by Alyse Anders
“Aidric bought us a bit of time.” Rykal’s voice once more. “The code caused the shields to cycle in a maintenance mode. They won’t be able to get through until we’re safely on Zarlan.”
“Let’s hope they don’t chase us down there they way they did when you kidnapped Lena.” Darrick’s amusement seemed off given the nature of the situation.
Beth gasped. “Kidnapped?”
“It was the first encounter between our people and unexpected. Both Rykal and Darrick had an uncontrollable urge to take and possess their mates.”
“But you don’t?” She shouldn’t be disappointed by that. He’d kissed her back on the station, so clearly, he wanted her. But despite her better judgment and all of her fears of being little more than a possession to be sold off to the highest bidder, there was also a part of her who wanted to be wanted so desperately that another person would risk everything to have them.
Eagan rapidly typed in a long string of commands, before he rose to his feet and released the straps that held Beth in place. She squealed when he picked her up from the seat and carried her to the back of the shuttle. “We don’t have a lot of time.”
Setting her down on the nearest seat, he dropped to his knees and yanked her boots off. Beth could only sit there and watch him, her mouth open and heart racing, as he proceeded to strip her pants and undergarments free from her body. “What are you doing?”
“I’m past my limits of restraint.” With her lower body now naked to him, he slid his hands up along the outside of her thighs. “So different and yet so similar.”
Beth wanted to pull away, hide herself, embarrassed at being so openly exposed to him, but still couldn’t do so. She’d never been with a man back on Earth, though she’d had an active imagination. This was the one thing she could control and the one thing that her parents had held over her for years. Now they weren’t here to stop her, to tell her that being with a man of her choice was a mistake. She could give herself freely to Eagan and finally experience what it was like to share pleasure with another person.
Taking a breath, she widened her legs and put her pussy on full display for him. “Make me yours.”
Chapter Six
Eagan’s mouth watered at the sight of her smooth inner thighs and the pink lips of her mound. Unlike Grus women, Beth had hair between her legs, though it was far lighter and thinner than the hair on her head. He cared not for the missing rondollo on her inner thigh, the membrane that helped a female Grus reach her orgasm. Eagan could feel Beth’s anticipation, her need for pleasure. He would use her emotions to guide him.
Beth’s eyes were wide, and her pupils had grown large and black. Her tongue dipped out to wet her lips as she watched him move closer. “I’ve never done this before.”
Oh, that was exactly what he wanted to hear. “You’ve never had sexual relations with a man?”
“My parents wanted me to stay a virgin. They thought it would give them the opportunity to increase my value in an arranged marriage.”
The thought of anyone using Beth as a thing to be bartered and traded sent his anger racing. “You belong to no one but me.”
“That sentiment should piss me off.” She smiled, her breath coming out in small gasps the closer he moved his hands to the apex between her legs. “It should, but it doesn’t.”
Eagan knew they had precious little time before he’d need to return to the controls of the ship and land the shuttle. He wanted to take his time with her, savor her taste and smell. He wanted to fuck her hard and fast, then again but long and slow. He wanted to spill his seed across her body and rub it into her skin so any other man would smell him on her and knew that she belonged to him.
He’d settle with making her come.
He turned his face to bit down on her inner thigh. The flavor of her sweat tingled across his tongue as he licked at her skin. Eagan groaned, finally able to revel in the very thing he’d wanted to do from before the moment he’d laid eyes on her. He bit her inner thigh again, harder this time and Beth gasped. “Easy.”
Eagan didn’t want to go easy; he wanted to mark her so no other would dare take her from him. But he could feel her fear and trepidation and didn’t want to scare her unnecessarily. He moved his mouth away, pleased with the already darkening bruise that was rising on her skin. Shifting closer, he spread apart the lips covered in hair, surprised at how soft the short strands felt. “This is where you feel pleasure.”
“Yes.” Her face was flushed red, and her eyes were heavy. “There’s a little nub near the top called my clit. That will bring me great pleasure.”
Human women might be slightly different biologically from their Grus counterparts, but Eagan knew Beth would guide him. He lowered his mouth and sucked on the clit hard. She gasped, her hands flying to his head to push at him. “Not so hard. Easy.”
He eased the pressure but used his fingers to explore the rest of her body. When he found the opening to her body, he pressed his finger inside and fucked her with it as he sucked on her clit. It didn’t take long for her body to respond. Wetness coated his fingers as he continued to work them in and out of her. He alternated from sucking her clit to flicking his tongue across the now swollen surface. With each flick, her hips bucked forward as though her body was chasing him and demanding more.
Eagan’s cock strained in his pants, and he had no choice but to reach down and squeeze it to the point of pain. It wouldn’t take long for him to reach his climax, for him to pump his seed inside her body. He wanted to feel her body squeeze his shaft, to come on him as pleasure flooded her body.
“So close.” Beth arched her chest up as she widened her legs even farther. “Please.”
The shuttle shuddered hard, sending Eagan crashing forward. Beth gasped as his finger pressed as far as it could go into her body. “Shit.”
He reached out to the shuttle’s computer using his matrix to reveal that they were dangerously close to Zarlan’s atmosphere. He needed to get back to the controls, needed to get Beth safely back into her seat so she wouldn’t be hurt.
Instead, he pulled back and looked up at her. “Do you trust me?”
She shook her head for a moment before changing it to a nod. “Why?”
“Come for me the moment you can.” He leaned back in and sucked on her clit hard.
She gasped and grabbed for his head. “Right there.”
“Shuttle two, you’re approach for atmospheric entry is too steep.” Rykal’s voice echoed form the communication unit in the front. “Eagan?”
He didn’t care. Nothing mattered except having her come, to feel her become his. Using his finger, he fucked her the way he wanted to do with his cock as he lapped at her clit. Beth’s body began to shake and he could feel the rising pleasure grow inside her. She was close. It was only be a moment longer before he felt her inner muscles clamp down on his finger, her body bowing down over him. “Shit!”
Her orgasm washed through her as he felt every muscle in her body tighten and vibrate as he milked her release. Her juices coated his face and he drank as much of her as he could manage.
“Eagan, respond.”
The moment her pleasure receded, Eagan got to his feet and grabbed her hand. He pressed it to his rondella, still hidden by his pants. “When I tell you to squeeze, do it. Hard.”
The glow of her orgasm still fresh, Beth nodded as he pulled his hard cock free. Keeping his gaze locked onto her, he fisted himself, fucking his hand hard and fast while he stared down at the beauty of her face. Her gaze moved from his hand to his cock and she licked her lips as he continued to work himself. When they had time, he wanted to feel that tongue on his cock, to see how good it would be to have her lick up the length of his shaft. What it would be like to come into her mouth.
The very thought of that was enough to bring him to the brink. “Squeeze.” She did as he asked, but it wasn’t enough. “Harder!”
This time she did as he asked, and it was enough. He felt his rondella fill and pulse, the wave o
f his pre-orgasm slamming into his body as the shuttle shuddered violently. His eyes squeezed shut and he let out a shout as his seed spurted from his body and pleasure exploded through him. Everything darkened and nothing mattered as the waves of his orgasm flushed the anger and hate from his soul. He slowed the movement of his hand pumping his cock until the last bit of energy was sapped.
The shuttle was hit with another shudder, this one far stronger than the last.
“Eagan!” The concern was clear in Rykal’s voice.
He looked down at Beth, who’s arm was now painted with his come. “Are you okay?”
“Shuttle two respond now!”
“I’m good. You better get back to the controls.”
His matrix would allow for him to walk straight and withstand any impacts to the shuttle, but Beth would not fare so well. “Stay here and strap into this seat. I’ll get us landed.”
He shoved his cock back into his pants and made his way to the pilot’s control. “Shuttle two here. Correcting our course.”
“Belay that. You’re not going to have time.” Rykal send him a series of coordinates. “The Sholle have taken an interest in the Kraken and have begun to move to intercept us. I need you and Darrick to either chase them off or destroy them. They can’t get to this ship.”
Eagan didn’t want to put Beth at risk, but neither did he trust what the Sholle would do if they were able to capture the Kraken. If anything were to happen, at least he was together with her. “Understood.”
“What does that mean?” Beth sounded more than a little scared.
“It means that things are going to get bumpy. Are you secured?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t get out of your seat no matter what happens.”
“But what if you need – ”
“For no reason!” Perhaps not all his anger had been flushed away.
Wrestling the shuttle away from the pull of Zarlan’s gravity, he changed course so they were now on a direct intercept path with the Sholle. The first shuttle slid beside them. “Shuttle one here. What’s the plan?”
Right. Despite everything, Eagan was still the strategist everyone looked toward. “They’re scout ships and don’t have a lot of armaments or shields. If we coordinate our attacks, we should be able to punch past their protections and hit their engines.” He typed off a series of commands and sent them over to Darrick. “Execute this on my command.”
“Yes, sir.” There was no mocking in Darrick’s voice, as they both slipped into their old roles.
Eagan waited as they barrelled toward the Sholle, half his attention on them and the rest on Beth. “We won’t be long. Then we can get back to what we were doing.”
“Okay.” But she sounded far less confident than she had before.
“Engaging Sholle in three,” Eagan typed in this attack command, “two, one. Fire!”
The shuttles split apart the moment they reached weapon’s range, focusing their fire on the opposite sides of the Sholle’s engine. The second Sholle vessel split off and flew past them, still on route to intercept the Kraken.
“They’re not engaging.” Darrick’s voice crackled and cut out briefly as they both concentrated their fire.
Eagan continued to count in his head, knowing it would take both their ships to break through the initial and toughest barriers. “Keep this one engaged and continue to focus your fire here. I’ll intercept the other.”
An explosion ignited on the Sholle ship, and a moment later, Eagan punched in a new intercept course for the remaining Sholle shuttle. “Rykal, you have a Sholle coming up fast. I’ll move to take it down but be prepared to evade.”
“Understood.”
In the years since the Sholle war, the Grus and cyborgs had worked together to build and improve the strength of their shields and the speed of their ships. Based on how quickly he closed the distance on the Sholle shuttle, the same couldn’t be said for them. The Kraken had already begun the dangerous descent into Zarlan’s exosphere and the violent storms that waited below. He knew the Kraken didn’t have anything in the way of shields, so the combination of the storms and any fire that the Sholle may direct their way would easily damage or even destroy the ship.
There was no way he’d allow that to happen.
Eagan brought the shuttle up behind the Sholle, but they were met with the blast of rear lasers against their shields. He returned fire but knew it would take more fire power than what a single shuttle craft possessed. They shuddered again, this time from the rattle of the storm they’d flown into.
That’s what he needed.
“Kraken, hold your course. Don’t deviate for any reason. I’m going to try something foolish to take care of this pest.”
“Do I want to know what that is?”
“Best if you don’t.” He didn’t think the Sholle had the capability to intercept their communications, but it wasn’t worth the risk. “We’ll see you on the surface.”
Eagan maneuvered the shuttle, so it was now pacing the Sholle. His scans didn’t reveal anything beyond what he’d expected: single occupant with limited resources. The ship had the capability to strip resources from the planet’s surface, providing them with the ability to produce fuel wherever they needed it.
He’d only seen the inside of a Sholle ship once, and only been able to get a quick scan of their internal systems. What he’d learned had helped him create a means to destroy their ships and drive them off the planet. He didn’t have the resources here on his ship, but he would be able to generate something close using the electricity in the air. “Beth, I want you to go back and take the seat in the main cabin. Use the security straps.”
“That doesn’t sound good.” Thankfully, she didn’t sound as fearful as he’d expected when she got up and did as he’d asked.
Knowing that she trusted him to keep her safe emboldened him to do what needed to be done, regardless of the risk. He changed the frequency of the shuttle’s shield and used the computer’s targeting system to lock on to the spot where the Sholle’s shield generator should be. The electrical charge in the air built up, though not as quickly as Eagan would have liked. “Come on.”
The Kraken was coming into sensor range. They were too far away for Eagan to be able to protect, and far slower than the Sholle shuttle. It was only going to be a matter of seconds before they were in range and the Sholle would be able to attack.
The sensors continued to tick up as the storm energy continued to build. It should be any moment before there was another lightening strike –
The air around the shuttle lit up, as the electrical charge crackled in the clouds. Eagan swerved the shuttle into the range of the lightning, targeted the Sholle and fired his blasters. The lightning super charged the blaster, the strike landing on the ship and causing an explosion. The Sholle shuttle pitched to the side, losing control in its decent and heading directly downward. Eagan would have celebrated the perfection of his plan if his hold on the controls of their shuttle hadn’t also been burned out.
“Warning. Projected decent trajectory critical. Impact imminent. Warning.”
“Eagan!” Fear rolled off Beth so strongly he was able to feel it despite the distance between them.
He didn’t respond, couldn’t spare the distraction as he tried to adjust and correct their fall. The storm battered the shuttle, making in nearly impossible to scan for any safe landing space. All he could do was pilot the shuttle as best he could, making the adjustments as he saw them. They were bounced around in the atmosphere until they finally broke through and he was able to visually scan the ground. He did the mental calculations and realized they would be several hours travel away from the location the Kraken would land; a rocky mountainous area with little space to land a shuttle under perfect conditions. Things were far from being perfect.
Making the few last-minute adjustments he could manage, Eagan turned in his seat to look back at Beth. “I care for you.” He nodded, pleased when he felt her startled acceptance.
“Now, brace for impact.”
Chapter Seven
Beth’s head ached. Well, her entire body ached, but her head was the part of her body that hurt the most. She forced her eyes open, wincing at the lancing pain that flashed behind her eyes. The last thing she remembered was Eagan turning to look at her, the feelings of love she couldn’t hold back when he told her that he cared for her, and the overwhelming fear that slapped her when he told her to brace for impact.
The shuttle then began to spin as they went into freefall, the motion making her stomach bottom out and her heart race. She’d lost consciousness at some point, which was a blessing if she thought about it.
Which she didn’t want to do because of how much her head hurt.
“Ouch.” Her voice sounded weak in her ears, and the space around her seemed smaller. “Eagan?”
She was finally able to open her eyes and look around. It was dark, and the cavity of the shuttle had collapsed in on itself opposite from where she sat. Her chair was on an awkward angle and if she hadn’t been strapped into the seat, there was no chance she would have survived the crash.
“Eagan!”
Beth fought through her panic and took several breaths to calm herself. She was alive and on the planet. She couldn’t see the pilot’s cabin, so there was a chance that he could have survived and was trying to find a way to get to her. Just because the front section of the shuttle appeared to be crushed under the impact of wherever the shuttle landed, didn’t mean that he’s dead and that she’s now alone on an alien planet.
That she’d lost her mate before she’d even had a chance to know him.
The first thing she needed to do was free herself from this seat. She’d taken a survival course once in her youth, a mandatory session for anyone who ever traveled via shuttle. They needed to understand the basics of surviving, at least for a short time, in a hostile environment in case of an emergency crash.
This clearly qualified.