by Marie Harte
“What are you talking about?” She punched him again, and he frowned. “Cut it out, that hurts, you monster.” He smiled at her pique. “Erin, I love you with or without babies. Yes, I’d like to have them eventually. But if we can’t, that’s okay too.”
She toyed with a strand of his hair, excitement brightening her eyes to pools of starry indigo. “Dreyk can heal me, if we want.”
“He can?”
“He’s a Creation, remember?” she said in a low voice. “He knows how we’re made. And he can heal.”
Rafe thought about it. “Would that make you happy?”
“The ability to choose makes me happy. I never thought I’d want children until I learned I couldn’t have any. But with you…”
Rafe felt warm all over. “So when we’re ready, we’ll try. If you want to.”
“There’s just one thing.”
“What?” He stroked her back, already imagining how she’d look with his babe in her belly.
“Well, Dreyk heals by sharing fluids.”
“So?”
“So my internal organs…it’s not like he’s going to cut me open or anything. It’d be a painless procedure.” She flushed, and Rafe suddenly understood what she wasn’t saying.
“So he’d fuck you, and heal you with magical cum? No way in hell. Dreyk,” he shouted.
“Rafe, relax. We don’t have to have children…”
“The hell we don’t. But there’s got to be another way.”
Dreyk teleported inside the room in an instant, causing Rafe to glare as he tucked Erin under a blanket. “Damn it, you ever hear of knocking?”
“You just yelled my name.” Dreyk looked decidedly put out.
The doorway slid open, and Ryen stood there looking both pale and angry. The sight of Erin wrapped in a blanket in Rafe’s arms seemed to stymie him.
“Great. Why not invite the crew of Mara’s Light while you’re at it?” Erin huffed with a blush.
Rafe glared at Dreyk’s smirk. “You told Erin you could cure her sterility?”
Ryen turned wide eyes to Dreyk as well.
“Yes.”
Dreyk’s calm, sober response had Rafe check his own answer. Dreyk didn’t look like a man bent on seduction, or even conquest. And Rafe had to stifle his innate jealousy. He swallowed hard. “So you’d, ah, release inside her, and she’d be fertile?”
Dreyk exhaled loudly and ran a hand through his hair, as if in agitation. “That’s how it works. Orally might or might not fix the problem, but it would cure any other ailments.”
Ryen goggled between them, and Rafe wondered if the large male understood what they were talking about.
“So if we agree to this, it’s a one-shot deal, right?”
At that, Dreyk grinned. “I’m good for more than one shot, Rafe.”
“Dammit, Dreyk—” But the sly glance Dreyk shot Ryen held Rafe’s tongue. Dreyk had mentioned he was partial to males, and the way Ryen stared back at his friend, in puzzlement, but without his earlier animosity, spoke volumes to Rafe.
Rafe cleared his throat. “We’re considering your offer. And…” The words stuck. The knowledge that because of Dreyk’s giving nature, he and Erin might actually be parents one day stirred his emotions. “We appreciate your offer. More than words can say.”
Dreyk smiled, a grin of true joy that had Ryen blinking as he stared. “Good. But if you really want to thank me, take Cheltam’s job.”
“That’s up to Erin.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
Rafe sighed. “I hadn’t meant to go into this now, but we haven’t discussed the future.”
To his surprise, Erin glanced away.
“What’s wrong?”
“Yeah, what’s wrong?” Ryen repeated, frowning. The big guy really did seem to care for his sister.
“I just don’t know what the future holds.”
“Honey, none of us do.” Rafe shifted her into his lap and hugged her tight. “What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never been anything but someone’s experiment. The most I’ve ever been on my own was the four months I was on the run from Blue Rim. And all that time was spent evading those jerks. I’m scared I won’t fit it.”
“You’ll be fine,” Dreyk said, his words soothing. “You and Ryen will fit in, but it’ll take some work. I suggested Rafe return to playing Cheltam, because he’s good at it and Gar is driving me nuts.”
“Gar?” Ryen glanced from Dreyk to Rafe.
“My brother.” Rafe shrugged. “Honestly, I’d like to return to playing Cheltam. I get to bend the law a little. Sernal, my brother, also my boss, isn’t around as much, so we can do as we please. And we help a lot of people too scared of the law to ask for help.”
Erin stared at him and slowly nodded. “I like that. I needed Cheltam’s help.” Her eyes narrowed. “And I wouldn’t mind having a discussion with Gar about how to deal with helpless and desperate women.”
“Helpless, you’re not,” Dreyk snorted. “Actually, he was going to use you as bait to trap Blue Rim. One way or the other, they were going down.”
“Bait?” Ryen and Erin said at the same time.
Rafe quickly continued, “Bottom line is that we need a new start. Why don’t we work together? I’ll resume my role as Cheltam. Dreyk of course, will maintain his role as my right-hand man, with his new apprentice, Ryen. Hell, we can always use more muscle, as long as it’s contained,” he directed toward Ryen, who looked stunned. “But you’ll be my new lady friend. My mate. My wife.”
Erin blinked. “Really?”
“Really. And this is permanent, so don’t even think about going anywhere without me.” He rubbed her bottom and her eyes flashed with heat.
“Yes, Sir,” she whispered, but Ryen must have heard her because his eyes narrowed, the glint of yellow in his pupils shining with brilliance.
“Erin. He’s touching your…”
She kissed Rafe’s neck. “It’s not something you haven’t done to a woman before, Ryen. Now please, go away. I’m about to get really busy really soon.”
Ryen grumbled, glaring at Dreyk when Dreyk shoved him out the door. It slid shut behind them, but not before he heard his sister’s new mate rumbling how much he loved her.
Satisfied that Erin, at least, appeared to be in good hands, Ryen turned to Dreyk. “I want to see Anin.” His reason for being. To protect and serve. Always to serve… Because without his purpose, he was nothing.
“She’s fine, Ryen. We’ll see them in a few short hours.” Dreyk paused, and Ryen stopped, looking down into the male’s curious gray eyes. Something about Dreyk drew him, but he couldn’t have said what. Perhaps it was the fact that like Ryen, Dreyk was the only other male Creation in existence. Well, that he knew about. And he seemed sane, a hell of a lot clearer than Ryen.
“Anin needs this time away to become her own person.” Dreyk crossed large arms over an equally broad chest. “She can’t do that if you’re always there, telling her what to think and what to do. Mara’s Light is a good place for her to grow, and no one will guard her better than those Raggas on board. You’ll see when we meet up with them. Hell, you’re the only man I know who’s ever taken Nu off his feet,” Dreyk added with a grin.
He sobered as he stared at Ryen’s unsmiling face. “No more ‘Yes, Sir’ for Anin unless that’s what she wants. Like Erin,” Dreyk said quietly, knowingly.
“Were you like that?” Like me? he wanted to ask.
“I was, and it took me a long time to fit in with the inhabitants of the System. But my peer group was different than yours. We were a lot wilder, a lot rougher.” Dreyk cleared his throat and broke eye contact.
And Ryen suddenly felt lost. He stared unseeingly for a moment, perplexed at the changes taking place all around him.
Dreyk looped an arm around his shoulder, and Ryen started. He wasn’t used to touching unless he was fighting or fucking. Much as he loved his sisters, he didn’t feel comfortable touching them. Too big, he
feared accidentally hurting them.
“Don’t worry, Ryen.” Dreyk winked. “I’ll help you. Before you know it, you’ll be laughing and loving with the best of them.”
The warm light in Dreyk’s gaze convinced him to take a chance. After all, if it had worked for Erin, maybe life outside Blue Rim would work for him as well. And if it didn’t, well, he’d died once before. How hard could it be to die again?
The End
Thank you for reading the first in my Creations series! I’ve had a blast writing about Erin and her siblings. Continue on to read about Anin and the Raggas who don’t know what to do with her.
Creating Chemistry
Creations
1
The Vrail System
Nu Fas swore and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. His biceps ached from the many weight presses he’d indulged yesterday, hoping to get this craving out of his blood. The damn shuttle was too small to fit him, his brother, and her. And they still had another three days until they reached his home planet.
Nu should have had more discipline than this. The physical toughness often associated with his kind mandated a certain mental ability to endure. But one small slip of a female continued to erode his control. Over his own damn body!
He breathed deeply, in and out, and tried to stop thinking about sex. His constant erection was more than uncomfortable. It was embarrassing. By the stars, he hadn’t been this out of control since he’d first discovered how to climax.
But with one shared berthing quarters, a common quarters, a galley, and the bridge, there was only so much space in this small ship, where Anin’s scent clung to everything.
Nu groaned. “I’m not sure how much more of this I can take.”
His brother, Set, grinned. “That’s the problem, idiot. You aren’t taking. You don’t understand what Anin needs.”
“And you do?” Jealousy reared its head, an awkward emotion he hadn’t felt in years, and never in conjunction with his brother. They’d shared women often since both of them liked and disliked exactly the same things, with the exception of one person long ago...
“I do. If you would stop burying your head in the sand, you’d realize Anin needs it. She craves it like a drug.”
It—submission.
Nu’s head hurt. He hadn’t been able to think of anything but domination, submission, and sex with their newest guest since he’d first laid eyes on her. Rescuing the shy woman from a torturous lab facility on planet Eyra a month ago had been one of the most satisfying things he’d ever done.
As bounty hunters aboard Mara’s Light, he and Set often worked as the muscle when retrieving their bounties. A native of planet Ragga, from which the strongest men in the System were born, Nu had little difficulty subduing the criminals they went after. He and Set had yet to figure out which one of them was stronger, but they’d never been bested by any other male, with the exception of Anin’s gigantic brother. And he didn’t count.
Though Raggas were the largest and strongest of the races naturally born in the Vrail System, Eyran scientists had tampered with nature and made something not quite right—Creations—men and women designed with the blessed looks and attraction of Nebite pleasurers, the strength of Raggas, and the skill of Mardu thieves. Enter Anin and her family.
“Hello, Nu?” Set snapped his fingers. “If you’d spoken to Erin like I told you to, this wouldn’t be so difficult to understand.”
“I’m not going to talk to Anin’s sister about this.” Nu flushed, wondering how in the hell he and Set had come from the same womb. “What should I say? That I jerk off constantly to images of Anin? That I want to do...things...to her that would make her cringe?”
“At least you admit it. And it’s about time. I know what you like. Hell, we might as well be twins. We share everything, you drun. You think I don’t know what you really want from Anin?”
“Yeah, well, then you should know calling me a shit isn’t going to win you any points.” He slugged Set in the stomach, encouraging their brawl even though he knew it would attract unwanted attention.
As if he’d summoned her, the ethereal creature appeared in the hallway, knocking him off balance enough to let Set manage a blow to his chest that stole his breath.
Anin exclaimed something and was suddenly beside him. Her hand covered his chest, and he froze.
Staring down at the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, Nu couldn’t look away. Long, thick, blue-black hair with hints of violet framed an unforgettable face. She had full lips, a slim nose, high cheekbones, and eyes the color of cobalt. Where the whites should have been pooled indigo seas, and in their midst sat pupils of gold. Her skin flushed as he stared, glittering with tan and pink lights. She seemed more vibrant with each passing day.
Her lips parted, and she licked them with a tongue he wanted to capture in his mouth, to feel over his skin, to stroke his cock...
“Are you all right?” she spoke hesitantly, as she always did around him. With Set she laughed and occasionally smiled. But around Nu, she withdrew into herself, reinforcing his desire to be extra-gentle around her. Normally wary of encountering smaller females than himself, Nu took care to avoid Anin at all costs, lest he give in to this damning, nearly irresistible lust.
“Nu?” she asked again, her breasts lifting as inhaled. She wore Set’s overlarge shirt like a dress, which hit her knees and draped off one shoulder.
Her curves taunted him. The growing outline of her nipples beckoned him to touch, to taste. He could rip that thin shirt off her in seconds, filling his hands with her ripe breasts. Stars, he wanted to taste her nipples, to see if they were as berry-red as her lips or as soft and pink as her cheeks.
“I’m fine,” he rasped, hoarse with desire.
He didn’t need her gaze down his body any more than he needed such lecherous thoughts for a woman who’d already been through so much.
She’d been built, literally, to serve. And serve she had. From what little he knew, Anin had been repeatedly raped by her handler and abused by her creator. She had a brother and sister, both Creations like her, humanoids with the combined genetics of several races in the System, designed illegally by Eyran scientists. If discovered, both Creation and creator would be put to death.
The Creations of old had started the War of 2845, where crazy, psychotic, man-made killers nearly wiped out the population of planet Eyra. Hell, years ago, Nu had happened upon one such abomination, finding dozens of body parts hanging in the fucking thing’s ship. It had taken him and Set to kill the bastard, and they’d nearly died in the process.
Anin was different. Abused and forced to serve her Handler’s every whim, she had endured what no woman should. As part of a race that treasured females, Nu feared accidentally harming her whenever they neared, so angry at what had been done to her, at what he could never fix.
“Poor Nu.” She stroked his chest, causing whorls of heat to race through him. “I don’t like to see you in pain.”
She slid her hand lower and shoved.
Shocked, Nu landed on his ass. Had she pushed him? Or had he been so off-balance by her nearness he’d stumbled back? He looked for Set and found his brother conveniently gone.
Anin knelt. Somehow, her hand landed over his cock.
He hissed in pained pleasure. As horny as he was, he feared he’d go off if she touched him again. Ever since he’d seen Anin, he wanted no other. Memories of Lita faded, until all he could see was Anin’s face. And what that might mean scared the hell out of him. Nu Fas, a behemoth Ragga scared of a small thing like Anin. It would have been pathetic if it weren’t so unnerving.
“Can I make it better?” Her lips curled in a helpful smile.
Entranced at the sight of her happiness, he absently nodded. Sure, baby. Do whatever you want if it will make you smile like that.
“Good.” Joy made her eyes glow with an expression she’d never before directed at him.
The hand over his naked cock shocked the hell out of h
im. What the… Then she curled her hands around him, her palms burning with erotic promise.
“Anin?” he asked in a strangled voice. “What are you doing?”
“I’m making it better.” She began jerking him off.
How the hell had she pulled his trousers apart and he hadn’t noticed? He felt dazed as he stared down at her innocent hands around his weeping cock. Her touch was perfect. Harder than he thought she might have handled him, yet with just enough pressure and with the right rhythm to make him crazed.
Nu nearly came several times. Only by sheer strength of will did he hold himself back.
Anin slowed her movements and worried her lip. “Does this feel good?”
“Yes,” he growled, overcome with desire.
“Watch me,” she practically purred.
Helpless to deny her, or himself, Nu stared as she took a bead of fluid from his slit. She deliberately lifted a finger and took the drop in her mouth. It was all he could do not to slam her to the floor and fill her pussy with hot seed.
“Anin, stop.” He panted, wondering where the hell Set had gone. He’d warned his brother this might happen, that he might not be able to stop himself from taking advantage of their sexy guest. Closing his eyes, he fought for control.
“Okay.” She removed her hands slowly, and he quivered, on the verge of release. Dear Vas, let me hold it back at least until she leaves...
“Fuck,” he shouted as she engulfed him with her whole mouth. She took him all the way to the back of her throat, balls deep, and stroked him with her tongue. Helpless against her, he shot into her mouth with enough force to take his hips off the ground. Grinding against her face, he moaned her name over and over as he came.
Such perfection, such unbelievable bliss. It took him a while to understand she was licking him clean, rubbing his balls with small, soft hands. The massage felt wonderful, his enjoyment tremendous, until he realized he had a hold on her dark hair, leaving her unable to let him go even if she’d wanted to.