“You must never go back down to Earth,” he said, frowning at her. “It isn’t safe—you must stay on the Mother Ship—I’ll make certain you have a place there.”
Lisa gave him a wan smile.
“Thanks. I guess you want to take me back tonight, huh? After the way I freaked out?”
“Back to the Mother Ship tonight?” he frowned. “Why would I do that? We haven’t attended the coronation yet—or found the Chorkays’ secret method of long-range communication.”
“But…” She twisted her fingers together, looking at him uncertainly. “But aren’t you afraid I’ll, uh, mess everything up for you? By freaking out again or something like that?”
“No,” Asher said firmly. “Why would I think such a thing?”
“Well, because I kind of went crazy for a minute there,” Lisa said, and he could hear the shame in her voice. “Just because I got locked in the bathroom for a little bit with the lights out.”
“You had good reason to be upset,” Asher told her. “It has been a long and trying night for both of us but especially for you, since you are not used to folding space or visiting alien planets. And after hearing your past experiences, I’m not surprised you had a flashback when you were stuck in the necessary room.”
“So…” She nibbled her lower lip and glanced up at him from under her lashes. “You’re not afraid it will happen again and ruin your mission?”
“How could it?” Asher asked reasonably. “Unless the coronation and feast tomorrow somehow involve being in a small, dark place—which I very much doubt. But if it does, we will leave at once.”
“But…what about your mission?” Lisa asked.
“Fuck the mission,” Asher said harshly. “I brought you here and you are my responsibility, Lisa. The mission can wait—all I want to do now is tend to you and make certain you’re all right.”
She looked at him wide-eyed.
“I’m…I feel much better now,” she said. “I didn’t think it would, but I think maybe…maybe it helped to talk about it.”
“Painful experiences are lessened when they are shared,” Asher said, nodding. “Thank you for trusting me enough to share your past with me.” Though it had been difficult to hear, he appreciated that she trusted him enough to tell him her past trauma and pain.
“Thank you for listening,” she said shyly. “I’ve never told anyone about what happened last Christmas. I guess I’ve just been, uh, bottling it up inside.”
“You don’t have to do that.” Moving slowly, so as not to upset her, Asher cupped her cheek and wiped away her tears with the pad of his thumb. Her big blue eyes were still wide and wet, tugging at his heart in a way no female ever had before.
“I…thank you,” she whispered and leaned forward, towards him.
For a moment Asher was certain she wanted to kiss him and he was certainly willing to kiss her back. He leaned forward too but then Lisa jerked and made a muffled exclamation of pain.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” he asked with concern as she drew away.
“I’m sorry—I have to get up,” she apologized. “This moss we’re sitting on felt soft at first but now it’s really irritating.”
“Irritating?” Asher frowned as she got to her feet, wincing with every movement. “How so?”
“Oh, it’s just…just bothering the scratches on the backs of my thighs—where I accidentally rubbed the oil,” she admitted. “But it’s not a big deal—I’m fine,” she added hastily.
Asher frowned.
“You are not fine if you’re in pain. Let me see, please.”
“What? No!” She was still wearing the Sacred Blue cloth wrapped around herself, and now she clutched it to her more tightly.
“Lisa…” He frowned at her. “Didn’t I just finish saying that you’re my responsibility? I need to tend to your wounds before either of us can sleep tonight.”
“Tend my wounds? How?” she demanded. “Do you have some kind of Kindred salve or ointment that can make the burning go away?”
“I have something better than that,” Asher said quietly. “My essence—the liquid which comes from my fangs,” he explained, seeing her questioning look. “I can heal you with it—the same way I healed your finger.”
“Oh, but you put my finger in your mouth and licked it,” she protested. “You don’t want to, uh, lick the backs of my thighs!”
“Why not?” Asher asked, frowning. “It is the best and fastest way to heal you.”
“But…but it’s a much more, uh, private spot than my finger,” she protested again, but he thought her resistance was weakening.
“Lisa,” he murmured, cupping her cheek again. “I know it’s a delicate, sensitive area but I promise to be respectful of your boundaries. I will only lick you where you’re hurt and only to heal you—that’s all.”
She nibbled her lower lip again, seeming to consider the proposition.
“Well, I guess that’s okay,” she said at last. “If…if you really don’t mind.”
There was hardly any way Asher could tell her that licking her sweet, curvy body—especially in a place so near her soft little pussy—would be his greatest pleasure. It would doubtless make her feel uncomfortable and besides, he shouldn’t even be thinking it, he told himself. It was unprofessional and wrong. He would keep his word and only lick her where she was hurt, in order to heal her.
That, he promised himself firmly.
“I do not mind in the least,” he said. “Now if you’d care to show me your injuries?”
“Oh, but I have to put on some panties first!” Lisa objected.
Asher frowned. “Panties? I don’t know this word.”
“They’re underthings to cover your, um, intimate parts.” Lisa’s cheeks were pink with a blush. “I mean, I know you’ve, uh, already kind of seen the whole area,” she went on in a rush. “When we were, uh, helping each other get purified. But I don’t know how I feel about you, um, seeing it up close. If you know what I mean.”
“Very well.” Asher nodded towards their luggage cubes which were stacked on the low tables to his left. “Help yourself. And let me know when you have these ‘panties’ on and you’re ready to let me heal your injuries.”
“Okay.” She nodded and went to her cube. Asher waited, trying not to anticipate the feel of her soft flesh under his tongue. He would be completely professional, he told himself again. He would only heal her—nothing more.
Of that, he was certain.
Thirty-Three
The problem was, Lisa couldn’t find any panties.
She’d been certain that Kat had packed her at least one pair, but they were nowhere to be found. Nor could she find the pair she’d been wearing with the Sacred Blue traveling dress.
She did at least find a nighty to wear—though it was so short it only came to mid-thigh and was made of a silky, practically see-through material that made her feel almost naked when she slipped it on.
“I, um, couldn’t find any panties,” she admitted to Asher, who had been politely averting his eyes while she dressed. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He shrugged. “They would probably only get in the way of me healing you anyway. Come to the bed so I can look you over.”
“The bed?” Lisa frowned and shook her head. “You mean that hole in the ground? Sorry, but I don’t think I can get in there. It’s way too claustrophobic.”
“You do not have to go into the sleeping hole if you don’t want to,” Asher said reasonably. “But I thought it might help me to reach you if I was to go down into it while you stayed up here.”
“Oh…okay.” Lisa could see his point at once. He was so much taller than her that reaching her wasn’t going to be easy. If he was three feet down in the sleeping hole, as he called it, that would make her much more accessible. In fact, he could probably just kneel on the bed while she stayed at the edge of the rectangular hole and let him lick her.
Just the thought of his hot tongue on such a sensitive area made her
want to blush all over again. She couldn’t help remembering how gently he had touched her in the private purification chamber—how hard he had made her come. She ought to be completely satiated after all that. Instead, her pussy was throbbing as though she hadn’t had an orgasm in a month.
Stop it, she scolded herself as Asher climbed into the sleeping hole and arranged himself with his elbows resting on the edge. We’re going to be completely professional this time with no monkey business!
At least so she told herself. But when Asher asked her, in a businesslike voice, to get on her hands and knees in front of him so that he could see her thighs, she couldn’t help feeling her whole body clench with nervous anticipation.
“All right,” she said, trying to arrange herself as he had requested but still keep her thighs tightly closed. The soft cushy moss felt cool against her knees and the palms of her hands and she was very aware of the big Kindred just behind her as she knelt with her back to him.
She shivered as he raised the brief hem of her light blue nighty and pushed it up, baring her ass.
“Hmm—yes, the scratches certainly seem inflamed,” he remarked. “I’m going to heal you now, Lisa—all right?”
“Yes.” She looked over her shoulder briefly. “That…that’s all right.”
“Very good,” Asher rumbled and then she felt something warm and wet caressing the back of her right thigh. And oh…what bliss! Because the moment his tongue touched h er, the itching, stinging pain finally stopped.
“Ahhh,” Lisa couldn’t help moaning as he moved to the left thigh. The relief was almost as intense as the pain had been and she felt herself relaxing as Asher lapped her with long, slow strokes of his tongue, thoroughly covering all the area where she had been hurt.
Well, mostly.
Lisa still had a few scrapes on her inner thighs that stung a bit but they weren’t as bad as the others had been. She could deal with them, she told herself firmly. There was no need to ask him to get any more…intimate than he already had.
So when Asher asked her to part her legs, so he could make certain he’d healed her everywhere, she stalled.
“I…I think you got it all,” she said. “I mean, thank you—I feel so much better.”
“But do you feel completely better?” he asked, frowning.
“Well…” Lisa bit her lip. “Maybe…maybe not quite completely,” she admitted in a small voice.
“Then please spread your legs for me, Lisa. Let me make sure that I have healed you everywhere,” he said and added, “Remember, I won’t lick you anywhere you don’t have pain.”
“Well…all right.” Reluctantly, she opened her thighs for him and heard Asher curse softly.
“Gods, Lisa—why did you tell me you were healed? You still have some fairly-painful looking scratches here.” She felt one long finger trace along her inner thighs and his touch sent a shiver through her.
“I…I didn’t want to bother you,” she said breathlessly.
“It is no bother—I want to heal you everywhere,” he told her. “But I think it would be better if you turned over and lay on your back with your thighs spread—I can reach this area better that way.”
Biting her lip, Lisa did as he said. Her heart was pounding and her cheeks felt flushed but she told herself not to be silly—he was just healing her—as she lay on her back and opened her legs.
It was only after Asher had once again flipped up the short hem of her silky nighty that she realized how very wet and open her pussy was for him. Her outer lips looked swollen and tender and they were spreading of their own accord, exposing her slick inner petals and even the little pink pearl of her clit, which was throbbing with need.
Lisa felt her cheeks get hot. Oh God—she hadn’t realized she was getting turned on while he was licking the backs of her thighs—how embarrassing!
Quickly, she started to shut her legs but Asher stopped her with a hand on each of her knees.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, frowning. “Why are you trying to close your legs before I’ve had a chance to heal your inner thighs?”
“I…because I…I’m so, uh, wet,” Lisa stammered nervously. “I…I don’t know why. I know we agreed to keep things professional. It’s just so embarrassing,” she finally finished.
“Why should you be embarrassed that your pussy gets wet when I heal you?” Asher asked, as though it was the most reasonable thing in the world for her to get turned on—extremely turned on—while he was applying the Kindred version of first aid.
“Well, I mean because…because we said we were going to be professional,” Lisa reminded him again. “And because it makes it look like I want you to, uh, you know. But I don’t!” she added hastily. “Not really, I mean. Because that wouldn’t be professional.”
“Actually, it is nothing but professional for me to ease your pain,” Asher remarked. “You are, as I have said, my responsibility. But as for your body’s reaction to me, please don’t worry. It’s natural for the feeling of my essence healing you to bring you pleasure. And as for your pussy getting wet, I believe that is also natural—you are probably what my people call a numalla.”
“A what?” Lisa asked, frowning.
“A numalla—a female who makes a very generous amount of pussy honey,” Asher told her. His green eyes were heavy-lidded as he spoke, though he kept his tone dry and lecturing. “Numallas are greatly esteemed in my culture.”
“They…they are?” Lisa asked uncertainly. “Why?”
“Well…” He cleared his throat. “We Kindred tend to be…well endowed, is probably the best way to put it.”
“I, uh, noticed that,” she admitted faintly.
“Yes, well…” Asher cleared his throat again. “The Beast Kindred make a chemical in their precum which allows a female to open and accommodate them and the Twin Kindred have their bonding fruit, which serves a similar purpose. But those of us who are of the Blood Kindred variety, have neither of those advantages. Therefore, a female who makes a lot of pussy honey is very much esteemed because this will enable the Kindred she is with to slip his shaft into her more easily when they make love and he bonds her to him.”
“Oh, I see.” Lisa felt like her cheeks were burning because now she was imagining Asher between her thighs, the thick shaft she’d touched so intimately sliding inside her, filling her up…
No! she scolded herself. Don’t think like that—you can’t do that—you can’t!
“And that is why a numalla like yourself is valued,” Asher said, still speaking in that dry, lecturing voice. “So you see, you have no need to be ashamed. Simply relax and let me finish healing you.”
“But…but I’m afraid some of my, uh, honey got on my thighs,” she pointed out. And indeed, she was so wet that her inner thighs were coated with her juices, just where he was proposing to lick her.
Asher’s voice went slightly hoarse.
“I do not mind that. I just want to ease your pain.”
“Well…if you really don’t mind,” Lisa agreed breathlessly. She felt her heart pounding as she watched the big Kindred lean down and begin to lap her again—this time running his tongue in long, slow strokes over her inner thighs, less than an inch from her open pussy.
She tried not to moan as he licked her, his tongue darting around and around her spread sex, for all the world as though he was teasing her instead of healing her. He seemed to go on and on. The red scratches were long-since healed and yet he continued, lapping away every bit of her juices and running his hot tongue along the place where her thigh met her body on either side, almost as though he was coaxing her to make more so he could lap that away too.
At last Lisa couldn’t stand the teasing anymore. Her pussy was throbbing and his hot tongue was driving her crazy! She opened her mouth to tell him to stop and heard herself say instead,
“Um, Asher? I think…think you may have missed a spot.”
He looked up, his eyes blazing with desire.
“Where might that be, sweet
heart? Maybe here?” He stroked one long finger over her outer pussy lips. “I noticed that you look somewhat red and swollen here,” he remarked. “Would you like me to lick you and ease your pain?”
“Yes…yes please,” Lisa said breathlessly. “Only the outside, though,” she added, feeling guilty. “I mean, there’s where it, um, hurts.”
“Of course.” Lowering his head again, Asher laved her right side, letting his hot tongue flatten out as he licked her. With a little jolt of pure pleasure, Lisa felt him brush just the side of her swollen clit at the same time.
“Oh!” she gasped and bucked her hips.
Asher looked up at once.
“Are you all right?” he murmured.
“Yes, I…it’s just when you, uh, were healing the, um, outer part of my pussy, your tongue sort of went in, too,” Lisa told him.
He frowned. “Did it? Forgive me—I was only trying to be thorough.”
“Oh, well…” She shifted a little, looking down to see how open and wet her pussy was, “I guess…guess that’s all right then.”
“Thank you.” And Asher lowered his head again and lapped at the left side of her spread sex. And again she felt the side of his hot tongue glide over just the edge of her throbbing clit. God, it felt so good! Lisa couldn’t help herself—she wanted more!
The next time he licked her, she twitched her hips a little and his tongue landed squarely in the middle of her spread pussy lips.
Landed but didn’t lick.
Instead, he looked up at her, the tip of his tongue teasing just at the edge of her entrance.
Lisa held her breath, unsure what to do.
“I…I didn’t mean to—” she began.
Still holding her gaze with his, Asher dragged his tongue upward, lapping directly over the throbbing button of her clit and making Lisa gasp and writhe under him.
“I did,” he said, lifting his mouth from her at last. “Because it seems to me that you’re extremely swollen and irritated here.” Using just the tip of his index finger, he circled her slippery clit gently but thoroughly. “And I think you need healing—a very thorough healing in this area. Would you agree?”
Falling for Kindred Claus Page 17
