3013: Targeted (10 page)

“Hey! No breaking my things. I had that custom made,” Hawke complained, dancing back out of reach of her next blow.

“Do you ever stop talking?” T’karra’s voice wasn’t much more than a husky growl, and her words were distorted by her longer fangs.

“Nope. I even talk in my sleep. Consider that your warning.”

“I’m never going to have to worry about that.” She slashed her claws across his chest and grinned as she saw four welts where her claws had caught him. Hawke’s eyes widened in surprise, and he glanced down at his chest as if he needed to confirm she’d actually made contact.

“Son of a bitch, you hit me!”

“If you stopped talking for two minutes, maybe I wouldn’t have.” She followed up her point by spinning into a roundhouse kick that connected with a meaty
thunk
as she struck his thigh.

“So you want to play rough?” Hawke’s voice had deepened, sending a thrill of desire down her spine and heating her blood nearly to the boiling point. Wicked images flashed through her mind of the two of them locked together, skin on skin as he growled her name in that same, deep voice. Carnal need exploded deep in her core. The visions and sensations distracted her, slowing her reactions enough she found herself momentarily on the defensive as he came at her with a flurry of rapid-fire strikes that rocked her back on her heels.

He was faster than she’d expected. Fuck, he was faster than any human she’d ever sparred with, elite or not. T’karra blocked a final punch and spun away, dragging her claws across his hip as she did so. He hissed in discomfort, and she laughed as she whirled around to face him again. “I thought you said you trained every day? Your instructor was right to be worried, you are getting soft…and slow.”

Hawke shrugged off the insult and came at her again. He knew he was grinning from ear to ear, but he couldn’t help it. She was the finest, fiercest, sexiest creature he’d ever met. He knew enough about her species to appreciate she was holding herself back. If she chose to go at him full on, he’d be on the ground in a matter of seconds.

She was magnificent.

T’karra slashed at him again, and he dodged to the left, but before he could counter she came at him again. This time she charged him full force, sending them both tumbling to the grass. He managed wrap his arms around her as they fell, and despite having the breath knocked out of him, he successfully tangled his legs with hers before she could move again. He yelled in triumph as he rolled her onto her back and pinned her with the weight of his body.

“Sneaky bastard!” She growled as she tried to heave him off of her. He caught her wrists and held them over her head, riding her writhing body as she struggled beneath him, but there was laughter in her eyes as she stared up at him.

“My parents were bonded, thank you, and being sneaky is part of my job description.”

“You still shouldn’t have lied to me about who you were.”

“I already apologized for that, T’karra. How many times do I have to say I’m sorry before you finally forgive me for doing my job? When I walked into your bar playing the part of a mercenary for hire, I had no idea I was about to meet someone who was going to change my life. I’m not a damned precog. If I were, I’d have come looking for you a long time ago.”

She froze, only her expression changed as her mouth fell open and a bewildered frown creased her brow. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Us, T’karra. You and me, and this insane thing going on between us. The second we started talking, everything changed for me. Don’t tell me you don’t know what I’m talking about because I know you do. I spent all that time with you because I wanted to, but I didn’t dare do more, because I knew that you’d never forgive me once the truth came out. I should have told you sooner. Fuck, I should have confessed, then thrown you against the nearest wall and kissed you until you forgave me.” He looked down at her beautiful face and finally gave into the need to kiss her.

Heat streaked through him the moment their lips touched, sending a rush of blood straight to his cock and turning his brains to molten slag. He released her hands so he could push himself up, freeing her body even as he took their kiss deeper. When she moved, part of him tensed, half expecting her to turn on him, but instead she buried her hands in his hair and pulled him closer. As he watched, the red bled out of her eyes and fangs retracted back to normal length. Fascinated, he ran the tip of his tongue over one of her canines and discovered it was sharp enough to draw his blood. She moaned, parting her lips as her tongue twined with his, the tang of his blood fading as he tasted her for the first time. She tasted sweet and rich, as potent as the dessert they’d shared the first night they met.

She was decadence personified, and Hawke knew one taste would never be enough.

***

CHAPTER NINE

Stripped of her anger and rendered speechless by Hawke’s stunning confession, T’karra did they only thing she could, she reached out for the man she craved more than her next breath. That first kiss started a fire, but the taste of his blood on her tongue ignited an inferno that rivaled the heart of a star. To shed blood in defense of another was an act of valor, to offer blood in atonement was an act of honor, but to share blood like this was an intimacy few of her people ever experienced before they took mates.

She slid one hand out of his hair to stroke down his body, exploring the hard expanse of his shoulders and back as he kissed her with an intensity that made her toes curl. His cock was as hard as the titanium staff he’d been fighting with earlier, and each time she arched her back it brought her into contact with every thick inch of his erection. Hunger and lust combined in a heady scent that made her head spin every time she inhaled, and every part of her body ached with the need to be touched.

“I want you, T’karra. You have no fucking idea how much. If you have any doubts, say so now, because this is your only chance.”

She heard the dark need in every word he spoke, and saw the truth of it in his eyes. If she stayed, there’d be no going back. She didn’t understand how she knew, but she did. This wasn’t just about lust or a momentary distraction from the darkness of her current life. This was something else, something that could change everything, and a tiny voice whispered that if she had any brains, she’d be heading for the door.

Fuck that idea.
She’d never been afraid of anything in her whole life, and she damned sure wasn’t going to start now. Whatever the consequences were, she’d face them, later. Right now, she just wanted to enjoy this moment. Decision made, T’karra grinned up at Hawke and deliberately rubbed herself against his groin. “I’m not going anywhere. It’s time we finished what you started the night you walked into my bar.”

“Who said anything about finishing? I’ve finally got you right where I want you, and I don’t plan on letting go any time soon.” Hawke dropped to the ground beside her and drew her into his arms. She let him bring her close, needing to touch him, to feel his body against hers. When his lips found hers again, she laid her hands on his chest and pushed him over, onto his back so she was straddling his hips. Both of them groaned at the exquisite torture of having his cock pressed to her throbbing pussy. Without a word, she tugged her shirt over her head and tossed it away. His hands were on her breasts an instant later, palming the soft flesh and teasing her tender nipples with his fingers. The more he touched her, the more she craved it, and soon she was leaning down to kiss him again, pressing their bodies together as she whispered his name into the heat of his mouth.

One of his hands left her breast to stroke down her back, following the line of her spine. His fingers brushed against the waistband of her pants, and he growled in the back of his throat. Clever fingers tweaked her nipple, sending sparks of desire shimmering across her skin as he shoved his other hand past the waistband to cup her ass. He gripped her hard, pressing her down on top of his cock at the same time he lifted his hips, grinding their bodies together. Her clit throbbed and her inner walls pulsed as a fresh flood of moisture soaked her folds. T’karra moaned, drawing in a lungful of lust tainted air, and it stoked the fires already blazing inside her.

Hawke was fighting a losing battle for control. He wanted to draw this out and enjoy their first time, but need was riding him hard. When T’karra moaned again, he abandoned all attempts to slow things down. “Clothes. Off. Now.”

Her laughter flowed over him like sweet honey. “That’s going to be hard to do unless you let go of me,
tikta
.”

He gave her ass a playful pinch before releasing her, and she yelped in protest. “What was that for?”

“For calling me a pansy. A man’s ego can only take so much abuse.”

She rolled off of him, onto her back, and reached down to skin her pants down her legs before kicking them aside. As she stretched out on the soft grass, she turned to smile at him, dark eyes alight with desire “Your ego is strong enough to take it. And might I point out, for a man barking orders about getting undressed, you’re the only one still wearing anything.”

“Fuck. Why is it when I’m around you I lose all ability to think? I swear I used to be smarter than this.” He rose to his feet so he could look down at her as he stripped, and the sight of her lying there, waiting for him, hit him with the force of a sledgehammer. The sunlight brought out the golden hues of her skin, and her hair was flung out around her head like a tawny halo, the red beads she fastened to some of them glinting like jewels against the soft, green grass. She reached a hand up to beckon him closer, completely unconcerned with their state of undress. He on the other hand, was having a hard time remembering to breathe as he drank in every detail of her body.

Perfection.

T’karra skimmed a hand down her stomach to the apex of her thighs, running a long finger across the seam of her pussy in a move designed to tease. It worked. Within seconds he was beside her, kneeling in the grass at her side. He took her hand in his and lifted it to his lips, eager to taste her. As he drew her slick fingertip into his mouth and sucked on it, she gave him a look of wide-eyed surprise that quickly turned to pure pleasure as he nipped at her fingers. Her essence was different than a human woman’s, sweeter, like honeyed fruit.

With a gentle nip, he released her finger and moved to kneel between her legs, stroking his hands over the soft skin of her inner thighs as he parted them to reveal the trim curls that covered his goal. “Now, that is a beautiful sight.”

She laughed, reaching out to brush a soft touch to his cheek. “I was starting to wonder if you had forgotten how to speak.”

T’karra’s breath caught as he lowered his head and nuzzled a beard-roughened cheek to her thigh. “I think I’m done talking for a while.”

He pressed his mouth to her pussy, licking at the wet, sensitive flesh with single-minded focus. His fingers parted her labia, exposing her inner folds to his clever tongue. Pleasure tore through her as he explored every inch of her pussy, paying close attention to her aching clit. The heat of his mouth was scorching, and when he slid a finger into her tight channel, she arched up off the ground with a cry. It had been too long since a man had touched her like this. After days of scenting both Hawke and Brandt’s desire for her, and nights spent dreaming of their hands on her body, T’karra’s control was dangerously close to the breaking point.

The first tremors of an orgasm started to build, quivering ripples of pleasure that spread outward, gaining strength as they went. Hawke lifted her legs and draped them over his shoulders, lifting her up off the ground so her ass was resting on the tops of his thighs, her shoulders pressed into the soft grass beneath her. It was the most vulnerable she’d ever allowed herself to be with a lover, but she didn’t care about that anymore. All she wanted was to chase the elusive ribbons of release that danced just out of her reach. Arching into his mouth, she gave voice to her need. “More. I need more!”

She felt more than heard his laughing reply, the vibrations pushing her even closer to the brink. He added a second finger and sped up his thrusts until every breath came faster than the one before it. When he trapped her clit between his teeth and flicked it with the tip of his tongue, she came with a howl that bounced off the walls of the holo-room.

She was still quaking with the aftershocks of her orgasm when Hawke gently eased her lower half down to the ground. With one last swipe of his tongue, straightened up and gave her a smug grin as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “How’s that for an apology?”

“Acceptable,” she shot back, but her voice was breathless as she said it, betraying just how deeply she’d been affected.

He laughed and moved over her, brushing several soft kisses to her lips as he settled his body between her thighs. “I see. I’ll just have to up my game, then.”

“Shut up and fuck me, ’leet.”

“Yes ma’am,” his words were whispered against her mouth just before he sealed her lips with a kiss that stole her breath. There was no tenderness to it, no gentle coaxing. There was only demand, raw and rough as he slanted his lips across hers before spearing his tongue into her mouth. The thick head of his cock pressed against her entrance, and she wrapped one leg around his waist, opening her body to his. He claimed her in one hard thrust that didn’t stop until he was buried to the hilt inside her.

“Hawke!” she cried his name as pleasure slammed into her, sending her senses reeling. His only response was a low, primal growl as he pulled his hips back and then drove his length into her again. When she closed her eyes, he went still and tore his lips from hers to speak a single word.

“No.”

She opened her eyes and found him staring down at her with a fierce expression. “What?”

“Keep those beautiful eyes open, T’karra. I want you to see me. I know what it’s like to have you look right past me, and I never want to feel that way again.”

T’karra felt her heart swell as his words washed over her, and she saw the truth of every syllable mirrored in his eyes. “I see you, Hawke Summers. I always did, even when I didn’t want to.”

He didn’t say another word. Instead, he lowered his head to kiss her, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders as his hips rocked, and they started to make love again. His cock stroked across nerve endings she didn’t know she had, and her pussy walls gripped him tighter in response. His entire body shuddered and he groaned aloud as they found their rhythm, pushing each other higher with every give and take of their bodies. Every breath drew more of his intoxicating scent into her lungs, igniting a fire that burned brighter than anything she’d ever felt before. For the first time in her life, she felt the need to bite her lover, craving the taste of his blood in her mouth again. Ignoring the urge to mark him, she kissed him harder as she wrapped her other leg around his waist and met him thrust for thrust, and never once did she shut her eyes.

He came first, his cock thickening on his final thrust and triggering her own release, sending them tumbling into the abyss together. As he emptied himself into her body, Hawke threw back his head and roared. “You’re mine!”

Her beast responded, surging to the forefront of her mind as if summoned, but she held it in check, and soon, she was lost in pleasure, both sides of her overwhelmed by her release to do anything but ride out the waves of bliss until they receded.

“That was…” Hawke shook his head, at a loss for words, and that was when she noticed her brown eye had darkened to ebony. Even as she watched, the color started to lighten again, returning to its softer shade of brown, while his other eye stayed its usual, vivid shade of blue.

“Your eye changed colors just now. I’ve never seen a human’s do that before.”

“I told you, I’m not completely human. I have just enough of your people’s blood in my veins to make life interesting. And why are we having this conversation now? I’d much rather hear how incredible we are together. And for the record, we are doing that again, soon, and often. What’s your schedule look like for the rest of the day?”

She laughed at Hawke’s light-hearted words. He’d already fallen back into his easygoing ways, and it was as if the other Hawke, the one who had spoken so intensely and claimed her so passionately, had never existed. She knew he was still there, hidden away beneath the jokes and teasing. T’karra wanted very much to see that side of Hawke again. “I’m afraid that the rest of the day is booked. I have to find the bastards who are trying to take down my family and my home.”

Hawke settled his body in close to T’karra’s and draped his arm across her waist, holding her gently as he leaned in to kiss her. He knew they didn’t have long before they needed to face reality again, but he wasn’t ready. Not yet. “You mean we have to find the bastards. You’re not alone in this.”

She placed her hand over his and gave him a trusting smile that made his heart do a triple flip in his chest. “No, I’m not alone. I have my pack, and I have you and Brandt.”

“I know I’m not officially part of your pack, T’karra, but in a way, you’re already part of ours. Brandt and I are responsible for everyone on this station. They’re all our pack, and that includes you. I won’t let anything happen to you, and Brandt won’t either. We might be new to this station, but we’re not new to command. We know what we’re doing.”  He grinned. “Most of the time, anyway.”

“How reassuring,” she drawled in response, snuggling in closer to him before giving him a serious look. “I have to ask. If you’re part Krytos, why is it you seem to know so little about our culture? Didn’t your family teach you about your heritage?”

He shrugged. “There wasn’t anyone around to talk to about it. The story goes that my great-great-grandmother had a brief affair with a pair of Krytos brothers around the time the Zyphir destroyed your home system. They parted ways when she was transferred to another post, and when she tried to send word she was pregnant, no one could tell her where they’d gone. Those first years after the fall of Krytos were chaotic for your species, and eventually she gave up trying to find them. Her son was raised on Earth, and a few generations later, I came along. I didn’t actually spend any time with a member of your species until I finished training and got sent off-planet. I consider myself human, with a little bit of beast just for spice.”