Duric: A Science Fiction Romance (Trident Alliance Mail Order Brides Book 2)

by Athena Storm

  Besides, I’m mad for him. I haven’t tasted his cock since the first time we found each other, and it’s intoxicating. More than I could ever hope to take in, but no one could accuse me of not trying. The head alone is enough to crowd my mouth, but from the groans pouring out of him, I doubt he has any complaints.

  I’m letting saliva pour from my mouth so that my hands can work in long, sliding strokes along his shaft. Since I can’t close one hand around the girth, I use both to gently wring him up toward my lips.

  Meanwhile, I work my tongue around the ridges of his crown and up along the deep path to his most sensitive areas. Within seconds, I can feel his body tighten. His large hands cradle my head as it bobs and sways around him. He’s struggling not to be too forceful and the distance between his desire and his restraint is maddening.

  Crouched by the fire, slight cool breezes chill the trickles of desire running down my thighs, making me more aware of exactly how much my body trembles for him. My secret parts are slick with anticipation for him.

  I reach a hand down, relishing the pressure as I run the whole length of my palm across my wet slit, drenching it to the tips of my fingers. Brining that glistening gift back up, I work my juices along the whole measure of his manhood.

  He hisses out a long breath and shudders convulsively. There’s every possibility that he might go at any moment, unleashing floods of warm seed into my throat.

  “Fuck, Daphne.”

  “What?” I let his bulbous, swollen head spring past my lips, toying with his pleasure. He grunts and writhes at the sudden, unwanted reprieve. A long breath rasps out between his teeth.

  “Fuck.”

  “What do you want, Duric?” I’m licking lightly along the underside of his erection and gleaming wicked glances up to him.

  “You,” is all he can manage.

  “Me?” The power I have over him is thrilling. “You want me, Commander?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then beg me.”

  His eyes flicker open and his massive chest heaves as he looks down on me. Maintaining my firm grip at the root of his cock, I twist around it gently, grazing it with my lips.

  “Please,” he says at last. The word is quiet, but brimming with need.

  Keeping control of his cock, I glide my body along his until my faces near his and whisper: “I couldn’t hear you. Say it again.”

  “Please, Daphne.”

  I’ve settled myself so that the crown of his member is tantalizing the edges of my glistening cunt. He bucks under me as I run him along the length of me, parting my lips without giving him the satisfaction of entry. It’s a divine feeling and I have to steady myself to keep from giving in.

  The game is too much fun to throw away so quickly.

  “That sounds like you’re asking, Commander. I said beg.”

  He pulses in my hand. Hot. Swelling.

  “Daphne, fuck.” His eyes are clenched shut.

  “Beg me.” Bending close, I drag my breasts across his chest, driving him further into delirium.

  “Please.”

  “Beg.”

  “PLEASE.”

  “I said beg, you filthy Vakutan.”

  He seems ready to rupture at any moment.

  “Damnit, human woman, I’M BEGGING YOU, PLEASE FUCK ME!”

  The moment of his scream, I plunge him into me, driving my hips to his in a long, steady press, yielding to receive the whole weight of him in one thrust. The pressure forces an animal scream from my throat and I toss my head back from the intense sensation of being pierced to the core.

  A rattling sigh erupts from his center, and he buries his fingers in my haunches, pinning me in place around his throbbing cock. Each pulse stirs agonizing delight in every part of my body. He hasn’t cum yet, but it’s obvious the slightest move on my part would topple him into oblivion.

  “Gently. Slowly. Please.” Now he is really and truly begging. Not the tortuous teasing of the game. He’s like a lost soul, terrified of the pleasure ending too soon.

  “Then touch me.”

  His eyes find mine, and he shifts one of his great hands until his fingers press into my lower abdomen. Then, his thumb slides between us and rides against my soaking clit. The first swipe is enough to send shocks through my entire body. I brace myself against his chest and stare into his eyes.

  “More.”

  Say what you will about Duric, the man flourishes with a task. He begins to exact desire from me, working in languid circles that drive me wild. In return, I rock my hips against his hand, swaying the cock sheathed inside me. Gripping it as tightly as I can and working him gently inside me.

  “Press your breasts together.” He’s fixed his eyes, and I use my hands to knead my breasts, smashing them against one another and working to long pinches at my nipples. It’s a pleasant sensation, but they aren’t the most sensitive. It’s purely an act for his benefit.

  He rewards me by doubling his efforts on my clit and I ride back harder. I can feel my heart hammering in my hands as everything in me rises and tightens. Unable to keep the charade up, my hands slam back down onto his chest.

  “Duric, I’m going to… going to…”

  “Yes, Daphne. Please.”

  I surrender. Racked again and again with unbearable spasms, I thump against his chest and dig my nails into his shoulders. Fixing both hands on my ass, he bucks up again and again, pounding into me. Pushing me further into my climax than I’ve ever been before.

  The world stops spinning and the universe goes dark as a scream of ecstasy tears through my body and reverberates against the inside of the tree.

  Instinct takes over and my body starts to convulse and contract, riding back to meet him. Hard. Ramming him into me as deeply as I can and squeezing him until his voice joins mine. His hands lock my pelvis against his so tightly I think our bones will crack into dust.

  He surges inside me, pumping hot semen into me until I can feel it running down the length of his cock and spurting out of me onto our bodies. Flood after flood pours out of his throbbing member until we both go slack and lie panting in our sweat.

  Neither of us can speak. Or, even if we can, we don’t. We just hold each other as our breath slows. Until the beating of our hearts becomes more regular, less urgent. Inside me, I can feel the burning stiffness of his cock dissipate. The heady sensation of him softening inside me. My body taking over again, rushing in to hold him as he releases to his usual size.

  It’s still prodigious, filling me more than any human lover ever has. In their height of excitement, they don’t reach the tumescence of his supple, flaccid member. At last, I shift my hips so he can slide out of me again, but I maintain my position on his chest. Lying on him is like lying on a door. I could roll in either direction and still find myself beached on his gristly expanse.

  His fingers begin to trace lazy circles on my back. Dusting from my shoulders down to my backside. Beads of pooled sweat run down along my sides and mingle with his. Even despite the chill of the night blowing in through the hollow of the tree, we have generated enough heat so that the antique wood answers back with a muggy musk.

  I don’t know whether I dozed off on him, or whether he joined me if I did, but I become aware of a pool of drool next to my face on his chest. To be honest, I may have been drooling perpetually since my orgasm started. There’s not much I remember beyond the sheer magnitude of it.

  But, is this worth it?

  I’ve never climaxed in my life the way I do with Duric. It never seemed like anything like it was possible. But is that worth the difficulty of this bull headed, intractable lug?

  When he makes the effort to meet me, his intelligence, humor – even sweetness are irresistible. And I can’t help going weak when I watch his lithe body engaged in any activity. The question is, will he continue to try?

  Because if he did, if he made a genuine effort to listen and not get stuck in his need to be right about everything, then there’s a very great danger that I could l
ove him. And, in thinking about it, I find that that these are lessons I could learn myself. I can see my own stubborn, pig-headed ego reflected in his.

  That’s a sobering thought.

  It’s one thing for me to want him to give up his ways, his habits in order to conform to what I want him to be. It’s something else again to admit that I’ve got some things that need to change if I want him to love me back.

  A light snore rumbles in his chest.

  Releasing my thoughts to the air, I resign myself to the things that we have in common at this moment. We are both completely exhausted at the end of an incredibly trying day – with the promise of another tomorrow.

  Twenty-Four

  Duric

  I have to admit, there are more unpleasant things than awakening next to the bare skin of your human lover.

  My eyelids crack open as the jungle comes alive with squeaks and squawks. Gentle morning sunlight filters in through the open section of the trunk, catching dust motes in their endless soiree. Daphne mumbles sleepily and snuggles up to my side, burying her face in my chest.

  If I could, I would lie there all day and enjoy the sensation. Perhaps there is something to this concept of cuddling the humans hold so dear. While I still prefer the type of amorous adventure we had last night to simply laying together, there is a type of solace to be enjoyed here.

  Unfortunately, we’re still stranded on a hostile alien world—very well, moon—and fleeing from Ataxia Coalition forces who want us dead or worse. We have to make haste to reach the mountain peak. I believe that if we really push the pace, we might make it there this evening, though in my heart of hearts I know this is overly ambitious.

  Not only is our need to get moving quite pressing, I also am experiencing a keen need to relieve liquid waste from my system. Though I try to extricate myself from the tangle of naked limbs without waking Daphne, her eyes flutter open just as I make it to my feet.

  “Where are you going?” Her voice is thick with sleep, but her eyes focus squarely on my flaccid member. I find the attention flattering, even though we have no time for such pursuits.

  “I must relieve myself. I will not be far.”

  Her nose wrinkles in disgust.

  “Don’t pee close enough that I can smell it. Or hear it.”

  I pause at the doorway, despite the pressing need in my loins to urinate.

  “Is it that fragrant?”

  She laughs and sits up cross legged on the mossy floor.

  “Duric, my roommate had a cat with a urinary tract infection and its pee didn’t smell as bad as yours. I swear you could strip varnish with it.”

  “Cat?” I tilt my head to the side. “What is a cat? Is it some fearsome predator from Earth?”

  Daphne chuckles and shakes her head.

  “Sure, it’s a fierce predator all right, if you weigh less than an ounce. They’re companion animals with notoriously fetid liquid waste. Actually, solid waste as well but that’s not the point.”

  “Hmm. You must make them defecate far from your domiciles, then.”

  “Actually, they do it in a little sandbox inside of our domiciles.”

  I gape in disgusted amazement.

  “How revolting.”

  “Didn’t you have to pee?”

  I chuckle and head off a good distance to relieve myself. When I return she’s getting dressed, and I do the same. Last night we smoked the leftover razor tooth rat—her affectionate name for the little tree dwelling creatures—next to the fire, so we have trail rations for our arduous journey.

  I set a brisk pace, not outdistancing her on purpose like last time but one that she must struggle to keep. However, I do make allowances for her shorter stride, and when she points out an easier route to take I don’t offer argument.

  We skulk through dark, dank copses of smaller trees, less impressive than those with the triangular leaves but still dozens of meters in height. Their bark drips a sweet smelling sap, which causes Daphne some consternation.

  “Don’t let that sap touch your skin.”

  “Why not? Don’t tell me that you’re afraid of being sticky, after you guzzled my—“

  “Don’t be vulgar, Duric. That sap is probably some form of protective mechanism. It could cause paralysis, or blindness, or even death.”

  “Perhaps for a weak human, it would.”

  “Hey.” She stops moving and crosses her arms over her chest. “Don’t act like a jerk. I’m looking out for your well being, so a little bit of consideration would be nice.”

  “I—“ My mouth closes, and I bite off the incendiary comment on the tip of my tongue. “I’m sorry.”

  “Good, you should be.” She jabs a finger at the drizzling sap. “Look.”

  One of the razor toothed rats is mired in the sap on the tree, its sightless eyes staring into infinity. I don’t know if I would have been similarly affected, but I do concede the point to Daphne.

  We continue on, albeit more slowly to avoid contacting the trees. Eventually we break out of them and back into the more familiar triangular leaved trees. The wooden mammoths grow more sparsely here, and we are afforded enough breaks in the foliage to catch a glimpse of the mountain peak.

  I’m more than a little annoyed, because we don’t seem to be as close as I thought we would be at this point of the day. Daphne hears my frustrated grunt and comes to stand by my side.

  “Duric…” she sighs and puts her arms akimbo, staring at the distant peak. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to make it there in a couple of days. I think we’re looking at a couple of weeks, if not more.”

  “Weeks?” I stare at the mountain as if it has turned traitor. “Impossible. Why, the peak is much closer than it was just yesterday.”

  Daphne’s mouth twitches, and her brows come low over her lovely umber eyes.

  “I don’t think so. I think it looks exactly the same distance it did before.”

  “Well, perhaps your human eyes are too weak.”

  “Will you stop? Stop trying to make excuses or rationalize your way into being right. I’m telling you, gauging distances can be tricky, especially on an alien world. There’s light refraction in the atmosphere, and without a frame of reference we have no idea how large that mountain is. It might be twice the size of Mount Everest.”

  “Ridiculous.” I fume, stomping about and huffing as I glare at my companion. “The other day you thought this was a brilliant plan.”

  “I never thought it was brilliant, I just thought it was our best option. Right now, brilliant is the last word I’d use to describe you or your behavior.”

  “So I’m a simpleton? You would hold your education over my head like a hammer, ready to crush me like the insignificant insect that I am?”

  “Duric, stop, I’m not your enemy.”

  “No, you’re my ‘commander.’ Daphne Moebius, who must always be in the right. Well, we certainly are lucky that the human race produced our intergalactic genius savior to pull the rest of us out of our primitive mindsets into true enlightenment. Tell me, woman, of how superior the human race is to my own.”

  Daphne’s scowl has deepened. I can tell from the look in her eyes that I’m hurting her feelings, but I’m too angry to stop.

  “You’re so quick to point out all of our faults, but what about your own? When your Interstellar Human Confederation first made contact with us, we made every effort to learn about you and your history. There were things there that we could not abide.”

  “Damn it, Duric, now is not the time to…”

  “What about slavery? Did your people not imprison your own for generations and force them to toil with no recompense? Or your own, ancient nation state you hail from. What was it called, America? In America did they not murder millions of indigenous people to better steal their land? I’m tired of your attitude that you always have to be right. I am not a fool.”

  My tirade fades, and a bit of my anger goes with it. I can see that Daphne is hurt, and I feel like a right and
proper ingrate for causing her pain.

  I’m about to try and apologize when her eyes suddenly narrow.

  “Shh.” She holds a hand up and glances around us.

  “I am only trying to apologize…”

  “I said shh. Do you hear that?”

  I pause, and crane my neck about.

  “I don’t hear anything.” Then my jaw goes slack. “I don’t hear anything at all.”

  Faster than a striking snake, I draw my khaffi stick and hold it lengthwise across my body. There are no animal sounds, no avian. It’s as if everything suddenly fell asleep, or was stricken dead.

  Or went into hiding because of the presence of nearby predators.

  Too late, I notice the tufts of reddish brown fur lurking behind the undergrowth. Too late I hear the snuffling grunts of the Odex as they continue to surround us.

  My heart sinks as I realize we are badly, badly outnumbered. I managed to dispatch two Odex on my own, but there are so many…

  There’s no way to achieve victory here. But perhaps I can sell myself dearly enough that Daphne might escape.

  I turn to regard her loveliness. There is so much I want to say to her right now. I want to tell her how special she is, how happy she makes me feel. I want to tell her I’m sorry for yelling, and arguing about something so stupid. But I don’t have the time. I can only say one word to her.

  “Run.”

  Then I scream and charge at the nearest Odex, and her scream splits the air.

  Twenty-Five

  Daphne

  Duric rushes headlong into the fight, and I can’t blame him in the least. We’re outnumbered, but we should at least try to go down fighting. He crashes into the nearest Odex warrior, driving it back and hunkering down. Using his sludge thrower as a club, all I want to do is tell him that there’s no need to stay quiet. We’ve been found.

  Still, he makes a good swing or two, eliciting some shrieks of pain by splintering some bones. His tactic is to go for the knees, and it’s a great move. Even if nothing is broken, it hobbles the monsters enough to give us a slight advantage.