Skhye Moncrief - [Feral 01]

by Feral Fascinations (lit)

  She propped her cheek up with one palm and leaned on an elbow. “What does he say to you in your private meetings?”

  Interesting question. “He appears to confide in me by comparing our situations. But I never get a gut feeling he’s dishonest.”

  She blinked and sighed. “He is like my older brother—both of us akin in our lost worlds. He has always been there for me when I needed emotional support. But he isn’t my soul mate. I’ve started wondering if he views you as an obstacle. He’s done that with so many before your arrival.” She shook her head like she heard an irritating buzz. “You may never love me, Jake. But you are my husband, and I won’t fail you.”

  His gut sank.

  Something warmed inside his chest.

  Or ached.

  That was as close to an admission of respect-induced love one could ever hear. “You sit tight here. Try not to think these self-defeating thoughts. Let me take care of the traitor. If Goro’s right, the danger will die with little trouble.”

  “If.” Kindrist sighed and nodded once, carefully, like a Buddhist priest, with a doubtful gaze.

  What useless thoughts whirling around inside her head. He knew just how to sabotage them. He scooped her up from the bench, pivoted one-hundred-and-eighty degrees, and sat, straddling her across his lap.

  Those yellow eyes squeezed into conspiratorial slits.

  So she wondered what I was up to? Well, she went limp when he kissed her neck. What an excellent tactic to distract her anger. He sank his mouth against her soft delicate skin.

  The smell of her salty metallic blood danced beneath that thinly stretched skin across her jugular.

  His mouth watered.

  His hard-on struggled where it was pinned inside his jeans.

  Her head arched back, then rolled from side to side beneath his lips. He sucked and gently bit his way down to her clavicle and back up to nibble on her jaw.

  “Oh, Jake,” she groaned. “Life without you would be so void of emotion.”

  Didn’t she realize how pissed off she lived before she seduced me?

  “You’re laughing, Jake.”

  I won’t be in a few minutes. He shoved the hem of her tunic up. “Take this off.” And latched onto one of the tight beads on her nipples.

  Oh for those breasts to grow with her belly. Talk about the perks of Destiny’s plan. He squeezed both breasts together where he could reach both nipples without working too hard.

  She squirmed on his lap, arching her chest against his mouth, begging for more attention, and wrapped her arms around his head, locking him right where obviously she wanted him.

  No problem. But the way she wriggled on his lap meant she was so damned wet and needy. He slid his hands down her long smooth back and beneath the waistband of her pants. Down to grab two handfuls of her tight little ass. To shove her crotch against his cock. “Are you ready?” He searched for her eyes above her rounded breasts.

  She rolled her head around until her black hair framed her shoulders and locked a serious gaze on him. “I’m always ready for you.”

  “Bed, floor, or table?”

  “Bench.”

  Oh ho ho. Would she debate over being in control?

  She shoved his back down onto the bench and unzipped his fly too quickly for discussion.

  If she wanted to do a little horseback riding, I was definitely game.

  She tossed her boots on the floor and shimmied out of her pants only to grab onto my cock with the most wonderful pressure.

  My body lunged toward her grasp with a mind of its own.

  Her legs straddled him, right above his engorged cock, where she hovered watching him through her wild black hair. Slowly she sank her moist vise around the tip of his penis and stopped.

  Gods, to drive me insane. He grabbed her rounded hips and pulled her down the long sensitive length of him.

  “Whoever thought impaling could be so glorious?” she groaned and rode her mount.

  I tried to lie there and just let her have her way with me. But the need to thrust just kept me matching her every move. Over and over. I just couldn’t stop. But she didn’t seem to care with the mask of pleasure consuming her features. And then the all-consuming surge of need shook me. I couldn’t thrust fast and hard enough.

  And if only I could get enough air to breathe.

  She fell down to grip the bench beside his ribs, raking her hard nipples against my chest, never missing a pump with that tight little grip she held me so deeply inside her with, and gyrated her hips in an intensely focused motion. I had to hold her ass in place. Or I’d pop free at the angle she worked me. And God knows that would be bad.

  Just to come. Just to breathe again. But stopping meant it was over. And this little babe was one amazing number.

  She started to groan, leaning her head back, her breasts shaking in rhythm with each of my pounding throbbing lunges.

  It was coming. I couldn’t breathe.

  But I groaned.

  She looked into my eyes, groaning as if in reply.

  Or we were on the same plane at last.

  The pressure in my cock came to a head and burst inside her hot body. And we pumped a few dying beats until we could finally breathe.

  Her lips graced mine with a swift kiss before she fell atop me, draping my chest with her arms. “I can’t live without you, Jake,” she whispered.

  And she wouldn’t. He slid his arms around her quaking shoulders and petted her soft hair. “I don’t intend on going anywhere.” Plan A had better work.

  * * * *

  The day waned on with little conversation while Jake sat at the table. Kindrist just didn’t appear to want to discuss anything as if she struggled with some inner war while pacing the room or staring out the portal with her hair flashing red, then cooling off to obsidian, only to flare up again and again.

  She looked so frustrated.

  So human.

  So weak.

  So god-damned hot the way her tunic clung to that curved ass imprinted upon my mind. Forget branding or tattoos. Goth babes from outer space could sear an unshakable fire-hot memory into the hardest mercenary’s frozen heart.

  But she stood there, terribly disturbed.

  What good would come from telling her not to worry? Her future teetered upon a precipice. Leaving her more blood might help with the stress given his ass got toasted. But she could have requested the favor of another bout of sex just to take the edge off. No, she really had to care for him and resent Goro enough for his decision to argue against Plan A. No other explanation explained her actions. She hadn’t balked when knowing her soul mate would be sent to Gameddaron. But her flaming red hair indicated this Plan A was questionable.

  Good to know she cared. After all, she had admitted to being picky in the soul-mate department. And her resentment of Goro’s plan to disarm Sevra meant she defied orders.

  For me.

  I’m a treasure? A one in a trillion catch? The woman wasn’t as disconcerted with her new status of chrysalis. No, just losing me. Could this only reflect her sense of responsibility?

  Sevra won’t get the best of us in the end. But the big question is can a person control himself when he turns into the were-creature. Whatever the cost, he had to try for Kindrist and their baby. He slid his gaze to the sexy curves of his wife’s back.

  She stared out the portal at dark black space. But her red hair and white outfit brightened the gloomy ambiance.

  What was she thinking in her anger? “Kindrist?”

  She turned a straight-lipped scowl his direction.

  Her disgusted expression made her look distant though. Would she help him even more after her admission of quasi-love? “I need you to explain shape shifting to me.”

  She shook her head slightly and crossed the room to the table. “I apologize. I am not myself today.” She claimed the seat across the table and met his gaze with a pleasantly analytical mask. “Your skin will itch, crawl, and burn. You saw me shed my human skin. You too wi
ll do so. The process, the change, is internal.” Black streaks began to color her mane.

  That damned perky mouth of hers could use a good kiss. Maybe she’d settle down if he made a move. Or I’ve turned into something even more horrific than a were-creature. I fell for a woman. Time to change the subject. “But will I know what’s going on after I transmute? Like, well, what about the particulars to Goro’s plan?”

  Her hair flashed totally red again.

  “I’m sorry, Kindrist. I need some information.”

  She nodded once and inhaled. “You will know who I am. Rather, what I am to you. Your feelings toward Goro, Sevra, and Paul should remain in your memory. Anything else is less likely recalled. To send you on a mission alone where you could shift isn’t terribly dangerous since you have your pod fighter to fly you back to The Seeker. Yet, you’ll be aboard ship this mission.” Her eyes pinched shut. “But if Sevra considers you a threat— If she loses her head....”

  “Goro isn’t the enemy here,” he interrupted.

  Her gaze locked upon his.

  Did she search for some inkling of credibility? “You have to let me think for myself, Kindrist. You’re just upset from the changes in your life.” But maybe she struck upon the root of the problem. Maybe she had to completely give up her connection to Goro in order to be a soul mate. After all, three was a crowd.

  A loud sigh-like exhalation gushed from her plump lips. Her shoulders slumped. Yet, the red had drained from her hair. “This is all so new to me. So foreign.”

  “And I’m dealing with the same type of change on my end.”

  Her eyebrows squared. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, it’s a completely different situation in a story, but this earth kid gets sucked into a war in outer space. Kind of like me. I’ll just end with you must have missed the movie.”

  Her golden eyes twinkled. “You earthlings have such vivid imaginations. Or one of you with a higher psychic awareness saw the future and wrote that tale.”

  Interesting prospect that could save an ass or two. “How many free thinkers can see the future?”

  “Not many who wish anyone to know. It’s an illegal activity. Soothsaying is considered a form of psychic domination. Some peoples purposely evolved out of the skill in order to save their cultures from what we term cannibalistic behavior.” Her gaze slid to the gray metal table top.

  How cultures forced psychic evolution would have to wait for later. Except for the obvious question. “How does cannibalistic behavior have anything to do with today?”

  Her hair flashed brilliant red. “Soothsaying gives birth to legends.”

  The child and dreaded Plan A. Well, there was no escaping the subject of their child or his destiny with shape shifting. He slid his fingers around her warm forearm’s skin, pulled her palm from beneath her head, and held her silky fingers.

  She stared at him. “I wish you wouldn’t touch me unless you want to share a blood libation.”

  Her hand flinched.

  Her serious yellow gaze riveted upon his. “My time to mate approaches. Your touch is painful. And,” she shifted her position, “all I can think about is ripping your clothes off.”

  That explained things.

  Should I just lie down and give over again? Was that what she wanted? Oh to fall to the temptation. But he dared not taste her blood, or he’d ruin Goro’s plan. “You know it’s too risky to fall to blood lust right now.”

  The corner of her lips curled up. “But it’s a sentimental thought.”

  It’s amazing how much a smile affected a person’s appearance. She really needed to smile more often. “You’re laughing, Kindrist.” What a nice change.

  “Remember those words when I have to fill you in on the rest of the universe.” She smiled and pulled a glinting blade from her white boot.

  “No problem.” Especially when the chore implied he’d be around after Plan A panned out.

  The blade seemed so foreign. So alien. So cold. To Hell with it. Just to lie her down and plow into her until she bit him. He shoved the sparkling knife away.

  Her brow furrowed as her eyes tried to pinch her dark brows together.

  “We won’t need that.” He lifted her into his arms and placed her questioning mask on the bed.

  Why did she wonder why he was so willing? After all, she just needed someone to take care of her. And he could do that much. Especially take care of her little problem.

  She had propped herself up on an elbow where she stretched out on her side with curves like the undulating clouds in the skies of his childhood. How he loved to dream back then. Never did he imagine he would be mated to an extraterrestrial. Married at all. He slid his hand underneath her tunic, up to the waistline of her pants, and pulled the elastic edge toward him over her hip.

  She watched him.

  Did she enjoy his touch? Maybe I’ll tease her. He abandoned the waistline mid-hip.

  She growled and moved so swiftly that before he could safely react without risking injury to his child, he found himself on his back with her hands working the zipper on his pants.

  “I can’t wait,” she said and pulled his hard-on free.

  Not exactly free inside her seductive clench. She had better get busy or there was no telling what dangers awaited that baby.

  She crawled backward, retreating to hover over his cock.

  Stiff and engorged beyond belief near her seductive mouth, his cock throbbed in her grip.

  God, who was teasing whom?

  Her hot mouth latched onto his shaft and sucked like the blood pulsing within its veins would quench her hunger.

  He couldn’t watch with the wave of all-consuming satisfaction that threw his head back.

  Moist heat trailed along his cock’s edge, up toward the very tip as if it were going to leave. He thrust toward the damned sensation and plunged into a divine vise. Wet. Tight. And that trailing tongue.

  * * * *

  Kindrist wanted her mate to know her singular delight in life now revolved around pleasing him. Especially after he went out of his way to satisfy her. But gods, she needed him inside her. Just wanted that same satisfaction for herself one last time. Just in case Voldon foiled Destiny’s plan. Would he care if she slid along his firm length? She rose in a squat straddling him and tucked his manhood’s smooth round head into position.

  Jake didn’t look.

  Or couldn’t. He kept trying to thrust his shaft into her.

  “Kindrist,” he groaned, grabbed her hips, and pulled her down the enchanting thickness of him.

  The room vanished.

  Life pulsed inside her. By Devros, she wanted to sink her teeth into his succulent flesh. To take what Destiny provided.

  Perspiration chilled her skin, making her shiver.

  Or was that just her reaction to the way he touched her ever-so delicately with his wild bucking?

  He watched her finally.

  With the drowsy gaze of a man lost deeply in something he believed in. Even if the belief bordered on animal lust. A woman about to lose her mate deserved a few last moments to prepare herself mentally. Lust would suffice. She rode him with the same passion, rising and falling until they cried for release deep in space where only the air conditioning shushed.

  Her gut roiled.

  Time for blood. She hopped off him, grabbed the blade from the floor, collapsed atop his drumming heartbeat and slashed his breast above the nipple.

  His breath knifed.

  Blood beaded along the laceration.

  His life force that now was mine. Ours. Shared. She licked it and settled down against his breast.

  Fed, I felt like a child at its mother’s breast. That’s what we are. Part of each other. The syringes were anything but sufficient surrogates.

  His arms snaked around her shoulders. “Are you all right now?” He gasped for a breath.

  “I’ll be better when this ridiculous plan is over.” Life without him was going to be pretty bleak.

  Chapter
Twenty Three

  The glowing Illusian’s light had withered to almost non-existent where he sat across the table from Jake in the empty Psycho Lounge. Well, maybe these psychics weren’t psycho. But the eerie music and dim lighting could push a man over the edge. Or maybe the real problem laid in my mate’s distrust of Goro. At least she worked with me in the bedroom. Nobody could say he wasn’t a guy who could be won over by one means or another. But gullible wasn’t my name.

  “You seem distant. What troubles you?” Strako asked, fingering his glass of neon brew.

  The extraterrestrial stood a good six-foot-four. If not taller. Even seated he towered over everyone. And Kindrist trusted this glowing alien. Better to lie when one’s thoughts are concealed from mind-probing psychics. “I’m still getting used to this war.”

  Strako sipped from his cup thoughtfully and nodded. “Kindrist chose you because you would acclimate easily. Give Destiny time.”

  Not more Destiny crap. “Why does everyone have to remind me that my wife chose me for a reason?”

  Strako chuckled.

  Almost sinisterly. One all-too-evil of a sound coming from a guy who looked angelic from the shaft of a spotlight focused on his back. He seemed so chosen. But he wasn’t part of any legend. “So are you planning on telling me why you’re laughing?”

  Strako’s white eyebrows arched with intrigue. “Only if you tell me what’s really bothering you.”

  Only a fool would disclose the truth. But something might appease the strange angelic alien. “Kindrist says you don’t care for Sevra either.”

  A smile twisted one of Strako’s cheeks. He traced the rim of his glass with one fingertip and smacked his lips. “That one is weak.”

  So speaking Sevra’s name might be bad. Maybe this was an opportunity to learn more about Sevra and Paul. “Have you ever shifted in her presence? What could you sense? Is she a threat?”

  Strako planted his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “That one wants power. Her greed has brought her face-to-face with your mate too many times. Since she never leaves empowered, she is angry with Red. Red is Goro’s right hand. Where she wishes to be.”