Rio played for a few moments, then moved away from her, taking the whip with him.
Nella’s eyes flew open, and she cried out in disappointment.
“Don’t stop,” he commanded.
Obediently, Nella rubbed faster.
He circled her, moving like a predator. Rio traced the whip over her body in the front, drawing it across her collarbone and around each of her breasts, playing a little with each nipple.
“Rio,” she whispered.
“Yes, love?”
“Will you touch me?”
“I am touching you,” he said.
“I mean with your hands.”
Rio shook his head. “Not this time.”
“Please?”
“No, darlin’.”
Nella whimpered. Rio’s blood stirred, his cock so hard he was sure it could hold up the building.
It killed him not to touch her, but Nella had to learn to trust. If Rio touched her now, he’d lay her down and fuck her, then pull her to her knees and whip her for making him lose control.
Better to just not touch her.
The whip moved from side to side across her belly, and Rio smiled playfully as he poked her navel. Nella made a sound that was half a laugh, until he scowled at her, and the smile left her face.
He played the whip across her right hip, circling the hipbone, and down her thigh and leg to tickle her toes. He skimmed across her left foot, then brought the leather up her leg and back to her clit.
“Almost there, sweetheart.”
Nella rubbed faster, the desperation in her eyes deepening. Rio carefully slid his whip between her legs and gently parted her folds.
“Oh gods,” she moaned.
Rio moved the folded tip back and forth, dipping it a tiny way inside, gently fucking her with it. Her head dropped back, fire-red hair spilling all the way down her back to brush her ass.
Nella raised up on her tiptoes, a look of beatific release coming over her face. Quickly, Rio took away the whip, the folded tip wet with her moisture.
Nella cried out in protest and stilled her hand.
“Don’t stop,” Rio said harshly.
Nella began rubbing herself again, her release lost, her mouth drooping in disappointment.
Rio moved behind her, watching her rock back and forth on her feet as she sought the fleeting moment she’d nearly achieved.
When Rio judged the time to be exactly right, he stepped back and slapped the leather hard—crack!—across her ass.
Nella screamed. He slapped her twice more, and then she came.
Nella cried meaningless sounds and sank to her knees, tears flowing from closed eyes. Rio knelt behind her, enclosing her body between his legs, his arms going around her.
Rio pressed his hand over hers at her pussy, stroking and rubbing, showing her how to draw the climax out as far as it could go.
“That’s it, baby. Feel every second of it.”
Nella moaned, her head resting on his shoulder, her eyes closed. Her face was wet with tears, and he kissed them away.
They rode it together, Nella sliding against Rio’s cock until he thought he’d die. Over and over they rocked, while her moisture covered his hand.
After a long time, Nella drew a deep, shuddering breath, and her cries died away.
Rio kept on stroking her, knowing she’d love the warm, tight feeling against her swollen pussy, even as her climax ebbed. She was wet and open, and his fingers slid easily inside her.
“Nella,” he said into her ear. “You are so damn beautiful.”
Nella opened her eyes, tears pouring from them. She wept on—not, he realized, in joy, but in grief. “What did he do to me?” she asked.
Rio frowned, confused. “Who, sweetheart?”
“He tried to steal the Bond, and it hurt so much. He tried to take it away from me. He tried to take me away from me.”
Rio stroked her belly, drawing her back against him, willing his Shareem touch to soothe her. He didn’t understand what Nella was talking about, but anger shot through him for whoever he was who’d hurt her.
If Rio ever came across the bastard, he’d make him pay. Shareem had been programmed against violence, but Rio decided he’d make an exception.
“Nella, sweetheart,” he said, “you’re with me, now, and you’re safe. That’s all that matters.”
Nella started to quiet, but tears still leaked from her eyes. He drew his hand from the hot pocket of her pussy and put one finger into his mouth.
“Mmm. I thought you’d taste fine. This is what you are, Nella. Salty and spicy and sharp.”
She looked up at him, brown-gold eyes wet. Rio saw the strong emotions that washed through her, emotions she must have been bottling for a good while.
And damned if he didn’t want to help her. Rio wasn’t supposed to want that. He gave physical pleasure, and took pleasure, and walked away. It’s what he was created for. The black chain hugging his biceps reminded him what he was every day.
Screw that.
“Taste.” Rio slid his middle finger, slick with her cream, to her mouth and gently parted her lips.
Nella stared at him in confusion, her emotions in turmoil behind her eyes. Then her tongue moved, and she lightly licked the tip of his finger.
“Suck it off,” Rio commanded.
Nella closed her eyes, closed her lips over his finger, and timidly sucked.
“That’s you, Nella. It’s how you taste. It’s what you are. It’s what I taste when I taste you.”
Her tongue moved a little more firmly, licking up the unfamiliar juices from his finger.
Then something in her relaxed, and she began to suckle in earnest. Nella sucked his finger like she needed it, as though he fed her life-giving nectar.
She suckled for a long time, while Rio held her, softly kissing her hair.
When Nella finally opened her eyes again, the fever and fear had gone. She released his finger and leaned against him. Rio felt her calm, muscles loosening beneath her skin and the tension in her easing.
“Thank you,” she said.
Rio sent her a smile. “We’re a long way from done, sweetheart. But you need to sleep now. Store up your energy for later.”
He unfolded himself from the floor, though the sensual carpet seemed to beg him to stay, and lifted her naked body in his arms. Rio carried Nella to the bed and laid her down.
His body screamed at him to take her now. It would be so easy; Nella was so relaxed. Rio could strip off, part her legs, and have her before she felt any fear or pain. And then it would be over, and fear and pain would be gone.
Not yet, his more rational self answered. It would be good now, but so much better when she’s begging.
Of course, if Rio didn’t release soon, he would be the one begging. And crawling and needing.
Nella lay still, her expression calm. Not trusting, not yet, but something near trust. For now, she was simply exhausted.
Rio fetched the sheet from the floor, shook it out, and draped it over her. Nella closed her eyes, her breathing quiet.
Rio leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Sleep tight,” he said. “Dream of me.”
Nella murmured something that Rio didn’t catch. He touched a panel above the bed that dimmed the lights then lightly kissed her lips. She’d had a hell of a day.
It was hard to leave her, but Rio made himself do it. The one taste of her had made him crave more, with a madness about to choke him.
“Good night, princess,” Rio said at the door, then forced his feet to take him out of the room.
Baine’s voice greeted him in the lift. “A cold shower, I think?”
“Shut it and take me up a level,” Rio growled.
When Rio hit his own bathroom, the shower was already pulsing full strength, the frigid air palpable.
Rio threw off his tunic, leggings, and loincloth. The mirror that covered one wall of the bathroom showed him his cock, erect and swollen, and the flush on his skin that meant he was dangerously hot. His e
yes were solidly blue, his black hair mussed from his antics with Nella.
He plunged under the shower jets without thought. Steam rolled from his overly hot skin as the cold water enveloped him.
Rio lay down on the bench—all Dr. Laas’ showers had benches—as the water pulsed over him. He closed his hand on his needy cock, stroking firmly upward, his thumb expertly applying the right amount of pressure.
He thought of Nella—the taste of her, the scent of her desire, the weight of her breasts against his hand, the curve of her beautiful body. Rio’s hand moved faster, stroking hard from balls to tip, pinching the underside of his cock.
Gods, she was beautiful. And all his. In the past, Rio might have shared her with Rees, or she might have fallen for Rees first. But Rees only had eyes for Talan now, and so this morsel was all Rio’s.
He’d help her, and he’d fuck her, and he’d make her his sub. He pictured his collar around her neck, the chain hanging between her pretty breasts, her gaze eagerly following him to see how next she could please him. Nella would want to please him, and Rio would teach her how to feel true pleasure herself.
It would be fun.
He thought of the satisfying noise his whip had made when slapped across Nella’s ass. He liked that noise—snap!—followed by her moan of pleasure. There was nothing like it in the universe.
Rio slid his left hand between his legs, squeezing the skin behind his scrotum, then he lifted his hips and eased his middle finger between his buttocks. He found his anal opening and pushed the tip of his finger inside.
The pressure of his finger in his ass, the squeeze of his hand around his cock, and the thought of the beautiful sound his whip made on Nella’s backside brought his climax.
Finally.
Rio groaned Nella’s name as his come shot upward to be swallowed by the unrelenting waterfall of the shower.
He stroked and stroked, worming his finger into his asshole and pretending she was wriggling a plug in there for him. He’d teach her that too.
“I’ll teach you everything, sweetheart.”
And then Rio would help Nella get off-planet where she needed to go, and walk away—and that would be that.
A voice deep inside him, from a place Rio hadn’t gone in a long, long time, began to laugh. Sure cock-brain. You’ll just walk away.
“I will,” Rio said out loud.
You should have walked away the minute you laid eyes on her. Too late now, asshole.
“Oh, shut up,” Rio growled, then he reached up and slapped the control to turn off the water.
Chapter Six
Alternate Plans
“You missed your transport,” Rees said.
“No shit.”
Rees and Rio sat in a bar called Judith’s, while Judith, a red-haired, fiery lady, dispensed drinks to her usual customers.
They’d taken a table in the far corner, one without air slits or windows or intercoms, where they knew they wouldn’t be overheard. Judith kept the corner spy-free just for them. She was a good friend, someone to trust.
Trust. Rio’s thoughts went back to Nella standing stark naked and scared shitless before him while he told her what he wanted her to do. She could trust him—she just didn’t know it yet.
“Why?” Rees prompted.
“Why does everyone keep asking me that? The girl was attacked and dying. I couldn’t leave her in the street.”
Rees’ expression didn’t change. “What I meant is you could have taken her to Dr. Laas, handed her over, and still caught the transport. They might have waited five minutes.”
Rio took a swig of his ale, liking the warm, spicy bite of it. Judith could brew like no one else.
“If I’d left, I wouldn’t know if she lived or died.”
“Mmm,” Rees said, and drank his ale.
Rio eyed his friend suspiciously. Rees was always hard to read—the damned experimental Shareem had learned how to keep his emotions deep inside where no one could see them. Talan was the only one who’d ever been able to draw him out. Even to Rio, his best friend for half a lifetime, Rees rarely opened up.
“What’s Mmm supposed to mean?” Rio asked.
Rees regarded him quietly. “Just that you missed your chance to leave this rock to look after a woman you didn’t know and couldn’t heal. Dr. Laas is the doctor, not you.”
Rio shrugged. “I figured I missed the transport, so why bother running my ass to the dock to find it empty? The patrollers would wonder what the hell I was doing, and I didn’t want to sit in a detention cell all night. Dr. Laas’ beds are much more comfortable. I’ll pay Talan back.”
Talan had paid the transport captain a small fortune to get Rio off-planet, no questions asked. Of course, the captain had taken off with the money when Rio hadn’t shown up.
“No you won’t,” Rees said. “She won’t let you. We’ll find you another transport.”
“Fine.”
They drank in silence a few minutes. Rio would pay back Talan all the money she’d spent trying to help him. He’d find work like a real person once he got to Station 657, earn money and send it back.
On Bor Narga, Shareem weren’t allowed to hold jobs, although some “worked” in bars or in resorts for the rich. They were paid under the table and held no official positions.
“She’s gorgeous, by the way,” Rees said casually.
“Who? Nella? Well, yeah, I have eyes. And a cock.”
“You were in there a long time with her.”
Rio clicked his empty glass to the table. “Hey, do I ask you for a blow-by-blow of what you do when you’re with a woman?”
“Sometimes.”
Rio relaxed into a grin. “All right, sometimes. But this is different.”
“I thought it was.”
Rio eyed him narrowly. “What exactly are you trying to say? She’s a beautiful woman. She’s lost and alone and in danger. I couldn’t fantasize anything better than this.”
“I was just remembering Serena.”
Rio stopped. Serena d’Atore had been Rio’s lady ten years ago. She’s been lovely and sexy and more than a sexual partner. She’d been a friend, a good friend—at least, Rio had thought so. Rio, stupidly, had fallen in love with her.
There was a reason the researchers at DNAmo had tried to program emotions out of Shareem. Emotions were damn inconvenient, getting in the way of everyday life and pursuit of a good fuck.
“Serena was a mistake—one I’m not making again,” Rio said in a hard voice.
He thought that would be the end of it. Rees only looked at him thoughtfully and drank his ale.
*** *** ***
Nella, awake, showered then dressed in the clean short-sleeved tunic she’d found waiting in her bedroom. She ascended through the house via elevator to a soft-colored dining room where Talan and Dr. Laas were taking a meal. Baine had directed her here, sounding disdainful that she’d succumbed, if only temporarily, to Rio’s charms.
When she entered the dining room, Talan looked around from an earnest conversation with Dr. Laas, and smiled.
Talan d’Urvey was a beautiful woman, Nella decided, with her red hair, bright blue eyes, and curvy figure. She also had a look of serenity about her, as though she’d struggled with inner turmoil for a long time and finally found peace.
She was in love, Nella realized. She was in love with that huge, gorgeous man called Rees. The one without an off-switch.
Rio had shaken loose some part of Nella that had been long hidden, tight down where no one could find it, not even herself. Her dreams had been both troubling and soothing—soothing because she’d relived Rio’s Shareem touch and the way he’d held her when she’d wept. Troubling because she’d responded so readily to him.
She remembered his whisper, dream of me, before he’d gone. She’d obeyed him with an ease that startled her.
“Good morning,” Talan said, rising from her chair. She came to Nella, took her uncertain hands and led her to a place at the table.
“Is it morning?” Nella asked as she sat down.
The chair adjusted itself to her body. The walls were a comforting yellow, and lighting glowed from recesses in the ceiling that soothed the eyes. The air was scented with something hard to identify, a flowery smell that was subtle but filled Nella with ease.
One wall contained a living mural, depicting a mountain meadow, bright sunlight, waving grasses, and black volcanic slopes. It looked real enough that Nella felt she could step into the picture and be there. Air wafted from the mural, carrying with it the sweet scent of summer grass.
It also looked so like home that tears welled in her eyes. In fact, it washome—the picture depicted a remote area in the Baldane province on Ariel, with emerald green meadows growing over old lava fields.
“Oh dear,” Dr. Laas said. “Baine thought you’d like to see your own planet. But perhaps it is too distressing?”
“No, it’s fine. Lovely.” Nella strove to keep her emotions in check. She’d been trained all her life to appear calm, no matter what the situation. “Thank you, Baine. But I’d like to see what it’s like outside here. I’m a bit disoriented.”
“Of course. Baine, show the street.”
The beautiful meadow shifted and the dusty streets of Bor Narga’s Pas City came into view. The mural looked down on it, though Nella knew that Dr. Laas’ compound was deep underground.
They were in a warehouse area. Once-white stone walls had been scraped raw where sandstorms battered them, and the streets were littered with pebbles and dust. Women and men in sand-colored coveralls maneuvered floating pallets through the narrow alleys, while multi-armed robots floated behind them.
Both women and men had their heads wrapped in sun-protective cloths and wore dark goggles, a necessity for those who worked outdoors for long periods of time. Those merely strolling from one place to another went bareheaded, but all carried breath masks on their belts. The sky above the tall warehouses was deep, brilliant blue.
There was beauty of a sort in it, the harsh glare of the sun on the sand-washed stone, the easy and athletic way the women and men handled their loads, talking and laughing with the gestures of people not too worried about anything. It was an alien place, but not frightening.
A tray of food materialized in front of Nella, steaming greens and golden fruits of Ariel. She stared at it and nearly started crying again. She’d been living on dried meat and anything she could get her hands on for so long she couldn’t remember when she’d last had real food.
Tales of the Shareem, Volume 1 Page 22
