Highest Bidder: 1 (Mercy)

by Lexxie Couper

  Fuck me, Pretorik, she whispers, blood seeping from her lipless mouth.

  Deal! the Mentuan shouts, saliva spraying as he reaches for her breasts.

  Deal! Aimyl screeches, burying her fingers deep between her thighs, pressed closer to him by the mass of screaming passengers crowding them.

  She reaches for his cock and lowers her head until her horrifying mouth wraps around his flesh.

  He thrashes on the bed, but Aimyl won’t let him go. She rises up, squatting over him, and he begins to scream.

  The silence detonates with the sound of disruptor blasts, with the terrorized screams of people dying, with the screeching alarms of the short-range shuttle’s security system warning its passengers too late of the attack.

  He thrashes on the icy steel floor, the stink of fresh blood, cooked flesh, ozone, sweat and sex suffocating him, filling his every breath.

  Dying people squeal, squeal, squeal. He screams, bucking, desperate to be free. Gods, he shouldn’t be here. He shouldn’t be here! He’s the Premier of the GU! He is untouchable!

  He is drowning in blood. He is—

  Finally going to fuck me, Pretorik, the corpse whispers in his ear, the sound like blood in breath as the creature lowers its festering, weeping sex closer to his cock. Finally going to get what you wanted, it gurgles.

  A glob of putrid liquid drops onto his distended cock head and he screams as blistering heat burns into the flesh. Acid. He screams and bucks and flails—Gods, I shouldn’t be here, I shouldn’t be here, I shouldn’t be here—but the dead bodies of the ship hold him down. Cover him. Suffocate him.

  Finally going to get what you wanted, Pretorik Ipari. Aimyl chuckles, the sound dry and fluid at once. The bright afternoon sun shines through her hair and blisters his skin.

  Gods, I shouldn’t be here. Wake up, Pretorik. Wake—

  He screams and fights, but Aimyl’s dead sex continues to suck and consume.

  Finally going to get what you wanted, Pretorik. Aimyl opens her mouth, the gaping maw coming closer to his screaming mouth, closer, closer.

  I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be here. I’m—

  Finally going to get fucked, the corpse wheezes, and there is nothing left of Aimyl Tarq. The corpse crushes his mouth with its lips and teeth, oozing into his body, seeping into him, drowning him in death as its poisoned sex continues to slide down his decaying cock.

  And he screams and screams and screams.

  Until there is nothing left of Pretorik Ipari, just a scream that never ends and the memory of a man giving him a choice, a man with fury in his voice who—

  * * * * *

  Stepping from the dream, Dreylan opened his eyes.

  A chill rippled over him, as it always did after every dream invasion. The psychosomatic assault drained him, both physically and mentally. He drew in a slow breath, bringing his heart back to its normal pace. His muscles burned and a fine sheen of sweat slicked his skin.

  The faint echo of Ipari’s insane screams rang through his head, a cerebral residue that would haunt him until he slept again. A bleak smile pulled at Dreylan’s mouth and he rose to his feet.

  Pretorik Ipari would spend the rest of his days sitting in his own shit and saliva, his unhinged mind incapable of even the most basic cognitive action. A threat to no one ever again.

  “Sorry to disturb the recovery period, good buddy,” Mak said, rushing into Dreylan’s quarters. “But I’ve got a lock on the Falcon-class. We’re only two clicks away from Naya and Echo.”

  Something about the tone of Mak’s voice made Dreylan’s gut clench. “And?”

  “And another vessel is closing in on them fast. A Skimmer 44 bearing the New Earth–Free Planet sigil.”

  Worry creased Mak’s forehead and he threw Dreylan a bleak frown. “It looks like the New Earth rebels are planning to kill Naya before she can make it to Galactic Union space.”

  * * * * *

  Naya stared at the unfamiliar constellations sparkling in the sky before her, trying to recall their names. The monks’ preparations had included every aspect of Premier Pretorik Ipari’s life, including something as seemingly inconsequential as the stars in his system. It was tedious and frustrating work trying to remember them now, but it forced her mind to focus on something—anything—other than the man she’d left behind on Port Mercy.

  An image of Dreylan Tarq filled her head and her body reacted instinctually, her heart quickening, her nipples pinching tight.

  Naya sighed. So much for not thinking about him.

  “Chin up, honey.” Kylun—“Just call me Ky”—Echo dropped into the pilot’s seat beside her, offering a wide grin. “When the stars are so beautiful there’s no place in your heart for sorrow.”

  Naya couldn’t help but smile, even as her heart continued to ache. There was an infectious merriment in Ky’s face, a roguish sparkle in his deep-green eyes. “The stars are beautiful.”

  Ky wedged his heels against the cockpit’s control deck, threading his fingers behind his head. “They have no memory, the stars. They ask nothing of us but to be admired, and in return they swallow our secrets.” He dropped her a wink, his grin full of mischief. “What more does a broken heart need to mend?”

  Naya studied the constellations again, wishing they could swallow her pain and her secrets. Soon Ipari would be claiming her as his wife. How in the name of all the gods was she to be everything he desired when her heart belonged to Dreylan?

  She turned back to Ky. “Thank you,” she said softly. “You are only the second male with a penis I’ve known who has been nice to me.”

  Ky shot her a quick look, a dimple creasing his right cheek. “Honey, I have no idea what that means, but I’ll take it as a compliment.”

  Naya let her smile grow. “And I meant it as—”

  A loud klaxon wail cut her response short. She flinched, not just at the alarm, but at the sudden tension flooding Ky’s body. He snapped straight in his chair, killing the alarm and frowning at an LCD screen flashing red on the control panel. “Chui. What’s a Skimmer 44 doing locking on us?”

  Naya’s stomach clenched. “Skimmer 44? That’s a ship belonging to the New Earth–Free Planet reb—”

  Something powerful smashed into Ky’s ship, knocking them both sideways in their seats. The internal lights flickered once and then died.

  “Shit!” Ky burst out, just as the ship’s emergency program filled the cockpit with angry red light. He yanked on the helm, sending his small ship into a tight dive.

  Tremendous pressure slammed Naya back into her seat, crushing against her chest and stomach. She gripped the armrests, staring at the streaking white lines the stars outside the cockpit had become.

  “Hold on, hon,” Ky called out. “This could get a little crazy.”

  She flung him a look, stunned at the wide, wild smirk on his face. Gods. He was enjoying himself.

  A volley of ion blasts detonated directly over the ship’s bow, each one closer than the last. “By the gods,” Ky growled, sweat beading on his forehead, “when I get my hands on whichever one of my brothers pissed off some New Earth rebel…” He sent his ship into another sharp spiral, this one straight up.

  Naya’s stomach slammed into her spine. “I don’t think it’s you they’re targeting. I think they’re trying to kill—”

  “Give me a sec, hon,” Ky cut her off, yanking on the controls, “and I’ll get rid of these—”

  The ship rocked again, this time so forcefully Naya’s teeth snapped together. The klaxon alarm started screeching, the red lights pulsing a rapid rhythm.

  “Christ.” Ky killed the alarm again, his grin slightly more grim. “The fucker can fly.” He punched a sequence into the control deck and the ship banked sharply to the left, the Skimmer on its tail.

  Another spray of ion blasts ripped through space. Ky directed his ship away, knuckles white, jaw clenched. A brutal force smashed into the ship, knocking it into a sickening sideways lurch. The alarm burst into deafening life
again, and this time irritation etched Ky’s face. “Fuck.” He gave Naya an apologetic look. “Hate to tell you this, hon, but we’ve just lost the force fields. One more hit and we’re a dog’s dinner.”

  Stomach clenching, heart pounding, Naya turned and stared out the window, watching the Skimmer careen past Ky’s ship. It banked into a tight arc and flew straight for them, a direct target.

  “Not today,” Ky stated calmly, hauling on the helm.

  At that exact moment, a blast of energy punched into the side of the Skimmer.

  “What the fuck?” Ky gaped at the sight.

  Fresh blasts of energy struck the Skimmer, spinning it like a planet whipping on its axis before another ship swooped into view.

  It tore across space between Ky’s ship and the Skimmer, firing on the New Earth rebels’ adrift vessel, again and again and again until, with one last blast, the Skimmer detonated in a blinding explosion.

  “Who the fuck is this now?” Ky ground out, flinging his ship into a tight upward bank. “And why are they—”

  “Kylun Echo,” a deep voice growled through the ship’s com—and pure joy flooded through Naya’s very being. “This is Dreylan Tarq. I think you have something of mine aboard your ship.”

  Ky gave Naya a sharp look. “I have? What?”

  “My heart.”

  Easing off the helm, Ky cocked an eyebrow at Naya, his expression curious. “Is that right? Are you his—”

  Naya didn’t hear the rest. A tingle swept through her body, a million pinpricks of light erupted under her skin and suddenly—wonderfully—she was standing in a different cockpit, held firmly against Dreylan’s body, staring up into his eyes.

  He gently pressed his forehead to hers. “And a man can’t live without his heart.”

  Naya gazed at him, her body thrumming with life, her heart thumping. She was there, in his arms, and yet… “The premier…New Earth… Dreylan, I can’t ignore my duty.”

  His nostrils flared. “The GU will be needing to elect a new premier. I doubt the next one will demand marriage as a condition of inclusion.”

  Hope filled Naya’s chest. “What happened to Premier Ipari?”

  Dreylan’s jaw bunched as he pulled her closer to his body. “Ipari met his worst nightmare.” Before she could ask him what that meant, he scooped her up in his arms, holding her snug to his chest. “Now,” he murmured, brushing her lips with his, “didn’t you know you can never escape your dream lover?”

  Naya slipped her arms around his neck. “Didn’t you know I never wanted to?”

  Dreylan grinned. “Good.” And he crushed her mouth with his.

  Epilogue

  She walks through the temple doors, the cool night air kissing her flesh with a million tiny lips of mist. Above her, the ancient candelabras glow, casting the sacred place of worship in a warm, golden hue. Her shadows dance with her as she walks toward the altar, a slow, rhythmic ballet that tells of a woman in love.

  The cool breeze from the moon tickles over her skin once again, joining the hands caressing her body. Hands that smooth over her belly, her hips. Hands that cup her breasts. The mist licks a languid path up her legs, over her calves, joining the lips traversing her thighs. A tongue dips into the warm junction of her sex and a cry slips from her lips.

  The tongue rolls over her clit and she arches, lifting her ass off the altar and offering her pussy to her lover’s divine mouth.

  He takes the offering, lapping at her juices, his fingers gripping her hips to hold her still for his worship. He plunges his tongue past her folds, runs it over her clit, back to her pussy again.

  You taste so sweet.

  His voice slides over her skin, low and deep. It sends a shiver through her and aching nipples pinch hard, tips longing to be sucked.

  Her lover lifts his head from between her thighs, his ice-blue eyes studying her with smoldering desire. Soon…

  She catches her breath and wet heat floods her sex. The promise in his gaze is heady. It makes her pussy grow heavy with want. Wet with desire.

  He laps at her cream, sliding his hands from her hips to her ass, kneading the curve of each cheek. She whimpers. It feels so good. Like his tongue is infusing her with potent fire. The pressure builds in the pit of her belly, squirming fingers of tension reaching through her. Radiating from her pussy. She cries out, lifting her hips higher.

  A ripple of rapture begins in her core. She spreads her legs, granting his tongue deeper access to her sex. She is a being of pure sensations, a creature of desires awoken. Awoken by her lover and nourished by his passion. A wall of exquisite fire claims her, rolls through her. Cool fingers join his tongue on her pussy. He slips them past her folds, seeking her heat. She gives it to him. She gives him her soul, her heart, her pleasure, and he takes it. All of it.

  I’ve dreamt of you, my heart. And now my dreams are yours.

  His voice warms her being as he plunges his tongue deeper into her cunt, milking her orgasm, feeding it, growing strong on its gushing force. She sinks into her climax, losing herself, becoming one with the pulsing waves of rapture washing through her. She cries out, drowning in the pleasure, riding its crest until she can no longer breathe. Until she can no longer hold shape and form and falls into mist, heart pounding, soul…

  Naya opened her eyes slowly, blinking at the low light cast from the surrounding candles. A warm flush filled her body, the delicate flutter between her thighs and the faint sheen of perspiration on her skin making her smile. She stretched, rolling onto her side to gaze at the man lying beside her.

  Ice-blue eyes studied her, a devilish light dancing in their clear depths. “Sleep well?”

  Naya smoothed her hand up Dreylan’s chest. She flicked at one of his nipples, grinning at his swift intake of breath. “Dreamt well,” she said, sliding her leg up his until her knee brushed the soft curve of his balls. “Did you have anything to do with that?”

  Dreylan chuckled, slipping his fingertips up the length of her thigh, her hip, her rib cage, to the sensitive underswell of her breast. “No. I’m a dream invader, not a dream seducer.”

  Naya wriggled against his him, loving the way his warmth seeped into her body. “Pity. It was an amazing dream. Maybe I should find one of these mythical dream seducers you speak of?”

  With a growl, Dreylan flipped her on her back and pinned her arms by her head, his hard body pressing her to the mattress, his harder cock pressing to her already damp sex. “I tell you what,” he murmured, the devilish glint in his eyes smoldering with a desire Naya knew oh so well and hungered for, “you give me a very detailed description of your dream and I’ll do my best to make it a reality.”

  Naya rolled her hips until the bulbous dome of his cock head nudged her fold. “Well…if it’s your best…” She shifted beneath him, teasing his cock with her wet pussy lips. “It started with you nibbling my jaw.”

  He slowly lowered his head, keeping his gaze locked on hers until he pressed his lips to the line of her jaw. His tongue touched her skin, his teeth nipping once. Naya pulled in a short breath and rolled her hips, painting his cock head with her pleasure.

  He lifted his head, a grin playing with the corners of his mouth. “And then?”

  “And then you bite my bottom lip and suck my tongue into your mouth.”

  Warm lips charted a path up to her mouth. He closed his teeth on her bottom lip with firm pressure. Hot blossoms of tension bloomed between Naya’s thighs at the soft pain. She moaned, the sound muffled as Dreylan captured her lips with his. His tongue dipped into her mouth, rolling over hers, teasing, coaxing, until, with a fierceness that sent her pulse flying, he sucked it into his mouth.

  The erotic caress flooded Naya’s body with tingling warmth. She moaned again, pushing her hips harder to his.

  With a chuckle, Dreylan broke the kiss. “What next?”

  A squirming rapture began to grow in the pit of Naya’s belly. Gods, she loved him. She loved him, was in lust with him, and she trusted him. She squirmed,
feeling hot and excited and bold. “Next, you…next, you tie me to the bed.”

  Dreylan lifted one eyebrow, his eyes smoldering. “Do I?”

  Naya felt her cheeks burn. She swallowed, the tension in her core building. “Yes. And after you’ve tied me to the bed, you kiss your way down my body, from my fingertips, to my neck, my breasts and belly, and then my…” Her bravado faltered.

  “Your…?” Dreylan prompted. His cock pressed to her sex.

  “To my pussy.”

  “And what do I do there?”

  “I’ll tell you after you tie me up.”

  Without saying a word, he levered himself upright and walked across the small space of his quarters. Retrieving something from the room’s lockbox, he returned to the bed. He studied her for a moment, a question in his eyes. Are you sure?

  Naya nodded, the constricting flutter in her sex increasing.

  Lowering himself over her body, Dreylan gently took her wrists and slowly slid his hands up the mattress, stretching her arms toward the top of the bed. There was a soft click and Naya suddenly felt the cool slickness of wrapping around her wrists.

  A thrill rippled through her, tight and damp and warm.

  “Now,” Dreylan murmured, looking at her with simmering desire. “What do I do to your pussy?”

  “You lick it.”

  His nostrils flared. “Done.”

  With infinite care, he began to kiss her fingers, taking each in his mouth, tracing its length with his tongue before nipping the very tips in a gentle bite that he soothed with sucking pressure. Naya closed her eyes, letting the sultry sensations roll through her. From her fingers, palms, wrists, down to her very core. His lips followed the same path, nipping here, nuzzling there, scoring a line down the insides of her arms—first the left, then the right—until he encountered her jaw.

  She rolled her head to the side, a moan vibrating in her throat as he kissed her neck, her ear, the tiny pulse beating wildly below her jaw.

  Without breaking contact with her fevered flesh, he moved to her collarbone, his hands echoing the path his lips traversed. He cupped each breast, dragging his thumb over one pinched nipple while his mouth cherished the other.