by Ashley West
Finally, the Prince smiled at her. "Kain cares for you," he said. "That's interesting."
"Is it?" she asked.
"It is. I used to think the only thing he cared about was me. Or at the very least his duty to his people, which in this case means keeping me safe."
"He cares about that a lot," Silvia assured him, not sure who was reassuring who here.
"Oh, that I know," Comman said. "He's diligent in a way I never expected of any of my guards. I am sure you've heard of how they treat me." He looked away, and she would have thought it was for show, but there was real remorse in those eyes.
"Yes," Silvia said. She was unsure how much Kain was supposed to have told her about Comman and how all that worked, so she just kept it at that.
The Prince nodded. "Well, this trip was supposed to change that. It was supposed to make things better. I think...I think perhaps it will make things worse, instead."
He looked so sad about it that Silvia wanted to comfort him. Or at the very least distract him from whatever was going on in his head. She had a hard enough time dealing with her own feelings of inadequacy when it came to just her. Having to be responsible for the lives and well being of an entire planet, while knowing most of them didn't think you equal to the job... That just seemed like too much. Comman was probably tired, Silvia was willing to bet anything. He just needed something of a break.
And though it wasn't her problem by any stretch of the imagination, it was something she could do. Kain cared about his Prince, and Silvia...well. Apparently she cared enough for Kain to do this.
"You should stop thinking about it," she said.
"Excuse me?"
"Trust me. I've been down this road a million times, Your Highness. Doubting and second guessing myself, my motives, wondering if I'm just going to mess everything up. Nothing good ever comes of it, I can tell you that. Do you know what a self-fulfilling prophecy is?"
Comman shook his head, eyes on her.
"Well, it's like...it's when you spend so much time worrying about something happening that you cause it to happen when it might not have otherwise."
"Ah. You're saying that my worry and guilt are just as likely to make things turn out poorly here."
"Exactly," Silvia said. "There's not much you can do from here, anyway, and you're in good hands. I don't know Litta, but I've heard Kain speak of his devotion to you plenty of times, and I know he's not going to rest until he gets this figured out."
A smile flickered at the corners of the Prince's mouth, and it took some of the stress from his face. "I am, to this day, unsure what it is I did to deserve such loyalty from Kain."
Silvia shrugged a shoulder. "You gave him a chance. Sometimes that's enough. Now. Do you like games?"
Comman looked intrigued. "It would depend on the game," he said. "What did you have in mind?"
Two hours later, Silvia had learned plenty about the Jontirans, Kain, Comman's mother, and the way the Prince's mind worked. It also turned out that though Comman had never heard of either chess or poker, he had played similar games as a child and remembered them now.
And, as Silvia was coming to learn he was with most things, Comman was scarily good at them. Silvia wasn't very good at poker, but she'd been playing chess with doctors and nurses and her parents since she was a kid, so she'd expected to be able to hold her own at the very least. But once she'd shown the Prince how the pieces moved, he'd risen to the challenge beautifully, trouncing her three out of five times.
How anyone could think that this man wasn't brilliant, she didn't understand. Maybe intelligence wasn't as valued as brute strength when it came to Kain's people, but Silvia was willing to bet that Comman's head for strategy came in handy as a prince.
Even better was the fact that when Kain and Litta returned, Comman was smiling. He looked relaxed and much less tense than he had when they'd all arrived at her door, and that made Kain relax visibly to see it.
"How did it go?" he asked, looking between them where they were still seated on the floor on either side of Silvia's coffee table.
"I was going to ask you the same thing," Comman said, twisting his head to look at him. "You had the harder job, after all. I was left in the delightful company of your friend here."
"Oh, stop," Silvia said, grinning. "I'm not that delightful."
"You are," Comman said, and they both laughed.
Kain just looked confused, which made Silvia laugh all the harder. "It went fine," he said. "We got some information, but not much. There's been no more sign of the creatures, but you still need to be careful."
"We all do," Comman said. "Including you, Silvia."
She was unexpectedly touched to be included. "I will."
"Well," Kain said, a frown marring his handsome face. "I guess I'll...let you go back with Litta, Your Highness. If you can tear yourself away."
Comman got to his feet gracefully and smiled at Kain. It was a smile full of respect and admiration, and Silvia wondered if Kain knew just how much his Prince appreciated him. "Never worry, Kain," Comman said. "The lovely Silvia only has eyes for you."
Silvia blushed and stayed where she was sitting. That was uncalled for. "It was nice to have you, Comman," she said. "Come back any time."
"Thank you," he said, bowing at the waist to her before allowing the perpetually silent Litta to lead him from the apartment.
When it was just Kain and Silvia left, she leaned back on her hands and looked up at him. "Are you jealous?"
He shook himself and made a face. "No. I don't...I do not get jealous."
Ah, if only she had a nickel for every man who had said that to her before. "I see," she said. "So you're not even a little bit concerned about what the Prince and I got up to?"
"It was nothing unseemly," Kain said.
"How do you know?"
"Are you trying to make me crazy?"
She laughed, head tipped back. "Maybe just a little. It's just nice to know you care that much, I guess."
"Did Bobby get jealous?"
It amused her how he always pronounced Bobby's name like it didn't taste very good in his mouth. "No. Or at least he always said he didn't. He didn't think he had anything to be jealous of."
"And did he?"
She smiled slowly. "Well, I ended up with you, didn't I?" Honestly, she wasn't even sure what she meant by that. Kain was...probably the definition of a fling. It wasn't as if they could ever be a permanent thing, not with him being from another planet and how intensely devoted he was to his Prince. He'd never be torn away from that.
And Silvia...well, her ties felt less strong these days. She didn't see her parents as often as they'd like, and with Bobby off licking his wounds and avoiding her, she really didn't have that many people. But that was fine. She was still young, still finding herself.
"You're thinking sad things," Kain said, and when she looked up at him again, he was closer now.
"Not really, just...true things."
"They can be one in the same," he assured her.
"I guess you're right."
"I am." He held a large hand out for her to take, and she wrapped her fingers around it, letting him pull her to her feet and then closer so she was pressed against his chest. "Yes," he said, and she could feel the rumble of his deep voice. "I am jealous."
She smiled. "Don't be. Nothing happened. We played games and he told me about things. I told you, I don't swoon for every alien who flexes at me."
"Did the Prince flex?"
"His brain, maybe."
"He does that."
"I'm not surprised. But do you know what I really want?" Silvia asked.
"What?"
"I want to stop talking about Prince Comman and Bobby. You owe me something."
The smile Kain gave her was pure sin, slow and curling, promising wickedness that she was very much interested in. "I do, don't I? Did you know that I always pay my debts?"
"I didn't, but I'm glad to hear it."
She barely got the sent
ence out before she was being thoroughly kissed. Kain pressed his mouth to hers like a claiming, rough and hot like he was branding himself on her. All she could do was clutch the front of his shirt and kiss back, trying to leave as much of herself on him as she could.
It grew frantic and heated, the passion between them burning seemingly effortlessly. Neither of them seemed inclined to stop the kiss to breathe, so there were ragged pants and harsh gasps against lips, teeth nipping and nibbling, tongues sliding and licking.
Silvia heard herself moan for him, low and urgent, and shivered at Kain's answering growl.
He wanted her. That much was obvious. She could feel the hard bulge in his pants, and she let one of her hands slide down and press against it, drawing a low groan from Kain.
She'd seen his cock before, of course, when he'd been taking her over her kitchen table, but this time she wanted to do more than see it. She wanted to explore it, feel it, worship it as the gift to those who loved cock that it was.
"I want..." she murmured into the kiss, pressing her hand harder.
"Tell me," Kain said roughly. "What do you want?"
"I want you in my mouth. I want to see how much of you I can get my lips around. I want to find out how you taste."
He groaned again, and this time there was something dangerous in it that sparked the heat rushing through Silvia double time. God, he was hot. And so big. It was unfair for someone to be that combination of hot and large and perfect, and she didn't understand what he wanted with her, but there was that old saying about gift horses and mouths, and she wanted to do something else with her mouth all together.
She went to her knees in front of him, and Kain swore.
"You're serious."
"Why wouldn't I be?"
“Some women I've been with on my planet and others don't like it.”
Silvia shrugged a shoulder. “Some women on this planet don't like it. I just don't happen to be one of them. And you owe me, so I should get what I want, don't you think?”
Kain's eyes were hooded as he looked down at her, and she could see his throat move as he swallowed hard. “That was the deal,” he said. “Although, this seems a lot more about what I want.”
“Men,” Silvia scoffed. “Why do you think that you're the only ones who can enjoy a blow job?”
“I don’t know,” Kain said.
She smirked. “Let me handle this, okay? And trust me, I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t want to.”
Kain nodded, and Silvia got to work, fingers undoing the laces of his pants and then pushing them down enough that she could free his cock from its confines. It was just as thick and hard as she remembered, though it curved upwards slightly in a way that she hadn’t noticed before. It was flushed red and was rock hard under the velvety smooth skin that covered the shaft.
It was long and thick and had weight in her hand, and when she stroked him, Kain groaned low in his throat and closed his eyes. She smirked and then leaned forward to press a kiss to the head of his cock.
His eyes flew open again, and he let out a strangled moan that made her laugh softly and follow the kiss with a kittenish lick, teasing with her eyes as she lapped at him.
“Silvia,” he moaned, fingers finding their way into her hair. “Don’t tease.”
“Is that an order?” she asked, arching an imperious eyebrow.
“If I say yes will you obey?”
“Probably not,” she teased, and then circled his head with her tongue in one slow stroke.
“You’re going to kill me,” Kain whined.
“Big strong man like you?” Silvia said. “Nonsense. You can take it.”
But she was getting tired of teasing. Her mouth was practically watering as she licked him, and she was getting wet between her legs as well. It was nothing like being on her knees for Bobby, and she put him out of her mind as quickly as he’d come into it. This was definitely not about Bobby.
Instead, she focused on Kain. On taking him into her mouth—just the head at first, bobbing her head as she sucked at it, gaining momentum and working her mouth open wider so she could take in more and more of him.
Kain seemed to be enjoying it if his tightening fingers and lightly thrusting hips were anything to go by. He was holding himself back, probably so as not to hurt her, which she appreciated considering the size of him. He would have choked her easily, but instead he let her lead, and she got to explore all she wanted.
She wondered if he’d finish like that, but he swore again and then pulled out of her mouth, leaving her panting slightly, a trail connecting her mouth and his cock. He groaned at the sight.
“You’re too good,” he said.
Silvia’s lips curled in a smile. “Then why are you stopping me?”
“Because this isn’t how I want to come.”
“How do you want to come, then?”
“Buried inside of you with you on top of me.”
She swallowed hard because actually that sounded pretty good to her. Kain helped her to her feet, and they went to her bedroom.
As a contrast from their hurried motions from before, this time they undressed each other slowly, taking their time to get each other naked, hands roaming. Kain gripped her bottom and hauled her against him, one strong arm keeping her close while her toes barely touched the ground. His mouth roamed, too, finding the little sensitive patches on her neck and behind her ears with his lips and tongue and teeth, and she was a gasping mess by the time he set her back on her feet.
His nostrils flared, like he could smell her arousal, and she shivered, cheeks flushed, watching as he moved to lie back on her bed and then beckoned for her to join him.
She did so, climbing over his lap to straddle him, incredibly turned on by having that much muscle and power between her legs. He could snap her like a twig if he wanted to, but she knew he’d never hurt her.
His cock was still hard, leaking slightly by now, and she rubbed herself against it, humming at the feeling of that hard flesh against her softest places.
Silvia rose up enough that she would brace Kain’s cock with her hand while she sank down onto it slowly. She was wet enough that it didn’t take much effort to have him slipping inside, but he was still big enough that it was slow going, every inch stretching her open wider and making her whimper softly with how good it felt.
He was so big, and she was so full, and it was so good.
Kain’s eyes were unfocused and dark, and she could tell that he felt the same way. He held her hips tight enough that she knew there would be finger shaped marks there later, and when she moved her body in a sinuous wave, he shuddered under her.
Their eyes met and held, and Silvia rode him slowly while he met her in the middle.
It was more intimate than she was expecting, so deep and so close, and when she came sometime later, it was with his name on her lips and warmth in her chest.
Chapter Nine: Of a Morning
Kain awoke somewhere unfamiliar and immediately went into tactics mode. He went still and opened one eye slowly, letting it look around to see if he could judge where he was. It wasn't the ship and it wasn't the hotel room he shared with Comman, and it was—
His thoughts were broken by the shifting of the body next to him, and he smiled slowly and called himself several different kinds of idiot.
He was still in Silvia's bed. He'd fallen asleep with her against him, a warm and welcome weight, and now he was waking up with her.
It was strange that he didn't have many experiences like this. Sometimes he let women stay over at his place, but usually Kain preferred to sleep alone. It was safer that way, in general. But here he was in Silvia's too small bed, her warmth all along his right side, her breath fanning against his bare skin.
It was nice to just lay there and experience it, too. To be completely relaxed and comfortable (now that he'd recovered from thinking he had been kidnapped or something), and he let out a breath and pulled Silvia closer, smiling when she mumbled incoherently against him,
still asleep.
She was so lovely like this. Well, she was always lovely, but like this it was different. It was somewhere between her usual state and the vulnerability she'd shown the last time he was here. She looked relaxed in sleep, face untroubled, lips slightly parted, and Kain wanted to, so he leaned down and pressed his mouth to hers.
It was easy, uncomplicated like this. Here in her bed, they were just people who were very attracted to each other, not a human and an alien trying to cobble something together while ignoring everything else.
Her body was soft and small compared to his, from her chest to her flared hips, but they still fit together well enough that Kain didn't want to move. He knew he had things he needed to be doing. There was a traitor to find and a plot to dismantle and allies to win. Comman was depending on him to be able to help, and Kain didn't want to let him down. But having this time to himself, to think and feel and just be was nice, too.
Of course that meant it was also short lived. No sooner had he started thinking about either going back to sleep or waking Silvia to see if she'd want to go another round with him before he had to leave, than his tablet started trilling the chime for an incoming call from the pocket of the pants he'd left on Silvia's bedroom floor.
He groaned, but scrambled out of bed quickly to retrieve it, pressing his finger to the sensor to answer the call.
Comman's face appeared on the screen, and Kain instantly knew something was wrong. The Prince's eyes and mouth were tight, and he looked harassed.
"I need you," he said before Kain could get a word out, and he knew that it had to be something serious.
"Where?"
"The meeting hall."
"I'll be there," Kain promised, and they disconnected.
Just like that, the calm peace he'd been feeling dissolved, and it was all frantic energy under his skin. Something was happening, and judging by the look on Comman's face it wasn't anything good.
He pulled on his pants and hunted for his shirt.
"Trouble?"
Hills, he'd nearly forgotten about Silvia that quick. He turned his head to see her sitting up in bed, the covers pooled around her waist. The rest of her was on display, her hair a tousled mess, and her breasts full and inviting.