Arak's Love: A World Beyond Book 2

by Michelle Howard

  ***

  Arak carried Sylvie to his place as she sang some song in a low voice about rain and kittens. Holding back a smile was almost impossible as he shouldered open his bedroom door.

  “Hey!” She jerked upright, fingers falling from his hair she’d been stroking. “This isn’t where I live.”

  “You nor Joni are fit to drive. In the morning you can return home unless this hangover is more serious than you expect.” Arak stumbled over the unfamiliar word she’d used for Joni’s condition in the morning. Plus, he had no desire to take her home when he could have her close.

  Sylvie’s gaze traveled around his room. The bed took up most of the floor space, several green covered pillows lay scattered about. His discarded uniform rested on the only chair in the room with a pair of spare boots from the night before neatly lined underneath. A communicator set near his bed on a small table in case the unit needed to reach him without his ear comm.

  Sylvie sighed. “It smells like you.”

  Arak chuckled and toed off his boots before laying her on his bed. She fell back instantly, arms splayed amidst the green covers.

  “I trust this isn’t a bad thing?”

  He unbuttoned his shirt quickly, unable to take his eyes off the delectable image she presented. The red flowing dress twisted about her hips as she curled on her side to face him, lids half lowered. Her position provided him a peek at the matching red underwear she wore underneath. He growled and hurried to remove his pants.

  “Nope.” Before Arak could decipher the strange word she continued. “You don’t wear underwear either. Faye warned us. How come?”

  Arak palmed his erection, his hard length throbbing. He didn’t wear anything to sleep and immediately dismissed the idea of trying. Smiling, he walked toward the bed and placed one knee on the edge. “Comfort. My cat doesn’t like restrictive clothing.”

  “Are you sleeping with me?”

  No surprise in the question just mild curiosity. Arak held in his grin as he slid beneath the covers. Soku never did this to Enotians but the effect on the Earth women was always amusing.

  “Yes. Is that alright?”

  Her lids drifted closed and he worried she’d fallen asleep.

  “Yes.” Her lashes fluttered and once again presented him with eyes of brightest blue.

  Sylvie rubbed a hang along his sheet covered thigh then moved over to make room for him unaware that her touch had the hair at his neck standing on end. That one brief contact had Arak groaning as he inched closer. His hand flicked the sensor, dousing the room in darkness and pulling the covers up higher to hide his erection.

  “This is nice,” she stated. Her hand returned to his hair, petting him. “You’re soft.”

  Arak muffled his chuckle at this side of her. Leaning on one forearm, he decided to see how much he could get out of her. Hopefully her answers would help him get passed the remaining barrier between them. “Tell me about yourself, Sylvie.”

  “Hmm.” Her fingers moved from his hair to trail along his temple, then to his ear where she teased the sensitive points. “Like what?”

  Arak knew nothing about her background other than she journeyed from Earth in search of a male to spend her life with. “Did you leave family behind?”

  “Hmm. My mother but she and I don’t get along well. We’re as different from one another as possible and she never understood why I wanted to apply for the Singles Program. I know my father but we only corresponded a handful of times in my life.”

  He captured her wandering hands and lowered them to the bed to avoid any chance of distraction. “Tell me about your time with the Marenians.”

  Sylvie stiffened and Arak glided his hand up and down her arm.

  “I didn’t like it.”

  “I know.” He continued touching her, thumb rubbing at the crease between her elbow. Every stroke intended to soothe. “I need to know what happened.”

  Her breath huffed out against his neck as she slid her knee between his thighs. Arak mentally groaned, wondering if he could hold out without taking her.

  “They kept us in cages,” she said.

  “Us?”

  “Me and the others from the Singles Program. There were nine or ten of us. The Marenians bought us to be sex slaves.” A quiver ran through her and Arak held her closer.

  “Keep going. I’m right here, Sylvie. No one can hurt you.”

  “They beat us, yelled at us and sometimes during the auctions, they let the customers touch us. Mostly our hair and breasts.”

  Arak clenched his jaw, wanting to pound the slavers into the ground and anyone who’d dared touch this female.

  “The worst part was not knowing if they’d kill us. Sometimes I’d go days without eating. My stomach would hurt from being so hungry.”

  “But you escaped.” He remembered her mention of running away and having her feet lashed.

  “Yes, but they always found me. It’s how I met Joni. We were considered runners because neither of us would stay and kept causing trouble when they sold us. I think they thought it would be easier to put us in a room together and sell us together. Then you came and saved us.”

  Arak closed his eyes, wanting to take away her pain but couldn’t. She’d lived through it. Survived. “I’m glad you were,” how did she phrase it? “a runner. You were brave.”

  How many would have continued to fight? Strange people, strange worlds, and strange languages.

  “I didn’t feel brave,” Sylvie admitted.

  She fell silent. Her shoulders tensed and Arak waited for her to say more but she didn’t.

  “What else happened, Sylvie?” Whatever it was meant a lot or she wouldn’t be thinking of it.

  When she spoke, the whisper was barely audible. “Their doctors were horrible. They didn’t care and were deliberately rough if they treated your injuries. Getting the translator hurt really bad.”

  Arak had to let her go to fist his hands under the sheets. Implanting a translator should be a painless process but her words explained her fear with Dr. Maku in the med center after the rescue.

  “Arak?”

  He hoped for restraint as her sweet body pressed against him. “Yes?”

  Sylvie tucked her head under his jaw as her hand skimmed over his taut thigh. The muscle flexed beneath her grip. “You’re pretty cool for an alien.”

  Arak waited until her breath eased into the rhythm of deep sleep to enfold her in his embrace again. He vaguely remembered her and Joni using the word when he’d taken them out to the market place earlier. Faye would know. His cat snuffed and settled down, at peace with holding his female. Arak placed a soft kiss on top of her head. He wanted to hold her like this forever. “You’re cool, too.”

  Chapter 13

  The buzz at the door caught Sylvie off guard. She checked the timer on her dinner and decided she had another ten minutes. After reaching for a blue hand towel, she dried her hands and hurried to the door. Joni often popped over and the two would settle in for a girl fest over wine and a good meal.

  “I didn’t expect you,” Sylvie started with a welcoming smile as she opened the door.

  “Why would you?”

  Arak hovered in her doorway, blue eyes glinting. Every inch of Sylvie froze and desire began a slow glide in her middle. Her mouth watered at the sight of his lean frame taking up most of the space. His arms stretched above him, hands gripping her doorjamb. The pose tightened the fabric of his black uniform shirt across his muscled chest. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen him in uniform but the sight never ceased to send her pulse racing.

  Today however was the first time he’d been fully armed in her presence since her rescue. Laser blasters strapped both thighs, a sheathed knife rested on his right hip and a shoulder holster with another blaster hugged his middle.

  When he stared at her quizzically, Sylvie swallowed and clenched the towel in her hands. “Sorry. I thought you were Joni.”

  “Disappointed?”

  He raised a dark b
row and offered a charming grin. Too damn charming and he knew it. Panties melting, Sylvie tried to shore up her defenses. The grin, dark lashes and flirting gaze tempted her to give in to the raging attraction between them. Why couldn’t she resist his appeal?

  “Not at all.”

  He straightened and dropped his arms to his sides. “May I come in?”

  Instinct warned she should refuse but the memory of their sizzling kiss at the market place and the care he’d given her the night before had her stepping back and waving him in. “Of course.”

  “How are you feeling today? None of the hangover?” Arak asked, strolling around her apartment, eyes vigilant when he paused by the living room window and gazed down at the street below.

  At this familiar routine, Sylvie rolled her eyes behind his back. Arak acted as if someone waited behind closed doors to attack her at any given moment. A secret part of her adored him for the effort and a larger part of her admitted that it added to her feelings of security as she settled into her life here. “Fine, no hangover. Thanks for last night.”

  “It was nothing.”

  Sylvie flushed. It was something. If her hazy memory was correct, they’d spoken about her captivity. Perhaps getting it out had released the dark knot she occasionally got in her stomach. Maybe the memories would no longer hold the power to anger her. In the morning, she’d awakened wrapped around him, legs entwined like a pretzel and all the while he’d slept on his arms holding her tight. It had been hard moving away from the wonderful feeling. The affection he’d given so freely.

  Arak turned to face her as she entered the kitchen to fix something to drink for both of them. Usually, he shared a glass of wine during these visits but this time he stopped her by placing a hand over the second glass. “I can’t stay.”

  Sylvie set the first filled glass on the counter and replaced the empty one in the cabinet. Heart pounding, she faced him and choked as he closed the distance between them.

  “Arak?” Her voice trembled on the one word question.

  “I won’t hurt you. You know this.” He cornered her with his weight pressed to her front, his hands braced on the counter behind her. The firm bulge of his arousal notched between her thighs as Sylvie tried to shift her weight to no avail.

  “I know.” It was a knowledge centered bone deep. He’d never hurt her physically and last night confirmed it.

  “Last night I didn’t want to take advantage. This morning you left while I showered.” Arak lowered his head to murmur in her ear. “I needed to see you and you ran.”

  “Sorry,” she mumbled as shivers chased their way up and down her spine from his voice.

  “I have to leave for a mission today.” He lipped her ear and the wet tip of his tongue glided up the lobe.

  God. Sylvie’s knees weakened and if he hadn’t caught her at the waist she would have slipped to the floor.

  “Easy,” he cautioned.

  “What are you doing?”

  His chuckle added to the sensual haze he wove around her. There was a hypnotic quality about Arak’s voice that Sylvie found hard to resist.

  “If you have to ask, I’m not doing it right.”

  He was doing it right and damn well knew it.

  “This isn’t a good idea.”

  ***

  Arak’s tongue trailed down the delicate column of Sylvie’s neck, every taste bursting like rich flavor in his mouth. “Why?”

  When Sylvie did a full body shiver, his hands tightened. The scent of her drove him wild. He shouldn’t have come here when he needed to leave shortly for the shuttle launch. The trip here and back would use up most of the hour of prep the team had been allotted but since Arak’s bag was packed and ready, he’d chosen to see Sylvie with his limited time. No, he’d needed to see Sylvie after she’d disappeared on him while he’d been in the cleansing room.

  “What’s going on between us?” She gasped as he sucked on the tender flesh beneath the collar of the blue top she wore.

  “I’m not sure.” And he wasn’t but he wanted to find out. Arak had never gone through muata, a male Argoran’s heat cycle but his body screamed for her. Mate, mate, mate. His intense need for Sylvie grew in leaps and bounds every time he neared her. If she didn’t truly want this, Arak promised himself he’d find a way to back off.

  “T-then we s-should stop. Figure things out.”

  Her slight stutter made him smile against her neck. “Why hold out, Sylvie? I want you. You want me.” Another kiss, this one below the shallow crease behind her ear. She jerked as he slid his arms from around her waist and up her torso to cup her full breasts. “I really want you.”

  She moaned his name and more of her weight leaned into him.

  Arak groaned and pulled back slightly to look down at her face. And why in all the stars had he started this now? Pink stained her cheeks and her lips were rosy and wet as if she’d bit them to hold back her cries of passion. His cat growled in annoyance and the sound rolled up and out from his chest. He wanted to hear her need for him. Hear every gasp and pant.

  He brushed a thumb over her swollen mouth. “Don’t hold back.”

  Sylvie’s eyes popped open. Reason slowly pushed out the dark hint of passion. “You have to stop, Arak.”

  Her voice held the deep husky tones of a woman close to succumbing to her physical response. If he pushed a little, she’d give into whatever this was between them. He lowered his head and bit her bottom lip, careful not to damage her skin with his sharper teeth. She gasped as her hips rolled against him.

  One final kiss, this one so light he barely felt her mouth part beneath his and Arak forced himself away from her enticing aroma full of arousal. He couldn’t do it. And not because there wasn’t enough time. Arak would never do anything to harm the tentative trust building between them. Sylvie looked at him like he was every dream she’d ever had all wrapped in one and he was starting to believe she was his every dream as well. After what she’d gone through, he wanted to prove that something good could come from her bad experience.

  With a deep sigh, Arak’s remaining hand dropped from the plump mounds he’d been fondling. “You win. This time. When I come back, we’re moving forward unless this isn’t what you want.”

  Arak hoped she wanted to explore what grew between them. His cat had a hard enough time resisting the urge to take what it considered his. Holding back from Sylvie was getting harder to do. Their visits and talks on the communicator were one thing but sleeping with her last night without assuaging his need only fed his desire to claim this female from Earth.

  Sylvie curled her arms around her middle and her head dipped low.

  “Sylvie?” He tipped her chin up in order to see her face. Sylvie could never hide her desire. He liked that he could read her want for him.

  “You’re right,” she muttered, eyes meeting his, and poked at his chest with a sharp nail. Arak rubbed at the tiny sting but she poked again as she continued. “I hope you know what you’re doing because I sure as hell don’t.”

  Arak couldn’t stop the wide grin spreading across his face but he forced himself to take several steps away to keep from grabbing the disgruntled female. “As soon as I get back. You and me, Sylvie.”

  Then for fun he reached for her hand and held it up, nipping her fingers. He dodged the puny fist, laughing as he left, heart light as always when he got her to smile.

  Arak arrived at their Jutak facility with no time to spare. Geile drove beyond the posted limit, cutting around other vehicles to get them to the departure bay for their flight. Jaron gazed at him, questions in his blue eyes which Arak chose to ignore. He was too excited about getting Sylvie to give them a chance. Throughout the shuttle trip to Avida, he kept his eyes closed, trying to block out her scent which he swore clung to the very fibers of his shirt.

  “Touch down count started.” The pilot’s voice overhead announced.

  Arak opened his eyes and shifted in his seat. He checked his weapons, making sure all was secure. Jaron glanc
ed at him again and snickered as the transport landed and the pilot went through procedures.

  “What?” Arak growled, knowing the Enotian had something he wanted to say. Better to get it out of the way now.

  Jaron smirked. “You almost missed the flight and risked Torkel tearing you a new one.”

  Arak could only grunt. His Unit leader had not been impressed with his mad dash into the departing hover car with the team members. Fortunately, Torkel didn’t have time to address him personally but Arak was sure he’d hear it on his return.

  Chapter 14

  Arak maintained his kneeling position beside the exterior door to the warehouse on Avida, Geile at his side. He tapped his ear comm. “In position.”

  “Move on my count,” Jaron instructed.

  Arak kept his blaster aloft and nodded at his teammate. Geile’s blue eyes narrowed as he braced his shoulder on the frame of the heavy metal door, hands working quickly to set the detonator.

  “Three,” Jaron’s voice started the count. “Two.” Geile leaned back, the mini-explosive in place. “One. Go!”

  The small, black disc on the door glowed red and sizzled moments before melting a five foot hole in the door. Arak hustled through behind Geile. The entrance to the plant was empty. Rows and rows of ceiling high racks filled with steel crated microchips provided ominous shadows on the walls in the waning light from industrial fixtures above. Arak surveyed the vast area with a quick glance, knowing minutes ticked by.

  A motionless conveyor belt held neat stacks of the components necessary to build the chips. At the end of each row, blue lights blinked on large stationary containers where the chips would deposit for automated programming before being crated. The low vibration of machinery hummed further away. Arak signaled Geile and they both took off at a run, staying close to the walls, their boots silent on the concrete floor.