She licked her lips and heard him mutter under his breath. His eyes were twin slits of lust and need. She breathed in the musky scent of his desire and rubbed her legs together, feeling an answering pulse in her clitoris.
Gren pressed forward, bringing his cock in contact with her mouth and Temis swallowed hard, no longer able to pretend this was all an act. She wanted him, as a woman wants a man, and the warrior within her would allow no half-measures.
She touched her tongue to his shaft tentatively, curious, and felt him tremble. She glanced up to see his face tight, his lips compressed, his eyes closed as he maintained careful control.
On her knees she should have felt subservient. But his expression returned all the power to her. She licked him again, this time harder, and saw his face a mask of agony as he held still.
Smiling, she opened her mouth wider and pressed forward, engulfing him. He swore and surged deeper, unable to keep from moving. Heady with her newfound power, she began stroking him with her tongue, applying pressure when he jerked or moaned.
To hear Gren moaning her name, to feel his hands in her hair, teased something within her to break free.
"Temis," he groaned and rocked against her after she sucked on the head of his shaft before taking most of the rest of him in. He was huge, silky soft and rock hard, the perfect vision of manly desire.
"Yes, sura, more," he demanded.
Lost in her sexuality, Temis did more than take all of him. She reveled in his taste. More fluid leaked from his arousal, a hint of the desire he couldn't hide. He began pumping slowly, aided by her hands around his tight, lean buttocks.
She smiled around his cock and stared up at him.
"Now who's in charge?" she murmured and licked the underside of his shaft.
He caught his breath and stared down at her with such hunger she felt helpless to stop. Watching him, she slowly eased her mouth back over his cock, taking him deep to the back of her throat.
He swore softly and began thrusting into her mouth, all the while he stared at her, watching her suck him to oblivion.
On and on Temis licked and sucked and teased, utterly enthralled at how good he tasted, at how addictive his scent was. She wanted, no needed, to swallow him whole, to feel his seed trickle down her throat.
As if Gren sensed her thoughts, his cock hardened like a rock and he pressed deeper into her mouth, his strokes shorter but more forceful.
"Oh, yes, yes," he groaned and pumped, his hands clenched in her hair. Yet all the while he remained careful not to bruise her, not to choke her with his massive shaft.
Temis felt a gush of warm wetness seep from her body. The more she sucked him, the greater his pleasure, until she could almost feel what she did to him.
"Now, sura, now," Gren uttered in a hoarse voice and came hard, shooting deep inside her mouth.
She swallowed his cum, the thick, sweet mass of seed that coated her throat like honeyed cream. And in the doing felt a coil of heat spiral in her core, enveloping her in a desire so intense, a bliss so profound, she saw stars as Gren continued to come.
Sometime later she heard him call her as if from a distance. She blinked sleepily and felt a large hand on her waist, stroking her side. She focused on the blurred form in front of her and saw Gren looking at her with concern.
"Hmm?" she asked lazily, feeling satisfied in a way she'd never felt before. She lay on her side facing Gren on the bed, and she imagined he'd placed her there. Yet her mind, her spirit, soared on another plane altogether.
She watched Gren's eyes darken to black. "You're in wainu," he said with amazement. He stopped stroking her hip and pushed her flat onto her back. "How is this possible?"
She smiled dreamily and caressed his hard face with tingling fingers. Everywhere she touched him she felt heat, and she wanted to feel that marvelous pleasure with him all over again. Even as she thought it, she saw his eyes shine with understanding.
"Are you reading my mind?" she asked curiously. "You're some kind of telepath, aren't you? Or did you drug me like you said you would?"
He shook his head and smiled, a mysterious grin that made her loins quicken.
"Sura, you have no idea what pleasure you've been missing. And before we're done, you're going to beg me for more."
Chapter Six
Gren stared at Temis, caught in a wave of lust and tenderness so intense it shook him. Her white-gold hair lay in waves around her, framing her heavy-lidded eyes and passion-kissed lips.
He quickly disrobed her, eager to see all of her again, this time in reality. His breath caught at the sight of her pale white breasts heaving with desire, and he bent to taste their perfection, unable to help himself.
She arched into his mouth and groaned his name, and his cock hardened as if he hadn't just come inside her delicious mouth. Energy swirled around them, a drugging haze that threatened his promise to himself.
Coming inside Temis' mouth had been akin to dying and being reborn in wainu. The warmth of her lips and giving spirit that brought him such ecstasy called forth his need to truly join with her, to bond them together.
Certain if he did indeed make love to her he'd be forever changed, he determined to give her every pleasure without entering her womb. Yet seeing her thus, naked and bare to his gaze, knowing of her virginity, threatened his will to stay strong.
Her nipple hardened and quivered in his mouth and he sighed, his cock stroking her thigh even as his trousers slid along her legs. He reached down to hide himself behind the cloth, refastening his trousers, and knew the effort to be a pitiful one.
Nevertheless, he felt a fraction more secure in his resolve not to surge deep within her with more than his mouth and hands.
"Take them off," she urged in a throaty growl, tugging at his waistband. She slithered around him, her curves tantalizingly sweet. Despite being a virgin, Temis' warrior instincts made her decidedly aggressive.
He could smell her need, could feel her climax surging closer and fought to slow down her pleasure, to draw it out.
"No, sura, lie back and enjoy," he ordered.
She withdrew her hands with protest but did as he asked.
He leaned over her, his body tense and straining as he pressed against her. Her eyes were slanted, a bright violet ringed by silver.
"I want you," she said boldly, letting her gaze settle on his lips. "And I don't care about anything else right now but having you."
Her words stirred his blood and without a second more he sealed his mouth to hers. They both moaned at the contact, the heat between them blazing with raw desire and energy. Power flickered around them, shooting blue sparks in the dimly lit room.
Gren thrust his tongue into her mouth, needing to taste all of her. She followed quickly, learning through imitation what he liked, and pleasured herself in the bargain.
Her nipples scored his chest with burning marks of desire, until he had to fight not to rip free of his trousers and sink deep inside her.
He withdrew from her mouth, needing the respite, and focused on Temis' pleasure. Running his tongue along her neck, biting her pulse point with a savage desire to possess her, he felt her climax building as she coaxed him further.
He nipped at her collarbone and continued down to her breasts. Licking her nipples until she cried out for ease, he then suckled and drew on the tips, pressing his cock into her clit and riding her until she cried out in climax.
Her orgasm went on and on as he continued to lave her breasts with a skilled mouth and tongue, her energy washing over him like pounding rain.
His hands, meanwhile, wandered all over her body, feeling her strength underneath soft, womanly skin. The contrast excited him, and he brought her to orgasm again, with the touch of his mouth and hands in Theshan bliss.
She cried out his name and came in a gush that had him aching to taste her sex, to take her essence into his body.
Her energy wound around him tightly, making him doubt his ability to resist joining her. Already he felt nea
r to bursting, his trousers wet with both his and her arousal.
"I'm going to lick you, to eat you up, Temis," he whispered in a raw voice. She tilted her head to stare down at him, the passion clouding her eyes a heady aphrodisiac he could no longer resist.
"Do it," she breathed and spread her legs, her sweet scent drifting on the air like a drug.
He needed no further urging, and buried his face between her thighs. He opened his mouth wide and began lapping her cream, licking and teasing her clit with a tongue as needy as his cock.
His shaft swelled as he devoured her body. He couldn't get enough, and he licked and nibbled until he felt her climbing yet another orgasm, this one more intense than the last two.
Unable to withstand the pressure on his erection, he reached down with one hand and freed his member, sighing at the feel of silken sheets against his skin.
"Love me," Temis moaned as he thrust a finger inside her sheath while his tongue stroked her clit. "I need you inside me," she begged.
He shook his head, shaking at the conflict within him. Everything in him urged him to do as she asked, yet a part of him knew it would change his very existence.
Hurting, so hard he could barely think, he stripped his trousers off and swiftly juxtaposed his body so that his mouth remained between her thighs while his lower body straddled her head.
"Even better," she whispered and closed her mouth around his cock.
He groaned and resumed pleasuring her sex, thrusting two fingers inside her as he imagined fucking her, shooting deep within her womb.
He nipped at her clitoris, excited anew when in response she sucked hard on his shaft.
Energy swirled and shimmered in the air. He could feel the end coming, so close, so near.
Yes, yes, she mentally screamed as she came, arching into his mouth. Her lips clamped around him and he could no longer hold back.
The taste of her as she shuddered pushed him over the edge, and he came hard in her mouth, surging deep as she swallowed his every drop.
Stunned at the ferocity of their lovemaking, Gren could only close his eyes as wainu overtook him. Great waves of energy flowed through his body, a healing peace that lingered in his blood.
Gradually the drugging ecstasy of the moment faded and he gently withdrew from Temis' grasp, turning to gather her in his arms.
He had no explanation for what he felt. Nothing had ever felt so right as this moment, and yet he still felt a niggling emptiness, a part of Temis he had yet to reach that beckoned him closer.
"Gren," she murmured and kissed him gently on his chest. The tenderness of her action, so at odds with the warrior woman he normally interacted with, stunned him, and he hugged her closer, not wanting to let her go.
She hummed her contentment and soon fell into an exhausted slumber, her hands pressed trustingly over the steady beating of his heart.
Gren reluctantly donned his trousers, not trusting himself to lie naked with her in his arms. He soon followed her into sleep, needing to relax and accept the large amounts of healing power now surging through his body. His last thoughts were of how he planned to resist the tempting fate lying in his arms, and if he should even try.
* * * *
"I can't believe you let him get away," Sernal growled in a low voice and glared at his brother. "Do you realize how precarious our position is?"
Rafe rolled his eyes. "I told you, it wasn't like I had a choice. Gren always was a hothead, and he didn't exactly appreciate sitting in a cell after being beaten by Rorn's bastards."
Sernal let out a heavy breath and began pacing his room, running his fingers through his hair. "You told him what I told you to tell him?"
Rafe nodded.
"And gave him the file?"
Another nod.
"Then why the hell did he take Temis hostage when he could have left the ship in one piece undetected?"
Rafe wondered just how much to tell his brother. Sernal normally had an even temper and open mind. But when the safety of his people was involved, he had been known to explode in a fierce temper.
"Well?" Sernal's eyes blazed, definitely not a good sign. And yet, Rafe wasn't too pleased with the position he'd been placed in either.
"It was your idea to use Gren, remember, not mine. I was happy playing an anonymous information broker on Mardu." He grimaced, wishing again he'd refused to become part of Sernal's team. He loved his brother, but honestly the man thought too much of rules and regulations.
"My patience is wearing."
"Fine. You want to know why Gren took her? He wants her, plain and simple. She was the one who knocked me out, per his orders. And she wasn't herself, if you know what I mean." At Sernal's blank look, he sighed. "She was enthralled."
"You mean to tell me Gren's using his powers to control my peacemaker?" Sernal glowered and seemed to grow twice as large in his rage. "That son of a--"
"But to his credit, I think Gren is onto something." He ignored his brother's cursing, waiting for Sernal to regain his temper. "You said it yesterday. Rorn has quite an appetite when it comes to women, and it's obvious he's hungry for Temis. Imagine how intense his search will be looking for Gren, giving us more time to build a case against him."
Sernal remained silent, listening.
"I'm not Gren's biggest fan, by any stretch," he said with a small scowl, remembering the large man's attack. "But he's unable to harm Temis and you know it."
"Not without severe repercussions."
"I thought he couldn't harm a woman, ever. Theshan skills don't work that way."
Sernal shook his head. "They're not supposed to work that way, but occasionally a Thesha strays. Of course, for Gren to harm Temis he'd do at least twice as much damage to himself."
Sernal sighed. "Dammit. I'm just aggravated that Gren never does anything the easy way. No, he won't hurt Temis. With her looks, he'll no doubt want to take her to bed." He grimaced. "That's all we need. Another complication."
"I don't know. Temis seemed like she could use a little relaxation, and it's unheard of for a woman to complain after being visited by one of his kind." Rafe grinned at his brother's exasperation.
"I'm so glad you're amused. I'm not," Sernal huffed. "But I'm beginning to think Gren's plan might have some merit. By taking Temis hostage and escaping unaided, he's taken the suspicion off of us. And with Temis at his side, an irresistible lure Rorn will no doubt follow, he should have no trouble locating the missing women."
Rafe nodded, seeing additional benefits. "He'll especially do well if he uses Temis as a 'slave' rather than a partner. Come on, brother, open your eyes. You may be her superior, but you can't deny she's one of the most beautiful women you've ever seen."
Sernal frowned but didn't disagree. "Right now we're in a good position to do more digging. Gren should try to contact us within a day or two. He won't want to, but he knows it's better to keep us in the loop and out of his way." He rubbed his jaw and gave Rafe a small grin. "Gren always manages to annoy the hell out of me when we work together. I can only imagine what Temis must be feeling."
* * * *
Temis woke with a stretch and yawn, feeling more rested than she had in months. Her body felt as if it had been exercised hard, sore in places yet limber enough to engage in anything at the moment.
Turning her head, she gazed at Gren's profile and her heartbeat accelerated.
He slept peacefully, his lashes dark and thick against his weathered face. Even in sleep he looked hard, a warrior one second from waking into full readiness. His strength awed her, his control impressed her, and his lovemaking overpowered her.
She blushed furiously, recalling the pleasure he'd given her. That he'd touched her so intimately, been so gracious fulfilling her desire didn't quite fit with the savage mercenary of legend.
He'd been truly angry when she'd accused him, perhaps unfairly, she admitted now, of criminal activity on the shuttle. But he'd scared her, somehow seeing beneath the defensive shield she'd worked so hard to b
uild. A tough warrior mindset had earned her way into the peacemaker corps, not her womanly softness.
Only Gren had come this close to her woman's heart. Gren, a mercenary, supposed criminal, a man she didn't dare trust, and a man she was beginning to care for.
Her previous limited sexual experiences had left her ill prepared for a man like him. She still couldn't believe how bold she'd been. She stared at his chiseled lips, at his straight nose and uncompromising jaw line. She, Temis Freya, a woman of little sexual experience, a virgin, had brought Gren to climax with her mouth, not once but twice.
The memory made her loins quicken and she strove to contain her breathing. Sharing such intimacies with a man had never before occurred to her. Oh, she knew eventually she would marry and raise children, like her mother. But Temis had yet to meet a man that she respected and made her heart race, her blood pulse with desire.
Until Gren.
He stirred and she placed her hand on his chest to calm him. At her touch he resumed his slumber, mumbling low under his breath in a language she'd never before heard spoken.
She petted him gently, stroking the impressive muscles beneath her palm with warmth, wondering about him.
Gren truly was a mystery. No one knew of his origins, and most of what she'd read or been told about him came from rumor and pirate gossip. For a man who had supposedly killed hundreds without blinking an eye, he had treated her with an affection and care surprising for one so "hard-hearted."
As she recalled all they had done, she puzzled over his refusal to mate with her fully. Perhaps he worried about getting her with child. He shouldn't have. She was only fertile in the summer months of Zephyr, and then only with the right mate. But he would have no way of knowing that.
Thoughts of a child with Gren caused her womb to flutter and she hurriedly turned from that line of thinking. Her touch stilled on Gren's chest and he frowned in his sleep.
She resumed petting him while she chastised herself. Just because Gren had given her pleasure she'd never before experienced did not mean emotion need be attached. So he'd been an extraordinary lover, so he'd brought her to peak time and time again unselfishly. That meant nothing.
Winner Takes All Page 6