Close Remembrance (17 page)

Hardly daring to breathe, he reached out and took her hand, bringing her closer until she was sitting on the bed next to him. At his action, he could hear her heartbeat spiking, a mixture of apprehension and excitement written on her face.

“Mia,” he asked softly, “are you sure?”

She nodded, her soft mouth trembling. “Yes,” she whispered. “I’m sure . . .”

His body reacted to her words with painful intensity, his cock hardening further and his balls drawing up against his body. But when he leaned over to kiss her, he kept his lips gentle, tender – as her first time should be.

She’d come to him that other first time too, but she’d done it as a challenge, as a way to assert her independence and spite him in some small way. He hadn’t cared then, glad to just have her there, in his apartment, in his bed. And in his rush to take her, he’d hurt her, tearing through her virginity with all the care of a rutting animal.

This was his chance to make up for it. She was a virgin again – in mind, if not in body. And Korum was determined to make sure that there would be no pain for her this night, only pleasure.

He kissed her softly, with just his lips at first, stroking her hair and back with soothing motions. She tasted fresh and sweet, her scent familiar and enticing. Her small hands came up, curved around the back of his neck, her fingers reaching into his hair, sending shivers of pleasure down his spine. Not wanting to deepen the kiss, Korum moved his lips to her cheek, then the underside of her jaw, tasting the sensitive skin there.

She moaned, arching her head back, exposing more of her pale throat to his mouth, and Korum kissed her there too, fighting the urge to take her blood at the same time. He would do it, but not today, not for this first time.

Carefully, so as not to startle her, he pulled at her robe, opening it as he continued kissing her, his mouth moving to her collarbone and then below.

Her body was beautiful, slim and curved in all the right places, her skin smooth and inviting to the touch. Korum slowly ran his hand over her breasts and her flat belly, marveling at the delicacy of her frame. His palm could almost cover her entire ribcage, his skin strikingly dark against the pale perfection of hers.

He could see the pulse beating rapidly in the side of her neck, hear her elevated breathing, and he knew she was as anxious as she was aroused. Raising his head, Korum caught her staring at him, her face flushed and her lips slightly parted.

“I love you, Mia,” he murmured, reaching up to move that stray curl off her face. “You know that, right?”

She nodded shyly, still watching him with her huge blue eyes. Those eyes made him want to slay dragons for her, rip apart anyone who dared try to hurt her.

“Don’t be afraid, my darling,” he said, sliding one arm under her knees and another around her back. Lifting her up, he placed her carefully in the middle of the bed. “I’ll make it good for you, I promise . . .” And moving back for a second, Korum removed his shirt and shorts, letting his erection spring free.

Before she had a chance to do more than give him one apprehensive glance, Korum climbed on top of her, nuzzling her neck and shoulder again until she let out a quiet moan. Then he slowly began to make his way down her body, ignoring his cock’s insistent throbbing. There would be times when he would take her hard and fast, but this wasn’t going to be one of them. Tonight was all about her.

Cupping the round globe of her breast, he delighted in its firmness, in the way her nipple hardened against his palm. Her breasts weren’t large, but they were perfectly shaped, just right for her slight frame. Bending his head, he tasted her nipple, laving it with his tongue, then sucking on it with a firm pull.

She moaned again, arching toward him, and he repeated the treatment on the other breast, enjoying the way her nipples looked afterwards: all pink and shiny.

Her stomach was next, and he kissed the soft skin there, tonguing her belly button and feeling her abdominal muscles tensing as his mouth continued moving lower. Her legs were closed, so Korum pulled her thighs apart, ignoring the hitch in her breathing as he gazed upon her moist folds and the dark triangle of curls above. Like the rest of Mia, her pussy was small and delicate, sweeter than anything he’d ever tasted.

Lowering his head, Korum breathed in her intoxicating scent and then gently licked the area around her clitoris, teasing her, letting her arousal slowly build. As he continued, he could hear her gasping every time his tongue approached her sensitive nub, feel the way her hips kept rising off the bed toward his mouth. He knew she was very close to the edge, but he wasn’t ready to let her go over. Not yet at least.

Moving his hand, he used his index finger to slowly penetrate her, sliding it inside her slick channel, carefully stretching her, readying her for him. She was so tiny inside she even felt tight around his finger, and Korum suppressed a tortured groan as his cock twitched against the sheets in painful arousal.

She cried out as his finger slid deeper, rubbing against that spot that always drove her insane, and then Korum could feel her convulsing, her inner walls pulsing around his finger as she found her release.

Unable to wait any longer, he crawled back up her body, keeping her thighs open with his knee. Holding himself up with one elbow, he used his other hand to direct himself to her small opening, letting the head of his penis slide inside, and then pausing to let her adjust to his size.

At his entry, she inhaled sharply and grasped his shoulders, gazing up at him. His entire body straining from the rigid control he was exerting over himself, Korum began to push in further, keeping the penetration gradual and slow to avoid hurting her. As his cock went deeper, sweat beaded up all over his body and his breathing became harsher, more erratic. She was warm, wet, and tight – and Korum thought he might literally explode on the spot.

Using all his willpower, he paused when he was all the way in, letting her get used to the feel of him deep inside her body. “Are you okay?” he managed to ask in a rough whisper, looking down at her.

She licked her lips. “Yes.”

“Good,” Korum breathed. He wasn’t sure he could’ve stopped if she’d said otherwise. He was seconds away from orgasm, his balls drawn tightly against his body and his spine prickling with the familiar pre-release tension.

But he didn’t want to come yet, not until he’d had a chance to pleasure her one more time. Using his right hand, Korum reached between their bodies, finding the place where they joined and lightly stimulating her clitoris with his fingers. At the same time, he began to move inside her, partially withdrawing and then pushing back in.

She moaned again, her fingers tightening around his shoulders and her sharp nails digging into his skin. He could feel the heat rising off her body, hear her breathing changing, and he knew she was almost there. Finally letting go of his restraint, he began to thrust with increasing speed, climbing the peak higher and higher, every muscle in his body shaking from the intensity of the sensations. Suddenly, she cried out, her inner muscles clamping down on his cock, and he exploded with a roar, his seed shooting out in several powerful spurts.

When it was over, Korum rolled off Mia onto his back and pulled her on top of him, so that she lay partially draped over his chest. They were both breathing hard, their bodies limp and covered with sweat.

Korum knew he should say something, but he couldn’t seem to gather his thoughts. There was sex – and then there was what he experienced with Mia. He’d never imagined that he could want a woman so much, that he could get so much pleasure out of the simple act of fucking.

It wasn’t as if he was inexperienced. Far from it. In his centuries of existence, he’d engaged in sexual acts of every type and every flavor. There was no stigma associated with promiscuous behavior in Krinar society, and unattached individuals were encouraged to experiment to their hearts’ content.

Yet Korum could not remember ever feeling the kind of bone-deep satisfaction he experienced with Mia. He’d always wondered how mated individuals – or those who had a charl – remained faithful throughout their lives. The idea of not having variety had seemed strange and unnatural to him. Since meeting Mia, however, he couldn’t imagine wanting to be with another woman. She was all he wanted, all the time, every time.

His breathing finally calming, Korum looked down at the curly head lying on his chest. Feeling content, he stroked her hair, grinning when he heard a quiet yawn.

“Want to take a quick rinse and then go to sleep?” he murmured, still smiling as she looked up.

She gave him a deliciously sleepy look, then yawned again. “Sure, that would be nice . . .”

Laughing softly, Korum wrapped his arms around her and got up, carrying her toward the shower. Still holding her, he stepped inside and sent a quick mental command to the water controls. Two minutes later they were clean and dry, and Korum carried her back to bed, enjoying the trusting way she clung to him the entire time.

Placing her back on the bed, he lay down beside her and pulled her into his embrace, curving his body around her from the back. Utterly relaxed, he closed his eyes and let her even breathing lull him into sleep as well.

Chapter 12

Slowly waking up the next morning, Mia stretched and smiled, remembering last night. The entire experience had been amazing, like something she could’ve only dreamed of. Was sex always like this? Or was it just sex with Korum?

After that first time, he’d taken her again at some point in the night, waking her up by sliding into her. Somehow she had already been wet, and she’d orgasmed within minutes – something she would’ve expected to be difficult, given how satisfied she’d felt after the previous time.

But she was apparently as insatiable as her alien lover.

Grinning like a Cheshire Cat, Mia got up, put on a peach-colored sundress, and did her morning bathroom routine. Korum was already gone, so she asked the house for some yummy breakfast and then curled up on one of the floating planks that functioned as a couch. “Some reading material, please,” she requested, and laughed as a razor-thin tablet-like device floated toward her from one of the walls.

Yesterday, when Korum told her about her role at the mind lab, he’d mentioned that she used to keep work-related documents and recordings on this tablet. Mia was intensely curious about it, trying to imagine how she’d functioned in a Krinar work environment given her unfamiliarity about their technology and science. From what Korum had explained, a lot of the knowledge had been transferred to her via the same process that was used to teach Krinar children, and she was secretly hoping that she’d retained some of it despite the memory wipe. She certainly felt more comfortable in Lenkarda than could be expected, and she was pretty sure she knew things about the brain that were far beyond what she’d learned in college.

Using a verbal command to open one of the files, Mia made herself comfortable and began the process of re-learning everything she had partially or completely forgotten.

* * *

“The Council has reached a decision.”

Arus’s words carried throughout the large arena-like room where the public portion of the trial took place. Almost every Krinar on Earth – and many residents of Krina – were there virtually or in person.

Korum leaned forward, waiting to hear the words that would seal the fate of the traitors. In front of him, he could see Loris standing straight, garbed all in black. The Protector’s fists were tightly clenched, knuckles almost white, as he braced himself to hear his son’s sentence.

“Rafor, Kian, Leris, Poren, Saod, Kula, and Reana,” Arus said clearly, “the Council finds you guilty of conspiring with the human Resistance movement to attack the Centers and endanger the lives of fifty thousand of your fellow citizens. You are also found guilty of breaking the non-interference mandate by sharing Krinar technology with the said Resistance movement. Additionally, Rafor, the Council judges you guilty of aiding and abetting the dangerous individual known as Saret in his plan to commit mass murder and illegally manipulate human minds.”

The Protector visibly paled, and the Keiths looked like they were punched in the stomach. A murmur ran through the crowd, then died down as the spectators fell silent to hear the rest.

“The sentence for the above crimes is complete rehabilitation.”

Korum leaned back, listening to the uproar in the audience. In that moment, he felt uncharacteristic pity for Loris, who had just lost his only son. Whatever their differences had been in the past, it wasn’t Loris’s fault Rafor had turned out to be a failure and a criminal. Korum couldn’t blame Loris for wanting to defend his child, no matter how undeserving that child was.

However, Korum had no regrets about the role he’d played in their conviction. Rafor and his friends got exactly what they deserved: an almost complete erasure of their personalities. They were too dangerous to be subjected to partial rehabilitation, their actions too heinous to be forgiven. If there was one thing Korum despised, it was someone who tried to hurt his own people for the sake of greed and power – the way these traitors had.

The brief flicker of sympathy he felt for Loris died down as the Protector turned and gave Korum a hate-filled glare. Loris’s face was colorless underneath the bronzed tone of his skin, and his eyes glittered with something resembling madness. It was the look of someone who had nothing left to lose, and Korum recognized that his opponent would do everything in his power to leave him lying in pieces tomorrow. Of course, Korum had no intention of letting that happen. He didn’t want to kill Loris, but he would do what was necessary to defend himself.