“There’s a niche in the mountainside with the same symbol the Perceptive Ones carved into the stone cornice that we found on Mystique. Without equipment, I couldn’t tell how old the marking is.”
Alara had read accounts of the ancient complex found on Mystique. Inside Mystique’s highest mountain, the Perceptive Ones had built a control center that had lasted a millennium. Had they left behind another complex on Saj? Was it possible they might even find a Perceptive One who still lived here?
She thought the odds slim. But then again, before she’d left Endeki, she would have thought the chance of exploring with her mind and leaving her body behind were impossible. Or that she’d crave a certain Rystani warrior to assuage her yearnings. Because although she couldn’t summon the energy to wriggle one finger, desire crashed and washed over her, drenching her in pure, fierce tendrils of frothing need.
Xander’s gaze met hers, and he must have caught sight of the intensity ripping through her. “Vax, use your sword to make another clearing. Alara and I need some private time to rest.”
Vax frowned. “I don’t like leaving you until you’ve fully recovered.”
“You’ll be within shouting distance. Besides, there seems to be no danger—except from the plants.”
“Sir, in your state,” Cyn also argued, the first time Alara had ever heard her disagree with the captain, “your psi might not be strong enough to hold a shield.”
“I don’t believe that’s necessary any longer.” Xander raised his eyes to the plants that curved above them. Plant stems had bowed over the shield. Additional plants had layered over the initial growth to form a protective pocket so thick that the first plants might protect them. “Lower the shield.”
They obeyed, and Alara tensed, half expecting the plants to crumble under the weight of those above. A few sturdy stems creaked and groaned, but the structure held. But would more plants spread beneath their feet?
Nothing happened. Either the plants required sunlight to sprout or the germinating process had ceased for another reason. Vax followed Xander’s orders and hacked through one wall. His arm strained, and his effort required repeated slicing, but he persisted, working up a fine sheen of sweat that his suit did nothing to evaporate.
Apparently, Vax was so focused on the plant tunnel that he’d forgotten to alter his own suit’s comfort with his psi. As soon as he moved forward, Cyn with an arm around Shannon to help her walk, stepped behind him, then Clarie and Delo followed.
Xander immediately rolled close to Alara and gathered her into his arms. While they could hear his crew settling close by, as long as she and Xander invoked privacy mode, they would have all the seclusion she craved.
Xander shot her a wicked smile. “You still can’t move, can you?”
“Uh-uh.”
“Luckily for us, my energy’s not as depleted. I’m either getting stronger—or more accustomed to leaving my body behind.”
The heat in his eyes caused her to recollect the last time he’d had her at such a disadvantage, when he’d first taken her aboard the shuttle and webbed her in. Back then her fury had been the catalyst to elevate Boktai. This time she wasn’t angry, but eager. However, she might be just as frustrated. She could move no more now than she could then.
The difference was that this time not only were her hormones urging her to mate, she craved his touch. Not a man’s touch—Xander’s touch. It simply amazed her how much her realization upped her anticipation.
So when he leaned over her, angled his mouth over hers, and ever-so-slowly nibbled and nipped, coaxing her lips apart, she wanted to fling her arms around his neck and draw him closer. She yearned to arch her back and raise her breasts to him. She had a yen to twine her feet with his.
But not only had the energy sapped her physical strength, Boktai depleted her psi. Luckily for her, her suit turned transparent.
Xander’s eyes brightened, but he kept his tone low and sexy. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
As his warm breath fanned her cheek, she recovered enough energy to use her vocal cords. “I like a man who makes the correct assumptions.”
“Oh, I intend to make a lot of them.” Lazily, he drew one finger down her rib cage, and her breasts ached in response, her nipples tightening. Still, keeping his voice to a very male whisper, he murmured, “I’ll also assume that you’d like my mouth to close over your breast.”
At his suggestion, her stomach clenched. Yet he didn’t so much as touch her breasts with a fingertip, never mind with his lips. Instead, he swirled lower, drawing a line over her fluttering rib cage and coiled stomach. Watching her eyes, he slid his fingers into the curls at her mons. Very slowly, very gently, he tugged, first one curl, then another.
Hot sensation doused her in a storm of desire. If the storm had been hail, it would have been off the charts. If the storm had been rain, it would have caused a flash flood. If the storm had been lightning, it would have jolted the heavens.
But the storm took its own form, linking them as if they were once again in their astral state. Not only could she feel the touch of his fingertips on her mons, she could feel her delicate soft skin through his fingertip.
Oh my, she thought.
Oh, yes, he thought back. Their minds linked as if they were once again in the astral state. But this time she could feel her body, and she could feel how he felt when he touched her body.
What’s happening?
It’s rare, but some Rystanis’ minds link during lovemaking.
I never thought I could feel so good to you.
Mmm.
Beneath his clever fingers, her flesh shimmied. Her cells pleaded for rejuvenation and regeneration. But her thoughts swirled about Xander. How was this special link possible? Until now, she’d believed the planet was influencing and accelerating her need to mate . . . but that was because she hadn’t wanted to admit the shocking truth.
She was adapting to Xander. His powerful male essence had trapped her in a web of desire that she didn’t even wish to escape. By the stars.
Biology wasn’t simply taking over. Her mind was leading the way, in a manner she’d never expected.
His pleasure intensified the storm until she was caught up in a vortex of sensuality. She’d never been so needy in her life. Had never been so scared of letting go, of doing exactly what she wanted—even if her actions were contrary to everything she’d ever believed.
To give herself to Xander again would mean tying her life to his—literally. Other women had explained she would always have a choice before taking this last, final step . . . but she hadn’t understood what they’d meant until now.
She should have been happy that she’d developed feelings for a man . . . but she wasn’t. As much as she craved him, as much as she longed to stay with him, she had no idea what he felt for her.
“What?” As if reading the confusion in her mind, he leaned forward and kissed her lips. “For a moment there, you went somewhere else.”
She didn’t stop to think, she blurted the truth. “If your essence regenerates my cells again, my body will adapt to yours. Permanently.”
His eyes widened, and his fingers stopped their delicious swirling. “But you’ve always said that you wouldn’t know—”
“I was wrong. I can feel . . . changes coming on. It’s like a gathering, a tightening, a final awakening.” She scoured his face, searching for a clue to his thoughts. Although she could read his mental messages, she didn’t know what he was thinking unless he sent the thought at her.
The moment stretched. When he remained silent and still, no longer grazing his fingers over her taut flesh, she couldn’t stand the tension any longer. “Say something.”
“What would you have me say? We have always known this might happen.”
“And?” she prodded.
“And . . . wh
at?”
“How do you feel about . . . us?”
His eyes darkened to a deep violet. His mental turbulence widened and broadened and deepened. “I wish we had more time. I wish you had more choices.”
The sudden tightness in her chest and the lump in her throat made her leery of her highly emotional state. Trusting and judging a man was something she hadn’t expected to do. Ever. Was he really thinking about her first? Or did he wish he had another choice, too?
Because Xander would do whatever he must to complete his mission. If achieving success meant he had to keep her alive, he would do so. If success meant mating with her, he would do that, too, and pride would make him do it well. If success meant tying himself to a woman he didn’t want for the rest of his life, he would make that sacrifice, also. He would keep his word—she trusted him enough to know he wouldn’t desert her once the mission ended.
After he made a promise, he wouldn’t complain. He wouldn’t rage. He would stand by the bargain and would deal with fate on his own terms and go on.
But mere acceptance wasn’t good enough for her. Mere physical lust wasn’t good enough, either. Neither was a mental connection on a level she couldn’t put into words. She’d always wanted love.
She wished she knew more about his culture. She wished she knew more about him. He’d never spoken of his background—not his family or his friends or his life before this mission. She didn’t even know if he intended to spend his life in space or if he craved home and hearth on Mystique.
When he bent to take her mouth with his, her concerns no longer seemed so important—but she could no more resist him than a beach could stop the next tide from surging ashore. It was as if he were a force of nature and she’d take whatever he flung her way.
Luckily for her, the man’s mouth could have been classified as a secret weapon, his psi an unlikely arsenal of secret forays over her yearning flesh. Flesh that seemed more sensitive than ever before.
Returning to her body had made her very aware of Xander’s male aroma, and she reveled in his heady scent that caused her breath to hitch, her senses to heighten with the promise of so much more to follow. When he used his psi to adjust her suit, she felt as though he possessed a dozen pairs of lips, all of them intent on arousing her arms and legs, her fingers and toes, her shoulder blades and her neck—but not once did he so much as skim her erotic zones.
His violet eyes kindled with scarlet sparkles. Can I assume you like—
I’d like it better if you’d touch my breasts.
Sure.
She tensed, waiting for him to follow through. Instead, he raked her earlobe with his teeth, shooting fire down her neck. What about—
Such impatience. He practically growled. “If I can wait, so can you.”
When he used his psi to float her into the air, she groaned. Now he had access to all of her, and he took wicked advantage. He turned her facedown and spread her thighs, and she gasped.
“What are you—”
“Are you nice and comfortable?”
“Yes.” No.
He used his psi to tweak the tips of her breasts. Delightful sensations stole through her, and she didn’t even mind that if she’d been on the ground she would have been on her hands and knees. Instead, all she could think about was that he was parting her thighs and sensuously teasing her bottom. Not only was she eager for him to touch her yonia, through the mind link she understood that he was just as eager to delve inside her. But he resisted. His big palms caressed her curves, following her hips and down her legs, yet never opening her labella where she wanted him most.
Alara loved the way he took his time, as if she were precious starfire. Knowing more pleasure was to come, a shiver of yearning coursed down her spine. Always, Xander was creative, but she’d never understood how much pleasure he took from taking absolute control.
He made lovemaking special.
He made lovemaking about her.
Her nipples received the most outrageous tugs. Moisture seeped between her parted legs, and she wished she could lean back into him. Never had she so ached to fill her yonia.
But he held her so firm, she might as well have been webbed in. While he ignored his cravings and her yearnings, he remained steadfast and controlled his urge to take her hard and deep.
“Do you feel how much I want you?” Amusement and a knowing awareness entered his tone.
She couldn’t think when he kept tormenting her flesh. He felt so good. Why did he insist on talking? Trying to stem her impatience and her swirling thoughts, she ignored for one moment the demands of her cells. “What?”
“Remember when you were webbed in and had to wait?” If she lived a thousand years she wouldn’t forget it. Even then, she’d wanted him—but not as much as she did right now.
“Ah . . . oh . . . So?”
“You liked it when you didn’t know what would happen next.”
At his words, her yonia clenched. His reminder made her all too aware that his roaming hands were ignoring her labella, and she suddenly felt . . . bare.
Vulnerable.
Excited.
“Are you asking my permission?” she gasped, unwilling to admit to herself what he was forcing her to think about.
“I’m telling you what you like. I’ve always wondered why you liked my taking control, and now I’m going to know.” He chuckled wickedly. He intended to tease her again. It wasn’t enough that her own body betrayed her. He’d understood what she liked better than she did herself, and now he would experience both sides of the anticipation—just as she would.
She would like more of the same, and now he knew that in the deepest part of him. By the sweet stars. Without a doubt, he knew she wanted him to follow through. She had no idea what the krek was wrong with her.
Ah, you crave my focused attention.
Had she broadcast her thought at him? She had no idea. She only knew she was having trouble thinking. Too many sensations, his and hers, were gathering into a whirlwind.
Yet still, enough of the physiologist in her knew he was right. Merciless teasing would cause heat, and the heat would make her . . . burn.
We’ll both burn, he promised.
Every muscle in her tightened. Waiting would cause the most erotic kind of irresistible pleasure. At the idea of sharing that with him, anticipation charged up her throat until she finally asked, “Why don’t you start?”
“I’m trying to make up my mind.”
“About?”
She ground her teeth and shut her eyes. She couldn’t quite know for certain what part of her anatomy he was looking at, but with her bottom up in the air, she had a good idea. The nips and caresses of her suit never ceased, and his palms rested for a moment on the insides of her parted thighs, deliciously teasing.
Through the mind link she gathered that to him, her skin was marvelously soft. Beneath his fingers, she quivered in expectation.
He placed a hand ever so sweetly on the curve of her bottom. Her flesh was smooth, curved, rounded beneath his touch, and through the link, he shot admiration. “Whether I want to start here.” He parted her labella and blew warm air on her delicate flesh. The heat and the vibrations were so deliciously sweet that she didn’t have time to bite back a moan of encouraging pleasure. “Or here.” He nipped her cheek and licked away the sting, and she envisioned his teeth marks on her pale flesh.
But she also felt her flesh quiver under his lips. His fingers slowly stroked between her legs.
“Or here. Here. Or here.”
He slipped inside her yonia and spread moisture over her labella, and she sensed no hesitation in him about mating for life. With every stroke, genuine heat sizzled through her. Through him. Melting together, merging bright and hot.
He started slowly, the caresses from his fingers gentle and
easy to take as he explored every exposed inch of her. When he brushed her sensitive core, the firestorm almost swept her away.
She gasped, and somehow she was arching her back, raising her yonia to welcome the heat of each stroke as she swelled to a blissful inferno. He stroked harder and faster, and she lost her breath. Lost her last inhibitions. His mind linked tight, and he was right there with her, feeling everything: her wants, her hopes, her needs—and the burning.
She was so close to release. Just the tiniest increase in pressure would make her explode.
He suddenly stopped . . . and she moaned a complaint straight into his mind.
“Easy.” He ran his hands over her bottom, clutching her flesh, testing her patience, and then with no warning his mouth closed over her labella. Privacy mode prevented the crew from hearing her scream of pleasure, but she’d always wonder if they felt the air shudder from her desperate gasps.
Now she knew the pleasure he took from placing his mouth on her so intimately. She felt his pleasure as her own—and it was too much.
If she’d been free to move, her legs would have kicked out. Her hands would have clutched what was in reach. But she could do nothing except enjoy what he was so very good at. Do nothing but enjoy his expert mouth and tongue that swept her higher, tauter than she’d ever been.
Of course with her feelings wide open, his clever tongue knew exactly what she needed, but he never applied quite enough pressure in just the right spot for her to achieve satisfaction. Between his psi and his hands holding her firmly, he seemed determined to keep them both right on the edge. She couldn’t so much as twitch. She marveled that he could resist his own demanding needs.
He was keeping her exactly where she wanted to be. Burning. For him. Burning for more of Xander’s lovemaking.
Although the big Rystani warrior might never give her his heart, she would take all he had to offer, and that would have to be enough. She would love him enough to make a permanent pairing work.
As he buried his tongue in her yonia, she moaned with pleasure at the thought at his claiming her for his own. For life.
The Ultimatum Page 24