by Dawn Ryder
Tova moved with him when he rolled off her body this time. Even as slumber began to carry her away, she knew her spot next to his body. Her hand threaded through his chest hair as he stroked her hip and absolutely nothing else mattered but listening to their hearts as they beat.
“Will Janus join us here?” Tova wasn’t sure she wanted to share the intimacy.
“No.” Hawk’s arms tightened around her for a moment. “This is my bed and I share it with you.” His chest rumbled with a small satisfied grunt.
Tova smiled against his chest as she drifted off into sleep. She liked the sound of it being his bed.
She liked it very much.
Chapter Eight
One Week Later
“Come, Tova, we have worked enough.”
Hawk shrugged his shoulders and offered her a grin. It was an expression she was beginning to look forward to seeing on his harsh face. That moment when he let her see the male who was her lover instead of the Hunter. After a week sharing his living space, she was becoming used to the shifts in his mood.
“Tonight there will be entertainment at the meeting hall. There will be other females there for you to meet.”
A little twist of excitement raced through her at that idea. Tova didn’t realize how lonely she had begun to feel this week without anyone but Hawk and Janus. Despite craving their company, there was a part of her that longed for friends as well. She missed Alana and the few others she had enjoyed conversing with during the course of her days. Hawk caught her hand and pulled her along behind him once again. The Hunters who would keep watch during the night were moving along the corridors. Their sharp eyes considered her briefly as they passed. It lacked the harsh edge that had always surrounded looks from Hunters. Here, she was not constantly suspected of malice. In this sphere, she was Hawk’s female. But she was also a free woman, unburdened by being connected with the unlawful. She held respect, simply by herself. It was a feeling she had sorely missed.
“We’ll go to the garment traders tomorrow and find you some robes that are pretty.” Hawk looked at her and frowned. “I should have thought about that yesterday.”
Tova laughed as she squeezed his hand. All week, they had hurried back to his living space the moment duty permitted. Clothing had been a very low priority.
“Behave, Tova.”
“I do not know what you mean.” Tova fluttered her eyelashes before giggling once again.
Hawk stopped and pulled her close to his body. Her nipples tingled as she tipped her head back to look at his face. He leaned down so that his voice touched only her ear. “I will be happy to remind you. Your body should have to remain nude anytime I am viewing it.”
Hawk squeezed her before turning to resume walking. Tova smiled as heat gently moved through her body. Wasn’t that what life was really about? The moments that made you happy? They moved along the hallways and toward a large structure that she knew was their meeting hall. All spheres were constructed in a similar fashion. There was always one large building that was used for ceremonies and celebrations. All inhabitants had the right to reserve time there.
Tonight, Hunters gathered to celebrate the end of a work rotation. They brought their families with them too. Several Hunters moved up to greet Hawk and their eyes lingered on her, making her shift. Hawk squeezed her hand and cast a look at her.
“Go and sit with the females. Find some friends.”
Tova grinned as she left and moved towards the dark green line that designated the female area. She walked right over it and smiled as a baby caught her eye. The child was chewing on his fist as his mother held him on her thigh.
“May I sit with you?” A younger woman walked right up to her and stood waiting for permission to join her.
Tova almost shouted “yes” but clamped her mouth shut to contain her cry. She might be nervous but she did not need to announce it!
“Certainly.”
The young female offered her a shy smile before she lowered her body onto the bench. Her slim fingers plucked nervously at her lavender robe. She cast a smile at Tova.
“I am Fay.” She smiled again before casting a look over to the male section. She paused as she considered Janus, and Tova noticed that the Hunter was staring right at them but his eyes were focused on Fay. The girl shivered before breaking off and looking back at Tova.
“May I be blunt?” Desperation shimmered in her eyes but it was edged with something more. Hunger flickered in Fay’s eyes as she continued plucking at the fabric covering her thighs. “You have been with Janus?”
Fay forced the words out of her throat as her pale cheeks turned scarlet. Tova stared at the telltale sign of arousal and almost laughed. Had it truly been only a week ago that she was blushing at the ideas flooding her mind concerning Hawk? Now she enjoyed the rush of heat and savored the flicker of desire filling her clit.
“It is their way to share, but my emotions are for Hawk.”
Fay looked relieved before she pulled her eyes away from Janus once more. “Tender emotions? He touches your heart and not simply your lust?”
Tova felt her cheeks heat in response. Now it was her turn to be nervous. Did she dare to voice the truth? Hawk might end their relationship if he thought she was becoming clingy. But the simmer of need in Fay’s eyes prevented her from deceiving the other girl. Females understood tender emotions better than males.
Tova nodded. “As foolish as it might be, yes.”
Fay smiled brightly and reached for one of Tova’s hands. “It is not foolish, simply the way a female’s heart works. I…um…think about Janus. Very often.”
“And he stares at you.” Tova looked back at the male section. Janus was on the edge of his seat. His eyes were focused on Fay like a raptor on a mouse. “Why do you not go to the border and speak with him? Clearly you both think about each other. It appears time for you two to meet.”
“I dare not. When a chaste female does that here…it is almost as solid as pledging. The other Hunters will begin to consider me claimed, for no other reason, than they witnessed me approach him. It is very unfair.” Fay lifted her gaze back to Tova and licked her lower lip. “Is he…rough?” Her eyes were wide with anticipation but not with chaste fear as Tova might have expected. Fay’s eyes flickered with hunger as she waited for an answer.
“Yes.”
Fay shuddered. The tip of her tongue appeared and moved over her bottom lip once again as she stole another look at Janus. “I knew it.” She whispered her words in a deep tone that betrayed her hunger. Fay turned back to look at her. “I’m sorry, you must think me rude…I needed to know. Everyone says he’s demanding and that I’m insane to think of him but it…it…um…”
“Excites you?”
Fay jumped and stared at Tova. “I don’t know.” Confusion swept through her eyes before she spoke once again. “Does it please you? Knowing they will share you and another female if Janus takes a mate? Will you pledge with Hawk?”
Tova shivered as she looked across the room to Hawk. His eyes met hers in a silent moment of intimacy. Her heart filled as she caught him displaying his interest for her so publicly. There was no hint of shame for her blood. Only his desire to keep her in his world. “Aye, if he asked, I would.”
It was a relief to finally say it. Tova felt her shoulders relax as she admitted the truth. Fay was watching her with round, shocked eyes and she simply shrugged. “I have recently discovered that it is impossible to argue with fate. She is a determined mistress who does not listen to our ideas of perfection. She makes her own.”
Fay scoffed. “I know what I want and it will not be a dominant male.” She turned and looked down her small nose at Janus before turning back to Tova. “No, I will not pledge myself to any male who is so…mastering. It is a good thing you enjoy it since they are comrades but I am certain I would not.”
Her young voice was filled with a lifetime of being born into a privileged station. Only daughters of Hunters could be so vocal with their expectations c
oncerning males. Tova stifled a laugh as she recalled Hawk laughing at her after she had slapped him. Janus would have to respect Fay’s rejection. Hawk had simply cornered her before he bent her to his will.
There were parts of the yielding that she had enjoyed and that was the truth.
“I was certain I would never desire one of my guards.” Fay gasped in response. Tova looked at the younger female and lifted an eyebrow. “Janus is a male who enjoys domination. He would run you to ground if you were not born in a Hunter sphere. Maybe that is a pity, because I see the excitement in your eyes.”
“That does not mean I have to satisfy it with him.” Fay’s cheeks were glowing with color as she pressed her lips into a tight line.
“You are correct, but I think you should face your own desires. Spreading for a male who does not excite you is a poor choice for a free female to make. Besides, I was only telling you to talk with him. If not here, I’m sure you might figure out how to find him when no one would be watching. You might discover you like him.”
Fay cast another look at Janus. She shivered and shook her head. “I do not know. He is so harsh.”
That frightened the younger female. Tova saw it clearly but had no idea what to say. Fay changed the topic to benign ones as the evening grew later. Her sense of humor amused Tova as they spoke of female enjoyments. Through it all, Fay would cast looks towards the male side of the room. Hunger tightened her face every time she found Janus looking back at her.
“How do you know, Tova? When it is true and not simple lust?” Fay spoke so softly, Tova had to lean forwards to catch her words. “This heat, near burns me.”
“You already know, Fay. ’Tis now a matter of accepting. That is the hard part.”
Fay raised a surprised look at her as Hawk moved towards the green border. He held his hand out to her.
“The only person who can help you with that is Janus. You must teach him what you would have and what you will not accept.”
“Have you? With Hawk?”
Tova laughed softly as she stood up. She offered the other girl a shrug. “I believe that is a lesson that might progress for the rest of our lifetimes. It is a constant battle of wills.”
Fay giggled at the image before Tova walked away. Many watched her move across the floor and place her hand into Hawk’s. Several heads even nodded but what Tova found the most interesting was the pride shining in Hawk’s eyes. It wasn’t smug or greedy. It was pure male enjoyment.
* * * * *
“Tova…stop playing with me.” Janus gasped as she tightened her grip on his cock. He muttered under his breath as she rubbed the spot under the head.
“You enjoy being my toy.” Leaning forward, she licked the slit on the top of his cock and Janus growled softly.
“As do you.” Janus caught her body and lifted her off her knees. Her body arched through the air until her back landed on the sofa. Janus pressed her thighs apart with his shoulders and glared at her as his fingers trailed through her spread slit.
“Now, tell me what Fay said.”
Tova laughed but gasped when Janus found her clit and began rubbing it. Hawk strode back in with water still glistening on his skin and raised an eyebrow at them. Janus leaned towards her spread slit to tease her clit with the tip of his tongue, before looking up her body at her face.
“Tell me, Tova, I’m as close to pleading as I am capable of being.”
He didn’t wait for her to answer but leaned towards her clit and sucked it into his mouth. His tongue flickered back and forth across the little button as Tova gasped and forgot about the topic of conversation. Her hands fisted into the cushion beneath her as Janus sucked harder on her clit. He never touched her pussy and that made it more acute. She felt empty, so empty she ached. She wanted to climax but it would be incomplete without something filling her pussy.
Janus showed her no mercy. His tongue flicked over her clit faster as he growled around the sensitive point. Tova arched up off the sofa as her body snapped with pleasure and she whimpered. She balled her hands into fists as she began dragging in deep breaths and Janus smirked at her.
“Tell me.” His voice was hard and determined. He knew he left her unsatisfied and did so to press his authority over her.
She hit him instead. Tova shoved her fist into his hard shoulder and heard Hawk laugh. “You are mean, Janus!”
He laughed in response. Janus hooked her hips with his hands and pulled her off the sofa. He still knelt between her thighs on the floor and he fitted her right onto his cock as he pulled her against him. Her pussy instantly shouted with approval as she was filled with his hard flesh. Tova clasped her arms around his neck as he began to lift her off his cock and let her weight push her back onto it.
“She is afraid of you.”
Janus growled in response. The sound was low and primal. It made her shiver as his fingers tightened on her hips. He increased the pace as his hips thrust up towards her. “She should be.”
Janus moved and laid her back against the floor. His body hunched over her as he fucked her hard and fast. It wasn’t gentle but neither was he. Pleasure moved through her in a thick wave but his quick pace was not enough to bring her into climax. His cock swelled tighter before Tova heard him gasp. His seed erupted deep inside her as he gripped her hips tightly. He pulled his spent cock free as he panted. Hawk pulled her off the floor the instant Janus let her go.
“Let’s go to bed.”
Hawk pressed her down onto their bed as his cock thrust deep into her body. He caught the sides of her head between his hands as he kissed her and his hips began to fuck her slowly. Pleasure boiled through her as Hawk refused to rush the pace of their mating. It was hard and deep but never too fast. He waited for her to raise her hips for his cock before thrusting it deep. His body covered hers completely, the hair on his chest rasping across her breasts as he drove his flesh in and out of her spread body. Tension tightened around his cock as she lifted for his thrust. Climax made her cry as it ripped deep into her belly. Hawk let his seed fill her a moment later and he kissed her as she felt his seed pumping into her.
Hawk rolled over before crushing her and Tova settled her head onto his chest as her fingers played with one male nipple. She lifted her eyelids as Janus stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. In the semi-dark room, he let his mask soften and she caught a look of longing in his eyes. Envy etched his features as he looked at her compliant form against Hawk while he stood next to the bed.
“I would never harm her, Tova. Tell her that.” Janus stroked her cheek once more before moved away. He stopped at the door and looked back at them. “But I will not have a coward in my bed either. I cannot change who I am.”
“Fay is not a coward, Janus. She is just a girl who hasn’t faced womanhood.”
Janus stood in the doorway a moment. “An interesting point. Thank you.”
Tova shivered as Janus left. She understood him. He craved submission in response to his domination, but she was not sure the delicate Fay could give him what he hungered for. Hawk stroked her hip as he tightened his embrace around her.
“Janus will find his way.” Hawk rolled over and pressed her back against the bed. His mouth captured hers in a long and slow kiss. “You belong to me, Tova.” Possession edged his voice as he cupped her breasts and caught one in his mouth. Hawk lingered over each and every touch, working his way down her body and discovering all the places that were sensitive. She arched against the bedding as his tongue licked through her slit to the top where her clit was. Hawk rolled right over onto his back and lifted her above his cock. He let her down onto his flesh.
“Ride me, Tova.”
She leaned over his body as she obeyed. Hawk held her hips as he watched her rise and fall off his cock. The night stretched out in a feast of darkness that they could take shelter in while indulging in one another. Ripples of pleasure moved through her body, never really dying completely. In the end, Hawk rolled her onto her back again and thrust faster and fas
ter until her pussy contracted around his cock to milk it once again. His hands gripped her hips as his seed settled into her belly and Tova let slumber overtake her as he clamped her against his body.
* * * * *
Rishan cussed. He glanced around the messy living space and glared at the caked-on food decorating the few dishes they were granted. Tova’s absence was noticed as the living space became filthy. Dirt drifted in onto the floor and their food rations were stacked on the counter because he wasn’t going to spend his time doing female chores. His sire glared at him and sniveled.
It festered in his thoughts as just another thing that Hunters had forced him to endure. Resentment had long ago turned into hate. Tonight it boiled into rage that included Tova. She had betrayed her own kin by spreading for a Hunter. She deserved to be punished for her transgressions and for leaving him without a female to tend to his living space. It was her job. She had no right to be earning a reprieve by spreading.
Rishan considered his sister’s lover. His voice shook the walls as he thought about the Hunter and the command insignia his shoulder boasted. His thoughts began to flow as he looked around the squalor he lived in. Turning away from the mess, he went to find his friends. It was time to leave and his sister was going to be the tool he used to break out of his cage.
Who cared if she ended up dead in the process? She deserved no better for spreading for Hunters.
* * * * *
Alana sent her a message. Tova almost squealed with excitement as she pressed the button that would display her friend’s words to her. Tonight Hawk had a command meeting and it was her first moment alone in his living space. She savored the privacy.
But her friend’s message did not please her. Tova bit her lower lip as she stared at the words on the screen. Alana wanted her to meet her and that meant reentering the penal sphere.
Tova pushed her chair back and stood. She was being silly. It was Alana—she had been her closest friend. The other woman was a convict and could not leave to come to her so Tova would have to meet her. She would enjoy the visit too. Alana’s life was hard. She was the most unfortunate soul Tova had ever met—it seemed like fate conspired against Alana.