Venomous Lust

by Mary Auclair

  Khal’s mouth closed on her throat, his fangs raking her skin as his kiss traveled to the hollow of her shoulder. One hand slid down her stomach and inside her pants, cupping her still wet mound, finding her still swollen and needy for his touch.

  Hazel’s mind rebelled, knowing Zaxis was still watching, seeing figures appearing in the red dust, approaching to witness the show. To see Khal’s hands on her body, inside her body. Approaching to see her collapse from pleasure and shame all at once.

  “Now you belong to me.” Khal spoke, but it wasn’t his voice anymore. It was the gravely growl of a feral beast, full of danger and the dark threats of the unknown. It made her even wetter, despite the burning knowledge that people were watching them.

  Watching her.

  His finger dug into her depths, and his thumb came to rest on her clit as his fangs raked her skin. Pain and pleasure mixed together in a deadly dance as blood trickled down her shoulder and over her breast. Her nipples hardened to the point of pain as the droplet of blood slid slowly on top of one of them, wetting her tank top. Sensations flowed through her entire body until even the smallest point of contact between her and Khal could send her toppling over into an abyss of rapture she would never crawl out of.

  Never want to crawl out of.

  Then he did it. His fangs embedded into her flesh, digging deep into the soft tissue of her shoulder. Pain exploded as rapture washed over her, Khal’s wicked hand still touching her sex. The orgasm grew as fire spread underneath her skin, erasing the pain to turn it into a blessed brazier, consuming her flesh to leave nothing but replete ashes behind.

  Hazel screamed, loud and long to the measure of her pleasure, until her voice gave out… and still her lungs croaked.

  Then, slowly, she recovered. His fangs left her flesh and blood poured freely down her shoulder as Khal’s breathing changed at her back. His hand came out of her pants while the one that had kept her head still slid down one arm and closed on her wrist. His other hand did the same and Hazel found herself displayed, her arms held wide apart as Khal still breathed like the oxygen in the air wasn’t enough. Like he was preparing for a long dive underwater.

  As her mind recovered from the intensity of the pleasure, Hazel opened her eyes. Her gaze tried to find Khal’s but he was holding her too close, he was too tall above her.

  Then she looked around. At Zaxis, whose face was completely devoid of color. At the Eoks, who stared with varying expressions of disbelief.

  Then at Commander Gerkin, who stood in the middle of the crowd, his face twisted with rage and his eyes blazing with pure hatred.

  Then she forgot all about Gerkin and his evil stare as a chant floated in the red, dust-saturated air of Garana like an ode to carnal possession.

  The chant floated in the air for an impossibly long time as Khal’s chest vibrated. She could feel every tremor from his chest all the way to his throat as the wordless music filled the space. The notes were tender and raw, yet as possessive as the hands on her body, molding her to the male form of the warrior like she was a part of him and he an extension of her.

  As Khal sang above her head, something snapped inside her, like a long-forgotten link in a broken chain, suddenly coming to life. Lust and heat rose from deep within her body, invading her mind. Erasing all that wasn’t Khal, all that wasn’t those hot hands on her body, that warm breath on her wet skin.

  Need grew between her legs, imperious and wild. A need only one thing could satisfy.

  Finally, just when she was thinking Khal would never draw another breath, the song ended. The Eok released her wrists and, in one fast motion, jerked her around. The motion made her lose her balance, but his strong arms locked around her body, pinning her against a wall of hard flesh.

  Blue eyes, deep and full of an emotion that pinched her throat and left her knees weak, locked with hers.

  “It is done.” Khal spoke low, his words almost lost in the guttural, animal tone of his voice. “You are my bloodmate, Hazel. And now, I will claim what is mine.”

  All Hazel could think as Khal swept her off the ground to carry her, pressed close to him, back inside the Myrador, was that she was lost.

  And she never wanted to be found.

  Chapter 12

  Hazel

  She had no idea how she got there, but she now stood in the middle of the free space in Khal’s private quarters. Her entire body shook with long, deep shivers despite the comfortable temperature, and her breathing was fast and shallow.

  Khal faced the door as it slid shut, both hands braced against the wall, his broad back tense and rippling with muscles, his legs spread shoulder-width apart, thighs wide as tree trunks molded into synthetic leather pants. He looked glorious and masculine, and dangerous with every inch of his tall, strong body.

  Her body answered the sight of him like it had a willpower of its own, her walls clenching and wetness flowing between her legs. Fire spread anew in her veins, propelling her forward. Hazel took a step toward Khal, her hands lifting, itching to touch his glorious, gleaming skin.

  “Stay where you are.” Khal’s tone was like a blade through the air, cold and merciless. “You’re not safe with me.”

  Not safe with him? She was as safe with him as she was ever going to be. Safer with him than she had ever been in her life.

  “You won’t hurt me.” There was confidence in her words, in her voice. More than she thought there should be, and every bit as much as she felt. “I know you won’t.”

  “You know nothing of an Eok’s urges, Hazel.” That voice again. Velvet covered in razor blades. “If you so much as take another step, I won’t be able to control it. I’ll come on to you like the savage I am and I will rut you in the ways of old. And you won’t like the ways of old.”

  Fear mixed with her arousal at his words, but her mind was too far gone and caution wasn’t in her blood tonight.

  “But I want you.” Never had Hazel meant anything so much. Never had her desires been expressed so freely. “I need you.”

  She lifted her hand, fingers outstretched, intent on reaching him, on making him understand how much she meant it. Khal turned his head sideways and hissed.

  The sound of the hiss froze her and fear coursed anew in her veins, but instead of abating the lust, it only made her core quiver more.

  “You do not need me as I am now.”

  There was a definite note in his tone: something that made her stop. Because she knew. She could see in the tension running like water over the skin of his arms and shoulders that he was barely controlling himself.

  Maybe I should back down. Maybe I can resist the lust after all.

  But she couldn’t. Just thinking about it nearly sent her crawling on the floor toward him, begging to be fucked like an animal.

  “Tell me what to do. Tell me how to help you.”

  Long seconds passed before Khal answered, seconds filled with silence and anticipation. His eyes flashed as he shot her a glance over his shoulder.

  “Get on the bed.” He growled the order, and this second time around, the glance he shot her lingered on her body for just a fraction longer. “Remove your clothing.”

  The words shot right through Hazel’s belly and she stood unmoving for a few long moments as the reality of what he’d asked her settled in. Fear tempered the unrelenting fire in her blood and Hazel took a step backward.

  “Now, Hazel.” His voice had decreased in volume, the sound gravely and cruel. “Before I rip them off your body.”

  The barely veiled violence in Khal’s voice, the way his fangs gleamed as he looked at her sideways, pushed her into action. She was scared, yes, but he was still in control. There was no telling what would happen if he lost it. Her hands trembled as she undid her pants and slowly pushed the heavy, close fitting fabric down her legs then kicked them out of the way. She stood uneasily in her panties and her tank top for a second, then grabbed the hem of her tank and lifted it over her head to discard it with her pants.

  As t
he cool air brushed her breasts, her already hard nipples tightened into tiny balls of aching flesh.

  “On the bed.”

  The command was rough and something inside Hazel wanted to rebel, but she obeyed anyway. She turned and hopped onto the large, soft bed, pushing with her legs until she sat in the middle.

  Then she waited. Time seemed suspended as her legs got covered in goosebumps and she stared at Khal’s back, then his arms, and all the way down to his fingers, which appeared to be digging into the wall of the room. He was breathing heavily and fast in an obvious effort to control himself.

  Then he turned around, leaving long scratch marks deep in the metal wall as he removed his hands. His blue eyes, shining with a light from within, locked on to her exposed body and Hazel pressed her thighs together, her core clenching instinctively. Those eyes raked over her legs and higher up to her breasts.

  “I told you to remove your clothing.” There was an edge to his voice, like he couldn’t bear the slightest disobedience from her.

  She opened her mouth to speak but only a choked, pitiful sound escaped. Without words, Hazel grabbed her panties and slid them down her legs to send them to the floor next to her discarded clothing. She closed her thighs tightly over her bared pussy in an instinctive protective gesture.

  “Open your legs.” That commanding voice again, demanding absolute submission and yet, making her even wetter. “Show yourself to me.”

  Pure shock tore through Hazel at those words, and she stared in disbelief as her legs parted almost by themselves. She lay on her back, her elbows propping her torso up on the bed, her knees parted wide as her pussy was displayed. She could feel the cold of the air on her wet flesh.

  Khal’s eyes turned ravenous and he took a few long steps until he stood just at the foot of the bed. His face was a battlefield of hunger and control, his full, hard lips pursed, revealing his fangs. He didn’t speak but he bent forward, bracing one knee on the mattress, his eyes on her sex. His mouth opened halfway as he reached with a single finger. His touch sent an electric current of sensation all the way up to her brain and Hazel moaned, unable to look away.

  “So wet, so pink.” He dipped his finger inside her greedy channel. As he filled her, sensations built into deep pleasure and Hazel couldn’t keep her weight up anymore. She fell back on the mattress, her head pressed down as Khal pulled his finger out and inserted two digits in its place.

  “So fucking tight.”

  He pulled back and Hazel growled at the loss of the sensation. As she lifted her head to watch him, Khal smirked at her reaction.

  “You’re a fierce mate.” There was approbation in his gaze, but also challenge. “You will be begging me to let you come again before this night is over.”

  “I can beg you now.”

  Oh, God, did she have no shame? No, she didn’t. She had lost her dignity in the waves of pleasure that had washed over her brain like the tide. There was no going back now. She would beg and crawl, do anything just to get Khal to keep touching her, to fill her with his cock and put his fangs on her skin.

  “No.” Khal shook his head, his hands already on the fastening of his synthetic leather vest. “Not yet, my little stowaway. Not until you’re so ready for me, it hurts.”

  Then he discarded his sleeveless vest to the floor, exposing the myriad of small scars covering his chest. His muscles were heavy and strong, his nipples small and hard amid the markings, blending in to the landscape of scars. Hazel tried to swallow as her eyes traveled down Khal’s body, to the flat of his stomach and his tapered waist.

  He was all hardness, perfection made male. The ultimate warrior, a finely-honed blade set to a single-minded purpose. But not tonight. Tonight, Khal’s blade-sharp focus was entirely on her.

  And her body screamed with approval at every lingering look on his handsome, harshly carved face.

  Without looking away from her, Khal grabbed the belt of his pants then took them off in a few efficient movements. He stood in front of her, completely naked, his long, thick sex fully erect in front of him. It was surprisingly similar to Bobbie’s, the only man’s penis she had ever seen, but with a more rounded tip, and longer and bigger. Way longer and bigger than Bobbie’s.

  Maybe too much. Fear edged up within her, but the flow of arousal didn’t abate.

  Hazel stared, mesmerized, as Khal bent again, bracing both knees on the mattress. She whimpered in fright when his hands closed on the inside of each of her thighs and he shot her a fast, forbidding glance.

  “I will not hurt you, Hazel. I can never hurt you.” The words were soft and reassuring, but his eyes were nothing but. There was a primitive savagery in those eyes, eons of pure masculine claim that she dared not contradict. Or resist. “But I will claim what is mine tonight.”

  Warmth flooded between her legs, wet and slippery, full of anticipation. And Khal didn’t make her wait long.

  He lowered his head, inhaling deeply as his breath fanned her wet pussy, just inches from her flesh. She pressed her head against the mattress, completely surrendering to the rush of sensations to come. Khal didn’t hesitate for long, and her entire body shuddered as his hot mouth closed on her wet, quivering flesh. His tongue was raspy and warm as he licked from her opening to her clit slowly, flicking the needy bundle of nerves at the end. Hazel whimpered, already on the verge of another explosive climax.

  “You taste so damn good. I could feast on you all night.”

  His mouth and tongue were on her again, moving along her slit, circling her clit, his fangs raking her skin. The Mating Venom entered her bloodstream, making her wild, yearning for a release that wasn’t going to be enough. Nothing but Khal’s utter and total possession would ever be enough.

  And then, just before release could wash over her, as the pleasure almost touched the edge of pain, Khal stopped. Hazel opened her eyes, a feral growl at her throat.

  “No.” The forbidding word slashed at her and she lifted her head to see Khal kneeling between her parted knees. His sex was long and large, impossibly hard, glistening with a drop of pre-cum. “You won’t come before I allow you to.”

  There was a such a need for domination in his voice, in the harsh planes of his face. A need for domination and for something more. A need to belong, a need to be needed. And she needed him right now, so hard it hurt.

  Khal’s hands slid along her thighs as he lowered himself above her body, the thick head of his sex pushing at her entrance without breaching it. Lust made Hazel mad and she tried moving, pushing her hips up to meet him, but he held her down firmly. His blue eyes locked her in place as she panted, helpless and ravaged by a desire to be possessed.

  “You’re mine, Hazel. My bloodmate, my life.” There was a tenderness layered with Khal’s domination, and Hazel knew the words were as much a promise as they were a claim. She would never be alone, never unsafe, as long as Khal was there. “Now say it. Tell me you’re mine.”

  “I’m yours. I’m yours, Khal, and you’re mine, too.”

  A fierce grin split his face, and he pushed with his hips. He didn’t go slowly or even tenderly. No, this was a raw possession, a brand on her body and soul. And as her walls stretched to accommodate his size and length, sensations rushed through her body, clearing her mind of thoughts.

  Again, Khal pumped his thick, hard shaft into her soft walls, hard and fast, the blows punishing. Pleasure mounted inside Hazel’s body as her greedy channel sucked and squeezed. Her eyes closed instinctively and she fell back on the mattress, moving her hips in tandem with Khal’s pounding.

  “Look at me.” His voice was hoarse, the thin veil of civilization gone. Hazel opened her eyes and got lost in a sea of blue so intense, she knew she would never swim out of it. A few more harsh thrusts, with her hips rising to meet his blows, and the pleasure mounted, coming to a point where there was no other option but to scream. She opened her mouth, then couldn’t control herself.

  “That’s it, come for me, my sweet Hazel.”

  And
she did. Hazel screamed into the hollow of Khal’s neck. Her climax washed over her body in a wave of destructive power, wiping clean all her thoughts, leaving behind nothing but a wasteland.

  Then a deafening roar sounded above her head as Khal’s own pleasure came, hot spurts of semen inside her womb triggering another deep, pulsing orgasm.

  For a long time, he held her beneath him after their pleasure had abated and they lay, prostrate and spent. His large hands came to rest on either side of her face as he finally moved. His forehead rested against hers as a peace, strange and yet familiar, spread inside Hazel’s mind.

  “Nothing can undo this now.” Khal nuzzled her neck, his lips pressing small kisses along her jaw. “No matter what happens, I have found you.”

  The words were strange, but Hazel didn’t answer. She was too spent, too fulfilled to speak.

  But it was over all too soon as Khal moved away from her, the loss of his flesh inside her like a physical blow. He cast her a long look, regret clear on his handsome face. His lips lifted in a true smile and it softened the hard lines of his features, making him look younger. Hazel could almost see the carefree youth he had been once, a long time ago.

  “I wish we could stay here longer. I wish I could leave you behind to rest, but I can’t.” He bent and picked up her clothing from the floor. “You have to stay by my side at all times. As you are my bloodmate, no Eok should try to harm you, but we can’t give them too much temptation. Violence does not bring out the best in my kind.”

  “So, you’re not going to leave me here?” Relief washed over Hazel as she understood. “Send me to Aveyn in a shuttle?”

  Khal frowned, then shook his head.

  “You are my bloodmate. I could no more leave you behind than I could cut off my own arm.” There was regret in his voice as he spoke. “I wish I could send you away to safety. It would set my mind at ease for the rest of this mission, but I cannot trust them with you. Not after what I saw today. I don’t know what happened to the garrison and the Eoks stationed on Garana, but something isn’t right. Garana has always been a dangerous place, primitive and filled with violence, but the Eoks here seem to have forgotten who they are.”