Alien (28 page)

“You are mine,” he rasped out, “yet
I cannot claim you. ‘Tis cruel irony, this.”

Kari had no idea what he was
talking about, but the emotional pain he was suffering caused her heart to
wrench. His glowing, golden eyes dimmed again—an indication she’d come to
realize meant he was in agony. “Isar,” she murmured, “I don’t understand…”

“’Tis best you don’t. I shall carry
this burden alone,
pani
.”

Kari’s gentle gaze soaked up the
sight of the man standing before her. Isar was eight feet tall and probably
four to five hundred pounds of solid, honed muscle. His dark hair was inky
black and, she remembered from the night at Mettle Tavern, silky to the touch.
His golden-brown skin, so sexy, accentuated the golden hue of his again glowing
eyes. His jaw, rigid and masculine, was perfect in its angularity. Even the
skull tattooed onto his forehead, which had undoubtedly been branded on him by
the bastard who’d once enslaved him, only added to his appeal. It was
barbarically tribal in appearance, the skull figure only apparent by the lines
and curves that formed it when standing close to him. The black leather vest he
wore called attention to his powerful chest and arms. The matching leather
pants failed to hide his intimidating musculature, as well as his massive
erection.

Kari bit her lip. She hadn’t even
seen his penis yet, but judging by the obvious bulge, she doubted he’d fit
inside her without killing her.

“Do not fear me, little one,” Isar
murmured. “I would never bring harm to you.”

“I know,” she quietly admitted.

Kari hesitated for a brief moment.
She had promised The Gy’at Li she would never do this, but when the vow had
been made Kari couldn’t have possibly realized the powerful effect this man
would have on her. She could feel his emptiness, his loneliness, as if it were
a tangible thing. That shared experience only made the inexplicable bond
between them stronger.

Her decision made, Kari turned
around and slowly walked toward her bedchamber. Though his footfalls were
silent with the practiced skill of a fierce hunter, she knew without looking
back that he was following her. When she entered the bedchamber, Kari wasted no
time in getting straight to the point. Climbing onto the large
vesha
bed, she turned to face him and sat back on her heels.

Isar said nothing, but his blazing
eyes said everything. His gaze flicked from her face, to her breasts, to her
pussy, and back again. He took his time studying every inch of her, her arousal
increasing as he did so. She felt like he was attempting to memorize everything
about her so in his darkest, emptiest moments he’d be able to recall their time
together with complete clarity. She couldn’t say she didn’t understand why
because she was doing the same thing to him.

They were two lost souls who’d
finally found their way home. Both of their futures might have lain elsewhere,
but for whatever time they had left together, they could both experience, at
long last, the completion they felt only in each other’s presence.

“I want you, Isar,” Kari said
softly. “I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you.”

Their gazes clashed. His eyes,
always so haunted, glowed with emotion. “I want you too, Kari,” the warlord
admitted in a quiet rumble. “No matter what happens, always know ‘tis only you
I love.”

Tears sprang to her eyes. Had those
words been uttered by any other man she would have called bullshit, yet she
knew that where Isar was concerned there was no pretense. He meant everything
he said. The entire situation was emotional and confusing. She didn’t
understand how she’d turned into a soothsayer where this warrior was concerned,
but then neither did she understand Trystonni mating. If
this
is what
the stolen Galian women of lore had felt, she doubted they put up much
resistance to their alleged kidnappings.

One moment Isar had been fully
clothed and a blink of an eye later he was as naked as Kari. The initial shock
of once again witnessing his ability to telekinetically do things like that was
quickly replaced by the ever-tightening knot of arousal in her belly. Her
breath caught in the back of her throat as her silver-blue gaze drank up the
sight of him. He was beautiful.

His massive arms were riddled with
tribal tattoos, while his sculpted torso and long, muscled legs were devoid of
them. When he turned around for a brief moment to kick his clothes away, she
noted that his back was the most heavily tattooed part of him.

Kari’s pulse raced. Everything
about him was perfect.

Isar’s cock, so thick and long, was
even sexier than she’d imagined it would be while masturbating to thoughts of
him thrusting it inside her. Kari blew out a breath as the giant warlord made
his way toward her. Shivering with anticipation, her nipples hardened as he got
on the bed and joined her on his knees. As they continued memorizing each other’s
bodies, it occurred to Kari that she’d never felt more desired or cherished.

She came up on her knees and
reached for his neck, wanting to put her arms around him. Understanding, Isar
craned his neck and lowered himself to the extent he could to accommodate her.
“Kari…”

“They took my name from me too,”
she admitted. “Please, just when we’re alone, call me by my birth name. Call me
Kara.”

His eyes widened almost
imperceptibly. With Isar being a native of Tryston, she could tell that further
explanation of why her name had been taken from her wasn’t necessary.

“Whilst alone then,” Isar murmured,
“’tis Kara.”

She could have cried. Instead she
threw her arms around him and reached up to kiss him.

His mouth came down on top of hers,
his tongue immediately demanding entry. She took him in, his moan intoxicating,
as he wrapped her in his powerful embrace and kissed her with the passion of a
thousand men. Her hand, so tiny by comparison, found his cock and began
stroking it.

“Kara,” he gasped, tearing his
mouth from hers, “I needs be inside you now,
pani
.”

His breathing was already labored.
Perspiration dotted his brow. Seeing her effect on him was as intoxicating as
it was heady.

“Then fuck me, Isar,” she boldly
whispered. “Because I need you too.”

He gently prodded her down onto her
back, his heavy body coming to rest between her thighs. His calloused fingers
played with her pussy hair before trailing up to massage her stiff nipples. She
whimpered as he toyed with her, never so turned on in her life.

“I’ll come back to these nipples
that belong to me later,” he half growled. Bending his neck, he sucked on one
and then the other as though he couldn’t help himself. She groaned and pulled
his head in closer. He sucked on her nipple for another few seconds before releasing
it with a popping sound.

“Fuck me, Isar,” she breathed out.
“
Please
.”

Her words, dirty in every language,
drove him crazy with desire. His teeth gritting, he held his cock by the shaft
and guided it toward her wet entrance. Kari’s eyes widened when she felt the
head try to get inside her. He was too massive—it wasn’t going to fit.

“’Twill be all right, Kara,” Isar
thickly promised. His heavy-lidded eyes signified a gnawing lust. “’Twill hurt
for a short time, but then will be naught but pleasure.” He placed a quick kiss
on her forehead. “’Tis a vow amongst…” His voice trailed off. She could feel
his emotional pain again. “’Tis a vow,” he said simply.

Kari no longer cared about the
impending physical pain. She just wanted Isar’s sadness to disappear. “I trust
you,” she whispered, smiling up at him. She didn’t understand why she did, but
her words were honest. “I trust you.”

Isar’s gaze searched hers. His jaw
tightened. “One day you will wear my necklace,” he promised her. “I’m sorry,
Kara.”

“Sorry for wh—”

Kari screamed as Isar impaled her,
seating himself to the hilt. She instinctively flailed beneath him, trying in
vain to remove him.

“Shhh shhh,” he said thickly,
“’twill make it worse do you move.”

She didn’t think there was such a
thing as worse, but didn’t wish to test the theory either. Against her
volition, tears stung her eyes. “It hurts,” she gasped, embarrassed by the
child-like tremble in her voice. “Really badly.”

For whatever reason, he seemed
turned on by her tears. She decided it had to be a Trystonni male thing. Going
where no other warrior had gone before and all that.

“Tell me when your channel adjusts
to my cock,” Isar hoarsely instructed her. His jaw was clenched, every muscle
in his body flexed with tension. “By the goddess, Kara, your tight pussy feels
so good.”

His erotic words worked like an
aphrodisiac. As the stabbing sensation between her thighs eased and the
stinging tears calmed, her body began to relax. “It’s better,” she told him.
“It doesn’t hurt as bad.”

It was all the coaxing he needed.
Isar’s nostrils flared as he began to slowly move inside her.

He hadn’t lied. The pain was
turning into pleasure. She had no idea how such was possible, but neither did
she care.

“Oh my God,” Kari breathed out.
“Yesss.”

He picked up the pace, his small
movements turning into full, possessive strokes. His cock plunged in and out of
her tight pussy, over and over, again and again. Her eyes slowly closed as her
head lolled back on the
vesha
hide.

“Look at me, Kara,” Isar hoarsely
commanded. “I want to know ‘tis only I you see.”

Kari forced her eyes open. Their
gazes, so animalistic now, clashed and held. She moaned as he fucked her, her
tits jiggling beneath him with each thrust. Her pulse raced. “Harder,” she
demanded between gasps, “faster.”

His teeth gritting, Isar complied.
He fucked her pussy harder, primitive growls erupting from his throat. He
impaled her over and over, again and again, fucking her as if he meant to brand
her. “Mine,” he territorially ground out.
“Only mine.”

Perspiration-slicked skin slapped
against perspiration-slicked skin. The sound of her pussy getting thoroughly
owned permeated the bedchamber, turning her on impossibly more. Kari entered
the void on a loud groan, unable to stop herself from pulling Isar into
arousal-lock with her had she wanted to.

Their gazes remained clashed,
blazing with primitive intensity. They groaned together as they fucked fast and
hard. He was experiencing her arousal which heightened his own, and she was
experiencing his, further intensifying hers. She hadn’t known the latter was
possible, but was too turned on to consider what that could mean.

“I’m coming,”
Kari gasped,
gluttonously indulging in his every stroke. He fucked her harder. “
Isar
,
I’m—
oh god!
”

The knot of arousal in her belly
snapped, forcing Kari to orgasm on a loud moan. Blood rushed to her nipples,
causing them to stab out. Blood rushed to her clit, escalating its sensitivity.

Isar growled as he plunged in and
out of her tight, wet cunt. She threw her hips back at him, fucking him as hard
as he was fucking her. She experienced his arousal as though it was her own,
forcing a second, harder orgasm out of her.

“This pussy is mine,” he ground
out, his jawline flexed.
“Mine.”

He sank into her flesh harder,
impaling her cunt with deep, fast strokes. She felt his entire body tense over
hers, his teeth gritting, as he plunged inside her. He fucked her like he owned
her, thrusting in and out once, twice, three times more.
“Kara.”

Isar came on a possessive roar, his
massive body juddering over hers. Kari screamed from the intensity of the
arousal-lock, coming a third, brutal time as his hot cum exploded inside her,
filling her with his seed. Even then he didn’t stop fucking her, his cock still
hard as steel. He impaled her over and over and over, the pleasure driving her
near to delirium. He fucked her harder, deeper, and faster until, on a growl of
completion, he came again.

Kari’s final climax, a culmination
of all their orgasms, was so intense as to be painful. Still in arousal-lock,
Isar experienced everything she did. They yelled out their pleasure-pain as
they came simultaneously, the ferociousness of their shared orgasm powerful
enough to split an atom.

Panting from exhaustion, Kari broke
the arousal-lock. She smiled as the warlord fell onto his back beside her and
pulled her up to sleep on his chest. They said nothing as they held onto each
other.

One enormous hand rubbed her ass
cheeks as the other one played with her hair. They fell into a deep slumber,
both of them complete for the first time in their lives.

Kari awoke the next morning only to
find that Isar Kal Draji was no longer in her bed. She sat up and bit her lip.
Knowing his departure was for the best didn’t dull the stinging aftereffects of
said disappearance. If she were honest with herself, it hurt knowing that the
warlord had no problem leaving her without so much as a goodbye after the night
they’d spent together.

Isar had fucked Kari like a branded
animal, taking her more times and in more ways than she’d once believed
possible. In her mouth, up her ass, in her pussy, between her tits…

And that was only recounting the
first two hours.

His hard thrusts had been
possessive, his thickly murmured words statements of ownership. She’d never
felt so wanted, so needed, in her entire life.

When he’d finally felt replete and
completely satiated, the warlord had latched his mouth onto one of her nipples
and suckled it as he slept. She’d run her fingers through his silky, black hair
until she too had passed out. She had expected to wake up to him kissing,
licking, and sucking all over her body, but instead she had awoken to
loneliness.

Sighing, Kari pulled herself out of
bed. Her entire body ached. Slowly lumbering toward the bathing chamber, she
looked around the penthouse en route, hoping the giant hadn’t left her after
all and was merely sitting on the veranda with his breakfast. The thought
cheered her so she forced her sore muscles to move a bit faster. Half expecting
to see Isar and half expecting to not, her stomach lurched when she discovered
it was the latter. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a calming breath.

This is for the best, Kari, and
you damn well know it. He knows it too.

Her eyes flicked open. With a heavy
heart, Kari Gy’at Li walked into the bathing chamber.

* * * * *

The chamber must have sensed her
aching body needed a hot bath because that’s exactly what it gave her. The
heated water was infused with healing sands imported from Tryston, rejuvenating
her body even if her mind hadn’t quite reached that point yet.

What did you expect, Kari?
Klykka warned you not to become involved with a Trystonni warrior…

But that warning had been necessary
because of their penchant for stealing women, not abandoning them. Of all the
warriors in Tryston, Kari thought with downturned lips, she fell for the one
who wasn’t into abduction. Not that she wanted kidnapped, but it would have
done a lot for her ego if he’d at least damn tried.

She rubbed her temples. “He’s
driven me insane,” she muttered. “I don’t want thrown into some fucking harem.”

A few minutes later, Kari alighted
from the bathing chamber scrubbed clean, pussy hair trimmed, body pain-free and
dry, and red-wine ringlets perfectly coiffed. She really had to talk Klykka
into installing one of those babies back home. It was the one technological
gadget in Crystal City she’d miss.

“Incoming holo-call from Arista
de Valor. Shall I connect her holograph, Kari Gy’at Li?”

Kari took a deep breath before
answering the unseen computer-like mechanism that controlled everything in the
penthouse. She had wanted to name it “Mother” just like the spaceship’s
computer in
Alien
, but the damn thing had a mind of its own. “Yes, of
course. Connect her, Rumschlag.”

Rumschlag. What the fuck kind of a
name was that? It reminded her of some drunken German doing the chicken dance
at Oktoberfest.

Arista’s holo-image zapped into
existence. The High Mystik absently glanced over Kari’s naked body. “You’ve
just availed yourself of the bathing chamber. ‘Tis bliss, is it not?”

“I was just trying to figure out
how to talk Klykka into installing one back in our sector.” Kari grinned. “So
the answer is a raging
yes
.”

Arista smiled. “Leastways, are you
enjoying your holiday in Crystal City?”

“Yeah. Sure.”

One royal eyebrow arched. “Your
tone does not match your words. You have the sound of Rumschlag.”

“What is wrong with my voice?”

“It’s monotone,” Kari said
grumpily. She waved a hand toward the unseen computer. “Privacy, please.”

“Fine. Leastways, my voice is
all things sexy and wondrous.”

Kari rolled her eyes.

“I would that you could confide in
me, child.”

Arista’s expression was soft and
her tone concerned. For some reason that made Kari feel like weeping and
confessing all, but the High Mystik would undoubtedly think she’d lost her mind
for ever getting into this position in the first place.

“’Tis the giant warrior, aye?”

Kari’s head shot up. Her eyes
rounded.

“A simpleton I am not,” Arista
mused. “Leastways, I saw the way you looked at him.”

“You should have seen the way
she mated with him. ‘Twas nigh unto obscene.”

“Enough, Rumschlag,” Kari gritted
out. She cleared her throat and gave The de Valor her full attention. “Well
it’s nothing to worry about. He’s gone anyway.”

“Worried? Nay. I was never worried.
You are too skilled to be taken against your will.”

“I never got the chance to test
that theory,” she sniffed. “Apparently I’m not worthy of a Trystonni
kidnapping!”

“Mayhap he knew you are too
strong.”

“Mayhap he thought you too
perverse.”

“Well he could have tried! And for
the final time, Rumschlag, shut the fuck up!”

“As you desire. Leastways, I
have duties to attend to.”

“So attend to them already!”

“You desire to become the warlord’s
chattel?” Arista asked, ignoring Kari’s little spat with the computer.

Yes. “No!” Kari sighed. Maybe Isar
truly had driven her to the brink of insanity. If so, Rumschlag had pushed her
over the precipice. “I don’t share. If I ever—what do you call it here?—
mate
…I’ll
be the only woman my husband has sex with, period.”

“As well it should be.”

“Anyway,” Kari said, changing the
still too fresh subject, “I’ll be fine.” She forced a smile. “Why did you
call?”

“Ahh that.” Arista inclined her
head. “’Tis expected that Mettle Tavern will be overflowing with patrons this
eve. Leastways, the warriors who come every few moon-months to barter their
healing sands have arrived.”

“You need me to serve trenchers?
Sure.”
It’s not like I have anything else to do!
“I’ll be there at
suns-down.”

“I need you to perform. For a
certainty you are the most skilled at it and ‘tis a boon do we keep these
warriors calmed and tame.”

Kari nodded. “You got it. I’ll see
you tonight.”

Arista prepared to end the
holo-communication when a thought struck Kari. It was a scenario she had mulled
over again and again, but kept forgetting to inquire about it. “Completely
unrelated to anything we’ve just discussed, I was wondering if I could ask you
a question?”

“For a certainty.”

“I hope this doesn’t make me sound
weak or like the child you and Klykka call me…”

“Just ask.”

“What if I don’t want to be a High
Mystik?”

Arista’s eyes widened.

“I don’t mean that in a bad way!”
Kari quickly corrected. “I want to be a High Mystik someday, just not so soon.”

Arista’s lips formed an O. “You’ve
but one final step to complete your training, yet you are unready to leave
Klykka and rule o’er a sector of your own. Correct?”

“I know it sounds weak,” Kari
sheepishly admitted, “but yeah. I’m not ready to leave the woman who took me in
and made me a part of her family.”

“’Tis not weak, child. Leastways,
you
are
still a child and there is naught wrong with that. For a
certainty you are not the first to find herself in this predicament and you
shan’t be the last.”

“It’s possible to finish my
training and not be a High Mystik then?”

“More or less, aye.” Arista thought
that over. “You shall retain the title of Mystik until you are ready to rule
your own sector. Even though you’ll have the skills of a High Mystik in deed,
only she who rules in name as well as deed is awarded the power and voting
rights that come with it.”

Kari blew out a breath of relief.
“I just hope Klykka accepts my decision.”

“She will. Leastways, ‘twill like
as not serve to further endear you to her.”

Kari hoped so, but didn’t say as
much. She knew The de Valor’s time was precious and didn’t want to waste any
more of it with her selfish concerns. “Thank you, Arista. I’ll see you
tonight.”

The holo-call came to an end. Lost
in thought, Kari absently stared at where The de Valor’s image had been but
moments prior.

“Do not perform for those
warriors,” a deep voice said harshly. “’Tis a command, that.”

Kari whirled around. Her eyes
widened and her heart raced. She tried not to smile, but she knew it didn’t
matter—the weird bond they shared told him she was happy to see him.

“I thought you were gone,” Kari
said, her head notching up. He hadn’t left her without saying goodbye after
all! “I woke up to an empty bed.”

“I was. I went to the bartering
stalls to buy food.” Isar’s golden gaze possessively raked over her naked body.
“Leastways, I would have starved had I known whilst in my absence you would
agree to perform this moon-rising.”

“Food?” She shook her head. “I
could have ordered you any food you wanted and it would have been instantly
prepared.”

“I did not know this.”

“Well thank you for buying food.
That was thoughtful of you.”

He grunted in response. She smiled.

“How did you get back in here?”
Kari asked. “You don’t have the proper laser scan.”

“I’ve my ways.” He shifted the bags
of food in his arms to draw attention to them. “Let us eat so I’ve the energy
to fuck what’s mine again.”

Kari blew out a breath. The
warlord’s blunt words aroused her more than they probably should have. She
inclined her head and led the way to the terrace where she took her meals. She
could sense him following behind her, his eyes all but burning a brand into her
buttocks.

“I have to perform,” Kari said as
she led him into the terrace’s gardens. “I gave Arista my word.” When they
reached her favorite table, she turned to face him. “And I don’t break my
word.”

Isar frowned. “Then I will
accompany you this eve,” he grumbled. “Leastways, you will touch no warrior but
me.”

She didn’t want to anyway, but
pretended to strike a bargain. “Fair enough.” She sat down at the table and
watched him pull an array of delicious foods from the crystal-spun bags. Her
mouth started to water. “But we can’t have penetration there. Only oral sex.”

“Nay. I want all there to know you
belong to me.”

“They cannot know,” Kari told him.
She picked up a sticky breakfast treat that reminded her of the pastries back
home. “I’d get in trouble with my Mistress. Galians disallow their females to
have intercourse with Trystonni warriors.”

One black eyebrow shot up. “Why?”

“Because your kind has stolen
Galian females in the past.” She bit into the
felani
. “This is really
good.”

His eyes were amused. “Do I
penetrate you at Mettle Tavern they will think I would kidnap you?”

“Yes.”

“Mayhap I will.”

Kari almost choked on her second
bite of
felani
. She fiddled with some buttons on the table and
pici
juice instantly appeared. She quickly drank some down. His gaze, still amused,
watched her every movement. Once recovered, she gave him a stern frown.

“Me almost dying is funny to you?”

“I would never let you die,
pani
.
Leastways, do you die, I die.”

Kari begrudgingly experienced a
thrill from his admission. Metaphorical or not, it made her pulse race
pleasurably. She studied his handsome face and didn’t know how she’d ever say
goodbye to him.

“When I take my leave from Galis,
‘tis mine you still are. Touch no other male.”

She grunted. “I’m supposed to be a
nun when you leave?”

“What is a nun?”

“Never mind.” She took another big
bite of
felani
. “Will you be with other females?”

“Only if needs be. Leastways, I
will keep to the
Kefa
slaves.”

“One, it’s wrong to own slaves. And
two, if you’re fucking other females I’m fucking whoever I want!”

“You are fucking no male and the
slaves are not real!” he barked. “How can you know naught of the
Kefas
?”

Kari was getting a headache. “You
fuck invisible female slaves?”

Isar frowned at her sarcasm. “They
are made of the colored
trelli
sands and enchanted by priestesses for
unmated warriors to mount.”

“Tryston sounds too weird,” she
muttered. “Look. I love spending this time with you, but we both know it will
come to an end.”

“For mayhap a spell,” he conceded.
“I would that I could take you as my Sacred Mate now.” He sighed. “Leastways,
for your own safety, I cannot.”

Kari didn’t know what he was
talking about, but she was too sad to give it more thought. Whether Isar
understood or not, she could never truly belong to him. Such would be a slap in
the face to the High Mystik who’d adopted her as her own. She wished there was
a way to have it all, but knew it wasn’t possible. Even if Kari chose to defy
Klykka, which she couldn’t fathom doing, she realized she could never be happy
living out her life on a planet where women were mere possessions. And a
warrior such as Isar? He would never be able to accept the lowly status of men
on Galis. Both planets were fucked up in their own ways.

They had a week left together,
maybe ten days at best. Kari wanted to savor every moment of it with him
because she realized she would never feel for any man what she felt when Isar
Kal Draji looked at her.