by K. Aten
Too many things assailed Castellan at once. The beauty that stood in her doorway was enough to steal her breath. But the scent of the woman in front of her also left her knees weak and Castellan’s pulse began to race when Olivienne slowly licked her lips. Sentences eluded her, only random words were left. “Woman? Flesh?” Another step brought them chest to chest and Tosh gasped even as her cheeks flooded with color.
“Are you going to push me away again?”
“But...but...your dinner engagement...”
“That is not how I wish to spend my evening. I repeat, are you going to push me away again?”
Time seemed to slow and secs scraped by like oors. Olivienne watched as the officer’s pale eyes darkened with desire, and her nose flared in excitement. Then, as if their passion carried the strength of the sea, it crashed over the two women. Tosh pulled them together in a desperate embrace, kissing Olivienne’s lips with a ferocity she had not shown with anyone else. All the while she backed them into her suite and with a kick of her bare foot she shut the door. The slam reverberated through the wood and plaster walls. Olivienne had her answer.
Chapter Fourteen
THE COMMANDER’S SUITE was fairly simple. It had a decent size sitting room, with two other doors besides the main entrance. One led to the lavatory and the other to the bedroom. But rather than move from their position, Tosh pushed Olivienne forcefully against the newly closed door. With only an ince difference in height, Castellan’s hips surged against Olivienne’s and their mouths fought for dominance of the kiss. Olivienne tangled her hands in that thick hair to pull Tosh even closer. The officer’s mouth eventually moved on, initially causing displeasure. But as Castellan’s lips moved to the skin just below Olivienne’s ear and teeth came into play, the Connate writhed and groaned beneath her. With such added stimulus, Olivienne left only one hand to grip Tosh’s hair tightly and the other traveled inside the open top of the officer’s shirt. She was surprised to meet smooth skin then delighted to discover that Tosh must have removed her own bosair earlier in the evening.
“’Vienne...you burn me with your touch.” Castellan’s words came haltingly, barely a whisper and she shuddered as Olivienne explored as much skin as she could reach before moving her hand up to grab the back of Tosh’s neck.
“There is a fire between us. Castellan...” She called softly, willing Tosh to meet her gaze.
Those pale blue eyes were wild and her breath came out in gasps. “Yes?”
“Don’t make me wait any longer.”
Tosh’s smile was feral but their eyes held the same passion. “Never.” She grasped Olivienne behind the thighs and lifted the Connate until she could wrap her legs around Tosh’s waist. Castellan didn’t even use her telekinesis for the short trip to the bedroom. Once there she gently set Olivienne on her bed and as the Connate scooted back, Castellan followed her until she had wedged her hips snugly between the sovereign’s thighs. Olivienne wore tight trousers for her evening dinner plans and as such there was not much to protect her from Tosh’s touch.
She cried out at the immediate pressure on her most tender parts and raised her hips to increase the delicious contact between them. Sensing that the woman below her was uncharacteristically close, Tosh thrust slowly and gently at the same time she swallowed Olivienne’s moan with a kiss. Her hips continued their unceasing rubbing rhythm as the sovereign rose higher and higher.
Olivienne’s hands gripped the back of Castellan’s loose shirt, clutching desperately as she fast approached the pinnacle of release. She didn’t want to fall yet, it was much too soon. She tore her lips away but rather than words, a breathy whine came up from her throat. Finally she was able to speak. “Wait...”
Tosh slowed and looked down into heavy-lidded violet eyes. “Why would I do that?”
The Connate’s pupils were dilated and she struggled to think through the sexual haze that Castellan had thrown over her. “But what about yo—” Her question was cut off by another kiss even as Tosh ground into her. “But I want to—bollux!” It happened that fast, Olivienne reached her release in a series of shuddering gasps as Castellan continued to move. When it became too much, Olivienne patted the officer’s shoulder to stop. Instead of moving her hips out from between Olivienne’s own, Castellan dropped her lips back down to the flushed upper chest to kiss the sweaty flesh. For her part, Olivienne had thrown a forearm over her eyes as she lay panting. “That was borderline embarrassing with its alacrity...the things you do to me.”
Tosh looked up at the same time Olivienne moved her arm. “The things I do to you?”
Serious violet eyes met hers. “You make me wanton and needy. And I can’t have your boundless stamina showing me up!”
Tosh raised a pale eyebrow. “Oh? And is it my fault that you wind up and tire so easily? I will admit that it can be hard to keep up with me at times—”
Without warning, Olivienne flipped them around until Tosh was on her back and she sat comfortably on the commander’s hips. “I should perhaps punish you, make you suffer for your insolence and braggadocious words!”
Tosh licked her dry lips and smiled slyly. “I would be ever so appreciative if you did just that. I would be more delighted if you could start with a kiss though.”
Rather than give in to the dashing woman’s suggestion, Olivienne began slowly unfastening Castellan’s black shirt. Each extra bit of flesh that was exposed caused her pulse to race faster. She had to move back to unclasp the last bit but the effort was worth the reward. Castellan’s smooth chest and abdomen showed a soldier’s strength. The woman was certainly not limited to stylus and vellum all dae. Olivienne traced the skin and muscle within reach, teasing in the way she studiously avoided the small breasts with their dusty-colored nipples. When she finally brought her hands where Castellan wanted them most, the prone woman moaned with pleasure. “’Vienne, please! You are torturous.”
“I believe I owe you a little of such, my dear commander. And you are wearing far too many clothes.” Olivienne rolled both Castellan’s nipples between her fingers as she spoke, causing the officer to thrust her hips upward as a bolt of arousal shot straight to her core. Then she pulled her hands away and Castellan actually whimpered.
“Me? What of you?”
Olivienne smiled, shut her eyes, and in an instant, her clothing simply disappeared from her body and appeared in a rumpled heap on the floor. She was left sitting nude atop Castellan’s pelvis. Then before Tosh could react, she focused again and the officer’s uniform disappeared as well. “Is that better?”
Castellan brought her hands up to Olivienne’s soft hips as her eyes darkened further with arousal. When their gazes met, Tosh gave the Connate a little mental push, like telepathically knocking on her door. The Connate opened wide to let her in. “Do you know what would really be better?”
Olivienne started teasing those delicious breasts again while they were so intimately connected and a multitude of thoughts and images flitted through Tosh’s head. The Connate struggled to pick one and Castellan struggled to speak through the pleasure of the sovereign’s touch. Finally one image stayed steady and Olivienne smiled down at her lover. “Ah, that is the one.” Without another word she tamped down her fascination with Castellan’s breasts and slowly slid down the officer’s body. With a sassy little wiggle, she finished spreading Castellan’s legs apart and was left with a most distracting view. She looked up and their eyes met again.
“Please.”
Olivienne grinned up at her. “No need to beg, love. I’ve got all night.” Before Castellan could respond, Olivienne lowered her mouth for the most intimate of kisses.
Tosh cried out and had she not gotten her own response under control, she would have rivaled Olivienne in her speed of release. “Oh! I—” She faltered as the actions of Olivienne’s tongue drove words right from her mouth. The Connate took pity and slowed her movements just a tetch. She stilled them completely when Castellan gripped her shoulder in desperation. “Please, I will not l
ast long like that.”
Olivienne could feel the slight trembling below her and witnessed the dark and wild look within Castellan’s eyes. “So I see. Well then...” She paused to tease Tosh’s sacred opening with her fingers. “We’ll just have to go again, won’t we?” Then without another sec of waiting she brought her mouth back down at the same time she entered Castellan, propelling her higher with sure strokes of fingers and tongue. They were still lightly connected through their telepathic channels and Olivienne could hear the other woman’s thoughts as she approached the precipice.
“So close...by the Makers I am so close. Feels so good—oh!” “’Vienne!”
The cry of her name caused her own quim to throb and ache but she continued her ministrations until Castellan feebly tried to push her away. Olivienne stopped and gently removed her hand from that warm and inviting place, then placed a gentle kiss upon Castellan’s inner thigh and another on the top of her wet slit. Tosh shuddered and twitched at just that light touch. Another smile graced Olivienne’s face as she looked up at her commander. Tosh’s eyes were shut tight and a ruddy flush colored her skin from chest up to the roots of her dark blonde hair. “Are you all right, darling?”
Castellan’s chest heaved with the strength of her release and she blew out a sigh. “I am well. I just need a meen.”
Rather than wait for Tosh’s go ahead, Olivienne crawled up the panting woman’s body until her own center rested on Castellan’s stomach. Her pleasure slicked the skin below and Tosh’s eyes flicked open at the feel of her. “Oh! You are so wet! So ready.” Her hand moved from the side of the bed to rest on Olivienne’s abdomen. The sovereign’s eyes widened as it inced downward and a thumb moved into the crease of her labia.
Olivienne threw her head back with overwhelming pleasure as that digit slowly rubbed along the side of her clitoris. The touch was light and teasing and she wanted more. “Yes!”
Just as Castellan hit the limit of her thumb’s reach, she reversed course and pulled it back up along the wet folds. That sensitive bundle of nerves hardened further and twitched against the pad of her thumb. Without moving her hand, she sat up and took one of Olivienne’s nipples into her mouth, alternately sucking on the hardened flesh and biting lightly. She pulled back slightly and stopped her caress to get Olivienne’s attention. “Is this all right?” She moved the thumb again and Olivienne shuddered.
The Connate’s laugh ended with a hiss of pleasure as the tightness began to build again. “You will finish me sooner rather than later if you keep that up.” She gasped as teeth closed around the other nipple and Tosh continued her gentle stroking.
“Did you not say we have all night? Let us see how many times we can finish each other before exhaustion claims us.”
“Your idea has merit—” Olivienne’s mental voice abruptly cut off as Castellan increased both the suction of her mouth and the pressure of her thumb. There were no more intelligible words after that. Only sounds of want and need. The air was filled the night through with moans of passion and the occasional pleading whimper. Neither one out-proved the other with her stamina. It was near seven hundred oors the next morning when a rare simultaneous orgasm caused an abrupt collapse to the bed. As they were still connected telepathically, exhaustion washed over them at the same time and their eyes fell shut nearly in unison. Olivienne’s last thought was that perhaps stamina could be proven another dae. Castellan’s reaction was quiet laughter in her head as they slipped into well-deserved dreams.
ON CASTELLAN’S URGING, Olivienne followed Benicia’s advice and kept their dalliance from her mother. The commander didn’t think it would be a good idea to make their flaunting of protocol publicly known. Beyond that, she surmised that if someone with nefarious intent suspected her concentration was compromised, they may attempt another attack on Olivienne’s life. As for the Connate and the commander, things had gotten decidedly easier between them. Simply acknowledging and acting on their attraction had cooled that contentious fire that filled any room they were in together. It wasn’t much of a surprise to discover that they worked quite well together. Nearly a weke after the initial incident, Castellan was glad to admit that they had begun building a solid foundation of friendship. It was much preferable to the constant push and pull of before.
With the vellumwork completed for the team formation and schedules worked out, there was really nothing to do until Olivienne discovered something that would lead them away on the Connate’s next adventurist mission. Because of that, Castellan had taken to helping Olivienne and the other two interpretists with decoding the Antaeus encryptions. That was exactly what the officer was doing late one afternoon.
Olivienne had gone to see the Queen at the main palace, leaving Castellan to work in the peaceful light of the two suns. They weren’t scheduled to leave the estate that dae but she was expecting word on the arrival of their last Shield unit member. Lt. Savon had orders to retrieve Spc. Necole Leer from the dirigible station and get her settled into the unit house. The pilot had been flying local trips while waiting for her inter-corp transfer to be approved. Tosh planned to hold a team meeting to introduce everyone to the Connate when Olivienne returned to the residence.
“Ser.”
Tosh looked up to see her first lieutenant saluting her from the entryway of the outdoor patio where she had been working. It was a delightful little secluded place, surrounded by a three yord high stone wall. “Yes, Lieutenant? Is everyone settled?”
“Yes, ser. Lieutenant Madlin and I verified the training and duty rosters and posted them on the main board for the unit. We’re ready to meet whenever Connate Dracore returns.”
“I want double teamwork drills until she’s ready to head out, savvy?”
“Yes, ser, we’ve already informed everyone. And if I may speak candidly, ser?”
Castellan looked at the man curiously. Lt. Gentry Savon had a lot of potential and she was exceptionally glad to have his Shield Corp experience and stability on the team when so many other factors were in flux. “Go ahead, Lieutenant.”
He smiled. “I’m really glad you came aboard, ser. I have a good feeling about the team you’ve put together and about your leadership. Connate Dracore already seems significantly more amenable to your directions than she was to Captain Shendo’s command.”
She stifled a smile at his words. “Well, let’s hope she always remains so compliant to protocol but I would not wager your weapon on it, Savon. The Connate is smart and headstrong and is sure to give us grief at some point.”
As Castellan finished speaking, she saw Lt. Savon’s gaze flick behind her and his eyes widened even as his face paled. “Um, ser...”
The officer was well aware of the person that had come out of the residence through the door directly behind her lounger. But she enjoyed seeing the panic crawling across the lieutenant’s face. She interrupted his attempt at warning. “Yes, we all know that Connate Dracore has a reputation for not following protocol and being generally difficult.” A small whine came from the nervous man’s throat and his eyes flicked behind her again.
“Is that so?” Olivienne’s mellow voice nearly had Lt. Savon in a panic, until he caught the look on Tosh’s face. She winked at him then turned in her seat to look back at the approaching Connate she had just been referring too.
“Oh, most certainly! Do you deny the fact that you’ve driven away all your captains? Well, away or insane. At least that’s the Corp gossip I heard.” Rather than devolve into a fit of temper as Lt. Savon had expected initially, Olivienne stood behind Cmdr. Tosh’s chair and began laughing wholeheartedly. Castellan chuckled along with her, happy that her teasing found its intended response. Savon sighed as well, just glad the Connate had not taken his commander seriously.
The sovereign eventually got control of herself and smile down at Tosh. “Oh, I deny everything, Commander. I have never been anything less that polite and tractable.”
Tosh snorted at her words and Lt. Savon hid a smile behind a cough. “Ser?
” Castellan looked away from Olivienne and met his gaze. “Now that Connate Dracore has returned to the residence, would you like to schedule the team meeting?”
The commander glanced from Olivienne back to Savon. “Yes, Lieutenant. Let’s say a half oor right here on the patio.”
“Yes, ser!” Lt. Savon smartly saluted both Castellan and Olivienne before turning on his heel and making his way back off the patio.
Tosh immediately thought of the introductions to come and what she was going to say to the team as a whole. She had met each one individually but this would be the first time some of them had been introduced to Olivienne. Despite their laughter and teasing of the previous few meens, the Connate did have a reputation. She was hoping that all of them could begin on a positive note, make a fresh start. Her deep thoughts were interrupted by fingers combing through the back of her hair.
“You look much too relaxed out here, Castellan. It makes me wish I could drag you off into the residence but a half oor is not nearly enough to satisfy a proper craving. Not to mention that it would only delay telling you the news I’ve received from my mother.” She sighed and took a seat adjacent to Castellan’s lounger.
“The Queen? What has she to say?” It had been just over a weke since the Queen tried to push them together, albeit with good intentions. Tosh was curious as to whether the sovereign had experienced any more visions with her prescience channel.
Olivienne grinned ruefully. “Well for starters, she questioned me unceasingly about the two of us. I told her that we had agreed to work out our disagreements and were fast becoming friends. She was quite disappointed to learn that we had not resumed our dalliance.” As she said the words, Olivienne directed a wink to her newly reinstated lover. They had only spent one other night tupping but both agreed it was a significantly better way of working out their natural passionate energy. Certainly better than their previously contentious relationship.