Arantxa

by T. J. Quinn

  “I used to work for him, and I know in fact he hasn’t changed. But this isn’t the moment to discuss that. There’s enough time for us to talk. Get rest, and I’ll see you when you wake up.”

  She opened her mouth to insist on hearing whatever he had to say but changed her mind at the last moment. He was right. Her head wasn’t clear enough right now. She had to find a way to stay cool and calm in his presence.

  Right now, his musky scent was enough to send shivers down her spine, taking her arousal to high levels. She couldn’t afford this… not any longer.

  “Very well. I’ll see you later,” she finally said, walking around him to leave the room.

  “Your quarters are the sixth door down the hallway,” he told her, without turning around to look at her.

  Back in her room, she closed the door and threw herself onto the bed, burying her face on the soft pillow and muffling the cry of sheer frustration that came out of her lips.

  God, she wished she could sit down with him and discuss what had happened between them, so she could have a clear perspective on it all. She wanted to know what their moments of sizzling passion had meant for him, the mind-blowing pleasure, the overwhelming bliss that flooded them… She refused to believe she had been the only one to feel it all.

  Was she naïve by thinking it was as special to him as it had been for her? After all, she knew nothing about his species. His reaction to her could be his usual reaction to any attractive female.

  She punched the mattress a few times furious with herself for even caring. He had never suggested what they shared had been anything special. He had even offered to take her back to Earth. If he had had even a slight interest in her, he wouldn’t have suggested that, right?

  She missed Samantha more than ever. Her best friend always helped her to see things from the right perspective.

  Flipping her body, she stared at the ceiling, her mind going through all she had experienced with Korben. From the moment she came to herself to see him next to her, she finally admitted to herself, she had fallen in love with her tough alien.

  She would have never chosen him if he had been one of the agency’s candidates. He wasn’t what she would call a humanoid with his greyish skin, his big, shining blue eyes, and his odd tendrils instead of hair. But given a chance to meet him, she had seen beneath all that and had found her soulmate.

  The problem was she was sure he didn’t feel the same. She was only one more of a large list of people he had rescued for a price, and she was also certain she hadn't been the only one he had seduced during those missions.

  That certainty hurt like hell, but she would have to learn to live with it and hope that someday the pain would ease enough for her to find solace with someone else.

  Korben heard her walk out and sighed, letting go of the strong restraint he had over his arousal. No matter what he said to himself and even to her, he still wanted her, as much as he had wanted her the first time he saw her.

  His friends had noticed his interest in her and had teased him about it, not knowing just how strong his need for her was.

  Rubbing his face, he turned around and walked towards the main room, determined to take the next shift piloting the ship. He needed something to keep his mind busy. Otherwise, he would end up in Arantxa’s room and making love to her, again.

  “What are you doing here? You should be getting some rest,” Kyor told him when he saw him come in.

  “I’m too restless.”

  “You haven’t slept or rested in days. Your body will collapse unless you force yourself to sleep,” Kyor warned him. “You should know that better than anyone.”

  “I do know… but I also know I wouldn’t be able to sleep right now,” he admitted, taking a seat next to his friend.

  “What’s the matter?” Kyor asked, with a slight frown.

  “We can’t take Arantxa to Biurk. I’m sure he’s planning on deceiving her and the agency so he can sell her in the black market,” he explained. “When I first took this mission, I suspected as much, but I figured that a female willing to mate a perfect stranger would be prepared for any possibility. You can’t really know someone over a few images or even some video chats,” he said, exuding sarcasm.

  “You have a point there… but I don’t think Arantxa is one of those females,” Kyor replied, his frown getting deeper.

  “She isn’t. She has no idea what Biurk is capable of, and though I plan to tell her, I don’t think she will believe me.”

  “You got involved with her.” It wasn’t a question, and Korben didn’t even try to deny the truth.

  “I did my best to ignore my desire for her, and I believe I was doing a good job at it. Then, one night, she got in the stream to take a bath and was bitten by a strange creature. I jumped into the water to rescue her and got bitten too,” he started explaining. “I guess the creatures injected us with some toxin that created a lustful high in both of us. We spent the whole night in each other’s arms. When the sun came out we were both drained.”

  “Once you got a taste of her, you weren’t able to stop going for more,” Kyor concluded.

  “Yes… despite the circumstances we were in, our mutual desire seemed able to find its own moment.”

  “Is this the reason why you don’t want to take her to Biurk? Because you want her for yourself?” Kyor asked, putting in words the questions that had been swirling in his mind.

  “There’s no place for a female in my life,” he grumbled. “Besides, I’m sure whatever I feel for her will fade soon enough,” he replied with what he hoped was a confident tone, but his words sounded hollow even to himself.

  “If you’re sure of your feelings, then you shouldn’t give her any false hopes,” Kyor advised him.

  “I haven’t. But I’m afraid she might think I’m trashing Biurk just because I want her for myself.”

  “I can help you make her understand who she’s dealing with,” Kyor offered. “And, in case she decides not to go back to Earth and needs a place to stay, I wouldn’t mind mating a female like her. She would certainly keep me from getting bored.”

  Korben’s loud growl startled him, even though he had been expecting a similar reaction, just not quite this ferocious.

  “You’ll do no such thing,” he roared, as he jumped to his feet and stood in front of his friend, an uncontrollable rage taking over him.

  “Why not? Do you think I’m not good enough for her? I can give her a better life than the one she would have as Biurk’s female or if she were sold into slavery,” Kyor said, cautiously getting up to face Korben.

  He knew he was poking a beast, but he wouldn’t stop now.

  “I don’t care what you can give her… she’ll never be yours,” he growled, through gritted teeth, his fists repeatedly clenching and unclenching as he tried to control the urge to punch Kyor in his face.

  “You don’t want her. Why can’t I have her?” Kyor insisted.

  Korben took a step forward, and he was about to punch his friend when Suriak and Tulyn entered the room.

  “What’s going on?” Suriak asked, with a slight frown.

  “Nothing… Korben is just tense, in urgent need of cooling down and thinking things through, before he makes a huge mistake,” Kyor said, sitting back in his chair.

  “You have no idea what you’re talking about!” Korben roared as he left the room, his feet taking him inexorably to where his body wanted to be.

  He didn’t knock on the door. He knew it wouldn’t be locked, and he wouldn’t bother Arantxa if she were sleeping, but his guts were telling him she was wide awake.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, turning her head to look at him, no surprise on her face or her tone, as if she had been waiting for him.

  “You know what I’m doing here,” he said, as he crossed the room, getting rid of his clothes on his way to her bed.

  “What makes you think I want you here?” she asked, as her eyes relished the sight of his fully naked body.

 
; His rugged cock jumped in the air with the caress of her eyes and her pussy clenched on itself, eager to feel him once more buried inside her.

  He reached the bed and crawled between her legs, pulling her shirt over her head. “Let’s make a deal,” he said, his tone huskier than ever, as his hands cupped her breasts and gently squeezed them. “Let’s stay together for as long as this trip lasts. There’s no way we can deny the passion burning between us, so perhaps, we should exorcise it from our systems.”

  Arantxa closed her eyes for a moment, as she saw her hopes being killed once again. She should throw him out, tell him she wanted nothing more from him, that she wasn’t a toy he could use whenever he felt the urge.

  But she couldn’t.

  If she was honest with herself, she wanted to spend every moment she could in his arms, even if the end of their relationship had a due date. Staying away from him wouldn’t make things any easier for her in the end, so she might as well enjoy all she could.

  “That sounds like the perfect deal,” she agreed, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him closer.

  He claimed her lips with a passionate kiss before he talked again. “For the time being, you’ll only touch me, you’ll only smile at me,” he grumbled in her ear, nibbling her sensitive earlobes.

  She protested. “I won’t be rude to your friends.”

  He growled. “You won’t be seeing them much,” he assured her, before he kissed her again, his hands caressing her hard nipples.

  She gasped, as tiny waves of pleasure rushed through her. “Why not?”

  “Because I plan to spend the rest of this journey, right here, in this room,” he said, as he trailed down her neck with his lips, his coarse tongue leaving a fire path on its way down.

  “Uhmm… that sounds deliciously wicked…” she said, arching her back to him.

  “I’m glad you agree.”

  His lips reached her breasts and quickly took over her hard nipples, sucking and nibbling, while his hands kneaded and caressed her breasts.

  Hot lava coursed her body, and she sobbed as pleasure washed through her. She could feel the wetness dripping out of her clenching pussy, and she rubbed her mons against his hard cock, too hungry for patience.

  But he had other plans. After a while pleasing her nipples, his head slid down to take over her pussy, his hands pulling her legs up and apart, exposing her to him.

  “Your scent is intoxicating…” he growled. “Do you know how hard it was for me to carry you on my back, haunted by your scent and do nothing? It was driving me insane,” he confessed.

  She chuckled. “You hid it well… I was so aroused and ashamed…” she admitted.

  “Nothing to be ashamed of,” he assured her as he leaned forward and kissed the top of her pussy, his tongue grazing her engorged clit, ripping a loud cry from her lips. “Is this a special organ for human females?” he asked, before he licked her clit once more, the coarseness of his tongue setting the sensitive bud on fire.

  “Yes… that’s the… clitoris… its sole purpose… is to give women pleasure,” she explained, through ragged gasps as he kept licking and sucking her clit.

  “How interesting…” he said, with a mischievous grin, before he gently took her clit between his sharp teeth.

  The mix of pleasure and pain was so intoxicating she flew over the edge as the waves of a first orgasm washed over her.

  Korben took his time exploring the new organ, taking her to paradise a few times before he finally nested between her legs and pushed his throbbing cock all the way in.

  Thrust after thrust, he took her to the sizzling turmoil of pleasure and bliss one more time, before he too came, pouring himself deep inside her.

  They lay in bed for the rest of that first day, sleeping, eating and making love, not exactly in that order.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The following morning, Korben and Arantxa were lingering in bed after another session of hot sex and eating a purple fruit that tasted a bit like a strawberry, but looked like a tiny pear.

  “This is delicious,” she said, taking the one he was handing her. “It reminds me of my favorite fruit back on Earth.”

  “I’m glad you like it…” he said, with a smile. “What made you decide to leave your home planet?” he asked, sounding truly interested.

  “There was nothing left for me there, other than endless days of work on a job I hated and with no possibilities of seeing that change,” she explained. “My best friend suggested we used the agency to find a new life, betting on the chance of meeting someone we could build a future with. At first, I wasn’t convinced, uncertain of the whole process, but after she met her future husband and moved to Valkyr, I decided to give it a chance.”

  “Why did you choose Biurk?” he asked as if her choice wasn’t logical to him.

  “He was the only one from Valkyr that showed in interest in me. He seemed like a good, fairly attractive male, so I decided to give him a chance,” she explained, not looking at him.

  “Do you know he’s a shifter?” he asked, with a slight frown.

  “What do you mean?”

  “He can change for short periods into the person he wants to. He rarely shows his true self to strangers, so I doubt he showed you.”

  “Why wouldn’t he show his true self?” she asked, frowning.

  “Because Tlaxions are slimy, ugly balls of shit. They are quite disgusting,” he replied, matter-of-factly.

  She was in shock. Of course, she had already decided she wouldn’t go through with the marriage, she was still shocked. “Is that the reason you told me I shouldn’t marry him?” she asked, turning to look at him.

  “It’s one of the reasons. Biurk is a slaver. He keeps a quite extensive harem, with females from all over the galaxy. At the best chance, you would be a part of it.”

  “And at the worst?”

  “This mating thing was nothing but a scheme for him to get his hands on a human female for him to sell on the slave markets.”

  She gasped startled. “Do you think that’s even possible?” she asked, a bit scared.

  “I believe that’s what he’s after. He wouldn’t have gone through all the trouble of hiring me to rescue you, if he wouldn’t get some benefit from it, and having you as his mate, is not it, believe me,” he replied, blatantly. “You don’t have to take my word for it. Talk to any of my men, and they will tell you exactly what they think of Biurk.”

  “Then, why did you accept to work for him?” she asked, shaking her head, as she tried to understand what he was telling her.

  He shrugged. “We were bored, with nothing better to do,” he admitted.

  Arantxa sighed and rubbed her forehead, not sure what to tell him.

  “You’re not honestly thinking about accepting him, are you?” he asked, incredulous.

  “You won’t get paid if you don’t take me to him,” she pointed out.

  “That’s not important,” he dismissed her words.

  “Of course, it is. If you don’t take me to Biurk, he will blame you for my change of heart, and he will hunt you down.”

  “He doesn’t have the guts for it,” he assured her.

  “He will hire someone, who knows… maybe even some Paklyors. From what you’ve told me, he has no scruples, at all.”

  “Are you still planning on going ahead and mating this guy?” he asked, in a harsh tone.

  “No, I’m not. I have no reason not to believe you. You know Biurk better than me, and I won’t put myself at risk of ending up in a damn slave market.”

  “Then, why are we going to Valkyr? What’s your plan?”

  “I told you my best friend lives there. I want to see her again and see what my chances are of staying there, even if I refuse Biurk,” she said.

  He shook his head. “That’s not a good idea. Biurk will never leave you alone, not unless you’re under the protection of another male. He has invested too much in you, to simply give up,” he warned her.

  “Then, I
’ll find myself a new husband,” she lied, blatantly. “I’m sure the agency can help me with that.”

  With a deep frown, Korben jumped out of bed and put his clothes on. “I believe you need to rethink your plan.”

  “Where are you going?” she asked, as she watched him walked towards the door.

  “I need to talk to my men. I’ll see you later.”

  She watched him leave, with a slight frown, before she jumped out of bed, not sure what had just happened.

  Why did he leave that way?

  She headed to the bathroom, deciding to take a bath before she went for a walk around the vessel. She wasn’t going to stay in her room, just because he wanted her to.

  She ended up in the meal’s room and Suriak, invited her in. “Did you have a good night?” he asked her, with a naughty grin.

  “Oh, yes, the bed was soft, the sheets felt like silk, and I didn’t have to worry about the Paklyors showing up,” she said, smiling back at him.

  “Just about a Gorun male,” he teased her.

  Her smile got wider, but she didn’t comment. “What are you doing here?”

  “Planning our next meal. Would you like to help me?” Suriak offered.

  “Well, I don’t have anything else to do. Tell me, what can I do?”

  He took her to the kitchen, and a few minutes later, they were cooking and chatting.

  “How did you meet Korben?” she asked him at some point.

  “That’s a long story, but making it short, I can tell you, I was in a bad place, in an even worse situation and he rescued my ass. After that, he offered me a job as his crew member, and we worked together for over fifty rotations.”

  “Fifty? How old are you?” she asked astonished.

  “I’m turning eighty-five this rotation. My people live up to two hundred rotations,” he explained, with a smile.

  “Wow, that’s amazing. We barely live up to your current age.”

  “Yes, so I heard.”

  “You do these rescue missions often?”

  “No, we split up a few rotations ago. We grew tired of this life, so we decided to settle down on a small planet called Gaeshlai, where we all bought some nice farms and became farmers,” he replied scowling.