Oath of Challenge: Conquering Kate

by Marly Chance

  She stepped closer and leaned against the hard length of his body. When the sensitive tips of her breasts pressed against his chest through the thin shirt, she nearly moaned in relief. She felt his arms come around her and stroke down her back.

  She arched further into him as the kiss grew hotter. His hands moved downward and clasped her butt. As his fingers gripped and relaxed in a familiar rhythm, her sex ached in direct response.

  Suddenly, he picked her up and sat her on the top of the bar. She was startled and grabbed his shoulders for balance. He moved between her thighs and pulled her forward at the same instant. Her sex came into contact with his hard cock and she moaned at the pure pleasure of it.

  He felt huge and throbbing. His pants were the only barrier between them. With aching frustration, she yearned to feel his naked cock plunging into her. It was a familiar feeling.

  The restraint they had exercised in the past days haunted her with a vengeance. She wanted him inside her with a need that rocked her soul. Leaning back on her hands, she arched upward and pressed against his cock harder.

  Tair moaned and tried to hold onto control desperately. Kate was pushing him to the edge with her thoughts. Her nipples stood out in defiance against the thin material of his shirt.

  Her sex was wet and pressing against him. He could feel the heat of her through his pants and it was making him crazy. He wanted to pump into her until she screamed.

  As they moved against each other in an echo of the act they both craved, he sent a silent call to Jadik. It was time. Things were rapidly getting out of control.

  Kate was conscious of Jadik, but he wasn’t in her line of vision, so she had pushed the thought of him to the back of her mind. As she had become lost in Tair, she had forgotten him further. The aching pleasure of her body and the feel of Tair had consumed her.

  With a sense of shock, she heard Jadik’s husky voice from across the room. He ordered firmly, “Kate, you need to slow down. We have much to explore.”

  She went rigid with surprise at his tone. The power and arrogance behind it annoyed her, but it was strangely arousing, too. She sat up and glared at him over Tair’s shoulder.

  In response, he stared hard at her and began unbuttoning his shirt with slow movements. When he shrugged the shirt off and tossed it over the chair, her heart leapt into her throat. All of that long dark hair fell down onto well-defined shoulders. His chest was muscular with a dark shadow of hair. That shadow led downward to the top of his pants. She swallowed hard.

  Tair felt his control returning and cursed himself silently. Kate could get to him as no other. The days of denial only added to the strain. The link was too important. He had to focus and remain in control.

  Taking a step back from her, he nearly moaned at the loss of contact. He took a few deep breaths and then moved to the far end of the bar. He said huskily, “Come here.”

  Kate complied without thinking. Her body was on fire and her thoughts were scattered. She scooted across the bar in awkward movements and faced him. He pulled her legs forward until she was on the very edge of the bar.

  Taking her thighs in his hands, he pulled them apart and then leaned down to place a soft kiss on the inside of each knee. He put first one leg, and then the other over his shoulders.

  Kate leaned back on her hands as she felt a shiver run through her. Tair was teasing her with soft kisses and gentle licks along the inside of her lower thighs. As she watched his dark head move between her legs, she swallowed a moan.

  She felt Jadik walking across the room, but ignored him. He reached the side of the bar next to her and she became very conscious suddenly of his body leaning close.

  She felt his hand under her chin as he turned her head toward him and up. Looking into his face, she saw he was gazing at her mouth with heavy-lidded intensity. He brought his mouth down firmly in a tongue-thrusting kiss. There was no gentle patience or teasing temptation to the kiss. He took her mouth and demanded a response.

  Kate could feel Tair’s kisses along her thighs climbing higher. It was too much. The contrast between his teasing caresses and Jadik’s force was too much. With a moan, she began kissing Jadik back. Her mind was reeling and her body was out of control.

  Jadik broke the kiss and pressed his mouth hard to her neck. As he licked and bit along the side of it, she moved her head and gave in to the pleasure. His hands came up to her shoulders and he pushed her backward gently.

  She could feel the cool length of the bar through the shirt against her back as she laid down. Jadik leaned over her and ran one finger along the edge of the shirt across the tops of her breasts. Her nipples ached and her hands balled into fists at the teasing touch.

  Tair’s hands moved to the hemline of the shirt. He pushed the shirt up a few inches and continued to tease. The velvet wetness of his tongue scraped along her inner thighs in maddeningly slow movements. As his kisses continued upward, he raised her hemline higher and higher, inch-by-inch. It was pure sensual torture.

  Jadik’s hand went to the top button on her shirt. He asked softly, “How many buttons will you allow me to open, hmmm?”

  With a quick flick, the first button came undone. She felt him run the rough backs of his fingers along her skin at the top of the shirt. His fingers traveled over more of her as the top of the shirt opened a little wider. As he traced the top of her breasts, she felt the shirt catch on her sensitive nipples. She sucked in a breath.

  Jadik asked slowly, “Feeling out of control, Kate? How far will we go?”

  His hand reached the next button and flicked it open. The back of his fingers wandered into the valley between her breasts and traced the curves there. She swallowed a moan.

  Kate felt cool air as Tair raised the hemline up to her stomach. His head hovered over her sex. She felt his breath as he blew softly into her curls and said in a rough voice, “No mercy until you scream, sheka.”

  The wet heat of his tongue licked into her sex. She whimpered. She felt the vibration of his mouth against her mound as Tair said, “You will have to do better than that.” He circled her clit with teasing swirls and then sucked gently.

  Kate felt heat run through her body like fire. The feel of Tair’s tongue and mouth was too much. She arched her hips upward to get closer to that delicious torment. She started to move her upper body weight up onto her elbows.

  Jadik grabbed her hands before she was able to get up. In one quick move, he pulled them over her head. Grasping her wrists in the warm strength of one big hand, he leaned down close to her face and chuckled, “No.”

  Watching her eyes, he said huskily, “Where was I? Oh, yes, I believe I was opening your shirt.” He brought his free hand down until he reached the third button.

  Kate pushed her wrists against his grip, but it remained firm. He wasn’t hurting her. She was scared, but too aroused to say no.

  Jadik flicked the button through the loop with casual efficiency. Then he ran his hand in one long stroke from her neck all the way down to between her breasts. She trembled. He smiled, still holding her gaze. Then he looked down and watched as he moved his hand against the edge of the shirt and swept it to one side.

  She felt cool air wash over her exposed breast. She held her breath. The wait seemed endless. Finally, he swept the other side of the shirt away, leaving both breasts exposed and then paused. Kate felt like she was going out of her mind.

  Tair was tormenting her sex with delicate precision. He knew exactly how to touch her with his mouth and tongue. He was playing her the way a musician plays an instrument that he loves – with total familiarity, absorption, and skill. His tongue teased and tormented her clit exactly the way that she liked. It was incredibly maddening and intensely pleasurable.

  She could feel Jadik’s gaze as he stared at her breasts. She could feel the cool air in direct contrast to the heat of his gaze. The need for release was riding her hard. She wanted to come. She let out a moan of frustration and need.

  She watched as Jadik leaned down and
began placing wet kisses in circles over her breast around her aching nipple, without actually touching it. She whimpered, “It’s too much.”

  Jadik paused. She could feel the heat of his breath over her nipple as he muttered huskily, “It can never be too much.”

  He captured her nipple in his mouth and sucked hard. His fingers curled around her other nipple and gently pinched. The feel of that dual tugging sent her to the edge.

  Suddenly, Kate felt the hard thrust of Tair’s fingers probing the inner walls of her sex. She cried out and felt tears of frustration spring to her eyes. She could feel his mouth against her clit as he ordered, “Let go. Give in to it now. Take your pleasure.”

  Tair circled her clit with his tongue and then sucked. His fingers thrust into her and upward, and he pressed hard against that sensitive spot inside her.

  Then suddenly, he thrust even harder into her mind. His desire and pleasure swept through her like wildfire. She felt her entire body go rigid and her breath caught.

  Her sex clenched and then pleasure exploded inside her like a bomb. She screamed as wave after wave swept through her. There was no thought, no world beyond the pure pleasure of her body’s release.

  Tair moaned and clung desperately to control. He concentrated hard and tried to work quickly with Jadik to get the link into place. He knew Kate’s pleasure had both of them suspended in complete agony on the edge.

  Jadik leaned down, laying across Kate, feeling her hard nipples stab into his chest. He felt sweat break out on his forehead as he mentally built the link. As Kate’s screams died away, the link was completed. It was done. He began to lift upward and away from her body. The aching pain of his cock made his movements slow.

  Tair raised his head, removed her legs from his shoulders, and slowly stood. It hurt to move. He gazed helplessly at Kate, caught by the vision of her in that moment. She was lying sprawled against the bar in total abandon. Her body was flushed with the shirt bunched around her middle. Her breasts and sex were exposed.

  The hard points of her nipples, usually pink, were very red and still glistening. Her sex was red, too, swollen and wet. His hands went to the top of his pants in an instinctive move to strip them off and plunge inside her.

  Kate could feel Tair’s intent. She felt dreamy and floating, drunk from the intensity of her release. Sitting up with slow languorous movements, she looked from one man to the other.

  She could see that Jadik was sweating, his big body tense and dangerously on edge. Tair’s hands had stopped at the top of his pants, but it was obvious to her what it was costing him. She sat up completely and looked into his face. His eyes were stark with naked hunger and the frustration of a predator denied the kill at the last second.

  She looked over her shoulder at Jadik, standing silently on the other side of the bar. In a husky voice, she ordered, “Jadik, open the link and share my thoughts.”

  Turning to Tair, she demanded, “Stay merged with me.”

  Both Tair and Jadik froze at her words. She let her imagination run wild with graphic images. She pictured the three of them in the bedroom lying on the bed with her in the middle.

  Tair was on his side, plunging his hard cock inside her wet sex in long, hard strokes as she faced him on her side. She pictured Jadik’s big body lying behind her. She imagined the feel of his cock as it moved in her ass with those same long strokes.

  She pictured the two of them stroking in and out in slow controlled movements, gradually building speed. And she imagined in glorious, vivid detail exactly how it would feel. The hardness. The fullness. The slick slide of all three of their bodies. The incredible pleasure.

  Reaching forward, Kate opened the button on Tair’s pants, then another and another. His cock sprang free, huge and visibly throbbing. She took it in her hand in one long, firm, slow stroke. Moving upward, still flooding them both with images, she gave him another firm stroke and then another, timed exactly with the image in her mind. He was breathing heavily, but his breath caught in his throat.

  In one agonized moan, he went over the edge. She could feel the pulsing of his cock in her hand and felt his warm wetness slide over her fist. His pleasure swamped her and she threw back her head in response. It felt incredible, beyond good.

  Jadik gripped the edge of the bar hard. Kate’s images were making him crazy with need. It was too much. He lost control and felt his cock throb as pulse after pulse of pleasure stole his breath. Release came with an intensity that blanked his mind and stole his strength.

  Kate lowered her head and looked at the two men. Both of them were gripping the counter like it was a lifeline. Their heads were down and she watched them with sleepy appreciation. Suddenly, both men raised their heads and stared at her intently. She wondered what they were thinking.

  Jadik was thinking that Kate was an extraordinary woman. Tair had found a pactmate of strength, beauty, and passion.

  Tair was thinking one simple thought. “Hell-on-wheels.”

  Chapter 14

  The next day started out with a comfortable sense of normalcy. Kate was surprised at how she was feeling. The linking the day before had been erotic and intense, but it had felt very natural, too. The gap between Earth and Shimerian cultures had been a wide one, but she felt like they had bridged it.

  She knew she ought to feel weird about the whole thing, but she didn’t. She supposed it had to do with her trust in Tair and even Jadik to a certain degree. She felt good.

  Tair was sitting on the couch beside her, one big arm wrapped around her. They had just eaten “midmeal” and were relaxing, talking about the sights they had seen in the last few days. Tair was absently playing with her hair in a familiar gesture. The man was forever touching her and cuddling her. Kate frowned inwardly when she realized just how used to that touching she had become.

  Glancing at Tair, she asked, “Are we going somewhere today?”

  Tair turned and looked at her. He drawled teasingly, “I had no plan for today. We will have to explore what it is you desire most.”

  She arched an eyebrow at his phrasing and smiled. Any response left her head at the sudden look of alarm that crossed his face. His entire body went rigid and he brought his hand to his head in reflex. A look of agony and pain spread over his features.

  Kate felt the first wave of intense shock and dread radiate from him and caught her breath. She demanded, “What is it?”

  Tair threw up a mental block as big and hard as he could in two directions. Their merge would only magnify the shock, his feelings heightening her own. He had to protect Kate. On the heels of that thought, he knew it was impossible. He looked at her concerned face and felt dread all the way to his soul.

  Kate felt his block and the emotional waves stopped abruptly. What the hell was happening? Tair had gone pale. Feeling impatient and worried beyond belief, she demanded, “What the hell is going on, Tair?”

  Tair stared into her face and searched for words. Finally, he said gently, “Kate, I am Sharon’s link. She is okay, but she is in intense emotional pain. Liken is with her.”

  Kate felt the blood drain from her face. She asked, “Has she been hurt? What happened?”

  Tair said gently, “She is physically well. Kate, it is Gage.”

  Kate heard his words, but shook her head in denial. She jumped up from the couch and paced a few feet away. Tair was watching her with obvious compassion and a look of profound worry. She denied flatly, “You’re wrong.”

  Tair stood up and walked to her. Placing gentle hands on her shoulders he said, “Kate, there was an accident. His heart stopped during emergency transport. They are trying to revive him, but it has not worked yet.”

  Kate broke away from him and turned her back. This couldn’t be happening. Gage was fine. It was a bad dream. He couldn’t be gone.

  She thought of his last words to her at the pact ceremony and knew with sudden certainty that he had been saying goodbye. He had known.

  She felt pain cut through to her soul. It was beyo
nd bearing. The physical shock of it nearly drove her to her knees. Her breath hitched and she couldn’t breath. She felt a voice from deep within scream and scream.

  Then, a welcome numbness stole over her, like a blanketing fog. She felt nothing. Nothing at all. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  Turning to face Tair, she said calmly, “I’m going to put on some clothes and get ready to go.”

  He looked at her helplessly. She walked out of the room.

  Tair sent a mental message to Liken of concern and paced the room with agitation. He couldn’t stand it. She was in so much pain. He felt his heart twist again in agony as he remembered the look on her face when she believed him. He had to do something. He had to help her. He had to find a way. He heard Jadik’s call just as the front door opened.

  Jadik burst into the room, out-of-breath, and demanded, “Where is she?”

  Tair tried to gather his composure. He said, “My apologies. I should have explained. I could think only of what she was feeling. I forgot that you would receive her thoughts. I should have sent you an explanation.”

  Jadik shrugged the apology off, and demanded, “Take care of her! Fix it!”

  Tair repeated in the same tone, “Fix it?”

  Jadik paced. He was disturbed and worried. “She is in shock. She is in extreme pain. She cannot continue this way.”

  Tair nodded in agreement but said with frustration, “There is no fixing it. She has lost her brother.”

  He felt furious at his inability to help her. His heart ached in his chest at the thought of her pain. He felt an unfamiliar helplessness pressing in on him. He grabbed his shirt from the couch and shrugged into it. Then, he leaned down and put on his boots with angry, jerky movements.

  Jadik looked tired suddenly. He said apologetically, “I know, Tair. I am sorry. This is very disturbing. She is hurting. I know you would change it if you could.”