by Dixon, Ruby
I smile, but my eyes are filling with tears. If we’re so close, why are they getting rid of me?
“But you need to be happy. It’s clear that you’re in love with this stiff-necked soldier.” Mathiras nods at Sentorr. “And he’s needed on his ship. And you need him. Which is why you need to go.”
“Plus, there’s other humans on board,” Kaspar says. “Human females. It’ll be good for you to be around others of your kind. They can support you in ways we can’t.”
“Like hair braiding,” Adiron says, and makes a kissy face. “And helping each other dress.”
“Kef me, if they’re helping each other dress, I want to go watch,” Kaspar mutters.
Mathiras turns and glares at both of them.
I don’t point out how right Kaspar is, or that they’ve braided my hair in the past. “I wouldn’t choose other humans over you guys. You know that!”
“Zoey,” Mathiras says gently, squeezing my shoulders. “Just because you go with them doesn’t mean you’re abandoning us.”
“Doesn’t it?” I whisper, feeling as if my heart is breaking. A hand brushes mine and Sentorr locks his fingers quietly with my own in a silent show of support.
“You’re our sister. That doesn’t change if you’re on this ship or another one. If you go with them, we’ll cover nav until we get someone on full time. We’ve done it before. We can do it again.”
“You’ll burn too much fuel,” I warn.
“We’ll send him the bill,” Adiron says. “He’s loaded.”
Sentorr only snorts and gives my hand a squeeze.
“But I won’t get to see you guys,” I whisper, looking up at Mathiras. I’m torn. So torn.
“We’ll talk on the comm daily,” he promises.
“And you can keep sending us charts and your star maps until we get someone new,” Kaspar adds. “You’ll just be sending them from afar.”
Adiron’s been pretty quiet (well, for Adiron), but he speaks up. “And we’ll schedule visits with each other. Sentorr agreed to drag you out to visit us at least every other month. It’ll be good for our ships to connect anyhow. We can network and share leads.”
“Downtime will be good for all of us,” Sentorr says quietly. “Especially with Fran and Kivian expecting a child.”
Oh.
Oh…they’re encouraging me to go. I look at my brothers’ faces and it’s clear that their biggest worry is my happiness. Nothing else matters. I burst into tears, flinging my arms around Mathiras’s waist. “I love you guys.”
“We love you, too, little sister,” My oldest brother says, squeezing me tight then releasing me so I can hug Kaspar. He grabs me and hauls me against him, lifting my feet off the ground in a big bear hug that nearly empties my lungs, but then he puts me down again just as quickly—and just in time for Adiron to sling an arm around my neck and haul me against him, noogie-ing my hair.
“You’d better not forget us,” Adiron tells me.
“Never.” And I burst into tears again, because I’m going to go with Sentorr and leave my brothers behind and I’m so happy and so sad all at once.
“You don’t have to go,” Sentorr speaks up, and Adiron’s hand on my head slows its painful drag. I slide out from under his grip and turn to face Sentorr. My beautiful, proud, stoic Sentorr with a soldier’s bearing and a firm mouth that smiles only for me. He’s not smiling right now. In fact, he looks almost pained. “The last thing I want is for you to be unhappy, Zoey. If you want to stay with them—
I fling myself into his arms and kiss him before he can say anything else.
I want this.
I want him.
16
SENTORR
Several hours later, the Jabberwock’s engines purr as she glides out into deep space, away from the Little Sister and towards her next destination. Zoey’s at my side, her bags on the end of my bed, and she sobs into my shoulder, curled up in my arms.
“I’ve never been away from them before,” she tells me between fits of weeping. “W-what if they b-burn all the fuel and end up going broke?”
“They’re pirates, Zoey. Corsairs. Being sly is what they do. If they burn all their fuel, they’ll send out a distress beacon and rob whoever comes to bail them out.”
She sniffles as I stroke her hair. “Just like those dicks on the asteroid did to us.”
“That’s right.”
“I’m going to need to send Kaspar charts later tonight. And probably send him a program to let me course correct him from afar. He’s keffing terrible at navigation, even if he thinks he’s not.” She rubs her wet face against my uniform, but I don’t mind. It’s already soaked with her tears.
“That’s fine,” I tell her. “We’ll let Alyvos and Iris know we’ll switch out with them later tonight.”
She sits up and gives me a wobbly smile. “I’m sorry. I’m being a big baby, I know. Part of me knows they’ll be fine. That they’re probably heading to the nearest station so Adiron can stick his dick into some space hookers without his sister giving him shit over it, but part of me just worries.”
I rub a hand down her back. I’m trying not to think about mating, because Zoey is sad and vulnerable right now, but it’s hard not to. Not when she’s curled up against me, her breasts pressing against my chest, her legs slung over my thigh. It’s hard to think about anything but kissing her, tasting her all over.
But I don’t want to push her, either. I’ve waited this long to have her, I can wait a few days more. “Of course you’re going to worry,” I tell her. “We’ll check on them constantly, I promise. You think they won’t be checking up on you? Making sure that I’m treating you right?”
That brings a smile to her watery eyes. “They probably bugged my gear so they could spy on us.”
I smile back at her, but at the same time, I make a mental note to check her gear. Just in case. Because they ARE pirates. “And if you’re ever not happy, I’ll take you back to them in a heartbeat, no questions asked.” It’ll kill me, but I can endure just about anything but her tears. Those are tearing me apart.
Her fingers move along the front of my uniform, teasing the fastening at the neck. “No. I’m happy. I missed you so much that I thought I would die with how badly it hurt, Sentorr. I kept thinking I’d made a mistake, but I didn’t see how to fix it. I wanted you. I never stopped wanting you.”
I rub my knuckles along her jaw, caressing her soft skin. “You’ve always had me. I was waiting for you. I’ll keep waiting for you if I have to.”
Zoey shakes her head. “You know what would make me feel better?” When her gaze meets mine, she says, “A nice, toe-curling orgasm.”
I groan. “Zoey, there’s no rush—”
“Good. That means I get to explore you this time. I didn’t really get a chance last time. Is it true that your spur’s sensitive on the underside? Is it hard to the touch? Can I touch it?”
She’s going to kill me.
“Sentorr?”
I have no words, just hungry need. With an unsteady hand, I reach for my collar and undo the fastening there, then let the auto-seal slowly glide down. My Zoey makes an impatient noise in her throat and pulls at my clothing before the auto-seal can even finish opening my uniform, slipping her hand inside and caressing my chest. “I should have never touched you,” she tells me, voice low and sweet even as her fingers graze over my nipple. “Because I didn’t know what I was missing. When I did, it made losing you unbearable.”
“You haven’t lost me,” I tell her, tugging her even closer against me. She’s still curled up against my side, and I press a kiss to her hornless brow. Did I think humans were odd with their smooth, rounded heads? I like the feel of her like this against me, knowing she can’t jab my face with one of her horns. She’s perfect—dainty but fierce, delicate but fearless. I would change nothing about her.
“I’m so glad,” she says, and then she pushes at my uniform, and I help her pull the sleeves off my arms. She admires my biceps, squeezing the h
ard muscle of one before tracing her fingers along the protective plating. Her expression is intense as she touches me, moving along my shoulder before heading down my chest and teasing my navel. Then, she moves to my trou, and a wicked little smile curves her pink mouth before she touches the fastener and it begins to undo.
I can’t watch her staring at me with that ravenous expression. If I do, I’ll come in my trou and the evening will be over. I kick off my boots and lift my hips as she tugs my trou down my thighs, trying to focus on anything but her so I can pace myself. “The, ah, new ship’s quarters are bigger.”
“So big,” she purrs with agreement, and I can feel my cock jump as if she’s talking about it and not the warbird.
“We have room on the bridge for six stations instead of four, and there’s two extra crew rooms. Bigger rec area. Bigger mess hall. Bigger guns.”
“Oh, I like big guns,” Zoey says dreamily, and her hands move to the insides of my thighs, lightly caressing. She kneels at the edge of the bed, her breasts pressing against my bare legs.
I close my eyes, because this is the sweetest torture ever. “Two guest chambers, too. More than enough room for your brothers to visit.”
“Mmm.”
“If you want your own chamber, there’s room for that, too.” I know the human mates of the others in the crew sleep beside their males, but I don’t want to push Zoey into anything too quickly. I can wait until she’s ready.
“I want to be here with you,” she tells me, and then her hands clasp my shaft. “You’re so big.”
I groan, forgetting all about rooms or warbirds. Nothing matters except Zoey’s touch. “You like it?”
“God, yes.” Her fingers trail down my length, grazing over heated skin. “Look at all these ridges.” I can feel her shiver, her fingers gliding and caressing me. “That’s definitely not a human thing.”
“Have you seen a lot of human cocks?” I’m panting, trying to keep control.
“I watched some porn vids,” she admits. “I wanted to know what it was like. They…weren’t very sexy. But it was a good anatomy lesson. I like this better, though.” She drags a fingertip over my sac. “You’re bigger and prettier.”
A laugh huffs out of me. “I don’t know that most males want their cocks to be called pretty.”
“But it is!” She grins at me and then moves her hands over me again. “You have a big, thick head here.” And she traces a fingertip around the crown, sending crashing waves of lust through my body. “And you’re a gorgeous, deep shade of blue. And there’s a big vein along the top nestled in all these perfect ridges. And you’re big, too.” Zoey grips me with a light squeeze, as if testing my width. “I wasn’t sure how big would be a good size, but I like this one. And…you have a spur.”
And she lightly touches the tip of it.
I grit my teeth. I don’t know which is the more pleasurable torture—her words, her touches, or the fascination on her face as she caresses me. My spur isn’t as sensitive as the rest of my cock, so when she gives me an eager look after touching it, I nod at her. “You can touch it.”
Her brows furrow. “I guess it’s not like a clit where I practically jump off the bed if you touch mine.”
I want to tell her that my cock’s far more sensitive, but I also want her to do as she likes. If she wants to caress my spur for hours, I’ll sit here quietly and let her explore to her heart’s content. Any touch of her hands feels good. “I still like it.”
“Yes, but I want you to go wild on me,” Zoey says with a mischievous little grin. She strokes my spur with her thumb, caressing the underside and at the base, and I suck in a breath, because that felt…different. “Now we’re getting somewhere,” she tells me. “And I’m going to put my mouth on you. Do you want me to use plas-film?”
The hygienic, body-protecting film? “Only if you want to.”
Her nose wrinkles adorably. “Me? No. You’re the one from Homeworld. They’re all freaks about disease.”
I laugh, though it comes out roughly because she’s still caressing the underside of my spur and I’m about two seconds away from grabbing her by the hair and pushing her down on the mattress to kef the daylights out of her. Her touch is sending jolts through my body, and my cock feels harder by the moment. Pre-cum’s beading on the head and Zoey notices it, too. She gasps and then looks up at me. “If we’re not using plas-film…I’m going to taste you.”
I bite back a groan. “Taste me, then,” I tell her, voice ragged. I move a hand to her hair and caress her, though it’s taking everything I have not to fist her locks and drag her down against me in the most primal of urges.
She gives me a mischievous look and then leans in, licking up a bead of pre-cum. The sight of her pink tongue flicking against my cock? The light stroke of it? I nearly come right then and there. I can feel the sweat break out on my forehead as she smiles at me. “I like it.”
“Do you?” The words barely manage to rasp from my throat.
“Mmmhmm.” She clasps her fingers around my cock and licks the head again.
I fall back onto the bed, lost. I always knew Zoey was a bit of a tease, but this goes beyond anything I have ever imagined. Nothing has ever felt better. I growl low in my throat, my hand fisting in her soft, soft hair as I do my best not to push her face forward, to guide her. I want her to have the freedom to use her mouth as she likes. And she does, licking her way up and down my shaft, tracing each ridge with the tip of her tongue and making little sounds as she does. After an agonizing length of time, she returns to the head of my cock, swirling her tongue over it, and then sucks me deep.
I suck in a breath, my sac tight against my body. I can feel my seed surging, my body ready to come, to pump deep into her. I’m so close to the edge that I gently pull her off of me. “Zoey,” I pant. “Enough for now.”
She looks up at me and thrusts her lower lip out, pink and shiny. “I’m not done.”
“I will be if you keep touching me,” I warn her and sit up. I pull her into my arms and claim her sexy mouth with mine, devouring her with one kiss after another. Zoey moans as I do, her leg sliding over me until she’s straddling me once more. It feels amazing…but I need to make sure that she’s hot and wet so when I ease into her, she won’t feel any pain for her first time mating. I continue kissing and nibbling on that perfect, lovely mouth of hers and gently lower her to the blankets, dragging one leg up against my hip as I lie her beneath me. “My turn to touch you.”
Her eyes flare with eagerness and she touches the fasteners on her clothing, helping me undress her. I don’t take my time; I tear the fabric away from her body the moment it loosens, revealing her pale skin and soft curves. She gasps as I rip her clothing off, her body quivering, but her excitement is palpable. “Sentorr,” she breathes, her hands going to my horns as I lower my mouth to her bare cunt.
I give her folds a long, hard drag of my tongue and she cries out, clutching at my horns as her hips rock and she pushes her thighs further apart, welcoming me between them. She’s wet, aroused from touching me, but I want to make her soaking with need. I work her cunt with my tongue, tasting each fold and nuzzling it before gently sliding them apart and focusing my attention on the tiny bud of her clit.
Zoey cries out, arching up against my mouth and rubbing, as if she’s desperate for the friction. I anchor one arm around her hip, pinning her as I work her cunt with my lips and tongue. She writhes against me, her honey slick and coating my mouth with her flavor, but she’s small and human, and I am big and mesakkah. I have to make sure that she can take my cock.
Carefully, I push one finger into her core, even as I continue to work her clit with my tongue, alternately sucking and licking. She makes pleading noises as I slowly ease my finger into her tight channel. She’s small, for all that she’s hot and incredibly wet. I pump into her with gentle motions, until I’m able to add a second finger to her heat and use both to fill her like I want to with my cock. Her hips arch higher, and she clings to me, babbling
insensible things as I lick her clit in steady motions, using both fingers and tongue to pleasure her.
Then she’s keening her release, a fresh wave of sweet honey washing over my tongue as she comes. I continue to thrust into her, wringing every bit of pleasure out of her orgasm that I can, loving the way she holds on to me as she shudders with pleasure. It’s as if I’m the only thing she trusts to hold her up when the world’s crashing down around her, and it fills me with intense joy, even as it makes me hungrier than ever to claim her. My cock throbs and aches with need, and I grind against the blankets as I lap up her release.
She lets out a sultry little sigh, twitching every time my tongue moves against her clit. “Mmm, Sentorr, your tongue.”
“You like it?” I slick it against her clit again, teasing.
A little moan escapes her. “Kef, yes.”
I press a kiss to the inside of her thigh, then kiss my way up her belly. How did mesakkah males go entire lifetimes without putting their mouths on their mates? It’s unthinkable. I can’t imagine going a day without using mine on Zoey. I want to taste her everywhere—from her delicate toes to the curved shell of her ear.
But right now? I just want to sink deep into her.
I ply my mate with kisses as I move over her, dragging her leg up against my hip and resting my cock in the cradle between her thighs. She whimpers into my mouth, locking her legs around me and holding on to my neck. She’s beautiful under me, and I thrust my cock through the wet heat of her folds, slicking it with her juices. As I do, she gasps, her breasts bouncing with the movement, and she’s so lovely and it feels so good that I do just that for several long moments, stroking along her cunt, rubbing my cock in her honey and watching her plush breasts move as her body does.
Zoey reaches up and cups my cheek. “You know I love you, right?”
I groan. “I do. You have my heart as well.” I take her hand in mine and press it over the plating on my chest, directly over my own heart.