Avren: An Auxem Novel

by Lisa Lace

  DAR

  "Kenna," I said, pulling away regretfully from her blissfully hot kiss. "We have discussed this. There is no possibility of a relationship between.."

  "I know that. I'm about to die. I'm not talking marriage here, Dar," she answered. "Just some comfort, that's all. Wouldn't you rather take your mind off your troubles for a while?"

  As she said this, she stepped back and started unbuttoning the sleeveless top she was wearing. My breath caught in my throat, and I couldn't tear my gaze away. After only a couple buttons had come undone, I began to see cleavage, and soon I knew that she wasn't wearing anything underneath.

  I swallowed. Shit. In a moment, her full, ripe breasts would come spilling out, and I wanted nothing more than to taste them.

  No. I wasn't doing this. It wasn't right.

  But it felt right.

  It wasn't right when you thought she had a future, a little voice whispered in my mind. Now you both know she's going to die when you get wherever you're going, so what's the harm in taking your pleasure now? She wants you to fuck her. Can't let a lady down now, can you?

  I stopped thinking as she undid the button that allowed both soft mounds with their dusky tips to spill out because all the blood in my brain was heading south. I took a deep breath and tried one last time.

  "Kenna, think about this," I said, watching her peel away the tank top and start working on the button and zipper on her pants. She never took her eyes off of me. "What if you don't die? We can't keep doing this. It'll never work between us, so we should just stay away from each other."

  "What are the chances of me surviving for more than a couple minutes once we land in that den of terrorists?" she demanded.

  Slim to none, I thought but didn't say it out loud. The thought gave me pain, but I ignored it, trying to focus on her words and not her nearly naked body.

  "Exactly. You know this is it. So, we're talking about my last request here, Dar. Are you saying you don't want me?" She let the pants drop, and I saw she wore nothing underneath — the dark triangle of curls between her legs beckoning.

  The Three take me, but I did want her — more than I could say.

  She stepped up to me and her nipples, dark with arousal, brushed against my shirt.

  "Do you want me, Dar?" she said, and I could smell the scent of sex on her. It was too much.

  "Yes," I said, cupping her breast with my palm. "The Three save me, Kenna, but I do."

  KENNA

  He kissed me then, and I got lost in the whirlwind of his lust and desperation. I felt a little desperate myself, knowing that this might be the last time I'd do this with anyone. I didn't want to think about the fact that it might be the last few hours I would spend with Dar. That thought was too painful to entertain, and so I resolutely shoved it away.

  I broke away for a moment to pull his shirt off. Oh yes. I ran my hands over his chest and down his arms. I bent and sucked each nipple until it hardened, then wrapped my arms around him to kiss him again. But I was filled with desire and I needed to suck more than his nipples.

  I pulled away from him and began kissing down his chest. When I looked up at him, he seemed dazed. I pushed him until he sat down, and then I knelt between his legs.

  "Kenna," he breathed.

  I bent over then and took him into my mouth. I took as much of him as I could, and he groaned. I had only done this once before and frankly had found it revolting with one of my loser boyfriends. But with Dar, having him between my lips only fueled my desire.

  I began to suck and to move my head up and down on him. Trying to take as much as I could. I felt myself get wet, and my clit was tingling. After only a minute or so, he pulled me away.

  "I'll come if you keep going like that," he said. "Come here."

  And he lifted me onto the small conference table in the corner. I lay back, and he spread my legs wide.

  "Dar."

  "Hush, Kenna, hush," he said, kneeling down.

  Then his tongue was licking up my slit and flicking my clit, and I gasped. In moments, I felt flushed and so close to orgasm.

  "Dar, stop," I managed to croak out. "I need you inside me, now. Please, Dar."

  He stood then and pulled my ass to the edge of the table. Guiding himself to my opening, he slowly began impaling me on his straining shaft. He pushed into me, inch by incredible inch, until he had buried himself to the hilt. I was panting when he finished.

  "Sit up, Kenna," he said, still holding my ass so that we stayed intimately joined. I pulled myself up and into the circle of his arms. He kissed me deeply and then he began to move. I leaned back on my hands and wrapped my legs around his back as his hot flesh thrust into me. My breasts were conveniently arched up towards him. He took one into his mouth, and I moaned.

  Oh God, I wanted him so badly. I had never enjoyed sex this much or wanted any man more than Dar, right now. My body was flushed, and I had broken out in a sweat all over. As his rhythm increased, I felt my orgasm rising. He moved his hand to my clit and made light circling motions. That was it.

  I convulsed around him as I arched and cried his name. Dar pounded into me furiously as I continued to spasm, the pleasure washing over me again and again. Suddenly, he exploded inside of me, groaning in satisfaction. He laid his head on my shoulder, and I pulled him to me, noticing that he was hot and sweaty, too.

  We clung to each other, breathing quick and shallow as the ecstasy receded gradually. He lifted his head and gazed into my eyes.

  "Kenna..." he said, his voice full of pain.

  I kissed him and tried not to cry.

  "Hush, Dar. It's all right. It's going to be good."

  "No," he said softly. And I held my breath to hear what he was saying. "It won't be all right without you."

  After we had made love on the bridge, we went and cleaned up, and he took me again in the shower. At that point, I could hardly keep my eyes open. Dar did not forget to set the alarm this time.

  We couldn't keep our hands off of each other when we woke up either. It was like whatever had been holding us back was gone — the threat of imminent death freed us from all constraint. But humans and even sexy Susohnnan males can only have sex so many times. And a real orgasm always makes me hungry, so we ended up eventually in the galley making sandwiches.

  I carefully spread peanut butter on four slices of bread, and then got a new knife and covered four more slices with a thick layer of strawberry jam.

  "You say I will like this?" Dar said doubtfully.

  "It's the best thing ever," I said, slapping pieces of bread together and squashing them a little. "You have sandwiches on Susohn, right?"

  Dar shook his head.

  "Bread is not something my people eat. We have a variety of vegetables and several different kinds of meat..."

  "Oh yeah, you guys are the ones who never got into processed food," I said, suddenly understanding his unusual physique.

  "Processed food? What is that?" he said.

  "You're about to find out," I said, handing one sandwich to him.

  I bit into mine with relish, watching as he took a small nibble. He looked at me, apparently not wanting to insult me by not liking the food I had prepared for him.

  "It certainly is sweet," he said.

  I nodded.

  "That's the thing about processed foods. They overload your senses. I usually eat better than this. At least back home I did. I always paid extra for real vegetables. But this kind of stuff is all they had, here. And I have to admit, it makes me nostalgic for the early days when I moved away from home."

  "Oh, really? Why?" he said, putting his sandwich down and not picking it up again.

  "Because at home, my Gran always fed me the best food ever. But when I moved away, I could eat whatever I wanted and what I wanted was junk food."

  "Junk food? Like food that is garbage?" Dar said, trying to understand.

  "Exactly. Tastes good. Has absolutely nothing good for you in it."

  "Why would anyone eat fo
od like that?"

  "Because it tastes good, Dar."

  "I don't want to offend you, Kenna, but this sandwich does not taste good."

  "Yeah, you're probably right. But that kind of food appealed to me back then. That's where I got a lot of these so-called curves I can't seem to get rid of," I said, slapping my ample butt.

  "I like your curves." Dar protested.

  "Clearly," I said, smirking a little. I relished that he liked my curves.

  "But seriously, Kenna. All joking aside. Can we not make some semblance of a plan for how we will escape when we get there?"

  I shrugged with one shoulder and continued to munch on my sandwich.

  "I don't see how." There was a feeling of dread in my stomach that I was trying to ignore, but that wouldn't go away. It was the thought of my impending death and what torment might happen before. "We have no idea what's coming. How can we make a plan for that?"

  "There must be something we can do to prepare," he said, helplessly.

  "How about this, Dar," I said, reaching out and covering his hand with my own. "I promise to try not to die. How's that?"

  He closed his eyes.

  "Kenna. Be serious."

  "Why? It won't do me any good. How about we finish these sandwiches and then go fuck again? When are we due to arrive?"

  "There are about five hours left on the countdown to docking," he said, coming behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist. He put his chin on my shoulder, then kissed my neck. "How about I just hold you, instead?"

  I turned to look into his eyes and swallowed my bite of sandwich. I didn't want to die. I didn't want to stop feeling the way he made me feel. And at least for now, I didn't have to.

  "If that's what you want, Dar."

  DAR

  We lay in bed — skin to skin. I had never made love so many times in one twenty-four hour period, but I wanted Kenna in a way that surprised and confounded me. It wasn't even my mating cycle. She would probably be pretty sore tomorrow but since she expected to die, she wasn't too worried about it.

  Her head was on my chest, and I had my arms around her. We lay there, not saying anything. Then she sighed deeply, and my heart clenched.

  I don't want to lose her.

  The thought astounded me. But at that moment, I knew that somehow, someway I would figure out a way to save her. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that she would live, and I would make love to her again. I had no idea how, but I vowed to myself that I would make it happen, no matter what.

  All considerations of the difficulties of our situation had flown from my head, and all that remained was a single thought — I would not lose her.

  "Dar?" she said, lifting her head. Her voice was sweet.

  "Mmmm?"

  "What are you thinking about?"

  "What to say?"

  "I'm thinking about when we arrive."

  "Yeah. Should we get dressed?"

  "Probably." I tapped my watch, and our approach showed on the view screen. In the distance, still far away, was our destination: the space station. She nodded and laid her head back down on my chest. Her hand was holding mine, our fingers intertwined.

  "I'll miss you," she whispered.

  KENNA

  I stood on the bridge, my arms wrapped around myself, watching the space station getting closer and closer. I tried to shut down my brain, but it kept replaying the close call I had when those men had almost raped me on Dobu. The fear was practically suffocating me. I expected that a similar fate awaited me before they killed me on the space station.

  Dar was at the captain's console, monitoring our approach. He didn't have to do anything because he wasn't piloting it. The autopilot took care of everything. But I think it made him feel better and took his mind off of my imminent demise. He seemed to be taking it pretty hard which made me feel a little better. He must care about me if he was upset that I was going to die.

  I mean, any reasonable person would be upset if someone they liked and had been hanging out with for the past few days was about to die. But I sensed that it went deeper than that. His prejudice against humans seemed to be changing. Something was different. I don't know. I liked it, though. It was like seeing the real Dar emerge.

  "Three minutes until arrival."

  I shivered. Maybe I could turn off my mind so that I wouldn't experience any of the terrible things. I tried, but I just kept seeing that terrorist's face leering at me as he unzipped my coverall. I started to breathe fast. Too fast.

  "Kenna?" Dar said, glancing over at me. "Are you all right? Maybe you should sit down."

  I dropped into the nearest seat, still breathing too fast and shallow. Spots appeared before my eyes, and I wondered if I was going to pass out.

  "Kenna," Dar was in front of me. "What's going on?"

  "I'm freaking out," I said, between gasps.

  "Kenna, calm down."

  "I think I'm going to pass out," I said as the spots in front of my eyes began to coalesce.

  "Kenna," he said, but my head was reeling. I couldn't respond. "Kenna!"

  I could feel him shaking me, but nothing could bring me back. The feeling of terror surrounded me.

  Then I felt his lips on mine. His arms came around me, and I clung to him, melting. I drew a few more quick breaths through my nose, but I could feel my body calming the moment he touched me.

  He pulled away from my lips but continued to hold me close until he could tell I had relaxed. I blinked, surprised that he could affect me so completely.

  "I'm sorry," I said, a little ashamed that I had so completely lost it.

  "There is nothing to be sorry about," he said, squeezing me tight.

  Just then there was a loud clang, and the motion of the ship nearly pushed us off our feet. Dar looked up.

  "The ship. We're docking," he said.

  We both turned towards the entrance. Dar took my hand in his. I breathed deeply. I needed to keep my wits about me, not turn into a basket case.

  "You're not going to die," he said, squeezing my hand.

  I wish I could be confident like he was. I stared at the door as it slid open.

  Dar and I both stood silently as a man in his forties walked onto the bridge. He had black hair, shot with gray and a hard expression on his face. Ten terrorists followed him, all wearing the same uniform we had seen our assailants wear on Dobu.

  "I demand that you return us to Susohn," Dar said, immediately. "We have arrived here in error and would like to go home."

  I didn't say anything, keeping my eyes down. The man in command terrified me. Would he give me to his men right here if I even looked in his direction?

  "I'm afraid that's not possible, King Shu'in."

  Dar watched him, suspicion in his eyes.

  "Why?" he said.

  "Because you are a necessary part of our plan for gaining control of Wormhole 87." Dar pressed his lips together. "You may go home. Possibly. But not until we get what we want."

  "What are you going to do with us?" Dar said. He was trying to stall things as long as he could and find out as much information as possible.

  "We will be beaming down to the surface where we will imprison you and execute her. Mackeye's orders."

  Dar was squeezing my hand so hard it hurt, but he didn't react to the man's words. They herded us to the transporter, and while we walked, my brain scrambled to figure out how we could get out of this situation.

  I was pretty sure we couldn't.

  DAR

  I trembled with rage and frustration. I had never felt so powerless and at someone else's mercy. Having someone I cared about in danger made it even worse.

  They transported us to a bare room. There were streaks on the walls from an unknown liquid running down them, as if the building itself had been sweating. The floor was concrete, and the whole place had a nasty, unwashed feel to it.

  The commander and his ten men materialized with us. The men all carried large guns. I had no idea what kind but they looked extremely dang
erous, and the men were likely good at using them. There was no way that Kenna and I could just make a run for it. They would shoot us before we could move three steps.

  I looked at Kenna. She was frowning and appeared to be sniffing the air. Before anyone could do or say anything, another man in blue came rushing up to the commander.

  "Commander Healey, sir, did you hear, sir?"

  "Hear what, man?"

  "There's a wildfire burning." When he mentioned a fire, I noticed the smell of smoke all of a sudden. "We expect it to get here within sixty minutes, maybe less. We can't put the fire out. This stone building is fireproof, but the other buildings will burn up. The authorities have ordered us to evacuate."

  The commander snorted.

  "We don't follow the orders of any authority."

  "No, sir, of course not, sir. But there is a fire that won't listen to our orders either and..."

  "Enough. Thank you. We have an execution that cannot be put off."

  The man nodded and walked away from the commander to join the pack of terrorists who had beamed down with us. I saw him frown and shake his head.

  He looked at me when he passed by and rolled his eyes as if to say: Can you believe the stupidity? It seemed strange for a terrorist to be disgusted with a superior's decision and expressing his dismay to a prisoner. I had no time to think about it in depth because we were moving.

  As we followed the commander down the hall, all of the men we passed seemed nervous and on edge. Most likely they wanted to evacuate but were afraid to until they were given the orders.

  The commander stopped another terrorist in the hall. In a soft voice, he said, "We will evacuate with the king to the space station in thirty minutes. Lock on to us and be ready to transport at my signal."

  The man nodded and continued down the hall. At last, we came to a door, and our guards escorted us in. It was a plush office decorated with fancy furniture and a large desk. We were on the second or third floor and through the big bay window, I could see a wide swath of smoke that appeared to be moving through the forest and coming our way.

  The fire. Shit. It looked close. What would happen if it got here? I had no experience with these sorts of wildfires at all. I looked at Kenna, and she was looking out the window, too, frowning again. I wondered what she was thinking.