by Vi Voxley
When in doubt, try to rationalize yourself out of it.
"I am neither human nor anything resembling your understanding of normal," Braen pointed out, but before Naima could nervously snap something back at him, the general gently brushed his fingers through her hair.
The act was so surprising and the carefulness all the more so. Every reprimand washed away from Naima's mind as she leaned into Braen's touch without thinking. Every instinct in her body simply demanded that she get closer to the general.
"This strand of white in your hair," Braen went on, his deep voice softer than before. "Has it always been there?"
"No," Naima admitted, lost in the simple pleasure of Braen's touch.
"Then I was right. The Fearless gave it to you."
And just like that, the moment was over. Her eyes flew wide and she tried to push the general away, only to find that Braen was a statue that didn't move when he didn't feel like it. She would have had more luck trying to claw her way through the walls of his warship than to get away from the general when he didn’t want her to go.
"What difference does it make?" she demanded.
"All the difference in the world," Braen said.
There was a dark edge in his voice now. This time, it was Naima who could read the general’s thoughts, not the other way around. She didn’t quite catch the note of worry in his blue gaze, though. He wanted to know how it happened. He wanted her to tell him all about it.
Even the notion of thinking about those nightmares, nightmares that she now knew to be the truth, sent a spider web of ice crawling through her veins.
"I don't think so," she argued. "I agreed to help you find the Fearless, but I will not let you play mind-games with me. Seeing one monster was traumatic enough, I don't want to relive it for your amusement."
Naima stopped when the light in Braen's eyes turned threatening like a flash of lightning.
The light of his valor squares flickered from white to red and Naima could hear a low beat, reminding her of thunder on the horizon, pulsing out of him.
Underneath the obvious irritation, Naima was certain she saw deep, real concern.
"Amusement," Braen repeated, his voice pure venom. "Miss Jones, somewhere in the galaxy there is a creature that can hurt you without ever laying a hand on you. Your team might have ignored the warning signs, but I do not.
"In the short span of time I've known you, the Fearless slipped into your mind twice and once it actually made you drop the protective bracelet, or at least it was ready to immediately seize the opportunity when it came off. That strand in your hair? I find it to be very far from funny. Next time, the Fearless might freeze your heart."
Silence set over them, reigning for a long minute while Naima searched for words. Suddenly, she felt incredibly hollow.
"And you don't see why I wouldn't want to talk about it?" she asked quietly.
The look in Braen's eyes was impossible to describe following that.
"That is why I need you to tell me everything," he said. "If I know what the Fearless is capable of, I can think of ways to kill it. How else would I protect you?"
Naima couldn't fight down a smile at that. Men really were the same all around, even when they were from the other edge of the galaxy.
"I know you Brions love challenges," she said. "But it's like you said, General. The Fearless might get to me if I'm not careful. I felt it when I the bracelet fell before. I didn't open it on my own, I wouldn't have done that. I saw it looking for me in that moment. I feel like when that happens, it becomes easier for the Fearless to find me.
"I don't want to die and I'll help, but I think you and I both know this could very well be a one-way ticket for me. I am fine with that. You should be as well."
Finally saying it out loud felt good, in a way, even if it wasn't actually comforting.
Braen clearly didn't agree. She wasn't sure how that was possible, but the general seemed to grow in front of her, becoming even more imposing.
"Over my dead body," he said, his deep voice solemn and sure. "The enemy is trying to scare you, to show his power. It is a powerful move, but it is not a death sentence, not at all. We have the greatest minds in the galaxy trying to figure out how to defeat it and you have me to make sure we will both live long after the Fearless is gone.
“Together."
"Together," Naima heard herself say quietly, almost a whisper.
Braen came even closer and Naima was caught in his aura of authority and power and sheer, masculine presence that made her knees weak.
Holy hell…
"Yes," the general repeated, his lips brushing against hers. "Together."
Naima wanted to say a thing or two about her not saying yes to anything yet, but Braen's words got to her. The way the general spoke, she could almost believe that there would be a life for them. That he could do it, save her and the galaxy and defeat the monster.
That it was possible to live in a world without compromises, only the two of them against the world.
Like Braen really could, simply by wanting to, do it all.
When did I even start thinking that this might be what I want?
She never got to answer that question for herself. When the general kissed her, Naima no longer bothered to lie to herself. When didn’t really matter, in the grand scheme of things.
It would have been way too hard to deny herself the thing she'd wanted to do from the second she laid her eyes on Braen. That tiny bit of respite from all the insanity that had been going on since she saw that little flash of light in the bottom of a black ocean.
The kiss was soft at first. Tasting, careful, their tongues engaged in a slow dance until the whimper she'd been holding back slipped over her lips.
She could feel the change in Braen and the gentle kiss turned into fireworks in her blood. Braen's hands slipped into her hair, cupping the back of her head and pressing their lips together so tightly the air they breathed was one and running out very quickly.
Naima's own hands tugged at Braen's armor, pulling herself upwards to meet his demanding mouth. Standing on her tiptoes, she felt her entire body shaking with desire, the heat of arousal overwhelming her.
Braen's smile against her lips would have been infuriating if Naima didn't find it equally irresistible in that moment. On the contrary, the general's confidence only turned her on. A little arrogance was fine for someone who made her head spin, who made her forget about everything else in her life.
Including the damn stone of infinite bottom in her pocket, and the immortal monster on a warpath to take down the universe.
He kissed her like she was the most precious thing in the universe. And for a moment, she felt like she just might be.
8
Naima
That night, Naima woke with a scream.
She sat up in her bed, feeling tears running down her face as the shock refused to register.
She had had nightmares before, of course. Everyone had nightmares. Naima imagined even the great Brion warriors sometimes dreamed of things they didn't want to witness.
Hers... was beyond a simple night terror. Naima clutched the sheets, pulling them against her chest like a child, feeling utterly alone in the darkness.
One of the walls of her room slid out of the way to reveal a passageway.
This time, Naima didn't scream. Her hand searched for the gun she'd taken with her from Matthos IV, ready to defend herself, but there was no need.
The general rushed to her bedside, his clear blue eyes filled to the brink with concern.
"Naima," was all he got to say before Naima threw her hands around him, burying her face against his warm, wide chest.
For a second, she was very distinctly aware that Braen was practically naked but for a pair of tightly fitting boxers. His chiseled abs were pressed against Naima's breasts, the muscles bulging under tanned skin. The general's scent was strong and masculine and made her pussy wet even while the rest of her refused to calm down.
Then the nightmare came back to her and even Braen wasn't enough of a distraction from that.
"What happened?" the general asked, the growl in his voice telling Naima he was ready to murder whoever was responsible for causing her such distress.
Only there was no culprit, at least not one they could reach.
"I had a bad dream" sounds so stupid, Naima thought, but it was the truth.
"I saw it," she said at last.
Braen pulled back, looking at her with a frown. The hard lines of his face were gorgeous in the dim light, reminding Naima with jarring clarity that he was the perfect tall-dark-and-handsome type.
And she was his gesha.
It occurred to Naima that she should ask Braen to get dressed so as not to make the situation any more awkward, but there was not one part of her that wanted that to happen.
If any other man had claimed his eternal love for her, Naima would have taken it as a foolish gesture. Braen wasn't joking. Brions had no sense of humor when it came to their sacred bonds.
To be fair, Brions barely have any sense of humor to begin with.
In that moment, seconds after legitimately fearing for her life, light years away from the enemy, Naima wanted nothing more than to believe him. To let herself drown in the love and devotion he offered. It seemed like a way, way more appetizing way to spend her time then embroiled in nightmares and what-ifs.
"You saw the Fearless?" Braen asked seriously. "You mean you dreamed of it?"
"I thought I did," Naima began carefully.
Her fingers never stopped slowly and tentatively touching Braen's body. It was too much to ask to back away from him. He was the perfect distraction from the darkness that seemed to loom ever more presently in her mind.
"I was on that ice world," she said. "At first I thought it was a dream. Everything about it was right. I didn't know how I got there, suddenly I just was and the Fearless was there. It scared me, but it couldn't hurt me, could it?"
Braen said nothing, waiting for the obvious punchline.
"And then it looked at me," Naima whispered, the terror rushing back.
Without a word, Braen cradled her into his strong arms, holding her there much more gently than Naima would have expected from the big bear of a man.
"It laughed and I knew it was no longer a dream. All control slipped away from me and I started screaming. I felt it, it was the point where the nightmare should have ended, but some force kept me asleep. It kept coming closer, taunting me. When I finally woke up, it was because it let me go."
Naima wasn't sure what she'd thought would happen. Firstly, she assumed Braen wouldn't believe her. The bracelet was still on her arm and they were so far away from the creature as far as anyone could tell – the Fearless wouldn’t leave itself unnoticed if it were close by -, but there wasn't a hint of laughter on the general's face as he pulled back.
"While you sleep, your resolve weakens," he said calmly, cupping Naima's face gently. "It wanted to scare you. If it could have really hurt you, it would have. Now that we know of this, I will not leave you alone for the nights anymore."
There was nothing but sincerity in Braen's eyes as he said that. Naima couldn't tear her gaze away, drowning fast in those blues. She didn't even notice the moment she slipped out from under the sheets as he pulled her on to his lap, letting his hands caress her.
The passion in Braen's eyes was obvious. Naima could feel his cock grow hard fast, pressed against her panties as she straddled him. Her insides had been a jumbled mess of icy coldness just a second ago. Now? They were heating up immediately, the possibility of another distraction getting the best of her resolve.
Just like he said. Her resolve weakened when she slept.
When the general kissed her, Naima knew she teetered on the brink of doing something she might regret. There was no going back. Braen's lips felt amazing against hers, his tongue licking Naima's as the need between them grew by the second.
She pushed her hands into Braen's messy dark hair, pulling the general closer, loving the way his rock solid body felt between her thighs.
Naima moaned loudly when Braen's fingers started peeling away her night shirt. Since neither one of them was prepared to end the kiss for something as tedious as undressing, Braen tore it in two. She whimpered in pleasure, all that resistance suddenly lost to the ether from which the darkness had come.
When she touched him, there was no sign of the damn Fearless or the worry or terror that came with it. There was only bliss. How could she say no to that?
She had never thought of herself as the kind of girl who liked it rough, but that perception was quickly changing. Braen wasn't being uncaring, on the contrary, yet his power was evident and thrilling and turned her on more than Naima could believe. The strong hands around her, the cock rubbing maddeningly against her panties, Braen's firm, muscled chest – it was all too much to deny.
She couldn't. More so, she didn't want to.
As Braen rolled them over, ending up on top of her, Naima didn't even think twice about spreading her legs for him. The desire was fast overcoming any reason she might have had to stop.
She whimpered in disappointment when Braen leaned back, missing the weight of him on top of her. The general merely smiled, pulling Naima's panties off with a smooth motion that told her it definitely wasn't his first time undressing a woman in a hurry. Jealousy mixed with sweet expectation, with every thought washing away from Naima's mind in the next second.
Braen knelt on the floor, pulling her closer to him and pressed his face between her thighs.
She couldn't suppress a scream when Braen's tongue licked the length of her slit hungrily. The sheets were a poor handle, but Naima felt like she was wrecked by a storm that was about to take her to pieces. They were all she had to hold onto. She didn't mind even a little.
"Gods, that's so good..." she moaned, arching her back when Braen sucked gently on her clit, pushing two fingers into her wetness.
Naima bit her lip, moaning freely, not caring who heard her. She didn’t know anyone aside from Braen on this damn ship, so it couldn’t possibly matter.
Braen's mouth was amazing on her pussy, licking it like he never wanted to do anything else than eat her out. The waves of pleasure crashed over Naima. She honestly started to think there could be too much pleasure, because it was growing harder to bear by the second. Naima hadn't needed to cum so badly for a long time, perhaps ever.
This is insane, the tiny bit of her rational thought that could still hold onto the moment told her.
She couldn’t care less.
She would have screamed when Braen spread her pussy lips apart with his fingers and dipped his tongue into her, but it robbed Naima of all breath. She felt the sheets tear under her hands, thrashing wildly on the bed, hearing Braen chuckle softly.
It tickled her sensitive flesh, even that turning her on more. Feeling the general's tongue explore her wet pussy was the best thing Naima had ever experienced. She wanted the real thing.
"Fuck me," she moaned, "I need you!"
Braen clearly understood, and just as obviously he had no intention of stopping anytime soon. He scissored his fingers inside her, stretching Naima open for him.
She pulled at his hair, gasping, trying to get him closer. When Braen took her clit between his lips, moist from her juices, she shuddered so hard he had to hold her in place. The sensation was nothing short of divine, making her squirm and thrust her hips upward to meet Braen's mouth better.
Hearing him moan in turn, his voice deep and dark, Naima knew how much he enjoyed giving her pleasure. How she’d gotten from thinking he was an arrogant know-it-all, to wanting to blow his mind, she would never know. Nor did she particularly care at this point.
"Braen, please," she begged breathlessly. "I need to cum. I want your cock inside me."
Finally, the general rose from his knees with such desire in his eyes it scared Naima a little, even if it brought a slight smile to her lips, unable to wait mu
ch longer. He was as fearsome in bed as he was in any other situation that she’d witnessed him in so far. It was almost enough to think that maybe, just maybe, he could actually be a match for that ancient evil that terrorized the universe,
Her eyes dropped to the bulge in Braen's short black boxers. She must have been staring pretty intently, because when she met his gaze again, Braen was grinning.
Naima was absolutely certain he removed the boxers slowly to tease her. She had bigger problems on her mind, though. Like, for example, if she would be able to take a cock that thick and long. Her pussy throbbed just from the sight of it.
"On your stomach," Braen ordered roughly, his deep voice shaking just a little.
Small mercies, Naima thought, thinking it was better if Braen didn't see just how badly she needed him.
She turned around, feeling the bed sink a little as Braen climbed behind her.
"Up on your knees," the general commanded and Naima obeyed, raising her ass into the air, presenting herself to him.
She had to bite the pillow to muffle the moan at being ordered around like that. No man on Terra could have done that to her, just as no man she’d ever met compared to Braen in anything. She trembled when Braen ran his hands over her ass, pulling her cheeks apart. Naima even thought she heard a sharp intake of breath.
The light in the room changed brighter as Braen's valor squares reacted to seeing her like that, completely his to do as he pleased.
"You are gorgeous," Braen said hoarsely, pushing his cock against Naima's opening. "I have never seen a sweeter sight. I can feel how much you want me in your tight little pussy."
As he pushed in agonizingly slowly, Naima moaned into the pillow, her body shaking from head to toe. Braen's cock felt even bigger than it looked, stretching her to her limits. She wanted more. No, needed the general to fill every inch of her pussy and fuck her senseless.
She must have said some of that out loud, because Braen growled all of a sudden and gripped her hips. When he thrust inside her at last, Naima let out a broken scream. Her whole body felt like it was being torn in two, but the walls of her pussy closed down on Braen's cock, aching for more.