Rystani Warrior 04 - The Quest (14 page)
Read Rystani Warrior 04 - The Quest Online
Authors: Susan Kearney
If she hadn’t known before, Kirek was proving now that he had supreme self-control and confidence. Most men wouldn’t so easily give a partner the upper hand, but with him, he either had no ego, or his ego was so extremely confident that ceding her power was his way of showing her that he was truly free. Free of any concern but giving or taking pleasure.
That made Kirek even more powerful, more attractive, more of a turn-on. She couldn’t seem to get enough of his smooth flesh under her hands, into her mouth, next to her own skin. She sensed that no matter what she did right now, he was prepared to let her.
His letting her being the important part.
That trust made her feel honored and shaky and stimulated and aroused and intrigued. Even as he filled her mouth and hands, her head spun with thoughts of him.
“Angel,” he gasped.
“Mm?”
“You keep that up
…
and there’ll
…
be consequences.” His tone was half growl, half promise.
Until he uttered those words, she’d hadn’t realized exactly how far she’d been prepared to go
…
but between his raw need and his promise of thrilling and intimidating “consequences,” she was determined not to hold back. She tightened her hands, worked her tongue furiously.
In truth, his implied threat aroused her. So did his giving her this power over him. Never had she felt so feminine. Never had she so wanted to give pleasure or been so turned on by the freedom.
She demanded with every squeeze of her hands, every stroke of her lips that he take
…
more and more
…
and just when she sensed that he was about to spill, she released him, swam over his chest and watched his eyes slowly open to reveal deep purple sparks. Watched his gasp from passion denied turn into a fiery groan.
“You okay?” she asked with an impish lilt.
He locked his hands behind his head then winked at her. “I’m thinking about the consequences.”
“Hmm. Obviously, I haven’t given you enough to think about.” She leaned down, bit his nipple. The big guy was still entirely sure of himself. She threatened, “You know I could keep you up for hours.”
“First, you might want to surface to replenish your air.” He spoke carefully, his eyes bright with hungry amusement. “And you might want to consider that eventually
…
”
“Yes?”
“It will be my turn.”
She’d been so wrapped up in pleasure and his sensual promises she hadn’t remembered the need for air and grinned at him. “Wait right here.”
She swam for the surface, giving him a good look between her legs as she kicked upward. After requesting several play toys from a materializer, she then ducked back down to Kirek. He remained exactly as she’d left him, hands laced behind his head, erection tight and firm. She merged their suits and replenished his air, keeping her acquisitions hidden from his view.
“Miss me?” she asked.
“Why would you think that?”
She chuckled, leaned forward, sucked hard on his nipple, and when it hardened and accommodated her wishes, she attached a clamp to the dark skin, then repeated her actions on his other side. By now she knew better than to expect him to protest. In fact, she was beginning to think Kirek would make a perfect creature of passion—everything seemed to please him.
When she set the clamps to pulsing, he smiled, confirming her impression. “That feels wonderful.”
“There are other settings.”
At her words, his inquisitive gaze found hers. “Do we have time to try them all?”
She held up another device, full of adjustable straps. “Ever tried a ball-breaker?”
Curiosity brightened his eyes. “Is that from Earth?”
“An Earth colony out on the rim makes them. The materializer reproduced it for you.” She wrapped the straps around his balls. “Comfy?”
“Very.”
With a tug, she tightened the straps, careful not to cause pain, but a feeling of tension. She wasn’t done. She placed several bands over his sex, careful to keep them equidistant.
“And the purpose of this device?” he asked.
“Pleasure.”
He had yet to move his hands from behind his head. From every indication, he remained willing. As much as
she believed her intuition about him to be on target, she needed to be certain.
“What do you think?” She turned on the pulsing that tickled and nipped and aroused his most sensitive places. A device that would tease her just as thoroughly once she took him inside her.
“The sensation is
…
interesting.”
“You are pleased?”
“Not yet.”
She hesitated, ready to remove the play toy if he objected. “You want me to stop?”
“I meant that to be pleased, we must continue. Finish.” He reached for her.
She scooted back. “I’m in no hurry.”
His eyes darkened with interest. “You would do well to remember my words.”
“I’m looking forward to enjoying the consequences,” she practically purred, suspecting this man might be her sensual match in every way. All too often, her partners had tired or lost interest long before she had. Learning that Kirek was into prolonging their mating pleased her. Had she finally found a sexual partner that could equal her own need for adventurous passions?
He spoke, his tone husky with need as the pulses teased and taunted him. “Do you know
…
anything of Rystani
…
mating rituals?”
“Only about the Rystani marriage bands that you mentioned.” She skimmed her breasts across his chest and watched his eyes dilate with hungry lust. She let her breast touch his lips, and he took the tip into his mouth. Ah
…
he felt
…
too good and she forced herself to pull back. Right now, she needn’t distract herself with anything except how badly she wanted to drive him into a wild frenzy of need.
As if he knew exactly what she wanted to do, he interrupted her thoughts. “Rystani women like their warriors to take charge.”
“Uh huh.” She trailed her mouth over his stomach and increased the pulses another degree.
“Ah
…
” She was pleased to hear the soft moan in his voice as she began to up the sensations. “We tend
…
to push our women to experience more pleasure
…
than they’ve ever had before.”
“Really?” If he was trying to excite her by hinting at Rystani rituals, the tightening in her gut warned her that his tactic was working.
“Yeah. I like the idea of you at my mercy, feeling exactly what
I
…
ah
…
want you to feel.”
She bit the tip of his sex and sucked away the sting. “Sounds like
…
fun.”
She supposed she should focus on his words, but in truth, she was simply having too much fun with her hands and her mouth and her toy. Her lips already ached with sensation. Her breasts wanted more of his attention, and she ached to climb onto him and ride him, but again she delayed the pleasure.
“There’s one more toy to attach.” She swam under him, parted his buttocks, and placed the last pulsar where it would do the most good. By now she knew he wouldn’t stop her, and he didn’t.
Pleased that she could control his every sensual quiver, she swam over him, straddled his waist, and angled her mouth over his. Then she kissed him, long and hard and deep. She kicked up the pulses to fire more frequently and in no particular sequence but never enough to push him over the edge. The effect soon had him squirming to hold still beneath her hands.
She whispered into his mouth. “How much more do you want?”
“That’s your choice.” His breathing turned ragged. His lungs sucked in air. But his spirit remained willing, and she adored him for it.
If she didn’t want him so badly she might have pushed a little harder. But his kiss had been hot enough to light a firecracker, and she was burning to climb onto him.
To be certain she didn’t lose control too soon, she turned the pulses down. The sensation would be quite intense for her without having had the advantage of a long slow build-up like she’d given him.
When she lowered the sensation, Kirek glared at her. “I’ll remember that.”
“What?” She swam over him and parted her legs.
“You’re a tease.”
She took one delicious inch of him inside her. “Are you calling me names?”
“Oh yeah. Brazen. Sexy. Fabulous.”
His compliments bought him another inch of heat. The water was cool, but his skin was hot. As her flesh surrounded his and clamped tight, the pulsars fired, and the tickling sensation caused her to suck in her breath.
She wanted to move slowly. But the cool water on her skin combined with the cascading waterfall that rained over her everywhere, plus the pulses, had her hips pumping in a rhythm all their own. She tried to hold back, but her need for him burned like a wild fire.
“Um
…
we have company.”
With her ears roaring, she must have understood. But she opened her eyes and saw him staring past her shoulder. Twisting, she saw several gray-skinned creatures hovering above the water.
Even if her mind had commanded her body to stop, she was too far gone to hold back release. She kept pumping her hips. “I’m not stopping unless they swim down here.”
Before she could say another word, he grabbed her hips and thrust into her. Again. And again. Together they churned up the water. As a delicious orgasm burst through her, she felt him exploding and pulling her deeper.
IF KIREK DIDN’T GET them away from the Kraj he’d never have the chance to find out why he felt right with Angel, to tell her, or find out if she even felt the same way. Using his arms to swim them deeper, he exploded into Angel’s heat, the sexual satisfaction and his newfound emotions surging into one powerful explosion.
While he would have preferred to wallow in the aftermath of sexual satiation, the Kraj above the surface were pointing at them. Kirek didn’t have time for the luxury of holding and cuddling and thinking about how Angel hadn’t wanted to stop their lovemaking—even in the face of danger.
However, if Kirek interpreted the Kraj leader’s gestures correctly, he was about to order part of his team into the pool to come after them. Luckily, the Kraj didn’t appear to enjoy water, and the delay to obey orders gave Kirek extra time to backstroke down to the bottom of the pool.
Aiming toward his escape route, taking Angel with him, Kirek focused on swimming efficiently, not an easy task after a mind-blowing orgasm that had already ramped his pulse into high gear. Although he’d hoped the Kraj wouldn’t find them here, after examining the building’s original plans, Kirek had chosen this particular mansion for a private tunnel that connected to the moon’s central transportation system.
He’d learned war tactics from his father on Rystan when Endekians had invaded his home world. Their people had lived in caves—and every underground facility always had several escape routes.
“Where are we going?” Angel lifted her head and peered at him. With her face flushed from pleasure, her lips swollen from their kisses, her hair slicked back and plastered against her skull, she’d never looked so gorgeous.
“The reef.”
“You have weapons down here?”
“An escape hatch.” He looked for a seam in the coral and appreciated the skill of the craftsman who’d built the tunnel. He would never have spied the crack if he hadn’t known exactly where to search. He and Angel separated, and she waited nearby, head tilted back, anxiously watching the Kraj enter the pool.
“They don’t know how to swim,” she told him.
“They’ll figure it out. With their suits keeping them supplied with air, they need only sink and walk across the bottom.” Kirek didn’t want to stay around to learn if Kraj blasters would still work under water. Pulling a lever disguised to look like a piece of coral, Kirek watched in satisfaction as round panel slid open to reveal a dark and ominous hole. “Go.”
Angel didn’t ask questions. She didn’t even hesitate. She swam into the darkness, and he followed, taking care to close and lock the hatch behind him.
Forced to swim single file, they could no longer share air and speak—he couldn’t elongate his shield that far—but their presence activated lights along the tunnel showing there was only one direction to swim down the narrow tube. Angel swam strongly, keeping a steady pace that Kirek had difficulty maintaining. Swimming with hunched shoulders and arms at his sides to fit inside the tube reduced him to propelling forward by his kicks alone.
According to the plans he’d seen, the tunnel was about two hundred meters long. With their air once again dwindling, it seemed like two miles.
There was no going back, even if they wanted to—they had neither room to turn around within the narrow tube nor enough air to reach the surface.
If Angel panicked, they would drown in this watery grave. But she swam hard, her kicks steady. Kirek was glad to have her as a partner. Angel was the love he’d always hoped he’d find, and he was determined that now he’d finally found this woman to love, he would not lose her to the Kraj.
Eventually Angel stopped at a dead end. A panel on a door before her required a code to open. Kirek knew the code but didn’t have enough room to swim past her to engage the system. They still couldn’t speak. Even if his psi had healed enough for him to elongate his suit that far, he didn’t have any extra air beyond what was in his lungs.
“Come on, Angel,” he spoke, focusing his mind, even though he knew she couldn’t hear him. “I’m giving you the code.”
He repeated the code. Over and over, damning his weakened psi, but knowing he wasn’t strong enough to send the mental message.
But suddenly she pressed the corresponding panel buttons, and relief flowed through him. He used one of Tessa’s Earth phrases: “Way to go.”
But his relief was short-lived. Instead of the forward hatch opening, she’d tripped a hatch to close behind him. His lungs began to burn from lack of oxygen.
Now they were caught underwater, both ends of the tube closed. A ripple of unease shot through him. Had he done what the Kraj could not accomplish? Trapped them? Killed them?
He should have tested the escape route before using it. But he’d been so eager to have Angel alone, so eager to make love with her, that he had failed to take proper precautions. His heart pumped loudly, his ears roared. He ached to pound the tube in frustration but didn’t waste the oxygen, knowing he couldn’t break the strong material with muscle power alone. All the while his frustration mounted, he wondered if he had brought her down here to die.
It seemed like a lifetime, but in actuality, likely only seconds passed before drains opened in the tube’s bottom to suck out the water. Blessed fresh air vented in from above.
Angel drew air into her lungs in huge gasps. She spoke between shallow pants. “I
…
thought we
…
were going to
…
”
The panel in front of her opened, and she crawled through, appearing as eager to be out of the tube as he was. After listening to her hard breathing, Kirek suspected the air in her suit might have been dwindled to dangerous levels, even less than his—and yet, she hadn’t panicked. Although he’d always known she was a fighter and possessed a strong will, now he had proof.
“How did you figure out the code?” he asked.
She frowned, looking puzzled. “I
…
don’t
…
know.”
He pulled himself into an underground chamber and then slammed the door shut to lock out the Kraj. The room was stocked with a materializer, a com, a vidscreen, and a car that used electromagnetic power to propel itself over a track. “From here we can travel anywhere on Dakmar. The mag car ties into the central transportation system.”
“Good planning,” she complimented him and then muttered, “Would have been even better if you’d warned me.”
“Sorry. I really didn’t expect the Kraj to clear up their problem and to find us so quickly. They are clever and persistent.”
He headed to the control console, checked his messages, and learned his contact was still delayed. He programmed the car to first head for Dakmar’s busiest nexus then sent the car to stop in random places throughout the moon in hopes of confusing the Kraj.
Angel peered over his shoulder. “Where are we going?”
“Nowhere.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Is the system broken?”
He shook his head. “If the Kraj trace the magnetic signature of the car, they’ll follow it to hunt us down.”
“You’re laying a false trail for them to follow?”
He nodded. “Why leave this sanctuary when we have all the comforts of home right here?”
While he worked on the program, Angel reset the suits to dry and warm them. As she headed for the materializer, he realized that they were no longer naked. Once again he wore slacks and a shirt, and she had changed to a dark green V-necked blouse that brought out the color of her eyes and a long full skirt that swayed deliciously as she walked.
“What about your contact?” she asked as she used her psi on the materializer to order them a meal.
The scent of food made his stomach growl. He shot a thought at the materializer, a request for
octar
meat
with
jarballa
sauce. The materializer didn’t have real
octar
meat—the animals
could only be found on Rystan, but the machine could process chemicals into a replica of the desired food and neither his taste buds nor his body’s digestive system would know the difference.
“How weird,” Angel muttered. “I asked for turkey and dressing and instead I got—”
“
Octar
and
jarballa
sauce?” He grinned at the familiar aroma that reminded him of home, his mother stirring the sauce and his father repeatedly entering the kitchen to see if it might be ready ahead of schedule. His mother would pretend she didn’t see her husband stealing a spoonful to test and shoo him out of her kitchen before she burned dinner. Miri had never burned anything. Food on Rystan had been a precious commodity, and she ran the kitchen like a general, always on schedule.
Angel lifted the food from the machine and carried it over to him, her smile broadening. “It smells scrumptious.”
“I used my mom’s recipe.”
Angel jerked in surprise, almost dropping the food before she steadied her hands. “I thought the machine didn’t understand my request. But you used your psi?”
“I suppose I did.” Kirek’s delight warmed him like the summer sun. “I’m healing.”
“That’s so awesome. I’m very glad—while undressing you is so much fun, I’d rather you dressed yourself,” she teased. “Do you think you used your psi to send me the code?”
“Maybe. I was focusing hard on the numbers
…
but I don’t know, either.”
She set the food by the console, and he picked off a piece of crusty meat, dipped it into the sauce, and offered her the first bite. She opened her mouth, and carefully, he placed the food between her lips.
“Mm.”
“Good?” Kirek asked.
“Wow. Better than good. It practically melted in my mouth.” She licked her bottom lip. “The flavor is hard to identify. It’s a mix of tangy and spice with a hint of cilantro.”
She picked up a piece of meat, dipped it into the sauce, and fed him. “So how much psi do you have back?”
“Not enough.” He grinned. “But I believe we can remedy that.”
“How?”
“Psi power is linked to emotions and sexual activity.”
“You made that up.” She laughed accusingly.
“Actually, I didn’t. You may have read about Tessa taking the Challenge—an alien test that had to be passed to be accepted into the Federation—but you didn’t read about how she learned to use her psi.”
“I thought Kahn trained her to fight, and her psi developed.”
“That’s only part of the story. He used sexual frustration to help her activate her psi.”
“She must have been furious.”
Kirek laughed. “She was. She stole a spaceship and escaped. To save her life, he ended up marrying her.” When Angel frowned, he added, “The history books did get one thing right.”
“What?”
Kirek’s tone softened. “They love each other.”
“And you want to be just like them, don’t you?” she snapped at him.
He chose his words with care. “What’s wrong with love?”
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Been there. Done that. Love doesn’t last. It sure as hell kills freedom.”
Kirek winced. Changing her mind might be a more difficult task than defeating the Zin.
