Once he was sure he was fully seated inside her, he moved her hair to lie over one shoulder, bent over her back, and sank his teeth into the base of her neck. After what seemed an eternity but could have been no longer than a few seconds, Taliff released his fangs from her neck.
“Ouch, what was that?”
Taliff’s voice dripped with satisfaction when he calmly stated, “I placed my mating mark upon you.”
“Well, warn a person next time.”
“There won’t be a next time, moya. This mark is permanent and warns everyone that you’ve already been mated—mated to me.”
He apparently reached his limit with speech, because without another word, he started to thrust with ever increasing force. She could feel every vein in his cock, every beat of his heart through their joining. Never had she thought to feel such exquisite sensations with another.
Eve met each stroke with one of her own, frantic to feel that connection, to feel his balls slap against her ass when they came together. And with each thrust it carried her closer and closer to climax.
She was so close to coming. If he didn’t let loose the lion inside him soon, she’d die of frustration. It was time to take matters into her own hands. With deliberate intent, she clenched her inner muscles around his engorged shaft, making the fit just that much tighter. His thrusts became stronger, his purrs rumbled in his chest even louder. Within seconds, he drove her over the edge of the world. The pleasure was pure and explosive.
Her thoughts fragmented as his hands and lips continued their hungry search of her body even as his thrusts grew stronger, deeper. All she could do, all she wanted to do, was feel the bliss that pervaded every cell of her body. Lassitude began to seep in, but still Taliff forged through her pussy, striving to reach his own completion. All she could do was take it as all her nerve endings seemed to fire simultaneously. How could anyone survive such sensations?
Unable to hold back his release any longer, Eve felt Taliff stiffen, felt the ropes of his cum jet deep inside her cunt. The pleasure was unbearable and never-ending.
As though all the energy drained out of him when he shot his load, Taliff collapsed onto the bed, taking Eve in his arms as he rolled off her prone body.
While her heartbeat slowed, and the silence spread over them like a warm blanket, Eve drank in the comfort of his nearness. She felt like a breathless girl of eighteen, as she lay safe within the security of Taliff’s arms. It felt so good to be held so snugly against his side.
She buried her face against the corded muscles of his chest and just took the time to breathe in his scent. Right now, she imagined that if Amy could see her, she’d see a woman that glowed with an inner fire and blazed with unquenchable passion. If only they could spend the rest of the journey to Chantrea in bed, all would be well.
“Are you okay, Eve?”
Taliff’s voice sent another round of ripples through her. Her clit twitched in response. How could she still be horny after he so thoroughly ravaged her body?
“Hmm…never been better,” she murmured.
“Good. I’m glad you feel that way because we need to talk.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
She took a quick sharp breath and tried to pull away. Taliff would have none of that though and instead pulled her closer to his warm body. She stared wordlessly across at him. Her heart pounded in fear. Would he condemn her for her earlier actions even after what they just shared?
A flicker of apprehension coursed through her as she waited for Taliff to tell her what he had on his mind. Panic like she’d never known before welled in her throat. The penalty for maiming another could be death on Chantrea for all she knew.
Taliff must have felt the fear twist inside her, because he began to rub her back with long even strokes. With his comforting touch, her mind quieted though it still held a crazy mixture of hope and fear.
When he still didn’t say anything after several minutes had passed she finally gave into her nerves and said what was uppermost on her mind. “You’re not going to order my death or send me to a penal colony for my actions this morning, are you?”
Taliff chuckled. His eyes crinkled at the corners. “No, moya. I’m not going to order your death or have you imprisoned.”
“Then what do you want to talk about?” Her voice sounded shakier than she would have liked. Fortunately, she didn’t think he noticed the slight tremor. What would he do if he knew she feared him? Or, more to the point, feared her reaction to him.
“I want to talk about us, Eve. About why you and the other women are aboard the Wanderer and on your way to Chantrea.” He didn’t seem nervous, yet something about his manner made her nervous.
Eve remained motionless for a moment, then pulled the sheet up over her breasts and scooted up against the bed’s headboard. Once she’d put a little distance between them, she looked into his eyes and nodded curtly. “Okay. I’m ready to hear what you have to say.”
His expressive face changed and became almost somber as he seemed to collect his thoughts. After a second, a look of determination settled on his face. His voice was calm, his gaze steady as he started his tale.
“A few decades ago, our scientists began to notice a disturbing trend amongst the women giving birth. Or, I should say the trend has to do with the infants themselves. At first, it was barely noticeable, then as the years passed, it grew into the devastating problem that it is now.”
“And what is the problem, Taliff?”
“Our women are no longer giving birth to girls. Once the last generation of females mature, there will be no one to give our people life.”
“You mean there are no female children being born at all?”
When Taliff nodded, Eve closed her eyes and dropped her chin to her chest, now fully aware of just why they were abducted. “How long has it been?” Eve scooted closer to Taliff, laid her hand against his thigh to offer what comfort she could.
“It’s been nearly ten years, Eve. Our people, our men, have given up hope for a future, for children and a mate of their own. We have begun to war amongst ourselves, something eradicated from our lives nearly a millennia ago.” He turned bleak eyes her way. “How can we not fight amongst ourselves, striving to gain possession of the only females left?” He put his head in his hands. “Yet, even that is wrong — against our very nature. We know the women have mates and still we try to steal them from our brothers.”
Eve tilted her head back and rested it against the headboard. Her thoughts ran in circles as she thought of possibilities and coincidences. “Taliff, the Earthbound Lionese are beginning to have the same problem, but in reverse. I just started noticing the extraordinary ratio of female to male children in the last couple of seasons.”
“What exactly are you saying, Eve?”
“I’m saying that in the last couple of years, our women are birthing fewer and fewer males. I don’t know about the other settlements of Lionese across the globe, but in my hometown, the ratio of females to males used to be pretty even. The last two years, however, females are born nearly seventy-five percent of the time. That’s a twenty-five percent increase. At that rate, in another couple of years, Earth will find themselves in the same position as you find yourselves in now, but in reverse. All females, and no males to carry on the line.”
“Eve, it took decades for the decline to get to the level it is on Chantrea. What you’re describing would mean that your people might reach extinction levels in one generation.”
“I know, Taliff. If it took decades for this to happen to your world, why is it happening so quickly on Earth? And what could cause this?”
“I don’t know, Eve. But if both our worlds are having similar problems, then they must have common factors contributing to them.”
“What could they possibly have in common, Taliff?”
Taliff shook his head. “I don’t know, Eve. As far as our records indicate, I’m the first to step foot on your world since your people’s ship crashed nearly two thousand years ago
.”
“Is it possible that someone from your world has traveled to Earth undetected?”
“Possible, but highly unlikely. You must receive permission from the High King just to leave the planet. It took four of your Earth months to reach your world. Someone from Chantrea would be missed had they not reported in after so long a journey.”
“Do you have visitors to Chantrea? Can they come and go as they please?”
Taliff closed his eyes, then nodded. “Yes. We have alliances with several planets and their people.”
“So could someone have visited your world several decades ago and somehow poisoned your people, either the atmosphere or your food and water to cause this?”
“It’s highly possible. We haven’t been at war in many centuries, but there are always people who would see our world as a place to conquer.”
“Why would they think that?”
“When you live in a peaceful society, many people believe that you won’t fight, so they think you make an easy target and come after you with all their firepower. Yet others would rather take the easy way out if they could conquer a people without ever lifting a violent hand. Why use weapons when you can get rid of the population by slowly killing off its inhabitants with a poison or virus?”
“I don’t like the way this looks, Taliff. We are talking total annihilation of our people. Genocide.”
“Me either, moya. But we don’t know anything. It’s all supposition right now. There is no sense in jumping to conclusions.”
“Well, how can we find out just who visited your world, who would have an interest in finding your missing colonists?”
“That’s a good question—one that I’m sure Shoshoni will help us answer. But one best left for tomorrow.”
“Why tomorrow?”
Taliff shifted closer to Eve, reached for her shoulders, and pulled her beneath his body as he rolled them across the bed. “Because tonight’s our mating night. Or have you forgotten that so quickly?”
“How could I possibly forget?” With a tiny smile, Eve lowered her head and pressed her lips against Taliff’s, caressing his mouth more than kissing it. It was a kiss as tender and light as a midsummer night’s breeze.
She felt transported on a soft and wispy cloud. Her thoughts spun and her emotions whirled. How could a simple kiss move her as this one had? Before she could think further, Taliff took control of the kiss, took control over her.
* * * *
Taliff had enough of the teasing caress of her lips against his. He needed more from her. He needed it all. He wanted every bit of her passion, of her hunger, to burn out of control. He wanted a raging inferno that only he could extinguish. And he would have it.
He wanted her completely submissive, even if it were only for this moment in time. He had to know, that at least for now, she was his to command, in body, heart, and mind. He would settle for nothing less.
And he knew just how to do it too.
With steely determination, Taliff rolled away from his mate, stood up, and faced the bed. If he was to make his moya submit, he needed to ensure she knew he meant business. He needed to shock her into compliance before she allowed her natural instincts for dominance to overwhelm the desire coursing through her.
Eve rolled over. Confusion laced her voice when she asked, “What is it, Taliff? What’s the matter?”
“On your knees, Eve, and face the wall.”
Her shoulders stiffened and her brows drew down into a frown. “What?”
“You heard me, Eve. I want you on your knees, in the center of the bed, your thighs spread shoulder width apart, and your fingers laced behind your back.” When she still didn’t respond to his order, he scowled and firmed his voice. “Now,” he barked.
Confusion, and perhaps even a little bit of hurt raced across her features, but in the end, albeit reluctantly, she complied.
“What’s this about, Taliff? What did I do wrong?”
“Oh, moya, you didn’t do anything wrong. But I need to know that you trust me, that deep down, you will do as I ask because you know that I will never allow harm to befall you. I need to know that you have faith in me. This is for me as much is it is for you. Do you understand?”
Taliff watched as Eve seemed to come to some sort of decision. For just a moment he thought she would balk at his demands, but in the end, whether out of curiosity or the desire to be what he needed, she nodded her head in compliance and straightened her spine.
“Good girl, Eve. Now I want you to close your eyes, and rest your weight on your heels for me. And don’t move— no matter what you hear. Do you understand?”
Eve swallowed, then nodded her head in understanding.
“I said not to move, Eve, that means you can’t even nod. If I ask you a direct question you may answer, otherwise you will not move and you will not speak. Say yes, if you understand the rules.”
Once again, Eve swallowed, obviously nervous about his demands. Was he taking this too far, too fast? When he’d begun to doubt himself, doubt the course of his action, he heard Eve’s voice whisper, “yes.” But it was all the affirmation he needed that he was doing the right thing, for the both of them. She needed to learn to trust in him unconditionally and for his own peace of mind he needed to know that her faith in him was absolute.
His heart leapt in his chest and his cock pulsed with need at the thought of what he was about to do, what he was about to demand. While Eve posed in the submissive position he’d placed her, Taliff made his way to the chest at the foot of his bed. What he needed to complete her submissive pose was nestled inside the chest, waiting for just the right person to use them on.
With nervous apprehension, Taliff bent over the chest and pulled out the package he never truly believed he’d have the opportunity to use. Nestled within several layers of Chantrean silk, were the Manruvian Mate Bonds. Known through several galaxies as the one way to ensure the person you were contemplating to make your mate was indeed the one destined to complete your soul, the men of Chantrea carried them everywhere in hopes that one day they might have the opportunity to use them.
Taliff approached the bed, his footsteps sure, his gaze focused on the woman kneeling on the bed. Everything would come down to the next few minutes. His stomach tightened into a painful knot of anxiety as he climbed upon the bed behind her.
After a moments pause, he bound her wrists with the ritual binding straps, hoping that she was truly the one. When the other end began to wrap itself around his own wrist, he breathed a sigh of relief. Several seconds later, it suddenly became thinner. It flattened against their skin, burrowing beneath the layers of flesh until it became one with them. Blending its DNA with theirs, an invisible tether between them, and a marker to lead one to the other, should they ever become separated. Now they were truly one, cleaving unto each other as nature had intended.
Eve’s muscles tensed beneath his hands. He knew she had something to say, but she maintained the silence he demanded.
“You may speak now, moya. Ask your questions.”
“What was that, Taliff? What just happened? I feel different somehow, like a part of me I didn’t know was missing has somehow returned to me.”
“What you feel is me, completing you, through the Manruvian Mate Bonds. I will always know where you are, what you’re feeling, as you will always know my whereabouts and my mood. It is the way our people ensure safe and happy matings. If anything were to separate us now, I’ll always be able to find you.”
She shivered as his voice hardened. "And, never fear, I would find you if anyone ever tried to take you from me."
Her eyes widened, whether in apprehension or arousal he didn’t know. “Now, stay on your knees, but approach the edge of the bed and turn to face me. I want to feel those lush lips of yours wrapped around my cock. And you will take me, every inch. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Tal.”
“Good. Now, do as I say.”
Eve didn’t hesitate even a second in following
his instructions this time. Progress was definitely being made. The Manruvian Mate Bonds were beginning to affect his control, his sense of self. If she challenged his authority tonight, challenged his dominance, he couldn’t guarantee not to hurt her, albeit unintentionally.
He couldn’t let that happen. “You have to do exactly as I say tonight, moya. No questioning my orders. The mating night is not always easy on the mate pair, but I am told it is unforgettable. I don’t want to take the chance I could hurt you, even accidentally.”
He paused to gauge her willingness before nodding to himself, satisfied that she was a willing participant.
“Now, open your mouth like a good girl.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Taliff knew the mate bonds had heightened Eve’s natural desires as well. Her eyes shone with wicked amusement and deviltry. She may not have a submissive personality but it was clear that she liked acting submissive to him sexually. A man could get off on that knowledge if he were so inclined. And right now, he was definitely inclined. If his dick got any harder, he’d be able to drill holes through his ship’s titanium armor plating.
His cock bobbed in front of her face, heavy with need. Eve moistened her lips with her tongue and a drop of pre-cum greeted her in response. He just knew nirvana awaited him in the warmth of her mouth, if only she would get on with it already.
“Do it now, Eve. Take my cock in your mouth and suck it dry. I want you to take every drop of my cum when it spills.”
Finally, after what seemed hours instead of just the few seconds that passed, Eve dragged her tongue over the head of his cock. His spine tingled from the pleasure as the rough texture of her tongue swept over nerves in his cock-head he didn’t know existed.
More pre-cum spilled forth and Eve lapped it up again and again, never taking his shaft into the depths of her mouth, but always giving him just enough pleasure that he was too reluctant to forgo it in order to force her to take him deeper.
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