Between Two Tiron (16 page)

“Instead of taking it as coincidence, we should have done our own research. We also

should have given you a chance to explain. If we had, you‟d likely have left the planet with us

because I doubt you would have been able to explain and keep your identity a secret.” Jalan

raised his brows.

“I wouldn‟t have minded her coming to us before she did. It might have helped curb this

penchant for trouble she has exhibited—working for Central Command, various acts that are on

the fine edge of shifter law and also having the sheer nerve to taunt her mates at any time she

feels like it. She‟s a mate who will require constant attention.” Kaleb smiled at her with

predatory interest.

Lido laughed but continued to look at the passages which accompanied the drawings.

“She sounds like just what you two need. This mentions the name of the planet Emital. That

planet was where our clan was founded long ago, before the loss of some of the old gates.”

“The explorer must have been one of the first people to visit there. It wasn‟t long after the

first few visitors before our kind was doing our own exploring.” Jalan leaned across the table to

look more closely at the book.

“There was both good and bad in our traveling the stars.” Kaleb raised his eyes and

looked over at her. “We lost so much of our history after we began exploring other planets.”

“How is your search going?” Jalan looked over at Shard. “Have you found your clan‟s

symbol yet?”

“Not yet.” Shard stepped up beside her. His hand ran up and down her back and then

settled just over the curve of her right butt cheek.

Lina felt a tinge of red sweep up from her breasts as hot arousal simmered within her. He

wasn‟t even trying to entice her. A breeze swirled around her and the warm musk of her mates

surrounded her. The heat and scent of their bodies was an enticement that she had no desire to

resist. Shard and Kaleb knew just how to touch her.

The scent of seasoned meat and roasted vegetables floating on a light wind teased Lina‟s

nostrils and drew her attention away from the code on the screen. Her stomach growled loudly

announcing that it had been too long since she‟d eaten. She looked back at the lines of code.

Something was wrong with it, but she couldn‟t quite put her finger on it. Sighing, she saved her

work and put the comp away from the moment. She‟d run it later and see if she could discover

what was wrong. It had to be almost time for the meal. She helped set the tables and put the last

plate on the table just as the platters of food were carried out of the kitchen tent.

A few men walked out of the forest at the edge of camp. Lina looked among the men but

didn‟t see either Shard or Kaleb. She kept looking and a few moments later saw them as they

strode toward the camp. They looked a little frustrated, but smiled when they saw her. She met

them halfway, hugging each of them fiercely, before she walked with them over to the table.

Sliding into the seat between theirs, she eyed the food eagerly, trying to decide what she wanted.

“How was your day?” Shard asked as he filled his plate.

“For the most part it was good. At times a little frustrating, but I‟ll get everything worked

out. Did you find anything useful on your search?” She looked over at him as she put the bowl of

vegetables back in the center of the table and reached for a platter of meat.

“Nothing. Not even a trace or a broken jar today to tell us they were anywhere in the

area.” Shard shook his head and frowned.

Kaleb must have been feeling a little left out. His hand slid over her back and trailed over

her ribs. Her lips twitched and she straightened at the light prickling sensation. She glanced over

at him. He smiled and she caught the hungry gleam in his eyes. Teasing man. He could have

touched her arm. She shook her head. Putting her hand on his thigh, she tilted her head and

looked at him through her lashes. The man was persistent. She knew she‟d better stop him now.

“Did anything happen while you were searching, Kaleb, or were you with Shard the

entire time?” She picked up her fork and speared a juicy chunk of meat.

“Most of the day I was in a different area than he was. I didn‟t find anything. It‟s been a

long day.” His hand slipped up her back and his fingers stroked her neck.

“Sounds like you need to be distracted. I might be able to handle that later tonight.” She

let her eyes travel over his chest before returning to his lips. She‟d like to kiss him.

“Why not right after dinner?” He leaned closer and his lips brushed her cheek.

“I still have work I need to do.” She grimaced.

He smiled. “Mmm… Maybe you‟ll finish early.”

She heard an intensity in his voice, but when she looked at him, he seemed to be calm. “I

doubt it. I have some things I really want to get finished tonight.”

Shard chuckled but kept eating. He looked over at her, but he didn‟t say anything. She

didn‟t know what he could find so funny. Kaleb‟s right hand smoothed down her back, drawing

her attention back to him. She saw the heat flare in his eyes as he watched her. She shook her

head and focused on eating.

“What are you doing? How important is it?” Kaleb asked.

“It could probably wait. Since it doesn‟t have to and I‟m already working on it, it doesn‟t

make sense to stop now. I‟m working on some coding for a game.” She shrugged.

Kaleb felt his smile widen at her admission. He‟d been almost certain that she hadn‟t had

anything pressing to do, but hearing her admit it took away the last bit of his restraint. He was

tempted to tell her it could wait. He didn‟t want to put her on her guard or make her angry. He

wanted to make love to her, not fight with her. Just thinking about watching the passion in her

rise, knowing they both needed to eat caused his cock to harden.

He slid a little closer to her, but kept eating even though he hadn‟t tasted a bite of it since

she‟d mentioned relaxing him. When she didn‟t seem to notice, he took advantage and slid his

fingers up her side. She wiggled a little and her shoulders moved. He didn‟t take his eyes off her.

Turning her head, she narrowed her eyes at him. He clearly read the message in those beautiful

gold eyes. She wanted him to stop and she wanted to do it now. He held back a laugh. That

wasn‟t happening. He‟d just begun playing. He traced the full curve of her breast. He wondered

if her nipples would be hard, waiting for his mouth or fingers. Her arm clamped down, pinning

his hand to her side. He felt his smile widen. Did she really think that would stop him?

Lina looked over at Kaleb. The fiend was grinning wickedly and she could see the

anticipation glittering in his eyes. She wasn‟t going to let him tease her when they both knew she

had work to do. She bared her teeth at him. He laughed. The soft chuckle infuriated her and she

straightened, pulling away from him a little. His hand withdrew. She exhaled, both relieved and

disappointed that he‟d stopped. She really hadn‟t expected it to be that easy. Waiting for his next

move, she ate slowly. She felt his hand settle over her breast. Her food lodged for a moment at

the back of her throat. She swallowed loudly, barely avoiding choking.

His thumb stroked over her nipple. It felt as if there wasn‟t anything between his fingers

and her skin. She drew in a shaky breath. She had to stop the man before he went any further.

Blood heated her cheeks. She wondered if anyone had noticed where his hand was. She slid her

hand off the table and put it on his thigh. Leaving it there a few moments, she waited to see if

he‟d get the message. His fingers gently squeezed. She gritted her teeth. He was going to be

stubborn about this. She frowned, risking a glance around the table. No one seemed to have

noticed anything out of the ordinary. She slid a fuming glance toward Kaleb.

She saw Kaleb try to hold back a smile. She gritted her teeth. The scent of his arousal

only added to the conflict inside her. She wanted him touching her, but she didn‟t want to be

tortured when they couldn‟t do anything about it. He seemed utterly confident that she wouldn‟t

do anything that would embarrass either of them. The man had a lot to learn. She might be

embarrassed but she wasn‟t going to back down this time. She slid her hand down his thigh,

hoping he‟d get the message without having to push too far. When he smiled at her and boldly

plucked her nipple, she knew she‟d have to show him she was serious. He‟d already turned his

attention back to the food on his plate. Her fingers slid over his cock and then cupped over the

ridge. He stiffened and his head slowly turned to her again. Her eyes locked with his and her

brow arched.

Her fingers tightened and stroked his cock. His eyes closed and she felt his thigh muscles

bunch. She suspected he was trying to regain control. The man pushed her to her limits. His hand

fell away from her breast. She relaxed and went back to eating. Maybe he‟d realized that he

could only push her so far. She wanted to drag him out of his seat and push him to the ground.

Soon, she wouldn‟t care who saw them. He smiled. She knew he wouldn‟t go too far, that he

would have a limit to how far he would go. The only thing that bothered her was that he hadn‟t

found that point yet. He still looked ready to play. He trailed his fingers over her hip. She

jumped.

“Kaleb.” She pitched her voice low so that it wouldn‟t carry far. The last thing she

wanted to do was draw more attention to them. He had to hear the warning in her tone.

The man just ignored her. She wanted to kick him. Lina grabbed his wrist. She had an

idea of what he was going to do next and she knew she had to stop him. His palm slid over her

thigh. She tugged at his hand, trying her best to keep the struggle subtle and out of sight. She

knew that if he touched her pussy that any resistance might as well have never happened. She

already wanted him. Much more of his teasing and she wouldn‟t care who saw what.

His palm cupped her pussy. She exhaled shakily, doing her best to maintain control. His

finger pressed between the lips of her pussy. She gave up all pretense of eating. Her fork

clattered to the table and she stood. She grabbed for her last shred of sanity.

“Excuse me, I have to…” She didn‟t finish as Kaleb stood.

She spun and headed for the tent. Hunger blazed in his eyes. She was just surprised that

he hadn‟t grabbed her already.

She just made it into the tent before his arms closed around her and lifted her off her feet.

He laughed low and satisfied. She clutched at his arm as the tent flap dropped closed behind

them. Kaleb flicked a small lamp on, giving them more light.

“We don‟t need a light. Are you an exhibitionist?” She let him feel the edge of her nails.

“I want to watch you. No one‟s going to see so much as a shadow through the thick

fabric.” He nipped at her ear as he carried her over to the bed.

Right now she didn‟t care about that. She only wanted to get him naked and inside her.

She reached back and tugged on his shirt. “Let me down.”

He put her on her feet. She whirled to face him. Her hands moved to his shirt. The

fastenings snagged. She frowned in concentration as she worked to get them free. He pushed the

straps of her shirt down to her elbows. She reached for him, but the straps kept her arms near her

side. She growled and wriggled, struggling out of the garment. It slipped down to her waist and

she forgot about it. He tugged at her bra. She pushed his shirt wide and spread her hands over his

chest. His muscles tensed. She laughed, enjoying the way he responded to her. She scraped her

nails over his nipples. He growled and she heard a distinct rip. Her bra loosened, the straps

sliding down her arms. It hooked at her elbows. Impatiently she freed one arm and went back to

her explorations. Trailing her fingers down his stomach, she traced the edge of his pants. He

cursed and tugged at hers. He managed to get her pants unfastened His hand slipped inside the

fabric and cupped her panties. The heat of his palm seemed to sear through the sheer lingerie.

She gasped and her legs tightened around his hand. She didn‟t want to lose that contact even for

a moment.

“I want these off you.” He nipped at her lips and tugged one side of her pants down.

“I want these off
you
.” She unfastened his pants and pushed them down his legs. “Looks

like I‟m going to get what I want first.”

She managed to get his pants down to his knees before the feeling of his fingers stroking

her clit froze her. He didn‟t play fair. She groaned. He stepped forward, but gravity had pulled

his pants the rest of the way down his legs. They‟d bunched at his ankles. He stumbled and fell

onto the bed, taking her with him. She gasped and clung until they‟d stopped bouncing. Looking

up at him, she saw him shaking his head. She grinned at him. He frowned and kicked out of his

pants.

“You know even as we were falling, your hand never left me.” She licked the darkened

circle of his nipple.

“I know what I want.” He rolled her under him. His fingers stroked her clit before he

tugged his hand out of her pants. He rose to his knees and pulled her pants and panties down. She

kicked free of them as he tossed away her shoes. He looked up and bared his teeth. Her heart

raced and she wanted nothing more than to make love with him, any way she could. She reached