by Mina Carter
Jane closed her eyes as memory hit. It returned hard and fast, slamming into her like a barrage of hollow point bullets. Cat. Earth. Fuller… Oh shit.
Her eyes snapped open. That asshole Fuller demanded information from her or he was arming the nukes. There was still so much they didn’t understand about the Lathar, but she couldn’t imagine that would be good. Just like she couldn’t imagine they wouldn’t know. Their technology was so much more advanced than humanity’s, there was no way they would miss a little thing like nukes being armed. No way in hell. She dreaded to think what their likely reaction would be.
More memories crowded in, one after the other until she thought her head would explode. The attack on the base, her trying to hold the central section, the big warrior and his men who’d attacked them. Her gasp echoed the sliding of the door as it closed, and slowly she turned to look at the man standing framed in front of it.
Karryl K’Vass. One of the aliens who had captured the base, kidnapped her and the rest of the women aboard. The alien warrior who’d been trying to claim her as his mate since. The sexy alien she hadn’t been able to get out of her mind from the moment she’d seen him. The man she’d almost given herself to on the outpost, ready to agree to whatever he wanted just so he’d carry on kissing her. The man she’d trusted on the planet, when she couldn’t remember anything.
He’d told her they were married…
“You fucking asshole.” Rage burned within her as she rose slowly to her feet, body tight, ready to attack. She didn’t give a damn about the beauty of the room anymore, or the fact her home planet might have made a decision that would get it blown out of space. Her attention was solely focused on the man in front of her. “You fucking lied to me. Why?”
He stepped forward, hands out in the universal gesture of surrender. “Jane, please…”
“Don’t you fucking please me, you—”
“Yeah, lying asshole, I get it. You’re mad at me.”
For a scary as hell alien warrior, Karryl did a damn good impression of a penitent man. The trouble was, she wasn’t impressed, and right at that moment, didn’t believe a word that came out of the man’s mouth. Her brain chose that moment to remind her just how talented he was with his mouth, and his lips…and his tongue. Heat simmered through her, a shiver washing over her skin as he stalked closer.
He must have caught the little movement because his expression changed between one heartbeat and the next. She wanted to hit him and kiss him at the same time. What the fuck was wrong with her?
“Mad?” She barked out a laugh. “You lie to me, use memory loss to get me into your bed…what do you fucking think?”
He stopped within a step of her. She refused to back down, her head tilted to glare up at him. Awareness shot through her, holding her as the tension built between them. His expression was hard, features drawn tightly as he looked down at her. Her pussy clenched, liquid heat slipping from her to dampen her panties.
His nostrils flared and her cheeks burned. Shit, could he smell her excitement? She hoped not. Sure, his hard-edged warrior thing might make her hot, but he was still a fucking asshole and she didn’t want to jump his bones. Not really. Well, maybe a little…but sex wouldn’t solve the issues between them.
“What do I think?” He moved without warning, hard hand wrapping around the back of her neck. She gasped at the contact, the sound cut off when he hauled her up against him. “I think you needed an excuse to admit you wanted me.”
“What!? Of all the egotistical, misogynistic fucking twaddle!”
Fury overwhelmed her arousal. Winding her arm back, she punched him in the shoulder. Hard. The blow rocked him on his feet for a moment, but he held fast. Lips compressing, he grabbed for her wrist and they wrestled for a moment. It didn’t last long, his strength far superior to hers. Within seconds, he captured her hand, twisting it up her back. Not hard enough to hurt but enough to immobilize.
“Last night you came to me, little human. Begged me to take you…”
Shit. She had. Her cheeks went from warm to supernova in a nano-second. “Because you lied, remember?”
She hit him with her free hand, the blow glancing off his other shoulder. A warning. She couldn’t get enough room for a proper blow to the face. At least that’s what she told herself. “Let me go, asshole.”
He increased pressure on her pinned wrist, making her gasp. His lips hovered tantalizingly above hers, mere millimeters away. “I will, on one condition.”
She paused as everything within her went still. What game was he playing now? “What?”
“Prove you don’t want me. Kiss me.”
Chapter Ten
Jane snarled, fighting Karryl’s hold, but it was no good. He held her easily, absorbing her struggles with his larger body. His larger, very hard, very…aroused body. The thick bar of his cock pressed into her stomach, making her knees weak and her resolve waver.
Oh, screw him. He wanted a kiss, so she’d give him a damn kiss. Then she’d walk away, feathers totally unruffled and show him just who had control of this situation.
Rising on her toes as much as his grip would allow, she pressed her lips to his and kissed him hard, taking no prisoners. There, she could do this… She could so do this. Who did he think he was messing with? Some wet-behind-the-ears young girl with a crush? Hell no, she was a battle-hardened marine, a mature woman who knew exactly what she wanted, when she wanted it, and how she wanted it.
Then his lips softened under hers and she felt the world tilt on its access. With a groan, she couldn’t resist the urge to feather the tip of her tongue over that parting. Then within. As soon as her tongue tangled with his, she was lost. A bolt of white-hot desire raced through her, making her body sing as she crowded closer. She needed to touch him. Feel his body against hers again. His skin sliding over hers as he drove deep within...
“Bastard,” she broke the kiss to pant.
Her free hand drove into his hair to pull him down for another almost punishingly hard kiss. This time, when they came up for air, their breathing was ragged and the fire in her blood demanded more. Screw it, they’d already done it so what was one more time. Just one. Then she’d tell him it was over. For good. Done and dusted. But just one more time wouldn’t hurt, right?
“How about we get naked and you show me a good time, soldier?”
He pulled back a little, his expression quizzical, but the heat in his eyes and the surge of his hips against hers left no doubt as to how he felt. “I’m a warrior, not a soldier.”
She shrugged. “Tomatoes, tomartoes. You want to argue semantics or do you want to screw?”
His eyes flashed and he grabbed her knee, hauling her leg up to press the hard cock still constrained by his pants against her pussy. “What do you think, little human?”
His lips crashed down over hers, tongue thrusting within as he rocked against her. The pressure right where she needed it and the darkly sensual invasion left her lightheaded. By the time he lifted his head, she’d forgotten where she was and whimpered in need at the loss of his touch. “Like that? You think you can take on this warrior?”
Oh god, yes. All night, for a week. She’d never felt so horny, like she hadn’t had sex for years, never mind only last night. Sliding her hands down his body, she gave him a sultry look from under her lashes. “I’ll eat you for breakfast, handsome. Bring it on.”
His lips quirked, dark amusement flashing in his eyes for a moment before swallowed by heat. Without speaking, he lifted her, strong hands on the backs of her thighs. Her legs automatically wrapped around his waist as he walked her backward.
This time when he kissed her, he took charge. He didn’t just kiss, he stormed in and claimed ownership, branding her with his touch. Her back hit the wall, her little gasp lost as he made love to her with his mouth, demanding her response. Every wicked thought and erotic need was written in the touch of his lips on hers, sweeping away all her resistance.
He dropped her legs abruptly. Th
ere was nothing gentle about him as he placed a hand in the center of her stomach to hold her in place as he tore at the fastenings on her pants.
“Off,” he growled in warning. “Now. Or I’ll rip them off.”
Aching with need, she shoved her pants over her hips and dropped them to the floor. He unfastened his leather bindings to free himself, barely giving her time to pull off her boots before he crowded her against the wall. A hard grip behind her knee pulled her leg up his hip again.
She lost her balance, clutching at his shoulders for support. The broad head of his cock pressed against the entrance to her body and she moaned. Her pussy clenched, clit aching as she bathed him in a rush of liquid heat that dragged a deep groan from his throat.
“Draanth, you’re already wet for me.” He pushed in as he spoke, driving the steel-like thickness of his cock deep into her needy pussy. “You like this, little human, admit it.”
She couldn’t speak, her hands spread wide on his chest. Held off balance, with his cock pulsing deeply inside her; she was completely at his mercy. And he knew it. His lips quirked into a dark smile. “You might hate me, but you like my cock buried in your cunt, don’t you?”
She couldn’t answer, all her cognitive processes taken up by processing the sensations coursing through her body. He pulled out and thrust in again. Hard. Fast. Ruthless. There was no softness in the way he took her, fucking her like he hated her. Like she hated him. Raw power bent to one purpose. Pleasure or punishment, she wasn’t sure which.
They moved together, straining against each other. The sounds of sex filled the room; the slap of skin on skin, wet sounds as her body clenched around his invading cock… She bit her lip, trying to keep silent, but he saw.
“No. I want to hear,” he ordered on a hard thrust, pausing with his cock balls deeply inside her. “Those moans belong to me, and I’ll fuck them out of you if I have to.”
At the end of the thrust, he rocked, trapping her clit between them. Pleasure exploded through her and she whimpered. He did it again, then again, until she was panting with need, shaking with holding the sounds of her pleasure within. A battle of wills she was determined to win.
He moved to kiss her but she turned her head. She couldn’t, not with him buried inside. The way he kissed, if he got his tongue inside her as well, she’d lose focus. Lose the battle. His lips landed on her neck and she realized her mistake. With a soft sound of pleasure, he nuzzled the soft spot beneath her ear. The one that made her weak and prepared to do anything he wanted.
“Bastard,” she gasped, losing the battle against herself, temptation, and him.
“Always, just for you, and you like it, don’t you?” He nipped her earlobe and she groaned, turning toward him.
Their kiss was open-mouthed and hot. Each slide of his tongue was accompanied by a hard jerk of his hips, a two-punch combination cracked her defenses. A small moan escaped, quickly stifled.
“No. More,” he ordered his voice a dark temptation. “Surrender. Give yourself to me, you know you want to.”
She whimpered as he pinned her hands above her head with one of his. Stretched her out as he used his body to pleasure her. Her defenses against him, already broken, started to crumble and fall. He surged forward, upward. His arm was hard around the back of her waist as he held them away from the wall. He thrust his tongue deeply. Made sweet love to her mouth even as he ravaged her body.
Her sigh of surrender was lost, but she knew he heard it. A growl of triumph rolled from deep in his chest and he renewed his efforts. With each slide of his cock within her, pleasure grew and coiled on itself until she didn’t know which way was up. Giving herself over to him, she became a creature of reaction. Rode his cock as he impaled her over and over and until…
Time paused. The moment between one second and the next stretching out until it seemed infinite. Pleasure and anticipation coursed through her as she gazed into the face of the abyss and saw ecstasy staring back.
He thrust and the moment broke. Pleasure exploded through her with the force of a nuclear blast. She screamed. Something. His name. She didn’t know. All she knew was she never wanted the feeling to stop.
He increased speed, hips slamming into hers as he chased his own release. Rough. Powerful. But she didn’t care. Each movement stroked nerve endings she didn’t know existed and spiraled her pleasure out of control.
Finally, he stiffened, throwing his head back and the cords standing out in his neck as he reached release. His groan of pleasure was music to her ears and she wrapped her now free arms around his shoulders, stroking the back of his neck as they both came down from the heights of pleasure.
He was a damn liar, but hell did he fuck like a god. Perhaps this thing would work after all…
***
“Remember, keep the hood up and make sure the robe stays closed.”
Karryl’s voice was firm as he fussed about her, pulling the silver-gray robe this way and that until he was satisfied no part of her could be seen. He was the most worried she’d ever seen him, the raw and primal lover giving way to the professional soldier…warrior, whatever he wanted to call himself.
“Honestly, I can handle this.” She took a step back and rolled her shoulders, easing the stiffness across the base of her neck. An old injury from the colony wars, it flared up from time to time but wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle.
Her words didn’t seem to reassure Karryl, the big warrior checking his weaponry again. He was less armed than when they’d arrived, two of his knives and a pulse blaster now concealed under Jane’s voluminous robes.
“Draanth!” He ran a shaking hand through his hair, his agitation clear to see. “These males…they’re not honorable. I don’t like this at all.”
“Worry wart,” she teased him with a small smile. Then her expression dropped serious as she looked directly at him. “Karryl, I survived a decade in one of the most vicious wars my kind has ever known. This isn’t my first rodeo, and it won’t be my last.”
He paused, eyes narrowed and then shook his head at her words. “Half the time I have no clue what you’re talking about.”
She chuckled. “Rodeo? It’s a terran thing with horses. What I mean is this is not the first time I’ve walked into a dangerous situation with no backup. You know what humans say about the female of the species?”
His eyebrow raised a fraction. “No. What?”
She winked and pulled up the hood as the door chimes announced their escort. “We’re more deadly than the male.”
There was no more time for talking. Karryl strode to the door and opened it to reveal Zaanar and two other warriors waiting on the other side. She paused a moment as she looked at the F’Naar warrior. She had the strangest feeling that she’d seen him somewhere before.
“Lord Ishaan awaits the pleasure of your company,” he announced with a bow and she couldn’t shake a nagging sense of familiarity. It wasn’t so much the way he looked, but something about the way he moved that struck a chord within her.
Odd. She shook off the feeling to move silently to Karryl’s side. Her combat boots were well worn and she’d long since developed the ability to walk quietly when needed—¬an essential survival skill for any soldier whatever the species.
“Thank you,” Kaaryl turned and extended his arm to her. “Come along, my love.”
She reached out to take his arm, sliding her hand onto the leather in a gentle touch. Zaanar’s gaze flicked to her and for a moment she saw a flicker of curiosity. That was to be expected. Most of these men hadn’t seen a female of their own species since childhood, and by now, the rumors had to have circulated that humanity was a smaller version of the Lathar. She was going to feel like a goldfish all night.
They were led in silence through the corridors of the ship. From within the all-concealing hood, Jane missed nothing. Mentally, she noted the layout of the vessel. It was a lot smaller than the K’Vass flagship, or even the T’Laat battle-cruiser. Perhaps an indication of the F’Naar war
clan standing in the Latharian hierarchy.
Fortunately for humanity, the K’Vass were about as large and powerful as Lathar clans got. They also had royal links up the wazoo and a sense of honor that appeared to be absent in some of the others. She dreaded to think what would have happened had the T’Laat discovered them first. It wouldn’t have been pleasant.
They passed several corridor intersections. She studied and noted each. One seemed to lead to personal quarters, the second to what looked like engineering sections, but it was the third that interested Jane the most. She recognized a discolored patch of metal on one of the bulkheads that she’d marked on the way in. That way led to the shuttle bay, and there was a weapons locker nearby. Nice to know.
“Lord Ishaan is looking forward to hearing about Earth, Lady Jane,” Zaanar commented, motioning them ahead of him as they neared the end of the corridor. The double doors in front of them slid open at their approach. “He’s been intrigued about your planet since we heard of your discovery.”
She bet he was. He and every other horny warrior out there. Her lips compressed under the hood. They heard about a new planet and all they thought about was the possibility of getting their rocks off.
“Come in, come in. Welcome!” Ishaan rose as they entered the room, his leathers replaced by a loose silk suit that reminded her of old style martial arts uniforms in the dojos she’d hung around as a teenager. His dark hair was cropped short and his odd colored eyes, a muddy orange and green, glowed with anticipation. “Sit, please…”
“Thank you,” Karryl murmured, seating her at the large circular table in the center of the room. It was loaded with covered dishes and platters of food. Most of them she recognized from the court. Looked like someone was out to impress. “Quite the spread, F’Naar hospitality is indeed as generous as the stories say.”