by Regine Abel
A deep moan rumbled in my chest when her delicate hands wrapped around my cock. She rubbed her face on it—with something akin to reverence—and began to stroke me with both hands. I hissed in incommensurable bliss when the searing heat of her mouth closed around the head of my shaft. I was too big for her to take much more than that, but between the eager movements of her hands along my length, the hot wetness of her mouth, and the skillful caress of her tongue drawing circles around the tip of my cock, a raging volcano was building up inside me. One hand fisted on my side, the other rubbing her horn and hair, I gave myself over to my woman.
Eyes closed, my head arched back, I began cresting. Ravena suddenly stopping had my eyes jerk open in disbelief. She climbed on top of me and rubbed her sex on mine. When she reached for my cock to align it with her opening, a wave of panic surged through me.
“NO!” I exclaimed, trying to gently buck her off.
She latched on to me and gave me a threatening look. “Stay!” she hissed.
I held her hips to prevent her from lowering herself onto my shaft.
“I’m too big, Ravena. You will find no pleasure in this, only injury.”
“I am Guldan. We do not tear. We adjust.”
“But…”
“Enough!” she snapped. “You are mine, Ravik. You will not deny me. I will not be harmed. The Goddess made me for you, and you for me.”
The certainty in her voice made me waver. Heart pounding in both fear and anticipation, I kept my hands on her waist as she lowered herself onto my cock, ready to lift her up at the first sign of distress. Eyes locked with mine, her palms resting on my chest for support, she rocked her hips up and down over me, taking more and more of me with each downward movement.
“Ancestors,” I whispered, disbelieving.
Ravena smiled smugly as her warm sheath gradually adjusted to my girth until I was fully buried inside of her. She was extremely tight around me but didn’t seem in pain or feeling any type of discomfort. The rippling ridges I had felt alongside her inner walls while I finger-fucked her earlier, were now giving me the most exquisite torment.
“Don’t you ever fucking deny me again, Ravik Xeldar,” Ravena hissed in a threatening tone as she slowly began to ride me. “Your cock, your body, and your pleasure are mine.”
“Ravena,” I choked out, my blood having turned to liquid fire.
My palms found their way to her breasts as she accelerated her movements. Head thrown back in ecstasy, Ravena’s hands covered mine as I fondled her. But I needed more. I started thrusting up into her. She cried out in approval.
But that still wasn’t enough.
Flipping us around, I lifted up her legs and plowed into her.
“Yes! Ravik, yes! Harder. Fuck me harder. Stop holding back. I won’t break.”
When I continued to control my pace, she viciously clawed at my side, drawing blood. I growled threateningly at the challenge. She brutally fisted my hair. My scalp stung as she drew my face closer to hers.
“Either fuck me like a real man or get off me!” she hissed.
Anger flared in equal measure to my wounded pride. My hand closed around her long, slender neck and tightened its hold as I growled into her face. Lips parted, pupils dilated, Ravena’s bronze skin flushed from the onset of air deprivation. Fearless, she smiled, her eyes smoldering.
“Challenge accepted,” I hissed back, releasing my hold on her neck. “Remember, you asked for this.”
I rammed myself home. She gasped, her back arching off the floor. Pulling back to the tip I slammed my cock back in, the head hitting her cervix.
“Yes,” Ravena moaned. “My beast…”
The desperate need in her voice undid me.
“I’m going to wreck you,” I whispered before giving free rein to my passion.
With complete abandon, I pounded into her, spurred on by her rapturous moans, her hands feverishly pawing at me, and the rabid hunger she’d awakened in me. Most females would have broken under such an unbridled assault. Not her. Not my Ravena. She took everything I gave with a feral voracity. The echoic nature of the bathroom amplified and multiplied the sound of our labored breaths, the slapping of flesh meeting flesh, and our voluptuous sighs.
Ravena’s body suddenly seized as she toppled over the edge. Her inner walls clamped down on me, the undulation of their rippling ridges wresting my own climax from me. Slamming my pelvis against hers, holding her tightly, my cock buried deep, I roared my release as my seed shot out inside of her. My entire body felt on the verge of combusting as liquid ecstasy poured out of me. I pumped in and out of her a few more times until the last of my essence was spent, then rolled us around so that I wouldn’t crush her.
Destroyed by the violence of my orgasm, I lay still, Ravena lying on top of me, my cock still buried inside of her. The room spun and blood rushed in my ears. Ravena’s labored breath fanned on my chest, her horns pressing against the side of my neck.
My arms tightened around her as the room settled around us and our heartbeats slowed to a normal pace.
“My beast,” Ravena whispered, her arms holding me possessively. “I’m never letting you go.”
I smiled.
CHAPTER 6
Mercy
My body thrummed with the most exquisite soreness. I rubbed my face against the soft skin of Ravik’s muscular, hard chest, careful not to cut him with the sharp tips of my horns. One leg propped over his, my thumb circling one of his nipples, I reveled in the heat of his body and the tender post-coital intimacy. Ravik’s hand rested possessively on my behind.
I’d always enjoyed sex on the rougher side, but I’d never expected to want it so wild and savage. Yet, it had been the most mind-blowing experience I’d ever had. Despite my bravado, taking him had not been easy. Ravik’s cock was beyond massive. I thanked the Goddess for my Guldan heritage. While we naturally did stretch to accommodate any size—within reason—I’d never been with someone this big. In my impatience, I’d pushed my body to adjust too fast. It had hurt a bit, but it was the right kind of pain. Even now, I craved more of him. After the first round by the pool, he’d taken me against the wall, and once more in his bed. Considering the late hour, we should both be sleeping, but the sexual tension between us continued to sizzle too fiercely.
As a determinedly independent woman, and a bit of a control freak, it was a strange dichotomy that I craved the more dominant side of my man to come into play between us. I loved how his strength and power made me feel fragile and vulnerable, yet safe. I didn’t want to submit, but for him to take charge and unleash his beast.
However, amazing sex and power exchange in the bedroom constituted the least of our problems. Grace’s words replayed in my head. In the past few hours with Ravik, whenever his gaze rested upon me, if it didn’t burn with lust, it would either be troubled or filled with what I could only interpret as a deep-rooted pain. In the upcoming weeks, I would need to get him to open up.
His hand roaming on my back told me we’d be going into round four. My fingers traced the sharply defined lines of his abs while my tongue teased his nipple. Ravik’s chest vibrated under a deep purr. That instantly got me wet. I loved having such power over this mountain of a man.
A strident sound resonated through the room, snapping me out of the lustful mood that had been blossoming within me. Immediately on alert, I sat up and gave Ravik an inquisitive look, as he straightened and rolled off the bed.
“Urgent communication incoming from the bridge,” said Hana, the ship’s A.I., over the intercom.
“Open channel,” Ravik said, reaching for his clothes.
Jumping to my feet, I hurried to fetch my own, which I had thankfully brought into his room between two rounds of wild sex.
“Magnar,” Captain Baldur said over the com, his voice filled with tension. “Sorry for the interruption, but we have a serious situation on our hands.”
“Report,” Ravik said while slipping into his pants, not bothering with any underwear.
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“The ship is experiencing a cascade of systems failures. We only noticed them a few minutes ago but we have reason to believe they began shortly after our departure. They are occurring at an exponential rate and are starting to target critical systems. We may need to abandon ship.”
Ravik’s brutish face took on a savage expression as anger suffused his features. He shoved his feet into his boots as he pulled on his shirt.
“On my way.”
“I’m coming as well,” I said while finishing dressing. “Give me a second to get some tools.”
Ravik glowered at me. “I do not have time for this. You will stay here and—”
My temper flared.
“Don’t start,” I said, pointing a menacing finger at him. “I know more about technology and hacking than your entire crew combined. I’m not going to sit here because I don’t have a cock while less competent people than I make decisions that might result in my ass getting blown up or landing on a slaver’s block. So you fucking wait while I get my shit.”
Ravik marched up to me, snarling. I could tell he wanted to put me across his knees, but I wouldn’t back down.
“Tread carefully, female. Sharing my bed does not give you control over me or my ship.”
Holding his stare, I raised my chin defiantly.
“Do not make me regret this. Move your ass,” he said, gesturing with his head for me to get going.
I didn’t wait for him to say it twice. The slapping sound of my bare feet pounding the floor bounced off the walls as I raced to my room, through the pool room and the secret passage connecting to it. I grabbed my portable computer, barely bigger than a datapad, and a data stick containing most of my tracer programs and hacking subroutines, then shoved my feet into my boots. My bedroom door opened, startling me. Ravik stood in the doorway, looking more somber than ever.
“Come on,” he growled, his voice laced with impatience.
Without waiting for my acknowledgement, he turned around and left. I closed the magnetic clasp of my boots then chased after him. Red lights blinked in the hallways while the crew raced to different sections of the ship to deal with the various malfunctions. I had to skip-run to keep up with Ravik’s long strides.
He marched onto the bridge, the captain jumping to his feet upon our entrance.
“Magnar, we—”
Baldur’s voice cut off, his eyes widening upon noticing my presence in Ravik’s wake. He frowned, his gaze flicking to the computer in my hand before turning back to his ruler.
“Report,” Ravik said, almost angrily.
Baldur snapped out of his distraction, although still clearly confused.
“Forgive me, Magnar. We believe our systems have been targeted by some kind of virus, but we can’t pinpoint it. It’s moving too fast.”
He displayed a map of the ship on the giant screen above the navigation board. Multiple sections of the vessel blinked red, many turning yellow or orange as the captain spoke. I immediately recognized the pattern.
“At this rate,” Baldur said, “we’ll be completely dead in space within an hour. Our propulsion systems have already begun showing some distress. We need to abandon ship before the emergency launch pads also get shut down.”
“That’s exactly what they want you to do,” I countered.
The captain and the four other officers on deck all frowned at me, shocked that I would intervene in what they clearly considered an inappropriate intrusion. One of them, with light-brown hair and striking light-green eyes opened his mouth, probably to put me back in my place, but appeared to change his mind after casting a wary glance towards Ravik.
“What makes you say that?” Ravik asked.
“This virus—and I believe it is indeed a virus—has been running for hours,” I said, approaching the screen. “If they wanted to kill you, they would have already blown up the ship. This hack is insidious, progressing in a calculated manner.” I pointed on the map at the different systems that had already been shut down. “All secondary systems, nothing vital but enough to start setting a panic and the narrative that the ship is dying. If I wanted to trap you aboard the ship, I’d disable your escape route. They’ve taken out the shuttle bay so the fighters can’t go out, but they haven’t touched the escape pods.”
Baldur blinked, his frown deepening. “But there’s nothing of value on this ship aside from the Magnar himself. Even if the whole plot was to take the ship, the damage this virus is causing will not be worth the repair cost. This makes no sense.”
“It does if they want to capture us without a battle,” Ravik said. “Escape pods are weaponless. Whoever sabotaged the ship must know the landing coordinates pre-programmed in the pods. They’ll be lying in wait to scoop us up while we sit there helpless.”
My lips parted in shock. I had not thought of that possibility. I eyed Ravik with even greater respect.
“What are you doing to counter this?” he asked his captain.
Baldur ran a nervous hand through his hair. “Our best minds are trying to track down the virus and isolate it, but so far, without success. We can’t even trust our ship’s self-diagnostics. Tagar has taken a few men to the shuttle bay to attempt to regain control so that we could possibly take off in the shuttles.”
“Captain, I need to connect to your ship’s mainframe,” I said, staring at Ravik for approval before my eyes flicked back to Baldur.
He recoiled, as if I’d grown a second head. “What?”
“Proceed,” Ravik said.
Baldur stared at Ravik in disbelief.
“Do not make me repeat myself,” Ravik growled, looking on the verge of snapping his captain’s neck. Baldur stiffened, then blanched. Turning around, he tapped on the control panel of the navigational board. A hidden panel slid open revealing various connection slots. Refusing to let my temper flare at this nonsensical drama, I hooked in my computer and activated the holographic screen.
“Aren’t you going to get infected as well?” Baldur asked in a dubious tone, which barely hid his resentment and disdain.
“Nope,” I said absentmindedly.
I could feel the Braxians closing around me to look over my shoulder at my screen. It didn’t bother me as they couldn’t read the Guldan text it displayed. A quick diagnostic confirmed my suspicion. I knew this Guldan pattern well. For a second, I wondered if they’d done this to capture me, but that seemed pretty excessive. Appropriating my inherited wealth and selling me to collectors didn’t justify starting an interplanetary war. Plus, they hadn’t known I’d travel onboard the ship, as it had been too much of a last minute thing.
“I can stop the virus,” I said, plugging my data key into the ship’s mainframe and tapping some instructions to release the antivirus. “And I can restore most of the systems affected, but some will require manual repair.”
“Good girl,” Ravik said. The glimmer of pride in his eyes filled my chest with a pleasant warmth. “Can you make us battle worthy?”
I bit my lip while pondering how to answer the question. “First, I need the antivirus to finish deploying and to initiate the system restore. And then we can see what we’re working with.”
“How did you find the cure so quickly?” Baldur asked, making no effort to hide his suspicion.
Ravik narrowed his eyes at his captain but didn’t intervene, which pleased me. I was a big girl, able to fight my own battles.
“I know it because technology is my job and because there isn’t a single piece of Guldan hardware or software that I don’t know.”
“Excuse me?” intervened a Braxian with pretty, pale-green eyes. Despite his rough traits and severe expression, there was an odd softness to his features, like that usually found in good-natured people.
“You heard me correctly. This virus is clearly of Guldan signature.” My hip leaning against the side of the console and my palm resting flat next to the control panel, I stared at him with my usual sassy attitude. “Now, no need to get those brawny muscles of yours all twisted in
knots; I had nothing to do with it. Your captain here,” I added, pointing at him with a gesture of my head, “should be able to confirm the virus was first planted before the Magnar and I boarded this vessel. Not to mention that I wasn’t even supposed to be here. So, can we drop the suspicions and work on solutions?”
He scrunched his brutish face, his thick brows bunching to form a single continuous line. I raised a questioning eyebrow at him. He pursed his generous lips, and then grunted his assent.
“Good,” I said, before turning back to check on my holographic monitor. “As I was saying before this interruption, with the virus being of Guldan origin, and assuming the Magnar’s speculation is accurate—which I believe is likely the case—even repaired, this ship may not be able to face off against Guldan forces. Our technology is far too advanced.”
“We have tremendous firepower,” Baldur argued, his pride visibly stung.
It was so cute, I wanted to pet him.
“You do,” I conceded. “But it’s completely useless against ships you can’t see. After the Tuureans, the Guldans possess the best stealth technology. At the same time they decloak, they’ll be shooting you full of holes. You’ll never have time to evade.”
“But you told Fenton you know Guldan technology well,” Ravik said, referring to the pale-green-eyed Braxian. “How do I get past their cloak? I would see the face of my enemy.”
“That would be telling,” I said.
Ravik frowned, his expression darkening.
“Relax, big boy. One thing at a time.”
Ravik stiffened, and his officers gasped, giving me an outraged look.
Fuck.
Me and that damn irreverent mouth.
“Sorry. I mean Magnar,” I mumbled.