It was not a shock when she heard footsteps stalking closer and a large, warm male body envelop her from behind. God, it felt good to be held. To just turn off her brain and let somebody else take the driver's seat for a change.
And wasn't that a surprise to Grace, award winning control freak. But God, she had never felt so safe.
He shifted even closer and let a big, silver hand drift down to her breast. She could already feel the heat building in her core.
There was just enough sanity left to experience a teensy bit of nerves when she considered the supersized Obosian anatomy at her back. But he seemed to be adept at tactics and physics. Let him figure it out.
"You have accepted this, little warrior?" Zhadra's voice was low and throaty.
For her answer, she turned around, pulled down his head and brought her lips to his.
Zhadra pulled her to his chest and buried his face in her neck. His lips drifted down to her breast and his tongue flicked and his teeth nipped.
She pulled back. "Your teeth?"
"I will not hurt you, Grace." He gave her a wicked smile. "Unless you wish it to be so."
His large silver hands squeezed her ass and one of his long fingers slipped along the moisture at her entrance, drifting back and forth.
Grace wrapped her legs around his waist and put her hands in his long black hair, pulling his head back to hers. As her tongue touched his, she let one hand drift to his beautiful horn and stroked.
He growled, shut off the mist and advanced on the large bed as if it were a prize in a military campaign. He laid Grace upon the bed and crawled between her legs. His large silver hands spread her legs and studied her. "You are intoxicating, warrior. Now stay put."
Still kneeling, he lifted her hips to his mouth and sampled her as if he were dying of thirst.
Grace, who considered herself an Amazon by human female standards, had never felt so delicate, or so overwhelmed by a man. He could probably break her in two, but his tongue and lips were teasing and gentle. She could feel her core, throbbing and swollen with need. She felt empty.
"Zhadra." She could hear the moan in her voice and didn't care.
He inserted a long finger inside of her, and his eyes, already glowing gold, held sparks of hot fire. Before she could come, he removed his finger and laved her again with his tongue.
"Zhadra!" This time his name was a curse. He hadn't even touched her clit yet.
He continued to torment her, squeezing her ass, letting his fingers drift over her entrance, back and forth. This time he inserted two fingers, but again removed them just as quickly.
She did not want to come on emptiness.
"Please."
This time, he rewarded her cry with three of his large fingers and sucked on her clit. She exploded into his mouth. She came undone.
Zhadra teased out her orgasm by stretching her slowly with his fingers, and slowly rotating them. He didn't let her topple down from the release.
The pulses had not subsided when the big hands cupping her ass lowered her pelvis to his. He rolled his cock across her entrance, coating his tip in her moisture.
Zhadra gritted his teeth as he pushed forward. "You are very tight, little one."
Grace was never so glad for her fitness routine. She pulled herself up to a sitting position and pushed herself forward onto him, lifting her hands to grab onto his horns. Enough of this gentleness.
"And you, Zhadra ---" she slid further forward, "are big. And hard. And beautiful." She squeezed his horns, pulled herself as close as she could, and opened herself totally in welcome.
He sank to the hilt with a roar, then dropped her hips and pushed her back onto the bed. 'Cruuk, you feel good."
Zhadra supported himself on his huge arms on either side of her. Golden, brilliant eyes glinted into hers. A woman could burn up staring into those eyes. Grace felt her own eyes melt into a puddle of softness.
She was so full. So joined to him.
Zhadra did not release her gaze. He began to move. And Grace, who had not really come down from her first massive orgasm, quickly felt the need to pull him in deeper, to satisfy the need within her. She had never felt such oneness with a man.
He increased his pace. His depth. His torching of her senses. Grace could hardly breathe. Her pelvis was vibrating, expectant, eager and waiting to engulf him in deep, glorious spasms.
Zhadra's gaze intensified, and shimmers of light bathed her face.
He gave her three long thrusts and she could feel the beginning pulsations in his cock. On the next thrust, her muscles clamped tight around him. Waves of pleasure crashed through her pelvis and surged into every muscle of her body.
Zhadra hissed as he finished inside her in long surges of power. He finally stilled above her, letting his cock pulse and explode.
His eyes, so brilliant and gleaming, slowly faded to a smoldering ember. He bent and kissed her harshly, then growled into her ear. "For now, warrior, you are mine."
And Grace? She was. His, that is. He'd taken over her body. For now. And that was fine. More than fine.
But a slow kernel of fear took hold. What if part of him had seeped into her soul? She'd never let a man so close. It would kill her if she embraced him fully with her heart only to discover that he was only hers 'for now'.
Chapter Ten
Zhadra sat in a chair next to Khaid's berth in medic and let the healers treat the burns on his leg. For the first time in his life, Zhadra was uncertain. This female. He had taken her over and over last night. He could not get enough.
The glands behind his upper teeth were swollen more than ever. Instead of receding with orgasm as they usually did, they had doubled in size. He was very afraid they were going to remain that way until a mating bite. He was not ready for this . . . feeling. It made him weak.
"Z." Khaid's voice was hoarse and so weak. "I asked you," Khaid said, shifting with obvious pain, " a question."
"What?" he heard himself nearly growl at his friend.
Khaid darted a look to where the scientist, Tina, was on the next berth, and lowered his voice. " What do you know of my capture?"
"Your father sent a message three weeks ago that you were missing. That was all he knew. What do you remember?"
Khaid shook his large head, and the multicolored strands of his hair caught even Zhadra's eye. He hoped to gods Grace wasn't impressed.
Zhadra waited for more, but Khaid had drifted off again. His friend's skin had an unusual tinge of yellow not common for a Bora-Obosian. The healers had no explanation.
He closed his own eyes while the medics positioned a regeneration unit around his leg. He drifted off for nearly two hours. When he awoke, his leg was better, and Khaid looked much more alert.
Zhadra leaned forward. "What do you remember?"
"The Nebosians complained about their galitron contracts again." Khaid stopped for a sip of water. "I decided to visit their planet and negotiate new ones."
Galitron was one of the strongest metals on the planet Obos, but its real magic was how lightweight it was. The metal had only been in the cold mountains of Bora-Obos, and Khaid's family ran the operation. It was scarce and purposely mined in limited quantities.
"The Nebosians are lucky they can buy any amount," Zhadra said. "The Telosians learned that the hard way."
Telos was still under trade sanctions. Five years ago, their king had abducted Zhadra's intended mate, Zhiksi. It had been an attempt to force Zhadra's family to turn over vast quantities of xutronium, which was mined in Agra-Obos.
The operation had been a failure on many levels.
Khaid struggled to continue his story. "I took a cloaked Bora-Obos cruiser with a skeleton crew to Nebos." He took a few minutes to catch his breath. "We docked at a remote Nebos landing site. Notified no one. When I disembarked, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. And then I don't remember anything until waking up in a cage on a Vermian ship." He looked desolate. "No sign of my crew."
Khaid and Zhadr
a both knew there was little chance they were still alive. And the ship was probably in a different galaxy by now. "How in Sahtia's hell did they do it?"
"It had to be a tranquilizer dart."
"I didn't think those worked on you."
Khaid gave a weak flash of his long canines. "Bora-Obosians are immune to everything we know about, but clearly the scientists of Telos have been hard at work."
Not good if Telos was involved. "Did you actually see who shot you?"
Khaid shook his head. "No. I can't swear it was Telos. But I'd like to set fire to the whole planet. You know, just in case."
Zhadra shook his head. "We do have four other planets in our galaxy that at best can be called frenemies." Zhadra had been putting it off, but he had to ask. "How bad was it?"
Khaid closed his eyes for the merest second, then stared straight into Zhadra's gaze and lied to him. "No big deal."
Zhadra stared at him for a few seconds. "Anything you want to talk about?"
"No."
"Didn't think so." Thank the gods. Zhadra stood and tested the repairs on his leg. "What are your plans?"
"I'm going with you to Agra-Obos. See if your father or brothers have any intelligence. And the next Obosian Council meeting is in a few days, anyway." Khaid darted a look at the little human scientist again. "And if I ever feel better, maybe some other stuff."
Zhadra raised his eyebrows. "Careful, my friend. It is easy to get more than you bargained for."
When Khaid tilted his head in question, Zhadra grunted and switched to Khaid's dialect of Bora- Obosian. "It is like nothing I have ever experienced. A man could get addicted." He leaned closer and hissed. "And I will not be addicted to some female."
Khaid narrowed his eyes. "Any mating gland problems?"
Zhadra looked his friend right in the eyes. And lied. "Cruuk, no."
Khaid folded his arms. "Rumor has it that it can be a sign of a particularly blessed mating."
"I will not ever try to mate again." Zhadra was gritting his teeth so hard he thought one might crack. One dead promised mate on his conscience was enough for a lifetime.
"Hey. Up to you, Z. But it was a long time ago."
Khaid tried to stand without success. When the healers began to fuss, a low growl sent them scampering. Zhadra could tell his friend's heart wasn't in the threat, so Zhadra motioned them to get back to work.
"Exactly where were you intending to walk, Khaid?"
"Shut the cruuk up." Khaid slumped back onto the berth. "All right. I'll stay here for now. And I won't blast Telos into small meteors." He paused. "Yet."
Zhadra tilted his head toward the sleeping human scientist. "And the human?"
Khaid's green eyes developed just a flicker of a spark. "Her smell pleases me. And nothing else has for a very long time."
Zhadra decided to drop it. He'd warned the man. "I am certain my father and brothers will support you any way we can.
Khaid nodded. "I am going to wait to contact my father until we land in Agra-Obos. I don't know how my ship was tracked, so I am not going to risk communication."
"Yes," Zhadra said. "Because usually you are so irresponsible about security."
Chapter Eleven
Grace finally realized that the ringing bells in her head weren't part of a dream from earth. It was some kind of signal from the door to the Admiral quarters on this ship.
She sat up and was not surprised she was alone on the massive bed.
There was a huge gold tunic hanging in a closet that she threw over her head. She padded barefoot to the door, and after some trial and error with the buttons near the door, it finally swished open.
Keri and Tina stood there with big smiles on their faces. "Well?"
It would be pointless to play dumb. "Come in."
Tina handed her a cup of some drink. "Give us a status report. How was the silver stud?"
Grace was horrified to feel her eyes fill with moisture. What in the hell was wrong with her?
Keri scowled. "Did that asshole hurt you?"
"No." She swallowed hard. "It was the best sex of my life."
Keri looked perplexed. "I don't get it."
"I actually like him, Keri." God, what a tepid word for the whirlwind of her emotions.
"Well, I would hope so. You look like a woman who has been well and truly laid."
"What she said." Tina straightened a chair that had been tipped over and took a seat.
"I just don't want to like him too much. I have a career to think about."
They both stared at her with wide eyes.
Tina finally spoke. "Uh, Grace. Don't know if you noticed, but we're kind of out of contact with earth. Or anyone from there. Or anyone who’s ever heard of it."
"Or knows where it is," Keri added. "Or how to get there."
Keri carefully nudged aside the only corner of a blanket still on the bed and perched there as if she thought it was covered with weapons-grade Ebola virus. Her voice softened. "Besides, don't you think your career rocket went into free fall when you got assigned to the Defiance?"
And there it was. The subject none of them ever discussed. Why they'd each been sent to the Defiance. It was a little irritating that it came up now, of all times.
"I don't know, Keri. You're the last person I'd ever thought would give me career advice." From what she'd heard, the captain had flown too close to the sun and had crashed back, not to earth, but to the command slot on the Defiance. Not exactly a smooth career move.
Keri just gave her a gimlet stare.
Finally, Tina gave what was an obvious forced smile and clapped her hands together. "Let's look at the bright side. We did want to explore the universe."
Grace rolled her eyes. "We have no idea what we're getting into, Tina." She took a deep breath and pulled up her big girl panties. "Which is why this is not the time for a relationship. Or, you know, that falling in love thing."
Tina looked relieved. "That's perfect! I heard Zhadra confide to his copper buddy in sick bay that he didn't want to get addicted to some female."
Grace thought about that and felt her need to cry evaporate. She put her hands on her hips. "Oh, really? What else did he share?"
"Just that he would never mate, which I take to mean 'marry.' So, you guys are on the same page." Tina smiled brilliantly.
"Oh, we so are." Grace looked around at the room with the bed that was bare, and the blankets and pillows tossed on the floor, along with a pair of male pants.
"Ladies. Do you have an extra bunk in your quarters?"
"Affirmative."
She studied them. They were both in loose black workout clothing.
"There's a replicator for clothing?"
"Indeed."
"Have you found a gym?"
"Yep."
"And a mess hall. Tina already reprogrammed it to include some earth dishes and drinks. Thus, the cappuccino in your cup, which you still haven't tried."
Grace took a swig, nodded, then downed the whole thing before she slammed it upside down on a bedside shelf. "Lead the way, ladies."
An hour later, Grace was showered, fed, clothed, and walking to the gym with her crew mates.
The training room was as massive as the proportions of the Obosians using it. And there was a lot of that silver skin on display. All stretched over rippling muscles that were sparring and weightlifting and running at blazing speeds.
Conversation ceased when Grace and her crew mates entered. One of the largest Obosians was an officer Grace recognized from the bridge during their escape from the Vermians. He wiped his face with a cloth and immediately walked toward them.
"I am Philleh Narrisav." He bowed his head. "Captain of the Cyclone. How may I assist you?"
"We're here to work out," Keri said.
His brow wrinkled. "Work out? There is a problem that is in need of solving?"
"Exercise. Build strength." Tina pointed to some of the weights and mats. "Like you all are doing."
He looked puzzled
, then glanced dubiously about the large equipment in the space.
Keri took an end run. "Just give us a little corner of your space and no one will pay any attention to us.”
He inhaled deeply. "Females. You are most welcome. But do not think for one moment that my crew is unaware of your presence." At this, a glimmer of sharp teeth appeared in what they assumed was a smile.
He turned and barked a few orders, then led them to a mat with overhead ropes, stacked weights, and various weapons racked on the wall. What Grace really needed was a run.
Before she could ask, he pushed a button on the wall and a panel in the floor opened to reveal a moving tread of shiny metal. It was moving at a blistering speed. She was a tortoise, not a hare.
"Whoa. How do I slow it down?"
He demonstrated the controls and soon the women were quietly going about their business.
Tina, who had been a gymnast in a former life, grabbed the ropes and went to work, climbing and spinning and supporting her petite body with arms and legs that were deceptively strong.
Keri tested the weights, grabbed the smallest available and began a core, arm, and advanced Pilates workout, which soon evolved to advanced tai-chi.
Grace adjusted the metal treadmill to a manageable speed and began an easy five-mile run. She was still a bit weak from the stress of her captivity and needed to build back her strength.
They'd been at it for a good twenty minutes when the door to the room crashed open. "What is the meaning of this?"
She knew that booming voice, and she nearly fell, hopping off the moving surface. Grace met Keri's eyes and correctly read the question. You got this?
Grace wasn't sure she had anything, but she nodded. Grabbing a cloth to wipe her face, she turned at the sound of the heavy boots approaching her.
Tina wisely kept herself twenty feet above on the ropes and observed. Keri put down the weights and swiftly went hand over hand up a rope next to her to observe.
"Yes, Admiral?" Grace went for nonchalant.
It was only as she looked past him that she realized the number of Obosian crew in the gym was about three times the count of when they had entered. And a lot of them had glowing gold eyes. Including Zhadra.
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