by Lisa Lace
"Yes, and I can't get the taste of you out of my head," he said, stepping closer.
I backed up hastily.
"Now, now. I didn't say that to get you all riled up. We're supposed to be staying away from each other," I said. "Remember?"
"I remember we were trying and failing," he said, pursuing me as I retreated.
"Good point. But still..."
"Most of the remembering I've done has been when I was in your arms, Kenna," he said, finally backing me up against a wall. He pressed his body into my personal space until we were only an inch apart. "You wouldn't want to impede my progress, would you?"
He leaned down until our lips were almost touching, then he stopped.
"May I kiss you?" he said.
And I stood for moment, thinking about it. My breath coming short and my pulse racing. Did I want him to kiss me? Of course I did. Was I going to let him kiss me? Well, that was another matter, indeed.
"Dar..."
"That doesn't sound like a yes," he said, sighing as he stepped back.
I smiled at him.
"Come on."
Next I took him to the lab where we had a previous encounter. He looked around the room.
"What happened here? It's just a lab."
"Well, I guess after my prowess in bed..."
"Kenna." he growled out a warning not to tease him. I wondered briefly where he was in his mating cycle.
"You couldn't get me out of your head!"
"I know the feeling," he said, moving over to the exact spot where we had done it on the counter. I blinked. Was he remembering?
He ran his hand over the counter.
"You know," he said. "This is the perfect height."
I looked at him, eyes wide.
"Sorry," he said. "You were saying?"
"You couldn't find me because I was human and I wasn't in your database. So you searched for me."
"On foot?"
"Yes. All over the complex," I said, giving him a half-smile. "One day you caught up to me here."
"I did."
"I was leaving out this door and you called me. I turned around even though I was already late for work. Our attraction was so strong it felt like something was physically pulling us together."
I walked towards him and he watched me. When I got to him, he waited patiently for me to make the first move.
"You said, 'I've been looking for you.' I couldn't believe it. I didn't even know you were the king yet. But you were this sexy, gorgeous guy and I had no idea why you would be looking for someone like me."
"Kenna." he growled again and I could see he was upset that I would say that.
"What? I still don't understand it."
In one fluid movement, he lifted me on to the counter and stepped between my legs, claiming my lips and taking my breath away — just like he had the last time we were in this room. For a guy without his memory, he sure acted in a similar fashion as in the past. Then he pulled away suddenly, startling me.
"You are amazing. Intelligent. Beautiful. Caring. Funny. Incredible in bed." He punctuated each word with a kiss. "And I may not remember why I fell in love with you the first time. But I know why I'm falling in love with you now."
I held my breath, gazing into his eyes.
"You're falling in love with me?" I whispered.
He nodded.
"Why?"
"Because you're exactly right for me. Because we fit together perfectly. Because you're my sheeranla. Because I just can't help it."
"Dar, don't say those things."
"I will say those things, Kenna, because they're true. And if I never get my memories back that still will not change the way I feel about you."
"We are so fucked," I said, pulling his face towards me and kissing him senseless. And as it turned out, the counter was still the exact right height for a quickie.
DAR
After our session on the counter, I needed to make love to her properly, in a bed. Even though I had only just had her, I couldn't get enough of her. We practically ran back to my room. I pulled her by the hand to my bed.
Slowly and deliberately, we undressed each other until we were both naked. She was so beautiful. I memorized every curve and sensation. Who knew if we would be alive tomorrow or if I would ever make love to her again.
We sat on the bed, staring into each other's eyes. I traced along her lovely cheek and down the graceful line of her neck. I swept my hands down her slim arms and back up, moving along her torso next. I brushed down her sides, barely grazing her soft, round breasts.
I knew this somehow. Her body was familiar when nothing else was. I didn't remember her in my head, but I remembered her in my heart.
I leaned forward and kissed her with all the love I was feeling. When I pulled away, she studied me as if trying to understand.
"Dar?" she said. "Is that you?"
I nodded, not exactly knowing how it was possible but understanding that in my heart I was myself.
We kissed deeply again and then I dropped soft, delicate kisses all over her face, down her neck and on to the smooth skin of her chest. I laid her on her back and she stretched her arms up over her head. The sight of her healed hand reminded me that she had almost died. It made me appreciate this moment even more.
Then with anticipation, I closed my lips around her hard, round nipple. She moaned when I did and I suckled her. Oh, to be with this woman was heaven. I dropped my hand to her mound of dark curls and slid my finger in. She was so silky smooth and slippery that my finger went right up and inside.
She gasped and I pumped my finger into her a couple more times before pulling it out to rub her clit in tiny, light circles. I switched to the other breast and she arched into me, as if begging me to take it deeper. I took as much of her breast into my mouth as I could, sucking and nipping in a frenzy, making her hips buck with pleasure.
After a few minutes, she pushed me away and spread her legs wide, and taking hold of my erection she guided me to her entrance. Then she stopped and looked at me as if waiting for something. I froze. What wasn't I doing that I had forgotten? After a moment, she spoke.
"Do you want me, Dar?"
"Yes," I said. "Of course I do."
She nodded and rolled on to her right side and I saw there was a triangle that had been carved into her beautiful flesh creating a bright red scar. I hadn't noticed it when we made love before. It had been dark in the caves. I frowned at the sight. It must have been terribly painful.
"Kiss it, Dar," she whispered.
I stared at it.
"Why did you do this to yourself?" I said, tracing it gently with my finger. "Why would you do this?"
She looked at me without saying anything, no expression on her face. Then I knew.
For me. She had done it for me.
I searched her eyes, trying to understand. And that's when I felt a hot, desert wind blow over me. The sand got in my eyes and mouth and I knew I was going to die buried here. Then I saw Kenna stumbling across the sand towards me. A moment later, she was pulling up her dress and asking me to scar her leg. We both stared at the deep cut that had already been made in her hip.
"What the hell happened to you out there, Kenna?" I said.
"What did you say?" Kenna said, her eyes shocked and filled with hope.
I was back in my bed. There was no desert. No sand. No hot wind. Only Kenna's beautiful naked body beside me, waiting for me to make love to her.
"Dar. What. Did. You. Say." She repeated enunciating each word and looking a little wild.
"I said, what the hell happened to you out there, Kenna." I repeated.
"That's what you said to me after I completed the ritual. Do you remember?"
"I saw the desert. I saw you. And the scar," I told her. "I remember this."
And I bent over to kiss her scar. She sucked in a breath when I did.
"I never thought I'd ever feel you do that again," she said as I positioned myself between her legs.
&nbs
p; "Kenna," I said, gazing into her eyes. "I have to relearn your body all over again. I hope I'm not disappointing you."
"Not possible," she said, her eyes shining with tears. Then she lifted her hips so that the tip of my shaft was barely entering her sweet warmth. And oh so slowly, I eased myself into her tight depths.
Fuck, that felt good. I was home. I was finally home.
"Yes, yes, yes," she said, under her breath, her eyes closed.
I hadn't even moved yet but already I felt my orgasm building. I held back, knowing that she had to come first. It was important. I didn't know why but I knew that I wasn't a proper male if I came before she did. Taking my time, I plunged in and out of her and her body answered, arching against me in wild response.
Slowly, I thrust in and out, enjoying every movement, every gasp, and every whimper she made.
"Please, Dar. Faster," she begged but I kept rocking into her steadily, taking the speed up slowly. I could tell it was making her insane. She was writhing and moaning under me but I didn't speed up yet, knowing that the longer it took, the better it would be.
She was panting and begging me and finally I decided it was time. I drove into her harder and faster and she wrapped her legs around me and hung on. We kissed passionately as I continued pounding into her. A sweat broke out all over her sweet skin and she cried out as her orgasm started.
Then her body convulsed and she moaned as the pleasurable spasms shook her. I felt her muscles clenching around me and I sped up, driving into her harder and harder until I exploded inside her, filling her. I jerked involuntarily several times and then lay still.
Her hips bucked a few more times and then she was finished, too. She wrapped her arms around my back, holding me close to her.
"Don't go yet. I want to remember how this feels."
I stared at her. We might die tomorrow when they attempted the destabilization. I loved being inside her and — not knowing if I would ever get to do this again — I wanted to remember, too.
I stood chatting with Jakk on the bridge as we sped towards Wormhole 87. The scientists had gone through all the calculations many times to ensure that everything was correct. That Elara — she was meticulous, I had to give her that. And unbelievably intelligent for a human. She must have a Susohnnan brain inside.
"We should be there by morning," Jakk said. "We'll start the destabilization procedures as soon as we arrive. Our teleportation crew will be rotating shifts trying to keep them from getting a lock on anyone on board."
"I pray that we can keep everyone safe while we try this crazy plan. Maybe we should have brought fewer people with us," I said, starting to worry again.
"Dar, relax. We needed every person who came with us — we're a skeleton crew as it is. Everyone on board knows what they signed up for, it's volunteer only. It's all good, friend. Relax."
Kenna came up beside me and my heart skipped a beat. She didn't take my hand or snuggle up to me, but she made it clear that she was with me. It made me happy. Even if our relationship was unclear, I was serious when I said I was falling in love with her again.
Jakk turned to Kenna.
"Kenna, how are you doing?" He grinned at her as if I wasn't even there. She smiled back.
"Other than scared out of my wits that we won't be able to pull this off? I'm doing okay. You ready?"
"I'm always ready, meerallia," he said, giving her a look that grated on my nerves. He was my friend and she was my girlfriend...kind of. Meerallia? How dare he be so familiar with my female? What did he think he was doing?
Kenna gave me a questioning glance. She would be asking me what that meant when we were alone. I loved that I could already understand the looks she gave me.
I looked at Jakk in a different way now, not frowning, but not friendly anymore. He better stay away from my sheeranla.
I took a deep breath. Jakk seemed unaware of my hostility and I was glad of that. I was probably imagining things. Perhaps Jakk was simply a big flirt — I didn't remember him but I had been acting like we were old friends. Thank goodness he hadn't said something about our past yet to trip me up. I may have been making something out of nothing.
It bothered me that I was ready to turn on my friend just for smiling at my female, but it showed the depths of my feelings for her. Either that or it showed the lack of evolution males had gone through, no matter how much of our brains we used. Evolution didn't matter if the little head between our legs was doing the thinking for us.
"Well, good," Kenna said, her face serious as she turned to the view screen. "Because I think these guys are going to keep you on your toes."
We all turned to look out the view screen. There was nothing to see yet. But the threat these aliens posed chilled me to the bone.
"So, what did that word mean, meerallia?" Kenna said, as she walked quickly to keep up with my stride. I slowed down a bit when I realized that she was practically running.
I made a face.
"It means..." I struggled to translate it into Unified. "I guess it means darling, or sweetheart."
"That's not too bad! The look you gave him, I thought it was an insult or something."
"I wasn't finished," I said. "It has an added connotation that implies possession."
"Possession." She frowned.
"No, not like he owns you. It's the way you would maybe say, MY darling, or MY sweetheart. You know what I mean?"
"Why would he say that to me?"
"I don't know," I said, irritably. "I've lost my memory, remember? But I have a feeling he's a terrible flirt."
"Oh yes," she said, nodding. "I saw him talking to some of the female ensigns and he had them all hanging on his every word. You'd think he was single."
I felt sad.
"What's wrong?" she said immediately.
"He pulled me aside and told me that his wife had sent papers for the divorce. A Susohnnan would rather be exiled than get divorced."
"That's backward," she said, frowning again. And I loved how her fine brown eyebrows drew together. I loved every expression that crossed her face, even the unattractive ones.
"Usually no one wants to get divorced because of the long engagement period. People put a lot of effort into their marriages. He won't be shunned, but he won't feel like a proper Susohnnan afterwards, or he may feel like a failure."
"That's not so bad." Her eyes got a faraway look.
"What are you thinking about?"
She blushed. "Nothing you'd want to know about," she said.
"No, really. I want to know."
She said nothing. That's when I realized that she had been thinking about what it might be like to be married to me. My mind flashed back to the note I had left for myself, the night I had remembered who I was.
Was now the time?
"Do you think you would want to marry me?" I said, softly.
"Dar, our situation is way too fucked up."
"But what if this hadn't come between us?"
She shrugged.
"I love you. I want to be with you for as long as you want me around. I don't need to marry you."
Something flashed in my brain when she said that. It seemed familiar.
"But would you want to?" I said, feeling my palms start to sweat. Maybe she loved me but didn't want to marry me. I braced myself for rejection.
"Of course I would, you big oaf," she said, wrapping her arms around my neck. "You have to make an honest woman of me, don't you?"
With that, she went up on her tiptoes to kiss me, and I forgot all my problems.
"Goodnight, Dar," she said finally, pulling herself away from me.
"Goodnight Kenna."
After Kenna had left me at my door, I had tried to go to bed, but I couldn't stop thinking about her. She filled my thoughts throughout the day and my dreams at night.
Making love to her had been unbelievable. I wanted to talk to her, walk with her, and yes, I wanted to have sex with her again. I didn't know what was wrong with me, but I couldn't help i
t. I went and knocked on her door.
She answered with a smile, as if she hadn't been sleeping either.
"Hello," she said, looking me up and down as if she liked what she saw.
"Hey," I said, trying to play it cool. "Can I come in?"
"Sure," she said, stepping back and opening the door wider. The first thing I saw was the big bed and I had a vision of us on it — naked and sweating, with me between her legs.
I snapped my attention back to the woman in front of me.
"Are you okay?" she said, studying me curiously.
"I'm not sure what's wrong with me," I said. "I'm kind of obsessed. And I hoped that maybe you would know what's going on with me. I know we just did it but...I'm sorry. I feel like such an ass..." I trailed off, my face hot with embarrassment.
"Obsessed?" Her eyebrows wrinkled in the cutest way. "With what?"
My eyes dropped to the cleavage that was showing in the yellow Susohnnan shirt she wore. It cut low on her breasts and had a circle missing from the middle of the fabric on her torso, displaying her flat stomach. The pants were wide and loose.
I felt myself start to harden and my breathing become quick and erratic. She lifted one eyebrow.
"What's the date?" she said, before I could answer her question. Maybe my drooling over her breasts had given her a clue. I didn't know the date, but she checked the calendar on the console.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"You happen to be nearing the end of your mating cycle and that's why you can't keep your eyes off my boobs."
I pulled my eyes up to her face, feeling my cheeks heat up.
"Don't be embarrassed. That's how it is for Susohnnan males," she said. "Especially at the end of the cycle. I forgot you need to relieve the pressure every day or else you can get infected. You must be pretty desperate, huh?"
She began to unbutton the yellow shirt I was wearing. Oh, thank God she was going to let me fuck her. I thought I would die if she didn't.
It wasn't slow and sweet like the last time. I couldn't wait. I needed to sink deep inside her and feel her coming around me. I had never felt such a powerful need that I could remember.
I pushed her over to the bed and kissed her fervently. She responded passionately, pressing her naked body into mine. Her hands roamed over my back, stopping to squeeze my butt. Then her small hand closed around me and I groaned. She pulled on me a couple of times and I thought I would come right then and there.