Awakening

by Rebel Miller

  He chuckled. “Are you still trying to deny what’s between us?” he asked then licked just below my jaw. “Tell me what you want.”

  I sighed. “I — I want you to kiss me.”

  He nipped my neck with the edge of his teeth. “No, you want more than that. Tell me,” he demanded.

  My body trembled at the steel in his voice. I started to pant, my lungs trying to stay ahead of my leaping pulse. Its pace only increased when he ran his tongue over my lips, giving me a taste of what I wanted but refused stubbornly to admit.

  All Above, I wanted to be a stronger woman, but the man I had loved for years didn’t want me and the one I couldn’t stop thinking about was more than willing to have me. In that moment, I was tired of fighting him. Gannon understood the terms of our reality as well as I did, maybe even more. I would take what he was offering and enjoy it for what it was.

  Leaning back, I held his gaze and took a deep breath. “I want you to fuck me.”

  I barely got the words out before he captured my mouth with his. He moved both hands to the sides of my face, holding me in place. Instantly, I was lost to an overwhelming assault of his crisp and sharp taste. Gasping, I grabbed the front of his shirt to steady myself as he forced me to walk backward. At the same time, I ran my hands over the front of his chest to locate each of the buttons of his jacket. I blindly opened them then groaned when I found a shirt underneath.

  “Too many clothes,” I complained as his teeth grazed my lips.

  He grunted and stopped our blind trek. We continued kissing even as he removed the shirt swiftly, his moves as agitated as mine had been. I trailed trembling hands along his jaw and into the lushness of his hair. When he had freed himself from the clothing, he tackled the buttons running down the front of my dress.

  I had taken special care when getting dressed that morning, wanting to be sure that I looked as professional and capable as possible. My knee-length black dress was sleek and sophisticated, its only embellishment a woven belt that buckled to the side. I thought it looked smart and gave me a proficient air. Gannon couldn’t have cared less.

  I stood panting into the heat of his kisses while he tugged at the buttons, most surviving his onslaught while the rest made rapping sounds as they fell to the wood floors. Soon I took matters into my own hands and managed to remove my belt without it coming to any harm.

  Gannon leaned back. His eyes shone bright as they ran down the length of my body. Now that my dress had been wrangled open, I allowed it to fall from my shoulders and stood before him in my bra, panties, sheer black leggings and high-heeled boots. Nostrils flared, he swallowed hard before placing a hand against the floor-to-ceiling window behind me and pushing me harshly against it. I jolted upon impact, arching away from the coolness of the glass at my back. He surged forward, capturing my mouth once again.

  “Wait,” I said against his lips.

  Startled, he pulled away to look down at me with troubled eyes, his chest heaving. “Did I hurt you?”

  I shook my head, lowering my eyes to his chest and drinking in the sight of him with sputtering breaths.

  I’d known Gannon was fit, but I hadn’t realized just how much his clothing hid from my imagination. I splayed my fingers, running them along the thick planes of muscle on his arms, shoulder and chest. His breath hitched as I trailed a path across his nipples and down to a taut waist that looked to be carved out of stone. I circled his navel and ran my tongue along my bottom lip as I imagined licking him there. Gannon’s hold on my waist tightened sharply. I glanced up to find him staring at me with a hunger that sent a shiver up my spine. If he was intimidating before, watching the transformation that came over him when lust came to life between us was nothing short of heart-stopping.

  Face tense, he brought up his wrist up to my eye level. “My health data is current. I can show you.”

  I smiled when he showed me the information on his comm.

  “Thank you,” I said, suddenly shy. “I’m on birth control.” I moved to show him my own record of health, but he stopped me by sliding a hand around my neck and running a thumb along my jaw.

  “I trust you,” he said. The flickering lights coming through the window reflected in his eyes, changing them from silver-blue to sea blue and everything in between.

  The hand resting behind me lowered to unclasp my bra. I shifted to let it join my dress on the floor. Gannon parted his lips as he placed a hand under one of my breasts, feeling its heavy weight and molding it as he thumbed the puckered nipple. I sighed at the intensity of the sensation that swept through me. My skin was on fire, kindling, begging for release. No doubt Gannon could feel the scorching heat assailing my body. He closed his eyes briefly, and the look he gave me when he reopened them was almost hostile. He kissed me then, taking my lips so harshly they were sure to be bruised the next day. The thought of being marked by his passion sent an unexpected thrill through me.

  Gannon forced his way past my lips and licked forcefully to gain entry. Still stroking my breast, he raised his other hand to my hair, his fingers curling into it tightly. I cringed at the bite of pain, but my heart sped when he soothed my scalp with a knowing touch soon after. I lapped after his tongue with my own, trying to taste every part of him.

  Suddenly he shifted and placed his hands behind my thighs, lifting me off the ground. As he licked deeper into my mouth, our tongues danced around each other. Meanwhile, I clawed at his back, trying to get closer even though we were already skin to skin. Gannon turned and carried me the short distance to his dimly lit bedroom. I reveled in the pressure of his weight on me as he lowered us to the bed. Now cradling him between my hips, I became desperate to feel him inside me and writhed against his heavy arousal, but Gannon’s hand was suddenly at my hip, holding me still.

  “Don’t move,” he said tightly, giving me a desperate look that flooded my blood with a new wave of heat.

  Responding to the desire evident in his gaze, I ran my hands over his chest and down his waist. A thrill of anticipation blazed through me as I reached for the thickness of his cock. I frowned when Gannon grabbed my hands and pressed them beside my head.

  “Don’t move these either.”

  He threw me a curious look before leaned over me, pressing me deep into the bed. Gannon kissed and licked every inch of skin down my neck and across my chest. He laved at my breasts, making me gasp when he nipped at their puckered buds.

  I lifted my head, wanting to watch him as he owned my body, but I couldn’t see him through his disheveled hair. Without thinking, I smoothed it back. I had only a moment to relish the cool locks between my fingers before Gannon landed a swift slap on my thigh. The stinging pain that bloomed made me cry out.

  He considered me carefully. “You moved,” he said by way of explanation.

  I stared at him, not sure what to make of the slap, his nonchalance or the way my body ignited in response to both. Holding his gaze, I slowly lifted my hand, laying it beside my head once again. I realized then that he wanted me available to him, at his mercy and waiting for his direction.

  Somewhere inside me, I thought I should have felt affronted, but who was I fooling? I was no virgin. I had friends who desired a bit of pain and aggression with their sex. I just had never believed myself to be like them. It seemed Gannon had awakened a need inside me that had lain dormant, seeking the right circumstance or person to give it reason to rise.

  Gannon grinned wickedly as he pushed up and off of me to stand beside the bed, dragging my leggings and panties with him as he went. When he reached my boots, he unzipped them and tugged everything off. I only had to lift my hips to help him. He seemed more than capable in this area.

  My eyes narrowed as he started to unbuckle his pants. A man of Gannon’s stature and looks probably has more than one of these liaisons going on at any one time. The thought had popped into my mind many times before, and I had found comfort in it as I deflected his advances. But now as I lay before him naked in his private apartment, waiting for hi
m to fuck me as I had requested — no, as I had begged him to — it stung.

  Grow up, Metallurgist.

  I knew what this was. I wouldn’t let my heart get involved. Surely, Gannon wouldn’t.

  I didn’t have time to follow the unsettling turn of my thoughts further after Gannon finally stood completely naked before me. My mouth went dry. I clenched my hands, fighting off the urge to reach for him. The rest of him was even more imposingly beautiful as I’d anticipated. His cock was long, thick and so hard it curved up to tap against his taut belly. Roughly, he ran a hand along the length of it, stroking it from root to tip, where a pearly gleam glistened and beckoned. I pressed my lips together, anxious to get started, to feel deep inside me the power that radiated off of him. I glanced up to find his eyes roving over my breasts and waist to land between my thighs, where I enjoyed the heat of his gaze.

  He climbed back onto the bed, running a hand up my inner thigh as he approached. “Dai, t’au falahra,” he murmured almost reverently.

  I only needed to know the meaning of falahra to know he was admiring me, calling me “beautiful.” I flushed at the sound of the foreign language on his tongue. It was one of the sexiest things I had ever heard.

  Desperate, I opened my thighs wider, seeking to entice him since I couldn’t touch him and bend him to my will. My body rejoiced the moment he took my mouth, igniting the very core of me. The ache between my legs deepened agonizingly, making me so wet I was certain he could smell my arousal. When he dragged his blunt fingers through the slick folds of my sex, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I thrust both my hands into his hair, pulling him down to me. For a few exhilarating seconds, I sucked greedily at his lips, his tongue and the skin around his mouth, trying to taste as much as I could.

  Though he had promised it, I still cried out in surprise when he slapped me again, this time much harder and on the other thigh. I squeezed my eyes shut and panted through the pain then groaned as it faded into a dull heat.

  Gannon ran a palm over the tingling spot on my thigh. “You okay?”

  I opened my eyes to find him watching me. From his careful expression, I knew he was wondering whether I was still with him, whether I could handle it.

  I licked my lips. “You seem so much stronger than that.”

  Gannon’s nostrils flared as deep satisfaction filled his face. He kissed me with a new sense of urgency. He repositioned himself and ran his arms up mine to grab my wrists. Finally, I felt his cock nudge at my sex. With a quick shift in position, he thrust into me so hard I bounced up the bed. I cried out, clenching my fists as I tightened around every inch he buried inside me.

  “Fuck,” he ground out as I became more frantic in responses to his thrusts. He ran a hand along the side of my neck, his fingers stroking firmly against my pulse. My heart stuttered and I gasped. A second later I calmed down enough for him to regain control of our pace.

  “Gannon,” I begged.

  “I know, lahra,” he said. I flushed when he used the endearing abbreviation of falahra.

  He thrust again. My body clenched around his cock so tightly I felt tears well in my eyes. Gannon’s deep groan vibrated through the bed. All of a sudden an unwelcome thought entered my mind: what if I couldn’t reach orgasm? I would be both mortified and inconsolable. I’d been close before during sex, never as close as this, but it was a possibility all the same. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to drive away the idea.

  “Look at me,” Gannon said, his chest laboring. I dragged my lids open. “I want your eyes on me when you come.” He stared into my eyes as he forced himself deeper still on his next thrust.

  I nodded reflexively, wondering how I would manage that feat. If he got me to orgasm, I would probably lose all control of my body’s coordination. I was nearly incoherent with arousal as it was.

  As soon as the thought entered my mind, I felt a flutter deep within me. I grasped at it desperately, knowing that I was almost there. Gannon must have sensed how near I was to the edge — his pace increased and strengthened. He was a piston, fucking in and out of my body so hard I thought I would combust for the sheer ferocity of his thrusts. Suddenly I felt him stiffen and lengthen almost painfully inside me.

  “Kira,” he whispered hoarsely.

  His movements became less coordinated above me, so I took advantage of his lack of control to slip my hand into his hair. I gripped a fistful of it, pulling his mouth back to mine. He groaned just as I felt my body tighten then splinter into the most achingly deep orgasm I had ever had. I cried out his name as he pounded into me again and again. His body shook as he forced himself ever deeper inside me, the power of his orgasm visible in every vein standing in relief along his neck and shoulders.

  He collapsed on top of me. I threw my arms around him, holding him close as the wake of our orgasms rippled through our bodies. Eventually, after an exquisitely long time, our breathing and pulses slowed.

  Gannon eased up and rested a cheek on one of his fists as he stared down at me. Using his other hand, he traced undefined shapes onto my shoulder. I smiled at him.

  Gods, he was so beautiful. A stunning sculpture come to life.

  His meandering gaze met my own, pinning me into the bed. The way he looked at me both confused and electrified me.

  This is just a temporary diversion. I repeated the phrase over and over in my head, holding on to it.

  I fidgeted a bit under his weight and he shifted his hips, dragging his cock out of me as he moved to rest at my side. He was still hard, which only mildly surprised me. He was the most virile man I had ever had sex with.

  “You certainly know how to get your way, don’t you?” I murmured, running a finger along the side of his face and up across his hairline.

  His smiled then planted a loud kiss on my mouth.

  “Female citizens everywhere must have stories to tell,” I added.

  His smile slipped a bit.

  “I guess when you can give orgasms like that, I shouldn’t be surprised,” I said, watching his hair fall through my fingers. “Thank you.”

  I looked into his eyes to find his gaze had shuttered.

  I stayed my hand. “What?”

  “Are you thanking me for fucking you?”

  “That’s not what I —”

  “What did you mean?”

  I hesitated. Telling him he’d finally given me the type of orgasm I’d been searching for didn’t seem to be a remark he would approve of. And, truthfully, it wasn’t the reason I had thanked him. I was trying to put distance between us, to remind him and myself both that this was only temporary, for fun.

  He pushed himself off of me to sit at the edge of the bed. For a full minute, he sat in silence, looking away from me with his hands clenched. He seemed to be caught in a deep struggle with himself.

  I lay behind him, feeling the need to do something but afraid to say anything. The tension in the room elevated with our every breath. Finally, he turned to me on a heavy breath as though he had come to some difficult decision.

  “I guess that will have to be enough,” he said before pressing his body on top of me and easing into me again.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  “Helena, Maya or Zoe.” Sela swiped through her tablet. “I don’t know. They all sound good, but not right.”

  I was curled up in one corner of her couch, tugging steadily at my hair while staring out the window.

  Absently, I heard her say, “How about Prospect names? Anima, Torah or Zhara?”

  I chewed at my bottom lip and closed my eyes.

  “Since I’m having quadruplets, I’ll have to think of more than one name.”

  I frowned.

  “Imagine that!” Sela said. “Two boys and two girls.”

  I sat up so quickly, the cushions tumbled to the ground. “What?!”

  At the other end of the couch, Sela rubbed her belly, still studying her tablet. “Ah, so you were listening.” She eyed me. “Are you ready to tell me what’s wrong?”

  As soon as my l
ips trembled, Sela opened her arms. I crawled over to her.

  “They think I’m a whore,” I said as a matter of fact.

  Sela chuckled. “I doubt anyone thinks that you, Kira Metallurgist, are a whore.”

  “Two men do,” I assured her. I swiped away self-pitying tears and rested my head on the meager space left available on her lap. Her belly was much larger now. It protruded gently against the back of my head.

  “Tai thinks I’m allowing Gannon to use me, and Gannon thinks I’m the one using him,” I said. “That makes me a whore, right?”

  “‘Opportunistic’ is the word I would use,” she quipped, running her hand over my hair.

  I turned my head to face her. “Sela, this is not a joke.” I quickly told her about the argument between the three of us in the garden, ending with me in Gannon’s bed.

  “I knew he’d fix you! Goodness. Both amazing to look at and amazing at sex.” She fanned her face. I rolled my eyes and batted her annoying hand away when she tried to fan me as well.

  “I can always count on you to home in on the more important matters in life,” I grumbled.

  “I am nothing if not reliable.” She returned to her tablet, swiping repeatedly across it, no doubt hunting down more suitable baby names. “Kira, let’s put things in perspective,” she said. “You have two of the most gorgeous and accomplished men in the Realm fighting over you.”

  “Tai doesn’t want me, so technically they can’t be fighting over me.”

  Sela snorted. “I say enjoy it while it lasts.” Suddenly she gasped and turned her tablet to face me.

  Glancing at it, I saw an image of the high chancellor with a number of world ministers, accompanied by an article about the meeting the day before. It reported that the proposal had been passed and would go to Realm Council for approval. A little further down the article was a photo of me and a brief mention of my contribution to the document’s development and what I said during the meeting.

  My eyes widened. I immediately activated my comm.

  I’m in the newsfeed!

  I received a response almost immediately from Tai.