by Nina Croft
Heat was building in her belly, sinking between her thighs as he massaged her breast. Then the other. Tingles ran along her nerves. She pressed herself back against him and the hard line of his erection pushed against the cleft of her bottom.
He wanted her.
His hand slid lower, over her jeans to rest at the junction of her thighs, and she pushed against him, desperate for more. Then his fingers moved between her legs, pressing upward, and pleasure shot through her. Her thighs tightened around his hand as he rubbed small circles, pressing the seam of her jeans against her swollen, sensitive flesh.
That’s what it felt like.
All the reading hadn’t prepared her for the sensations coursing through her. Building, the pressure rising…
Don’t stop. Don’t stop.
He stopped.
“They’re coming back,” he whispered.
If it wasn’t her, then she didn’t care who was coming. She wanted to come. He’d probably change his mind in a moment. She opened her mouth to protest—loudly—and his hand moved to clamp over her lips.
She gritted her teeth.
Light was filling the tunnel and now that he’d stopped tormenting her, she could hear the sound of booted feet approaching. The men went past in the opposite direction and she held herself still as the light dimmed and the footsteps faded.
“We need to go.”
“I don’t want to go.” I want to come.
He turned her in his arms and a faint glow from his “torch” lit up the tunnel, illuminating the sharp angles and planes of his beautiful face. His eyes gleamed silver as he stared down at her.
“They might come back.”
She sniffed. “Don’t make excuses. Just say if you don’t want me.”
A smile flickered across his face, then he reached down and took her hand, placed it against his chest with his palm over hers, then he pushed it downward until she reached the hard length of his erection. She could feel the heat of him through the denim of his jeans.
“Does that feel like I don’t want you?”
She shook her head, then traced the shape of him, and he went totally still under her touch. He was so big, and heat flooded between her thighs.
He groaned. “But we do need to get back to the ship and put some safety measures in place.”
“More cloaking devices?” she asked.
He cast her a sharp glance. “Perhaps.”
“You do have some super cool devices,” she said. “So many…prototypes.”
“Technology is a wonderful thing. Come on.”
They didn’t speak on the half-hour walk back to the ship. Destiny spent the time thinking about Milo and his torch that looked like a wand and his cloaking devices that made them invisible. And about all the things he wasn’t telling her.
“I made a new friend last night,” she said as they walked up the ramp of the ship.
He paused and turned to her, a frown between his brows. “You met someone?”
“Not someone exactly. I met a dog. A really big dog.” She watched him closely as she spoke, trying to gauge his reaction, but he was giving nothing away, so she continued. “It was after Dylan left. I heard barking and went to look. It was sitting outside the tunnels as though it was waiting for me. Do you think it could be an indigenous species?”
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t know.”
“Anyway, we went for a run and then a swim in the lake. Don’t worry, I was careful—Dylan brought me this—” She lifted her arm to show him the silver bracelet. “It will flash and beep if there are any of those drone things around.”
“Good. But you want to be careful of strange dogs. They can be vicious.”
She started walking again. “This one seemed very friendly.”
He opened his mouth but then the comm unit on his arm beeped and he raised it to his face.
…
“What?” Milo snapped.
“I don’t want to say more now,” Dylan said. “But if you’re with our friend, stay there. They’re watching the shuttle. Don’t come back.” And he ended the call before Milo had a chance to answer.
“Shit.”
Something had clearly gone badly wrong. Dylan hadn’t wanted to speak over the comm unit, and he hadn’t mentioned Destiny by name, so he must suspect they were being monitored.
“Go inside,” he said to Destiny.
For a moment, her lips tightened, and he was pretty sure she was going to refuse, then she gave a quick nod. She turned to him, stood up on tiptoes, and kissed him on the cheek. “Stay safe. I’ll be waiting.”
He watched the sway of her hips as she disappeared inside. She didn’t look back. He had an idea she was becoming suspicious. The comment about the cloaking device had seemed…pointed. And the giant fucking dog. He was going to kill Dylan. What the hell did he think he was up to? Asshole. Dylan was the first to jump in and say they needed to eliminate anyone who suspected their real nature. So what was he doing with Destiny?
Jesus, he just wanted to take her inside and fuck her until he forgot about nuclear bombs, and politics, and the chance that Kinross had discovered that they weren’t actually willing to go along with his megalomaniac plans for the future.
He wanted to be the one to show her how good it could be.
And he could because they were clearly on the same wavelength. She just wanted him for sex. Or so she said.
First, he needed to take a few safety measures, then…
After heading down the ramp, he took the same route back. He lit his wand, returned to where they had turned off the main tunnel and cast a spell. If anyone came down this way, they wouldn’t even see the entrance to the tunnel.
Then he turned around and returned to the spaceship.
Looked like he wasn’t going anywhere for a while. Destiny was sitting cross-legged at the top of the ramp, munching on a donut and waiting for him. He could feel the heat and intensity of her gaze as she watched him approach. He could hardly believe the change in her in only a few days.
“Are you hungry?” she asked as he halted in front of her.
He shook his head. Not for food anyway.
He studied her for a long moment. There was that hint of familiarity again, just a glimmer of something. The high cheekbones, flawless skin, the wide mouth. Dark blue eyes. He stared into them. They were the same color as Kinross’s eyes. And there was a certain similarity in the shape of the bones.
Could she be related to Kinross? Was that why they wanted her back so badly? Some sort of surrogate birth on the Trakis Four perhaps. But why? He’d looked into Kinross’s background. The man didn’t have children—did that gall? That he was building an empire and had no one to hand it to? He’d been married once, but there had been no offspring and his wife had died of cancer ten years before the exodus from Earth. Maybe Destiny was meant to be the heir apparent. But why had she been locked in a cell? And she claimed she had never met Kinross. It just didn’t gel.
He was betting Dr. Elvira Yang had all the answers. Maybe as soon as he found out what was going on, he would pay the doctor a visit.
“What are you thinking?” Destiny asked.
“Just wondering where you come from. Who you are.”
She jumped to her feet. “Does it matter?”
“Not right now.” But he had a feeling that it did matter. That it was important and that she might be the one thing that would get them off this planet alive. Because before this was over, they would need every advantage they could get. Would he use Destiny?
He didn’t know. But he was betting Dylan would. The werewolf liked her—he could tell—but he very much doubted that would make a difference if Dylan’s survival was at stake. Or the survival of his pack. Dylan was an alpha, so his main function in life was to protect his pack, and they would always come first.
; Suddenly he felt restless, his skin too tight, his muscles jumpy. He wanted to be out of the tunnels and into the open air. He wanted to lay Destiny down under the stars and make love to her. As he admitted it to himself, the tightly wound tension inside him unraveled. Who knew what tomorrow would bring? But they had tonight. “Let’s get some fresh air.”
“Can we go for a swim?”
“Why not.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Ah, lips that say one thing, while the heart thinks another,”
—Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo
They walked side by side without touching, but she could sense a resolve to him. He’d made a decision, given up the fight, and she hugged her arms around herself.
When she’d woken from cryo, all she had asked for was the chance to live a little, to experience life and love. And tonight, here and now, was more than she could have ever dreamed of. There was a niggle at the back of her mind, that this would change everything. That this would forever alter her perception of the world and where her loyalties would lie going forward. But she wouldn’t think of that now.
Whatever the future held, she would have this night.
Darkness was falling as they headed out of the tunnels. She glanced around in case her new canine friend was there, but they were alone. Beside her, Milo paused and took a deep breath of air then stretched, raising his arms above his head. He was all long, lean muscle and power, and an ache started low down in her body.
Then he smiled and held out a hand, and she clasped her palm against his. They walked toward the lake. At this point, she could see the twinkling lights of the buildings on the island. They stayed in the cover of the trees, strolling along the shoreline, hand in hand like a couple from a real romance, until they could no longer see the lights. Above their heads the stars had come out.
“That’s Trakis Two,” Milo said, pointing up into the sky.
Most of the stars twinkled, but there was one that glowed a dull orange. A planet not a star.
“At the moment, the two planets are about as close as they ever get. Trakis Four forms an elliptical orbit around its two stars. Trakis Two orbits one of them, so every few…years they’re close together. Like now.”
“It’s beautiful,” she murmured. The stars were reflected in the smooth water of the lake.
She slipped her hand from Milo’s and without another word, kicked off her boots. Then she tugged her tank top over her head and dropped it on the sand, unfastened her pants and wriggled out of them. As she stood before him naked, she could sense his eyes on her, the intensity of his gaze. She didn’t look at him, just walked slowly toward the lake. The stars rippled and broke apart as she waded into the water. It was cool to the touch and she trailed her fingers over the surface. As it lapped at her belly, then her breasts, she kept walking until the water covered her, then she floated on her back, gazing at the immensity of the sky above her. The small speck of Trakis Two. Would Milo return there without her? Another night, would she float here and try to imagine him so far away? She pushed away the thought. Tonight was hers. She would worry about tomorrow…tomorrow.
She was putting off the moment, building the anticipation. Though part of her worried that it would be an anticlimax when they finally came together. She wanted this too much.
When she turned and swam back to the shoreline, he was still standing where she had left him, hands shoved into his pockets. So big and beautiful.
She waded out of the water and walked slowly toward him, the warm air teasing over her body, tightening her nipples. His gaze dropped to wander over her, his nostrils flaring, and her nipples tightened even more, a slow throb starting between her thighs.
Reaching out she rested her palm against his chest, sliding her fingers down, then gripping the hem of his T-shirt and pulling it up and over his head. She threw it down on to the pile of her clothes.
Broad shoulders tapered to a narrow waist. His skin was pale, marked by the dark ink of tattoos. A leather thong around his neck with some sort of pendant. She touched it briefly. Then stroked her fingers over the smooth swell of muscle, the rough line of some sort of scar. A shudder ran through him. She scraped her nails over his nipples and the muscles tensed. Leaning closer, she kissed his skin, breathing in the musky male scent of him as her hands dropped to his waist and she fumbled to unfasten his belt. He didn’t help, just stood motionless, his hands at his sides, tension coiled inside him. While he was letting her set the pace, explore, she could sense his fierce need, and her blood heated, her nerves zinging with anticipation.
At long last, the belt was undone, and she flicked open the button of his jeans, her fingers surer now. As she lowered the zipper, he groaned, his head going back.
She hesitated for only a moment and then slipped one hand inside and found the rigid heat of him. Thick and long, the skin like satin over steel, and heat pooled in her belly, sinking lower. She was aware of her own skin, her breasts, the spot between her thighs, swollen with need.
She pushed down his pants and at last he helped, kicking off his boots and stripping off his jeans to stand before her naked.
She was filled with a mixture of emotions so strong she was almost overwhelmed, want and need and love, and she pushed that aside as well. He was like a wild animal, and if she asked too much, too quickly, he would take flight and run into the forest.
So she would take what she could get, as she always had. But some inner part of her niggled at her own restraints. All her life she’d held herself in, controlled herself and her emotions, because that was the only way to survive. She had been a prisoner both mentally and physically, and now a part of her wanted to throw off any restraints and go after what she wanted. Somehow make him care for her. Was it so much to ask?
But then she might end up with nothing.
At least this way she would have the memories of tonight. So she kept the words locked inside and vowed to show him how she felt.
“What do you want?” he murmured.
“Everything.”
“Then take it. I’m yours.”
For tonight.
She took a step closer, reached up, and touched her fingers to his lips. Then closer still and pressed her mouth to his skin, tasting the saltiness, breathing in his scent. She kissed his chest, flicking her tongue over his hard nipples and heard him gasp. Without thinking she sank to her knees in front of him and peered up the long line of his body.
“Destiny…?” Her name was a groan.
She leaned closer and placed a soft kiss against his hard flesh. His hands moved, and he cupped her head, his fingers tangling in the hair at her nape, but making no effort to hold her closer. She licked along the length of him, swirling her tongue around the tip, tasting the saltiness. Then she sat back on her heels and looked at him. Gilded in starlight. Her own body reacted, clenching tight, flooding with wet heat, and she pressed her thighs together, the anticipation building. She took him in her mouth, felt his body’s instinctive response as his hips jerked against her. He was too big, and she wrapped her hand around him, squeezing as she sucked at the swollen head. His hips were moving in rhythm with her movements, his hand tightening around her skull.
Then his body went tense, he groaned, and hot liquid flooded her mouth. She swallowed, as it kept coming. More than she’d expected. Her hands cupped his balls and she squeezed gently, and his hips jerked against her.
Finally he stopped moving and she gave him one last kiss, sat back on her heels, and peered up at him, a big grin on her face. “It works. Just like in the books.”
He laughed. Then tugged her to her feet and kissed her, his tongue pushing inside her mouth, filling her as his hard body would soon fill hers. Then he swooped her up in his arms.
“My turn.”
He laid her down in the soft sand before coming down to kneel between her open thighs.
From the books she had read, she had a feeling that she should have felt shy at this moment. She didn’t. Maybe her unusual upbringing had some advantages. She could feel herself yearning for him. Her sex soft and swollen and needy with the premonition of what was to come. Her hips jerked as her mind filled with the image of him coming down on her, his mouth kissing her. Tingles ran over her skin and through her body, settling between her thighs. He hadn’t touched her there yet, but already she was about to explode.
His big hands reached out and stroked over her belly, through the curls at the base and she held her breath. Long fingers stroked over her sensitive flesh, rubbing too briefly over the bundle of nerves, then lower. One finger probed at the entrance to her body, then sank inside her and she moaned softly.
So good.
Then he lowered his head and kissed her inner thigh and her body twisted beneath his touch, lifting toward him, needing more. His breath was cool against her heated skin, then his mouth was on her and all rational thought fled.
He licked long strokes over her sex, slowly, tasting her, stopping just short of where she needed him most. Then back, his tongue pushing inside her, then lapping at her, the pressure never enough, and at the same time the sensations too much for her body to contain.
She didn’t want it to end, but she was striving toward something, the pressure building. She stopped thinking and concentrated on the stroke of his tongue, first so light it was only a whisper against her flesh, then harder, pushing inside her.
His hands slid beneath her to hold her up for his touch as he parted her sex with his clever fingers.
She was so close now, reaching for that elusive release, her body shaking with need. Then he sucked the throbbing bundle of nerves into his mouth, bit down gently and she shattered into a million pieces. He sucked again, and her spine arched, and she screamed, pleasure flooding her, saturating her, blowing her mind. Leaving her empty and changed forever.
Then he moved, his mouth leaving her as he came up over her body. She blinked open her dazed eyes, found him braced on his elbows above her. She stared into his face. His eyes were glowing silver, with glints of crimson in the depths, his nostrils flared. “Are you ready?” he asked.
