Tempted

by Presley Hall

  Bartering with her body would be the exact opposite of that. I would never do such a horrific thing.

  I’m walking so fast, striding angrily down the street back toward our inn, that I realize Brooke is practically running in order to keep up with me. I can barely look at her—I’m lost in a whirlwind of thoughts and emotion, rage and battle lust pulsing through me with a force as strong as my own heartbeat, and I don’t want her to see what’s in my eyes. I’m worried it will scare her, and the last thing I want is for her to be frightened of me.

  Even though I don’t look at her, I keep her hand tightly clasped in mine, making sure she’s close to me.

  I’m not just angry at Gir. I’m furious with myself. I was so eager to make a deal that I tipped the deshing smuggler off to exactly how desperate our situation is and ruined our chance at getting a ride off-planet with him. I know I’ve never been as good with diplomacy or bargaining as Tordax or Malav or, of course, Khrelan—but I thought I was better than that.

  I behaved foolishly, not thinking far enough ahead, and my lack of cunning means that now we’re back to where we started.

  Additionally, that saloon was the place where we were most likely to find a smuggler or pilot willing to bargain for a ride. Now, not only are we back to the beginning in our search for safe passage off Nierra, but we can’t go back to that saloon without risking being recognized and caught.

  I know we were seen leaving with Gir, and once someone finds him in the alley, it’ll be easy to put the pieces together. It makes me grateful that Brooke stopped me from killing him, even if I hated being pulled away from him at the time.

  My emotions are still high by the time we reach the inn and head up the steps. I’m fuming at myself, at Gir, and I don’t even know what else—all I know is that I’m angry.

  Brooke looks up at me with wide eyes as I shut the door to our pod hard behind us. She opens her mouth to say something, but I’m not sure I can stand to hear whatever it is.

  I don’t want to hear her say that it’s all right, because it’s not. I don’t want to hear her censure, if that’s what she’s going to say, because I already know how badly I handled things.

  I couldn’t keep my temper in check, and I ruined our gambit. This is my fault—if I’d kept myself calm and measured, I might have been able to bargain for something else with Gir. At the very least, we could’ve walked away from the encounter without making our situation worse.

  Turning away from her, I shrug off my coat, letting it drop to the floor. Then I stride to the tiny bathing room without a word or another glance at Brooke. I don’t know if she’s upset with me or not, but I’m in no mood to find out either way. Because honestly, I deserve for her to be upset with me, even angry. But I also feel as if I can’t bear to see disappointment on her face.

  “I need a deshing shower,” I mutter to myself, closing the door to the bathing room firmly behind me and untying my loincloth. I’m covered in filth from the street and sweaty despite the cold, and maybe being clean will help my mood to some degree.

  At the very least, the space and silence and hot water will help me get my thoughts in order before I face Brooke again. Then we can try to make yet another plan.

  I turn on the hot water, stepping beneath it with a groan. It feels good, coursing over my chilled skin, and I soap up quickly, lathering my hair and skin and rinsing off until I’m clean again. I’m in no hurry to get out, and I linger under the hot spray, trying to figure out how to justify my behavior to myself.

  She’s not even really my mate, I think darkly. I had no business going crazy like that. I should have kept my temper. Tordax would have. Druxik would have. He’d be disappointed—

  But then again, Brooke is my charge, my mission. Should I have allowed scum like Gir to talk about her like that, so intimately and disgustingly all at once, when she’s under my protection?

  No. I could never do that.

  I’m so lost in thought that I hardly hear the door open, but I’m pulled out of my musings by the sound of it shutting.

  Glancing up sharply, I register Brooke’s shape on the other side of the thin curtain that encloses the shower pod. I freeze in place, shocked to see her. My hands move to cover myself out of sheer surprise and respect for her modesty. I’ve never been shy, as most Kalixians aren’t, but I know Terrans are modest about these things with people who aren’t their mate.

  And she’s not really mine.

  The sinking feeling in my stomach at that thought surprises me—but not nearly as much as what Brooke does next.

  Before I can open my mouth to ask what she’s doing in here, she starts to strip off her thick layers of clothing, until I can see the naked shape of her body outlined on the other side of the curtain. My cock jerks beneath my shielding hands, swelling to half-hardness at the sight of her bare curves revealed to me, with only the thin barrier between us.

  My mind seems to have temporarily frozen. A fresh ripple of shock goes through me as she pushes the curtain aside and steps naked into the shower. I stare wordlessly at her as she looks up at me, not even bothering to cover herself the way she has before. It takes every ounce of self-control I have to keep my eyes on her face, because she’s clearly come in here with something to say.

  My cock, on the other hand, has no such control.

  The minute she steps into the shower, bare and lovely, I feel it go rigid, thickening to its full hardness, making the covering of my hands almost pointless.

  Brooke doesn’t look down though. She keeps her gaze fixed on my eyes, a soft smile on her face.

  “Zhori…”

  She licks her lips nervously, and I notice all over again how beautiful they are, rosy and bow-shaped and full. I try desperately not to think of how they would feel against my own lips, or against my now aching shaft, but it’s almost impossible not to. I’ve been fighting my desire for her for days, and now she’s standing before me, entirely naked.

  I’ve fought in many battles, I’ve trained hard with my fellow warriors—but keeping my gaze above her chin feels like the most difficult thing I’ve ever done.

  “I wanted to tell you how much that meant to me. What you did out there in the alley,” she says, her voice low and soft. “No one has ever stood up for me like that before. Honestly, I’m used to guys making comments like what Gir said. You don’t know anything about this, but waitressing back on Earth, well… men say stuff like that all the time, and worse. It’s a nightmare, honestly, some of the crude shit they say and talk about doing. But no one has ever cared. No one’s ever told them to stop, or made them stop.”

  She moves a step closer to me, the space between us narrowing down to almost nothing. I can feel the warmth of her body an inch from my skin, and it sends a shudder of desire through me.

  “I’ve never had a protector before,” she whispers. “I’ve never had anyone like you in my life. And I never thought I would.”

  Before I can respond, before I can even form a complete thought, she leans up on her tiptoes, her hands pressed against my chest for balance… and kisses me.

  It’s like the kiss in the alley—but so much better. A thousand times better.

  There, we were cold and desperate and afraid, surrounded by people and in danger. But in here we’re alone, surrounded only by warmth and steam and the spray of water over us both, and there’s nothing to stop us, nothing to interrupt us. Her lips are full and soft, pressing urgently against mine, and I can’t help myself.

  I kiss her back, because there’s no way I could ever do anything else.

  She’s naked and lovely and in my arms of her own accord, and I want her more desperately than I’ve ever wanted anything in all my life. I’ve seen beautiful women before, even had them in my bed, but I can’t remember ever having felt desire like I do in this moment.

  It’s as if she’s in my blood, as if I’ll die if I don’t kiss her back, if I don’t taste her.

  I let go of where I’ve been trying to cover myself with my
hands, my cock springing up thick and hard between us, and my hands go to either side of her head, fingers tangling in her soft hair as I kiss her in return. My tongue slides along the seam of her lips and into her mouth, and I groan.

  This is a bad idea. It’s my duty to protect her, and I know that allowing this distraction could end badly.

  But I want her, and I can’t deny it any longer.

  I need something, even if it’s only frantic kisses in the shower before we both come to our senses. I need to feel her under my hands, just for a moment.

  My hands slide over her shoulders, down her back, around to her full breasts. Her nipples press into my palms as Brooke moans softly against my mouth, arching against me. I lean back against the wall, pulling her to me as I soften the kiss a little, exploring her mouth as my hand slides down her waist.

  She lets out another of those breathy moans, sending waves of lust through me.

  Her hands are on my chest, moving downward to explore the ridged muscles of my stomach before sliding even lower. I gasp as she trails her fingers through the light dusting of hair above my cock. Her palm grazes my shaft, and the pleasure that washes over me at that is electrifying.

  I feel her lips curve against mine in a smile.

  “Oh,” she whispers as she wraps her hand around me. “You’re so…”

  She doesn’t finish the thought, but I hardly notice. Her fingers brush over the crown of my cock, sending another shuddering wave of pleasure through my body as she explores me.

  I close my eyes, my head dropping back against the wall as Brooke’s lips leave mine suddenly. One of her delicate hands comes up to caress the side of my face as she kisses my jaw and then moves lower, her mouth pressing small fluttering kisses down the column of my neck.

  All the while, she keeps stroking my cock in soft, slow movements that make me desperate for more in the best kind of way. It’s a tease, but it’s a tease that I could let go on forever, stoking my already raging desire higher and higher.

  Brooke presses her lips to my collarbone, gripping my shaft more confidently now that I haven’t pushed her away—as if I could—her hand moving a little quicker as she kisses the hollow at the base of my neck. I’m lost in this moment, in the pleasure of the hot water raining down on me and the beautiful woman kissing me and touching my cock, seemingly intent on nothing more than exploring my body at her leisure.

  And I’m happy to let her.

  “I want—”

  Her whisper is almost drowned out by the sound of the water, and I feel her falter for a second, her hand going still as if she’s making up her mind about something. Then, to my shock, she drops down to her knees in front of me, looking up at me with those wide blue eyes.

  “Brooke…”

  Her name sounds hoarse on my lips. Before I can say anything more, she leans forward and presses her mouth against the tip of my cock. My breath hitches as her tongue flicks out to taste the bead of precum that’s gathered there.

  She moans softly, and the sound nearly undoes me.

  “You taste good,” she whispers, looking up at me again.

  The pure lust that burns through me at the sight of her like this is so strong that I have to steady myself against the wall, gasping with pleasure as she takes the first inch of me between her lips. Her tongue swirls around my cock as she puts one hand on my hip, balancing herself as she begins to slide down even farther.

  “Oh, krax. Oh gods, Brooke,” I grunt, my gaze locked on her.

  I saw her eyes go wide when she first got a glimpse of my cock. I don’t know how Terran men are made, but she looked startled. Still, even as she struggles a little to fit her mouth around my shaft, I hear and feel her moan, the vibrations rippling along my shaft as she works to take all of me.

  Her name falls from my lips again as she somehow manages to slide down to the very base of my cock, and I feel her throat squeeze around me as she looks up. Her eyes are luminous and wide as I feel her swallow, choking a little. She stays down there for a second before coming up, her mouth sliding off me as she tries to catch her breath.

  “You don’t have to,” I murmur, my voice rough. “Brooke, you don’t—”

  The words are almost painful to speak, because I want her to keep going more than anything in the universe. But I don’t want her to think she owes me this just because I protected her. I will never stop protecting her, and I’ll never ask for anything in return.

  She looks up at me, licking those rosy, full lips.

  “I know I don’t have to,” she says. Then she grins wickedly up at me as she squeezes my cock gently, flicking her tongue out to let me see her swirl it around the tip. “But I want to. I really, really want to.”

  Krax. She’s teasing me again, and it only increases my desire, my need to come, until it feels like every nerve in my body is alight with pleasure. It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced before, more incredible than anything I’ve ever felt.

  “Gods, you’re so beautiful,” I whisper raggedly.

  My hips arch forward with a helpless jerk as she drags her tongue up the length of my shaft. I’m desperate for her to envelop me, desperate to feel her lips wrapped around me again. I think, in this moment, I would die for it.

  “I want you to come in my mouth.”

  Her voice is husky and low, and her blue eyes sparkle with satisfaction and desire, as if she knows exactly what her sweet torment is doing to me. I moan as she flicks her tongue against me again, her hand sliding over me in long slow strokes that keeps my desire at the boiling point while never being quite enough.

  “Please—oh krax, I’m so close.”

  I can’t manage any more words. My hand settles on her wet, slippery hair as she finally gives me what I need. Her mouth slides all the way down my shaft again, sending pleasure exploding through every nerve-ending.

  She takes her other hand off my hip, sliding it between my legs and gently brushing her fingers over my balls, cupping her hand around me as she begins to move her mouth up and down my cock in earnest. The movements grow faster and faster as she licks and sucks and strokes me, her hand between my legs matching the rhythm until I’ve lost all sense of what exactly she’s doing where—only that everything feels incredible, better than I’ve ever imagined.

  The muscles in my thighs start to tremble, the sweet sensation of release rising up in me.

  Brooke looks up at me, an emotion I can’t quite name burning in her beautiful eyes. She swallows, making her throat squeeze around me, and my cock erupts in her mouth in a blinding wave of pleasure.

  My fingers tangle in her hair, my hips thrusting forward as I spill down her throat, and she takes every bit of it, still sucking and licking along the length of my shaft as I come in waves that feel like they’ll never stop.

  At last, she leans back, releasing me with a wet sound. She tilts her head up to meet my gaze again, her face flushed and full of desire.

  All I can do is stare down at her, entirely speechless.

  15

  Brooke

  I look up at Zhori from where I’m kneeling on the shower floor, licking away the last bit of his orgasm as he stares down at me with an expression on his face that’s somewhere between pure astonishment and raw lust.

  The silver flecks in his eyes that I noticed when I first met him have bled out into the blue of his irises, turning his eyes from a starlit sky to pure, glowing silver. Under other circumstances it might seem strange, but right now it just makes him look even more breathtakingly gorgeous. His bronzed skin glistens with water as his eyes shine silver, like the statue of a god drenched in molten metal.

  My body has never felt so alive, aching with desire, and I can feel my own arousal gathering between my thighs from the sensation of Zhori coming apart in my mouth. As I look up at him from the floor of the tiny shower, he seems more massive and masculine than ever.

  And I made him fall to pieces. I made him moan and writhe and groan helplessly as I gave him pleasure.

&n
bsp; That thought sends a fresh wave of heat through me. I’ve seen him dominate others in fights, but just for this moment, he was completely overpowered by me. Completely mine, just for a few minutes, while I had his cock in my hands and mouth.

  I lick my lips again, more turned on than I’ve ever been in my entire life as I taste his salty essence on my tongue.

  He’s gasping for breath, his length half-soft now but still fucking massive. He’s so big everywhere, and his cock definitely matches the rest of him.

  Breathless and wetter than I’ve ever been, it’s all I can do not to beg him to take me into the bedroom and slide every inch of himself into me. I can’t even imagine what it would feel like, all of that thick length inside me, but my body is screaming for it.

  Holy shit. What is going on with me?

  I’ve been able to admit to myself for a while now that I’m attracted to Zhori, but the desire that drove me to come in here, strip, and go down on him is something beyond plain attraction. I don’t even quite know what compelled me to do it.

  I just—I wanted to show him how I feel, how grateful I am for what he did, and how touched I am that he defended me from Gir that way. I wanted more than anything to give him something, to take care of him the way he’s taken care of me, and in that moment, it just seemed… right.

  As we hold each other’s gazes, a spell seems to weave between us, filling the small, steamy shower stall with something even headier than the smell of sex.

  Then, suddenly, Zhori moves.

  He reaches down, hauling me to my feet in a smooth motion. Before I can catch my breath or say anything, his hand goes into my hair, fingers tangling into it in a fist as he drags my lips to his. His tongue plunges possessively into my mouth as his free hand slides down to grip my ass. He pulls me tight against him so that I can feel every line of his naked body against mine. I grind against him a little, reveling in the hardness of his muscles and the wetness of his slick skin.

  He kisses me harder, groaning as he turns me so that I’m the one up against the wall, his hard body pressing into mine.