Dark Planet Warriors: The Serial (Books 1-3) (16 page)

Strange, inscrutable male.

I trace my fingers down his sharp cheekbones, down past his lips, which are parted. In contrast to the hard elegance of his features, they’re soft and sensuous. Unable to resist, I kiss him. At first, his lips are cool, but as I part them with my tongue, they become warm. His tongue meets mine, and I taste a hint of myself and the fresh water of the pool.

Warmth rushes through me, all over again.

I run my hands over his bare back, feeling rippling muscle and the soft irregularity of the occasional scar. Again I bring my legs up around him, grinding my hips, enjoying the feel of our bodies connecting, buffeted by the water’s embrace.

I kiss him, enjoying the sensation, running my tongue over the sharp points of his fangs.

I don’t know what purpose they serve, but that little detail turns me on.

His erection presses against me, and I bring my hand down, my fingers curling around his cock.

Oh, my.

He’s nothing short of impressive.

I run my hand along its length. There are small, raised ridges along the top of his shaft. A sigh escapes me as I wonder what it would feel like inside me.

I close my fingers around his erection and move my hand back and forth, drawing a satisfied growl from him. He pulls me close, his strong arms curling around my waist. Slowly, he guides himself inside me, thrusting deep, as I let out a satisfied groan.

The ridges at the top of his shaft rub against me, against my clit, feeling so good, and as I rock my hips back and forth, that sweet sensation builds again.

He lets me fuck him for a while, running his strong fingers through my hair, grunting in pleasure. I lose myself in the rhythm, enjoying the feeling of having him deep inside me. I let my body take over, going deeper, faster.

Then, all of a sudden, he takes over, reversing our roles, bringing his feet off the floor, our bodies buoyed in the water. He dips below the surface, taking me with him, pulling me close.

I lose air, and I lose sound.

Submerged.

He fucks me, his hands wrapped around my ass, thrusting his hips and pounding harder as I find myself in a breathless, quiet wonderland, surrounded by the galaxy.
 

The cold water wraps around us, but he’s warm.

Our bodies move together. I can’t breathe, but I don’t care. It feels amazing.

He fucks me underwater, fucks me hard, fucks me deep, until I’m coming again, and he’s coming, holding me close. We’re hidden together in darkness, wrapped in a cold, depthless cocoon. We shudder together as release comes, and I cry out, my voice distorted by the water, pale bubbles of air rising sinuously to the surface.

He holds me there for a moment afterwards, and everything is silent and still, but I can feel the pounding of his heart beneath my fingers, telling me that he’s real, and he’s alive.

He may not be Human, but he’s definitely a living, breathing male, who has needs.

I savor the sensation of the afterglow, holding him against me until I can’t take it anymore, deprived of oxygen, my lungs about to explode.

Then I shoot for the surface, pulling him with me, drawing in sweet air. I’m breathless.

For a moment, we just stare at each other, and it’s as if something unexpected has happened between us.

Then, he turns, and without a word, hauls himself up out of the water, liquid sluicing off his magnificent body, highlighting the ripples and contours of his muscular physique.

I half expect him to leave me here, but he’s standing at the edge, holding out a hand. I place my small hand into his large one, and he pulls me up out of the water in a single effortless movement.

He’s too strong for his own good.

Goosebumps instantly appear on my bare skin, drawn out by the cold air.

I look around in panic for the curtain thing, but it’s floated off somewhere and probably sunk down into the depths. It’s nowhere to be seen.

Tarak bends down and picks something up from the floor.

It’s his dress jacket, neatly folded.

With all that drama, when did he have time to fold his suit up into a neat little pile?

“You Humans seem to tolerate low temperatures poorly,” he remarks, draping the jacket around my shoulders. The fabric is thick and soft, and it smells of him. It feels good after being in the pool. I’ve been in the water for so long my fingers have become wrinkled, like little prunes. He fastens the gleaming, black buttons at the front. The sleeves are too long, covering my hands entirely, and the entire thing falls to about mid-thigh. At the back, the long tails of the coat cover the backs of my knees.

It looks ridiculous, but it feels so good. Warm. Familiar.

Meanwhile, the General is still stark naked. “Uh, thanks.” I wrap my arms around my chest, comfortable in my little cocoon, not caring that it’s an oversized Imperial Military dress uniform.

He picks up his pants, throwing them over his shoulder and gestures to me to follow. “Come. Now we can return to my quarters.” He shoots me a pointed look. “Where you were supposed to remain in the first place. All of this could have been avoided.”

“Even that last part?” I tease him, but he simply stares back at me, stone-faced. I roll my eyes. “You could have warned me about the mad scientists. Maybe if you’d explained things a bit better, I wouldn’t have gone out,” I’m unable to take my eyes of his gleaming, naked body. It’s far too distracting. “And General?”

He raises a pale eyebrow.

I point at his pants. “Aren’t you going to, uh, wear those?”

“What for?” He really doesn’t seem to get it. “Does my body offend you, somehow? Even after we’ve mated?”

“No,” I begin, shaking my head. Quite the opposite, actually. “Never mind,” I sigh. “If you ever decide to visit Earth, remind me to go through a few cultural things with you first.”

At least I’ve got a fine view of his taut, toned ass as I follow him back to his quarters, wondering what the hell I’ve gotten myself into.

Tarak

She’s quiet on the way back, this small female. She follows me soundlessly and I wonder if I’ve upset her somehow. We pass through the common area, where several of my soldiers are now seated, eating or playing games or watching the Imperial Broadcast on the large holoscreen.

Some of them glance at us in surprise, but they quickly turn away when they see me.

Of course, they will talk with one another. But they know better than to invade my privacy. The High Council already knows of my transgression, anyway. Mirkel will go running back to them like a pathetic wounded Xargek larvae returning to its queen. But my soldiers will never sell me out to the Nobility.
 

There’s nothing unusual about taking a female in one’s leisure time. A Human is unexpected, though. Some of them probably don’t even know what a Human is.

As their leader, I should be setting an example and following the High Council’s edict discouraging inter-species mating. But I decide I don’t care anymore. I know many of the soldiers take alien mates on the sly, keeping their relationships discreet.

With so few Kordolian females left, they have little choice but to look outside their race for pleasure and companionship.
 

However, I had never thought it was possible to have offspring with another species. This Human female is truly a revelation. And her body is a source of deep, unfettered pleasure.

So responsive. She seemed to enjoy the mating as much as I did.

But I have no idea of Human mating rituals. I don’t know what she expects. Did I please her enough? Was I adequate?

We enter my quarters, the Qualum door unfusing as I stand before it. A thought occurs to me and I turn to her. “How did you mange to open this door?”

She blinks, not seeming to understand. “I don’t really know. I was stupidly trying to pull it open, then I tore a nail,” she shows me her finger, where part of the fingernail is torn, revealing raw pink flesh underneath. “Then somehow it came apart.”

“Did you bleed?”

“A little, I think. Just a drop.”

“Ah.” The traces of my biological signature in her blood must have been enough to activate it.
 

“What do you mean, ‘ah’? Care to explain a little more? You have to be one of the most secretive guys I’ve ever met.”

I keep quiet, and she does that funny thing where her eyes roll up into her head. It seems to be a Human expression of frustration. I don’t want her to know, just yet, that the nanograft she was given came from me. She’s received my blood, and under Kordolian Law, that constitutes a blood-bond. But after what that idiot Mirkel put her through just now, I don’t think she’d process the concept very well.

The door fuses behind us and she closes her eyes, letting out a deep, shuddering sigh.

There are dark circles underneath her eyes, marring her pale, otherwise flawless skin. She seems drained; tired. Of course she’s tired. She’s just survived a nanograft and an abduction attempt.

“Did they harm you?” I ask darkly, pushing the sleeves of the jacket back to reveal her delicate wrists. There are bruises there, and the skin is broken in several places. At some point, she’s bled. Her ankles are also marked, and there’s a faint line along her forehead. They’re marks from restraints. I know them all too well.

“Not really,” she replies. “Don’t worry. You’ve made that creepy doctor suffer enough.”

“Did he touch you?” I’m going to break Mirkel’s neck. Fuck the High Council and the Twelve Noble Houses. If they provoke me, I’ll set into motion the plan the Prince and I have been assembling for so long and I will raze their Empire to the ground.

“Tarak.” She pulls herself from my grasp, placing a hand on my bare chest. “Enough. I’m fine. I’m a lot better than I was when you rescued me from that insect monster, thanks to you. But you need to tell me what you want. You look like you still want to kill that guy. You look as if you want to kill a whole bunch of guys. But why does it bother you so much that I was captured and almost experimented on? I’m not your property, General, no matter what you think. And according to you, I’m
inferior
.”

I open my mouth to argue. Under Kordolian Law, she
is
my property. But seeing the expression on her face, I remain silent. Telling her that would only anger her.

“So I’m asking for the truth now, General. Do you plan on keeping me here? Or are you going to be as good as your word and take me back to Fortuna Tau?”

“You want to go back so badly?”

“It’s my home, General. And they need me in the biomeric plant. As much as I appreciate your efforts to have me healed, I get the feeling your species aren’t really going to accept me. And frankly, that scares the shit out of me. Kordolians in general scare the shit out of me. I’ve actually enjoyed our short time together, and believe it or not, I don’t think you’re really all that bad, I don’t think I’ll survive here.”

She’s right, of course. On Kythia, she would never be accepted as my mate. I’d have to register her as a slave and keep her in an authorized household.

And she, as free and fearless as she is, would be utterly miserable.

But some indisputable facts remain. She’s biologically compatible with our species, and I’ve blood-bonded her
and
mated her. We could possibly have offspring together.

And for the first time, with her, I reached ecstasy. I’m calm now, more at peace than I’ve been in longer than I can remember. The headache has dissipated completely.

Mating with her felt incredible. It was everything I’d been told about, and more.

Perhaps she didn’t feel the same way.

“Did you not enjoy it?” I ask, watching her closely.

“What?” She blinks, seemingly confused. “What are you talking about?”

“The mating.” I’m starting to feel, more strongly than ever, that I can’t let her go. “Was it not as good for you?”

“The sex?” The way she looks up at me, with her pink lips slightly parted, makes me want to do it all over again. “Oh the sex was amazing and you know it. Stop trying to distract from the issue. I mean, you’re obviously experienced when it comes to, uh, pleasuring women, but that’s not going to convince me to stick around. I’m not going to be your concubine, General.”

Experienced? Concubine? What nonsense is she babbling now? I narrow my eyes in annoyance. “What are you talking about, Human? I have not been with another female.”

“I mean, what do you expect me to do, hang around in your quarters all-” She stops mid-sentence, looking at me with wide, disbelieving eyes. “What did you just say?”

“I have not been with another.” I shrug, turning to retrieve food from the internal delivery chute. There’s protein mix and the Veronian food I ordered earlier. I detest the over-sweetened, cloying desserts those six-armed Veronians make, but I have the feeling they might be to Abbey’s taste.

When I turn, she’s staring at me with a shocked expression.

“Why does that surprise you so?” I summon a table from the side wall, tapping a command on the small holo-panel. It slides out, and I place the food upon it. A pair of seats slides out after it, and I gesture for her to sit. “Eat.” I nod towards the woven Veronian package. It’s brightly colored, just like its makers.

She looks at me, then at the package, her eyes green and wide. Under our blue lights, her eyes appear green. In the light of that star called the Sun, they’re brown. I’ve never heard of eyes that can change color before.

She’s still wearing that shocked expression.

“What?” I growl, taking a bite of my protein mix.

“Pants,” she snaps, gesturing to the garment beside me. “Put them on.”

I shrug and pull on the trousers. If it makes her feel at ease, then fine. I could as easily draw out my exo-armor, but it doesn’t seem appropriate in this situation.

So my appearance offends her, and she’s surprised I haven’t been with a female before. I’m confused. What’s her problem? They say on Kythia that Kordolian females are complex creatures, but this Human would certainly be a match for them.

Females. I suspect I will never fully understand what goes on inside their heads.