“At least we’ll have plenty of time to get used to the idea, however many there are. Dad will know.”
Cat always did. At the moment of conception, he would have a vision showing not only the number of babies any of his friends or relatives would have, but also the sex of each child. He was even more reliable than a scanner.
“If that Mordrial witch tendency kicks back in, we might only have one daughter.” Assuming she would never find The One, she’d never given much thought to any offspring she might have.
What a difference a day makes.
“No worries right now, though,” she assured him. “Why are we talking about babies anyway? Seems too soon for that.”
“Because we’re mates, Al. That’s what mates do. They have babies.”
“Eventually. Right now, all I want is to enjoy you. Babies will come when they’re good and ready.” Hopefully love would come before they did.
“And when we least expect them.”
Perhaps they would arrive sooner rather than later. Or maybe they wouldn’t put in an appearance for several years. Jack would have a shit fit, of course, but nothing went according to plan all the time, especially babies. Not even Jack’s hankering for grandchildren could change that.
At the moment, however, Althea had more pressing issues to ponder.
Like whether she should respond to Larry’s enticing purr when she had the con.
Decisions, decisions…
Chapter 18
“You’re purring,” Althea whispered. “You know what that does to me, don’t you?”
“Well, yeah. Why else would I be purring?” If Larry had followed his original plan, he’d have been purring the moment he walked through the door. Somewhere along the way, he’d gotten distracted. Possibly from the mere sight of Al at the helm. She was a natural-born pilot, and he couldn’t help being in awe of her.
“You don’t have to be quite so literal,” she growled. “If you aren’t careful, I might bite you.”
“That isn’t much of a threat.” Pulling her closer, he tilted his head to the side. “Go ahead, Al. Bite me.”
She glanced at the open doorway. “Might want to lock the door first. Brak won’t be back for a while, but I wouldn’t put it past Keplok to go exploring. He seemed to think he could find his way around without help.”
“Hey, Friday,” Larry called out. “Would you lock the door, please?” Following the computer’s acknowledgment of his request, he added, “Keplok is the last person I want to see right now.”
“Same here.” Sighing, she sagged against him and sank her fangs into his neck.
As before, the pain of penetration quickly transformed into a flood of desire that was impossible to ignore. In her current position, he could’ve slid his cock into her in a heartbeat if several layers of clothing hadn’t prevented that level of spontaneity. “This is the one time I wish we dressed like the Statzeelians.”
“You mean a dress with no undies for me and a hole for your dick?”
“Yeah. It might not be very discreet, but it’s incredibly practical for a newly mated pair.”
“I’ll think about it.” She licked his wound and bit him again, igniting an inferno in his blood that went rushing to his groin. “Not see-through, though. I have to draw the line somewhere.”
For a moment, Larry had no idea what she was talking about. Through the red haze obscuring his vision, he could’ve sworn Al had just stripped off all her clothes and climbed back on his lap. She’d also done something to him, but his befuddled brain couldn’t make any sense of it until a cool breeze flowed over his cock, followed quickly by a tight, wet heat that finally registered.
She’s sitting on my dick.
“That’s much better.” With a groan, she raised her arms above her head in a languid stretch.
Her gorgeous breasts were right there in front of his face. Kissing them seemed the most natural thing to do, until she whispered, “Think you could lick my nipples?”
“Sure thing, Al.” When he did as she asked, he discovered the most delightful flavor. “You taste like candy.” He blinked and licked her again. “Cotton candy.”
“Mmm… That’s interesting. Try sucking them.”
As he sucked her nipple into his mouth, yet another flavor exploded on his tongue. His mind could find no comparison; the taste was completely unique and utterly delicious.
The essence of Althea.
The urge to explore her other taste sensations consumed him, and he swiveled the chair around, hit the lock icon on the controls, and lifted her onto the console. The loss of her tight pussy on his cock came as a shock, one that eased somewhat as he buried his face between her legs.
She was hot, wet, and delicious. His cock had been hard before, but her flavor and scent escalated his arousal to an unbelievable level. Orgasmic fluid poured from his cockhead like a waterfall, only to seep into his clothing. He needed it to help her become accustomed to continuous orgasms. That intention was forgotten now, lost in his quest to give her one superlative climax.
A swipe of his tongue over her clitoris elicited a gasp. “Oh, Larry.”
He enjoyed hearing her gasp.
Sliding his tongue into her tight sheath made her snarl. “Don’t stop. Don’t ever stop.”
He loved the way she snarled.
Sucking her clitoris drew a low, rumbling growl.
Even better…
He kept on, first licking, then sucking, until she stiffened around him and a sharp inhale signaled her climax. A second later, her clit surged against his tongue. Her pent-up breath became a bestial cry as she lunged forward, grasping his shoulders, and drawing blood with her nails.
In a moment, he was on his feet, sliding her to the edge of the console as he stepped out of his trousers. She lay sprawled over the control panel, looking like every dream he’d ever had, a vision far beyond mere beauty. She was his mate. He would give her everything he possessed, but above all, he would give her joy.
His cock found her entrance with the ease of a compass pointing north, and he pushed inside.
The instantaneous sense of relief was short-lived, immediately replaced by an even greater urgency to mate. Thrusting hard and deep, he let his gaze drift upward to meet hers. His own hunger was reflected in her eyes along with the inferno in his blood and the all-consuming passion that drove him onward.
She wrapped her legs around his waist and locked her ankles behind his lower back, leaving him nowhere to go but deeper inside her.
“Move your cock.”
Her rasping purr stirred up emotions he’d didn’t even recognize. Arching his back, he thrust his hips forward, sweeping her inner walls with his shaft. “Like that?”
“Mmm…yeah. Love that. Feels…incredible.” Her head snapped back as his coronal fluid detonated her first chemically induced orgasm. Her body contracted around him, squeezing him so hard that even his cock couldn’t move.
One…
The moment she relaxed, he dove in again, letting his penis do the work, all the while marveling at his uncanny control over muscles he’d hardly ever used before. Side to side, around in circles, up and down, every movement felt effortless, instinctive, and confident. Although his own pleasure was unsurpassed, her pleasure was his ultimate goal.
His breath caught in his throat as yet another orgasm shook her body.
Two…
Suddenly, he couldn’t remember how many she’d had the last time. And just as abruptly, he realized it didn’t matter. There was no need to keep score. No need to practice to perfect their technique. Emotions were the only coin that counted in the exchange between them. As his mind wrapped around that truth, a radiance rivaling the nearest star engulfed his consciousness.
When his seed left his body to fill hers, he forced his eyes to open, and he pleaded with her to do the same. In t
he heat of the moment, he’d missed it the last time, something he absolutely refused to do again.
Her eyelids fluttered open, and there it was. Like the splash of a raindrop in a puddle of water, her pupils expanded outward until the iris was little more than a green rim surrounding a soft, golden glow.
Joy…
* * *
Euphoria lifted Althea as though she had no more substance than a cloud, allowing time to pass through and around her. No beginning. No end. Only the precise moment in which she existed mattered: the eternal and ever-present now. Trying to make sense of the pleasure of their mating by identifying whose emotions were whose was pointless. She saw that now. She’d let the passion and myriad sensations flow, experiencing them as an ever-changing whole rather than an assortment of isolated feelings.
I might even be able to suck him off without going crazy.
But enjoying that treat would keep until another day. What he’d done to her had left her sated, amazed, and drifting in the aftermath, known as laetralance in the Zetithian language—a blissful sense of peace and tranquility of the mind, body, and soul.
The joy juice orgasms were incredible, but the one he’d given her with his lips and tongue was even better, being of the body as well as the mind. Even more astonishing was that he’d enjoyed it almost as much as she had.
She almost laughed aloud. After all this time, she’d actually known what Larry was thinking and feeling. Should he ever have an errant thought while making love with her, she would probably sense it. That idea ought to have been disturbing. Oddly enough, she found it comforting. She doubted Larry had ever had an unkind thought in his life—at least not one that wasn’t well-deserved. Even then, she couldn’t imagine that his thoughts would ever be malicious. He might call things as he saw them, but he didn’t have a mean bone in his body.
As her eyes regained focus, his face came swimming into view. She couldn’t read him now; the connection was broken. Yet she could see his concern as well as his contentment.
“That was so beautiful,” he whispered. “You’re even purring.”
“Am I?” she asked. “I hadn’t noticed.” He was right, though. She was purring, albeit very softly.
“I didn’t do what I’d planned. But it was better this way.”
“More spontaneous?”
He smiled, revealing the tips of his fangs. “Something like that. When I’m with you, all my good intentions go flying off into space.”
She was quite certain she already knew, but her secret required her to ask. “And those intentions were?”
“I was going to try to hold back the snard until you got used to the joy juice.” He shook his head slowly. “Couldn’t do it.”
“Why is that?”
“You make me lose control, Al. I might regain it eventually, but the gods only know when that will be. Maybe never.”
“I’m not complaining. As far as I’m concerned, when it comes to sex, control is highly overrated.” She shifted her hips to relieve the pressure on her spine.
“I’m glad you think so.” He gathered her up in his arms and helped her to stand. “Sorry. That couldn’t have been comfortable.”
She shrugged. “A little hard, maybe. I’m just thankful the helm doesn’t have three-dimensional controls.”
“If it did, I probably would’ve put you on the floor. Although that wouldn’t have been very comfortable for either of us.” He stooped down to retrieve his khakis, which lay puddled on the floor beneath the pilot’s chair. “Maybe we can be ‘spontaneous’ in a softer place next time.”
She found her shirt hanging on the edge of the weapons station. Somehow or other, her palazzo pants had ended up on Brak’s sling chair, which was a good two meters away. “Good luck,” she said as she donned her shirt. “There aren’t very many soft places on this ship outside of our quarters.”
He paused with one foot in his trouser leg. “I was actually thinking about putting a bigger bunk in the ready room.”
She chuckled. “So we’ll always be ready?”
“You got it.”
After they’d finished dressing, rather than calling on the computer to do it, Larry walked over and unlocked the door manually.
The door had no sooner slid open when Keplok came storming across the threshold. “I’ve been banging on that door for at least ten minutes. What took you so long?”
Larry never cracked a smile. “Didn’t hear a thing,” he replied. “Soundproofing is too good. Now, if you’d rung the chime, I would’ve come a lot quicker.”
Shrieking with laughter, Althea ran from the room.
No doubt about it, life with Larry was going to be fun.
* * *
“What was that all about?” Keplok demanded. “I ask a simple question, and she goes off in hysterics.”
Larry shrugged. “Must’ve remembered something funny.”
“Either that or she’s deranged. Most females are, you know.”
“I wouldn’t say that within a woman’s hearing,” Larry advised. “Might trigger an unfortunate episode.” He took a seat at the helm. “Was there a reason for your visit?”
“Dartula won’t come out of her room. I want to know the code for overriding the lock.”
Folding his arms, Larry leaned back in the chair. “And you need to know this why?”
“I require sustenance.”
His half brother’s pompous stance and tone nearly had Larry laughing like a Mondavian sand fiend, but he managed to maintain his composure. “Shall I direct you to the galley?”
“No,” Keplok snapped. “That is Dartula’s duty.”
“Why should she be the one to tell you how to find the galley? This isn’t her ship. It’s mine.”
Keplok clenched his teeth so hard, several well-developed muscles along his jawbone popped up, leading Larry to assume this was a common occurrence. “Her duty is not to tell me the way. Her duty is to supply me with food.”
“Maybe that’s how things worked on your ship. Doesn’t work that way on mine. Unless someone else offers, we each fix our own meals.”
“You should know that I am not accustomed to performing such menial tasks.” Keplok’s expression of disdain was undoubtedly intended to intimidate.
Larry, however, remained unaffected—except for the tiny scrap of his mother’s influence that rose to the surface. “Do you know how much I don’t care?”
Keplok took a step back, sputtering, “I—I am a guest aboard your ship—and your half brother. My welfare should be of the utmost—”
“Look, dude. I’ve saved your sorry ass twice now. Go nuke a cheeseburger, and try to get over yourself. Trust me, you aren’t that special.” He flipped a hand toward the door. “You know the drill.”
With a snarl that wasn’t anywhere near as enticing as Althea’s, Keplok turned on his heel and stomped off down the corridor.
“Good riddance,” Friday said with more feeling than Larry would have thought her capable of expressing. “He’s been hounding me to let him in here for a lot longer than ten minutes.”
Larry couldn’t help but see the humor. To his knowledge, Friday had never been annoyed with anyone. Trust Keplok to be the one to finally arouse her ire. “How long, exactly?”
“Twenty-two point six minutes,” the computer replied. “I told him you and Althea were in a private meeting. He seemed to think his dinner was more important. When I told him that I had my orders and that he didn’t have the authority to override them, he called me a mindless piece of—”
“Never mind that,” Larry said quickly. “Thanks for setting him straight. You truly are one in a million.”
“You’re welcome.” She still sounded irritated. If she’d been humanoid rather than electronic, she would’ve been tapping her foot. “And another thing… Is he really going to remain aboard until we land on Rh
ylos?”
“I’m afraid so. I intended to repair his ship and send him on his way, but it got eaten by a giant worm.”
“I wish that worm had eaten him. Although if he’d still been on that ship, I’m quite certain the worm would’ve spit him back out.”
Having already reached the same conclusion, Larry had to agree. “Yeah, well, try not to let him get to you. Who knows? There may be hope for him yet.”
“Another worm with a taste for Statzeelians, perhaps?”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Larry said wearily. If it weren’t for Althea, the journey to Rhylos via Palorka would’ve seemed like a prison sentence.
“If you like, I could plot a new course that would get us to Palorka a little faster.”
Her eager tone raised his spirits a notch. “How much faster?”
“One hour and forty-two point three minutes less than the original course.”
His shoulders sagged. “Don’t bother. Brak would probably notice the change and have a molting fit.”
“An eventuality to be avoided at all costs,” Friday said. “Although he is not due to molt for another eleven point six months.”
“Thank the gods for small favors,” Larry muttered. A molting Scorillian was touchier than a Brohaunian female in heat—and he’d been pursued by enough of them to know precisely how irritable those women could be. “We’ll muddle through somehow.”
“At least you have Althea to keep you company.”
He nodded. “Yeah. I can’t believe how lucky we are to have finally figured out we belong together. Now all we have to do is find a mate for Brak. Did you know he was, um, carrying a torch for me?”
“Yes, I did. However, I deemed it best not to share that knowledge. No one ever asked, although if they had, I might have been forced to dissemble.”
Larry had lived aboard the Stooge for four years without learning as much about Friday’s inner workings as he had in their current conversation. He’d always known she was highly intelligent, but this new information was astonishing. “You can dissemble?”
Maverick Page 18
