Bane (4 page)

“That is a discussion for another day, for now, we must affect the cure for my people no matter what you can do with it.”

Ava swallowed heavily at the determination in his tone. “Um, I already have the ability to weaponize your genetics into a toxin. I have touched around thirty of your people in the last few days. They not only accepted my touch but welcomed it.”

He extended his hand to her and helped her down the last rocks, steadying her as they walked back to his home. “Why do you need me then?”

She waited until her feet were on smooth tile once again and turned to him with a small smile on her lips. “I need you so I can make a cure.”

His smile was almost glowing in the fading light. “I am glad you said that.”

He lifted her off her feet and carried her into the house.

“The carrying isn’t necessary. I am not going to run away.”

“I know, but our time is limited, and so, I will not waste any of it with you out of my grasp.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Do you know the history between the Admaryn and your people?”

She swallowed and nodded. “I am aware of it. Your original ancestors had a fascination for my people, and when we turned out to be a suitable mix for the Admaryn genetics, the purists decided to kill everyone on Earth. They failed, and they were penalized for their attempt. They left Admar, leaving only a few sleepers, and blended their genes across the stars.”

He walked through the silent house, back to the master bedroom, and there, he set her on her feet. “That is a fairly succinct summation.”

“Thank you. We are given the basics of our interaction with other species when we leave Earth.” Her mouth went dry as he began to remove his vest with brief, economical movements.

Kondr unfastened his shirt and tugged it free of his trousers. “What other races did your ancestors encounter?”

“Dhemons and Enjels. They had a war over possession of our species with the warriors of Dhema saving our asses.” She licked her lips as his chest became visible when the fabric parted.

“I see. Are all your people as pale as you are?”

“No. We are a variety of colours and sizes.”

He chuckled and caressed her cheek. “I like the contrast in our skins. You glow like a full moon, and you are so very soft.”

Her blush was uncontrollable. “I don’t know what to say.”

He leaned in and pressed his lips to her neck. “You have never heard compliments from a lover?”

She shivered from head to toe. “Um…no.”

“It’s a pity. A woman as lovely as you should know it.”

He trailed kisses down her neck, and her body responded with a riot of heat, moisture and a fine trembling.

She wanted to tell him that she was nothing special, and she knew it, but words bottled themselves inside her for fear of breaking the spell he was weaving on her senses.

Kondr stroked his hands over her back, and she raised her hands to touch his chest, timidly returning the caress. The contact sent prickles of electricity down her arm to localize in her nipples. She inhaled sharply as her caresses worked on her body as if his hands were touching her.
Damn, I hate being a contact healer.

She couldn’t even enjoy sex without having her body jerk her around.

She throttled back the tear and decided to work the effect to her advantage. Her caresses grew wider, and she stepped toward him to run her hands over the individual muscles of his back. This act pressed her breasts firmly against his chest and the contact caused a low moan to exit her lips.

Kondr’s hands tightened on her, crushing her to him. His words were hot in her ear, “Do that again.”

He loosened her gown, and it slipped from her shoulder to puddle at her feet. Ava wanted to pull her hair around her to block his gaze, but he must have sensed her impulse. He swept her hair back over her shoulders and knelt to take her nipples in his mouth in turn.

Heat bolted from her breasts to her centre, causing embarrassing moisture to gather until she pressed her thighs tightly together to ease the ache. Another moan broke from her, and his hands tightened again.

The grip on her back was comforting, but she finally realised that without the bulk of her robes and the covering of her gloves, he was much larger and far more dangerous than she was. It sent a new frisson of sensation through her. Fear and trust were warring in her system, and it was as peculiar an aphrodisiac as she had ever heard of.

He spanned her waist with those strong hands, cupped her buttocks and stroked her thighs. Ava let out the noises that he seemed to crave. She gasped when he lifted her from next to the bed and dropped her on the covers.

Kondr removed his boots and trousers and joined her on the soft fabric of the duvet.

“We are in no hurry, Avaneer. We have two days. I intend to make every moment count.” He pressed a kiss to her throat, and she reached up to thread her hand through his hair.

“I trust you, Kondr. Take the time you want, and I will be here.” She watched his expression shift from smug to challenge.

He moved over her, his body blocking out the meagre light, his knees parting her thighs. “I don’t need any time.” He grabbed her hand and placed it on the erect cock that was barely visible in the darkness.

Her talent shifted her perception again, and the slow strokes that she began on the long, thick shaft translated into strokes on her own sex in a very peculiar way. Another moan worked its way out of her throat as she paused an inch away from her own release.

While she was a stranger to sex, a self-induced orgasm was very familiar, and she was right on the edge.

“Kondr, I would really not go over the edge without you.”

His gaze was unfocused. “What?”

She confessed in desperation to have him do something. “When I touch you, my talent equates it to touching myself, and I am just about to go over the edge.”

Shock rippled through him. “Prove it.”

Shrugging, she stroked her hand over him, circling the weeping tip of his cock with her thumb over and over. The caress translated into a circular pattern on her clit, and her breath caught in her chest. Her hips bucked upward, and she stroked his cock faster as her inner walls clenched on the fingers that were not there.

She broke into low sobs and suddenly released his cock as her orgasm swept through her in a wave.

Kondr spread her thighs wide and put his lips on her sex, parting the folds with a sweep of his tongue.

Ava’s channel fluttered as his tongue worked into her, drinking her in. He lapped feverishly at her, his hands holding her thighs in an iron grip.

She could hear the breathless cries of her own voice as her release didn’t fade but picked up speed and ferocity as he worked her into a frenzy. She fought his grip, but he held her fast until her body bucked in his grip and she screamed. Fire poured through her system until she collapsed with a whimper under Kondr.

He shifted his hips until his cock was pressing at the opening he had so recently been worshiping. As he surged forward, he lifted her left leg to allow him complete access.

Her startled whimper and his snapping through her hymen caught them both by surprise. “I thought you said…”

She fought tears of pain as her body began the process of healing. “I said it had been more than ten years. My whole life is more than ten years. It feels better now, can you move?”

It felt amazing, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. The internal massage of the length and width that filled her just to the stretching point and a teeny bit beyond was one of the more fascinating experiences of her life. If it got better than this, she might just die happy.

He rocked his hips back and slid forward. “We will discuss this later.”

She pressed two fingers to his lips. “I am already healing, keep moving please.”

He sucked her fingers into his mouth, and the wet heat swirling around her digits sent ripples of reaction through every shivering inch of her skin. Her lids drooped as she pulled her fingers from his mouth, and she leaned up to press her lips to his skin. He tasted of spice, salt and honey.

Ava worked her lips against the column of his neck, and he groaned. She could see why he liked the noises, they let him know he was doing the right thing, and the same went for her. She licked his shoulder, and he hissed a moment before he pressed her back to the bedding and held her there while he plunged and pumped inside her until a fine shivering took over his body.

He pressed his lips to her shoulder, and Ava flinched when his teeth dug into her skin. She gasped, but he reached between them to stroke her clit hard and fast, her climax was on her in an unstoppable rush. He shouted and thrust into her, holding his hips tightly to hers as he bucked sharply.

Deep inside, she felt the jet of semen that carried the DNA she needed, that they needed. He released her shoulder and licked the wound.

Ava caressed his cheek, and he took her finger into his mouth again, swirling his tongue around and around the digit. Unbelievably, her body started to warm to his again.

He released her finger with a pop. “You should have told me.”

She chuckled and ran her fingers through his hair. “You figured it out. It is hard to explain to someone when you absolutely have to have them have sex with you.”

He rolled with her until she was draped across him. “I would have made love to you regardless. Now, tell me about what happens to you when I touch you.”

She laughed lightly and rested her head against his chest. “It feels wonderful, but the problem lies in when I touch you. My talent makes a patient’s injuries mine, but when I touch someone casually or not casually, as in your case, the touch translates into a caress on myself.”

He chuckled. “Interesting and very peculiar. Is it a common affliction of contact healers?”

She shrugged. “We don’t discuss our sex lives. We live covered from neck to toe under several layers to prevent contact unrelated to healing.”

Kondr stroked her back. “Do you have what you need?”

“I don’t know yet.” She leaned up and looked into his gemstone eyes. “I will know in the morning.”

He ran his hand up her spine and settled it on the back of her neck, bringing her down to him for a kiss. “Then, I believe we should make absolutely sure that you have what you need.”

“Fine. Go ahead. I am not stopping you.” Her tone was as prim as she could make it when she was tied to the headboard with long, wide leather straps. She had tried to stop him when he was tying her, but he had proved her earlier theory of his being physically more able than she was by holding her wrists with one hand and slipping them into the loop with the other.

He grinned, and she could see him far more clearly with the bedside lamps on.

Ava looked him up and down, the enthusiastic arc of his cock bobbed below ridged abs that coasted upward until the rock-hard pecs shifted with every move. His biceps were larger than one of her thighs and the corded mass of his neck that suited his wide jaw, pointed ears and catlike eyes.

He was lovely, like the sturdiest dark elf that nature could have created. Ava shivered internally when she realised that back on Earth, he could lift cars and leap several meters into the air. The fact that she could engage in incredible feats in an Earth-gravity environment was something that she ignored. It was much hotter to be in the arms of a man with exceptional strength.

“Now, where to begin?” His low chuckle was devious.

Kondr stared at her with his sapphire eyes until she squirmed under his gaze. “You seemed to enjoy the breezes off the ocean, so we will start with this.”

This
was his pursed lips, blowing lightly across her torso, the speed of the breeze was far beyond what his lungs should have been able to manage.

“What…how…what are you doing?” She squirmed.

He grinned and lapped at her skin before blowing again. It became an endless round of licking, blowing and shivers that were as uncontrolled as they were pleasurable.

Kondr continued his tireless efforts across her torso. Even the sensitive undersides of her breasts were not ignored. Her navel was surprisingly sensitive, but the skin just below it reacted violently to his caress.

“You have the loveliest thighs, sensitive to my every touch, shivering and so soft.” His words were murmured against her skin as he trailed designs on her thighs that she could almost see.

Her body should have ached, her skin should have been chafed, and it would have been if not for her talent. Ava’s body repaired itself as soon as any minor tears occurred.

In the light, she could see his smile as he slid his fingers between her thighs and into her with a smooth stroke. “Subtlety works on you, good to know.”

He moved between her thighs and slid into her, stretching her inner walls until she wanted to groan with the pleasure rippling through her. It felt so damn good to have him moving inside her that she knew she would spend nights weeping and aching for him if she survived her time on Nafki.

Her arms were still pinned above her head, so she wrapped her legs around him and pulled him into her as hard as she could. He continued a slow and steady pace, but she wanted more.

She squirmed toward him, and a frustrated whimper broke free when she couldn’t make him understand what she wanted.

“Tell me, Avaneer.” His voice was low and all honey once again. He didn’t move faster. Instead, he slowed down and went shallow.

“Harder, deeper, faster, please, Kondr.” Her voice was breathless and desperate.

“What? I didn’t hear it.” He lowered his head until his pointed ear was next to her lips.

She licked his lobe and whispered, “Harder, deeper, faster. Please.”

“Say my name.”

“Please, Kondr.” Her voice was a low moan, but he increased his pace and gave her what she had so politely asked for.

His thrusts were faster, deeper, harder, and she gave him what he wanted in the vocal department. He kept his ear next to her lips, and she let every moan, groan and sigh pass to him without being self-conscious about it. Shame could come later when he wasn’t bringing her body to orgasm once again.

Her release was on her without warning. She cried out, “Kondr!” and sobbed as her body rocked with every shift of his hips.

He groaned and met her in release, his cock flexing inside her in the most intriguing way. Their bodies were coated in sweat, and he relaxed on top of her. Clumsily, he untied her hands, and she wrapped them around his neck, holding his head to her chest and sifting her fingers through the dark silk of his hair.

When he finally could move, he grabbed the edge of the duvet and pulled it over both of them, creating a snug cocoon from which neither of them wanted to move.

The moment that Avaneer woke, she knew that the nocturnal connection had been successful. A bitter disappointment that she had no excuse to keep Kondr as her love monkey washed over her. Sighing, she left his embrace and headed to the bathroom.

Shimmering silver over her abdomen told her what she needed to know. Her body was rapidly manufacturing a series of antibodies that would prevent any further infection by the pathogen to anyone in the Admorik bloodline, including her son.

She took a shower, washing away all exterior traces of her one night of normal and enthusiastic sex. A few tears joined the water, and when she stepped out of the shower with a towel wrapping her from breast to knees, Kondr was waiting for her.

He reached out to her, but she stopped him. “I have what I need. We can go back to the lab now. My body is producing the cure.”

Angry frustration moved across his features. “We had forty-eight hours.”

“I didn’t need the day and a half. It is done, and the sooner Rathos can culture it, the better for your world.” She kept her face blank and moved past him into the bedroom. She picked up her bodysuit and robes, but his hands stopped her.

“No. You will dress as one of us while you are here. That includes your hair. Until we get you some shoes, you may wear your boots.”

“How thoughtful.” She frowned. “Why am I not allowed the clothing of my rank and occupation?”

“I don’t want to see you covered up like that. It makes you unhappy.” He caressed her cheek.

She wanted to lean into his hand, wanted it more than anything, but she held back and straightened. “What I feel does not concern you. We are here to provide the cure for your people, it has been created and we now, need to get it to the physicians as soon as possible.”

His face grew angry, but he nodded his head with a jerk. “You have three minutes to get ready.”

Ava throttled her tears back and slipped into the yellow gown from the day before. It was too long for her by eight inches, but it made her happy to see the colour. Her boots under the dress felt weird, but they covered her feet and let her feel slightly more dressed than without them.

She quickly went to the bathroom and brushed her hair out until the damp strands hung straight.

Ava returned to the bedroom where Kondr was putting the final clasps together on his vest. She wistfully overlaid a mental image of the nude skin and lithe muscle over the reality of his clothing. It was something she was planning to do at every opportunity.

Kondr was completely silent as they walked through the halls of his home and got into the skimmer. He slammed the controls into gear, and they shot back to the treatment building at a ridiculous speed.

“Um, this won’t work if you kill me before Rathos gets the sample.” It was the best thing to say when screaming in terror was her other option.

He didn’t reply, but he slowed their speed to something more reasonable.

As they parked, he muttered, “You know the way.”

Dismissed, she left him and walked up to the second floor and smiled at Rathos when she dug him out from behind the attendants. “I have it. Set me up with a plasma drip, and you can start taking the blood that contains the cure.”

“You are serious? Are you sure?”

“I am sure that my body is producing antibodies that will work on an Admorik.” She didn’t want to say how, and she really hoped he did not ask.

He didn’t ask, with attendants standing by nervously, the drip she asked for was set up and the donor pack was set on her other side.

Rathos was waiting for the initial sample, and when he received the tube, he moved off with it to begin his testing.

Ava felt the needles attach to her skin and breathed in deep meditation. She had to keep her body from fighting off the needles and that required a lot of concentration.

Replacing her own blood was one of the easiest healings that she could do for herself. It caused little to no trauma, and she was sure that her baby was safe in its multi-celled form.

Avaneer relaxed into the donation of blood and waited for Rathos’s shout of relief. It was not long in coming.

She felt a hand on her arm and a voice asked, “How much can you donate?”

“Two litres a day for safety. But I can be back here tomorrow morning to do it again.” She cracked open one eye, and Kondr was kneeling at her side with concern on his face. It was he who had spoken.

“Isn’t that a lot?”

“For anyone who isn’t a contact healer, probably. For me, it will just make me tired and queasy.”

Rathos was hovering behind Kondr with a data pad in his hand.

“Dr. Rathos noted something peculiar in your blood work.”

Ava tightened and then breathed to keep the blood flowing through the tubes. “Nothing peculiar. Precisely what was needed.”

He looked at her with surprise. “You know you are pregnant?”

She chuckled weakly. “How else was I going to trick my body into protecting another genetic line?”

“And you offered me your death as a solution?”

The medical attendants cleared the area, working on the first samples of blood while the next filled the pack with every heartbeat.

“The mixing of bloodlines may be in the current Admaryn, but there are no mixed races here on Nafki. Why would my little half-breed be welcome?”

His words were soft as he leaned in close. “You could have asked.”