Jessica’s laughter rang out over the crowd like a benediction, and she squeezed Zandar’s bicep as she replied, “From everything I have heard about your vlarneks, I can only assume you are referring to the noblewoman. It may be tedious work, but I’ll find out what she’s up to and report back to the king.”
Someone cleared their voice loudly behind them, and they spun guiltily. Jessica smiled in relief when she saw it was Korian, but the anger simmering in his eyes made it fade. “Am I interrupting anything?” he asked, his tone carefully neutral, but his jaw ticking with anger.
Zandar scrambled to his feet and offered his liege a salute which Korian returned promptly. “My king, your company is always welcome. Will you sit with us?”
“Thank you for the offer, Warrior, but I need to speak with Miss MacGregor for a moment. Alone,” Korian stipulated, his tone brooking no argument.
Zandar bowed his head in acknowledgment of his dismissal and turned to Jessica. “It has been a pleasure to see you again, Jessica. Perhaps we will see each other again soon.”
Jessica reached out to squeeze his hand affectionately and assured him that she would let him know when she was free. When Zandar turned to walk away, Jessica finally faced the king. He was so handsome dressed in his hunter green warrior jumpsuit with the flag of T’Kala stitched on the back and his blade strapped to his waist. His shaggy black hair looked soft and her fingers twitched with longing to touch it and sink her fingers deep.
He studied her just as closely, and she couldn’t help the shiver of awareness that chased up and down her spine at the heated look in his eyes. “Would you walk with me for moment?” he asked her, extending his hand toward her.
Without hesitation, she slipped her hand into his and allowed him to assist her to her feet and then place her hand in the crook of his arm. Instead of heading into the crowd, however, the king placed his hand on a sensor to the wall behind them, and ushered her through the door that appeared when the panel slid away.
Jessica found herself at a loss for words for the first time that night, and decided to wait to see what Korian had to say. She didn’t have to wait long. “You look stunning tonight, Jessica. Every male, and many of the females, in the room are besotted with you.”
She felt another hated blush creep up her cheeks, but she held her head up high and replied lightly, “I have Enahara to thank for that. The Yeyolani female is magic with fabric and her hands. She even managed to dress me while holding Little Mahoney. The funny little bimbop immediately latched on to her when she came into the room.”
Korian chuckled. “Yes, I would imagine it did. The creatures have an infinity for expecting females that is only exceeded by their devotion to younglings.” He paused as he opened another panel to lead them into a sitting room that was framed by wall-sized windows that allowed inhabitants to see out but no one to see inside. He walked her over to the window and they gazed outside to enjoy the twinkling of the stars. “I saw that you met Rox’Ana and her daughter a moment ago,” he began.
Jessica struggled to arrange her thoughts. Standing so close to the alien king was scrambling her good sense. She could feel the heat pouring off of him and smell the sandalwood of his cologne. She unconsciously leaned into his body and replied, “Yes, she was quite, uh, interesting. She didn’t say anything overtly treasonous, but then again, she is too smart for that. She has offered to host me among T’Kalan society over the next month, and I agreed to go along.”
Korian’s expression was grim when he replied, “Mikael and Mahoney have reported that she is, in fact, behind the attempt to dethrone me. We have a plan to circumvent her, but it can never hurt to have too much information. Even though she is a noble, she can be very dangerous. You must be careful not to give her the impression that you will report back to me. In fact, it would help if she thinks you scorn me.”
Jessica shot him a flirtatious grin. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m very good at my job, Korian. Acting is a fine art, and I’ve been told that I’m one of the best. There’s no need to worry about me. I’ve dealt with worse women than her.”
Korian turned until he was gazing down into her upturned face. “And what about when you are with Zandar? When you touch him, laugh, and share your secrets with him, is that real or is it acting?”
Jessica’s smile faded and her mouth went dry. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Korian. Zandar is my friend and he’s kind and courteous. He’s funny and friendly, and I enjoy spending time with him.”
The king closed the distance between them and crowded her into the glass with his big, muscled body. His breath fanned across her hair and she closed her eyes when she felt the tip of his finger tracing the T’Kalan blade hair pin that was pinning up the side of her hair. “Yes, but what I need to know, Jessica, is this: who were you thinking of when you pinned this dagger in your hair tonight? Was it Zandar Nic’Omar, or was it me?”
Jessica’s heart was beating in her throat, and the truthful answer burst forth from her lips as if he had reached inside her and yanked it out of her. “You. I was thinking of you, Korian.”
Korian sank his fingers into her hair and brushed along her bottom lip with his calloused thumb. Jessica couldn’t suppress the shiver that wracked her body or the hitch of her breath as he used his strength to pull her into his body. “Ah, but does your body come alive when his hand is at your waist? Do your eyes dilate with lust when he is near?” Lowering his head to hers, he pressed his lips against hers in a light, teasing kiss. Pulling back just enough for their breaths to mingle, he breathed, “Does his kiss make your breasts swell or your sweet woman’s center weep?”
His words were like seductive magic, stealing her breath and making her burn. She whimpered and tried to close the distance between their lips again, but his grip on her jaw prevented her success. “I must know the truth, Jessica. Do you feel these things in his arms as you do in mine?”
Her hands twined around his narrow waist and gripped fistfuls of his uniform as she plastered herself even closer to his hardness. “No, Korian, I don’t. Only with you,” she confessed, her voice cracking with longing.
His smile was feral with victory and possessiveness. He gripped her hair gently in his fist and pulled her head back even further. “I have seen his intent with every caress and each pass of his eyes over your body, but he will not have you. Do you understand me, Jessica? I will not allow him to claim what is mine.”
CHAPTER TEN
Before Jessica could even think to formulate a reply, Korian swooped in and staked his claim with his lips and tongue and teeth. His mouth tasted like sin with a mixture of wine and something sweet and she chased the flavor with her tongue. Jessica moaned into his mouth, her hands sliding up the plains of his chest as his traveled down hers, both of them frantic with lust as they gripped and squeezed until they were panting into each other’s mouths.
Korian kissed his way over to her ear and growled, “Take off your dress before I rip it in two with my hands.”
Jessica sucked in a breath and her stomach swooped with anticipation. With shaking hands, she reached up to her shoulders and pressed the latches that kept her dress secured her body. With a soft swish of fabric, the emerald green gauze fell to the floor at her feet, leaving her standing in nothing but her thong underwear and high-heeled shoes. She heard Korian groan as she braced her back against the window and presented herself, unashamed, for his perusal.
“Your skin glows as if the light of the stars live inside you,” he murmured, his hand reaching out to brush against her puckered nipple with his knuckles.
Jessica gasped as her body’s pale skin began to flush with heat as if his words were the spark to the gasoline of her desire. Never in her life had any man looked at her and seen past her starlet persona and into the soul of the most secret and primal parts of herself. No man had ever kissed her as if he were trying to consume her through his lips and make her believe that he would die without the taste of her on his tongue. Until Kori
an. Within weeks of her meeting him for the first time in Mikael’s hospital room, she had fallen for him a little bit more with each meeting. She reveled in his possessive touch, thrilled at the control over the power he held as king, and craved his jealous passion. She also trusted the intelligence of his mind, his innate sense of honor, and the gentleness of his touch on the youngling companion. She wanted him, badly, and she thought she may not be able to take it if he refused her again.
Korian reached his hand out and began to trace the flush with the palm of his hand as it spread from her belly and up into her breasts. “See how your body responds to me? Your skin is so hot, it turns pink for me. Let me see if I can set you on fire until you burn,” he purred, as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her up his body until she was pinned between his chest and hips and the sun-warmed glass.
Her back was arched across his arm, pressing her breasts up in the air, and Korian took advantage. He swiped the flat of his tongue across a nipple, and then blew cool breath across it until it hardened into a painful peak. Her body jerked when he latched his hot mouth around it and sucked the point deep and pulled.
“God! Korian!” she cried out. Her fingers wound into the soft strands of his black hair and she held him to her chest as he continued to nurse before pulling back to gently clamp the tip between his teeth. He was driving her crazy with only his mouth on her breast, and her fingers began to scramble with the closures on his uniform in her haste to get to his skin. “Take it off! For God’s sake, take this off so I can touch you!” she demanded as her hips rolled forward of their own accord.
Korian switched to the other breast and subjected it to the same treatment. “Closures are on the front,” she though she heard him say around his mouthful.
She desperately clawed at his chest and at his neck until her fingertips caught the latch, and his jumpsuit parted across his torso. He reluctantly released her and set her feet back on the ground long enough to allow her to pull it down until it hung around his knees. Before he could get his hands back on her, though, she stopped him with a hand to his chest.
“Oh, no. It’s my turn, now,” she drawled, her hand running down the center of his chest. His muscles jumped under her fingertips as she traced and trailed over the ridges and valleys of his abdomen before slowly continuing unerringly down to where his shaft strained, hard and thick, against the fabric of his tight shorts. He snarled like a beast when she boldly gripped his length in her hand through the material and squeezed.
“Jessica, do not tease me right now. It will not go well for you,” he warned her, his voice taught with strain.
A spark of excitement lit in her eyes and she licked her lip as their eyes held while waiting for her decision. Her fingers flexed around him and then moved up to the tip, before reversing and sliding back down slowly until she held the weight of his sack in her hand. A thrill of triumph shot through her veins like heroin, sending her body into a high of arousal, when Korian snatched her hand and pulled her up against the glass with her arm pinned over her head. He found her other hand and joined it with its twin until her wrists were secured by one big paw of his hand. His free hand crept down her body until it reached the lace band of her thongs and bunched it up in his fist.
“I will buy you as many of these as you want, because I plan to rip these off of you any time I see you wear them,” he rumbled in her ear.
Jessica gasped, her breath pushing her breasts even tighter to his chest when he suited action to his words and ripped the material from her body. And then his hand was there, the heat of it warming the lips of her sex. She was undeniably vulnerable beneath him with her arms pinned above her head, her body nude, and his warrior-strong fingers gently parting her to dip into the wet, swollen center of her. But she knew, in her gut, that she could trust him. He would never hurt her, and in fact, cherished her with his words and his actions.
“Do you want me, Jessica? Will you welcome me inside your body, and allow me to fill you until our bodies become one?” he panted harshly against her ear. His thick finger pushed inside her, its passage made easy by her body’s excitement. She could only moan helplessly in reply as he swiftly added another finger. She could feel his lips curl against the column of her neck before he growled, “Your body has given me your answer, but your lips must confirm it.”
Jessica dragged her eyelids open and her sapphire blue eyes locked with his pale lavender ones. “God, yes, Korian. I thought you would never ask.”
An earthquake of a tremor shook his body. He released her wrists with one hand while his other pushed down the boxer briefs until his shaft broke free. Jessica strained for a glimpse, but he was too fast for her. He picked her up under her armpits and braced her against the window once more. As if on instinct, her arms wound around his neck while her legs wrapped around his waist as he moved in closer until his erection was a hot brand across her sex. Time froze for a long moment as they teetered on the precipice, each of them waiting for the other to change their mind. They answered at the same time when their lips crashed against the each other and Korian thrust his hips until he felt crown of his shaft slide inside her.
“Oh, my God,” Jessica moaned, her head hitting the window as she threw her head back. There was a slight burn of stretching as he continued to sink inside her and she scrabbled at his back with her nails as waves of pleasure and pressure washed over her. When he paused, his breath ragged, she hissed, “Don’t you dare stop now!”
His chuckle came out breathy and slightly hysterical. “I am just being careful. I do not want to hurt you, thalia,” he explained on a groan as he sank in further.
Jessica bumped her hips against him hard and Korian sank into her to the hilt. Jessica cried out, fingers clutching his hair, and gasped, “I don’t need careful from you right now, my warrior. I want to feel every inch of you.”
Korian’s hands tightened around the firm handfuls of her ass and pulled back before plunging in deeply again. “I thought you’d never ask,” he parroted her words back to her as he leaned in to take her mouth with his once more.
Their bodies moved together, a perfect symphony of want and need, as she rocked into him while he thrust into her. Every part of her was touching him, and she still couldn’t get enough of the man who had so ruthlessly seduced her without knowing it. She had never felt so safe with anyone in her life, even Mahoney, and she let go of her fears and allowed her body to give in to the demands of his. Each plunge of his length inside her, she felt him pushing her toward heaven and her body coiled tighter, jolts of electric pain ratcheting her higher, until she felt as if her body would fly apart at the seams.
Korian was panting in her ear, his deep voice whispering a litany of dark desire. “I have wanted you from the moment I heard your laughter while standing in the hallway of Mikael’s hospital room. But once I laid eyes on you, I knew I had to have you. I was afraid of tasting you, Jessica, because I knew that if I ever sank inside your body, once would never be enough. I was right to fear you, thalia. For now, I do not believe that I will ever be able to let you go.”
His whispered confession sent her over the edge and her body seized in agonizing bliss as her climax sent her violently into convulsions of pure ecstasy. Vaguely, she could hear him cursing in her ear as he pounded into her until he came with a shout. His hips continued to jerk as her orgasm squeezed and released him until he had emptied himself deep inside her.
Jessica’s body felt like jello and she gratefully sagged against his strength while they fought to get their breaths back. Korian kissed her neck lazily before darting his tongue out to taste the salt of her sweat. She hummed in relaxed appreciation and combed her fingers through the soft waves of his black hair. Eventually, he made his way up to her lips and sank into her mouth for a long, luxurious kiss that made Jessica think of the cherry on top of a sundae.
“I’m pretty sure that your guests are expecting me to come back out there. The party is still in full swing,” she reminded him between
kisses.
He grumbled as he pulled back and rested his forehead against her. “Why must duty always interrupt when I am least inclined to bother with it?”
She laughed lightly, slapping his chest until he lowered her back to the floor and steadied her until she had her feet under her. “I’m pretty sure that’s part of your job description, King Korian. However, even kings have to find their beds sometimes.”
His eyes flashed with renewed lust. “What if this king wishes to find your bed later this evening?”
She picked up her gown and draped it over her arm and then tucked the ruined scraps of her panties in his hand. Walking past him and toward the discreet panel for the washroom, she tossed over her shoulder, “Then I would just say that should you find my bed, I will be sleeping in it. Naked.”
She could barely suppress her laughter when she heard him curse and then stumble as he tried to pull his jumpsuit back in place.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The next day, Jessica once again found herself sparring with Mahoney. With repairs still being completed on The Ax’Sandre, Jessica’s friend had some free time on her hands when she wasn’t training on systems operations and working with the defense minister on programming new bots for warfare. This meant that she got to spend more time with Jessica, putting her through her paces, and grilling her for information. Jessica had tried to bring her bimbop to keep them company, but the tiny defender grew increasingly savage as Mahoney attempted to attack and teach her friend.
“Ow! That little shit just bit the snot out of me!” Mahoney snarled, grabbing her foot to staunch the bleeding. “What the hell is its problem?”
Jessica grimaced as she picked up the growling mass of fur and cuddled it to her neck until it began to vibrate and make the sweet burr burr sound she adored. “Sorry about that. Little Mahoney here is very protective of me just like her namesake, aren’t you my little sweetie pie?” she crooned, rubbing her fingertip over its nose.
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