by Averi Hope
To her frustration, he kept them that way, leaving her painfully aware of the hardened cock inside her. She could feel it pulsating, sending every nerve in her body spiraling. He filled her, stretching her to make room for him. But he didn’t move.
She scratched the surface of his desk, gasping as her body screamed for release.
He reached forward, brushing back her bra and capturing her nipple. Holy hell. I didn’t think he could make this any worse. His fingers squeezed her in just the right way.
“I’m—going—to—kill you,” she groaned.
He chuckled humorlessly. “Well, my little warrior. Perhaps you’ve suffered enough.”
“Bastard!” she cried, wriggling so his cock rubbed just enough to send stars dancing before her vision.
Releasing her nipple, he leaned over her on the desk so that his breath brushed her ear. “But then again, maybe you haven’t. Shall we bargain, wee warrior? You want me, and I want more than four more times.”
It took her spinning thoughts a second to grasp his words. “Just four more—“
He slowly withdrew his manhood from her.
“No,” she choked on the word. Damn him. “Fine. Please, Caleb.”
Both his hands grasped her breasts as he slid back inside her. “I want you as often and as many times as I want.”
You might as well just hand him your heart on a silver platter.
“No, that’s way too many. I have to study…”
He growled and slid all the way out. She tried to back into him, to force him into her. “As often as I want, Erin. Nothing less.”
Her head was spinning, her senses overloaded. Every cell in her body trembled and cried out for him. I don’t fucking care anymore. I just need him. “Yes, yes, all right.”
He groaned with relief. And that’s when he finally gave her what she wanted. His large cock slid in and out of her, and the stars before her vision turned into blasts of white. Her entire body shook as she moved, matching his rhythm. He moved faster and faster. The sounds of their panting filled the air. Her heart raced, pounding until she thought it was going to explode.
And then she came. Screaming his name. Desire burning through every nerve. Her body spasming around his erection. And then as her body descended into twitches and her vision blackened, he came. The feeling of his hot seed and the sounds of her name torn from his lips had her coming again. She spiraled upward into pleasure once more.
When it was over, her entire body twitched. Her legs felt numb. He lay against her from behind, his hands still cupping her breasts. Her sight slowly returned, even while her head continued to spin.
“That was—“
“Incredible,” he finished for her.
Incredible doesn’t even begin to describe it. Whatever I thought I was doing all these years, I was doing it wrong.
A second later, he turned her around and swept her up into his arms.
“But you’re hurt,” she protested softly.
He shook his head, his jaw locked as he carried her to the bed and laid her down like something precious. Stubborn male. But her words lacked their usual chastisement—she just felt too damn good to be angry. Then, he was climbing in beside her, his long body cradling her own.
She reached up and brushed the soft hairs on his face. “Is that how it always is with a Keltair?”
His eyes narrowed. “If you’re thinking of trying out more of my kind, you should know I’m the only male who will ever make you feel that way.”
She laughed. “And are all of you so well-endowed?”
“Just me.”
“You answered that pretty quickly,” she said, raising a brow. “Could it be you’re hoping I never have an opportunity to be proven wrong?”
He rolled on top of her, sliding between her legs.
She gasped as his erection brushed her womanhood.
“All this talk of other males tells me you’re not satisfied just yet.”
Her head spun. “Caleb, already?”
He slid inside her, tearing a groan of pleasure from her lips.
“When I’m finished with you, you’ll never think of another man again.”
When his hot mouth took one of her nipples at the same time as his manhood came fully inside her, all she could think of was if this is how he punishes me when I talk about other men, I’m going to make sure to do it all the time.
But as he slowly made love to her again, she was left with absolutely no thoughts, her heart and body overwhelmed with emotions.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Hours later, Erin stumbled through the gardens back at the Starfire Academy, grinning at the thought that Caleb would soon wake to see her gone. He might have been in charge for a little while, but he needs to be reminded that I’m the true alpha of our relationship. She’d never felt so weak or so satisfied in her life. But the best and worst part of it all was the strange feeling that filled her chest. Caleb was special. He suited her in unexpected ways. As much as she wanted things between them to stay superficial, they weren’t.
She should be terrified, but she wasn’t.
Her mother might not have been able to balance her love for her father and her pursuit of her graduation from the academy, but Erin was not her mother. She could do both, and she could do both well.
Someone stepped onto the path in front of her.
She jumped back into a slight crouch on instinct. Then she saw him.
“William,” she said, letting her fists fall. “You scared me.”
Her friend adjusted the cap on his bald green head, pulling it lower over his dark eyes. “I’ve been looking for you.”
Guilt crept up. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.”
It took him a second to answer. “You were with that Keltair, weren’t you?”
Erin patted her hair, wondering if her day of ecstasy was so easy to see. “I’m glad I ran into you. The whole school probably knows by now, but I don’t exactly want to walk in screaming sex, if you know what I mean.”
The corners of his mouth turned down, and he shifted his backpack higher. “We need to talk.”
She frowned, swiftly coming back to reality. Why does William seem so serious? Is something wrong? The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. “Let’s just go inside. I’ve got a weird—“
“You said you didn’t want to be like your mother.”
She sat up straighter. “I don’t. I just—“
“You said you didn’t just want to be Fleet Admiral Stowe’s bratty, rich daughter.”
“I don’t,” she said, wondering at the growing venom in his voice.
“But all of it was a lie, right? You were always going to act like some slutty, lazy girl and excel just because of your damn name.”
“William! What are you talking about?” She stared at her friend, barely believing the words coming from his lips. “Just because I took a few hours for some fun doesn’t mean I’m a completely different person.”
He looked up from beneath his baseball cap, anger glittering in his dark eyes. “You missed our Communications class.”
Shit. “I got distracted.”
“Clearly,” he said, the word laced with sarcasm.
She bristled. “It was a dumb mistake. It won’t happen again.”
He glanced around them. “There’s more. I learned some stuff about that Keltair.”
His words knocked the air from her lungs. “What—?”
“Not here,” he said, weaving her down an unfamiliar path in the gardens.
Her stomach twisted as she followed him. William was one of her closest friends. She’d never seen him this angry before. There had to be something really wrong, and she dreaded what it might be. Is it possible I’m wrong about Caleb?
She sped up. “What did you learn?”
He didn’t turn to her, but spoke softly, almost to himself. “You trusted the wrong person. I know you think you know everything, but you don’t.”
They circled deep
er down the path. Large trees grew closer and closer, their full branches blocking out the sunlight. In the shadows, the day no longer felt so warm. She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself.
“Where is all of this coming from?” she asked, her thoughts spinning. “I know you’re worried about me, but I’m not going to make the same mistake as my mother. It was a momentary lapse in judgment. I’ll fix it.”
“I bet. You’ll just use your name, and the professor will forgive your absence.”
“No, William, I’m not like all the rich humans who’ve treated you and your dad like crap. I’m your friend.” She took a deep breath, feeling her heart squeeze. He’s not angry. He’s sad. And scared. He’s worried that now that I have Caleb, I won’t need him anymore. “Everything is going to be okay. We’re going to achieve all our dreams.”
He started walking again. The twenty-foot walls surrounding the academy towered over them, deepening the shadows of the trees.
“Did you even look at my scores?” he asked the question over his shoulder, not looking back at her.
More guilt rose inside her. “No. I was…” She’d been distracted by Caleb. “I’m sorry.”
He walked farther, his short legs moving surprisingly fast. She hurried to keep up with him.
“I had the bottom score. In every class.” Hurt laced each word.
She caught up with him, circling to stand in front of him. He wouldn’t look at her. “You got in, William. You. On your own. These are just the first tests. You were nervous. You’ll do better on the next ones. And I’ll be there to help you.”
He was quiet, staring down at his feet. “I don’t think I’m going to do any better. Not without more help than you can give me.”
She grasped his arm. “Yes, you will. I believe in you. One day you’ll make an amazing starship engineer.”
“Do you see that over there?” He gestured with his head.
Frowning, she turned to look behind her. “What?”
Something stabbed into the side of her neck. She grasped it with her fingers and pulled out a long, metal injector. It lay in her hands, blurring more and more with each second. She looked back at William. He was staring at her, his expression unreadable.
She crumpled to the ground, lying on her side. She tried to move her arms, but they wouldn’t listen. She couldn’t feel her legs. “Why?” The question came out garbled.
He crouched down beside her. “You rich kids are all the same. You think the world is there for the taking, but it isn’t for all of us.”
“But…” Her lips felt heavy as she spoke, “you got into the academy. You’re a Hawk.”
His lips curled. “You really think I did all of that on my own? As smart as you think you are, you’re not. They’re the ones that got me here, not you. I can have a future that should only be the stuff of dreams. All it’s going to cost me is you.”
She felt tears gather in the corners of her eyes. No! William is my friend. He wouldn’t really do this.
“I’m sorry,” he said, but his words lacked all sincerity. “I don’t know what they’re going to do to you, but I don’t think it’s going to be good.”
He reached for her, trying to wrap his arms around her.
Using all her strength, she bit into the flesh of his arm as hard as she possibly could.
He screamed and drew back from her.
She spit out the blood and flesh that filled her mouth.
“Bitch!” He struck her across the face, so hard her head spun.
Then, he hit her again. And again. And again.
Her vision blackened.
She couldn’t move, not a muscle. All she could taste was the coppery blood that laced her tongue, but whether it was all his or some of hers, she wasn’t sure.
He dragged her. For how long she wasn’t sure.
But when he stopped, her head fell to the side. She found herself staring at dirt around a large hole beneath the fence.
A slimy voice came from somewhere she couldn’t see. “Very good, William. Very good.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Caleb awoke with an odd sense of déjà vu. His ship trembled around him, reflecting the way his heart pounded. He rose and threw on his clothes. Where is my female? And why do I have the awful feeling she is in trouble, yet again?
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Erin Stowe was pissed as hell as she stared from William to Heter. Do these two assholes actually think they’re going to abduct me? Between her traitorous, former best friend and the spineless Letchi she’d encountered a few years before, they were a joke of a team.
“Remember me?” Heter rasped, scratching at the tan scales on his flesh.
A few of the scales came off on his fingers. He turned his dark pupils, surrounded by green, to stare at the scales, before letting them flake off to the ground.
“Nervous?” she mumbled, forcing the word past her partially numb lips. Shedding was definitely the reptilian alien’s tell.
His lipless mouth turned down. “You won’t be so cocky in a few minutes.”
“I doubt that.” She tried to sound sarcastic, while desperately trying to move her fingers.
She could feel her body twitch, but her hand remained limp on the ground. Damn it. All I can hope is the paralytic they injected me with isn’t too powerful, that before we get wherever we’re going at least I get a chance to fight.
The Letchi kneeled over her. “All those years ago when your dad threw me out of the Earth fleet in shame, he thought he’d won. You both stared down at me so smugly as he destroyed my life without a thought. But now you’ll both see why you shouldn’t have doubted me.”
Erin probably should’ve been afraid, but she wasn’t. Heter was a dumb waste of space. He’d been lucky to get some low-level job on the Centurion starship. She could outsmart him. Hell, she could outsmart both of them, and she could get away. She just needed to play this right.
“So you did all of this just to take me and…what…kill me? Punish my father? Honestly, my father isn’t the kind of guy to get all weepy over his daughter. He’s just going to send the whole of the fleet to hunt you down and kill you. In the slowest way possible.” She swallowed around the dryness in the back of her throat, but kept her expression confident.
He laughed. “You think I arranged all this? No, stupid human. The people paying me are very, very wealthy. And they don’t want to kill you; they want to humiliate your father.” He leaned in, so she could smell the gut-wrenching scent of wet reptile. “I can imagine the many ways they’ll do that.” He licked his lipless mouth, obviously relishing the thought.
For the first time, William spoke, his voice shaky. “Sh-Shouldn’t we get her off the academy grounds?”
Heter shot him an angry glance. “The security cameras are disabled in this area, and since she didn’t take her precious guards with her, no one should notice she’s missing for a very long time.”
“Still…” William said.
Coward. Erin glared at him, even though he wouldn’t look at her. “So basically, your servant over here does all the dirty work and you get rewarded just as much?”
Heter froze, and she could practically see the wheels spinning in his head. “No. That isn’t fair. The little green man will be helping me.”
William took a step back, shaking his head. “That wasn’t the deal. I just had to bring her to you.”
Heter rose, wrapping a hand around William’s throat and dragging him closer. Suddenly, the Letchi didn’t look nearly as weak. He towered over William. Erin’s gaze snapped to the two laser pistols strapped to his sides. Those certainly make him dangerous.
“You will come with me through the jungle. Once we reach my ship, you may slink back to your academy and pretend you can succeed here without our benefactor’s money. Understand?”
William nodded.
Heter released him and turned to her. “Ready for a little walk?”
“Bite me!” She spat.
The alien�
��s strange eyes flashed with anger, and his hand curled into a fist.
“That reminds me,” William said, turning his arm over to stare at the bloody wound she’d left him. “Watch out for her teeth.”
“If the girl bites me, I’ll bite her back.” He smiled, flashing his rows of sharpened yellow teeth. “And you can bet that’ll leave a mark.”
As he hefted her over his shoulder and climbed down into the hole beneath the academy fence, Erin had the sinking feeling she was in trouble. Maybe more trouble than she could get out of. If only Caleb knew how to find me.
But that was the problem. As Heter had pointed out, no one knew she was gone. And even if they did, they had no idea where to find her.
Chapter Thirty
Caleb weaved through the gardens, his tension rising. He could sense where she’d gone. It was more than just the sweet scent she left behind that was wholly Erin—it was something more. You’re scenting her like a mate.
He pushed the disturbing thought aside. Yes, he wanted the little human more than he’d ever wanted a female before. And yes, her intelligence and attitude made for a combination he knew would never be boring. But no, he didn’t plan to make the same mistake as his father.
Then, why can you sense her? Why are you so sure she’s in trouble?
“Keltair!”
He whirled around to find Greg striding toward him. I don’t have time for this. Caleb turned back around and continued walking.
“Hey! I’m talking to you.” The human sounded out of breath as his feet stomped the ground behind Caleb. “Hey!” He grabbed Caleb’s shoulder.
Mistake.
In one smooth motion, Caleb grabbed the hand on his shoulder and twisted it, shoving downward so the blond man was suddenly at his feet. Caleb’s body felt too tight and more than a little sore, reminding him that only a night before he’d been beaten by the cowardly head of security. But pain means nothing.
Greg flinched as Caleb slowly turned his wrist harder.