by Kyle, Celia
“I’m not gonna last,” I breathe out, the tension inside me becoming almost unbearable. I can feel my insides clenching, and my thoughts are now spiraling out of control. My muscles are tensing up, becoming as hard as concrete, and even my inner walls are tightening around his fingers. On my mind’s horizon, I can already see a tidal wave of ecstasy growing in the distance, ready to crash against me and swallow me whole.
When it finally hits…
It hits hard.
Chapter Nineteen
Zander
Rising, I look down at her.
She has her mouth open, her eyes closed, and there’s an expression of pure bliss on her face. That’s enough for a grin to take over my lips. After all, is there anything better than knowing I’m the reason for that expression to be on her face?
Slowly, she sits up and looks into my eyes.
In that moment, I realize there’ll be no stopping me.
The savage beast inside me has awakened, cut loose from its shackles, and set free. I can almost feel my eyes narrowing into those of a predator, and right now Thrase has become my prey. She doesn’t seem to mind it in the slightest, and that shows in her body. She has become even wetter than before, and her nipples have become iron hard.
“What are you waiting for?” she asks me with a soft whisper, lust burning in her eyes.
“I didn’t know you were this impatient,” I throw right back at her, a lazy grin dawning on my lips. Taking one step forward, I close the distance between us, my hands dipping toward her hips. I lay my palms there, my fingers digging into her flesh, and then lean down. Her eyelids flutter as my lips move for hers, and then we succumb to a feverish kiss.
“I want you,” she whispers against my lips, laying both hands on my chest. Allowing her fingers to drop, she moans softly as she feels the hard contour of my abs, and then continues further down. She only stops when she meets the warm flesh of my two cocks, and then wraps her fingers around them, my hard lengths throbbing against her skin.
Mirroring her efforts, I take one hand straight between her legs, my thumb pressing down on her clit as the palm caresses her inner lips. It only takes a couple of seconds before she starts rocking her hips, pushing her wetness against my hand once more. I match her eagerness and use one lone finger to part her inner lips
“Oh, god,” she mutters. “I need you. Right now.”
“You need me?” I ask her, my lips pulling back from hers. “No… I need you.”
With that, I pull my hand out from between her legs. I take one more step forward, the tips of my two cocks pressing against her belly, and then both my hands go around her waist and sink into her cheeks. My fingers dig into her soft flesh, hard enough to make her gasp, and that’s when I pull her up and into me.
She reacts without thinking.
Throwing her arms over my shoulders, she laces her legs around my waist. I hold her up by keeping my hands on her ass and turn around so I have my back pressed against the wall. Only then do I crush my mouth against hers. Kissing her deeply, I grab one of my hard members and press it right against her entrance, her inner lips wrapping themselves around its tip.
One deep thrust, and I’m in.
While one of my cocks remains between her thighs, its hard shaft pressed against her clit, the other slides deep inside her wetness. I feel her inner walls adjusting to my thickness, and she throws her head back and lets out a quivering little moan.
Motionless, I hold my position for a couple of seconds, my forehead resting against hers. We look into each other’s eyes, our breathing harmonizing, and only then do I start to move. I do it in a tender way, the gentle rocking of my hips causing her to sigh heavily, but it’s only a matter of time before I up the pace.
I fuck her mercilessly, putting all of my power and strength behind my hips, and there’s nothing she can do but surrender fully. Keeping her body tightly against mine, she just throws her head back and moans as loudly as she can, pleasure turning into sound as I ravage her.
“So fucking good,” she breathes out and then moves one arm out from my shoulders, sliding her hand down to my free cock. She grips it tightly and then starts stroking me viciously, each flick of her wrist matching the motion of my hips.
“Fuck,” I throw back at her, my cock throbbing against her fingers. Pressing my forehead against hers, my whole body tensing up, I let her know just how close to the tipping point I am.
She closes her eyes, tightens her inner walls around the cock I have inside her, and we tumble together into the abyss. My heart beats so damn fast it almost seems like it’s going to burst out of my chest. A cocktail of ecstasy and boiling blood courses through my veins, and my lungs feel as if they’re about to pop. The tension becomes almost unbearable, consuming every single thought I have simmering inside my mind, and then…
Then, merciful release.
I explode just a fraction of a second later, one of my cocks filling her up with my warm seed while the other shoots milky ropes of it over her naked chest. For a long moment, we remain motionless and silent, our two bodies still awash in that ethereal energy of two jalgashar locked together.
“That was incredible,” she finally says, and her whole body trembles as I slide out from her. Wiping the sweat off my brow with one hand, I take one deep breath before I say anything, my lungs still struggling to get the air in.
“It was more than incredible,” I tell her. “It was perfect.”
“Can’t argue with that.” Pinching the bridge of her nose, she closes her eyes as she tries to regain her focus. “Get dressed and lie back down on the chair,” she tells me, and I arch an eyebrow in surprise. “Sorry if I’m being hasty, but we really need to extract the compounds before the effect of the endorphins wears off.”
“Right.”
Doing as I’m told, I get inside my clothes and lie down. I watch her get dressed, part of me sad to see her naked curves go back into hiding, and then she grabs a compound extractor from one of the lockers. She presses its sharp tip against one of my biceps, and I feel the prick of a needle.
“Sorry,” she mutters, “I’m trying to be as gentle as I can.”
“You weren’t being gentle a few minutes ago,” I say and then chuckle softly. “Not that I’m complaining. So, you really think love and attraction are just chemical reactions? Or have you finally accepted that there’s more to it than just that?” I notice her cheeks turning red, but she clamps her mouth shut. “Thrase?”
“Well, you can’t rule out chemical reactions,” she finally says. “After all, everything has its roots in chemical reactions, right?”
“What kind of answer is that?”
“It’s an answer.”
“Don’t you have feelings for me?”
Putting the extractor down, Thrase takes a step back and folds her arms over her chest. She frowns, her lips turning into a tight line, the red in them slowly turning white. What the hell? Is she angry with me?
“Look, Zander, I’ve been terrified this entire time. This mission is getting more dangerous by the minute, and things are as bleak as they can be. Do you really think now’s the time for this?” She takes in a deep breath and, before I can get a word in, she continues. “What’s the point of having a conversation like this under these circumstances? One of us might end up dead, and then what?”
Stunned, I don’t know what to say.
I just reach for her and take her hand in mine.
“Thrase, that’s exactly why we should have this conversation,” I finally say, my eyes locked on hers. “I need you to know that I—”
Love you, I wanted to say, but I’m interrupted by Dr. Bastard as he strolls into the room. With both hands on his hips, he completely ignores me, his eyes darting straight to Thrase and then to the extractor.
“It’s been one hour,” he says. “Show me what you got, Thrase.”
Chapter Twenty
Thrase
As Zander is carted back to his cell—trying very hard not
to smile—Dr. Mal stares with open glee at the results of my “experiment.” While he’s distracted, I finish buttoning my blouse.
I’m feeling giddy, and not just for the obvious reason. Dr. Mal seems to have finally accepted me into the fold, as it were. He sets the tablet down and turns to face me.
“Ah, Thrase… I never should have doubted you. You are much more valuable to the cause as a technician than a mere test subject.”
“Thank you, Dr. Mal.” I incline my head in acknowledgment of the compliment. “Does this mean my probationary status is concluded? Perhaps we could talk about my pay scale.”
Mal laughs and gestures toward me with an easy, relaxed grace.
“I think you’ll find our compensation plan to be beyond generous. We take good care of our own, Patriot Thrase. Very good care indeed.”
I cross my arms over my chest and arch my brows.
“Does very good care have a solid number attached to it?”
“How does a quarter million credits annual sound?”
I restrain my surprise as best I can. That’s easily three times the salary even a highly educated scientist can earn.
“It sounds like a good place to start negotiations.”
Mal cackles and takes a step toward the door. Then he pauses and glances over his shoulder.
“I’m about to have a virtual meeting with some very important people in the movement… perhaps you’d care to join me?”
“I’d be delighted.”
I gingerly stride over to Mal and follow him out the door into the ship’s stark white corridor. It’s so bright it hurts my eyes. Hopefully he won’t notice my soreness has interfered with my walk. Not that I’m complaining—it is the best kind of sore a woman can experience, after all.
He takes me to the lift, and we go up several decks. Mal turns a somber frown upon me when the doors open at our destination.
“Take care not to speak out of turn with these men. Even though they will not be physically in the room with us, you are never, ever, out of their reach. Is that clear?”
His voice has a slight tremble, and there’s a twitch near his temple. Dr. Mal, despite his seeming importance in the organization, is clearly frightened of his superiors. Then again, Earth First is populated with bigoted zealots. Those types of people, if you can call them such, are often short of temper and patience, particularly when dealing with underlings.
“Crystal clear, Dr. Mal. Don’t worry, I’m very good at staying quiet and just doing my job—provided, of course, I am suitably compensated.”
“I assure you, that will not be a problem. Neither will boredom. I have big plans for your metabolic expertise, Thrase. I might just be throwing you a prestige project at the conclusion of this meeting.”
He exits the lift, and I follow him. A pair of IHC Marines—really Star Crushers—march past us, giving Mal and myself a wide berth. Funny how their attitude has changed since I’ve been brought into the fold. They barely leer at my chest at all.
Dr. Mal bends his neck and places his eye over a retinal scanner. The electronic voice buzzes from the panel.
“Retinal scan complete. Welcome, Dr. Mal.”
The door slides upward into the ceiling, and then a second, sturdier set of doors slides to the sides.
“This room is obviously kept under lock and key, so to speak.”
Mal chuckles and gestures for me to precede him into the darkened room.
“It’s vital that this chamber not be compromised.”
“You don’t trust the Star Crushers?”
“I trust them to follow their own self-interests, but even that trust has its limits.”
I head inside the room, which isn’t overly large. There are half a dozen seats, comfortable looking but rather Spartan like the rest of the ship. After being aboard the wonderfully baroque work of art that is the Ancestral Queen, the environs seem downright sterile.
“Have a seat anywhere you like.” Mal takes his own advice and sits in the seat nearest to the door. He picks up a pair of VR goggles off the armrest of his seat and puts them on. I follow suit, sitting next to him since it would be weird if I didn’t.
“It may take a few minutes to synch up our system with theirs.”
My goggles come online, and then I start because a holoimage of the much-ballyhooed scarred man appears directly across from me.
“Or sometimes it doesn’t take long at all,” Mal says with a chuckle. Soon other people flicker into virtual existence, mostly older men, though there is a woman roughly ten years my senior. Given her cruel countenance, I doubt she’s going to be any more sympathetic than the rest of them.
My eyes widen when I see Vance Varone, the current CEO of Advanced Munitions Dynamics. The others I don’t recognize, and Dr. Mal does not make any introductions whatsoever.
A middle-aged man wearing an Alliance uniform leans forward and puts his arms on his knees, staring at me intently.
“It seems we have a new face here today.” Despite the seeming joviality of his comment, both his gray eyes and his tone are so cold it sends a shiver down my spine.
“Yes, Malcolm. May I present to you Thrase, formerly of Mars. She has already proven indispensable to my operations on M’Kal.”
“You mean your former operations,” the scarred man says with icy precision. I think he has a British accent, rare for the galaxy faring human race. Is he a native of Earth, rather than one of the star-born such as myself?
I notice Mal is afraid to even look in his direction, facing Malcolm the Alliance officer instead.
“Again, I offer my most humble apologies.” He bows his head, and there’s a slight tremble in his tone. “The Ancestral Queen has proven to be a most tenacious thorn in my side.”
“It is your job to deal with such interlopers. That’s why you’ve been given a budget that should buy you the services of an entire company of the Star Crushers’ elite troops.”
Mal shifts in his seat and clears his throat. It takes him several attempts to speak.
“I am aware of that, but I should point out I’m hardly the only one to have faced defeat at the hands of the Kilgari captain and his intrepid privateer crew.”
Malcolm sneers, his virtual face scrunching up in anger.
“We are aware, which is why you are both still breathing and still in command of this operation. But our patience has its limits.”
“Sir, the Kilgari had help from an Ataxian hit squad, the Coalition Contras…”
“Your excuses are as tired as your lack of results.”
Everyone falls into silence after the scarred man’s declaration. Even Malcolm, who I had assumed to be in charge, seems frightened to so much as look at him. I follow suit, making sure I don’t make it too obvious I’m trying to memorize every aspect of his appearance.
“Ahem… about that, I am pleased to report we’ve had excellent results with the project, thanks to Miss Thrase. In fact, I’d like permission to begin preliminary research on Project M.”
Malcolm finally looks to the scarred man, whose goggles are blacked out so you can’t see his eyes. The scarred man nods, and then Malcom turns back toward Dr. Mal.
“You may proceed, but be careful. Must I remind you that you are in possession of our only sample.”
“Of course, sir.” Dr. Mal bows his head with humility though his smile is wide as a river. “I won’t let you down.”
“You’re staking your life on that claim, Dr. Mal. Most literally.”
“I know, and I am confident you will be pleased with our results. I’d like to bring in Miss Thrase all the way.”
Malcolm sighs.
“She was on the Kilgari ship for some time.”
“Indeed, but she bears them no love.”
He turns to me and grins.
“Her chief loyalty seems to be toward credits, though I can swear to you she is a true patriot who puts humanity above the mongrel scum of the galaxy.”
“Is that so?” Malcolm turns a grin toward
me. “Miss Thrase, I will watch your career with great interest.”
I smile and nod in return, but my stomach turns at just the thought of being on good terms with this bigoted buffoon.
“Very well, Dr. Mal. Begin Project M, but do not fail us again.”
And just like that, the conference call ends. The images flicker out of existence, and Mal drags off his goggles.
“Whew.” He wipes the glistening sweat off of his brow and turns a grin on me. “If you’ll accompany me back to your lab, we can get started.”
Mal hands me a small device, which turns out to be a palm-sized scanner.
“Here. Input your retinal scan into the system. This will give you access to most of the areas of this vessel.”
“Of course.” I hold it up to my eye and wait for the automated scan to complete before handing it back to him.
We make a stop on the deck above the lab space they gave to me, and he passes through another secured door into a chamber where the atmospheric controls have been set to frigid levels. I shiver and clutch my body with my hands as Dr. Mal once again uses a retinal scanner to open a secured safe.
“Here.” He hands me a glass vial with a greenish fluid in it. “Do be careful with it. That’s the last known sample of the Modine virus.”
“Modine virus?” I frown as I consider it. “I had heard something about that, an insidious Coalition plot to infect the Alliance and the IHC, yes?”
“Quite.”
“But I thought it was all destroyed.”
“That’s what most people think, but we have… connections in the IHC.”
Yeah, I’ll just bet you do. I also bet I know exactly what you want done with it.
“Currently, the virus kills indiscriminately, but given your metabolic expertise, I believe it can be… fine-tuned, if you will. So that it will be harmless to humans, but still pack its lethal punch against all other sapients.”