by Eve Langlais
“Good. I hate clingy females.”
With that rejoinder, he turned his back on her and fiddled with something on the wall above the table. A moment later, an odd aroma tickled her nose.
Curious, she stepped forward and saw two plates, the steam still rising, resting on the table. “What is that?”
“Food.”
She slid into the rubber chair, which molded to fit her bottom and almost caused her to scream. When she realized her seat wasn’t about to swallow her, she relaxed enough to poke at the purple and green stuff on her plate, interspersed with white marble things. “What kind of food?”
“The kind that won’t kill you, so eat.”
Using a pair of silver rods, much like chopsticks, he dug into his meal. With trepidation, and, yes, a fear of food poisoning, she followed suit. To her surprise, she didn’t immediately spit it back out. Whatever the goop on her plate was, it tasted pretty good. She ate with relish, the only dinner sounds consisting of them chewing and swallowing.
As her hunger eased, curiosity prompted her to question him. “So, you’re obviously not human. What exactly are you?”
He swallowed before answering. “I am Kulin, a mighty warrior race superior to your own.”
“Well, you’re definitely more conceited, I’ll give you that. As for superior, I’d say the jury is out on that one.” She ignored the dirty look he shot her way and continued on her quest for answers. “So are there like a lot of other alien-type dudes out in the galaxy? I mean, other than your skin color and teeth, you look kind of human, so is that the norm?”
“The universe contains many varied life forms. While bipeds are the most common, it would be ignorant to assume that most creatures are like yourself. Especially given your lower status on the evolutionary scale compared to the more advanced and genetically enhanced civilizations.”
“Wow, you really are a jerk. Apparently, when it comes to manners, you’re not so advanced, Mr. My-shit-smells-better-than-yours.” His furrowed brow at her insult was his reply. A portion of his statement caught her attention, though. “Wait a second? Did you say genetically enhanced? What’s that mean?”
“Some of us choose to expand upon the abilities we are born with. It’s almost a standard procedure along with embryo manipulation to ensure not only physical perfection, but mental astuteness as well.”
“Great, you’re not only a purple freaking space pirate, but a Mutant X one on top of it.” Once again, she pretended not to see his annoyed expression. She actually wanted to ask him a whole bunch of other questions, such as whether he had any super powers, but she wasn’t sure how far his patience would stretch before he shut her down. Prudence dictated that she leave the subject of his genetic aberrations for later to hit the most important query first. “So where exactly are we going?”
“Somewhere I can auction you off.”
She frowned at him. “And where would that be?”
“The first planet we come across that offers that service.”
Irritation at him and his plan in general made her flick—accidentally of course—a piece of food in his direction. The jerk opened his mouth and caught it. Intrigued, she flung another piece. Arching a brow at her, he caught it again with a snapping jaw. Megan didn’t, however, manage the same with the chunk he tossed at her.
She wiped it off her cheek, all the while glaring at him. He just grinned back and continued to eat.
No longer hungry—and petulant he’d beaten her at her own game—she pushed the plate away and looked around but didn’t spot what she wanted. “You got anything to drink?”
Without pausing in his meal, he slapped his hand sideways and pressed the wall a few times, causing a faint glow to appear each time. A moment later, a compartment slid open and out slid two glasses, more like pitchers considering their size.
She dragged one toward her and peered into its ruby-colored depths. “Please tell me this is wine.”
“If you mean an alcoholic beverage, then yes.”
Just what she needed. Megan took a sip and wondered at his idea of alcohol, given how smoothly the stuff slid down her throat. Thirsty, she took several swallows before she noticed him watching her.
“You may want to imbibe more slowly. The Kijar you drink can prove quite potent for the uninitiated.”
She blew him a raspberry. “Bah. I can drink like a fish.” Her boast came out slightly slurred, and she giggled. “Fish. I guess since you caught me in your space net, I’m like some kind of m-mermaid.” She howled at her own joke. She glanced over at him and saw his puzzled look. It set her off again, and she fell off the chair laughing. She scrambled to her feet, swayed, and took another swig of the yummy wine.
“I think you’ve had enough.”
She slapped the mug back down. “Did not.” She shook her finger at him. “You’re just a sp-spoilsport.” She giggled at his stern look. She went to grab the wine, but he slid the mug out of her reach. She lunged at it but ended up missing it and losing her balance. Not a big deal since she landed on his lap.
His arms steadied her, and she thought she heard him sigh. She twined her arms around his neck. “You smell good,” she announced, sniffing his neck.
“You’re drunk.”
“Am not,” she announced. She squirmed in his lap, and he groaned. Sensing his distraction, Megan snatched her mug and drained the contents. Her whole body glowed with warmth, and she twisted back to smile at him.
“You’re not bad looking for a purple dude.” She twined a finger in some of his hair, surprised at its softness.
He tilted his head away, freeing his lock of hair. “I believe you should rest to sleep off the effects of the drink.”
“Ooh, time for bed.” She hopped off his lap, staggered, and caught her balance. She veered toward the bed and collapsed on it, giggling. She rolled onto her back and peered over at him. “Aren’t you coming?”
Tren didn’t know if he should throttle the Earthling or join her in the bed. Aggravating, mouthy, outspoken, stupidly brave and fascinating. He’d never met a female like her, and he’d yet to decide if he liked her or wanted to kill her. Right now, his body knew what it wanted—her naked with her thighs spread wide so he could plow her. He’d done enough research to know their sexual organs were compatible, and he was tempted to see just how far that compatibility went—and how good her vaunted oral skills were.
She sprawled, with a grin, on his bed and beckoned him with a crooked finger. While he recognized her brazenness resulted from overindulgence, he couldn’t deny her allure.
“You’re drunk,” he stated flatly, but his claim did nothing to stop his cock from swelling.
“And horny.” She enhanced her statement with a grope of her breasts, squeezing their plump shape.
A part of him urged him to show some control and turn away from her display. But quite honestly, he was enjoying it too much. He did try to caution her again, though. “You will yell at me when you come to your senses.”
“I’ll yell more if you don’t get over here.” She patted the bed beside her.
A male had only so much endurance. Tren shrugged and stood from the table to approach the bed. He loomed over her, and she licked her lips as she stared up at him with heavily lidded eyes.
“Take off your shirt,” she ordered. “I’ve been dying to see what you’re hiding under there.”
Tren stripped the white linen off and almost took his pants off, too, at the appreciation in her gaze.
“Good grief,” she whispered. “Even your abs have abs.”
His chest swelled at the awe in her tone. “I take it you are pleased?”
She struggled to her knees and ran her hand across his chest, her soft skin leaving pleasant tingles where it touched. Tren sucked in a breath when she placed both palms against him. She leaned forward and brushed her lips on his skin, a scalding mark that shot straight to his groin. Unlike the males of her kind, he did not possess nipples—a wasted characteristic on a male in his opi
nion. But his chest wasn’t without adornment.
She found his silver ringed piercings, a pair on each side, penetrating his upper pectorals. She tugged them and grinned. “These are hot.” She leaned forward and ran her tongue around the metal, and Tren closed his eyes at the intense sensation. Warming and wetting them, she toyed with the rings, and Tren wondered if she knew how sensitive they were to any type of touch. Whether she did or not, she played them with expertise. She alternated between pulling and licking his erogenous zone.
Arousal raged through his body, rendering him impatient, a distinctly new sensation for him. He placed his hands around her waist and lifted her until they were eye level, hers glazed with a burgeoning passion. She parted her lips, and he expected her to speak—it seemed her habit to forever chatter—but she finally put her lips to better use, pressing them against his with a soft sigh. The sensation proved electric.
Tren folded her tight to him, his mouth plundering hers in a sensual kiss that rendered his breath ragged. Her hands crept up to slide through his hair, dragging his face closer. The feel of her tongue slipping between his lips made him groan as he met it, thrust for thrust. He grazed his pointed teeth along its length, and she mewled into his mouth.
Her lower body pressed against him, and he dropped one hand to grab her thigh and wrap it around his waist. Quickly understanding, she twined her other leg around him as well, bringing her covered sex up against his throbbing cock.
She keened, the sound vibrating against his lips as she gyrated her hips against his hard appendage. He slid his hands lower to cup her buttocks, aiding her in grinding against him as their mouths continued to mesh wetly. The taste of her drove him wild, and her passionate response almost disintegrated his control. When she sucked his tongue into her mouth, grazing her own flat-edged teeth along it before biting it, he almost threw her down to have his way with her.
I am a warrior. I have more control than an animal. Barely, he had to grudgingly amend.
In order to regain some of his senses, he tore his mouth from hers, but the vixen tortured him further when she bent her head back, exposing her throat, a true act of trust and eroticism among his kind. Unable to resist, he latched onto her tender skin with his lips whilst nipping her lightly with his sharp teeth. He fought against an urge to bite harder, to mark her with his distinctive dentition.
Among his people, in times past, such an act would act as a permanent claim, declaring to all she belonged to him. He growled at the primitive impulse, unsure of why it even crossed his mind but determined not to give in. He moved his teeth away from the temptation she so unwittingly offered and sealed his lips back to her eager mouth.
She clawed at his shoulders, her motions against him frantic and driving him wild with arousal. He thrust his hips toward her, the molten heat of her core affecting him even through their layers of clothing. Her gasping cries came faster and faster, their lower body friction reaching a fever pitch.
With a final short scream, her body went tense against his, and his sensitive cock felt the quivering of her cleft muscles. She’d found her first pleasure, and Tren’s chest swelled in pride. I made her climax and without even taking her clothes off. Her erotic and responsive nature made him eager to ready her for the next orgasm.
“That freakin’ rocked,” she whispered as she laid her head on his shoulder. He would have responded, but the sound of her soft snore made his jaw drop in incredulity.
She fell asleep?
Not believing it, he pried her from his body and placed her on the bed. She squirmed for a second on the covers, tucking her knees up slightly, but her eyes remained closed, and Tren ran a hand through his hair in disbelief.
Now what am I supposed to do with this? He peered down at his swollen cock ruefully. Even he wouldn’t stoop to taking a woman while she slept, obviously passed out from not just orgasm but overindulgence as well.
However, while his morals dictated he only plow conscious females, it didn’t say anything about masturbating beside them. He kicked off his boots and stripped off his pants, his swollen prick springing forth. He debated lying beside her or even going into the ablutions chamber to take care of his need, but for some reason he wouldn’t examine, he wanted to look upon her as he stroked himself.
Holding out his palm, he spit on it before he gripped his shaft. The liquid provided a natural lubricant for his self-caress. Sliding his hand back and forth along his swollen length, he watched her, her red lips pouting as she slept, her cheeks still flushed from passion. He groaned at the way her breasts strained against the fabric of his shirt, and, most enticing of all, the lingering scent of her arousal.
He fisted his cock, squeezing his hard length while imagining the pale human on her knees, her breasts offered up as a bed for his seed. Perhaps she would flick out her tongue to lap at the head of his prick. The tantalizing visual image drove him over the edge. With a grunt, he shot his creamy load onto her shirt.
Sated, if not completely satisfied, he then debated what to do. He wasn’t in the habit of spending his sleeping time with females. He preferred to slumber alone. However, his vessel wasn’t exactly equipped for guests, and given her propensity for trouble, he didn’t want to leave her alone. Plausible excuses, even if a part of him knew better. He wanted to remain with her, and he didn’t understand the reason why.
I guess she stays in my bed for now. But what had to leave was the soiled shirt she now wore. He maneuvered her limp body until he’d tugged the fabric off. She never woke, and he paused to enjoy for a moment the view of her breasts, her pink nipples puckering in the air. Perhaps the next time she over imbibes, I’ll start with those first. He didn’t question the natural ease with which he assumed a second encounter.
About to crawl into bed, he stopped. She looked odd wearing just his pants, and besides, they were damp with the lingering traces of her climax. He tugged those off her as well, grinning as he imagined her reaction when she woke. If I’m lucky, she’ll jump up to harangue me and treat me to a show of her breasts jiggling. A chuckle on his lips, he clambered into the bed beside her, nude as well, and tugged the covers up over both their forms.
“Lights off.” The room darkened, and he lay on his back, much too aware of her lying beside him. He tossed one way then tossed the other. He rolled onto his back and sighed. Sleep eluded him, and he didn’t need to look too far to find the cause.
What was it about this barbarian female that drew him? Allowed her to get away with audacities that he’d killed others over in the past? He could name so many things about her he disliked, and yet, he couldn’t kill her. Frukx, he couldn’t even toss her out of his bed. Did she exude some kind of alien hormone that made him grudgingly spare her? Impossible, given how thoroughly his medical unit had examined her. And yet, here she lay, quiet for the moment, but that would surely only last until the sleeping period ended. And he could just imagine the rant she’d subject him to. A grin spread over his face as he looked forward to sparring with her.
A rustle of fabric gave him only a moment’s warning before a lush, naked body rolled onto his. He held his breath as she snuggled into his side, her arm draping over his chest while her thigh flung over his. Her warm breath tickled the skin of his torso, and for a moment, he thought of shoving her away. He’d dumped more than one female out of bed when she’d attempted to cuddle. Yet, still in the grips of some strange mood, he instead wrapped his arms around her to tuck her in closer, and before he knew it, he slept as well.
Five
Megan woke with a pounding head and a thick tongue.
What happened? Well, other than almost dying and getting kidnapped by a hunky alien pirate. Those parts she remembered in glaring detail.
The last thing she recalled involved dinner and that yummy tasting wine. Then…
Oh, god. She groaned aloud and something shifted under her cheek, something solid and skin covered. Her eyes popped open, and she stifled a second groan as she discovered herself plastered to one ver
y large, purple body. Although mortified, she couldn’t help noticing how deliciously solid he felt. Flashes of the previous evening careened through her mind—mainly her riding him like an overdressed cowgirl and getting off. Her cheeks heated with embarrassment, and her cleft moistened in interest. Oh, shit. I threw myself at him like some slut. And loved it. Even now she could remember the heated passion, the powerful feel of him, then nothing after her climax achieved from just rubbing against him. She squirmed, and another fact became glaringly evident.
I’m naked, and yet I don’t recall stripping.
The only conclusion to draw from her undressed status was they’d done it and she didn’t remember a thing. She didn’t know which bummed her more: her appalling actions while drunk or the fact that she couldn’t conjure up a single recollection from her first—and only, dammit—bout of alien probing. Her snide mind—and wakening libido—wondered if she could ask for a repeat. No! That was crazy thinking. There would be no second round. The pirate did plan to sell her, after all, and she did have some self-respect, now that she was sober anyway.
The chest under her cheek shifted, and she ended up rolled onto her back with a very happy-to-see-her alien poking at the juncture of her thighs. His powerfully built arms held him up at an angle that kept his chest off hers, but his groin lay snug up against the apex of her thighs. Hot tingles at his proximity made her body thrum with wakening desire, and she almost let her legs part to see his version of a good morning. However, a lack of coffee and pigheadedness made her clamp them shut tighter instead. During her inner battle with her libido, he peered down at her, his face wearing a serious mien at odds with his tousled hair.
“You are awake.” He stated the obvious.
“No kidding.” She didn’t move for fear of inadvertently titillating him and giving her body more ideas than it needed. Already, the heat radiating from his body, suspended over hers, made her nipples pebble and her cleft moisten further.