep in her chest. She closed her eyes to concentrate on the sensations and felt as if she were flying.
Leo lifted his mouth and she smiled. Her body jerked, she was conscious of dropping, falling. A thump. Her eyes flew open and she found herself on the white tiled floor of her small bedroom in Spiderus Mansion.
A dream.
A visit to the dreamscape.
She pushed to her feet, aware of a smarting on her buttocks. She rubbed them and gave a rueful grimace. While she’d dreamed of Leo spanking her, the bruises would come from her tumble to the floor.
In the distance a timepiece chimed and she realized it was almost morn.
“Lights on. Half power,” she mumbled in defense against the blinding illumination. The purity of the white fried her gaze and she squinted while she donned her robe.
As she hurried to prepare Iseult’s morning meal, she wondered what the dream meant. Had she truly visited the dreamscape or had her guilty conscience come into play because Leo Mitchell’s inevitable death weighed on her mind?
* * * * *
The Dalcon spaceport was crazy busy. Leo Mitchell scanned the crowds of locals and alien tourists who thronged the arrival hall and toyed with the idea of hitting someone. Perhaps one of the big red dudes with swirling tentacles around their heads. Their meaty fists looked as if they could do some damage. If he was injured or unconscious he’d have a good excuse to miss his appointment.
Leo pondered his scheme and dragged his hand through his hair, pausing as his fingers met a hat. Oh yeah. He’d shaved off his long locks. Scowling, he straightened his hat.
Hell. This picking a fight was looking better and better. How hard would they hit? A black eye, a wired jaw, a plethora of bruises decorating his body. He imagined the repercussions and his shoulders slumped. He had to keep his word because he needed the final payment to get the farming side of their enterprise fully operational.
No alternative.
Leo hefted a backpack over one shoulder and navigated a path through the mass of travelers. He circled the Red Mumber males despite the urge to lash out and punch them in their muscled midriffs. Innocents. They didn’t deserve his problems heaped on their heads, not after he’d walked into the trap under his own steam.
Beware of petite women bearing gifts.
His mouth twisted as he dodged two upright aliens with pale-blue skin. That was one gift horse he should’ve punched in the mouth. Worse, he’d fucked her in his dreams last night, spanked her pert arse because she hadn’t focused on him.
Weird.
He wanted to hate her—hell, most of the time he did detest her—but in his dreams he fucked her and enjoyed the experience. All kinds of messed up. A shrink would have a fun party with that screwed-up scenario.
He sidestepped a kid—at least he thought it was a child—as the hard-shelled creature scuttled past on all fours. One last meeting, he reminded himself. All he had to do was endure this last session with Iseult Orna, collect her money and head back to the resort, a man free of obligations. One final session. Leo sucked in a deep breath and exited the arrival hall.
Makeshift stalls bordered the streets and created jams in the pedestrian areas. Fly-scoots darted overhead, avoiding the hordes of people, but facing problems of their own as they jockeyed for airspace on their journey through the city. Market day was profitable for some, but it made for volatile crowds and short tempers.
Up ahead the crowd jostled a stooped and wizened woman. Several Tigrus youths, recognizable by their striped skin, hooted with laughter as the woman’s shopping flew through the air. Bright-pink fruits spilled from a bag and rolled along the rutted cobblestones. A jar of liquid struck the ground and shattered in an explosion of white.
Leo glared in the youths’ direction and stooped to pick up as many of the woman’s possessions he could find. “Here you go, ma’am. How far are you going?”
Up close the woman was even older than he’d thought. Her face was a mass of lines, and she had one large milky eye instead of two like him. It blinked as she regarded him. Alarm jerked in h
im, a wince in reaction, and he broke their gaze. That was plain creepy.
“To the corner,” she wheezed. “My shop is there.”
“Let me carry your shopping for you,” Leo said.
“Thank ye.” Her bony hand fastened around his arm, and he fought to maintain a pleasant expression. She not only looked and sounded old, but she smelled ancient—a combination of dirt and moldy leaves with a hint of green to freshen her scent and push it a tad above disgusting.
She leaned on him and moved at the pace of a snail in ponderous steps. The journey to her shop stretched along with his disquiet. He unlocked the door and helped her inside. The building appeared dingy from outside but bore a clean and ordered interior. Much bigger and cavernous than he’d expected. Herbs and dried flowers hung from hooks and perfumed the space. Transparent boxes and jars held things foreign and creepy. His attention snagged on one. Were those dried fingers?
“Thank ye,” she said again. “Can I offer you refreshments?”
“No, I’m fine. I was glad to help you, but I have an appointment.” Leo turned away, unease pushing him to haste.
“Wait.” The woman’s hand shot out, and she gripped Leo’s arm, her fingernails digging into his flesh. “Let me give you some advice.”
“Advice?” Leo’s skin crawled, and he had to force himself not to bolt.
Her gaze bored into him, equally horrifying and magnetic. Scary as hell. “Today will be hard, boy, but you will live where others have died.”
Leo’s stomach bucked, the remnants of his coffee and chocolate roll eaten at the resort sloshing in an alarming manner and threatening to charge up his throat. How could she know what he intended to do today? What was expected of him? “I don’t know what you mean.”
Bright red swirled into her eye, combined with the white, and bled into pale pink. “Listen to me, boy. You will survive. Don’t let revenge blacken your heart and make you so blind you can’t accept what is in front of you.” Her fingers tightened on his arm. “Remember what I say, boy. Don’t let revenge take you over. Now let me give you some tonic. No charge,” she added before he could argue.
Leo nodded even as his mind tried to reject her words.
She hobbled over to a shelf, appeared to ponder her choice, then reached for a glass vial. After pausing again, she reached for a second. “This will help you recover. Drink entire vial. One now. One after.” She pulled out a stopper and handed the glass vessel to him. “Drink,” she urged.
Leo scrutinized the vial then figured what the hell. God, the liquid smelled revolting. He glanced at the woman and she gave a small nod of encouragement.
She wasn’t going to let him escape without drinking the stuff. He took a quick breath and gulped the contents. His stomach pitched and roiled, and he swallowed urgently to keep down the tonic.
“Good. Good.” She cackled, displaying a gap in her bottom set of teeth in her amusement. “Put other in jacket pocket. Drink after.”
Sharp teeth, he noted and shuddered as he stuffed the vial in his pocket. Some of these alien types were freaky. “Thank you. I’d better go or I’ll be late for my appointment.”
“Thank ye, boy, for a kindness to an old lady.”
“You’re welcome,” Leo said with the manners ingrained by his parents, and with a last polite smile, he stalked from the shop. His rapid breaths evened out as he stepped into the street to merge with the market crowd. The semi-fresh air helped to settle the rocking and rolling in the pit of his stomach. Instead, a strange warmth filled him. Peculiar, but not unpleasant. He continued to his destination.
Iseult Orna lived in the better part of the city, near the palace. Her mansion stood at the end of a cul-de-sac with no near neighbors. A tall stone fence kept unwanted visitors out, the razor wire running along the top and security guards punctuating her preference for privacy.
The closer he came to the palace, the harder he needed to work to force his limbs to function.
Fear.
It was a tight band around his chest, restricting his breathing until it felt as if each breath emerged and entered through a straw.
The mansion came into sight, and each inhalation sawed into his lungs. He forced his tense limbs to carry him to the gates, to ring the bell for entrance. A voice squawked from a concealed speaker, and Leo backed away in quick, jerky steps, the flight response kicking in big time. Run. Run. Run!
Yet his promise to honor a contract kept his feet firm, and he stated his business in a steady voice. “Leo Mitchell to see Iseult Orna.”
The gates bearing the crest of a spider parted and slid back with nary a sound to allow him entrance to Spiderus Mansion. Leo strode up the driveway, past the gardens, to where a petite woman waited for him. A brown mouse with brown hair, brown eyes and a secretive nature. She looked as if she wasn’t capable of spitting at a fly, let alone hurting one. He knew better.
A snarl rumbled up his throat, and if he could’ve shot flames with his eyes, she’d be burning in hell.
Betrys Torin.
She was the traitorous bitch who’d lured him into this trap with her timid yet persuasive ways. His hands clenched at his sides. Weird, but she was also the sexy siren whom he’d fucked in his dreams. Confusion about the way his brain fired lately was an understatement. He loathed Betrys for getting him into this situation with Iseult Orna, yet during his dreams last night, he and Betrys had rolled around together naked, did decadent things to each other…
He shook himself, squared his shoulders and took a deep breath as if preparing for battle. In a sense, this was war.
Sure, Iseult Orna was beautiful, but her heart was as black as her hair and her sexual predilections were far from normal. Hell, even that was an understatement.
He’d been cocky during their first meeting, a little arrogant, but Iseult had soon slapped the swagger out of him. Shocked, traumatized after their first fucking, he’d tried to backtrack and renege on the deal.
Iseult, backed up by her muscle men, had disabused him of the notion, so he’d turned up for the second fucking and healthy payment. A fine tremor went through Leo, even though he struggled to maintain an impassive façade. The second encounter with Iseult had been even worse.
This third and final session might just kill him.
Chapter Two
A whoosh of relief swelled in Betrys Torin’s chest, along with a serving of embarrassment. Her dream last night…
She shook herself and forced her mind to the important topic of the day. Leo was here. After the second meeting with Iseult, she’d had to help him don his clothes and stagger from the mansion. Part of her had wondered if he’d refuse to attend to Iseult’s needs for the third and final contracted session. It had happened before and she, along with several of Iseult’s guards, had enforced the contract. No matter which way the third time went, the man would die.
She registered Leo’s wariness, the clench of his fists and the jerky steps, as if he had to force himself to enter the grounds of Spiderus Mansion. She felt her heart twist.
“Good, you’re here and on schedule.” Betrys shrugged away her sympathy, her sorrow at losing her dreamscape lover, and hardened her resolve.
It didn’t matter what she wanted.
At least dying in Iseult’s bed was the lesser of two terrible alternatives. Iseult’s guards would tear him limb from limb and gnaw on his bones. Goddess Juna, even thinking about it made her stomach bubble with nausea.
“You warned me what would happen if I reneged on my contract,” he said, his voice toneless, while his dull green gaze accused. “I need the currency.”
But he wouldn’t receive any shillars for his last session. The currency would go to his family because he was dying, although he appeared stronger than the others. He’d walked into the mansion grounds under his own steam. Iseult would be pleased.
He removed his hat, and she gaped at him for long seconds.
“What did you do with your hair?”
“It kept getting knots in it.
It was annoying in the heat of Ione so I shaved it off.”
Iseult would hate the small mutiny. She favored her men strong, powerful and sexy. The prettier the better. Like Leo. “Iseult is preparing for you.”
His features went to hard rock. “Do you enjoy your job?”
Betrys ignored his question, tried to discount the feel of him standing so close. She thought about the beautiful man way more than she should. And the dreamscape opening between them…
“We shouldn’t keep Iseult waiting. It makes her angry.” She turned to walk away.
He grasped her shoulder, and a shudder sped from her head to toes. Thankfully, his hand dropped away almost immediately. Why this one, she couldn’t guess, but the pride in him, the way he straightened his shoulders even though he knew what awaited made her admire and desire him.
Leo—she’d started thinking of him as Leo after last night on the dreamscape—moved closer and sniffed her neck.
Betrys jerked away before she caved and touched him. “What are you doing?” Did he just sniff her? Iseult had a distinctive scent. Most men found it attractive, but the idea of smelling like that woman brought revulsion. It was bad enough she was forced to work for her, but to become similar to Iseult, even in a small way, raised her gorge. She swallowed. Once. Twice. Hastened her footsteps so he could no longer see her face and worked at gathering control.
This man rattled her and had done so from her first glimpse of him in the Dalcon marketplace when he flirted with an old Tigrus woman. Now her powers had kicked in, and she’d visited him on the dreamscape. Useless to fight destiny. But Goddess Juna, destiny had made a mistake. She’d failed to understand the message contained in the dream and today her dream lover would die.
Her throat tightened, and she struggled for emotional balance. Handsome. So handsome he made women stop and stare. Goddess, she’d gawked at him, and she’d detected other females smitten by the sexy man. He hadn’t noticed that he’d created a pedestrian traffic jam around the fruit seller’s stall. With his height, his long black hair, his powerful physique, and the perfect symmetry of his features, the package was attractive, but add the stunning pair of jade-green eyes, and he’d made folk of both sexes gape.
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