by Regine Abel
The tenderness of his smile twisted my insides as a pleasant heat diffused through me. He gently placed each bracelet on my wrists before taking the other set of shackles from the drawer and clasping them around my ankles. Taking in deep, slow breaths, I forced myself to ignore the usual queasiness that gripped me at any loss of control.
I chuckled when he carried me to bed. He smirked, a taunting glimmer in his eyes.
“Lesson number one, there is nothing more natural than to let your mate carry you around.”
“I’m not an invalid,” I pouted.
“It has nothing to do with you, love. It’s all about your mate. It’s the possessive, chest thumping, and primal side of me that wants to scream to the world ‘she’s mine and she chose me’ that’s expressing itself. It caters to my protective instincts as well. It takes nothing away from you, but soothes me. Surely, you can let that go?”
“It makes me feel vulnerable,” she said.
He stopped in front of the bed, still holding me.
“Are you?”
“Well, no. But it feels that way.”
He gave me that aggravating stare that said ‘did you hear yourself?’ as he always did when I said something silly. And I’d said plenty over the past few weeks. Annoyed with both him and myself, I rolled my eyes and sighed.
“Fine. You can cart me around to your little heart’s content. We’ll see how much you’ll like it when I get as big as a house.”
He chuckled at my grumpy tone and kissed my forehead before laying me down on the bed.
“I’ll be even more protective then and extra eager to cart you around.”
I wanted to be irritated, but he seemed too happy and it was contagious. Against my will, I found myself smiling. It quickly faded with his next words.
“Immobilize target. Spread arms ninety degrees. Spread legs thirty degrees.”
The queasiness in my stomach returned with a vengeance. I recited in my head all the arguments as to why this had been a good idea to begin with.
Ghan leaned forward and caressed my cheek. He sobered and looked at me, his gaze penetrating.
“I love you, Aleina. You will always be safe with me. If it is too much for you, just say stop. I may be asking you to let go, but even in this, you’re ultimately the one in control. Give yourself this chance to see what it feels like to just enjoy the ride rather than be in the driver’s seat.”
My throat constricted and in that instant, it all fell into place. From the day Gruuk had taken me away from my mother, I swore to myself that one day I would be free. Then, no one would ever have power over me, control what I did, where I lived, or force me into anything I didn’t want such as breeding with some random Korlethean. I would be the sole person in control of my life and my destiny.
And for the past fourteen years, I had been.
But Ghan didn’t seek to control me nor was he asking me to submit, just for me to let go of the reins. Having always been in the driver’s seat, I’d been too busy keeping my eyes on the road to be able to enjoy the scenery. Maybe it was time I looked out the window to see all that I’d been missing out on.
“I trust you, Ghan. Take me where you will.”
Once again, my chest tightened at the tenderness in his eyes. He brushed his lips against mine, then turned around and walked toward the dresser. Reaching with his right hand, he drew out the small bag he had taken last time, whose contents remained a mystery to me. With his left, my mate picked up the black blindfold that had sent me over the edge.
I swallowed painfully and repeated ‘you’re in the passenger seat, enjoy the view’ in a loop in my head. Ghan returned to me and placed the bag on the bed beside me. Holding the blindfold stretched between both hands in front of me, he paused. When our eyes met, I realized he was actually giving me a chance to refuse. My anxiety level dropped another notch.
A light smile stretched my lips and I nodded my assent—the only movement the shackles neural restraints allowed. Ghan gently placed the blindfold over my eyes and darkness swallowed me.
In an instant, as if a switch had been turned on, all my other senses went into overdrive. Beneath the deafening sound of my own breathing, the slight rushing sound of the ventilation system buzzed in a continuous flow. The coolness of the ambient air in the room seemed to settle like a cool blanket on my bare skin. The fresh scent of the body wash lingering on my body mingled with the sweet and fruity aroma of ryspak which permeated the room.
The light rustling of the bag as Ghan rummaged through it startled me. Once more, I kicked myself for not checking its content when I had the chance. A popping sound preceded a delicate, floral scent that tickled my nose. Heart pounding—to my great surprise with excitement—I waited to see what he would do.
The mattress dipped under his weight with a brushing fabric sound and my skin tingled with anticipation. His hot breath fanned over my chest before the wet heat of his mouth closed over my left nipple.
The moan of pleasure that rose from my throat turned to frustration when the neural restraint from the shackles prevented me from pushing my chest up for greater contact. The wretched things effectively had me paralyzed from the neck down without dampening in any way my ability to feel.
Ghan chuckled against my chest, knowing he had me right where he wanted me. The roughness of his tongue taunting my hardening bud soon swept away my annoyance. He sucked on it with increased intensity, keeping it just on this side of painful before releasing it with a pop. The sudden coolness of the air on my nipple made me shiver. Ghan softly blowing on it had my skin erupting in goosebumps and heat blossoming in the pit of my stomach.
The floral scent strengthened again, and this time, Ghan’s calloused palm, wet with what I presumed to be some sort of massage oil, caressed my breast in a slow, circular motion. My abdominal muscles contracted with a surge of lust. Without stopping the movement of his hand, my mate drew my other nipple into the inferno of his mouth, giving it the same attention he had lavished on its twin.
A tingling sensation slowly spread around my breast beneath the unusual heat of his hand. When he removed it, instead of the cool air I expected, the heat continued to intensify.
The oil!
Repeating the same treatment on my other breast, he kneaded it with the oil while his tongue traced a path along my markings from the curve of my shoulders up my neck. A strangled cry rose from my lips, quickly swallowed by his hungry mouth taking possession of mine. I welcomed the invasion of his probing tongue and savored his unique taste. The dull throbbing between my thighs seemed to pulsate in tandem with the swirling dance of our tongues.
I lifted my head, seeking greater contact, wanting… needing more. But he suddenly pulled away from me, breaking all contact.
“No!” I whispered, feeling bereft.
“I’m in the driver’s seat,” Ghan’s rumbling voice said. “Do not try to take over.”
Groaning in frustration, I licked my lips to recapture some of his essence. I couldn’t help it if I loved kissing my mate and wanted to devour every morsel of him. My chest radiated with heat, the tingling multiplying as if millions of miniature mouths were covering it with tiny little nips.
The bed dipped again, this time between my parted legs. My stomach quivered eagerly and the throbbing increased a thousand fold. Ghan’s breath blew along the inside of my legs and up my inner thighs. At the same time, his fingertips, covered in that heating oil, traced a burning path along the markings on my legs.
Oh Goddess!
In my current state of arousal, they were already overly sensitive. The slightest touch sent sparks of pleasure that resonated as bolts of lust straight to my pelvic area. When the heated tingling manifested itself along the markings on my legs, I felt bombarded by a constant flow of micro-orgasms. My breathing hitched between endless strings of rapturous moans. His mouth latching onto my core ripped an almost painful shout from me.
My entire body thrummed from a whirlwind of sensations, enhanced by the lo
ss of sight and my inability to move. Head rolling from side to side, I had no choice but to surrender to the onslaught of pleasure. The rough texture of his tongue over my sensitive flesh and engorged little nub had me cresting within seconds.
Lightning struck at the base of my spine and radiated outwards. My body shook with violent spasms while I screamed my lover’s name with such force it hurt my vocal cords. As if swept away by a whirlwind, I glided, weightless, on the wings of pure bliss. When I came down from the high, I realized Ghan no longer touched me and the bed no longer dipped where he had lain between my legs.
The deafening sound of blood rushing in my ears and of my heart pounding drowned out whatever my mate was now up to.
I felt the caress of his breath on my cheek seconds before our mouths reconnected. On instinct, my lips parted and my tongue sought entrance. Ghan immediately broke the kiss and moved away.
No! Shit!
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! You’re the driver. I’m sorry!”
Only my labored breathing disturbed the heavy silence. I couldn’t focus with the tingling heat on my chest and legs that kept me on the edge of another climax.
A buzzing sound to my right startled me. Before I could ask what made that noise, Ghan’s mouth silenced me. Forcing myself to behave this time, I followed his lead and didn’t try to take over the kiss. As he began to suck on my tongue, something cool settled on my clitoris, vibrating at high speed.
A blinding light exploded behind my covered eyes. I cried out, the sound muffled by my mate still sucking on my tongue with greed.
Too much! He’s going to kill me!
Just as I thought I would pass out from the violence of the climax rocking my body, he moved away the vibrating device. But it was only a temporary reprieve. He showered my face and neck with soft little kisses while I caught my breath and the trembling subsided. Then he repeated the process twice more, wrestling two more mind-blowing orgasms from my captive body.
When the buzzing sound stopped, I could have wept with relief. Anymore and I feared my mind would have fractured. I never thought there could be such a thing as too much pleasure.
And then the weight of my mate settled on top of me, his hard length resting against my core.
Goddess, help me!
Only seconds ago, I had thought ‘no more’ and yet, here I was, throbbing with the sudden need to be one with my mate, feeling hollow.
“Do you accept me, Sameha?” Ghan asked against my lips.
“Yes,” I whispered, my voice raw from all my shouts of ecstasy.
Ghan pushed himself slowly inside me. Even soaking wet as I was, my mate needed to show great care not to hurt me with his impressive shaft. Once fully sheathed, he remained still, and he rested his hands on each side of my head. His thumbs lifted the blindfold from my eyes. Despite the dimmed lights in the room, I blinked at the sudden brightness.
Our gazes locked and tears pricked my eyes at the look of adoration he cast on me.
“Do you have any idea how much I love you, Aleina? You are my heart and soul. My goddess. My breath of life. I do not know what I have done to deserve you, but I thank the Goddess every day for you.”
He didn’t allow me to answer, to tell him how he, too, had been the beacon in my darkness, the fire that melted the ice I had shielded my heart and emotions with, who had reminded me what it was like to feel, to hope, to dream. To live.
He made love to me slowly, carefully. Building another tsunami, one small wave at a time. I don’t recall when he released me from my restraints, but when we fell over the edge together, it was with our arms tightly wrapped around each other.
* * *
We closed in on Keleini’s space, undetected thanks to our advanced cloaking technology. Ghan and I remained aboard the Tempest. Kamala and Sohr lead the strike team of six ships plus Mercy’s Falcon. With much reluctance, she had left her command ship, the Raven, back on Tuur. For the long trip to the Eastern Quadrant, travelling as a fleet would have slowed us down too much. Allowing her to bring her Falcon into our docking bay made the sacrifice more palatable.
Only when the strike team reached their position near the fortress, but outside any possible detection range, did I decloak the Tempest. As expected, within seconds, the moon’s ground control hailed us, demanding to know our intentions. Having noted our unmistakably recognizable Tuurean battlecruiser, a high ranking officer quickly took over the communication, wondering what we, an advanced military grade warship, could possibly want from their humble Terran farming moon.
Once I stated our business and made it clear we weren’t leaving without the endangered Veredians, using whatever means required in case of obstruction, he escalated the communication to a certain Mr. Nolley, senior member of their governing council. My first words to him were that the attack had already begun.
I didn’t mention that I had issued the order to commence the raid while the previous officer had gone to fetch him. We couldn’t risk one of the Terrans leaking that information back to Varrek.
Nolley sputtered in outrage and I did my best ‘you’re boring me’ performance, loving being back to my old cocky Lee persona. He couldn’t do anything to prevent it and they didn’t have the military strength to be a threat. However, not to lose face, he said their army wouldn’t interfere only because of the Galactic Council’s edict, but that if our troops attacked civilians or pillaged, there would be severe consequences.
He reminded me of a small dog barking at one ten times bigger. It was almost cute. Had he been in front of me, I might have patted him on the head like a good boy.
But for all my arrogance, I needed to tread carefully. The Galactic Council would only intervene so far. They were gaining ground in the Eastern Quadrant and wouldn’t want to jeopardize the efforts to annex more planets to their organization by defending us for attacking a potential member planet. The little puppy could also decide to call his nearby allies. While my battlecruiser could take plenty of licks and dish out ten times more, if they attacked us in great numbers, it would prove challenging to get out unscathed.
After getting me to promise we’d be swift and out of there promptly, Nolley grumbled a goodbye and ended the communication. Ghan shook his head at me for my lack of political tact, I shrugged and made a face at him, although he couldn’t see it thanks to the helmet I still wore.
I’d woken feeling better than ever and in a rather playful mood. Imelda confirming our baby still thrived lifted my spirits further. Enough in fact that I didn’t feel particularly grumpy about not going down to the surface and being in the thick of the action.
“Ashara, status.”
“The attack is progressing well. A few skirmishes but nothing the strike team can’t handle. We caught them by surprise.”
As expected.
Had anything gone wrong, Ashara would have interrupted my conversation with Nolley to inform me. As the minutes stretched, I almost regretted no longer having him to taunt. Under different circumstances, I would have asked Kamala to keep her com open so that I could follow what was happening. Unfortunately, Varrek had proven ingenious in blocking or circumventing Tuurean technology. We couldn’t risk him tapping into our channel.
I had begun to believe he suspected our true identity.
Over recent raids, we’d encountered a number of doors, locks, and surfaces immune to Veredian powers. Their analysis revealed that they contained nanites imbued with the same properties as those found in the gloves Veredians wore in the fortresses, and in the bracelets and collars imposed on the Korletheans slaves. The cloaking device that had allowed him to escape Xelix Prime right under our noses had been ingenious. We had adapted our scanners so he couldn’t fool them again and included a broad range of other frequencies within its range to help detect any variations he might attempt to use.
As if summoned by my thoughts, our long range scanner went off. Ashara immediately brought up the area of detection on screen. The empty, partially cloudy Keleini sky appeared. Mom
ents later, the scanner lost whatever signal it had been tracking.
“Scan all frequencies and get that signal back,” I ordered. “Genovia, bring us closer.”
“Acknowledged,” my pilot replied.
Using the interface on the arm of my chair, I turned on the ship-wide intercom.
“All fighter pilots, report to the shuttle bay and prepare for immediate takeoff.” I turned to one of my senior officers. “Senaya, you will lead the fighters. Spread out and move to intercept. Scan all frequencies. I want him caught. He’s not getting away.”
“Yes, Lee,” she said.
Turning on her heels, she left the deck.
The scanner beeped again for a few seconds before the signal went dead once more.
“He’s modulating the frequency, I can’t catch him,” Ashara said, frustrated.
“I need a computer,” Ghan said, tension oozing out of his voice.
I nodded my assent.
“You can take this one,” Ashara said, pointing to a station next to hers.
Ghan walked over to the computer and his fingers flew over the keyboard. I didn’t ask what he was up to. Like Lhor, he possessed impressive tech skills. With nearly two decades of military service, more than half of it spent in a top ranking position, not to mention the three years of frequent battles by my side, I didn’t question his instincts.
“Genovia, open a channel to Kamala.”
Seconds later, my sister’s voice resonated through the com.
“Kamala,” she said.
“How’s your situation on the ground?” I asked.
“We’ve got the whole place almost completely secure. But it’s a maze down here. We’re still looking for a hidden room. We haven’t found him.”
“And you won’t. We believe he’s trying to escape on a cloaked ship. Ashara is trying to pinpoint him but he keeps switching the frequency on us.”
“No fucking way!”
“Yes, way,” I responded, fuming at the thought he might yet again slip through our fingers. “Send anyone you can spare without endangering your mission.”