by Petra Landon
Sila’s hands reached instinctively to grasp the edges, fearful of sliding down the sloping smooth surface.
“I have you.” His voice was a raspy whisper. “I won’t let go.”
Sila gave in. If the Star Captain insisted he had her, she had nothing to fear.
Bending forward, he brought his mouth to the hollow between her shoulder and neck. Heat seared through her. The warmth and solid strength of the hard body crowded her onto the console as the pounding of his heart mingled with the loud beat of hers. His lips skittered along her skin, a tantalizing trail of fire. She could feel the puffs of his breath before he licked at the delicate hollow above her collar-bone. Sila gasped, surprised by the sensation of his abrasive tongue on a part of her she’d never considered sensitive. He nibbled at her with slow, deliberate strokes and Sila moved uncontrollably under him in response. His head lifted slowly to take in her dazed eyes with an expression of masculine satisfaction in the gold depths.
With the blazing gold eyes on her, he swooped in until no more than a whisper separated them. Sila’s breath seemed to suspend as he inhaled deeply, with a subtle flare of his nostrils. It was as if he breathed in her essence. His mouth, searing hot on her, skimmed her face. She gasped as the long tongue swiped one side of her face, from chin to forehead. It was unlike anything Sila had ever experienced — she could feel very inch of the tongue with the tiny ridges lining the edges. He took immediate advantage of her parted lips, tracing them with the stiffened tip of his tongue before sliding in to lap delicately at the inside of her mouth. Sila trembled and he gathered her closer, his body surging protectively over her. He tasted of spice and something more, something exotic and dangerous that nevertheless felt curiously familiar to Sila. Her eyes closed as her tongue snaked out shyly to tentatively stroke the intruder in her mouth. He growled low, a guttural sound from deep within his chest, as their tongues tangled in a passionate dance. Nestled against him, she could feel every subtle vibration of his chest, as the growl rippled through him. Her hands let go of their desperate grip of the console edges to hold on to the powerful shoulders that caged her. Her quickened breaths were loud in her ears, and she could feel the rapid rise and fall of his chest. Her head swam and she forgot all about cautioning him about Ur’quay laws.
When he reared up to gaze down at her, Sila summoned the effort to open her eyes. For the first time since she had known him, the gold eyes blazed with naked emotion, hiding nothing from her. Sila wondered dazedly if the hunger in him was something she read in his eyes or whether she sensed it through their other connection.
As she stared into the gold depths, something else, an emotion territorial and possessive, raw and primitive, coursed through her. This time, she knew that it was his way of communicating without the words. Curiously, it seemed to generate no fright or anxiety in the girl who lay passively under the avidly hungry gaze of the starfarer.
The glittering eyes wandered her face, zeroing in on the bright hair, held back by a strip of cloth. He reached for the cloth, stripping it off to spread her abundant hair around her with a low snarl of satisfaction. Sila was treated to a fleeting glimpse of his sharp canines. A memory of the first day in the Henia’s holding cell when she’d caught a similar glimpse flashed through her. Then, that brief glimpse had terrified her — she had thought she was meant to be his food. Now, she lay in his arms, under his hungry gaze, her heart pounding with a very different emotion.
The gold eyes drifted down her spread-eagled body to her generous breasts. He cocked his head to study them.
“For younglings?” he rasped out in Alliance Standard.
At Sila’s air of puzzlement, he seemed to search for the right words.
“For future child?”
Confused, she managed a mute nod in affirmation. One arm slid around her to gather her up to him, while the other reached for the zip at her chest. He fumbled with it, to pull the zip down part way. Sila shivered as a calloused tip trailed down the gap left open by the zip. Her breath caught as the finger delicately pushed aside a section of her tunic to bare a breast to his gaze. The cool air hitting her heated flesh cut through the haze of desire that held her in thrall. Sila gasped, using her clasp of his shoulders to pull herself up and into him. Flinging her arms around his neck, she pressed her heated face into his shoulder. The cascading curls swung around her to form a bright halo.
He stilled. For a moment, neither moved, their quickened breaths the only sound in the vast chamber.
Sseela?
Sila remained mute. He was the first to move, carefully brushing away the bright hair obscuring her face.
Unable to form a coherent protest, Sila kept her eyes on the strong column of his throat. He cupped her face to gaze beseechingly into her distressed green eyes.
“Are you afraid of me, little Terran?” he asked gruffly. “I will not hurt you. I could never hurt you.”
The note of desperation in his voice had Sila shaking her head vehemently. “No.”
“No.” She tried again, before abandoning any attempts at further articulation. Clearly, he could read her. He had, after all, misinterpreted her reluctance, tying it to her fleeting thoughts about the flash of his canines.
Not afraid. Just … anyone could walk in here.
She sensed his relief as he gathered her close. Their breaths mingled together until Sila found it hard to tell one from the other. But he held on to her, until his wildly beating heart had slowed down a little. Only then, did he straighten. His fingers busied themselves at the zip before carefully smoothing her tunic into place. Lifting her from the console, he set her carefully on her feet. But Sila, dazed and off-kilter by the unexpected heat between them, felt her legs buckle under her. Tightening his clasp of her, he held her up with one arm loosely around her until she was steady on her feet. It struck her that his clasp was surprisingly similar to the one that had begun this mad romp. As Sila stepped away from him, keen gold eyes travelled over her, straightening bits of hair and clothing. Bending down to pick up the strip of cloth he’d pulled off her hair, he clasped her smaller palm in his to tug her towards the door.
Sila followed him blindly into the corridor. Once outside, he let go of her palm to guide her with a large hand at the small of her back. Sila focused on putting one foot before the other, trying to not stumble. They must have passed muster for two Hadari’Kor passed them in the corridor without a second glance. Sila returned their greetings with a semblance of normality while her feet carried her where the Star Captain led her. He escorted her to a chamber at least three times the size of the one assigned to her. As was common on this ship, the chamber lights blinked on to their default setting at their entrance. It was dimly lit but the Star Captain made no move to improve the illumination. Sila had time to send one fleeting glance around the chamber before he led her to the bed.
The bed was massive with a colorful cover. As she waited uncertainly by it, the Star Captain bent down gracefully to take off his boots. Stepping out of them, he cast her a fleeting glance before peeling off the top of the Hadari’Kor uniform he wore to leave his upper body bare. It was eerily reminiscent of the time he had disrobed before Sila in his rest-chamber, unaware of her peeping eyes while she pretended to be asleep.
“I was showing off for you that day” he announced abruptly, with a note of self-deprecation in his voice.
Sila’s eyes shot to him, astonished by the confession.
“In my rest-chamber on the Henia” he reiterated unnecessarily.
“You … you” she paused, fumbling to find the words that would articulate her indignation, astonishment and outrage. But Sila was also secretly amused. The admission hinted at a vulnerability in him that disarmed her.
I am different with you, little Terran. From the first time I saw you.
His words had Sila rousing herself, trying to think clearly. He seemed unconcerned about flouting Ur’quay laws, possibly because he was on a Hadari’Kor ship where no one could read him. In a passion-s
oaked haze, she had allowed her mental shields to slip away. Not only could he read her, for once, he was allowing her to read him. And it was clear what he wanted. Yet, through it all, she sensed a certain reluctance and caution, as if he was holding himself in check with an iron will.
Sila looked at him — really allowed herself to see him, for the first time. He had been many things to her — kidnapper, captor, protector, teacher, companion, savior. An alien from a legendary race of starfarers returned to their old stomping grounds after centuries of absence. She knew next to nothing about the Ur’quay or him. Yet, when it came to everything that mattered, there was no one else she knew better. Or trusted.
He stood unmoving under her gaze, letting her look her fill, his head cocked at a familiar angle. Bronze skin encased the powerful frame; the faint, pale, vertical stripes almost glowing in the semi-darkness. A strong face, a square jaw and a sharp blade for a nose, with a high forehead and exotic eyes with elongated reptilian-like pupils. Topped with thick, rust-colored hair worn in a braid. Unlike the day when she had peeped at him from behind her hand, her heart hammering with fear, she let her eyes drink him in without constraint. Broad shoulders, powerful arms and long legs encased in plain, black uniform trousers. A deep chest that narrowed to a washboard stomach. A hairless body, muscled and hard all over. Even in the darkness, she could see the rippling muscles when he moved, much like the shimmering scales of the bright armor he had won as his second skin on the Henia. Built on a massive scale, he was much larger than anyone she knew. Power and strength as well as a fluid grace marked his every movement. Yet, with her, he was infinitely gentle and always careful. Was the caution she sensed in him a result of his usual carefulness with her, Sila wondered. He was such an enigma to her, standing apart from everyone. For the first time, Sila wished she understood him better.
She took a deep breath to glance up into his face. Unblinking irises, their gold depths simmering with banked hunger, watched her. An attitude of patience even as the air between them crackled with desire and unfinished business. This was her exotic and mysterious protector, conjured up by the Goddess herself to watch over her most devoted follower, Sila mused whimsically.
Giving in to temptation, Sila reached for him, to delicately trace with a trembling finger one pale stripe from his chest slowly down to his stomach until it disappeared into the black trousers. The muscles rippled as she touched him. Under her finger, roughened by tending to a gatherer’s duties, he felt warm, hard and smooth — velvet stretched over corded muscles. He hissed at the butterfly caress, the hands by his sides clenching into fists. She stole a glance at him. The unblinking eyes continued to watch her.
A fist uncurled to stop her exploring finger and hold it against his heart. Sila could feel it under her, a pulsating beat beneath his skin.
“Sseela” he said softly, his voice a low growl.
Sila said nothing, her eyes on her trapped hand.
Slowly, bright green eyes moved up to tangle with gold ones. Time stood still, for just a moment.
In a swift move, he bent down to lift her high in his arms. Sila’s breath hitched as the gold eyes held her. Placing her on the bed, he came down on his knees beside her. A large hand tangled in her hair, to carefully arrange the bright curls around her on the colorful cover. Picking up a curl of the fiery hair to feel the soft strands delicately between his fingers, he bent down to bury his face in the thick mass.
Sila reached for his shoulders to hold him wordlessly to her, feeling the subtle bunch of muscles under her palm. His mouth, hot against her skin, blazed a trail down her neck and chest. Sharp teeth scraped against the zip of her tunic, to pull it down to her navel. A hot mouth trailed the sliver of heated skin from her navel up to her chest where the ends of the tunic lay loosened. Sila quivered as he carefully parted one half of the tunic to bare a pale breast. He stared at the rosy tip and the look on his face had her grasping handfuls of the silky coverlet she lay on. Under his avid gaze, the nipple puckered to a stiff point. He rumbled low in his throat, to bend forward and delicately taste it, suckling it gently before licking around the nipple. Sila’s body arched off the bed as the forked tongue rolled around her nipple.
As his mouth engulfed her breast to suckle softly, Sila thrashed under him, her body anchored by his. His name seemed to repeat in a silent and mindless litany, a subconscious plea for she knew not what; an end to the exquisite torture or a plea for him to not stop.
Please, Star Captain.
Use my name, baithoni.
Sila had little time to ponder the unfamiliar term he used for her. She shuddered under him and he raised his head to gaze down at her. Sila lay under the big warrior’s body, enveloped by its warmth while she tried to catch her breath. Abruptly, he threw his head back with a low snarl. The gold eyes glittered with an intent look, his nostrils flaring as he sniffed the air delicately. Sila stared at him, bewildered by the sudden change. Placing the flat of his big palm delicately between her breasts, he skimmed it down her body slowly. Her belly button seemed to puzzle him, but only for a moment. Nostrils flaring, he slid lower. Before a bemused Sila could react, he bent forward to sniff deeply between her thighs. A growl escaped him, as he pressed the flat of his palm to the juncture of her femininity. It pierced through Sila’s haze. She yelped, muttering an incoherent protest at the intimacy of the gesture. The gold eyes shot to her, searing her with a look that was part entreaty and part passionate demand.
Sila, both mesmerized and puzzled by the question in the gold depths, did not protest as her trousers were dexterously removed. The big palm cupped her face as the gold eyes tangled with her.
Do you taste as sweet as you look, little Terran?
Sila’s eyes grew huge as the first inkling of what he wanted seeped into her.
What …? I’m not … I …
His emotions came flooding through her again — this time, there was no hesitation in him. A combination of need, want and desperation seemed to claw at her.
“Want to taste you, Sseela” he said, the guttural voice a raspy whisper.
As shocked green eyes stared into gold ones raw with need, the realization hit Sila like a ton of bricks. She was in deep trouble — completely in over her head. She could not deny him when he was like this — hungry gold eyes naked with need and a raspy voice soaked in passion, that pleaded for respite.
Scrunching her eyes shut, Sila consented mutely, acceding to his request. As she felt the webbed hands open her thighs, Sila tightened her convulsive grip on the bedclothes. In the silence, she felt his hot breath on her. For a long moment, his harsh breathing was the only sound in the chamber. Sila squirmed in his grasp as he placed his mouth to her sensitive folds. Searing heat enveloped the juncture of her thighs. Before she could react to the intimate kiss, she felt his tongue surge in to the hidden feminine part of her. She gasped aloud, a mixture of shock and pleasure. The pad of a blunt finger parted the pink folds delicately as she felt the abrasive tongue reach inside her feminine core. Sila shuddered, as her body hummed under his passionate attention. Though her gasps, she heard a low, deep and rhythmic purr. It seemed to rumble through him while he lapped at her intimately. Sila mused dazedly that the rumbling was not unlike the pleased sounds a baby feraykat, one of her neighbors had found in the forest, made when petted.
The stiffened tips of his forked tongue explored her delicately to graze a pleasure point within her.
“Star Captain” she panted, overwhelmed by the exquisite agony.
I have been waiting to hear my name on your lips.
Sila thrashed on the bed while the long, abrasive tongue licked her deep within at a secret place whose existence she had hitherto been unaware of.
“Zh … Zh … heer” she gasped. “No more. Please, no more.”
He stilled immediately, to surge over her. Sliding onto his back, he tugged her to him, tucking her head into his chest. He stroked the burnished curls, to hold her close.
Thank you, baithoni.
/> “Rest, Sseela.”
t
Sila stirred, her eyes wandering languidly around the unfamiliar chamber. The dim lighting made it difficult to see much, except for some silhouetted furnishings. The massive bed she lay on dominated the room. And under her, the sheets felt silky soft. Sila stretched lazily, only for her bare legs to rub up against the blanket that covered her.
She frowned drowsily, as memories danced at the edge of her mind. A low-voiced command had the chamber lights brightening considerably. As a familiar figure strode to the bed, she pushed herself up on one elbow to meet his gaze. The gold eyes held hers with a lurking question in their depths.
Sleep-drenched green eyes looked puzzled. “Star Captain?”
A curiously tender little smiled flit across his face.
“I thought we’d agreed you would call me by my name.”
A teasing glint lurked in the normally inscrutable gold eyes. “Or is that only reserved for when I pleasure you.”
Sila’s eyes grew huge as all remnants of sleep vanished abruptly. Shocked awareness reflected on her face as the memories flooded her. Spread-eagled on the console in the chamber where he’d shown her the images of her home and world. Gold eyes with dilated pupils blazing down at her as his big body caged her. The thumb caressing her lips with infinite gentleness. The dazed walk down to this chamber in a haze of desire. The mouth suckling at her breast. His cajoling demand to allow him a taste. Him at the secret place between her thighs. The feel of a long, abrasive tongue licking intimately inside of her while she cried out his name with pleasure.
A slow surge of red suffused her as the liberties she’d allowed him came surging back to her, her freckles standing out in stark contrast to her pale skin.
“O Goddess” she muttered, her eyes sweeping down and away from his.
“You called out to her a lot last night too” declared the blandly teasing voice.
“Oh” Sila huffed in embarrassment, sliding down the bed to hide her burning face under the blanket.