Alien Overnight (15 page)

“Does the term
hurry up and wait
mean anything to you?” she’d asked after the first five minutes.

Just returning from the head, Shauss had bypassed his own seat and gone to her, perching heavily on the arm of her chair.

“I know something we could do to pass the time.” His intimate tone and the way he leaned into her had made her strain away from him, baring her teeth in annoyance.

“In your dreams!”

“I believe that would be in
your
dreams, sweetheart,” Shauss taunted. Kellen saw the bright blush staining her cheeks and cringed in anticipation of her eruption.

“Make that, over my dead body,” she fired back, shoving at his hip. “Get off, you arrogant prick!”

Maybe you
’
d better back off and let her settle down before we see the minister
.

Shauss rose at once and resumed his seat, but he wasn’t quite done with her. “By the way, Monica, I’m keeping track of your foul language, and just as soon as Ketrok clears you, I intend to spank your sweet little ass, one swat for every infraction.” At her gasp, he added, “Five for every time you call me an arrogant prick, which means you’re up to twenty already for that one alone.”

When her outraged eyes swung to his, Kellen shrugged. He’d enjoyed her smile, but nothing appealed to him like her fury. “I agree wholeheartedly, though I have…somewhat more enjoyable punishments in mind.”

“That’s bullshit!” she shouted.

“Twenty-one,” Shauss ticked off.

77

Robin L. Rotham

“Aaaah!” Monica screamed. “That’s not fair.” When Shauss opened his mouth, she added, “And if you say nobody ever said life is fair, I’m going to ram your balls up into your windpipe, you got it?”

Kellen managed to suppress his smile and narrowed his eyes at Shauss.
That wasn
’
t
exactly what I had in mind when I said to let her settle down
.

“The minister will see you now,” came a tranquil voice from the open door of the Council chambers. Kellen stood at once and nodded to the page.

“Thank you, Milnon.” He held out his elbow once more. “Dr. Teague…”

No. He wouldn’t. He
couldn
’
t
.

Monica didn’t move, but pinned him instead with a penetrating stare. “There’s no way you’re—
Please
tell me you’re not taking me to meet the Minister of the High Council.”

Kellen looked honestly confused. “I thought you’d be pleased.”

“Pleased! Are you insane?”

The fresh-faced page started, eyes wide, as she jumped to her feet.

“What—” Kellen began.

“For God’s sake, look at me!” She swept an agitated arm down her front. “I’m dressed for clam digging, not rubbing elbows with heads of state! My bellybutton’s showing,” she enunciated with a snarl, volume gradually increasing. “My hair’s a rat’s nest, I have no makeup and I can’t fit into my fucking
shoes
!

“So no, Kellen,” she roared in his face, breathing hard, hands on her hips. “I—am—

not—
pleased
!”

Three things hit her at once—the scent of pheromones drowning her nasal passages, the dangerous glint of lust in Kellen’s slitted eyes and Shauss’ wicked murmur,

“Twenty-two,” from directly behind her.

Heart pounding, she froze like a rabbit stalked by big hungry cats, twitching with awareness as heat slithered through her abdomen and twisted its throbbing tendrils between her legs. One false move and she was seriously fucked, and for some incomprehensible reason, she was feeling compelled to make that move.

“It sounds to me, Commander, like your female is more than fit for mating.”

The smooth rumble was like an ice cube dropped down the back of her shirt and she pivoted to face the legendary Minister Cecine in all his flame-haired glory. Deep-set eyes dancing with amusement in a long, narrow face drew attention away from the scar that zagged down one cheek and under his chin. His fists were propped on his hips, holding open his ceremonial robes and showcasing all seven and a half lean feet of him.

“Perhaps we should postpone our interview until you’ve helped her work off some of her frustration.”

78

Alien Overnight

“But I—you—” Monica went cross-eyed with fury. The Garathani leader was

smiling at them all indulgently, as if they were sweet little newlyweds anxious to be off for their Hawaiian honeymoon. “You’ve got to protect me from these assholes!”

“Twenty-three.”

As if it were attached to someone else, Monica watched her hand fly out, saw it land hard across Shauss’ cheek. Aggravatingly, though her fingers stung from the force of the blow, not only did his head not snap back, but the man didn’t so much as flinch.

In fact, nobody reacted to her slap, but the tension level in the room skyrocketed.

“Thank you for your understanding, Minister,” Kellen acknowledged with a dip of his head. “Shall we try this again tomorrow?”

“I look forward to it.”

Cecine turned on his heel and stalked back into the Council chambers, followed closely by his page. Monica’s breath caught in her throat as the door slid closed behind them with silent finality.

Oh shit, she was in for it now.

79

Robin L. Rotham

Lust was a dense, invisible fog in the air, and she was suffocating in its seductive caress.

Run
!
Run
!
RUN
!

Monica tried, but the instant she heeded the impulse, hands like iron snagged her wrists and halted her flight with a suddenness that jerked her off balance. Exploding with adrenaline, she fought silently, jumping and kicking and twisting against the two men who held her, determined to escape the inescapable. They each managed to snatch one of her ankles from midair and then she was suspended there between them, still writhing, every muscle straining, unwilling to accept their domination. At least not without a fight.

Sweat beaded on her skin while she struggled, easing the friction of their hold and creating an intimately moist bond with their hot hands—and God help her, she finally groaned with the sheer primitive thrill of it. Reason gradually pushed back the mindless tide of panic and she was both dismayed and excited to feel the slickness drenching her panties, to realize that resisting these powerful men, who were obviously determined to fuck her into submission, was satisfying some perverse inner appetite even as it inflamed another.

She could fight their relentless desire until the end of time, but she was helpless in the face of her own.

“No!” she cried out as her body sagged between them, drained of energy.

In that moment, in the silence broken only by her ragged breathing, she waited, eyes closed, until they dropped her ankles one at a time and hauled her upright.

Neither of them eased his grip on her wrist.

“Do you go peaceably to my quarters, or do we carry you?” Kellen inquired, his tone implacable. The fucker wasn’t even breathing hard.

Swallowing her retort, she said with dignity, “I’ll walk.”

*

Monica kept her head down, hiding both her nerves and her excitement as they led her through the vast, winding blue corridors and into a long atrium. Kellen slowed his strides as they entered, and the cavernous room, which had been humming with conversation, grew abruptly still for their endless passage to the other side. Even without looking, Monica could feel the weight of a hundred or more eyes following her, assessing her, and the knowledge that her state of disgrace must be obvious made her cheeks grow hot.

80

Alien Overnight

Annoyed at Kellen for prolonging her humiliation, she twisted against his grip, and in an instant she was crowded between two impossibly hard bodies.

“Perhaps I should let Shauss take care of your spanking right here,” Kellen growled into her ear, shoving his free hand into the hair at her nape and forcing her face up to his. God, he looked angry. And horny.

“Take a look around you, Monica,” he whispered without releasing her gaze. “You are the only woman here, a fresh young beauty on a ship full of men who have not touched female flesh for a decade or more. Do you really want to risk the kind of riot that could ensue if Shauss were to bare your virgin ass before them all? I doubt he’d make it to three swats before you were at the bottom of a very large pile.”

Although the silly teenage girl in her had stopped listening at “fresh young beauty”, the rest of her was appalled. She didn’t dare look, but the rustling and murmurs that now filled the silence were unnerving. When one lone voice from across the room begged with plaintive humor for her to take the risk, she stiffened, her face on fire. They’d all heard every word Kellen said to her.

Without warning, he lowered his face to hers, sweeping past her lips and teeth to plumb her depths with his tongue.
Finally
… Consciousness faded once more as he surged strongly in and out, not finessing, not caressing, just fucking her mouth with his own, plainly establishing his ownership of her for the benefit of his men. And as much as she wanted to hate him for ruining this first engagement of their mouths with his caveman tactics, only his hand at her neck kept her from sinking to the floor in a puddle of molten need.

“Who do you belong to?” he finally demanded tightly, breathing hard enough now to stir the hair at her neck.

“You,” she whispered, dazed and lost in his darkening eyes, in his savory scent.

He squeezed the back of her neck until she cried out and demanded again, “Who do you belong to?”

“Kellen and Shauss,” she choked.

“Tell them all.”

“I belong to Kellen and Shauss!” she shouted now, blinking back tears of rage. The arrogant prick was going to pay for this.

*

An eternity later, she was no closer to making him pay.

“Empran, this is
subject
Monica Teague,” she snarled. “I demand that you release me immediately!”

Once in Kellen’s quarters, they’d stripped her naked and pushed her into a large rounded shower, where she was pounded six ways from Sunday by jets of steaming water. Shauss had pointed to the dermal scrub dispenser on the wall and she’d soaped herself from head to foot, supremely conscious of their eyes following her every move.

81

Robin L. Rotham

After she’d rinsed off and dried herself with the enormous and fabulously absorbent towel Shauss handed her, Kellen had pushed her to the center of his sleeping chamber, her back to the door, and ordered Empran to place her in tension restraints.

Then he’d posed her like some fucking life-sized action figure and dragged his tongue through her mouth one more time before they both left the room.

And here she’d stood for what seemed like hours, her feet shoulder-width apart, her hands behind her head, elbows back, and her impossibly high breasts thrusts out so far she could see them without looking down. It was a classic arrest stance, and for some reason her wayward thoughts kept drifting to the more intimate aspects of detainment. Like frisking. And cavity searches. And nightsticks. And hell if it wasn’t inspiring a hot, slick trickle down the inside of her left thigh.

She must be one sick puppy.

“Release not authorized.”

“Fuck!”

“That’s twenty-four, I believe.” Shauss strolled into her line of vision, smirking.

“Not counting whatever I decide you’ve earned for disrespecting me in front of the Minister.”

Monica felt her cheeks pinken. Again. Damn it, when had he come in? Unable to think of anything to say that wouldn’t get her in deeper, she kept her mouth shut and glared at him.

“Ah, she’s learning,” he goaded, stepping close and stroking a forefinger back and forth over the fluffy curls covering her mons. Oh, he smelled good. It was obvious from his damp hair and silky, loose-fitting garments that he’d cleaned up, too, but it wasn’t soap or cologne teasing her senses. Unable to control the bump of her pulse or the heat that washed over her, Monica focused on the blank wall beyond his head and tried to empty her mind. He was
not
going to get to her.

Then his nosy finger edged downward.

“What have we here?” he murmured. Seeing his smile out of the corner of her eye, she inwardly cursed her own lack of control, profoundly thankful he couldn’t read the racy thoughts she’d been entertaining while he was gone. “I think someone enjoys being at our mercy, Kel.”

Her pulse doubled instantly and she had trouble getting air into her lungs.

“Oh, she really likes you,” Shauss drawled then, wiping his damp fingertip over the pulse point in her throat. “Just hearing your name makes her heart race.”

Monica ground her teeth, wishing she could smack him again, no matter what the cost.

“That’s nothing,” came the amused reply. “Hearing hers makes me harder than a crunite pillar.”

Shauss stepped aside, and suddenly there he was in front of her, the fearsome Commander Kellen, big, bare-chested and beautiful enough to make angels sing. He 82

Alien Overnight

snagged her eyes before she could look away, and her heart threatened to pound its way out of her chest. Without saying a word, he reached out and touched the damp hair between her legs. But the touch was startlingly cold, making her gasp loudly.

And then the cold was sliding in, the warmth of his hard finger pushing it up high inside her vagina, and she gasped again when he withdrew a bit and shoved in once more to make sure whatever he’d inserted was firmly seated.

“What…” She trailed off as he withdrew, breathing deeply as tingles started to radiate from the cold, and chills erupted on every inch of her skin. “What did you do to me?”

His smile was not reassuring. He drew his finger, wet with her secretions, across her lower lip before answering.

“I gave you a muscle relaxant to ease my alien invasion.”

“But I thought you said my hymen was gone,” she said, confused.

“There’s more to a virgin’s pain than the piercing of her veil,” he assured her, pushing his finger between her lips, her teeth, touching it to her tongue. “Especially for one as small as you.” Rubbing her tongue, he invited, “Taste your desire for me.”