Tales of the Shareem, Volume 1

by Allyson James

  Rio, on the other hand, had scared her in a way Rees did not. But Rio was level three, and maybe all level threes projected that edge of fear.

  “You know what, Rees?” Talan pressed her finger to his sculpted chest. “I think you like being special. I think you don’t want to be human.”

  He slanted her a narrow look. “Oh, yeah?”

  “Yeah. You want to be special, to stand out from the rest. To be better than us. Well, you’re not. When we get home, I’ll show you your DNA. You’re no different from humans, Rees. I’ll prove it.”

  He was smiling for some reason. “You are so asking for it, Talan.”

  “Asking for what?”

  Rees growled. He hauled her up and plopped her on her hands and knees. “Say your prayers, babe. Your little ass is going to be so red.”

  Talan squealed. She tried to put her hands over her behind, but he shoved them away.

  The spanking was hard. Rees knew how to make it sting, yet make it exciting at the same time.

  “You know why women decided to get rid of Shareem?” he paused with his hand on her backside. “Because Shareem can make women stop talking. And women just hate that.”

  Talan couldn’t talk at all. She could only scream and laugh and beg him to stop.

  Rees didn’t stop. He spanked Talan until she was out of breath, and then he rose up behind her and slid his cock into her wet and slippery opening.

  After that, talking was out of the question.

  *** *** ***

  It was late morning before they finally got out of bed again. Rees took Talan home—after he went out and bought her a new tunic to replace the one he’d ripped. It was nowhere near as nice as her old one, but Talan touched it as though it was pure silk.

  They’d made love all night. Rees hadn’t thought Talan would be able to keep up with him, but she proved her enthusiasm.

  The last session had sent her to sleep again. She’d smiled at Rees before she drifted off, had even murmured thank you.

  At least she’d stopped going on about Rees being human. He couldn’t exactly explain to her why he was different not only from humans but from other Shareem.

  If word got out that R294E8S was still alive and walking around, life could get bad for Rees. It might even get short.

  And Rees liked life. Especially this week.

  He and Talan rode the train back to Lady Petronella’s house. Talan snuggled up to him like before, and he kissed her. A few tight-assed women gave them looks of disapproval, but Rees figured that was because Talan was getting laid, and they weren’t.

  Talan had certainly softened from her first, stiff-necked dealings with Rees. She liked him now. Last night he’d soothed her with Shareem endorphins so she’d relax and enjoy the sex, and so he wouldn’t hurt her.

  But Rees knew that Talan liked him even without his Shareem spells. The thought warmed him. He liked her too, and more than just a little.

  Rio had gotten his heart broken by an upper-class woman. Even though he’d quickly reverted to his fun-loving ways, there was a bitter edge to him now that hadn’t been there before.

  Rees had vowed never, ever to lose his heart to a woman, upper-class or otherwise. And now, here he was, starting to fall for a rich girl.

  Life jerked you around in weird ways.

  When they reached Lady Petronella’s house, Metri and the other servants were nowhere in sight. Neither was Lady Petronella.

  Rees told Talan to go to her room and sleep. If she slept like a good girl, he said, he would show her some more level-two fun this afternoon. Talan smiled, kissed him, and ran off.

  She wasn’t afraid of him. Now that she’d lost her shyness, she smiled at him as though they were friends.

  But that was because she didn’t realize that Rees was dangerous. Last night, he’d held back because he hadn’t wanted to hurt her. He’d made her love what he did and taken away the worst of the hurt.

  But it had been difficult to hold back. Talan turned him on in more ways than he’d ever thought possible.

  The women at the lab who’d sacrificed themselves for the sake of science hadn’t smiled at him warmly or given him shy looks from under their lashes. They’d let him know that what they did with him was an experiment, nothing else. Not exactly the way to a Shareem’s heart.

  Rees had taught them to respect him. And fear him. He’d twisted one of them up so much, she’d helped him escape.

  But even with them, Rees had never lost control. He’d always had the upper hand, always had the power, always been the master.

  He needed to regain that control with Talan, or he might regret it. Even Rees didn’t know what he could do if he totally let go.

  So, he needed to teach Talan to fear him, and he knew exactly how to go about it. She’d get scared and send him away, and then he wouldn’t have to worry about hurting her.

  Also, he had things to do, like help Rio get off planet. He needed to talk to people, get things done. He needed to forget Talan’s shining hair and sweet pussy and beautiful eyes.

  Shareem could fall in love. They did fall in love.

  But it was a very stupid thing to do.

  Chapter Eleven

  “You want to go to the holo-block?” Talan looked across the table at Rees in confusion.

  He and Talan dined alone. Lady Petronella had come in, announced she was going out, kissed Talan, and turned to depart.

  Talan had blushed rosy red, but Lady Pet hadn’t seemed to notice. She’d winked at Rees, then breezed out again.

  “Holo-blocks can be fun,” Rees said now.

  “I know, but why do you want to go back to it? You mean the one where I first saw you, right?”

  “You said you wanted more fun and games, and here’s your chance.”

  “Yes, but why go there?”

  Rees stared at her. He was supposed to be in control here, but Talan always made him lose it. “Why not go there?”

  “Because we can use the holo-room here.”

  He grinned. “It’s not big enough. We need something big. Like a forest, or a jungle.”

  “There’s a holo-room under the house. A big one.”

  “Big enough for a jungle?”

  Talan nodded. “I used to play down there when I was little. I’d go on an ocean liner. That’s a huge ship that they used to use to cross the oceans on old Earth.”

  “I’ve heard of them. Big, were they?”

  “The holo-room is the size of the entire first floor of the house. Is that large enough for what you want?”

  Lady Petronella’s house took up an entire city block. Must be nice to be rich. “Yes, I think that would be big enough,” Rees said, keeping his face straight.

  “Excellent. When do you want to go?”

  Rees sensed her pheromones stirring. “Whenever you’re ready, babe.”

  She was ready right away. He figured she would be.

  Talan took him to a lower level of the house and locked the door behind them, after telling Metri that no one was to disturb her unless it was a dire emergency. Metri, obviously used to similar directives from Lady Petronella, stoically agreed.

  Talan showed Rees how to use the panel to program the block. “I haven’t been down here in ages,” she said. She looked around the huge, empty room and sighed. “Too busy, I guess.”

  Rees brushed her cheek. “You should never be too busy to play.”

  “Easy for you to say. But that’s your whole life, isn’t it? Games?”

  She didn’t know the half of it. “Yes. You could say that.”

  “So what are we going to play?”

  Talan was ready, eager, willing.

  Rees told the holo-room that he wanted a forest. Deep woods, with rustling undergrowth, cool breezes, tall trees, and birds.

  With a rush of sound, a forest closed in on them. Grass crushed beneath their feet as they walked, emitting a green scent. The trees stretched away, seemingly endless. The room was huge, and as they moved, the hologram shif
ted with them to make it look as though the woods ran on for miles.

  All to the good.

  “The game we’re going to play,” he said, his voice deepening to Shareem tones, “is that you will run away from me. Then I’ll hunt for you.”

  Talan was supposed to look at him in trepidation. Instead, she grinned.

  “You mean hide and seek? I was good at that as a child. I warn you, I always won.”

  “We’ll see about that. Now, run along.”

  Her smile widened. She’d put her hair in a long braid and wore a sleeveless tunic, good for showing off her long legs. “Count to a hundred,” Talan said before she loped off under the trees. She paused and pointed at him. “And no peeking!”

  Rees turned his back. He didn’t need to peek.

  He opened his senses, stretched them all around him. He could feel the quiet trees, the pseudo-woodsy air, and Talan’s trail winding among the holo-scents, growing fainter as she ran.

  To humor her, Rees counted to a hundred before he turned around. He couldn’t see her through the trees, couldn’t hear her either.

  But Rees knew where she was.

  His heart beat faster, and his skin heated. His balls even started to itch. Rees’s mind sharpened, blotting out peripheral thoughts, humor, warmth.

  He sensed a woman, and he would have her.

  Rees started walking in the direction she’d taken. He’d find Talan quickly, and then she’d see, and understand. He started to run.

  A female programmer had volunteered to do this same simulation with him in the lab. When they’d pulled her out, she’d gasped, “He’s a monster. Gods, what have we done?”

  The next time they’d done a simulation—with a new volunteer—they’d locked Rees in chains first.

  That had been a big mistake.

  Rees’s skin burned and the tunic scratched him. He pulled off his clothing as he ran, but the cool air couldn’t soothe him.

  Talan’s trail was fairly obvious, but still Rees lost her a time or two. The second time, he stood with his head bent, testing the air with his heightened senses.

  His skin was hot, and his cock was tight and aching. He wanted to find her, throw her to the ground, spread her thighs, and push into her. Talan was his woman, and he’d show her that.

  Rees remembered her sly smile as she said she might ask Rio to show her a few things.

  His blood burned. No, not Rio. You are mine.

  Mine.

  Rees found Talan’s scent again, and his excitement built. His mind dimmed to everything but tracking her. The grass tickled his bare legs as he ran through it, and the scent of trees and rainwater buoyed him.

  This is what he was made for, to run, to hunt.

  When I find you, little sweetheart, I’m going to make you understand what I am.

  Rees plunged through the undergrowth. Talan was pretty good at covering her trail, but not good enough. He’d be able to sense her, always and forever.

  Rees stopped in a clearing surrounded by tall trees. He wasn’t sure what kind of trees they were—some had broad leaves and others had needles. Neither grew on Bor Narga, but with a holo-room, you could have anything you wanted.

  He turned his head from side to side, feeling the air for her. His blood pumped, and his skin was so scorching that the black chain on his arm felt ice-cold.

  She was near. Hiding.

  Rees could scent her, waiting for him. He’d drag her from her hiding place and make her kneel before him. His. Forever.

  He’d show her what her philosophy was worth. Rees would bind her to him, and she’d be happy in her bondage. He could enslave a woman simply by touching her. He’d done it before, but then he’d released his slaves.

  He would never release Talan.

  She would pay for using him, for stirring him up, for not realizing what he was.

  She was near, very near . . .

  Branches crackled above him, and something soft and womanly fell onto his back. Talan wrapped her arms and legs around Rees and kissed him on the cheek.

  Adrenaline shot through him. Rees grabbed her, whipped around, and thumped her to her feet.

  She smiled up at him, her eyes starry, and she flung her arms about his neck. “I won. You couldn’t find me.”

  Rees closed his arms around her while his mind whirled in confusion. Take her! Make her obey.

  Talan brushed a light kiss to his lips. “I told you I was good at this game.”

  Punish her. Make her beg for mercy.

  No, said a voice deep inside him. Don’t hurt her.

  “I love you, Rees,” she whispered.

  Rees dragged in a breath. He spoke with effort, forcing his lips to move. “Don’t be stupid, Talan.”

  “I want to be stupid. I’m tired of being sensible.”

  He kissed her. His wildness rose, blotting out his kinder self. He kissed her hard, bruising her lips.

  When he at last broke the kiss, Talan smiled again. “I think I know what happened to Lady Ursula.”

  Rees didn’t know, or care, about Lady Ursula. He trailed kisses to Talan’s neck, bit her flesh.

  “I think she stayed with her Shareem,” Talan went on. “Never went home again.”

  Rees tasted her skin, salty with perspiration. He threaded his fingers through her hair, breaking open the braid.

  Talan kept talking. “I have a house on the second moon. My parents left it to me. It’s a nice house, not so large as Lady Pet’s. It’s green there.”

  The second moon of Bor Narga. A place where the rich had resorts and beautiful views. Where a Shareem was forbidden to go.

  Rees pulled back. “I hope you have a good time, there.”

  She looked confused. “I meant I would take you there. We could be together.”

  “I can’t leave Bor Narga.”

  “But—”

  Rees kissed her, his tongue in her mouth stopping her words. “Get on your knees, sweet girl.”

  Talan was supposed to look frightened. Supposed to beg him to let her go.

  But she only smiled at him. Then she plopped to her knees and kissed his groin through the loincloth.

  She slanted him a wicked look. “Aren’t you going to take this off?”

  Rees growled at her. He unfastened the strings, nearly ripping them, and cast the loincloth aside. His cock, hard and throbbing, pushed straight at her.

  “How big are you?” she asked. “Have you ever measured?”

  Rees knew exactly how big he was. The lab researchers had written down every measurement.

  “Twelve standard inches.”

  Talan looked impressed. She reached up and grasped him with both hands, but a good part of his cock stuck out past her fingers. “It’s longer than both my fists put together.”

  After this interesting observation, Talan leaned forward and licked the tip. Rees’s mind went hazy, and he groaned.

  Talan closed her mouth over his cock where it protruded from her fists. Her hands remained in place, tight against his balls. Her mouth played, tongue dancing around the tight head.

  Rees stroked her hair and tried to mesmerize her with his mind. She was supposed to be his slave, right?

  Right now, all he could do was tilt his head back and enjoy the feel of her mouth on him.

  “Talan, baby . . . “

  She sucked, licked, bit—everything he’d taught her. Talan slid both hands around to cup his ass, and started to suck him hard.

  Rees drove into her mouth, groaning, excitement spinning through him. He wanted this woman forever.

  She kept on suckling him, her mouth hot and wet. Rees’s excitement wound higher, hotter, and suddenly, his seed burst from him in one scalding shot.

  Talan jumped, surprised, but she held her mouth on him, and took his come.

  “Sweet baby, that’s right,” he said, hand in her hair. “Swallow me down.”

  Talan did it. She swallowed it all. Then she licked her lips and smiled up at him.

  Rees haule
d her to her feet. He kissed her hard, tasting himself and her all mixed up together.

  “I want to fuck you so hard, Talan.”

  Talan kissed him back, twining languid arms around his neck. “Yes, please, Rees.”

  He could think of a hundred different ways to do her. He knew literally a hundred different ways, all of them good.

  But he knew which way he wanted her.

  He laid her down in the grass and pulled her tunic off over her head. Face to face, skin to skin, lips to lips.

  Her tight pussy pulled him right into her. Talan laced her arms around Rees’s neck and held him, her eyes heavy with wanting.

  Rees’s skin was hot, his cock tight and hard. He wanted her with the animal mindlessness of R294E8S. At the same time, he was Rees wanting Talan. One Shareem wanting a beautiful, stubborn, exciting woman.

  Talan lifted her hips, rocking against him. “Rees,” she moaned.

  Rees wanted to soothe her and kiss her, but he was too worked up. His body was taking over, his control eroding.

  Her face twisted in joy. Talan kissed him hard, then she arched back as he pumped into her. A few seconds later, she shouted her release.

  Talan was so damn beautiful when she did that. She said his name over and over, her voice broken, her nails scraping his back.

  Oh, gods, no. Not yet.

  “I’m coming, baby,” Rees groaned softly, and then he spilled his seed into her.

  Talan smiled at him, her face flushed, and she pulled him down to her and held him close.

  *** *** ***

  Lady Petronella requested Talan to come and speak with her later that afternoon. Talan arrived at the appointed time and sat on a chair that automatically shifted to conform to her torso. Lady Petronella took another seat facing Talan and smiled.

  “Well, dear? I assume from that satisfied look on your face that you are at last a woman who knows what it’s like to be with a man.”

  Talan pressed her hands to her warm cheeks. “Does it show?”

  “I know you well, Talan. And I’m proud of you. You were willing to find out what it feels like to be a woman.”

  Talan thought of the way Rees had made love to her in the holo-room. Dark blue had spread to fill his eyes, and he’d rammed himself into her, taking her hard, fast, mercilessly.