by Poppy Rhys
He took the opportunity to kiss down her neck, tongue tasting her skin, lips sucking. When his warm breath fanned her ear, she thought she’d come right there.
Willa lifted her hips, positioning herself on top of his weeping cock, and slowly slid down until she was fully seated.
“Mmm,” he groaned into her mouth the next time they locked lips.
Fuck, if he does that again, I’m gonna explode!
Large, warm hands gripped her ass, forcing her to grind her pussy down on him. Her clit rubbed against the top of his cock, bumping against every ridge that worked out of her.
Bump, bump, bump, as his thick length slid back in.
“Oh!” Her lips O’d at the new, brilliant waves of pleasure from that small move.
More. She wanted more.
As if in tune with her every desire, Kyran continued pushing and pulling her hips across his lap, working her into a hurried frenzy.
He sucked kisses down her skin, and she leaned back, giving him access to her breasts. Greedy pull after greedy pull, Willa bucked against his lap until she was squeezing around him like a vice, coming over his cock.
“Willa,” he grunted, jerkily grating her against him as he busted, raising the temperature of her pussy by several searing degrees that wrung the last thrills of her orgasm from her.
Her body sagged against his chest as he held her to him, both panting. She trailed kisses over his shoulder and neck, finally landing on his mouth as she breathed a tired laugh and down they went, tumbling to the bed.
Sleep sucked her under again.
****
“I’ll be back in a little while.”
Kyran watched Willa leave the apartment, eager to go with her, but not wanting to upset her. When he turned around, Nohr and Sem glared at him as if he’d stolen their food.
“What have you done?” Nohr demanded. “Her scent is on you, like the studs that smell of dams.”
Instead of feeling ashamed like he ought to, he felt… good. Proud. Proud that Willa wanted him as a stud, not just last night, but that morning too.
Sem’s eyes widened, and he took a step toward Kyran. “You mated with our keeper!”
He lifted his chin, not denying it.
Nohr bared his teeth, and Kyran felt a small measure of apprehension.
“You will get us all punished, or killed!”
“Willa isn’t like that!” He argued, defending their keeper.
“Why would she want pups from you? You’re not a stud.” Sem’s question wasn’t malicious, more curious, but Kyran felt slightly insulted.
He brushed it off. Sem was like a little brother to him. “I don’t think she wants pups,” he admitted. “I think she does it for pleasure. I think all humans mate for pleasure.”
Nohr and Sem glanced at each other, and then back to him, curiosity apparent.
“Why doesn’t she mate with another human then?” Sem asked.
Kyran had wondered the same thing, but the thought of a human male touching Willa made that strange wave overtake his mind and body, making his fists curl at his side.
“I don’t know,” he finally bit out and stiffly sat down on the couch. In fact, he wasn’t even sure if Willa hadn’t been with another human since their first time together.
No. He erased that thought. Surely he would’ve scented another male on her flesh if there’d been one.
Sem regarded him curiously before he asked, “What is it like?”
Nohr cuffed him upside the head.
“Ow!” He mussed his mane. “What was that for?”
Kyran smirked, despite himself.
****
“What do you want, Willa?” Killian stared at his tablet, a frown pinching his otherwise seamless forehead. He sat at the desk in his apartment.
“Do you ever look at anything besides that damn tablet?”
She’d come to apologize for yesterday. She and Kill had always been close, and he worked hard, he really did. While he was dealing with the ship functions, reports, and watching her and Tosh, she was able to live, and deal with their list of clients and suppliers stress free.
Well, mostly stress free.
Willa appreciated all of it, even if she didn’t quite show it sometimes.
When he didn’t say anything, she sighed, leaning against the corner of his desk. “Listen, Kill, I’m sorry for yesterday. I shouldn’t have done what I did in front of all those people.”
He sat back, finally looking at her.
“I lost my temper when I heard Clint was spreading my private life around the ship.”
“He shouldn’t have done that, but-”
“I know, I know,” she cut him off. “I just don’t think you understand how hard Tosh and I worked to get here, and what a struggle it is to command respect from the people we deal with daily.”
“People automatically respect you because you’re a man,” she went on. “I’m your little sister, and sometimes, I feel like that’s all people see. Mom, dad, the buyers. So, when a crew member on my ship tried to humiliate me-”
“I know, Willa.” Kill squeezed her shoulder, standing to hug her. “I wanted to sock that creep too.”
She pulled back and said, “I’m not trying to make excuses-”
“I know.”
“-but he had it coming!”
He squeezed her a little harder.
“And for the record, that wasn’t my porn!”
“Willa, just shut up,” he groaned, and she smiled against his shirt.
“So, we’re good?”
Killian let her go, sat back down, and nodded as he picked up his tablet. “We’re good.”
She grinned, tightening her ponytail and heading for the door. “Love ya, bro!”
“Mhm.”
Willa made her way down to the medical bay, chewing the bite of crisp, round feren fruit she’d swiped from Killian’s desk after the hug. She doubted he’d miss it with his eyes glued to the tablet anyway.
“Paging Jonah,” she called, wandering around the bay searching for the doctor. “Paging Jonah!”
His head popped out from around a corner. “I thought the game was Marco Polo?”
“I think that’s a pool game,” Willa shrugged.
“What can I help you with?”
She picked at the fruit in her hand as she thought about how to say this. After last night, it was so blatantly clear that this was the right path to take. Even if Shu’do didn’t want the tech, Willa would’ve come to this conclusion in the end, so she just came out with it.
“I need you to remove the chips in the Khymas.” When he lifted his bushy black eyebrows, she implored, “I know you can do it, Jonah. Please?”
“That’s a very delicate procedure, Willa…”
“I realize.”
“There’s always a chance of failure,” he hinted seriously. “Have you asked them if they want to do this?”
An unexpected twinge of guilt twisted her gut. She hadn’t. Once again, she took the decision from them, and just automatically assumed they’d be happy to be free of the tech that controlled them.
“I haven’t,” Willa admitted. “I will, though. Can you do it, or not?”
Jonah regarded her prudently before he gave a quick nod. “We have the machine here on the ship for it. You let me know.”
Willa’s walk back to her apartment was slow, thoughtful. Part of her wanted to get those chips out of their necks right now, but another part of her was somewhat afraid of the outcome.
She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t worried about that dumb necklace, and if she’d ever get it back. Once the chips were gone, the protectors could do whatever they wanted, go wherever they wanted. There wouldn’t be a person in the universe who could make them do anything they didn’t want to.
Even her.
Was that really what she was concerned about, though?
Her heart beat-beat when Kyran’s face flashed behind her eyelids on the next blink.
That flu
ttery feeling in the pit of her stomach made her feel like throwing up and floating to the ceiling at the same time. A disconcerting sensation she’d never experienced before in her life when thinking about another person.
Willa had the strangest urge to ask him to stay with her.
She halted in her tracks, realizing she wanted that more than the necklace. Why, though?
Couldn’t put a finger on it, and she wasn’t sure what she was feeling, she just knew she didn’t want to let it go. She wanted more.
Arriving at her door, she pressed her palm against the biometrics and walked in once it slid open. The guys were on the couch watching a vid on the projector. Kyran looked over his shoulder, his mouth kicking up at one corner.
Beat-beat.
It felt like her heart jumped into her throat, causing her to rub the skin there worriedly. Somehow, she managed to smile back.
Making her way to the low laying table, she picked up the remote and shut the projector off. Slowly, she lowered herself to sit on the table.
“We have to talk.”
Kyran immediately sat forward and asked, “You alright?”
Willa waved a hand, shaking off the wary, unexplainable feelings she had. “Of course.”
He visibly relaxed.
****
Kyran could scent something strange on Willa. She clenched her hands together in her lap until they were white-knuckled and she barely made eye contact.
Something was off.
“I know you guys understood what Shu’do said yesterday,” she finally said, “about wanting the tech inside of you.”
He looked at Nohr, and Sem, then nodded when Willa looked up. They knew the neck chips she was speaking of.
“Well, I want to ask you guys something, and I’ll respect your decision, whatever you decide to do,” she gulped. “I’m gonna be completely honest. I do want my necklace back, that hasn’t changed, but it’s just a necklace. In the bigger scheme of things, it’s small potatoes.”
Kyran tilted his head, not quite understanding what she meant.
“It means there are more important things to worry about here,” Willa explained.
“This necklace important to you.” He’d seen it in her eyes last night. She’d even rubbed her throat like she was missing it.
“Yeah, but your lives are more important.”
Again, he felt his head tilting. No keeper he’d ever had thought that. It only mattered what the keeper wanted. Their interests took priority.
“There’s this procedure Jonah can do,” her mesmerizing green eyes looked at each of them. “He can remove the chips in your necks.”
“Why do this?” Sem asked.
“Well, Shu’do wants them.” She stood then, and began pacing the room. “But, even if he didn’t want them, this would’ve eventually come around. You guys can’t be used the rest of your lives.”
Her voice was becoming breathy, like she was worked up about something. Her scent was all off. Mixed signals of fear, anxiety, and anticipation were hitting him left and right.
“But if you don’t want to get rid of the chips, that’s your decision.” Willa looked worried, confused. This topic seemed to be very stressful for her. Why?
“Again, I don’t care about Shu’do.” Her pacing paused then, and her brow relaxed, like she was surprised at what she said. “So,” she dragged out, facing them again, “I’ll respect whatever you guys decide.”
Kyran looked at Sem, and Nohr. He imagined his face looked similar to theirs; confused.
“You do not want this necklace back?”
I thought she did.
“I do,” she uncurled her fingers. “But I don’t want that to sway your decision.”
“But, important to Willa.”
She snarled into her hands when they covered her face. Never had he heard that sound come from her. Another shared look with Sem, and Nohr.
“Who be our keeper?” Nohr spoke up.
“No one.”
That startled them all.
“I mean,” she held up her hands like she was asking for calm, “you guys wouldn’t answer to anyone but yourselves. You could do whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted. You wouldn’t have to fight for anyone anymore. You could explore the universe, or… find partners or whatever…”
Her pretty eyes flickered to him when she said that before she gazed away.
His ear twitched. “Partners?”
Fingers scratched at the back of her neck when she said, “Mates.”
The prospect of finding a mate was new to him. Previous keepers had mates, and he’d seen many people with mates of their own, but it was a foreign thought to him. There were only studs, and dams in his world. No one had a mate.
Sem inquired, “Why find mates? What for?”
Willa kept rubbing her neck. Why was she doing this?
“No one should be alone, I guess,” she shrugged. “People find mates to love, to build futures with, to have… younglings.”
“Pups?” Nohr looked shocked, just like he felt.
“We not studs,” Sem added.
Nohr and Sem looked at Kyran pointedly, and he felt his ears warming.
“What does that mean?” It was Willa’s turn to look confused.
“Yellow spots, white spots,” Sem gestured to all of them. “Not pink. Not tall. Bad form. Have keeper instead, and fight, not breed.”
“Who cares about your spots? And you’re plenty tall,” she snorted. “If you were any taller, you’d have to crawl through the doorways!”
Another snarl and her fingers curled in on themselves. He scented her anger like smoke.
“You have every damn right to find mates, and have younglings if that’s your cup of tea.”
“What cup of tea?” Again, Sem looked confused.
“It’s an expression,” she waved a hand. “I just mean, if you want to have younglings, you can.”
Immediately, Kyran tried to imagine what his pups would look like if Willa mothered them. Her eyes skittered over his face, and his heart sped up.
Was she thinking the same thing?
“If have no keeper…” Nohr said slowly, “what we do?”
“Well,” Willa tightened her ponytail, like he noticed she often did, “I was thinking I could find you guys jobs within the company. Then you’d have income, and could build your own lives.”
“What job you give?” Of all the years he’d spent with Nohr, he’d never seen him so interested in something.
“I was thinking security.” A single finger rubbed along her bottom lip, and Kyran’s gaze instantly fixated on her mouth. “You guys already have so much more experience than the security team we have now. Your skills could be invaluable.”
She wanted to give them jobs?
“But, like I said earlier, you can do whatever you want. Which, also means you can say no if you don’t want the job.”
The idea of being able to do whatever he wanted, and have a real job, like he’d seen others work, was exciting. Without the chip, no one could control him. The idea almost seemed too strange to be real.
But, where would Willa be? Kyran liked being close by. He liked her complex scents, her wide range of emotions, her voice, her eyes, and how she talked to him like no one else had.
He wanted to ask her, but he was hesitant to say it in front of his pack brothers.
“Yes.” Nohr nodded.
“Yes, you want the chip removed?”
“Yes,” he said again.
Kyran shared a look with Sem, who then nodded too.
Willa stared at Kyran, since he was the only one who hadn’t agreed yet.
If what she said was true, and he could do whatever he wanted after the chip was gone, then maybe he could have a job that allowed him to be close to Willa. He would learn whatever he had to.
“Kyran?”
His skin always shivered, giving him good feelings, whenever she said his name.
Finally, he nodded. “Yes.”
&
nbsp; “Okay,” she dipped her chin, giving a small smile, no teeth. “This is good news. I’ll let Jonah know.”
Her scent was still giving up strange smells, confusing him. If she thought it was good news, why did her eyes look sad?
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The next day, Willa stood alone behind observation glass as she watched Jonah and his team perform the removal procedure. Kyran, Nohr, and Sem were all unconscious, face down on their individual tables, neck exposed under a blinding light.
She was operating on maybe an hour of sleep. It had been near impossible to rest last night. All she could think about, selfishly, was Kyran, and what he would do once he wasn’t tethered to her by a chip anymore.
A groan slipped her lips as she rubbed her forehead. Why did she even care? Last night, she’d thought about asking him to stay with her once it was removed, but she worried he would’ve thought it was a condition; agree to stay with her, and he could get the chip removed.
That wasn’t the case, but how could he even believe her when every keeper of his past had simply used him for their own gain?
In other words, they’d done exactly what she’d intended to do.
Willa paced back and forth, eyes flickering from the floor to the operating room.
Tosh had been right. What had she been thinking, trying to buy actual people for protection against a dangerous guy? How fucked was her moral compass after only a year and some odd months on the job?
At that point, she felt no better than the slimy bastard Shu’do.
She’d been a coward. Instead of facing her family like a grown woman and admitting her mistake in wagering Violet in a dumb game, she’d resorted to trying to cover it up by condoning the subjection of a race created solely for servitude.
Ugh.
Willa felt sick to her stomach. She didn’t deserve to ask Kyran to stay with her. For what, anyway? Why did she want him to stay? What did staying mean?
The idea of her life moving on without Kyran seemed so pale. It’d only been a few weeks since she found him on Tor’s, and they didn’t know each other very well. Willa didn’t even know the name of his mother, or where he came from.