Craving Maul (Star Joined Book 1)

by Sara Page

  “Where’s the soap?” I ask and bite my lip to hide my grin.

  Maul finally blinks and looks up. “Soap?” he repeats slowly as if the word confuses him.

  “Yes, soap,” I drawl out, nodding my head. “You know, the stuff you wash with?”

  He snorts and reaches around me, hitting a button on the shower wall. “I will clean you.”

  A hole in the wall squirts out a bunch of pink foam that smells sweet and fruity into his hands. Then much to my dismay, he begins to wash me by rubbing the foam all over my skin. His hands work over me from head to toe, leaving no part of me untouched.

  By the time he’s done with my body and washing my hair, I’m a panting, horny mess.

  “Maul,” I groan, as his fingers massage my scalp. I reach up, grab his hand and try to pull it down to my pussy but he quickly yanks it back.

  Undeterred, I grab his hand again but this time he’s much slower to yank it back.

  “You missed a spot,” I moan.

  “We shouldn’t,” he protests weakly, but his hand doesn’t fight me as I push his fingers against my clit. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “You won’t hurt me if you don’t enter me,” I pant, arching into him.

  With how big and sexy he is, I keep forgetting he’s new to all of this. I guess it never crossed his mind that you don’t need penetration to satisfy one’s sexual cravings.

  He must finally understand what I want because he groans and his fingers work against my clit as his lips smash into my lips.

  One hand still free, I slap it against the wall and let the pink foam fill my palm. With a little squirming and maneuvering, he helps me shove down his pants and then I clean his cock. I wrap my fingers around him and stroke the pink foam up and down his bumpy length.

  We come together, me gushing all over his fingers and him shooting his release all over my belly.

  Spent, I finally feel like the little coil of tension I’ve been carrying around inside me since I woke up has loosened. A little voice in the back of my head tries to tell me I should be very worried that I can’t seem to spend any amount of time in Maul’s presence without needing to get off with him…

  But I can’t spare the energy to worry about it right now. There will be plenty of time later, when I’m not rubbing his slick body and exploring him with my hands.

  After another round of washing and coming, we step out of the shower and I nearly die of a heart attack when two blue alien women greet me.

  “Shit!” I squeal and jump behind Maul.

  We’re both completely dry now thanks to the shower’s efficient jets of hot air and heat lamps, but we’re wearing absolutely nothing to cover our nakedness.

  Maul tucks me behind him and puffs out his chest. “What do you want now?” he asks, his voice deep and full of annoyance.

  The two blue women begin to squeal and chatter non-stop, and strangely enough, I can’t understand a word they’ve said. My implant is unable to translate their language.

  After a couple of minutes, I begin to feel safe with Maul as my shield. I poke my head around his side to get a better look at the women. They’re both very petite and so small of stature they seem fragile, like one strong wind could snap them in half.

  It’s almost impossible to tell them apart, they’re nearly identical in features. They could be twins but it’s probably more likely I can’t tell them apart because they’re alien to me. Once my mind becomes more familiar with them, I’m sure I’ll be able to make out all their different nuances. Their hair is long and white, curling at the ends, and there’s something about their faces that is familiar to me.

  It takes me a moment or two to figure out why I recognize them…

  Oh shit, it’s the two frightened women that were hiding behind me at the slave market.

  How did they get here? Why did Maul bring them along?

  I watch him glare and scowl at them but they look at him like they absolutely adore them.

  Did he bring them along too because he plans to keep them? Is he using us to put together some kind of freaky alien harem?

  I don’t know how he senses my distress. Before I can even take a step back, he’s spinning around and pulling me into his arms.

  “No,” he answers my own thoughts. “You and only you are the keeper of my heart.”

  I blink up at him. How did he know? Is he telepathic? Can he read my mind?

  Shit.

  I try to clear my head, thinking nothing at all.

  The women begin to chitter again and I peer around Maul’s back to see what the commotion is about. I feel a hot surge of possessiveness when I see them giggling together and shamelessly staring at his ass.

  “Why are they here?” I ask and try to push myself in front of him to hide him.

  He’s my alien, dammit.

  “Because…” he starts and then hesitates. “It didn’t feel right leaving them behind.”

  The two continue to carry on, and with each giggle I can feel myself getting more and more pissed off.

  “Okay, well, can you tell them to give us some privacy so we can get dressed?” I ask between clenched teeth.

  Maul nods and barks at the girls, “Leave!”

  They must not get the message because they just stand there and giggle, still ogling my man.

  “Let me,” I fairly snarl and twist out of his arms.

  “Hey!” I yell, jumping in front of Maul.

  “Yeah, you two,” I say as they gasp in surprise and jump back.

  Knowing that we’re working with a big language barrier here, I point at them then I point at the door. “You need to skedaddle while we get dressed.”

  The two women blink their big, purple eyes at me and I can tell they’re just not following.

  “Get out of here!” I yell and wave my hands at the door. “Shoo.”

  They look at each other in confusion.

  “Stop gawking at my man,” I mutter under my breath and glare at them.

  What I’m saying must finally dawn on them because they burst into a fit of giggles and start enthusiastically nodding their heads. They point at me and short, fast clipped words flow out of their mouths before they shuffle their way over to the exit.

  When they finally leave, I let out a relieved sigh and turn back to Maul to find him grinning a big shit-eating grin.

  “What?” I ask, blushing and feeling suddenly self-conscious. Did I just really act like a jealous girlfriend?

  He grabs me and pulls me into his chest. “My mate is possessive.”

  “Yeah, so,” I say, squirming in his arms.

  His face nuzzles the top of my head and then I can feel his hot breath as he says, “This pleases me.”

  “Yeah, well, I was just offended on your behalf,” I counter, not wanting to own my behavior.

  All of this, him and me, is just happening too fast. I really need a moment to take a deep breath and think about this.

  “Even so, you were jealous of the Paxzies,” he rumbles and kisses the top of my head.

  “Is that what they’re called? Paxzies?” I ask, jumping on the opportunity to change the subject.

  “Yes,” Maul answers, pulling away a little so he can look me in the eye and nodding his head.

  I try to sound as nonchalant as possible when I ask next, “What are you going to do with them?”

  Please don’t say you’re going to keep them…

  Maul smiles at me like he knows exactly what I’m worried about. “I plan on returning them to their homeworld.”

  “Oh,” I say and start to sag with relief. But then I realize they get to go home. What about me? Will he take me home too?

  “No, my heart, I cannot take you back to Earth. Your home is with me now.”

  Shit. Trying to block him out of my thoughts is a lot harder than it was with Jack. Oh shit, Jack… He must be losing his head right now. Did he see what happened? Does he think I’m dead?

  What will I tell him?

  Maul st
iffens against me and I try to bring my thoughts back to this conversation.

  “Will we live on this ship?”

  “No, we will return to Rathturia.”

  I nod my head and snuggle up against his chest. Thankfully, the snuggling and my acceptance seems to relax him.

  “Are we heading to Rathturia now?” I ask and rub my cheek against his chest to keep myself from worrying about where in the universe Rathturia is. How far away from Earth is it? How far away from Isla?

  “Not yet,” he answers, his voice starting to sound strained.

  I think rubbing my face against him is starting to affect him. I can feel the thump of his pulse quickening beneath his skin and his nipple hardens as I rub my cheek against it.

  “Oh? Where are we going now?”

  “To meet an old…” he hesitates as if searching for the correct word then settles on, “acquaintance.”

  I nod my head again as if this is all perfectly alright with me while I do my best to resist the urge to lick him.

  Grabbing me by the shoulders, Maul picks me up and sets me away from him. “But first,” he groans. “We must get dressed.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Maul

  Hours and minutes slowly turn into days. It’s on the thirteenth day that the toxins that have for so long wrecked their way through my bondmate’s system, fall to almost normal levels. I don’t truly know what the long-term effects will be for someone who has been using the neurotoxin for so long, but I’m hoping to the stars they are minimal.

  The ship we’ve been using to float around this small star system for the last two weeks has been a blessing to us. While it doesn’t have the full medical bay of a warship, it’s enough to help us keep Lexi’s treatment up to the minimum standards of what is suggested for severe withdraw.

  It would have been easier for us if we had a blood scrubber to remove the toxins as they floated through her system, but unfortunately we don’t.

  “Maul, may I remind you, it’s been three days since you’ve eaten,” Marketh’s voice floats through my brain. “I will no longer be able to suppress your hunger pains. Nor will I keep your thirst at bay.”

  The overwhelming growl of my stomach rumbles through me and it’s so loud I fear it will wake Lexi.

  Muttering quietly to myself, I slide her from my shoulder and onto the bed below. This has been rough on us both. I’ve tried to limit how much I’m away from her, but each time I’d leave I would come back to a mess.

  The bond that has protected Lexi from the drugs permanently pacifying her, or worse, has come at a price for us. We can’t be away from each other for longer than a couple hours. If it’s over one hundred and a half footsteps, the bond gives me a physical ache in my chest. That’s almost our limit, as well. I tested it one day while Lexi was thankfully passed out in a deep slumber. I went to the very end of the ship and I marked it at about two-hundred-foot steps. Or, at least, that’s what Lexi called the measurement.

  Her words for things are often primitive but effective for describing some things, I suppose.

  This bond is so unlike the ones I’ve studied on my homeworld. My mother and father did not have anything similar to this. The bond, while felt by the two, is not supposed to be this strong. I should not be able to get inside of her thoughts like I have. We shouldn’t have been able to save ourselves either. I know she’s been building up a tolerance to the serenity, but… shit… No one should be able to live with the amount floating around her system.

  How she wasn’t permanently pacified I simply don’t understand.

  Fuck. There’s far too many unknowns floating around this ship.

  Sliding my shirt over my chest, I quietly exit our cabin. I walk towards the galley and hear another one of those annoying fucking unknowns.

  The Paxzies, two short, little blue-bodied giggling masses of annoyance. I can’t walk near one of them without a burst of giggles emanating from them. I’ve tried asking just what is so funny but they always start turning bright pink. I take it that’s how their race blushes. When I do get more than giggles or blushes from them, they give me nonsensical ramblings of how when they get home I will be so happy. No kidding, I am quite sure I will be. That will have to wait though. Right now we’re finally through the storm of drugs ravaging Lexi’s body.

  The ship’s thrusters give the otherwise silent atmosphere a low rumbling feeling. They have the jump power to go pretty damn far, but right now we are making a series of short jumps from system to system.

  Getting to Black Ranch is tricky at best when it comes to traveling through the lawless regions of space. Black Ranch is like going straight to the wild frontiers. Here the law is in the hands of the strong.

  Making my way into the galley, I look around myself. Now that I’m wearing clothes, I have the ability to not feel so annoyed when I see the brats are sitting down at a table together eating.

  I walk into the small kitchen and ask, “Mar, where are we at?”

  “We have one more jump to make before being able to jump into Black Ranch. I’ve got an ETA of two hours and thirty-seven minutes.”

  “Any chatter about us on official lines yet?” I ask as I begin to drink a very cold glass of water.

  Last night in the shower was the first time in weeks I’ve felt clean. I’m slowly beginning to feel Rathturian again as the water cools my burning throat. I’ve been taking care of my bonded so much I’ve let myself become almost damaged.

  “None.”

  “Okay, how about the backchannels?”

  “A lot. They’re not calling out the ship just yet, but they’re looking for the blues. I believe the Paxzies should be something we offload as soon as possible. It’s not like they can say they’re hunting a big silver beast who has a tail.”

  “It’s smart of them. They mention me and it will get noticed by the right people. They say they’re looking for the girls and it’s a small matter not worth pursuing. What about Lexi?”

  “Nothing, not even a whisper.”

  “Odd,” I grumble.

  “Yeah, so I went deeper into the channels and searched out the dark net. I caught a hint of grumblings here and there, but I heard someone is making large waves on the Lexi’s homeworld. Large enough to be an issue if they figure out it’s a Rathturian who has her.”

  “Have you thought to check up on our undercover decoy you put the ID on?”

  “I did.”

  Pulling out a wrapped meal, I split open the paper wrapping and begin to start stuffing the breaded meat with vegetables crammed inside of it into my mouth. Even now I can feel the large grumbling of a completely empty stomach.

  “His death is being treated as an accident by the Tribunal investigators.”

  “What death? When the hell did this happen?”

  “The day we went into the slavers market, on Goest.”

  “Fucking stars!” I mutter as I slam the food cooler’s door.

  “What’s wrong, Maul?”

  Whipping around to the voice, I’m startled to find Lexi standing there before me. With a blanket wrapped around her small frame, she looks so beautiful right now all thoughts of what was said flee my mind.

  “Um, I…” Walking towards her, I’m about to wrap my arms around her when I hear Marketh’s voice come into the room as well.

  “Maul was just commenting on the fact that the decoy we were using was found accidentally airlocked outside a commercial traveling ship.”

  “A decoy…?”

  “How in the hell…” I ask, speaking over Lexi.

  “Yes, it appears that there was some sort of accident. A well-versed traveler inadvertently found himself on the wrong side of a pressurized airlock.”

  “So, someone tossed him out?” Lexi asks as she slides her arms around my waist.

  She nestles her head into my chest and stares at my stuffed bread loaf. I look down to see her pink tongue moistening her lips.

  “Of course not. He accidentally opened it and then fell out
of it and then it magically resealed itself. At least that’s what the investigating report showed,” Marketh says with a contemptuous tone.

  “And the Tribunal accepts this as a valid answer?” I ask with irritation.

  The Tribunal that I have served all my life would never accept something like this as the truth, but even now I can feel the cracks in my foundation. It’s the reason why I left on the job in the first place. Through several investigations before this one, I knew that the Crima weren’t following all the rules and regulations set forth by the Tribunal. Hell, I’m not sure most races do. But the Crima… Something is going on. Here and there I’ve heard whispers. Whispers that they’ve been farming slaves on worlds on the forbidden list.

  That happens from time to time with all races, I suppose, but not as much as they were supposedly doing.

  Something caught my ear though. They were singling out the humans, singling them to excess. But why? Why would the humans be so desired? I couldn’t figure it out. Why them? What about them makes them unique to any other race on the list?

  “The Tribunal will accept the answer in any way they see fit, Maul. Just because you naively jumped into this job doesn’t mean anyone else did. Your rigid standards blew out the window, may I remind you, the moment you started unleashing the oblivion on that slaver’s orbital.”

  Staring hard at the orb, I growl out, “That I had no choice over. They were…”

  “The Prigs were enslaving some human and a couple of other races. Big deal. You didn’t even get the evidence to show the Tribunal. The only evidence you have is what you slam your cock into every night. That and a video of you going on a wild, berserking rage!”

  “Excuse me?!?” Lexi gasps.

  “Marketh, you go too far!”

  “Yes, I do. See your righteousness? It’s going to be an issue if you can’t cool it off,” Marketh says placidly.

  Fucker. Little silver fucker.

  “Space yourself, Mar. Get to the points you have in your little jelly head,” I say, letting out a sigh of exasperation.

  He’s leading me somewhere, and with the fog my brain has been in for the last couple of weeks, I can tell he’s on to something I’ve overlooked.