by Marie Harte
“You’re so beautiful.” She reached out to touch him.
“Not half as beautiful as you are,” he said softly, aware he spoke the truth. He couldn’t believe how responsive she’d been. He’d only needed to use his abilities to make her remove his restraints and lower her resistance. But after the first few caresses, he’d been unable to focus on anything more than their mutual attraction.
He could still taste her, that spicy scent that belonged to Mara. He sighed and leaned closer as she ran her hands over his body. He’d been so close to orgasm when she’d run her hand over his bare cock. The hesitancy in the way she’d handled him turned him on more than he’d thought possible. Such innocence in the strong woman who commanded men with ease.
He stared down at her, watching her caress his thickening flesh. Her eyes deepened from a light amber to deep black, and her need seared him. He could smell it on her. She was wet and waiting, needing the fulfilment that only he could give.
When she gripped him in her hand and pumped him, he encouraged her. “That’s it. Like this.” He showed her how to touch him, knowing he needed to climax. Later, when he entered her for the first time, he needed to be in complete control. He needed to breach her carefully, not ram inside her like a madman going out of his mind with lust.
Though his kind could control the female of many species, it was not in their nature to harm. A Thesha could in no way injure another with his gift, not without severe repercussions.
“Why have you stayed a virgin for so long, Mara?” he asked huskily as she stroked him. Her nipples pebbled and he wanted to bite them, to suckle until she cried out and came from the pleasure. A nice enough fantasy he intended to play out—just as soon as he came.
“How do you know that I am?” Her eyes remained intent on his cock.
She stroked his shaft with one hand and cupped his sac with the other. She touched his velvet soft skin with such incredible finesse that he felt a sweat break out over his body.
“You’re so sweet, untried and hungry for what only I can give you.” He gasped and pressed into her hands as she increased the friction over his glans. “Mara, give me what I need.” He shuddered under her touch.
“You’re so hard, but so soft as well.” Her fingers again grazed his sac, which drew tight to his body, signalling his impending climax.
She tightened her hold on him, and he thrust harder, faster. He grasped her shoulders for strength when he neared his end.
“Mara, honey, I’m going to come,” he warned, his climax upon him.
“Would you like it better if I kissed you there, the way you did me?” she asked, sounding delighted at the thought.
Too much, she’s too much. “Mara,” he groaned and came, his seed washing over her slender fingers and shooting onto her chest. As if marking her. He came so hard his knees buckled. Only his hold on Mara kept him upright.
He hadn’t realised he’d closed his eyes until he had to open them to see her. She grinned up at him, and it was a moment before he could speak. Never before had a woman brought him to such a state. Colours and sounds intensified, and he could actually see Mara’s aura merging with his own. She had tapped into his desires and fed them back to him two-fold. An unheard of effect on a Thesha.
He eyed her with a mixture of awe and wariness as he stumbled down next to her on the bed. Focused on cleaning them, she didn’t see his expression. She used a shirt to wipe away his stickiness and tossed it aside. Then she rejoined him.
“So that’s why my crew is so eager to find sexual pleasure.” Mara tapped her chin as awareness dawned. She looked both innocent and erotic, willingly appearing as both woman and captain for the first time since he’d met her.
Lurin smiled. His wariness disappeared under a huge wave of contentment. Stars, he hadn’t felt this good in ages. How had this untried woman bested a Thesha? Untried woman.
Thoughts of claiming her stirred Lurin’s cock to life once more.
His kind recovered from sex immediately. But even this desire struck him as far from normal. He could only hope that Mara’s innocence would render his quick recovery something she attributed to all men.
Lurin turned on his side and let her see the desire he still had for her. “Mara, you know I would never hurt you, don’t you?”
She frowned. “I know. I don’t know why I let you free, but I trust you.”
“Good,” he murmured and leaned over her. “Because now it’s time to give me the rest. I’m going to give you such pleasure as you’ve never known,” he promised, gratified by the answering heat in her eyes. He wondered again how this woman could equally match his fervour but lost the thought when her thigh brushed his erection.
He wanted to kiss her in every way possible, making love with her mouth. He had so many delicious things to teach her. He sucked at her tongue, mimicking the actions he would use when he thrust his cock into her heat.
“You’ve got the sexiest curves.” He sighed and began to kiss his way down her body. He stopped at her breasts and rested his head on her chest. “Your breasts are full and heavy.” He closed his mouth over one taut peak, sucking greedily at her nipple as he laved it with his tongue.
Mara arched into him, and Lurin felt the urge to mount her then and there and thrust deep. He held onto his control and pleasured her breasts until she couldn’t lay still. She spread her thighs wide and grabbed his hand, shoving it between her folds. He smiled around her nipple, more than aware of her readiness.
“Do you want me, Mara?”
“Please.” She pulled his head up and kissed him desperately, her body moving against his, brushing his cock and making it nearly impossible to take his time.
“Please what?” he gasped. “Tell me what you want and I’ll give it to you, sweet.”
“I want you inside me.” She whimpered when he rested the tip of his cock against her wet clit, sliding slowly but never giving her too much.
The contact made him crazy to have her. “How much do you want?” he panted, pushing harder against her swollen nub.
“All of you. Lurin, please,” she begged. “Take me now. I need you deep inside me. I want to feel you come, spurting your seed deep within me,” she moaned, grasping for his hips.
Unable to keep still, he thrust between her legs, rubbing against, but not penetrating, her slick skin. Mara’s words compounded his desire, and he fought for control. “It won’t hurt, Mara, I promise you.” He couldn’t wait a moment longer.
With a Thesha’s skill, he parted her folds and thrust deep, piercing the thin barrier of her virginity without harming her in the slightest. He stilled soon after, giving her a chance to accustom herself to his girth. But Mara would have none of it.
“More, Lurin. I need you to move.” She pumped her hips, gasping when her clitoris met the plane of his pelvis.
Lurin moved in slow, long thrusts that took her right to the edge. The slick, hot grasp her body had on his brought him to new heights of pleasure. Every press, every slide of his body deeper into hers brought him to another state of awareness, and he felt everything around him concentrating on her.
“Mara,” he rasped as he pumped into her, unable to stop his building tempo. “This is just the beginning,” he promised, knowing that his destiny had to be tied to this sexually gifted woman.
She gasped and cried out, tightening around him. Her contractions stimulated him into orgasm, and he followed her into the abyss, lost in her warmth. He continued to thrust, her body milking him of every drop of his orgasm.
When he’d given her everything, he took longer than normal to recover, as if he’d run for days. He withdrew from her body and kissed her, satisfied beyond measure when she kissed him back. Lust shifted into something more, something deeper.
She’s changed me.
Panic swelled within him, clouding the contentment he’d been given.
Lurin had been with many women in his lifetime. But none had ever given him more satisfaction than he’d given them. His kind
’s lure extended to sexual pleasure, where a Thesha could bring any woman to orgasm, again and again, without pause. But as he lay here with Mara, Lurin felt different. He felt tired, but more than that, he felt complete.
And it scared him to death.
Trust did not come easily to his kind. Should word of his existence come out, he would be a hunted man for the rest of his existence. Unable to fully share himself with a woman, he settled for pleasures of the flesh, fulfilling surface desires while hiding his loneliness.
After one coupling with Mara, he wanted to unburden himself and tell the truth about who he was, to truly belong with another. Which made no sense. A short time ago, he’d been imprisoned in her custody. Did he really think she’d accept the truth about him, when her first concern was turning him in for a fee? Hell, for that matter, he knew little more about Mara Seni than her name and position as captain aboard Mara’s Light.
Mara murmured something he couldn’t make out. She tightened her hold on him and fell asleep in his arms.
Knowing the situation would only be temporary, Lurin couldn’t help hugging her close, nor could he stop himself from kissing the top of her head with tenderness and possession. He couldn’t explain how she’d done it, but Mara held some sway over his heart. He needed distance to figure out his odd attraction—as well as distance to escape this untenable situation with the nobless on Jaron.
The feel of Mara in his arms dissuaded any notion of escape. Despite his unease, he resolved to push the worries of tomorrow aside. The situation with his captivity would keep, as would the puzzle of Mara Seni.
For now, he would be smart to take advantage of this rare pleasure. He figured he still had some time before the rest of her crew returned, and he planned on using it to further educate Mara in the art of sexuality. But for now, he would watch her sleep and accept the threads of affection growing and wrapping around her. Another dream, another fantasy, but he’d earned a respite from the hard lessons of living. He hugged her closer with no immediate plans to let go.
“Are we ready to board, Captain?”
“Yes, my lady,” Captain Gren answered with a bow. Lady Sara ignored the mercenary’s odd stare, as well as the lust-filled gazes of the crew she’d recently commandeered.
Soon I’ll have my own Thesha, and I’m not sharing with Mother. Not this time. She scowled, enraged all over again at the thought of her meddlesome mother. Sara might right now already be enjoying Lurin Vez had her mother not interfered. Damn the bitch!
Sara knew what to look for. It was she who had first spied the telltale birthmark on Lurin’s bare body glistening in the guest bath. Not content to rely on what could have been an odd birthmark or body ink, Sara paid keen attention to his effect on the females in her household. Every female relative, guest and servant had reacted predictably—throwing themselves at the man.
But what a man. She sighed with pleasure, recalling how finely built, how deliciously hard Lurin had been. Oh, he pretended disgust under her touch, probably trying to honour Denal’s memory. But she knew he’d secretly loved her hands and mouth over his cock. If only her mother hadn’t interrupted her play.
As she pondered her mother’s duplicity in the matter, Sara suddenly understood Lurin’s feigned rejection. Of course, now it made sense. Lurin had undoubtedly been disgusted with her mother, not with Sara, the more attractive and younger of the two.
Smiling, she glanced up to see the captain engaged in conversation with one of the men she’d drafted for this mission. As far as her mother knew, Sara needed an entire contingent of warriors to see her safely to a neighbouring planet to foster good relations.
“Good relations indeed.” Sara wanted to purr with anticipation.
Captain Gren returned to her side and regarded her with that dismissive green-eyed stare that irritated her to no end. “My lady?”
She would have given a quarter of her inheritance to fuck the deliciously wicked captain, while he looked at her as if she was no better than one of the common whores littering the docks of the royal city.
“I wasn’t speaking to you, Captain.” She glared at him, and he turned away with a shrug to an approaching group of warriors.
If she hadn’t been so determined to keep this mission a secret from her mother, she would have kept Captain Feord to lead the men. But Feord was nothing more than her mother’s bootlicking lackey.
It had taken no more than a few hours of mundane sex to assure Captain Feord that he was better off taking his liberty on one of Jaron’s moons than in his ship. Having then convinced him that Gren had the full support of her mother only made Feord’s vacation that much sweeter.
Sara eyed Gren as he finished preparing the boarding party. He made a striking figure. Tall and dark, his piercing eyes seemed to stare through her, simultaneously aggravating her and making her wet. Much as she longed to take a whip to his arrogant back, she couldn’t help speculating on his sexual prowess.
Her gaze travelled down his billowy shirt to the form-hugging trousers he wore as he walked towards her. Her mouth watered as she noted the long, thick bulge that lay between his thighs. Gren possessed an enormously large cock.
“No.”
The harsh word brought her gaze to his face.
“Pardon me?” she asked icily.
“No. My job is to assist you in the capture of a missing prisoner. Nothing more.”
The arrogant ass. “I don’t believe I asked you for anything else.”
“In some things, words aren’t necessary.” He curled his lip in disgust and left the corridor with his men behind him.
“Bastard.” Sara seethed, the only thing keeping her from imprisoning and torturing the contemptuous captain was the fact that no one had overheard his disrespect. If she didn’t need Gren’s expertise so much… But no matter. Soon enough the job would be over, and then Gren would pay, and pay dearly.
Just the thought of torturing the brute made her clit hard, and she rubbed herself with excitement. Striding from the hallway, she grabbed the first warrior in her path.
“Inform Captain Gren that we stand by until I give the order.”
He nodded and left in search of Gren. Sara walked farther down the hall and found what she was looking for. Two burly warriors stood together in the hallway conferring over the mission.
“You two, come with me.”
She liked the way they looked at her. Unlike Gren, these warriors stared at her with lust and approval. Predictable men, they were easy pickings. She entered her room with them close on her heels. Once inside, she closed the door behind them. With a grace and speed that clearly showed her practise in such matters, Sara stepped out of her clothing and reclined on the bed.
“I want it now, and I want it rough.”
In their haste, the men tore at their clothing, their cocks bobbing with excitement. Sara enjoyed her sexual standing among the men in House Elaran, and she’d been working these particular warriors since she’d boarded the ship three days ago.
Rising on all fours, she licked her lips, closed her eyes and groaned when a hard cock rammed up her pussy. She opened her mouth wider to accommodate the cock being shoved between her lips. Lost in the experience, she imagined Lurin and Gren fucking her from both ends instead of the sweating beasts pumping like mad.
Gren nodded upon receiving Sara’s order. Dismissing the messenger, he stalked to the galley, bypassing several men wagering on Lady Sara’s voracious appetite.
Considering he’d missed the last two meals in order to maintain control over this motley, undisciplined group of cutthroat ‘royal soldiers’, Gren decided that if Lady Sara thought she had enough time to fuck two more crewmen, he certainly had enough time to eat.
He sat alone and glared at the men nearest him, sending them scuttling to the safety of the far tables. Apparently, his reputation preceded him, in addition to the fact that he’d broken a crewman’s arm the first day. The little bastard had thought to cry mutiny. On the first day.
Gre
n thanked his stars continually that this position was only temporary.
A fight broke out among the crew outside the galley, disturbing his fragile peace. Deciding to let them kill each other, he focused again on his food.
Pinching the bridge of his nose to stifle the headache gathering, he swallowed the bland food on his plate, needing its bolstering strength, and resolved to see this mission through to the end.
Sara could go to hell. Nobless Cari was counting on him. Not to mention the others.
Chapter Six
Mara sighed and snuggled deeper into the mattress. Though she didn’t normally sleep on her stomach, she couldn’t deny the comfort or the strange warmth stealing through her.
Still foggy with sleep, she didn’t at first register her desire. Something pressed her down even as a hand spread her thighs farther apart. She turned her head and would have closed her legs when a feather-light touch caressed her clit, sending her pulse racing.
She blinked as the world began to focus despite the buzzing in her ears. A moist tongue traced her earlobe and thrust deep into her ear.
She bucked against the male form lying on top of her.
“Shh, be easy, sweet,” Lurin whispered. His breath caressed her sensitive neck, and she arched up against him, eager to feel more of his body.
Acceding to her demands, he pressed his hot cock between her buttocks, rolling and gyrating between them, as if teasing himself as much as he teased her.
“More, Lurin,” she demanded.
He chuckled, a dark sound that vibrated through her sex and pierced her heart. Stars, but he felt good, better than anything she might have fantasised.
He blanketed her, allowing her to feel all of his weight. At first, she felt smothered and found it hard to breathe. But as she opened her mouth to object, he quickly nudged her thighs farther apart and thrust into her, levying on his elbows to defer his weight.
“Ah, yes. Tight, so tight.” He rocked harder, pounding into her and thrilling her with his groans of satisfaction.