by Liz Paffel
There was speculation. There were rumors. But there were no identifiable coordinates. Navigationally, the city didn’t exist.
He wasn’t leaving here without coordinates, or some landmark that would lead him back. He’d come up short on finding the crew of the Zeph, yet, the nagging idea that they’d gotten sucked into the same storm as he had wouldn’t leave him alone. If Meshuuks had come for them, the Zeph’s crew may have been injured, weak, unable to fight them off. They may have taken the same path as he and been delivered to a source market where they were acquired for Hanasha-Yupa. The Axxeon were coveted as fighters and slaves strong enough to do the work of three.
No trader would leave behind healthy Axxeon if they were able to overtake them.
The Zeph’s crew could have been here. If so, someone knew something. Leading the GU to this place would be the biggest coup he could possibly accomplish right now. All in his father’s name.
This was his chance to claim Nanakka-Rak and clear his father’s exile.
He glanced back at Sasha; struck by the garment she wore. Tearing his eyes away was difficult. She was curvy, yet sleek, her body wrapped in perfection meant to tempt him. The fabric cupped and hugged her feminine curves, highlighting her breasts. The dark thatch of curls between her legs intrigued him. The ripe rise of her backside begged him to grip hard and pull her body into him while he thrust into her tight cunt again and again.
He’d never had such thoughts about a human. Sure, he’d had urges, but without access to Axxeon females, there’d been no way to learn his way around a woman’s body or slack his curiosity. Not that he needed to. He was a Prince with a deep responsibility to nurturing the growth of his people after disease had torn them apart.
And he had. He’d fought for them. He’d bled for them. And when his brother had sourced human females for repopulation purposes, he’d denied himself access to one so the other males may find their mates. It wasn’t his time to pair with a female. Maybe it wasn’t time even now.
But it didn’t stop his cock from aching like it was being twisted, or his heart from racing with the need to take her face in his hands and press his lips to hers.
He’d told his captors that Sasha was his sexual conquest and she was not to be taken from him. To his relief, all the females had been brought here as he’d requested. He’d been allowed to see them shortly after he’d woken from the neuro blast they’d all been stunned with. The human females were grouped in the same holding area. The dark haired one, Blume, had charged the glass when she’d seen him, her eyes showing him exactly how she’d rip his guts out and strangle him with them.
She blamed him for this.
Considering how hard the small blonde was crying in the redhead’s arms, he didn’t blame her. He wanted to tell her that he was going to fix it, but he didn’t dare. Because he wasn’t sure how he was going to pull it off just yet.
He’d been informed that The Mother—whoever the hell that was—would personally see to his ransom. However, she required more value for her hospitality. A two-for-one deal. Axxeon kinder catch quickly. She wanted his heir to sweeten the pot.
He’d inadvertently made Sasha his breeder.
By the look on her face when he’d walked into her quarters, Blume wasn’t the only one who wanted to kill him.
They were shown to a large, white walled room with a row of windows to the far wall. The glass had been removed, allowing sunlight and fresh air to freely waft inside. The room was bare save for a long white table and chairs to seat at least fifty. They were brought to the last two seats near the windows. With a sigh, the lizard man nodded his head and left.
Sasha looked over her shoulder, made a face, and looked again. Some of the color drained from her face.
“What is it?” Hahn focused on her face.
“Did they probe your brain when you got here?”
“Of course not.”
“Of course not,” she sighed. “They did mine. In case my womb is faulty and doesn’t produce you an heir quickly enough. At which time they will erase my memory and make me a slave. They do something to your brain called a blending. I’ve seen the effects. It’s not pretty.”
She glanced over her shoulder again. Absently, she grabbed what looked like an eating utensil and curled it in her hand.
“You will not become a slave.”
“How do you know that?”
“I know. Listen to me, Sash.”
“Stop calling me that!” She drew a shuddering breath. “I can’t with the nicknames right now. I just, I just need to be me. I need to keep a firm grasp on who I am.”
He put his arms on the table and leaned into them. He wanted to provide a comforting touch, but he didn’t dare allow the softness of her skin beneath his hand. Not now. Not yet. “Look at me.”
She did.
“Killing my enemies with my bare hands in my specialty. There are a hundred ways to kill someone with hands and my fists and I know them all. Anyone who dares touch you will suffer my skill. I said that you are mine, and you will remain mine. I promise you that.”
She stared at him for a long time. Her chest rose and fell, her nipples rubbing against the fabric. They were beautifully peaked inside dark, round areolas. Her fingers relaxed around the utensil and she smoothed it back into place.
“That’s very honorable of you; however, we both know that you don’t really mean it and there’s no way to guarantee my safety, or the safety of the other women.”
He ignored her doubts. There wasn’t time for that. She may not trust him, or even want to, but he had to forge ahead with or without it.
“My father is a complicated man who has made his share of enemies in his time as King. There are many who will gladly purchase me at any price just to make him bleed. However, there is no price that my family will not pay to have me—us—returned. I will worry if it becomes necessary to do so. Trust me or don’t. I can’t force you. All I can do is assure you that I will keep you and the women safe until my last breath.”
“That’s honorable of you, but you don’t even know me. You don’t me anything.”
She brushed at her shoulder as if flicking off a bug, then rolled her shoulders in as if something was touching her. He had the sense that his response could send them in two different directions.
He could tell her the truth. That he had been around a hundred other human women in his time on Earth and none of them had aroused such a reaction in him. From the moment of their first meeting, his solarderm had responded to her. He’d felt different inside, as if being too far from her for even a moment was extreme torture. He’d heard on human television that women got under a man’s skin. He’d thought that sounded painful and unnecessary. He realized now that it was a figure of speech that was surprisingly accurate.
She was a part of him, and he’d barely touched her. Something inside of her twined with something inside of him and formed a knot that would either fray and break or grow stronger depending on what they did with it.
Or, he could save both of them emotional confusion and pain by not mentioning it at all. Whether or not his plan to pull this planet’s coordinates would work. Everything he was trying to do to save his family could fail. Including, his promise to keep Sasha and the others out of slavery.
Wouldn’t it be better for the both of them to keep their hearts out of it?
“It is not the Axxeon way to leave defenseless females without protection.”
The words were heavy, but it wasn’t a lie. She didn’t respond. And he didn’t get a chance to say more as a slave came in carrying a large black tray with a domed top. Wordlessly, he set it on the table, raised the lid and stood back.
Sasha looked at the meal, then to Hahn, then back to the food.
“Is that pizza. And, fries?”
Another servant came in with a similar tray. The lifted top revealed a selection of cheesecake squares.
“These are all the things I said I’d eat if I ever got back to Earth. Wait… wh
en they probed my brain, they must have extracted this somehow?”
Hahn raised a brow. “You like pizza?”
She seemed to be in shock, her eyes steady on the food, her lips barely moving. “Pepperoni. Extra—”
“Cheese.”
“Yeah. Extra cheese. I do love it, but I’m too freaked out to eat anything.” She rolled her shoulders again and seemed to snap out of her stupor. “There’s a note.”
She plucked a bifold card from the center of the dessert tray. She read it, made a disgusted face. “Well fed women make healthy babies.” With a huff, she tossed the card down. “Women can grow healthy babies even on the worst diets, true. But none of this food is suitable for conception and pregnancy.”
Hahn lifted a slice to his mouth, paused when she sat back and crossed her arms. “Do you wish for me not to eat this?”
“Go ahead. You don’t need my permission to eat.”
His stomach growled, but he had the odd sensation that he’d starve if she asked him to. “I sense your frustration and I do not wish to further it.”
“I’m not having your baby. I’m not having anyone’s baby.”
He set down the food. “I don’t want you bearing my kinder, not like this. You should eat, Sasha. You had a small portion of the snake, and that is all I’ve seen you consume.”
He followed her gaze where she looked at something in the corner of the room. There was nothing. Concerned that she was seriously undernourished, he grabbed a cake square from the tray. Going around the table, he leaned against it next to her chair and broke the cake in half.
She did a double take. “What are you doing?”
Hahn gripped the treat between his thumb and forefinger and lowered it to her plump lips. “Open.”
She swallowed and parted her lips, but then closed them. He sensed a swirl of fear mixed with the desire to submit. Her soul was fatigued from carrying a heavy burden… something heavier than her abduction, something more sinister than being forced here to Yala. He opened his mind, drawing her emotions in as they struggled to blossom inside his mind’s eye like a dying flower. His parasympath ability had never been so clear and he wasn’t even touching her. Simply looking at her was enough to activate her emotions and pull it into himself.
He needed to touch her, to suck the decaying wound out of her and soothe her pain.
“Open your mouth, my beauty.”
Her eyes glistened. She obeyed. Hahn slipped the cake just past her lips so they touched the tips of his fingers. She closed around the treat, lightly sucking as she swirled her tongue around it. His breath hitched. The space inside his mind that took in the emotions of others expanded to painful capacity. He winced, but he wouldn’t stop.
He would never stop until he’d rid her of whatever demon lingered inside her.
She watched him as she chewed, swallowed. The tip of her tongue swept her lower lip before she turned it slightly inward. He brought the second piece to her mouth and she opened easily, taking it. The warm wetness of her lips broke something inside him.
He had to have her. His body was on fire. He was about to draw his hand back when she grabbed it. Her lashes fluttered as she brought his thumb to her mouth and slowly drew the tip between her lips.
“Fuck.”
“Which version?” She whispered. “The expression of frustration, or the other one?”
She took his finger again, pulling it all the way into her mouth and sucking hard as she withdrew it.
“Both,” he ground out. “All of them. Any of them. I’ll fuck you in any manner you want.”
“Hahn.” She reached up and looped a hand around the back of his neck.
Pulling her from the chair, he wound his fingers into her thick hair and took her mouth with his. The shock of it blasted like white heat inside his belly, the pleasure robbing him of the ability to think. She pressed herself against him, the hard peaks of her breasts rubbing against his chest.
His solarderm lit furiously. She gasped and jerked back, taking in the glow of his skin with absolute awe. Breathing hard to control it, he willed his body to cool and reached for her again. She came willingly, a moan fluttering from deep in her throat as he turned her against the table and lifted her onto it. The strips of fabric on her skirt parted perfectly, revealing the sweetness between her thighs.
He was going to lose his fucking mind.
Possessiveness roared inside him, an animal he related to with his warrior side waking from a forever sleep. He’d never felt this way. So much wildness… so raw and unleashed.
Let any other male dare touch her and he’d rip his heart out.
She leaned back and her full breasts lifted for his view. He moved between her thighs and angled down to take her face between his hands. She gasped as the length of his cock pressed against her pelvis.
“Remember when you said that one day, I wouldn’t be intimidated by every part of you anymore?”
“Yes.”
“You forgot a part.” She grinned and reached down.
Hahn gripped her wrist before she could touch his throbbing cock. If she did, he’d take her right here on the table, and according to human movies, that was not romantic. He hadn’t thought this through with anything other than his man parts. Once he mated her, he’d keep her. Forever.
How could he take a mate when his mission wasn’t finished? He very likely could end up in exile like his father. What would Sasha do then?
Her brows knitted in silent question.
He may not be able to claim her fully, but he could give her pleasure. Urging her back onto the table, he spread her thighs and gave her a questioning look. Her lips parted, her breath coming fast as he smoothed his palm along the silk of her inner thigh and moved the single strip of fabric that hid her cunt from his view.
“Let me make you feel good, Sasha. Let me have my treat now.”
Her vulnerable expression twisted his heart. “Hahn, I’m…”
“Are you scared to give some of your control to me?” She nodded and he swore he’d do anything to soothe her. “Let go, Sasha. Give some of that weight to me and let me take it away.”
She gave the barest of nods, watching him intently. His chest swelled with pride and anticipation, as if he’d just won the galaxy to call his own. He moved her knees farther apart and drew back so he could bend to her. Moving his hands up her body, he ran them over her belly, up her sides to her breasts.
He’d never felt anything so incredible. Firm and soft, fitting perfectly in his big palms. He kneaded her breasts softly and rubbed his thumbs over her nipples. She arched into him with a little moan. Encouraged, Hahn brought his hands back down and gripped her hips.
He nuzzled just above her thatch of curls, her rich, womanly scent driving him to the edge of control. She moved her legs farther, one hand coming his head. It was all the signal he needed. He parted her cunt lips, revealing the little bud inside, and the deep slit he wanted to dive into.
Pressing two fingers to her slit, he traced its length with a flutter of pressure while taking her nub between his lips. Sasha cried out; the sharp sound filled with pleasure. No control. Just this. Just her taste and her sounds and the feel of her.
There was nothing in any galaxy that could compare.
Her taste exploded on his tongue as he laved it over her bud. She responded with a buck of her hips, so he did it again. Soft, hard, slowly. Working his fingers into her cunt, he shuddered at the slick heat within. Encouraged by the heady sounds coming from her throat, he thrust his fingers all the way in. And stopped.
Pleasure ran through him as if he had his cock buried inside her. Her ripples of ecstasy extended through his body. Something snapped inside of him and he feasted on her cunt, his tongue and fingers exploring and centering on every point of pleasure until she was bucking and quivering against his mouth.
Her cunt tightened with a rush of wetness. An agonized groan came from her mouth, her fingers gripping the cloth on the table. An intense rush of pleas
ure rolled through her, crested, crashed and slammed into him.
Hahn didn’t stop rubbing her until she pushed against his head and moved back.
He looked up. “Did I do something to displease you?”
Sasha took his face between her hands, her brows knitting together. “Are you serious? I’ve never come that hard.”
“Come?”
“Just… let me show you. Please, I want you in me.”
She reached for the string at the waist of his pants. He stilled her movements with a hand on hers. He couldn’t mate her. His future was too uncertain. What if she conceived and he was thrown into exile?
Sensing his hesitation, she ran a thumb over his lip. “Then, let me use my hand.”
He grinned and moved his hips back enough that she could free his cock from his pants. Her mouth fell open as she took in his length, her hand struggling to fit around his girth. “Hahn. I swear you’re too perfect.”
Her soft touch on the sensitive head was almost too much to bear. He was already wound from her taste. Sharing her pleasure had nearly sent him over the edge.
With a wicked grin, she brought him close enough that she could line up the tip of his cock against her slit. “Just rub it up and down. Yes, like that. Fuck.”
His meaty head slipped up and down her wetness, her body soft and conforming and so damn tight. He brought her in for a hard kiss as he fucked against her slit, rubbing along her nub with each stroke. Within seconds, she tensed and bloomed with pleasure again. Hahn groaned and tensed. Her hand gripped his cock, pumping him a final time before he exploded. His seed gushed over her hand, his body racked with pleasure so intense, pain whispered around it.
Their eyes caught and he never wanted to look away. His solarderm glowed, his body demanded more. Mine. My mate.
She was his.
Pulling back, he took some cloth from the table and gently cleaned her up, then himself. She slipped off the table on wobbly legs. He’d done that. Hahn felt a pang of pride.
She reached up on tiptoe and placed a soft kiss on his lips.
The door creaked just enough for a warning. Hahn jumped back and stood in front of Sasha as the lizard guard he knew as Lorelt, another, and a meek female appeared in the doorway.