by Alison Aimes
His hand grabbed her bottom and suddenly she was lifted, her back sliding up the wall as easily as if she was made of air, until her center was positioned right at his mouth, her legs hoisted over his shoulders, her skirt bared to her waist. Her woman’s center served up to him like a feast for the taking. “But now you will obey me by putting those palms flat against the wall and letting me tongue that sweet, tight hole of yours until you cream all over me—and I will love that best of all.”
She did as he instructed.
His mouth descended.
Her head fell back with a moan. Goddess, she’d had no idea.
Her hips jerked, the sensations so intense a part of her couldn’t help but shy away.
A rumble of protest issued from his lips. He gripped her tighter, making her take every sweet stroke of his tongue until she was crying out, her hips grinding upward, desperate for every rough touch.
Yet he never increased his pace. “DaKar, p-please. Harder.”
He only reared back, a Warlord surveying his bounty as his eyes locked with hers and his thumb claimed where his tongue had just been, his movements deliberate, his gaze challenging as he skimmed the calloused pad in small circles across her sensitive clit. “I give the commands, little one. You would do well to remember that.”
She bit back a whimper, her hips lifting of their own accord.
He stilled altogether. “Yes?”
“Y-yes.” She’d deal with that bossy Warlord streak of his later.
“Good girl.” His thumb circled her clit once more, his fierce gaze still locked with hers. “You looked so damn beautiful earlier tonight watching the play, so ladylike and refined.” He yanked the top of her dress down, baring her tight pink nipples to his gaze and the air, raising gooseflesh on her sensitive skin.
“All I could think of was how I knew your secret.”
She froze. “W-what?”
His thick wrist pumped between her thighs. “That only I knew what a hot little wanton and curious kitten exists behind that ice princess exterior. That only I had seen you lose control, heard you moan, felt you wet and slick and sweet and shuddering all over my hand.” His hand moved faster against her clit. “Do you know how hard it was to keep from leaving that damn theater box and coming after you?”
Her nails scored the wall behind. The heady rush of relief leaving her boneless.
“You will not accept Peller’s contract.” Another command.
This time she was too far gone with pleasure to care. “I-I would never.”
“You will be with no one else.”
Warning alarms blared, but they were faint, drowned out by the roar of lust. “I ache for you, DaKar.” She managed to push the words out. “No one but you.”
Another truth. Not nearly all she owed him, but it was a start.
Her words must have pleased him. His golden gaze blazed so bright it seemed to shimmer like the multiplying threads flourishing between them, the black of his pupils all but disappearing as his horns thickened and jutted skyward while a deep rumble thundered from his chest.
“What happened here?”
Her eyes went wide.
He traced a faint mottled bruise on the underside of her breast.
Everything inside her stilled. She hadn’t realized her stepfather’s mark remained. “A…a clumsy accident.”
He hesitated, his stare boring into hers.
“It’s nothing. Really.”
“Every hurt of yours means something to me.” His thumb caressed the bruise before skimming down her belly. “I will make it better.”
Her heart stuttered. “You already have.”
His gaze sharpened, his nostrils flaring.
A whisper of her name and then he dove once more between her legs. His tongue lapping and sucking like a beast half-starved, the flat of his tongue working her clit until she could barely breathe, and, positioned as she was, her legs over his shoulders, her bottom cradled in his huge hand, she had no ability to do anything but take it. To surrender to his strength and command. To believe with everything inside her that despite his fierceness, he wouldn’t hurt her. To know deep inside her that for these few glorious moments she was safe.
After so long on her own, depending on herself, the brief respite was a gift beyond imagining.
White-hot pleasure raced from her center through her spine and out her fingertips. She was alive, free, suffused with joy. Her body bucked in time with his tongue. Her chest tingled and sparked as pleasure surged there, too.
Something this beautiful could never be wrong.
Mine.
The claim ripped through. Not his. But hers.
Her muscles tightened, strained, until finally, in a burst of light and freedom, she exploded. Her spirit soared through the stars while her body hummed with bliss. Every fear, every ugly bruise, every pain, erased as the beauty of his touch and his care cleansed her.
Her lungs were still gasping for air when she opened her eyes and discovered she was now in his lap, cradled close as he sat on the floor. The golden ties connecting them far more numerous than they’d been before. Overlapping, thicker and sturdier, too. Like the roots of the rare massive trees that had once thrived on Earth.
And though there was no ability to read his mind or know his thoughts, there was a new sense of connectedness. A deeper intimacy—and it was coming from her side as much as his.
Warning bells shrieked faintly in the back of her lust-drenched brain.
“So beautiful, Aurora.” His big hand traced the edge of her jaw, his words so gentle for such a fierce male. “I will not make the same mistake as before.” His voice firmed, deep satisfaction and resolve streaming from him to her. “You are mine.”
More alarm bells blared, her sensual haze clearing fully.
“I thought I was keeping you safe by staying away, but I see now that was a mistake. We will continue with the soul-bonding and you will be my mate. I will protect you always.”
She bolted upright, knocking her head against his chin. “You…you barely know me.” She struggled to gain some distance. Of course, a mercurial male like him would do a one-eighty on her with no warning. Decision revised and remade, he was now surging full steam ahead.
He held her fast. “I know enough.” His golden eyes bore into hers. “You feel it, too. You may not have any Martian blood, but you cannot deny the pull between us. I see it in your eyes every time you look at me. I feel it along the ties that grow between us with every rotation. You care for me. You ache for me. Just as I do you.”
He was right. The energy that licked against her skin whenever he entered a room was unique. The frenzied storm that whipped to life inside her when their eyes locked like nothing she’d experienced before. The magnetic draw that whispered of her need to be near him, touching him, pressed as close to him as she could get was undeniable.
“I do.” Another truth he stole from her.
“Good.” He pressed a hard kiss to her mouth as if the matter was closed. “I am not one for delay, but as much as it angers me to wait, it is too dangerous yet for me to claim you publicly. I must hold off until I have cleared my name and crushed my enemies. Then I will deal with your stepfather. He will not refuse me your breeding contract.”
“No. That’s…I don’t…”
Strong fingers tilted her chin upward to meet his gaze. “I can feel your worry, little one. I know my future seems uncertain now, but you can trust me. It will not always be like this. I can provide for you.”
Her chest clenched tight. He thought she hesitated because she wasn’t sure about him.
“I know, too, that the thought of contracting yourself to someone who is not full élithe, but half-Martian can be daunting, but—”
“None of that concerns me.” She couldn’t keep silent a moment longer. “Your character, your honor, your goodness put you head and shoulders above any other male in the universe.”
“Aurora.” His arms tightened so hard she almost lost her breath.<
br />
She was digging herself deeper, but she knew the wounds he tried to hide, she couldn’t bear for him to think the issue had anything to do with his half-Martian blood.
“DaKar, I am beyond honored that you would consider me to be your mate, but the situation…” she struggled to find the words to tell him without really telling him, “is more complicated than it looks.”
His muscles tightened beneath her lap. “Your stepfather. I know.”
Startled he’d hit so close to the truth she sucked in a sharp breath.
“Do not worry.” DaKar sought to soothe. “I know well his hate for half-Martians. I will deal with him.”
If only he could.
“So many thoughts whirling in that mind of yours. So many worries you’re not yet willing to share.” He pressed his lips to her temple. “But what’s between us is still new. In time, you will come to see that you can trust me with everything.”
“DaKar—”
“There is no chance I’m giving you up. There will be no more running.”
But that was all she knew.
Stay and confess and she’d lose him. Not right away. She knew him well enough now to suspect he’d insist on trying to find a way to save her. But neither of them could erase the fact that her stepfather would never allow her to contract with DaKar or that she was the thief. If she fled with DaKar anyway, they’d be breaking élithe law. He’d be labeled a thief and a criminal, and though they could likely hide out on his homeland, he’d never be able to return to Earth. He’d lose everything he was working so hard to claim.
There was also the real possibility that someone would link her to the stolen jewels, a far more serious crime that would involve the United Federation and extend beyond planetary borders, and if DaKar was linked to her, he’d be dragged down with her. There was even a chance they’d use the excuse to put him in prison, as an accessory to her crimes. She’d be responsible for destroying him, utterly. Another sin to add to the ones she’d already visited upon him.
Stay silent and run and she’d lose him, too. Only, if she chose this path, at least he wouldn’t be linked with her crimes. He’d still have a shot of untangling himself from this mess and keeping his reputation, his life, and his properties, especially if she left a signed confession. He’d hate her for her lies and for leaving. She’d spend the rest of her life a fugitive, knowing all she could have had and lost. But at least he would be safe.
There really was no choice.
This was not just about her survival anymore, it was about his.
But she’d need a few lunar rotations to figure out an on-planet escape plan since she’d never accumulated enough chits to leave this one behind. She’d require transport, a destination.
It would be better, though, if this was their last time together. She couldn’t be his mate. Couldn’t be anyone to him except someone he would eventually despise—and seeing him again would only make leaving harder.
But she could cling to him for these last brief moments, like any dishonorable thief, greedy to hold on to the feelings of closeness, tenderness, affection, and protectiveness that shimmered through the golden threads from him to her and back again.
All her life that was all she’d ever wanted. To have someone feel that way about her and be able to give him that the same gift in return. She’d thought that she would always be alone, but for this short, brief time…
“Come inside me, DaKar.” She cupped his jaw, climbing up his body so that the thick shaft straining through his pants was fitted against her center, exactly where she needed him most. “I need you.”
“No.”
26
Surprise slammed through Aurora. The last thing she expected was his refusal.
Or the way he lifted her and stood in one motion, placing her firmly on her feet before he dropped his hands and hightailed it a good arm’s length away.
“I-I don’t understand.” Confused, she tugged her bodice back into place with trembling fingers. Seized her panties and stepped back into them, her skirt falling back into place, brushing her ankles as it covered her once more, but she’d never felt more exposed.
The sting of his rejection made it hard to breathe.
Near-feral lust blazed through the ties binding them, which only mystified her more.
Of course, his rebuff was for the better. She should never have pushed for something that would only have entangled them deeper, strengthening ties she had no choice but to sever.
But his sudden change of heart still rocked her. Had he only been toying with her when he said he wished them to be mated? Playing the same sort of sick games Whetherton and Peller liked to play?
“Whatever you’re thinking right now, little one, don’t.”
She opened her mouth, closed it.
Jaw tight, his horns once again erect and jutting skyward, his gaze bore into hers. “You’re untried.”
“Yes.” Heat burned her cheeks and chest. “But only because I have never met someone who made me feel inclined to change that…until you. Is…is my inexperience unattractive to you?”
“Janus hells no.” His expression was as fierce as she’d ever seen. “There is nothing—nothing—I want more than to be inside that tight virgin hole. To train that sweet chanti to take me slow or hard, gentle or fast, on your back or on all fours.”
She inhaled a sharp breath, her blood surging once more.
“You will be my mate. I will spend planetary rotations fucking that perfect pussy. But not here.” His abrupt postscript hit with the sting of a bucket of icy water.
“Fine.” Her desperate wish to be with him and the agony of knowing she never would sharpened her words. “If you want to be a hypocrite with a double standard, be my guest. W-we may not even work in the end.”
His jaw went tight, fangs flashing. When he spoke at last, each word was a sharp lash. “We will work.”
“I—”
“Quiet.” He cut her off with a single growled command. “I have no problem with the exploration of female pleasure before marriage as long as everyone is on board. I may have grown up among the élithe, but Martian blood hums through my veins and you best not forget it.”
He took a step closer.
She backed up.
He kept coming. “Nor do I have a problem with you exploring your pleasure with me before our official mating ceremony.”
Her spine hit the wall.
His hands slapped the wall above her, caging her in, his voice deepening to husky once more. “In fact, I fucking insist on it.”
Her chest rose and fell, her breathing choppy as arousal thundered through her.
He leaned in until his mouth was inches from hers. “But I do have a problem with a quick fuck in a stranger’s bed at a racing track for your first time.” His golden gaze drilled into her, his anger clear. “Look around, Aurora, is this really where you want your first experience to be?”
She started. “I…”
“You’re curious. Impulsive. Reckless. Fierce.” He nuzzled her temple with his nose, a slow smile spreading as her spine snapped straighter with each of his rumbled words and outrage surged from her to him through the golden threads. “It’s not an insult.” He pressed his mouth to her ear. “You already know how much those parts of you make me want to fuck you.” Her emotions sling-shot right back into frenzied, white-hot lust, her soul soaring. “But this is not the time or place for me to allow you to give those impulses free rein.”
Her feet landed firmly back on Earth.
Shame at her foolishness swept across her skin in a rush of pink. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have said what I did. I-I’m not good at assuming the best of another’s intentions. I apologize.”
His expression softened. “I’ve my own blind spots in that department, as you well know.” He clasped her hand, raising her knuckles to rub against his lips, a sensual branding that sent tingles all the way to her toes. “I am not always an easy male. I can be stubborn, commanding. I am bigger
, stronger, and the urge to dominate hums through my veins. But when it comes to you, I will always strive to make the choice that keeps you safe. To remain in control and honor the trust you put in me when you give your body over to me. You are a treasure and I will guard you as such.”
Oh, Goddess. His words were heaven and hell. More beautiful and precious than any gem she’d stolen—and sharper, too. Her soul bled. She did not deserve such care.
He was so much more than she had ever imagined when she’d first seen him on that balcony, the fantasy of all her lust and longings. Now she knew the beauty of the male beneath the massive muscles and rough, raw edges, and he was fast coming to inspire not just her lust, but her heart as well.
He was right. In a different time, under different circumstances, they would have worked. The mating heat had not been wrong.
“We will have our time.” He cupped her center through her dress, the heat of his hand a brand even through the silk of her dress. “When I take you, it will be fierce and there will be some pain, but also unbelievable pleasure. So much you will ache for me to spread you wide and fuck you hard every time I am near.”
With a low whimper, she melted into the wall at her back, unsure her legs could hold her up. His arrogance should have outraged her. In truth, it only made her more desperate for him.
“You see? Even fire can be controlled.” He rotated his thumb so that it brushed her clit once more. “We will both enjoy your training.” He stepped back, that no nonsense, I-will-be-obeyed Warlord look returning to his face. “But not now.”
Not ever.
That thought crushed her more than any ugly, cruel thing that had happened to her in the last planetary year. Nothing had yet broken her spirit, but the thought that she would never get to be with him, even for one night, almost shattered her.
Without his stare pinning her in place, she would have slid down the wall, buried her face in her knees, and wailed.
“This is not a time either of us can afford to be reckless.” DaKar’s voice rumbled through her. “I feel your pain and I promise I will make it better. Just give me time. I will protect you always. Which brings me to another issue. What were you doing up here in the first place?”
