by Viola Grace
He squeezed her. “What was that?”
She stroked his arms. “Yes.”
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, sir?”
He growled.
“Yes, Demon Cat of Aksalla?”
He nipped her bare shoulder and growled again.
She squirmed sideways so she could look at him. “Yes, Salat.”
He exhaled and released her. His need to hear his name was sweet, and the look he gave her when she said it was hot.
She licked her lips. “So, is naked breakfast a thing in Aksalla?”
He smiled slowly. “When we are alone... yes.”
Khytten snorted. “Somehow, I think you are making your own protocol. I don’t recall any naked breakfasts when I took care of my parents.”
“Naked breakfast is only for lovers.” He said it with absolute confidence. “So, what did you want to do today?”
“Target practice. I need to get on my feet instead of my back, hands, and knees, clinging to you like a... kitten.” She winced as she finished that sentence. His brows furrowed in laughter. Though he was solid black, it became easier to detect his moods every day.
“Aw? I have been having ever so much fun.” His lips curved.
“Yeah, but I am being plagued with sore bits. My healing can’t keep up with you quite yet.”
He scowled. “Do you need Torenne?”
“I wouldn’t mind, but what I really want is a back rub.”
He snorted. “Why didn’t you just say so?”
“Because it is difficult for me to lie flat in order to get a proper massage.”
He looked and blinked. “Yeah, I can see that.” His eyes gleamed like he had an idea. “Come with me.”
He lifted her, and it was cute that he pretended she had an option.
What he came up with was displayed with the pride of someone who had just figured out how to use a fork. He had made her a sort of a bench using the bed and some chairs raised up on boxes. A soft blanket was where she would put her head and shoulders, and her breasts could dangle between the bed and chairs. She knew it wasn’t going to be completely comfortable, but he would be able to reach all of her, so that was a good thing.
She walked to the closet and took out the pack with its pumps and collection units. She wiped her nipples and put the pumps on, inhaling when they became productive.
“Aw, filled up again?”
She gave him a dark look. “Maybe if someone wasn’t at them in the middle of the night and the early morning and in the evening, they would stay on schedule. As it is, this should weigh down a delivery drone pretty well. I didn’t want to cut loose if you were serious about the back rub.”
He smiled. “Don’t I look serious?”
She looked over the unrelieved black skin and the erection that visually blended in with him, but when she leaned over to catch the silhouette, she snorted. “Uh-huh. That does look serious. I mean, the ads always say if it lasts more than four hours, you should seek medical attention.”
He walked over to her and crouched in front of her. “You are always so cocky when your breasts are occupied.”
“It is literally the only time they aren’t making me wonder when they are going to go off.”
He grinned. “Check your booking.”
She blinked and slowly lifted her com and looked at the booking flashing there. “Really? You are blocking out three days, just for me?”
“Yes, and you have to do what I say.”
She snorted. “I do that anyway.”
“Ah, but without the attitude.” He winked.
She had a flicker of uncertainty. “I thought my attitude wasn’t a problem.”
She accepted the date. “There. It starts in an hour.”
“Good. I am going to take you shopping.”
Her eyes widened. “No!”
He tapped her nose. “That is the attitude I was talking about. I make stupid amounts of money doing what I do best; let me spend it on you.”
“What you do best... you fuck them to exhaustion?”
The pumps released, and she took the packets, put them on ice and sterilized the units for the next round in a few hours. She programmed the bots to send the milk to the hospital when it was frozen solid.
Once that was taken care of, she tiptoed back to the bedroom where Salat was waiting. He had bound his hair back and had a bottle of oil in a bowl. She shivered. He was treating this seriously.
He smiled and said, “Assume the position.”
She didn’t quip; she crawled onto the bed and then settled her shoulders on the chairs with her head hanging in between.
“Comfortable?”
“I feel vaguely like a blade is about to strike.”
“Not until after your massage. I like my victims unsuspecting.” He chuckled and ran a hand down her back. She fought the urge to squirm. “You are so very soft, kitten.”
She exhaled. “Yes. I know. You tell me that a lot.”
She felt the warm oil being drizzled on her skin. He set the bottle aside, trailed his fingers along. Khytten blinked when she felt him writing, S-a-l-a-t plus K-h-y-t-t-e-n. The whole thing was surrounded by a slippery heart. She looked at him over her shoulder, and he was admiring his handiwork before he looked at her and smiled. “I have been wanting to do that.”
She snorted. “It tickled.”
He kissed the nape of her neck, brushing her hair away with his knuckles before licking softly.
She squirmed. “If you are just going to play, I can be uncomfortable somewhere else.”
He kissed her neck, bit her gently, and sighed. “Back to business.”
He was serious about the massage from that point onward. He found the knots and eased them loose before he knelt astride her and moved back and forth, up and down her spine, eliciting low groans from her. She grunted when he worked her shoulders, and he tutted. “How were you moving, little kitten?”
“It was a reward versus effort issue. The reward was worth every ache and pain, but you reward me a lot.” She moaned when she felt a ball of tension pop.
He chuckled. “I haven’t had someone like you in my life... ever, actually. I am sure the novelty will wear off in a decade or so.”
He went over her shoulders and biceps then worked on her hands. His fingers slipped and slid with hers, and she had to focus on keeping herself relaxed.
“Okay, kitten, time to flip you over. Just relax.” He turned her by a grip on one thigh and her opposite arm.
She giggled. It was how the peacekeepers told you to flip a dead body.
“Relaxed people don’t giggle.” He frowned at her, but there was amusement in his expression.
“I have never been flipped like a corpse before.”
He tutted and poured a pool of oil onto her belly. She was fully on the bed, and he sat on the edge. He dipped his fingers in the oil and started writing on her. D-C-A-heart and then a small blob with a tail. She smiled. “Is that a kitten?”
He nodded. “It is hard to draw small when you are moving.”
“It is called breathing.”
He winked. “I know you can hold your breath.”
She laughed. “It didn’t last long. You are more than a mouthful.”
“But you tried, just as I am trying to help you relieve muscle tension, so stop squirming.”
Her eyes bugged out. “Then get your hand out from between my thighs!”
He grinned. “No. I am looking for tension.”
“It’s all soft tissue; there isn’t any tension.”
“Your thighs are very tense. I can barely move my fingers.” He twisted his hand a little, and they slipped in.
She inhaled and arched into his palm. His fingers were exceedingly slippery as they worked her and pulled her into a long and shivering orgasm.
He continued to stroke her slowly until she gripped his hand. “Stop, stop, stop.”
“What is the magic word
?”
“Please, Salat.” She whispered in a tone as husky as she could make it. “Salat, please?”
He met her gaze, and he thumbed her clit again while bending to kiss her. His tongue slid and thrust against hers while his fingers drove her to distraction, and she moaned into his mouth when her body flexed under his touch again.
She exhaled with choppy vocalizations as he slowly, very slowly, let her relax. His tone was satisfied. “There you go. Relaxed?”
She blinked, and her breathing slowed. “Yes.”
“Good. Now, hold still.” He removed his fingers from her and licked them in what she could only describe as a dainty way.
She covered her eyes.
He chuckled and pulled her hand down. “You do like to hide, kitten.”
She wrinkled her nose. He continued to calmly tidy his fingers. She blushed. “Why do you do that?”
He slid his middle finger into his mouth and drew it out slowly. “Do what?”
“That. Put your fingers into your mouth after they have been inside me.”
He grinned. “I drink your milk, and you have a problem with me licking my fingers? I have licked you directly, you may recall.”
She blushed. “Yeah, but it seems... different for some reason.”
He laughed. “You have had your tongue all over me, but this is where you draw the line? Silly kitten. I like the way you taste. Sour-sweet, like a summer dessert.”
She tried to cover her eyes, but he had her wrist. She tried to pry him off her and was unsurprisingly unsuccessful.
He released her hand and put his hands on her belly, smoothing the oil that had been rolled all over the place with her movements. He massaged her abdomen, her shoulders, her thighs, and then, he worked on the muscles above and below her breasts
“Your body asks a lot of this delicate tissue,” he mused as he got closer and closer to her breasts.
She whispered, “It doesn’t ask. It demands.”
He tutted again, slowly moving inward and massaging her breasts. She held back her standard response, and he chuckled. “You are getting better at holding back.”
“It is a necessity. You would drain me dry otherwise.”
He grinned. “You just taste so good.”
“Yeah, let me put that on my headstone.”
His fingers were careful, but they were precise; they sought out the tension in the lymph nodes near her breasts and massaged the tissue. He thumbed her nipples and frowned. “The cream was lost in the blast, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah. I am still pissed about that nightgown as well.” She grumped.
“You look a little chafed.”
She laughed. “That could be because something with very sharp teeth has been using me as a cat toy.”
He grinned. “I regret nothing.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, I get that inkling.”
“So, how are the little ones dealing with the deliveries?”
She sighed. “They are getting along fine on the general descriptions that I get from the nurses. It isn’t as tailored, but they are doing well with volunteer cuddlers. I do miss them in my arms, though.”
“You can hold me.” He smiled and kept massaging.
“It isn’t the same. I could maybe hold your arm, but you don’t snuffle, you don’t squeak or look up at me with nearly blind eyes. Your hand doesn’t just barely fit around my pinky. I adore you, but you aren’t baby cute.”
“Maybe you should have a baby.” His words were casual, but she froze in place.
“Don’t joke about that.”
“Why not? I would be a charming father.” He smiled.
“Um, it’s illegal here in case that escaped your notice. Two actives have to get dispensation to try and reproduce, and even then, their children are constantly under surveillance. I am not going to have a child and put it under that kind of scrutiny.”
He cocked his head. “Is that the only holdback?”
“Um, why?” She was suspicious.
“Because that is what I want from you in return for the rescue. I am under pressure to produce an heir, and I have been putting it off, but the government is becoming insistent. Normally, an Aksallan heir is incubated in a gestation chamber, but I think you would take to pregnancy rather well.”
She started shaking, and her body ached at the thought. “Don’t tease.”
“Do I ever tease you?”
Khytten sighed. “Yes. Frequently. You are doing it now.”
He looked down and laughed. “Fair observation. But, I am seeking authorization to have you entered as the genetic donor for my children.”
She blinked. “You are what now? Are you fucking insane?”
He checked the time. “And our date has begun.”
She opened and closed her mouth as a chime rang on her com, and she whispered through gritted teeth, “Yes, Patron.”
“Ahahah. What is my preferred means of address?”
She sighed and slid her hands up his chest. “Yes, Salat.”
He shuddered and smiled. “There is something about the way you look at me when you say my name. No drug could have more of an effect.”
Khytten pulled him down to her. “Come here, please, Salat.”
He smiled. “We are going to discuss you having my child again.”
“Fine. Whatever.” She wrinkled her nose. “Salat.”
He laughed and rubbed his nose against hers. “That was the most unsexy thing I have ever heard a woman say, but from your lips, it was a siren song.”
She laughed and draped her arms around his neck. “Sorry about that.” She lifted herself against him so that her lips were next to his ear. She exhaled his name slowly, “Salat, you pointy-eared adorable beasty.” She licked the edge of the ear in question.
He shuddered and pulled her into his arms. “You are slippery.”
She giggled. “You were the one who oiled me up.”
“Hm. Bad planning on my part, or was it?” He moved her against him, and she slipped and slid against his chest.
She laughed, and he dropped to his back. “It seems that I put too much oil on you. You will have to see if you can wipe it off. I offer my body to the effort.”
They slipped, slid, and wiggled against each other until she joined their bodies, and then, things got serious as she forged on toward release and was distracted by a flip to her belly while he drove into her from behind. She clutched at the bedding, his hands next to hers as he drove into her. She whined, begged, sobbed, and pushed back against him.
He thrust slowly and reached under her with one hand. “Come on, kitten.”
His fingers teased her clit, and after a few strokes, she moaned, arching her neck and digging her nails into the sheets. She sobbed, and he nuzzled her neck before he bit her and held her as he thrust to the hilt and his cock flexed inside her. She inhaled and held still as he rocked into her with short thrusts. He shuddered and held her in her arc with his arm around her and between her breasts.
She panted and waited while he slowly opened his jaws, releasing her. He licked at the punctures and slowly lowered her to the bed, coming down on top of her. She held still as he relaxed over her without withdrawing.
“Hm, I think that is the first time I have had sex without drinking coming up.”
Khytten blushed. “Um, ‘kay. I will just get out from under you then, Salat.”
He moved his hand.
“No, don’t!” It was a mortified squeak as his touch on her breast caused a reaction.
“Ah, kitten. Roll over.”
She shook her head and held onto the bedding.
“Come on, Eleven. Roll over.” He carefully withdrew and eased her to her back. “Oh, kitten. You should have said.”
She was mortified. “I hate not having control over it.”
He nuzzled at her and locked his lips over her nipple. He started to draw, and she focused on what she wanted him t
o have. She thickened his skin, made his reflexes faster, and put in general good health.
He looked up at her, and she felt the low rumble that said he was having a really good time.
Her voice was husky as she said, “You are going to have to burn off a ton of calories with the way you eat. This stuff is designed to build bodies.”
He finished with the left and went to the right. “I have altered my diet to account for the calorie difference.”
She blinked. “You calculated me?”
He grinned. “Oh, yes. I did the math. Can’t have me turning soft and useless. I am going to continue to earn my place in your bed. Or my bed as the case may be.”
She chuckled and ran her fingers over his hair as he drained the right side.
When he was done, he rested his head on her chest and said, “I think I need a nap after that.”
“Oh, dear, Salat. More like an infant than I thought.”
He chuckled. “I was referring to the sex, but if you wouldn’t mind a return to bed for a morning nap, I am all for it.”
“Yes, Salat.” She stroked his cheek. He moved them and curled them up at the head of the bed on the pillows and pulled a sheet over them. He spooned her, and she turned her head so that he could kiss her slowly as they spent a leisurely few hours in bed, hoping that the real world wouldn’t intrude.
Hope had no place in reality.
Chapter Four
She took out the small guns that Zera had provided her with and looked at the targets down range. “You want me to hit those?”
She was wearing her I heart the Demon Cat of Aksalla tee that he had presented to her and a pair of slippers.
He chuckled. “If you can.”
She continued to face him, held up her right arm and shot the four targets. “What now?”
He blinked. “That was... unexpected, but I should have expected it from you.”
She smiled. “I had the best sharpshooting rating in my class at the peacekeeper training centre.”
“Kitten, why didn’t you finish your training?”
“I did. I just didn’t do the final part of the exam.”
He stroked her head. “What part?”
“The graduation and assignment to an outpost. I took the leave to look after my parents, and when I returned, I would have had to do it all over again. I didn’t want to.”