It had. Nothing good happened when it became something else.
So stop him.
She couldn’t. She didn’t want to. Her tongue mated with Zeric’s, their breaths mingling and becoming one as he deepened the kiss. She moaned, the soft sound unlike anything she’d uttered before. It said, completely and emphatically, I’m yours.
No. I can’t be. It’ll only lead to pain. You know that.
I don’t care.
His hands brushed over her jaw line, cupping the sides of her face as his mouth drank from hers. The oh-so tender touch flooded her body—her heart—with warmth and she melted against him. The last time, their fucking had been wild and savage. This… this was different. Beautiful. She didn’t care how much it would hurt later—and there would be pain, it was unavoidable—right now, right at this very moment all she cared about was how he made her feel.
A shiver raced down her spine and her already tight nipples pinched rock-hard. One of Zeric’s palms pressed over it, the firm contact combining with the friction of her leather bra to send jolt after jolt of hot, wet sensations spearing into her pussy. His tongue continued to worship her mouth, delving, seeking and pleasuring before moving to her jaw, her ear. She dropped her head back, allowing him greater access to the column of her neck, sucking in a breath as he nipped lightly on the sensitive flesh just below her pulse. Her pussy constricted, warm moisture pooling in her womb.
How does he do this to me? You swore you’d never let a man effect you like this again. You swore you’d never—
He nudged one knee between her thighs, spreading her legs apart and settling his groin neatly against hers, his cock a smoldering rod of steel against her eager sex. She rolled her hips, grinding harder against that hot, throbbing organ, remembering what it felt like inside her. His teeth continued to travel over her flesh, down her neck, across her collarbone, getting harder, wilder, the closer his mouth drew to her breasts.
For a split second, an image of dilating pupils flashed through Jaienna’s head—golden irises changing, transforming. Wake up, girl! What are you doing?
His fingers yanked at her brassiere, exposing her breasts to the air, her nipples to his mouth. His teeth sank into one aching peak as his knowing, skilled fingers teased, twisted and flicked the other.
What was she doing?
She didn’t know. She didn’t care.
“Here?” Zeric’s voice was a hot breath in her ear. “Or my quarters?”
She pulled back a little, gazing up at him. His eyes positively glowed with desire. Jaw clenched tight, he waited for her answer. Waited. Not forcing, commanding or ordering. Her heart thumped. Hard.
Gods, Jaienna.Don’t let him get into your heart.
He dipped his head and nuzzled at her ear lobe, sending a wave of flushed tension sweeping over her.
Too late.
She closed her eyes, drew in a long, slow breath, taking his raw scent into her body, her being.
Oh, fuck it.
Meeting his gaze again, she smiled. “Your quarters.”
* * *
The short walk to Zeric’s quarters had been silent. A matter of a few feet, crossed in mere seconds. For Jaienna it had been sheer torture.
She’d followed him, watching his strong back as he moved—almost prowled—down The Reaper’s corridor. His muscles moved like oiled sinews. Her hands itched to feel them under her palms.
It was lunacy. She knew it. But the burning, insistent ache throbbing in her sex wasn’t listening.
Stopping at an unadorned single door, Zeric waved his hand before the locking panel, sliding her a look that spoke volumes about what would happen once they stepped through it: I will take you to the five heavens and back. I will take you to places you’ve never even dreamed. Do you want this?
Yes. She did. More than she could comprehend.
A very slight smile creased the side of his mouth and, threading his fingers through hers, he stepped across the threshold.
His quarters were sparse. A low wide berth against the far wall; a compu-station; a lock-box; a syntho-food station and a porthole—typical Boundary Guardian quarters. What weren’t typical were the two tantium-steel chains attached to the wall beside the berth. Or the double-lock shackles attached to each.
At the sight, her already damp pussy clamped tight.
Zeric looked at her, face guarded. “It’s not what you think.”
She raised one eyebrow. “Pity.”
Before she could draw breath, he had her on the bed, back flat against the firm mattress, her thighs around his hips. Planting his hands on either side of her head, he stared down at her. “This is dangerous. You know that, don’t you?”
His voice was low. It rumbled in his chest and throat like the growl of a beast. The sound of it sent ripples of rapture through her body. Into the pit of her sex. Her nipples hardened, her sex fluttered. “Yes. I know.”
She thought he was going to say more. He studied her, those golden eyes delving into her soul. It should have frightened her. It should have made her fling him off. Instead, she gazed back, unblinking. She couldn’t explain it, but she wanted him to see something in her no one else had before. Something she herself hadn’t seen either. A longing to be fulfilled on a level deeper than physical. A craving for a connection; body, heart, soul.
Since Bhel’s death, and since her desertion from the Corp, she’d been totally alone. Her choice. Her design. Why did she wonder now if she’d been wrong? Why did looking at him, smelling him, feeling him make her doubt herself? And yet, not doubt herself at all?
Because of what Tornada did to you. And what you did to him…
The dark thought should have chilled her. Instead, she buried it deep within the assassin she was and looked at the man holding her with only her woman’s eyes. Raq Tornado was dead to her. Zeric however…he was alive. So very much alive. And for the first time in a long time, she felt alive too.
He held her gaze for a long, still moment and then, tangling long steady fingers in her hair, dropped his head to hers and kissed her.
Tongue and teeth clashed. She arched her back, pushing her pussy against his rigid cock. He ran his hands from her hair and scored them over her shoulders and breasts, down to the waistline of her pants, to the buckle on her belt. She shifted her weight, allowing him ease of access. In one fluid flick of his wrists, the belt buckle was released and his hand was buried between her thighs, seeking and finding her slick channel.
“Oh, tears of Druentia!” she gasped.
Her clit was a swollen tip of pulsing flesh, straining for his touch. He pinched it between two fingers and Jaienna gasped again, bucking her hips higher, harder, against his masterful hand.
As he teased with one hand, the other dragged Jak’s trousers from her legs, the cold artificial air of the ship kissing her fevered skin just as his palm smoothed over her thighs. He cupped her ass, sliding his fingers over her tight hole with gentle, yet firm pressure.
“Yes.” The invitation slipped past her lips in a breath.
For the briefest second—agonizing and torturous—he hesitated, and that apprehensive light flickered amongst the flames in his eyes.
She reached up, touching his jaw. Lightly. “Yes, Zeric.”
The fire in his eyes flared.
Thrusting his fingers deeper into her sodden pussy, he lowered his body onto hers, taking possession of her mouth in an assault that left her trembling. Wet fire ripped through her, squirming tension escalating with every delving stab of his tongue and fingers. Jaienna’s eyelids fluttered closed as she drowned in the waves of pleasure rolling over her.
Releasing the metal clasp of her brassiere, he flung it to the side, spilling free her breasts. Ready for his lips. With attentive focus, he moved his mouth to her breasts, suckling on one then the other until she thought she would explode. When his teeth tugged on the nipple ring, she let out a cry that bounced off the walls of his quarters and came back to her ears, raw, urgent and hungry.
&n
bsp; Still his fingers played with her clit, teasing, pinching and rubbing. She rolled her hips, her pussy greedy for fulfillment. As if knowing her every craving desire, Zeric drove his fingers deep into her folds, past the slick walls, curling and wriggling until a kaleidoscope of blinding colors filled her head. She arched her back, writhed and twisted against his hand, tossed her head from side to side. Opening her eyes, she reached for his hand, wrapping her fingers around his wrist. “Zeric,” she pleaded, desperately wanting to feel his amazing cock ramming into her.
He looked down at her with blazing eyes, nostrils flaring with every ragged breath he drew. “What are you doing to me, Jaienna?” His voice was low and hoarse.
For an answer, Jaienna slid her hand from his wrist, past the band of his trousers, to his throbbing cock.
Oh, Gods, he’s amazing.
And harder than any man she’d ever felt.
His weight lifted from her body and he stepped away, eyes locked on her as he removed his clothes. Jaienna watched, getting wetter and hotter with every smooth stretch of tanned skin exposed, every limb, every muscle. Druentia wept, he’s gorgeous.
Gloriously naked, swollen cock straining toward the five heavens he lowered himself between her thighs, sliding his hands over her breasts to her aching clit and fluttering sex. His fingers dipped into her creamy channel, sending jolts of tight heat into her very being before travelling across the curve of her inner thighs. Her own juices slicked her fevered flesh as he moved his hands to her knees and spread her legs further apart. His lips soon followed the path scalded by his fingers, driving her to the brink, the very edge. “Zeric!” she burst out, twisting and writhing as his tongue plunged in and out of her folds. “Please!”
Please, what, she didn’t know.
In all her years, she’d never felt so consumed by absolute pleasure. Her entire being pulsed and thrummed with liquid-heat that radiated from Zeric’s touch. It was intoxicating. Addictive. She was so ready to fall over the edge—to submerge utterly in exquisite rapture.
A violent ripple of anticipation tore through her and she snared his hair in her fists and yanked his face from her clenching pussy. “How can you do this to me?” she demanded, voice husky and breathless.
Glowing golden eyes stared back at her. “I’ve asked myself that very question since the moment I touched you,” he replied in a low voice. “How can she do this to you? How can she make you so mad with lust, with longing, you forget who you are. What you are.”
Jaienna returned his gaze. “And your answer?”
“I don’t care.”
Heat rolled over her. Heat that had nothing to do with his physical touch, but everything to do with her heart and soul. She closed her eyes and dropped her head back to the mattress, drawing in a deep breath as his lips and teeth and tongue returned to her sodden, creamy pussy.
Delicious tension grew. Her fingers clenched his hair, holding him to her wet heat. And just when she thought she couldn’t take anymore, his mouth left her sex and he drove his magnificent cock deep inside her in one fluid thrust. There was a moment of wonderful pain as he filled her completely and then there was nothing but sheer bliss.
With each powerful stroke he drove her back across the mattress. Grabbing at the sheet, she anchored herself to the bed, almost out of her mind with squirming, twisting pleasure. Pleasure that only peaked higher when Zeric raked his hands down her thighs and pulled her legs up over his shoulders, allowing him deeper, deeper, oh so much deeper entry into her ravenous sex. His rhythm was magical, his rampant cock rubbing against her clit to such perfection her blood began to tingle and her muscles quiver. When he reached between them to stimulate her more with his thumb she let out a hoarse cry.
Over and over again he brought her to the edge, letting her glimpse at sweet, erupting release but never letting her fall. She’d never dreamed it was possible—this endless euphoric state. It left her breathless. Aching from head to toe. Just when she thought she couldn’t take anymore, that she was going to come in a gushing flood, he would pull back, withdraw his cock and cover her body with hundreds of soft, tender kisses that burnt her up and left her gasping. Time ceased to have meaning. Nothing existed anymore except Zeric, his mouth, his tongue, his hands and his unrelenting cock.
He gazed down at her, golden eyes burning with an intensity she could almost feel, as if he fought to control a power beyond them both. “God damn it, Jaienna,” he ground out through gritted teeth. “I can’t hold it back much longer. If I don’t come now…”
Pressure built, continued to build. Waves of undulating tension crashed over her. Through her. The soles of her feet began to tingle. Her nipples became painful. His cock hammered into her, her pussy gripped it. “Oh gods, Zeric! Oh, gods!”
Her orgasm smashed through her, taking her breath with it.
His responding growl was fierce, turning into a cry that sounded like a howl as his strokes grew harder and faster. Wilder.
Jaienna’s nails shredded the sheet, and before the last of his seed spurted, before the force of her climax destroyed her sanity, she slipped into his mind.
Don’t ask me any questions, just let me go—
His hands clenched at her hips, a shudder rocked his body, and another howl escaped his throat.
Let me go? Do I really want to be let go?
No. She didn’t.
When he stretched onto his back, taking her with him without breaking their sweet connection, she knew, irretrievably, that she never wanted the moment to end.
What would be so bad about surrendering to it? To feeling something in her life apart from bloody hate and empty sorrow.
Nothing.Except knowing your sister’s killer escaped unpunished. Alive when she is dead.
Like an icy blade, the tiny thought slipped through the wanton haze that shrouded her mind.
It was enough to jerk her back to cruel reality. She had to focus. She had to remember her training. Until Crortek suffered—immensely—no other life existed for her except that of a killer. Detached. Manipulative. Alone.
She opened her eyes, gazing down at Zeric, waiting for her planted suggestion to take hold. Wanting everything he wordlessly offered. Wanting it all. Knowing it was out of her grasp.
Slicing pain tore at her heart. She blinked, hot tears stinging her eyes. Tears? Tears? How had this happened to her?
“Jaienna?”
Zeric’s voice was soft. She looked at him through a blur of salty grief. This was it; he would tell her to leave. “Jaienna, love? What’s wrong?”
A question? Didn’t she–?
“Tell me what’s making you sad.”
The worry was clear in his voice. It completely destroyed her confusion over the never-before failed plant. Her heart gripped harder instead on the cold pain eating at it and fresh tears threatened to wet her cheeks.
“Don’t ask me questions,” she whispered. “Don’t be nice to me.” Her pussy still held his cock. She could feel his strength and heat inside her, like a charge of life-giving energy. Energy she must deprive herself. “I don’t deserve it.”
Zeric shifted, never letting their bodies separate as he gently lowered her back down onto the bed. “Jaienna,” he touched her face, tracing her lips with his fingertips. “Let me take away your pain.”
It was too much. Her heart broke. She clung to him.
He held her silently, giving her his warmth. Through his arms, his lips. He pressed his lips to her damp cheek, kissing at her tears. “Whatever it is,” he murmured, “I will make it better. I promise.”
She closed her eyes. Take this one moment, Jaienna. You will never have this again. Take this one moment for yourself and then get the hell away from him.
I can’t. Not while Bhel’s killer is still alive.
Opening her eyes again, she met his gaze. “You have no idea who I am.”
“I know,” he said. “But let me show you who I am.” And he reached for the chains hanging behind her back and placed them in her hands.<
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Chapter Six
The manacles were icy on his skin. It was a shock to his flesh, burning and flushed from the feverous desire coursing through his veins. Without lifting his head, he looked at Jaienna.
She knelt before him, naked and nubile. The long silky curtain of her hair fell over her shoulders in a cascade of wild copper waves, hiding the expression on her face. He wished he could see her eyes. He would know what she was thinking, feeling, if he could gaze into their clear green depths. Instead, he had to guess what was going through her head as she locked the manacle around his right wrist.
Jezu, what was he doing?
A cold metal chink told him his left wrist was now also locked in steel, and without moving his gaze from the woman kneeling before him, he gave the chains a gentle tug. It had been a long time since they’d been put to use.
He pulled in a long breath, feeling his blood surge through his body. He shot a quick look at his wrists.
Chained. Contained.
Controlled.
He’d never been more vulnerable. Or scared.
Or excited.
His control of the beast licking through his veins was becoming shakier. More tenuous. But it was still there. Just. His last orgasm had almost been too much. He’d felt the wild animal struggling to break free, to consume him. But Jaienna’s passion had been stronger. As had his own; an emotion he didn’t want to analyze that scorched through him, choking the thick brutal hunger of the beast and forcing it down.
He gave the chains another sharp tug. What might happen next would change his life. He couldn’t let it end Jaienna’s.
Would she stay and make love to him, or would she flee?
Wordlessly, he raised his eyes and found her studying him. Hot blood flooded into his painfully stiff cock. What smoldered in her clear green irises was a passion so forceful, any thought of telling her to leave—to escape with her life now—vanished. He leant forward, the chains rattling as he offered his body to her.
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