She stared down at him, her lips full and passion-stung, her eyes cloudy with lust and energy, the irises a glowing combination of silver and lavender that made him want to take her again.
"Yes," she moaned, feeling him stir within her.
"You won't feel sore, after," he promised, knowing he was large enough to hurt her with so much passionate sex, especially as it had been her first time. He sat up, hugging her curves to him and thrusting deeper. "I'll make sure of that."
"And you'll explain why I can't stop wanting you," she ordered, not giving him time to answer as she plastered her mouth to his.
Chapter Twelve
To her amazement, Temis and Gren spent hours upon hours making love, an exhaustive but thoroughly satisfying exchange. She wouldn't have thought it possible, but each time she touched him she wanted him more.
After finally succumbing to their bodies' need for sleep, the two rested.
Waking with a deliciously well-used soreness, Temis stretched and discovered Gren already awake, staring at her with a sleepy smile on his face.
He brushed his lips over hers and the soreness vanished, replaced with a languid peace.
"Not that I'm complaining," Temis said as she traced every facet of his brutally handsome face, "but when are you going to explain how you're able to do things like that," she finished, referring to her loss of pain.
He sighed. "Do we have to go into this now?"
She nodded. "I can't help it. My curiosity is killing me." She rose to sit up and saw his eyes darken. Flushing, she pulled the sheet up to cover her breasts. "Focus, Gren."
"I am," he murmured, stroking her leg through the thin sheet covering them.
"How is it I want to smack you and kiss you at the same time?"
He shrugged, his grin stirring confusing feelings within her. Needing some answers, she pressed forward.
"You took me to places I had no idea existed. I saw stars, Gren. Real stars. And though I don't have much experience with this kind of thing, I know that's not normal."
He continued to stroke her thigh, his gaze shifting from her eyes to the blanket covering her.
"And what about the flashing lights? The surge of energy that rocked the ship while we made love?" She took his chin in her hand and brought his mysterious stare back to her. "Tell me, Gren." Her voice softened. "Please. I need to know."
He pressed a kiss to the center of her palm that quickly turned her insides to mush.
"I told you I'm a telepath."
She stared at him, waiting.
He sighed again. "And I should have guessed you wouldn't believe me. Temis," he paused and sat up, his stomach flexing and his pectorals tense, an unwelcome distraction. "I'm somewhat of a rarity, quite different from those you normally meet."
"Tell me about it." She grinned, but her smile faded when she saw his lips flatten.
"I can do things most others can't. I--" He stopped. "I don't know how to explain, exactly."
She frowned. "Just tell me the truth. I won't tell anyone else." A sudden thought struck her. "Are you an enhanced psychic?"
"Enhanced?" He looked confused. "Oh, you mean the genetically altered Eyrans? Hell no. My gifts are inbred, a natural part of my heritage." He sounded proud, his tone that of the arrogant mercenary she had first met. "And unfortunately they're worth far more than what the Eyrans are paying for recapture of their scientific experiments," he added caustically.
"I've never much cared for biological tampering either," she admitted. "My home planet looks down upon skills acquired through artificial means. We prize true strength and power." She eyed him curiously. "I don't understand why you can't tell me what you're hiding. I've seen you fight. I know your strength is your own and that you've spent at least some training time on my planet."
His brows rose, a hint of humor in his eyes. "So it's my body you're attracted to, and not my mind?"
"Can't you just answer the question?" she asked in a huff.
"It's more complicated than you know." He pulled her into his arms and rested his chin on top of her head, making her feel warm and protected. "I can tell you I'm not telepathic, at least not with everyone. I have an affinity toward women."
She stiffened. She couldn't help it.
He chuckled. "I mean my psychic abilities, as you call them, only work on women."
"But I heard you communicate with Lurin." She tried to squirm out of his hold to look at him, but he tightened his arms around her.
"So you heard that, hmm? And you say you've no mental gifts of your own?"
"Only the ability to structure dreams, and that's not all that uncommon among my mother's people. I only started hearing some of your thoughts and feeling some things you felt after we, uh, well, after we were intimate that first time."
"You mean after I licked your honeyed cream, swallowed the sweet sobs of your body, crying out for mine?"
"Really, Gren." She tensed, knowing he laughed at her discomfort. Temis simply wasn't used to talking about sex, and only recently felt comfortable doing it.
"I'm sorry, sura. But you're so easy to tease." He exhaled a deep breath. "What we shared, Temis, is something I will never share with another. Nor will you." He squeezed her, hugging her tight. "Our souls connected on a spiritual plane my people call wainu."
"Your people?" She finally managed to free herself and glanced up at his somber face.
"I've never heard of a foreigner reaching that state. And I wouldn't have believed it possible had I not seen you there with me." She wanted to take exception to being called a 'foreigner' but his earnest expression stopped her. "We are bonded, Temis. And though I tried to avoid it, it happened regardless."
"Bonded?" she grew nervous. He seemed to be talking about permanence, and she still didn't understand just what he could do, who he really was. "And what do you mean you tried to avoid it?"
"I felt drawn to you from the first, and thought if I could steer clear of your sexuality, I would be safe. It worked at first, but you grew too tempting."
"I don't understand." Her heart stuttered hearing how drawn he had been to her. At least it hadn't been one-sided.
"Making love to you fully, taking your virginity," his voice deepened with lust, "that I tried to avoid."
Her lips formed an 'o,' suddenly understanding why he'd been so reluctant to spill his seed within her.
"So by doing that, we bonded?"
He shook his head. "We bonded before that. When I tasted you, something in me shifted. With you, Temis, I can communicate the way I do with those of my kind, mentally." So Lurin was one of his kind. "And only with you does the lovemaking get so out of control."
His eyes burned. "Every time we touch I want you. It's an ache that will never fade. And though it's typical of my kind to share everything, know I won't ever let another touch you," he promised.
She stared at him in surprise. She hadn't thought into the future, at what it might be like to experience sex with another.
Nor will you.
She blinked at his familiar voice in her mind. "You can read my thoughts? Whenever you want to?"
"I can now, but I will teach you to shield yourself." He gave her a tender look and brushed his knuckles over her cheek. "You are so very young, so very beautiful. I'm not really sure how this works, but I'll do everything in my power to please you, sura, in all ways."
He closed his eyes and she felt a sweltering burst of energy within her. She gasped as her loins flooded and cried out in ecstasy.
After catching her breath, she stared at him in awe. "You just, you--"
"Brought you to orgasm, with a thought. I wasn't bragging earlier when I said that." He stared at her hungrily. "It's one thing my kind does very well."
She didn't know what to say. Still trying to collect her thoughts, she could only watch him with helpless fascination.
"Quite a talent, I know," he murmured, reading her thoughts. He pressed a kiss to her lips and stroked her hair. "It will be alright, Temis. Si
nce I know you're feeling uncomfortable with me reading your thoughts, I'll show you how to counter that right away. Then we'll focus on our mission, a goal that's been evading me ever since I laid eyes on you," he conceded with a rueful sigh.
She had more questions, but her body hummed with passion. That he had shared as much as he had made her take stock of the importance of their relationship. She couldn't say how, but she knew he had never shared so much with another before, at least not with a foreigner.
Like a cat, she crept over his body, brushing subtly against him. She felt him tense and feminine satisfaction surged within her. "We have time yet," she whispered in his ear, and plunged her tongue in the sensitive cavern. He shuddered and ground her on top of his steel hard erection. "I think part of my mental training should start here." She slid over him, joining them as one. "What do you think?"
"Yes, sura," he groaned. "That's the perfect place to start."
* * * *
Two days later Gren received the call he'd been expecting. After disconnecting with Ceril, he felt Temis watching him expectantly. The touch of her warm gaze caressed him, both arousing and comforting, and he knew his life was forever altered.
He thought it interesting that the thought of a bonded future no longer bothered him.
"Well?" she asked, clad in another of his overlarge shirts.
He liked her wearing his clothing, a testament to his new possessive nature. Her eyes sparkled with amusement, and he realized he needed to keep a better shield on his thoughts. Normally he didn't have a problem shutting everyone else out, but with Temis if felt like closing off a part of himself.
She had picked up the shielding skill with ease, mentally keeping him at a distance without fully separating herself. Despite not being fully at ease with him, a part of her wanted the spiritual contact they shared.
"The auction will proceed as planned, tomorrow at midday on Colony6."
"Colony6?" Her eyes widened. "That's outside peacemaker jurisdiction. I'm not sure we can follow them there legally."
"You mean Sernal can't." He smiled with satisfaction. "I can do whatever the hell I want. And with no peacemakers to interfere." She glared at him. "With one exception, of course." He gave her a polite nod.
She grumbled under her breath and left the bridge. He understood nothing outside the word "galley" and decided to leave her to her musings.
As he dialed Lurin's private number to forward the news to Sernal, Gren wondered when and if the time would ever be right to share his heritage with Temis.
It wasn't as if he didn't trust her, but their relationship was so new. And added to that were his responsibilities to his people. He still had no idea how to make his guardianship mesh with his new relationship.
He couldn't imagine any of the elders being pleased he'd taken a mate. Then again, as deeply as he felt for Temis, he still felt guilty he'd found her. At his core he knew he wasn't worthy. And his weakness in taking her anyway, regardless of his duties and stained past, only reinforced the notion he had no business being with a soul so strong and pure.
"Lurin here. What's new?"
Lurin's voice shook him from dark thoughts. They made pleasant conversation while he mentally projected the information Sernal needed to know and Lurin filled him in on Sernal's projected role in the operation.
Got it. Anything else I should pass to Lead Sernal, the biggest legal pain in the ass in the system? Lurin asked in a gruff voice. By Flor's dagger, the man's been calling us at all hours wanting to know where you are and what you're doing.
Lurin paused, aware of the humor Gren projected.
Laugh it up, friend. But you're going to have a lot of explaining to do when this is over. I hear you not only captured a peacemaker, but Sernal seems to think you've enthralled her.
Sernal's an idiot. I didn't enthrall her. A recollection of her abduction from the ship flashed through his mind. So I lured her off the ship. That was as far as her subjugation progressed. She's here now, helping me of her own free will.
A moment of silence passed. So you finally mated, hmm?
Gren grimaced. Is this really any of your business?
Hell no. But I told you your time would come. I can't wait to tell Mara.
Feminine humor bled through the conversation. So what's she like, Gren? Mara joined the silent communication. I hear she's a peacemaker from Zephyr who's absolutely gorgeous.
Who told you that? Irritation filled him. Of course she was beautiful, but who had described her as 'absolutely gorgeous'? Sernal or his idiot brother Rafe?
Wow, jealous already. Lurin whistled. Didn't I tell you--?
Yeah, yeah. You told me the whole of it, he directed to Lurin. Now pass my message to Sernal and stop wasting my time. I've got a mission to prepare for.
And a woman to love, Mara added with amusement. Best of luck, Gren. And tell Temis we're dying to meet her.
He disconnected and left to find Temis. She sat in the galley eating a plate of seasoned gnom, a delicacy loved on Zephyr.
"I can't believe you have this on board," she said with enthusiasm, the food having apparently rid her of her earlier hostility. "This is my favorite dish."
He smiled and grabbed a plate of fruit before sitting next to her. "I thought that might be the case. Many years ago when I trained on Zephyr, I learned as much about the inhabitants' customs as I could."
She stared at him with curiosity. "Just when did you train there? Did you know Master Zephu?"
He shook his head. "I trained there a long time ago." Smiling, he decided to tease her curiosity. "It was long before you were born, Temis."
Her eyes widened. "Just how old are you?"
He gave her a mysterious grin. "That's my secret." He felt her probe at his mind and shook his head. "Good try, sura, but until you've earned the right to know, I'm not telling you my age."
"Earned the right to know?" She looked affronted.
He nodded, pleased with the fire lighting her eyes. She was so easy to rile, and so much fun to watch.
"You leave so many holes in your history and your present. You're a walking mystery. And you stir so many questions!" She looked like she wanted to throttle him, and he wanted her under him again. "Will you at least answer me this?"
He waited.
"What, by Narok's sword, does sura mean?"
"Sura? Didn't I tell you before?" She shook her head. "It's my people's word for drun."
Her face flushed bright red at the insult and he laughed.
"I was just joking, Temis. It means sweetheart or 'one who is cared for.' A pleasant endearment, sura, nothing more."
She huffed and crossed her arms. "It had better not mean drun."
"Though you will recall that's what you referred to me as when we first met."
She flushed again. "I didn't know you then."
"And now?"
Her eyes narrowed. "Now I still might call you that." Her lips quirked as his expression soured. "But then there are a lot of other names I could think to call you as well."
His eyebrows rose in question.
"But before I get sidetracked, I think it's time we talked specifics about tomorrow. Why don't you tell me a little bit more about what to expect at the slave auction?"
Temis watched as all humor leaked out of Gren's expression.
"You're going to see it soon enough."
"I'd like to be prepared," she said quietly, knowing how much this bothered him. Though she could no longer read his thoughts unless he shared them, at times she still sensed his emotions. Right now she sensed anger, guilt, and surprisingly, shame.
He sighed and pushed aside his food. "The auctions are different and yet always the same. Captured women, normally drugged and therefore obedient, once prepared, trudge through long lines of disreputable men, some desperate, others sickly depraved.
"The women are naked, pawed and prodded as they walk from the entrance of the slave tent to the center cage, where they await the bidding wars." His face didn
't change expression but the dark feeling around him deepened. "The women are prepared within the cage to be ogled on center stage. A beautiful woman, called an ogra, rubs dyes on their breasts and pubic region, calling attention to the women's femininity. The ogra will at times engage in sexual play with certain slaves, to entice them to behave or excite the mongrel onlookers."
Temis listened in horrified awe. She could imagine it, the helplessness, the dirty feeling of dozens of eyes on her in her most vulnerable state. Then to be sexually molested by a woman for the amusement of those watching....
He nodded. "It's extremely unpleasant for the women involved. The ogra works for the auctioneer and derives pleasure from her work. The men and few women watching the orgiastic event chant and cheer. But the women in the cage remain oblivious, drugged to remain docile. Every once in a while the auctioneer will allow one or two women to go undrugged."
"Why?"
"To watch them fight and see them subdued before the crowd. It isn't uncommon to watch them raped before the masses."
She sat in troubled silence. "It sounds like hell."
"Believe me, it is. But that's not the worst part of the auction. The private party, normally held after the main auction, is decidedly worse."
"How could it be any worse?" She cringed just thinking about it. Maybe she'd taken on more than she could handle. She didn't think she could participate in the events he'd described, peacemaker or no.
"The private party is smaller and, like its name implies, is extremely private. Only the richest and most powerful are invited to attend."
"Are you?"
He nodded grimly and gave her a burning stare. "Because of you. Rorn Fenhal wants you, Temis, badly."
She swallowed. "Go on."
"Inside the private parties all manner of perversities can occur." His jaw clenched and she had to urge him to continue.
"I'm sorry, Gren. But I need to know. I'm going to be there tomorrow, remember?"
"I know." He cleared his throat. "I really hadn't thought this through before, Temis. I can stomach the auctions for the sake of those women, but I don't think I can handle you there."
Winner Takes All Page 12