Ian felt all urge to tease her melt away. “I only want you, Kia, you know that. As for Jerra and Ran, well, let's hope he lives so we can see what happens next."
* * * *
Everything was a haze. The pain, the sound, the coppery smell of blood, none of it made sense.
Except one thing.
A hand. One small hand, dwarfed by his much larger one, clasping his fingers.
Ran turned his head a fraction and his nostrils flared as he drank in her scent over the combination of other impressions assaulting his senses. He knew that fragrance better than anything in his universe.
Jerra.
He tried to whisper her name, but it came out instead as a low croak, and immediately someone slipped an ice chip into his mouth. She bent closer for he could feel the silky brush of her hair on his cheek.
"Hush, Ran. Stay quiet. The doctor took enough metal out of you to build a second ship."
It certainly felt like it, so maybe she was right.
Cool fingers touched his cheek. “Sleep and heal. That's another advantage of being S-species they tell me. You'll recover twice as fast as an ordinary human."
Recovery was an abstract concept. The only solid thing was the brush of her fingertips on his burning skin and the musical sound of her voice.
"Stay,” he managed to mumble.
"As if I would ever leave,” she said in tremulous whisper.
Contented, he drifted off.
Chapter 7
She really could not believe it, but the man had an erection.
Jerra said forcefully, “No."
"You're a very cruel nurse.” Ran smiled at her from the bed, all lounging persuasive male. His bare torso still covered with bandages, but his long cock was decidedly erect beneath the sheet casually drawn to his waist. “I obviously need you. Can't you help me out?"
In exasperation, she shook her head. “You are hardly recovered enough for gymnastic sex, no matter what you think."
His green eyes held an undeniable smoldering heat. “I'll happily let you do all the work. Besides, I know for a fact they are still giving you the injections because you are scheduled to breed. I also know Larik and Ian leave you entirely to me, so you are as celibate as I have been lying in this damned bed. Tell me you don't want it, too."
He was right. She wanted him. But above all else, she wanted him well. It had been weeks since they started their return journey to Minoa and his recuperation coming along nicely, but whether or not he was ready to make love to her still hung in the balance. “I think it is a bad idea, no matter what I want."
"Aha. So you do admit you want this.” He brushed down the sheet and touched himself, his graceful long-fingered hand running up the length of his impressive erection to the tip. Semen beaded on his finger.
"Yes.” She wasn't going to deny it, but neither would she encourage him to do something that might impair his already miraculous recovery. “Desire should be separate from something that could be a damned bad idea, Ran."
"Sit on me. I won't even move if you insist."
She eyed him uncertainly, tempted but unsure. “If I hurt you, I won't forgive myself."
Triumph gleamed in his gaze. “You are less than half my size. How could you hurt me? Besides, you cannot let me lie here in this state all day. My balls actually hurt. Come on, take off your clothes and bring that glorious body over here. I'm going to bet you're already wet."
She was wet and hot between her legs, her pussy throbbing at the sight of his engorged penis. “Ran,” she said in reproach, but did slip her dress over her head. Her nipples were already stiff with desire as she approached the bed. When she reached him, she consciously stayed just out of reach. “I still think this is a bad idea."
"I think it is a marvelous idea. Step closer."
His heavy-lidded gaze seemed to hold her prisoner and she did what he said, the command in his voice hard to deny. Immediately, he slid his fingers up her inner thigh and slipped two into her pussy, gently exploring and stretching.
She almost came right then.
Those damned shots. He was right. Taking the injections without any sexual relief was difficult. Jerra moaned and Ran laughed lightly. He thumbed her clit and she quivered violently.
"Climb up,” he invited, removing his soaked fingers. “It's all yours."
She was careful as she got on the bed and straddled his hips. She grasped his cock and positioned the tip at her slit. As always, she had to gradually absorb the large width and length of his shaft, her body opening to accept it, her breathing shifting into a rapid pattern as she filled her vagina inch by inch.
It felt so good. So right. She loved him beyond what she believed was possible.
Ran's gaze was riveted on the joining of their bodies, watching as his cock slowly disappeared inside her. “Yeah, sweetheart, just like that."
When the tip nudged her womb, she began to climax. It was beyond her control, the pleasure so intense and so denied during his weeks of recuperation she shuddered uncontrollably and cried out in abandoned satisfaction. In return, Ran growled, “Yes."
His hands spanned her hips, pushing her downward and forcing himself deeper as he ejaculated. The copious amount of sperm seemed to pour into her forever, each flex of his release a hot spurt she could feel with amazing, vivid sensation.
"I needed that.” He said the words with a dazzling smile, still firmly holding her in place impaled on his stiff penis. “Don't bother to get off because I'll want you right back here again in a moment. We'll slow things down this time if you don't mind."
It was encouraging to know he felt well enough to have his sex drive back, but she still worried over tiring him too much. “I want to please you, you know that, but promise me you won't overdo it."
"You do please me.” His hands slid upward to her breasts. He began to stroke and fondle her, rubbing her nipples with his thumbs, cradling her flesh in his palms. “More than any female I have ever known."
As he had never said he loved her in return, desire was probably as close to that sentiment as she would ever get. She'd had plenty of time to think about the situation while she cared for him in the days since the failed mission. He was an important individual and it was demonstrated by how his injuries and possible death had caused a furor not just on the ship, Larik told her, but on their home planet.
A powerful S-species male did not become permanently attached to a human female slave, she needed to face it. However, if he enjoyed her enough, maybe he would ask to keep her for sexual service and she would be content.
Anything to stay with him.
"You please me, also.” Her voice was soft and she looked into his emerald eyes.
"I like the idea of being your only lover.” He rolled a taut nipple between his fingers with delicate precision.
Larik and Ian had also given her pleasure many times, but Ran was the one she truly loved. “I like it, too."
"The doctor told me this morning he has reprogrammed your chip so you will ovulate."
"Yes.” The idea of his child growing inside her made her feel both joy and despair over the inevitable separation.
"Then we need to make a concentrated effort to impregnate you.” Ran dropped one hand and with one skillful fingertip stimulated her clit. Almost immediately, she felt the flutter of orgasmic sensation deep in the pit of her stomach. He watched her face as he applied just the right amount of pressure, and beyond her will, her entire body began to tremble.
Jerra moaned her pleasure, her open thighs tightening around his hips, his cock stretching her deliciously wide. At his urging, she began to ride him, lifting up and sinking down on his shaft, the lubrication of her arousal and his discharge making the motion easy. True to his word, he did not move, except to encourage her with his hands.
When she climaxed again it was wild and abandoned, her throat arched back as the rapture of it slammed through her body. She felt his response as he pumped into her, his breath escaping in a long hiss of sa
tisfaction.
"That's enough,” she told him sternly when he protested as she climbed off his lean body. “You still need rest, Ran."
"You are a very bossy nurse, have I mentioned that?” The grumble was pure male. “Last I knew, I was the one with the authority."
"No one could force me to do anything to harm you no matter who they are."
"For someone who looks like an angel, you can be very fierce, sweet Jerra, and not just in bed.” His laugh rang out, low and mellow.
It was all too easy to recall the heart-stopping moment when she had first seen him on the stretcher, covered in blood, his flayed skin and gaping wounds a horrifying sight.
"I love you,” she said simply and reached for her discarded dress.
* * * *
Ian sat in a chair, dwarfing it with his size, his long legs extended. He said, “I've written my report and the Council has it. What they do now is up to them."
"My guess is they will consider it not as much of the disaster it was because your swift actions actually solved the problem. I doubt Septinium will be a future threat to anyone.” Ran rubbed his jaw, glad to be out of his bed for the first time, just the mere fact of donning his clothes making him feel more like himself. They sat in the common room of their berth and he had actually felt like drinking a glass of wine.
"Or they might discipline me for taking such an aggressive approach."
"They might.” Ran knew his government's opposition to being perceived as high-handed. “But I doubt it. Not with half of a diplomatic team dead and the other half wounded. They knew we wanted to negotiate a peaceful solution, but they wouldn't have sent you along if they didn't think it was possible it would not turn out that way."
Ian nodded, his dark hair brushing his neck. “True enough. I have other troubles, though. I suspect they know of my relationship with Kia. There is no way others on this ship do not suspect where I spend my nights and that I'm directly breaking the rules. She is going to resign, but that does not change the fact I've breached the code of ethics."
"I think you underestimate the loyalty of those who serve under you. I doubt anyone has reported it."
"If they have, though—"
Ran shook his head. “They don't know. Trust me."
His friend gave him a keen look. “You see this?"
"Yes. Besides, they would contact me for confirmation. After all, we share a berth."
Ian seemed to relax. “That's good to know. I never imagined I would ever do such a thing, but you know, she has a powerful effect on me."
"I do know.” He couldn't help it, his gaze strayed to the window and the bed visible through the glass. Jerra napped often in the afternoons now that she was pregnant.
Ian followed his look. “Yes, I imagine you do know. Tell me, when will they let you know what is going to happen?"
"I am going to meet with the board as soon as we get back. Already, I have requests from several members for a face to face interview.” Ran felt his stomach knot. “I hope you're right and they grant my request. The laws governing intermarriage are archaic and date back to the evolution. At the time, we were emerging into our own species and the separation of the genes made sense. But now we are deliberately breeding human genetic patterns back into our bloodlines. Surely, forbidding mixed marriages is based on a rule that is no longer necessary."
"There is a certain amount of snobbery involved, you know that, Ran. You are a public figure, an S-species hero, and for you to wish to mate with a human took them weeks to approve. Marrying her might be met with refusal. In their eyes, she is simply a slave and inferior, no matter how bright and beautiful."
He knew all of that only too well. “She helped save lives.” He hoped the testimony of the doctors and the soldiers and others she'd worked on during that fateful return to the ship would aid his cause. “There was no obligation on her part to wish to help. Let's remember she was abducted for the purpose of sexual servitude. She owes us nothing, yet she gave freely, anyway."
"I am the last one to disagree with you on the point, and believe me, I will lend my weight to any argument you make.” Ian idly fingered his wine glass. “Tell me, does she know?"
"That I wish to make her my life partner? No. As you just pointed out, it might not be possible, so why get her hopes up for something that hasn't been approved of for generations. If they refuse, I will settle for keeping her as my personal property. If they refuse that...” His voice trailed off as he contemplated having to let her go to be bred to someone else. Finally, he finished with quiet emphasis, “I am not sure what I will do. I see most things with clarity. For myself, it isn't as easy."
Ian nodded, his face set. “Who knew when we set out on this mission, it would so change our lives."
Ran smiled. “I didn't see how, but I knew before we ever set foot on this ship, things would never be the same for either of us. I believe I mentioned it."
"Yes, you did. I don't know if I should envy Armada for not having an emotional involvement with a female, or feel sorry for him. He's grumbled more than once about having to share one of the other humans in deference to your possession of Jerra, but I know he's also happy for you."
"His turn will come."
"Oh, really, will it? What do you see?"
"Chaos ahead for him. It has to be a female. What else causes so much confusion in our normally ordered lives?"
"Nothing.” Ian said the word succinctly and drained his glass of wine.
* * * *
She was alone.
Truly alone. Locked away and forgotten.
Jerra stared out the window and saw the foreign landscape with a sense of fatalistic contemplation. When she had been escorted off the ship, somehow she had assumed Ran would come to her. Instead, she'd been taken to the room she now occupied, and despite her requests for information, told nothing about what was happening.
Gently, she pressed her hand over the subtle swell of her abdomen. The doctor had explained since S-species had larger children, she would show the pregnancy much faster and grow larger. Luckily, the babies needed a shorter gestation period and he had already given her the date she was scheduled to deliver.
And what happened after that?
No one seemed to know. When she asked Ran, he had simply kissed her and began to make love to her, the distraction obvious but an effective tactic. She had the distinct feeling he either didn't know himself, or didn't want to tell her.
Please don't let it be the latter, she prayed.
The door opened, startling her out of her abstraction. Jerra turned, her mouth parting in surprise as she saw Captain Liale step inside. Since they were hardly the best of friends—but had come to an uneasy truce in her opinion—she was both surprised and glad to see a familiar face.
"Hello, human.” Liale tossed something on the small bed. “I've been sent to ready you though it's hardly a duty I asked for. Put that on. You can't go as you are."
"Go where?"
"Before the Council."
"What council?"
"I am not interested in explaining. If you don't get dressed right now, we'll be late and it won't help, believe me."
There was something about her tone that made Jerra stifle her urge to argue. She saw the garment on the bed was a gown made of some filmy—but thankfully not transparent—material, and as she picked it up, it flowed over her hands with a unique softness. The gold threads glimmered in the pale light of the three moons that hung in the sky outside her window.
Nudity no longer bothered her, not after living with a window open to practically her every movement, and she gratefully took off the translucent gown designed to display rather than conceal her body, and slipped on the one Liale had brought her. It hugged her curves but fell almost to the floor, at least not showing off every bit of her anatomy. She ran a brush through her long hair and turned around.
The tall captain looked at her with what seemed like actual approval. “Your beauty might sway them. Come, let's go."
"Sway them how?"
Liale made an impatient movement with her hand. “The governor has requested you be transferred into his care."
An icy lump seemed to settle in her stomach. “What? They can't. I'm pregnant with Ran Kartel's child."
"The Council can do whatever they wish, believe me, and he will get the child no matter what they decide. Now come."
She had no choice, as usual, but to obey. If she wanted, Ian's lover could easily physically force her because of her superior size, and she would just as soon preserve whatever dignity left to her. Jerra followed her out, her palms damp, and they went to the same sort of small transport used to bring her to her latest accommodations. Liale refused to say anything more as they traveled across the teeming city and Jerra finally subsided into an uneasy silence.
The security measures required to get into the building they finally reached were complicated, but they seemed to be expected. Several of the S-species guards looked at her curiously and Jerra tried to keep an impassive expression. Once inside, Liale took her down a series of long hallways, past more guards, and finally into a huge room.
Cool air brushed her bare arms and she shivered. It was the size of a small amphitheater and she was led to the very center, where a semi-circle table faced a small dais. To her relief, she saw Ran amid the members who sat there, but her elation faded when she registered the impassive expression on his handsome face. There was no welcome in his green eyes and no emotion in the way he looked at her.
Her heart felt as if it plummeted through the floor.
Liale briefly saluted the panel and left with quiet efficiency.
"Jerra Aubrey?” One of them, older, with a dark beard and piercing eyes, spoke her name slowly.
"Yes.” She nodded, feeling their unabashed scrutiny.
"The governor has petitioned to have you made his personal property due to the nature of your superior service during the recent mission. Normally, you must understand, once taken from Earth, you belong to the government of Minoa. The unusual request is currently under debate."
Pale Stars in Her Eyes [The Starlight Chronicles] Page 9