“You don’t get along with the current Lord High Commander, then?”
He shook his head. He could not go into detail without telling her everything. And that he could not do. Not yet. Not unless he was released from his promise.
“I do not. It has been a long time coming.”
That part was true. Sekari was a bully, the type of leader who mistook abuse for a show of strength. But since he and his clan had lived on a different continent than Sekari, he had tolerated Sekari for probably far longer than he should have. Until…until he couldn’t any more.
Rosamund was still watching him, waiting for him to say more.
When he remained silent, he saw a look of disappointment on her face, and it slashed him to the very core.
“I am sorry,” he said. “What are you thinking right now?” He was afraid that she was going to ask him to return her to Agora at once, or at least say that she would sleep in her own bed tonight.
But to his surprise and delight, a smile spread across her face.
“I am thinking that it’s my turn,” she said.
“Your turn?”
“My turn to give you pleasure.”
He started to protest, and she stood up and walked over to him.
“You came to me in my dreams two nights in a row,” she pointed out to him.
He cleared his throat. “Well, technically you came to me one night,” he said.
She snorted. “Don’t ruin it! Anyway, on Earth, when that happens, then it’s the woman’s turn to pleasure her man. It’s traditional.”
She sank to her knees in front of him. “Also, I’m thinking that I really hate this loin cloth.”
“You do?” he said in dismay.
“Yes.” She nodded solemnly. “You should take it off.”
“I should… Oh! Oh, I get it.” He broke out in a huge smile.
She smiled back and traced the outline of his bulging erection with her fingers. “A little slow, but you got it.”
He quickly stood up and ripped the loin cloth off, then tore it in half and stomped on it. “That’s what you get for displeasing my beautiful mate,” he informed it.
Rosamund sucked in a sharp breath. His cock stood up proudly erect, and kneeling in front of him, she was a little intimidated by his size. She wrapped her hand around him, then lavished the head with a series of long, slow licks, lapping away a salty bead of precum and dipping the very tip of her tongue just inside the weeping slit.
Kodran groaned and cupped the back of her head with his palm. She opened her mouth and sucked on the end of his cock, then slowly began to ease her way down his shaft. She took him in inch by delicious inch, massaging the underside of his dick with her tongue and coaxing gasps and groans from him.
She reached up and cupped his balls, gently juggling them in her palm, enjoying their soft, warm weight.
When she’d taken in his full twitching length, she slowly withdrew, hollowing her cheeks to stroke the sides of his cock as she played her tongue along the underside. She withdrew until the head almost but not quite popped from between her lips.
Then she did it all over again, only faster. And again and again until she’d set up a steady rhythm that had Kodran twitching and groaning. She squeezed her thighs together, trying to ease the ache that was building between them. Kodran’s harsh voice and the way his fingers dug into her scalp as she sucked him off were incredibly erotic. She wondered if she could come just from sucking his cock. She was tempted to slip her fingers between her thighs and rub herself, ease the tension that was building there. But instead she slid her hands up the backs of his muscular thighs and grabbed his ass, pulling him closer so she could take him deeper still.
“Rosamund…” Kodran’s words came out in a strained growl. “Please. If you don’t stop…” He groaned and tensed.
He twisted his fist in her hair and pulled her head back, gently but firmly. She gazed up at him. His chest was heaving with excitement, his high cheekbones flushed. Those intense green eyes glittered as if he had a fever.
“I want to be inside you when I come. Please.” His voice was desperate.
She was too turned on to be able to do more than nod and gasp an incoherent agreement.
Kodran pulled her to her feet and yanked her against him. His cock was rigid against her soft belly. His hands wandered greedily over every curve, pulling impatiently at her clothes, not caring if they tore. As he kissed her with a fierce, impatient hunger that made arousal zing over her skin and tighten in her core, he discarded her dress on the floor, then yanked down her panties, barely relinquishing her lips for a moment as she pulled away to step out of them.
He pulled her back into his arms at once, as if it hurt him not to be pressed against her, skin to skin. And in truth, she felt the same way. She’d wanted this – wanted him – ever since her first glimpse of him had literally knocked her on her ass.
Kodran turned her so her butt was pressed against the cold edge of the table where they’d eaten their meal. Still holding her against him with one arm, with the other he swept the table clear of crockery. Silverware went flying. Neither of them cared.
Kodran hoisted her onto the table, stepping between her parted thighs. He took his cock in his hand, fitting the swollen tip against Rosamund’s slick pussy. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him with all her soul as he leaned her back on the table and pushed inside her with a single smooth thrust. They both groaned, panting and clutching at each other. It felt so right. It felt so good. And when Kodran flexed his hips and started to move inside her, Rosamund saw stars behind her closed eyelids.
Kodran moved with a steady, confident rhythm, filling her up every time he thrust inside her, his cock dragging deliciously over her G-spot as he withdrew.
“Oh god, yes. Please…” Rosamund panted, her body moving against his. Arousal twisted tighter inside her, threatening at any moment to snap. She didn’t even know what she was pleading for. More. More of this. More of him.
Kodran quickened his pace, fingers digging into her hips as he pistoned in and out of her. Her inner thighs were wet with her juices. He dug his fingers into the soft flesh of her hips, and she hooked her leg around his lower back, helping him to thrust harder and deeper.
His eyes were glazed and distant, his lips parted, his breath coming with jagged effort. Rosamund could see he was at the very limit of his control, and the thought that she had done that to him was so exciting that she let out a hoarse moan of pleasure.
The pleasant ache between her thighs swelled and burst and blossomed, and her moan turned in a throaty cry of bliss as her orgasm took her. She called out again and again, riding each gorgeous spasm, and the clenching of her pussy around his driving cock pushed Kodran into his own release.
He muffled his hoarse shout against her shoulder, the rhythm of his thrusts gone choppy and urgent and instinctive.
They clung together, shaking and sheened with sweat, as their heartbeats settled and the strength returned to their limbs.
Kodran helped her to sit up, then dropped his damp forehead against hers.
“That was amazing,” Rosamund murmured.
“Yes,” Kodran replied. “But too brief. Now I shall carry you into the bedroom and make love to you slowly, bringing you pleasure until the sun rises.”
There was a brief, awkward silence.
“When I can walk again,” he added.
* * * * *
Kodran hated to go out and hunt, but it was tradition. The first morning after the night spent in the cabin, the clan leader had to go out and capture large game for his mate, roast it, and bring it back. He hated to tear himself away from her, though.
Of course, he knew that he had left his beautiful Rosamund exhausted, so she would most likely be very happy to sleep in.
It took him longer than he expected to find a suitable beast, an ianhtrolar with huge tusks that ran at him and tried to gore him. He quickly killed and roasted it.
Suddenly,
something came flying out of the tree at him. It was a hard koller-nut, hurled by a Feerba.
“Go, go, go!” The Feerba was extremely agitated, jumping up and down.
He must have encroached on its territory. He didn’t have the same instant rapport with them that Rosamund had.
He crouched down and shifted, and grabbed the ianhtrolar beast in his jaws.
Then he launched himself into the air, his mighty wings beating fast, carrying him back to his love.
But even before he arrived, he sensed that something was wrong.
Feerbas, who were small and physically defenseless against the larger predators that roamed the planet, had evolved psychic abilities to compensate. The full extent of their talent wasn’t yet known, but could they have been trying to warn him somehow?
Had the Feerba really wanted to drive him from its territory, or had it been worried about Rosamund’s safety? He flew faster.
When he landed, he saw that the front door of the cabin had been ripped off and there were signs of a struggle inside.
A table had been overturned, chairs lay on their sides, the rug was wrinkled back.
“Rosamund!” he shouted, rage boiling up inside him.
There was no answer.
His love was gone.
Chapter Eleven
Rosamund was being hustled along between Darfan and another of his men. They had grips like iron on her arms.
She was boiling over with fury. Darfan had actually said, “This is for your own good,” when he’d dragged her out of the cabin.
She was wearing a slip-like nightgown and a pair of sandals. She’d shouted for Kodran until her voice was hoarse, but who knew where he was right now?
Overhead, shrill caws and strange screeches from alien jungle creatures pierced the air. The jungle was getting louder with each step. There hadn’t been anywhere near this much noise yesterday; the creatures of this world must be most active in the morning.
Any other time, she would have found it fascinating. Right now, she was just angry enough to rip off some faces.
“You guys are in serious trouble. You do not know Kodran,” she snapped. “Ow! I stubbed my toe! My foot is bleeding!”
“Boo hoo, you’ll heal,” Darfan sneered. “Weak humans. Never could understand why anyone would want to mate with one anyway. And we know Kodran better than you think.”
“What does that mean?”
“Not my place to tell you. All I can tell you is we’re doing you a huge favor, and probably keeping your ass out of jail. And furthermore, when Lukan heard you’d been kidnapped, he told me if I didn’t get you back he’d tear my hide into strips, so thanks for making me run halfway across the damn galaxy when I have better things to do.”
Jail? What was that all about? But there was no point in asking, because she knew Darfan wouldn’t tell her.
“You should have let me talk to Lukan, you idiot! I could have told him I was fine! You’re the ones doing the kidnapping!”
Darfan ignored her, grimly dragging her onwards.
The jungle cries were reaching a deafening crescendo.
She raised her voice to yell above the sounds. “Why did you even agree to be the boss of the new Starcrossed agency if you hate humans?”
“Money!” Darfan snapped. “Why else?”
“Oh, I don’t know – to help people, to save races from extinction…” But she was muttering it under her breath, and it was drowned out by the shrieking chorus of jungle creatures.
“We’re almost at the ship,” huffed the man holding Rosamund’s other arm, and then he tripped on a tree branch and lost his grip on her.
She took advantage of the momentary freedom to swing towards Darfan and kick him in the crotch so hard that he let go of her arm and doubled over and gagged.
She knew her freedom was only temporary; he’d brought twenty other Vulfan shifters with him, who had laser pistols and weapons she didn’t even recognize strapped to their bodies.
They were in the jungle, in the middle of nowhere. She’d screamed for Kodran when she was first kidnapped, but he could be anywhere right now. If he were close, he’d have been there already. Nobody else was going to hear her.
She’d tried calling for help on her wrist-comm when the door was first kicked in, but it hadn’t worked at all. She suspected that Darfan and his crew were blocking any outgoing calls.
“You bitch!” Darfan wheezed. “Try that again, and Lukan or no Lukan, I’ll…”
The man who’d tripped was still struggling to get up. Something was wound around his ankle. He began pulling harder.
“What the hell?” he cried. He slashed at it, and it let out a squeal and retreated into the bushes.
All of a sudden, the jungle came alive. Enormous flocks of birds flew out of the trees and began attacking Darfan and his men, viciously pecking and slashing at them. Huge, hard, coconut-like tree fruits were hurled at the men, bouncing off their skulls. A herd of strange warthog-like beasts, bigger than ponies and with thick hides, charged at the men.
“Don’t shoot them! We’re not allowed to kill anything!” Darfan’s voice was a high-pitched wail.
Rosamund scrambled away. For some reason, nobody was attacking her.
She saw why when she dove into the underbrush. A group of Feerbas were crouched there, and they grabbed her by the hand and began pulling her away.
Behind her, she heard Darfan yelling. “Rosamund! The Galactic Federation is investigating Kodran for cooperating with cyborgs! He didn’t buy medicine – he bought machines to repair cyborgs! I’m not lying, Rosamund! He’s a traitor!”
Rosamund felt a wave of shock roll over her, but she kept running through the jungle, letting the Feerbas lead her away.
* * * * *
Kodran soared above the trees, struggling to remain in control of his Draell. He wanted to burn the forest to the ground with his rage, but he did not dare, because Rosamund might be down there, and he might hurt her.
Where could she be? Who would have taken her from him? It couldn’t have been a cyborg attack – they would have left behind nothing but an enormous crater. And his clan’s security team had equipment that specifically scanned for cyborg ships, constantly. He didn’t think that cyborgs would have been able to approach undetected.
Sekari might have tried to disrupt his mating ceremony…but he was showy and ostentatious in everything he did, and he wouldn’t have snuck up and kicked in a door, he would have brought an entire fleet of ships.
He was getting nowhere just flying around. He was wasting time. Glancing at the jungle below, it occurred to him that perhaps the Feerbas had seen something.
He flew back and landed next to the cobblestone cabin with a heavy thud.
Then he forced himself to turn human again. It took all his strength. Normally it was a smooth transition, but right now his beast was enraged and panicked, and fought him every step of the way.
It was agonizing. He felt every crack of bone, and his skin burned as if it were on fire as he forced the scales back into his skin. But he would have endured that, and a thousand more agonies, to save Rosamund.
He would not be able to speak to the Feerbas if he was in dragon form.
As soon as he had returned to his human form, a swarm of Feerbas rushed out of the forest, leaping from tree branches and darting out of bushes. They waved and yelled.
“Come with we, come with we, the girl braid, she coming,” they said, and Kodran felt a wave of relief wash over him.
He hurried into the forest, and within minutes they’d led him to Rosamund, who was jogging along towards him.
“Oh, thank God,” she said, gasping for breath. “Darfan and his men grabbed me. But the Feerbas somehow organized this whole huge rescue with all these other jungle creatures… Whew…” She leaned forward, resting her hands on her knees.
Kodran helped her sit down. Her feet were bleeding, and there were twigs tangled in her hair, but she looked mostly unhurt. He struggled to contai
n his beast, using all his strength to cage it within his skin.
“I will kill Darfan and his men. I will burn them to ash and then burn the ash,” he raged.
“No, don’t. They’re only here because Lukan ordered them to bring me back. ”
A Feerba stood next to her, patting her arm anxiously.
“I’m fine, and you saved my life,” she told it.
The Feerba smiled and patted the braid in its hair, then turned and hurried off into the jungle again. Within a minute, all the Feerbas had vanished.
“I cannot allow them to get away with this,” Kodran said, his voice hoarse with anger.
She looked up at him, and he didn’t like what he saw in her gaze. “Darfan said you’re being investigated by the Galactic Federation, and he said you bought equipment to repair cyborgs. Is that true? Are you collaborating with cyborgs?”
He had to choose his words very carefully. “I do not know if I am being investigated, but I have nothing to fear from any such investigation. I am not doing anything that would cause harm to the Galactic Federation or any of its members.”
She stared at him, a look of shock on her face.
“You seriously aren’t going to answer me?”
“I cannot.”
Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks, and Kodran wanted to die. He wanted to set himself on fire. He wanted to scream his rage to the heavens.
“Take me back to Agora,” she said.
Chapter Twelve
When they got back, Kodran sent his men out to search for Darfan’s ship. Rosamund went straight to her own room, showered and changed.
Then she went to find Kodran, who was standing in the foyer exchanging angry words with Prenzal.
Prenzal flashed Rosamund a dirty look as she approached.
“I assure you, I had nothing to do with it. I would like to return her to Agora as soon as possible, for all our safety,” he said coldly.
The Dragon Claims His Treasure (Starcrossed Dating Agency) Page 8