Merkin suddenly raised his camera, and with a quick flick of his finger he pressed the shutter. The ancient contraption clicked loudly as it took a picture, then clicked again and again as Merkin slowly panned the lens across the treetops above them. Jarmuk squinted as he peered through the thick foliage, and realized that the Klican monkeys had come back. Ashariz had been right. There was a baby Klican monkey, and Jarmuk couldn’t help but smile at how cute the thing was. Its fuzzy head bobbed in and out of the leaves as it looked curiously down at the two Zocronians watching it. The sight of it gave Jarmuk a strange pang of envy. Why did the stupid Klican monkey get to have a mate and a child, and he, a strong Zocronian, did not? He knew it was stupid to be jealous of a monkey, but he couldn’t help it. He was tired of living life alone. He wanted a mate by his side and a baby to come home to. Not that he was even sure whether humans and Zocronians could have children together. But if he could just find a way to convince Maisie to give him a second chance, they’d figure out a way to have a family. They could always adopt. Jarmuk had heard there were a lot of human babies on Earth who needed homes.
Merkin lowered his camera, furrowing his brow as he looked down at the display screen on the back. “Well, I’ll be. This thing works pretty well. And it looks like I caught several good shots of our little friend.”
“That’s nice,” Jarmuk said. He was trying to sound sincere, but his tone came across as more impatient than anything. If Merkin had some magic way of talking to Maisie and convincing her to give Jarmuk another chance, then Jarmuk wanted to know it.
Merkin caught the impatience in Jarmuk’s tone, and looked over to smile at him. “Ah, yes. Back to your girl. If you really want to talk to her right now, I think you can.”
Jarmuk shook his head. “I’ve been checking the incoming flight logs for Zocrone. The Starburst isn’t on the list for today. Or even for tomorrow, although it’s not too late for tomorrow’s schedule to change. I suppose I could send her an e-memo, but this isn’t exactly a conversation I want to have by e-assistant.”
“No, it’s not,” Merkin agreed. “But anyway, I think if you want to talk to her today—and you should—you might be in luck. I was listening to incoming flights on the scanner in my shop before I came out here, and the Starburst was coming in. They got in a day earlier than they’d planned, thanks to a solar storm that gave them a good tailwind. Of course, Daxar approved the early arrival. They should have already docked by now.”
Jarmuk’s jaw dropped as he looked over at Merkin. “What the sludge! The Starburst has been back this whole time and you’re just now telling me?”
Merkin shrugged. “I didn’t know until a few minutes ago that your girl troubles were with Maisie. Although I might have guessed. The gossip in town is all about the two of you at the moment.”
Jarmuk stared at Merkin for another few beats. “You’re sure the Starburst is back already?”
“I haven’t seen it with my own eyes. But unless I really am getting old and am hearing voices in my head when I think I’m listening to the scanner, then yes, I’d say the ship is back. Now, are you gonna go get the girl or not?”
Jarmuk didn’t answer. Not with words, anyway. He was done talking with Merkin. The only person he wanted to talk to right now was Maisie. And the only thing he wanted to say to her was that he had been the biggest idiot ever not to tell her right away that he was claiming her as his own.
Mine. The word roared throughout his entire being. Maisie was his, and he was going to show her that. He took off running, ignoring the sound of Merkin’s amused laughter in the background. A rush of adrenaline passed through Jarmuk’s entire body, and he had never felt more alive. He was going to claim his woman. His sweet, soft, and yet oh-so-feisty human woman. He was going to show her that he was a man’s man, and he took what he wanted.
The Klican monkeys screeched and scattered again at Jarmuk’s sudden, noisy departure. Somehow, though, Jarmuk didn’t think that Merkin cared. Sometimes, there were more important things to do than monkey around.
Jarmuk couldn’t help but chuckle to himself at that thought. Had he used that expression correctly in his head? He wasn’t sure, but he could always ask Maisie.
She was his banana. She would know.
Chapter Thirteen
Maisie could have gone home and come back to finish things up tomorrow. None of the maintenance or repairs that needed to be done on the Starburst were urgent. And yet, she stayed, even when the rest of the crew went home. Dusk was falling over Zocrone’s city dome, and she could feel the exhaustion in her bones. But somehow, she couldn’t bring herself to leave the spaceship. Some part of her loathed the idea of going home to face an empty apartment.
And so she worked, losing herself in the greasy world of the Starburst’s engine. This ship had been her baby for so many years. She knew it better than any other ship in the Seven Galaxies, and it was her favorite ship to work on. She’d supervised its repairs after it crash landed on Zocrone, but it wasn’t until this first long voyage with the ship that she’d seen several things she wanted to tweak. Again, nothing urgent. But why not get some of it done now, rather than going home and being tempted to call Jarmuk right away?
A big part of her wanted to rip out her e-assistant right now and give him a call. But calling him on her first night back in Zocrone smacked of desperation, and she didn’t want to sound desperate. Even if she felt desperate. Jupiter, was she ever desperate to see him. All of her anger at him for joking around, and all of her misgivings over whether he actually cared for her, seemed to have disappeared. Instead, she only felt a strange nervousness over whether the banana tree she’d bought for him was too much. He was going to think she was ridiculous.
With a sigh, she tried to turn her attention back to the engine. Her face and hands were covered with grease once again, and that made her happy. It made her feel like she was home. People could call her Grease Maisie all they wanted to. At least she had found work that she loved, which was more than many could say.
Maisie had never worked on the Starburst at night when it was parked in the industrial docking station of Zocrone. Things were eerily quiet right now, with no other ships coming or going, and no one else crazy enough to be doing repairs at this hour. Every sound echoed, and when Maisie dropped a wrench, the reverberations were so loud that she nearly jumped out of her skin.
Somehow, though, it felt good to be here all alone. There was a sort of Zen in being alone with a big hunk of metal, inside a docking port that essentially amounted to an oversized garage. But no sooner had Maisie had this thought than she heard a dull, rapid pounding coming from somewhere down the long corridors of the docking station. Maisie looked up from the engine, frowning. Someone was running. That was odd. A sense of foreboding filled her as she went to the front of the docking port where the Starburst was stationed so that she could see who was in such a hurry, and perhaps why they were in such a hurry. For a few moments, she could see no one. But the footsteps were getting louder and closer, so she waited, expecting the runner to come around the corner at any moment.
Should I be worried? Crime on Zocrone was practically nonexistent. The planet’s population was so small, and so well-contained within the city dome, that it would be difficult to commit any crimes and get away with them. It wouldn’t be hard to figure out who had done something, and once that was figured out, the criminal would be toast. One could only hide so long inside the dome before being found, and escaping the dome was nearly impossible. Daxar still maintained a strict policy requiring approval for any ships leaving or arriving into the dome. You couldn’t get in or out without official clearance. Escaping on foot might be possible, but then where would you go? You could wear a survival suit, but once the oxygen ran out, you’d die pretty quickly out in Zocrone’s harsh atmosphere.
Still, years of being on crime-ridden Earth, and years of working in the dangerous, double-crossing business of smuggling, had made Maisie overly cautious. She tensed up now, gripping
her wrench and ready to hurl it if need be. The footsteps grew steadily louder, as did Maisie’s heart pounding in her chest. This docking station was large, and the corridors in here went on forever. But the footsteps had grown so loud that she knew the runner would be showing up any moment now.
And then, just when she thought she couldn’t take the suspense a moment longer, she saw him. Her jaw dropped, and the wrench dropped out of her hand again, clanging loudly on the floor. Jarmuk was running toward her.
Even though he was running at full speed, Maisie felt like she was watching everything play out in slow motion. His leg muscles flexed with each stride, stretching against the fabric of his black work pants. The power contained within those muscles took Maisie’s breath away. She knew he was strong, of course. She had always known he was strong. But watching him put all of his strength into running toward her made her stomach do flip-flops in a way she hadn’t thought possible. His powerful tail swished behind him, its spikes extended in a display of power. His arms pumped in time with his legs, and his finger spikes were also extended in a primal show of strength. She could easily see the outline of his broad chest as it pushed against the fabric of his work shirt with every inhale. He was putting all of the effort he possibly could into running toward her.
And yet, it was his face that truly took her breath away. His eyes had gone from their normal fog gray to a deep, dark black. Zocronians showed their emotions in the color of their eyes, and Jarmuk’s eyes were full of emotion right now. Full of heat. He locked his gaze with hers as he ran, and Maisie felt herself beginning to tremble at the intensity of that gaze. His blue face was almost black at the moment. It was still covered with dirt from the mines, which meant he hadn’t gone home and showered since work. That was a bit odd, since it was so late. He must have worked late today. But it didn’t matter. Maisie liked him this way. There was something incredibly sexy about a man covered in grime from a hard day’s work. Besides, she was hardly one to talk. Every inch of exposed skin on her was probably covered with grease.
As he got closer, he did not slow down. If anything, he seemed to pick up speed.
“Jarmuk?” Maisie squeaked out, afraid he was going to ram into her at full speed. But he didn’t answer with words. Instead, he reached out when he was only a few feet away, his finger spikes sliding back into his body as those great, strong hands reached out to her. And then, moments later, she was in his arms.
He lifted her body effortlessly, spinning her around and then holding her close against his chest.
“Oh, Maisie,” he said. And that was all he said before his lips were on hers. He kissed her passionately, thirstily, like a man who had been starving in the desert and was finally getting a drink of water. Maisie melted into that kiss, unable to resist his energy. He drew her in, his arms wrapping around her tighter with every passing second. His hands groped at her, squeezing her ass, tracing lines from the small of her back up to her shoulders, and then reaching around to her front to grab her breasts. Maisie felt like her whole body was on fire.
“Jarmuk,” she choked out. She wasn’t sure what she was even trying to say. She had so many questions for him, but none of them would formulate properly in her mind. It was hard to think coherently when her body was this much on fire. And, oh, did Jarmuk ever set her body on fire.
Jarmuk made a low, growling sound in response to her attempt at communication. He pushed her up against the wall and drove his tongue deeper into her mouth. Maisie’s tongue danced with his as she put her arms around his neck, holding on for dear life as he ran his hands up and down her body. He moved from her breasts to her hips to her ass and back again. He ran fingers down her cheeks. He pulled the ponytail holder out of her hair so that her hair hung in crazy waves around her face, and then he ran his fingers through those waves. He grabbed a handful of hair and pulled, hard, bringing her face closer to his. He was in charge, and he wanted her to know it. Maisie shivered with delight.
Every last bit of anger that she might have held toward him faded away. She had hated the way he made everything a joke, but he wasn’t joking now. His actions told her that he was dead serious. Part of her brain told her that she should slow him down and make him explain things before they continued. She should make him commit to something, or ask him where they stood with each other. Was this a relationship? A fling? Merely a moment of passion because the two of them couldn’t get enough of each other?
The truth was that Maisie didn’t really care. Oh, she wanted a relationship with Jarmuk. She’d come back to Zocrone precisely because she wanted that. But if this moment was all they ever had together, she didn’t care. The pleasure would be worth the pain. She could not resist Jarmuk’s exotic sexiness. His blue biceps bulged beside her, and when she opened her eyes mid-kiss to sneak a look at him, his ridged forehead reminded her of his ridged dick. She shuddered with anticipation. Part of her was enjoying this and didn’t want to rush it, but part of her wanted him inside of her, now.
He must have felt the same urgency, because he pulled back slightly at that moment to start tearing off the mechanic’s coveralls that she was wearing. He tore the buttons in his haste, but she didn’t care. She was having just as much trouble as he was with waiting. When he saw that she was wearing a t-shirt underneath, he growled and then tore it in two, right down the front. Maisie had never had anyone so hungry for her before that they hadn’t even been able to wait the extra five seconds it would take to pull the t-shirt off properly instead of tearing it off. The feeling of being so wanted sent a fresh wave of ecstatic shudders down her spine.
Jarmuk tore her bra off just as quickly, leaving her breasts exposed to the cool air of the docking port. Maisie giggled as she realized that if anyone walked in on them right now, things would get really awkward, really quickly. But she didn’t care. She didn’t care about anything right now except the fact that Jarmuk had moved his mouth from her lips down to her nipples. He pulled at the hard nubs with his teeth, biting down hard even as he pulled at her hair again, using a handful of it to pull her closer to him. The biting and pulling should have been painful, but Maisie’s body didn’t register any pain. Only pleasure. Having a man desire her this badly felt intoxicating. Especially a man like Jarmuk. A Zocronian man, whose body was hardened into solid muscle from long days of hard work. Whose blue skin contrasted so beautifully with Maisie’s own pale skin. Whose thick tail swung behind him, spikes still extended. And whose huge, thick dick was now pressed against Maisie’s body, showing off his huge erection.
She wanted to feel that erection fully, without any barriers of clothing between them. Even as he continued to play at her nipples, sending tingling heat radiating through her breasts and out to the rest of her body, Maisie moved her hands down to his pants, fumbling to undo the belt that was keeping her from pushing those pants off his body. It wasn’t easy to do while he was so busy exploring her breasts, but she eventually managed. She fumbled just as much with the buttons, but got those undone in the end as well. And then, Jarmuk took control again. He pushed off his pants and briefs, kicking them both aside and letting his erection spring free. Maisie sucked in her breath at the sight of it. Even though she’d seen him before, and even felt him inside of her before, it still took her off guard just how large he was. His thick, ridged shaft stood at attention, just waiting to find its home.
And Maisie was ready. The space between her legs was throbbing with anticipation at this point, and she was dripping wet with desire. The hot juices of her desire were soaking through her underwear, and she wanted to strip all of her clothes off so she could feel Jarmuk. Really feel him.
He beat her to it. With another of his deep, sexy growls, he pushed down her mechanic’s coveralls, her pants, and her underwear in one fell swoop. Maisie’s bare ass pressed against the cool wall, which felt like a welcome relief from the fire blazing through her body. Jarmuk pushed her shoulders back against the wall, too, and then he reached his hand up to cup her chin. He tilted her face upward s
o she was looking right into his swirling onyx eyes, and Maisie trembled at the intensity she saw there.
“Listen, banana. Before we do this, I need you to know something.”
Maisie blinked and nodded slightly. She was too overcome with the emotion of the moment to even bother trying to correct him again on his use of banana. Besides, the nickname was really starting to grow on her. It was ridiculous, but sweet.
Jarmuk took a deep breath and let it out in a long shudder. “I love you.”
Maisie’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. She started to try to form words, but she couldn’t. She hadn’t expected him to say those three little words to her. Not yet. She had hoped for them, but she’d thought at best it would take a few more weeks for him to say them, and that’s if she was lucky and this fling did actually turn into a serious relationship. But before she could manage to say “I love you, too,” he had put his fingers to her lips and was shaking his head.
“Don’t say anything now. We’ll talk in a little bit and then you can say as much as you want. I didn’t say that to get any kind of response. I just want you to know, before I claim you—because I am definitely about to claim you—that this isn’t just about passion. It’s also about love. Got it?”
Maisie nodded. Her lower lip was trembling, and Jarmuk smiled before he bent down to kiss it.
“Good,” he whispered in her ear. His breath was hot, and the hint of stubble on his chin tickled at the side of her face. “Now that we’re clear on that, I’m going to ravage you.”
Maisie barely had time to process his words before he had slammed into her. She gasped as he filled her, pushing and stretching her tight inner walls until they conformed to the shape of his erection. Fire blazed through her, so hot that not even the cool wall behind her could cool her down now. Jarmuk thrust in and out of her, the ridges of his dick rubbing against her most sensitive inner skin and sending a cascade of tingling pleasure through her body. Each time he slid back and forth, those ridges teased her clit, and within a minute she knew she was close to tumbling completely over the edge into a full-blown orgasm.
The Alphas of the Seven Galaxies Page 30