by Imogene Nix
“You fear me still, even though I’ve not killed you.” Rogue held her gaze, seeing in the fearful green depths that she had no desire to shoot him. She was desperate, but not a killer. “You’ve seen what I can do, woman. I could’ve killed you with my bare hands. But I have not.”
“No, you haven’t. But I’m getting off this planet.”
“So am I. Perhaps you forget, that was our plan all along. We’ve no clones trained to fly, but we planned to torture some of the humans into divulging how the ship operates.”
“You mean before you killed them all?” Her eyes glossed over.
“The clones got carried away. The need for freedom made us desperate. I’m still a desperate man, but now I crave something else.” He walked toward the gun. When it didn’t go off, he nudged it aside, leaving it in her hands so she knew he intended to do her no harm. No, he had something very different in mind.
Her chin lifted so she could meet his gaze. Curiosity mixed with fear, and perhaps something else, as he neared her. Anticipation? He backed her against the wall and she gasped. He covered her mouth with his. Their lips fit together perfectly, as if they were made for each other. He parted her lips with his tongue, slipping it inside to taste her. She moaned, her back arching against the wall. She kissed him, meeting his tongue with her own. She wanted him.
He became instantly hard. His hands reached for her, lifting her so they were level. Her legs wrapped around his waist, and he realized that although this woman was stuck in a nightmare, she wanted him just as much as he craved her.
As he kissed her, keeping her back pressed against a bulkhead, one of his hands traveled beneath the waistband of her shorts. He found the space between her legs flooded with wet heat just like before. He slipped his finger deep inside her, and she cried out against his lips. He kissed her harder in response, continuing to seek out her silky depths with his finger. Soon she began to tremble, so he withdrew his finger and carried her away from the wall to lay her on the ground. He never removed his lips from hers, afraid it would break the spell.
“I’m not supposed to want you.” She gasped as he removed her shorts.
Instead of responding, he decided to justify her proclamation. As soon as he dragged the shorts away from her ankles, his mouth descended on her wet slit. The taste of her honey made his dick even harder. He ground the aching erection against the floor as he suckled on Elara’s clitoris. He twisted the swollen bud between his lips, enjoying the soft moans escaping her.
“Oh God!” she screamed.
“No,” Rogue grumbled against her intimate flesh, peering up over her body. “Say my name.” She didn’t, so he thrust a finger deep inside of her as he suckled her clit.
“Rogue!”
“That’s better.” He went back to work, tracing erotic circles around her intimate flesh as he continued to dip his finger in and out of her. His free hand traveled north, grasping her breast. He twisted her nipple between his fingers.
Elara moaned. Her body began to tremble, and he recognized this sign from before when he’d brought her to climax. He wanted to drink that pleasure from her once more, so he offered her no mercy in his erotic onslaught.
“Fuck!” Elara screamed as her body shook beneath his hands.
Rogue grinned, knowing that profanity from this angelic creature was probably a good sign. Evidence of her ecstasy flooded his tongue. He drank her up, the aphrodisiac making his cock even harder, growing even longer.
“It’s time.” As he stood to remove his shorts, he watched her for a reaction, but her lids were still closed to half-mast, her beautiful breasts heaving beneath her open blouse. Rogue lay on top of her, careful not to crush her. Finally, she opened her eyes and offered him an unrestricted view into the stormy green depths glittering with passion.
“Wait.” Alarm flashed in her eyes. “I could have a child. Do you have anything—”
“Clones are sterile. It’s why I don’t ejaculate as human males do, but I still climax.”
Realization softened her gaze. “So that first day when we were together, you came?”
“I’d never known such ecstasy.” He plundered her lips in a kiss, proving the kind of desire that she ignited in him. Nothing would steal this mood he was in. She’d intoxicated him to the point where he thought he’d never recover from the arousal.
His hips aligned with hers, his shaft prodding Elara’s slick flesh. Still slippery with her ecstasy, her depths began to welcome him. Her soft walls clenched around him and she screamed. Pleasure wrapped around his cock like a glove.
“You’re so tight, Elara.”
She moaned. “Say that again.”
“You’re so tight.” He ground against her, slowly begging entrance with his oversized shaft.
“No.” She breathed huskily as he inched deeper inside of her. “That was the first time you called me by my name.”
Rogue grinned as he looked down at her. Jerking his hips, he buried himself all the way to the hilt. “Elara.” He whispered her name as she screamed. Slowly, he continued pushing in and pulling out of her, the depths finally adjusting to his girth.
Her hands began exploring his body, moving up his chest to rest on his shoulders. Her eyes held his, occasionally closing to half-mast as if the pleasure lulled her into a trance. All the while, her tight, slick heat massaged his cock in an erotic dance. With each stroke inside of her, he neared ecstasy. He was getting used to this…intimacy. Overwhelmed by the look of pleasure in her gaze and his own ecstasy barreling toward him, his body began to tremble.
Climax crashed over him unexpectedly, but Elara’s body also began to tremble so he sought to release her with him. His shaft still pulsed within her, while her tight vise milked him. His fingers moved to her clit and her pants turned to cries.
Ecstasy shot from his cock like electricity. As Elara climaxed, his hard length bathed in her warm come, Rogue had never known such pleasure.
Chapter 8
Elara’s body still trembled from the pleasure Rogue had brought her. Her clitoris throbbed. Throbbed. Ecstasy coursed through her like a drug.
“Did you just giggle?” Rogue’s deep voice held traces of amusement. He grinned at her, heating her body all over again.
“What’s going on here?” She matched his smile, letting it spread deep into her cheeks. Screwed up or not, she had to admit, this felt good.
Rogue ran his hands up her sides until they rested on her breasts. His body lay atop hers, a sensual granite masterpiece of man. He stared down at her intently. “What’s going on here is that you took my virginity.” He laughed when she gasped.
Heat flushed her cheeks. She’d never thought about it that way. “You seduced me!”
He lifted a hand, feigning innocence. “Don’t feel bad. If there were females on this planet, I would have lost it long ago.”
An unexpected emotion suddenly bristled Elara. Jealousy. “Nothing to make a girl feel desired like being reminded she’s the only conscious girl on the planet.”
Rogue nestled her neck and nipped her earlobe. “Should I remind you of how desired you are?” he whispered. His chiseled body moved against her on the floor so she had no choice but to feel his length hardening once more.
“I believe you,” she whispered back. She massaged his scalp, the short buzz soft against her fingertips.
“Good. Then I don’t have to threaten you with bodily pleasure.”
Heat flushed her cheeks once more. Shame washed over her like cold water when she remembered what lie in the other room. “What do we do now? I never expected to be involved in pillow talk with the clone that helped put those bodies on the floor back there.”
“Elara.”
She wondered what he could say in response. Waiting, she realized she wanted him to find something to ease her mind, because in truth, she was becoming attracted to him. Which made her a traitor.
“Elara, I’m deadly. But what took place aboard this shuttle was easy enough for trained killers without my help. There
was one human that came at me. I broke his neck…”
“But the blood—”
“It was from the men I killed when we stormed the clone facility before your arrival.”
The knowledge made Elara feel better, but not much. He’d only killed one of the men aboard her ship, but it didn’t take away from the fact that they’d all been murdered.
“I don’t want to be a killer,” he said. A strand of Elara’s hair fell loose. Rogue pushed it back. “But it’s what I was born and bred to be. I want to be more than that though.”
“You do?”
“You taught me that I could be a lover.”
His fingers threaded through her hair, pulling her into a kiss. His lips were soft against hers. Perfect for kissing. He was wrong about being born and bred to be a killer. Clearly, his body was built to please a woman.
He pulled away and glanced at a poster of Niagara Falls hanging on the wall of the shuttle. “I thought when we got to Earth, I’d have the freedom to start anew. Do you know that my entire life I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to storm this space shuttle? I didn’t want to visit Earth only to destroy things.”
Elara realized she was holding her breath. “There’s always time to start new. In a way, you already did. With me.”
For a moment, all they did was gaze into each other’s eyes. Elara lost herself counting the flecks of gray embedded in the blue. She was mesmerized.
“Isn’t this sweet?” A low, sneering tone sent a chill down Elara’s spine. She and Rogue looked up to see Morgun, alive and well, approaching them gun in hand. “How good of you to warm her up for me.” His right eye was a gruesome mess where he’d been struck by Rogue’s lethal strike. The patch strapped across his face barely covered it.
Morgun smirked at Elara’s open blouse. Rogue quickly closed it and tried to shield her body with his.
“Up. Now!” Morgun motioned with the gun.
“I failed to kill you once, Morgun. I won’t make the same mistake again.” Danger emanated from Rogue like an electrical current. Elara’s fingers dug into him, willing him to calm down. Yesterday morning she might not have cared if he got shot. Today…she couldn’t bear to see her lover hurt.
“Last chance before I shoot, Svarog.”
“It’s okay,” she murmured, trying to escape from under him. Finally, he relented, remaining in front of her while she pulled on her shorts.
“Come to me, human.” Morgun jerked his head as if she were tied to it by an invisible line. A deep scar stretched across his eyebrow, framing the dark gaze, making it appear all the more lethal.
She stepped toward the beast, buttoning her shirt. Rogue reached for her, but she shrugged his grip away. Morgun pulled her to his side so fast that she stumbled. His hand slithered around her and pawed at her breast. She bit back a scream against the force of his grip.
“Get your hand off her.” Rage twisted the blue eyes she’d been gazing into just moments before. Her lover looked primed to kill.
“I don’t think so.” Morgun’s hand traveled south. Elara screamed when his hand met the top of her shorts.
A dagger flew past her so fast it was little more than a silver blur. The next scream belonged to Morgun. He dropped the gun, a dagger embedded clear through his palm. Rogue launched across the room. Morgun disappeared beneath Rogue’s strong body. Elara struggled to catch her breath as she watched the two lethal men trade punches. Spying the gun, Elara ran to retrieve it. An arm reached out of the fray, grasping her ankle. A firm tug sent her to the ground. Air fled her lungs in a painful rush.
Rogue rolled with Morgun, freeing Elara from his grip. The duo rolled, both of them grasping for the gun. “Rogue!” Elara screamed as they tumbled down the ramp of the space shuttle. The gun fell with them onto the dark landscape.
She began down the ramp, but caught herself. The dark had already consumed the gun. What could she do, pry Morgun away from Rogue with her bare hands? As her heart pounded, Elara realized something incredible. This was the moment she’d been waiting for. She had the shuttle to herself.
Elara rushed to the control panel and activated the ground power and external shields. Once seated, she began the checklist to get the engines started. Flying home on her own would be difficult. She wasn’t even sure if it’d be possible. But she’d try. Maybe when Angela woke up, she could help. Once they got off planet it was mostly auto-pilot anyway.
She could almost smell the ocean breeze, feel the wooden planks of the boardwalk beneath her bare feet. The street vendors and ice cream stands. Rogue. Her heart panged. She could take him with her. No. This was her chance to escape before more clones stormed the ship.
Continuing her checklists, the thrum of the engines igniting rumbled beneath the spacecraft. Surely any clones in the vicinity would now be headed their way. If she didn’t get out soon, she wouldn’t be getting out at all. The shields were up, protecting her from unwanted entry, but the indicator showed there wasn’t much ground power left.
“Elara?” Angela’s soft murmur reached out to her.
“You’re awake!” Elara ran over to the floor where Rogue had laid her in the blanket. “We’re on the shuttle. I don’t have time to explain.” She bent to help Angela off the ground. “Get into your jumpsuit and strap in for takeoff.”
“Is it safe?” The words barely escaped her trembling lips.
“Yes. The shields are up, but this might be our only chance.”
Angela nodded slowly, clutching the blanket close as she stood. She moved like a zombie through the shuttle to where the flight suits were stored. Elara returned to the flight deck.
The crack of gunfire echoed from outside. Rogue. She hesitated at the controls, but only for a moment. Damn it. Leaping out of her seat at the flight deck, she frantically searched the security compartments. At the back of the cockpit, she found what she was searching for—the captain’s handgun.
After shutting down the shields, she bounded down the ramp, searching the darkness for signs of Rogue or Morgun. She found them both not far from the bottom of the ramp. Morgun held the gun. Her eyes strained through the darkness, but couldn’t discern if Rogue was shot.
“Put the gun down,” she commanded. “Rogue, are you all right?” Her voice quivered, but she hoped Morgun didn’t notice.
“I’m fine, Elara. Stay on the ship where it’s safe.”
She didn’t take her eyes off Morgun. “I said put the gun down!”
“Or what? You wouldn’t shoot when your fuck toy is so close. If you have a fetish for clone flesh, I’d be happy to provide that for you.”
Another crack exploded through the night. This time, Elara knew who’d fired it—her. “I would shoot and I just did.” Elara couldn’t see the wound, but Morgun’s dark silhouette dropped to the ground.
Elara ran toward Rogue’s form. “Are you okay, are you shot?”
“No, you proved to have damn good aim.” His mouth covered hers. They didn’t linger in the kiss long, the shouting of a mob not far in the distance. “They’ve seen the lights of the ship. You were able to activate the ground power?”
“Come on.” She grabbed his hand and led him up the ramp. Once they were inside, she reactivated the external shield. “Hopefully that’s the last time I have to do that.”
A scream penetrated the cabin. Angela. “Clone!”
“It’s okay, he brought us here.” Elara tried to explain, but Angela only seemed to retreat more. Her eyes glossed over, and she walked backward like a zombie until her back met a wall.
“I’m not getting taken again.” In a shocking burst of speed, Angela grabbed a gun off one of the bodies, aimed it at Rogue, and fired.
“No!” Elara watched in horror as Rogue’s body lurched against the force of the bullet. She dropped to her knees, running her hands over his shoulder.
“It just grazed me.” Rogue tried to sit. “I’m lucky your friend is not as good a shot as you are.”
Elara turned back to Angela. “Get the f
irst aid kit. Now.” She fought to keep her voice level at the woman who’d already experienced too much trauma.
Angela nodded slowly, clearly confused.
Rogue stood, not allowing Elara to help him. “Don’t worry, I barely feel it. Trained killer, remember?” He grasped her hand, clutching it to his heart.
“Good.” Elara tried to grin. “I know we’ve had our differences, but I just saved your life. Can’t have it taken already.”
Rogue pulled her into a kiss. It lingered, but she moved away, knowing Angela would return with the kit any minute. Elara needed to finish preparing the cabin, but Rogue tugged her back into his arms. “I wish we could stay in the shuttle forever, but we can’t.”
“No, it’s only stocked for the month-long return.”
His blue eyes searched hers. “What are you talking about, Elara?”
“I’m the captain of this space shuttle, Rogue. I’m going to take us home.”
“Home?” Rogue’s voice trailed off in disbelief.
“Yeah, I’m thinking we should probably smuggle you in though—”
Rogue swept her into his arms, swinging her in a joyous arc before finally setting her back on the floor of the shuttle. He kissed her, taking his time inside the safety of the shields. “After you came to me—”
“You captain-napped me—” Elara corrected.
“Living without freedom didn’t seem as bad. But having you…and finally having that freedom to live a life, not just as a mercenary…”
“What makes you think you’re going to have me just because I’m taking you to Earth? We just met.” She raised an eyebrow, teasing him.
“I’ll pursue you then…with non-lethal intent this time.” He winked at her before sweeping her into his arms again.
Her smile remained constant as she gazed into his eyes. “To new beginnings.”
Rogue grinned, his bright smile shattering the dangerous shadow he’d always worn. Instead, he glowed like a man that had found purpose, and perhaps, love. “To new beginnings.”
About Jaye Shields