Their Memoriam

by Jazz Michaels

  The brush of his beard against my heated flesh only intensified the sensations. Head back, I leaned into him as he massaged my breasts—one with his hand, the other with his mouth. When he sucked my nipple tight against his teeth, a cry slid out of my throat.

  Then he traded, only after he blew cool air against my damp nipple. Wetness seemed to soak my panties. If he wasn’t careful, it might end up soaking his thigh. I forgot the concern as he captured my nipple again. Instead of palming my other breast, his hand slid beneath the waistband of my pants. His skin contacted that of my ass and I arched, a pleading note in my throat.

  “Shh, sweet beauty. We have time for everything.” Please let that be a promise. He kissed his way along my chest to my throat, then his lips hovered over mine. “Wrap your arms around me.” Glad for the release, I lowered them. My bra slipped off, then my arms were around him and he closed his mouth to mine. The searing heat of his lips on my breasts was nothing to the claiming brand of his kiss.

  When his tongue teased against mine, I opened to him and he thrust it forward. Owning me. I sank my fingers greedily into his hair, the lightest of scrapes against his scalp. He dug his fingers against the curve of my ass, urging me tighter against him. Obeying the silent command, I ground against his length, wishing we were naked.

  The kiss went on forever, barely allowing for breath, then he’d take my mouth again. It was like a drug I couldn’t get enough of. When he finally released me, he rose and carried me with him. I locked my thighs to his hips, refusing to allow any distance. It took a moment to sink in that his destination was the bedroom. Every step bumped him against me. The friction of cloth, heat, and pressure against my clit sent little pulses through me.

  At his bed, he lowered me first but followed me down. His hips pressed into mine and the pressure against my clit overwhelmed me. The grind sent me spiraling right into an orgasm, and I came. Crying out, I clung to him and he kissed the scream right out of me. The pressure eased, then returned and suddenly, I came again. So much pleasure swamped me.

  When I surfaced, it was to find my pants gone. I lay on the bed, naked and exposed. Standing at the foot, Dirk gazed over me. He still wore his jeans, but he’d shed the shirt and I drank in his naked chest greedily. He was every bit the perfection I thought he’d be. For a second, the way his gaze seemed to devour me let embarrassment invade my pleasure. I thought about drawing my legs together or covering my breasts with my hands.

  I did neither. There was a possessiveness in his gaze. The half-light of the room left part of his face in shadow, but not his eyes. Between us, there seemed to be no judgment. I still quaked from the pleasure of being held against him. Licking my lips, I smiled.

  “Hi.”

  “Hey,” he murmured, narrowing the distance until his knees touched the bed. I wanted to tell him to lose the jeans, but the words died unspoken in my throat.

  In here, he was in charge. The memory of how he’d said it shivered over my skin, and my nipples went taut once more.

  “Cold?” The innocuous question melted away the last icicles of shame and worry. He cared enough to ask…and he loved me.

  Loved me. When was the last time someone besides my parents ever confessed those words?

  “No,” I promised him. “You make me feel all kinds of things, and watching you watch me…it’s exhilarating.”

  With a smile, he reached for the button on his jeans. Biting my lower lip and sucking it against my teeth, I fought the urge to encourage him. If he decided to tease me, he might leave the damn things on.

  The hush of the fabric sliding down his body fulfilled my fantasies, then he stood there, as naked as me. Riveted, I marveled at the way his thick body narrowed faintly at the waist then dipped to reveal the thickness of his cock. Fully erect, it bounced against his abdomen as he straightened, and I groaned.

  The weakness left by my orgasm disappeared and anticipation raced through me. The rest of the world evaporated and there was only us, this moment, and please…please, let his next decision be to join me.

  “You have no idea how much your reaction pleases me,” he whispered, the compliment nearly erotic in the force it had against me. “I told you I was in charge in here, and you acquiesced so sweetly…it just makes me love you more.”

  Enough to stop talking and take me? Still, I kept my tongue quiet. The teasing might be torture, but it was exquisite torture.

  “As much as I hate to do this…because never doubt for an instant that I want you, Valda. I want you on your knees, with your mouth wrapped around my cock. I want you on all fours, with my cock buried deep in your sweet pussy. I want you spread before me, while I taste your orgasm on my lips…”

  Every word was a sensual assault, and my thighs were slick with the need dampening my sex. I wanted everything he described.

  “But we need to talk about the third item.” He dropped to his knees, robbing me of the view of his beautifully veined cock. The ruddy brown of his skin complimented my own. When his hot hands slid along my legs, I had to resist a groan.

  For the love of… He’d only touched my calves, and I was already vibrating with want. He tugged me gently and pulled my legs to the end of the bed, then over his shoulders. His mouth was mere inches from my sex, and I had to push up on my elbows. What a gorgeous vision of this man—potent, strong. The need crashing through me assaulted every thought that tried to form.

  “You’re so fucking beautiful,” he said, then pressed a kiss to the inside of my thigh. When his tongue stroked over the same spot, I forgot to breathe. His groan vibrated straight to my core. “You taste amazing…the scent is killing me. I just want to bury my face in your pussy and eat you until you come again.”

  Then do it… I clenched the bedspread in frustration.

  His chuckle tormented me as he kissed my other thigh and lapped at the dampness there. The heat of his shoulders and back beneath my legs offered a fresh form of torture.

  “You’re magnificent,” he whispered. “Even as I tease you, you don’t give in.” With a sigh, he lifted his head and flattened his hand against my belly, whether to steady me or himself, I had no idea. “The third thing is the other men assigned to this biosphere.”

  Really? I gaped. “What about them?” Frankly, at the moment, who cared?

  “I chose them.”

  Again, so?

  “For you.”

  My brain locked up.

  “Each man has something you need, you desire, and they can all make it come true for you if you let them.” He rubbed his thumb in a slow circle against my belly.

  Was he…?

  “I might be saying this badly, my sweet beauty, but I’m only possessive of you beyond the men in this place. If you choose any of them, I’m okay with it. I want you to understand, they know we’re all on the same footing. It’s always your choice. No one gets to demand of you anything more than you want, and it’s always your choice.”

  I turned the information over in my mind. No matter which way I looked at it, I couldn’t quite… “Do you mean you all expect me to take you as lovers?”

  “If you wish.” He rubbed my thigh with his beard, and the contact sent fresh shivers through me. “Or not. They may not remember why they are here, but I do.”

  Did he know why I’d chosen to come here? Did I want to know?

  “I made it clear to them on the first day, if they were interested, everyone was allowed to pursue, but you and only you make the decision on who to accept or not. I will defend your every decision. No one will force you.”

  “And if I decided right now to not take you to my bed…or your bed?” Hadn’t he said in here, he made the decisions?

  “Then I would be in pain, but I would dress and obey the wish.” The admission broke me. “I am in charge of your pleasure in here, and if your pleasure says you do not want me, then I will accept it.”

  Fuck…

  “I want you,” I told him. He deserved to know that and more I needed to tell him. “I want
you, rules and all…but I haven’t had a lover in a very long time, and the idea of having four lovers? That’s—insane.” And erotic as hell. An image of Oz filled my mind, the beautiful ebony of his skin, the sheer brilliance of his smile and the way his nimble fingers glided over me. Then Hatch replaced him, the artful smile and playful manner coupled with the searing kiss.

  “You don’t have to decide in this moment,” Dirk assured me. His breath was right against my sex. My body tensed in anticipation. Every other image fled except for the gorgeous man between my thighs. “I only wanted you to know. They all danced around it, and you weren’t willing to even engage before today… Now that you’re ready, I had to tell you.”

  Wild emotion fisted my heart. It had been a risk for him. He could have kept it all to himself and fucked me sideways. Hell, I was more than willing. But he’d been honest with me, honest and loyal. I could do no less. “You chose them because you love me?”

  “Yes,” was his immediate answer, without a hint of hesitation.

  “Okay.” I swallowed, then curled my toes against his back. “Thank you for telling me. You’re sure you want me for you, not just because of anything I’ve said or ordered?”

  He answered by pressing a kiss to my sex. The too brief contact ended when he slid his tongue between my labia and licked me from entrance to clit. Dazzled, I groaned, the tension coiled so tight in my center that I wanted to say fuck it all and slide right down to his lap and impale myself on his cock.

  As if reading my mind, his hand tightened against my hip and abdomen, holding me still.

  “I want you in every way,” Dirk promised me, desire sliding along every word. “Will you have me?”

  “Yes.” I didn’t pause to think about it. The craziness of multiple lovers at the same time aside, I wanted Dirk. I wanted everything he’d described…even the being in charge part.

  “Then no more thoughts of them, in here. There is only me.” The command resonated and then his mouth fixed over my clit. I couldn’t think about anything except the pleasure he gave me.

  Chapter 12

  How blessed are some people whose lives have no fears, no dreads, to whom sleep is a blessing that comes nightly and brings nothing but sweet dreams. - Bram Stoker

  Every glide of his tongue against my sex drove me higher. The man was relentless in his pursuit of my orgasm, but I wanted to touch him—a fact he seemed to revel in preventing. Only when I was boneless from his caresses did he finally ascend along my body. The smile he wore was pure masculine satisfaction, but his eyes—the intensity within them set fire to my need all over again.

  “You’re beautiful when you come,” he told me, palming one breast as he pressed a kiss to my throat.

  “Only when I come?” The tease flowed out of me, and I enjoyed the moment. The provocative banter felt natural, and I refused to examine it beyond I liked the way he spoke to me.

  Lifting his head, Dirk gazed at me. His hair tumbled over his shoulders and the ends tickled my flesh. “All the time. You’re beautiful when you get that fierce little crinkle here…”

  He pressed a kiss to the bridge of my nose.

  “You’re beautiful when you get that far away look in your eyes and the corners of your mouth tighten.”

  He trailed kisses from the corner of one eye to my mouth, then refused my kiss even as I opened to him.

  “You’re beautiful when you argue a point, or when you withdraw and merely observe.” He pressed a kiss to my throat and finally to the ear where he’d begun his wild seduction, and his voice dipped to a whisper. “Your body is exquisite.” He squeezed my breast as though to prove his point, and I arched against him. The tease of his cock against my thigh sent another quiver of excitement through me. “But what I love about you most is your mind. It never stops, it never takes a break, and whatever puzzle holds us in this place…you’ll figure it out.”

  Wait… Reality threatened to bank the desire flaring within me. I cupped his cheeks, halting the play, and studied him. “You said you remembered, that you volunteered. Do you mean to say you don’t know any more about this place than I do?”

  When he sighed, and his gaze shuttered, a niggle of fear worked through me. What was he hiding? Finally, he rubbed his bearded cheek against my palm. The sensation added another layer to our intimacy, a gentle one and it curbed some of the worry worming its way through my pleasure.

  “Yes, I volunteered for the assignment. I knew you were…planning an exercise to solve whatever you were investigating.” So, he hadn’t known about my project. “I knew it might take months, years even, and I didn’t want to be away from you for that long, so I signed on.” The corners of his mouth pinched, and then he settled himself over me, blanketing my body even as he nestled his hips into the cradle of my thighs. The weight of his erection sat against my sex, and I wanted to groan, yet neither of us gave into the temptation of our bodies.

  His focus locked on me. “I give you my word, if I could open a door and release us all this instant and that was what you wanted, I’d do it.”

  I couldn’t help it. Raising one thigh, I tightened it against his hip and deliberately rubbed against his length. My oversensitive clit sent a shuddering pulse through my nervous system. Too much and more in the same breath. “Right this moment?”

  A growl rumbled through his chest, then he nipped my lower lip. “Yes, dammit. Hard fucking cock and all, I’d stride naked to that door and usher you through it.”

  The fist of concern eased, and I trailed my fingers over his face then to his hair. Fisting the thick strands, I tugged him closer. I wanted to climb this man, wrap myself around him so tightly, and never let go.

  “Thank you, Dirk.” I meant it, from the bottom of my soul. “I’ll shut up now and go back to letting you be in charge.”

  Relief and passion tangled together in his laugh which was equal parts chuckle and growl. He claimed my mouth, his tongue thrusting inside as though to mark me everywhere. I could taste myself on his lips. I’d never thought that to be something I’d find erotic, yet with him it was.

  The lazy strokes of his hands along my sides resumed our upward climb toward pleasure. I only hoped he would join me this time. He’d given me orgasm after orgasm, yet my inner muscles clenched, and I wanted to feel him inside me.

  Running my hands over his shoulders, then down his back, I marveled at the raw strength he possessed. When my nails grazed his ass, he released my mouth and his eyes narrowed. Sensing the challenge, I gripped his firm ass and lifted my hips. This time, when I ground against him, I didn’t bother to contain my delight. It was both too much and not enough.

  “Valda.” He growled my name, the admonishment only amping my adoration of how he verbalized my given name.

  “Yes?” There was freedom in being this close to him, to having our naked bodies pressed so tightly together. I squeezed his very taut butt, enjoying the way his muscles flexed beneath my hands.

  “Birth control?” A fair question, and diseases weren’t an issue. I knew myself well enough to know that no matter the parameters of this experiment, we would all have been cleared by a physician and inoculated. Oz had also given us exams—we were clean.

  “I have an implant.” I hadn’t even finished the sentence before he shifted and the thick tip of his cocked nudged at my entrance. Intense concentration rippled over his expression. Then he paused, suspended there and holding our mutual pleasure just out of reach. His gaze focused on mine. “Yes,” I whispered, and took it a step further. He’d already given me so much. “However you want me.”

  He sank into me slowly, glorious pressure stretching me to accommodate his girth. A groan escaped me as tingles of pleasure erupted to spiral out into my system. This was what I’d been missing, and the pressure triggered against my clit, teasing me higher. His answering growl vibrated between us. The rub of his chest to mine teased my nipples then he was fully seated, and his mouth closed over mine. The kiss teased me, but he wasn’t moving, and I wanted it all.<
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  The need to demand, to take over and push us to the full glory of pleasure, collided with the desire to give him the one thing he’d required—control. The tension coiled tighter and tighter, then Dirk broke away and lifted. The glide out only made me whimper, then he slammed home again, and I clung to him. The rhythm he chose sent little bursts of delight through me.

  I locked my legs around him, arching up to meet his every thrust. He didn’t deny me, though he shackled my wrists with his hands and locked them to the bed. The vulnerable position only intensified my need, and we found a rhythm that suited us.

  “Look at me,” he ordered, and I met his gaze. I didn’t want to look anywhere else. Pleasure tightened his face. Every sink of his cock within me drove me closer and closer to the edge. It was a delicious ride toward bliss, and the force of concentration in his expression filled me with wonder.

  A swirl of his hips as he drove home sent a shockwave through my nervous system, then he did it again. The orgasm stormed me before I was ready. I cried out and flexed my hands as the pleasure wracked me. His tempo increased, and every thrust just sent another eddy of sensual heat out to collide against my orgasm, and I tried to ride with them, but a second storm exploded over me and thought ceased.

  I rode the carnal waves, and when Dirk shouted, it was as though his orgasm triggered me again. A wild, relentless torrent I tumbled along as I clung to Dirk. It didn’t matter where we landed, I’d be safe.

  Awareness crept through me. The body pressed close to mine. The steady thrum of his heartbeat beneath my ear. The rich, masculine scent of him—all woodsy, sweat, and clean earth mingled with the heavy layer of sex. The softness of his hair where it trailed against my arm. The heavy weight of his leg thrust between mine. The tickle of the hair on his thigh against my flesh.

  Floating in the boneless state, I didn’t want to open my eyes, yet I longed to see him. My first peek revealed his eyes were closed, his face relaxed in perfect peace. Awe filled me. Dirk always seemed fierce and intent. His every action held purpose, his every word delivered with certainty. Whether he stood sentry over our discussion of circumstances or cooked bacon in seeming ordinary domesticity, he seemed one moment away from springing into action.