The Price of Pleasure (21 page)

Tears welled up in Calla’s eyes. “Please tell me this isn’t some kind of joke. Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“It’s not a joke,” Seth said. He lifted his head to kiss her lightly. “You’re my life mate. I knew it before, but I just couldn’t bring myself to believe it. But now I know. The Goddess created us for each other.”

“So what does that mean? What do we do now?”

“I would like it if you’d come back with me to Saurellia,” Seth said. “Once we have a child, we can be officially bonded at the temple. That’s what any other Saurellian couple would do.”

“But we’re not just any other couple,” Calla said after a brief pause. Seth’s body tensed under hers. “We’ve both lied to each other, and we’ve both hurt each other.”

“I guess we’d have to learn to trust each other,” he replied slowly. “I’m willing to try if you are.”

“Do I have a choice?” Calla asked, gazing deeply into his eyes. “It seems like I’ve never had a choice before. Do I have one now, or are you simply going to take me with you whether I want to go or not?”

Seth’s jaw clenched. He hadn’t considered that she might not want to go with him.

“I can offer you a great deal,” he finally said slowly. “My family is one of the foremost in Saurellian society, and we would have our own estate. You would always be well cared for; our children would have every opportunity to succeed in life. It’s more than you’ll ever get here.”

“But do I have a choice?” Calla asked again.

“Yes,” Seth said tightly. He stared up at her, begging her with his eyes to come with him. If she said no, he was lost.

“Seth, I love you,” she said quietly. “But I don’t want to go with you unless you feel you could love me, too. I’d rather stay here than live with someone who hates me, despite whatever quirk of the Goddess has made us biologically compatible. Can you understand that?”

Seth blinked up at her in confusion. What kind of question was that? She’d felt his response to her a thousand times. What more did she need?

“Of course I love you,” he said after a second’s hesitation. “Why else would I have let you go as long as I did? I would have hunted down anyone else who did what you did and punished them. I would never have let you get away. I only came for you when I realized I had something to offer you.”

“Are you serious?” Calla whispered, still unable to fully believe him. It was too much like a dream, and a part of her expected to wake at any minute.

“Goddess, what do I have to do to convince you?” he muttered. “I’ve traveled across the quadrant for you. I’ve spent three times what the ship was worth to find you. I haven’t been able to think of anyone but you since we parted. What will it take?”

Calla opened her mouth to reply, but before she could say anything he crushed her mouth against his. His kiss was hard and harsh, completely different from those light kisses he’d given her just moments earlier. Then he released her mouth, rolling her under him in one smooth motion. His knees thrust between her legs, and he ground his aroused flesh against her desperately. He had to show her, he had to prove himself. If she refused to come with him, he wouldn’t want to live.

Calla tried to speak again, but once more he crushed her mouth against his even as he reached down with one arm to pull up her shift above her breasts, revealing all that he had been denied for so many months. Unable to speak, she threw her arms around his neck, then brought her legs up to clasp his body. His rock-hard cock pushed against her moist opening, and she gasped under his movements. Then he released her mouth and dropped his head against her shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” he said in a rasping voice. “It’s just been so long since I’ve felt you against me. I need you.”

“I need you, too,” she whispered. He looked at her, hope in his eyes.

“Then you’ll come with me to Saurellia?”

“Yes,” Calla whispered. “I would be honored to come with you.”

“I promise, I’ll never mislead you again,” he said, dropping hot kisses across her face. He brushed against her eyelids, then down to her lips again. They kissed for several more minutes, then paused for breath.

“And I promise I’ll never lie to you again, either,” she said.

“I’ll always take care of you, you never need to be afraid again,” he replied touching her face in wonder. “You’re so beautiful, Calla.”

“I’ll always take care of you, too,” she replied. A smirk came over her face. “It seems like you have a pressing problem that needs urgent care right now.” She moved against him suggestively.

Seth groaned at the sensation, his hips moving involuntarily in response. “What do you suggest?” he asked.

“I suggest you take off your clothes, then come show me what it means to have a Saurellian life-mate.”

“I’m happy to oblige,” he said, kissing her again deeply. He pushed himself up off the bed, standing quickly and stripping off his clothing. Then he reached down and pulled her shift over her head, letting it drop to the floor. She lay before him, open and trusting in the darkness. In what little moonlight there was, he could see her breasts rising and falling in time with her breath. She was just as aroused as he was, he noted with satisfaction.

He lowered himself to the bed between her splayed knees. He dropped his mouth to her breasts, but she thrust one hand into his hair and pulled his face to hers.

“I’m way past needing that,” she said thickly. “I want you in me, now.”

“Oh, giving orders now, are we?” he asked archly. “I think that you need to learn a little patience. After all, I’ve been waiting for this very patiently for months.”

“And I haven’t been?” Calla whimpered. “Seth, I need you.”

But he merely smiled, then dropped his head to her breasts. He laved her nipple slowly, circling the pink nub with the tip of his tongue. Her stomach clenched in tension, and she gasped. Seth lifted his head and gave her a slow smile.

“I take it you like that?” he said. “How about this? Do you like this?”

He slid lower on the bed, dropping small kisses across her stomach as he moved toward her waiting clit. After what seemed an eternity, he reached the small nub that was the center of her pleasure. Using both his thumbs, he held her exposed to his view, then blew softly on the sensitive flesh. Calla rolled her head back and forth, then lifted her hips toward him, begging for more.

Seth chuckled, then allowed his tongue to graze her flesh. Calla stiffened, pleading with him wordlessly for more. Lowering his head, Seth allowed his tongue to play with her clit, flicking it sensuously. She pressed up against him once more, and with a sigh he sucked her into his mouth.

She gasped. “Oh Goddess, don’t stop,” Calla said, twisting against him. Waves of desire built in her, and she strained to achieve that pinnacle of pleasure she knew was waiting for her.

Seth laughed again, and the vibrations from his laughter stimulated her almost beyond endurance. Then he leaned back abruptly.

“I don’t want to make this too easy for you,” he said. “I think you need to earn your pleasure. Make it worth my while to finish things.”

Leaning up on her elbows, Calla stared at him blankly.

“What do you want?” she finally said, her voice husky with desire. “I’ll do anything for you. Anything.”

Her words sent a twist of agonized longing through his groin. She was so beautiful, lying there with her legs splayed wide open and her eyes glazed with lust. She was fully his, he realized. This was his life mate, right in front of him, and she wanted to bring him pleasure. It was more wonderful that anything he could have imagined.

“I’ll let you decide,” he said finally. “You do whatever you feel you need to do. I’ll trust you to be fair,” he added with a smile.

“I’m honored that you would trust me,” she whispered. “I won’t betray that trust, now or ever. Now come up here.”

She gestured imperiously to the bed, and he bounded up beside her. Pushing him back against the covers with one hand on his chest, Calla knelt between his legs.

“I think you need a taste of your own medicine,” she said, looking up at him slyly.

Then she allowed her head to drop slowly toward his jutting cock. It pulsed in anticipation, and Seth let out of a low groan. When she was just an inch from the head, she stopped moving. Then she slowly flicked out her tongue, allowing the tip to swirl lightly around the swollen helmet.

Seth gasped, then reached his hand toward her head. She looked up at him, abandoning his hard length to glare at him warningly. He dropped the hand to his side and let his head fall back with a sigh.

“That’s better,” she whispered. Reaching out with her tongue, she found the small groove on the underside of his penis, exploring it for several seconds. Seth gasped, then thrust his hips up at her.

“Take all of me,” he gasped. Calla laughed huskily, then allowed her mouth to encase his length. Massaging the base of his cock with one hand, she bobbed her head quickly up and down on him, sucking steadily to give him as much pleasure as she could. She could feel him tensing beneath her, and realized he was close to coming.

Then he gave a stifled moan, grasped her arms and dragged her up his body.

“Cover me,” he said, looking in her eyes fiercely, then he slanted his mouth across hers in a powerful kiss. She pressed down against him, teasing his cock with her hot, wet lips. He felt so good, and as she slid down his length she felt tears build in her eyes.

Then, fully impaled, she rocked vigorously against him, still locked in his embrace as he kissed her. His cock thrust high and hard, right to her womb. It was too much to bear.

With a cry, orgasm washed over her.

“I love you,” she moaned as she spasmed against him.

“I love you, too,” he grunted, thrusting as hard as he could. She was going wild on top of him, and it was all he could do not to come on the spot.

“Seth, there’s something I should tell you,” she gasped.

“What?”

“My birth control implant is expired,” she said.

An image of her stomach swelling with their child washed over him, and it was too much. He came in a burst, collapsing under her. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I guess it’s been a little too long.”

“I don’t think that will be a problem,” she said, flexing her muscles around his length. He hardened instantly, then moved against her experimentally.

“No, I guess it won’t be,” he replied with an answering smile, then he rolled both of them over, so she was lying under him. He gave an experimental thrust, his sex still fully erect within her.

“Oh, that feels good,” she whispered. She raised her legs around his waist, cradling him with her body.

Taking the hint, he started moving rhythmically within her. With each thrust, his length scraped along her engorged clit. She was so stimulated by the exquisite sensation that she felt as if she might explode. Then another orgasm hit her, and her body arched beneath his.

Seth laughed triumphantly as she came, then thrust against her even harder. He knew he wouldn’t be able to last too much longer. The feeling of her muscles locking up around him as she took her pleasure was beyond anything he’d ever felt. If he could just get her to come one more time before he exploded...

He reached down with one hand, grasping her hip and adjusting the angle slightly.

She gasped in response, and he pressed his advantage. Within seconds she was coming again, screaming out her pleasure and milking him with her internal muscles.

Finally, when it seemed he could hardly breath, he gave in to the pleasure. As his sperm shot deep into her body, he thought about their child; a child who might be created that very moment. Tears of joy ran down his face as he collapsed on her. She was crying too, whispering his name over and over. He rolled one side, cradling her against his body, and sighed. Then they were both asleep.

* * * * *

Sarai couldn’t sleep. She was restless, almost as if she was waiting for something.

Jax? She still couldn’t believe what she’d done with him, what it made her feel like when he’d touched her. It was so different than anything she’d ever experienced before…

For the first time, she had some small understanding of the power that Seth had held over Calla. Calla still missed him; Sarai could see it in her eyes every day. A woman who got involved with a man like Jax would be left mourning, too. He was dangerous.

Too dangerous to allow herself to have any further contact with, she thought sadly.

After several hours of tossing and turning in bed, Sarai sat up and pulled on a light robe. She would go out to the garden. The night air never failed to calm her, and the soft sounds of night insects enchanted her. She had missed so much, growing up in the mining belt. Not a day passed when she wasn’t grateful that Able and Mali would have more in their childhood than she had dreamt possible.

Her room was on the ground floor of the hostel, the only one with a private entrance to the side garden. It was a small, overgrown area they had yet to tame, but Sarai liked it that way. The air was heavy with the scent of tropical blossoms. Small creatures rustled in the bushes, little furry things that she secretly fed scraps from the kitchen. With their brown eyes and fluffy tails, the animals had quickly grown used to her presence, at times following her and begging for treats.

She wandered over to a small bench, seated herself and looked up at the stars.

Somewhere, among that glittering trail, was the asteroid belt. Somewhere there were more Pilgrims, more children raised without joy and married off at early ages. It all seemed so far away, now… Her life with Calvin was more of a vague nightmare than reality.

“Hello, Sarai,” a deep voice said softly in the darkness. Sarai’s head whipped around, and fear ran through her. Who was out there?

“Don’t worry,” the voice said. “It’s just me, Jax.” His tall, solid form materialized from the overgrown foliage. His face was shadowed, and the pale, glistening moonlight made him look almost unreal. What was he doing here, in her garden?

“I couldn’t sleep,” he said, as if reading her thoughts. “I thought the night air might refresh me. Are you having trouble sleeping, too?”