Hinekiri (22 page)

She knew Richard was new at this and probably was wondering how three managed to complete the act of sex. Hinekiri released her hold on his penis and pushed against his chest. “Lie on your back.”

Richard nodded and sprawled comfortably on the bed, his erection thrusting up from his groin. The head was red and swollen, a pearl of pre-cum beading at the tip. Hinekiri’s gaze traveled upward, across his belly and chest to his face. Something clenched inside her. She didn’t want a threesome. All she wanted was Richard. It was his body she wanted, his hands touching her, pleasuring her. His lips.

Hinekiri reached over and grabbed the control button, deleting the hologram. Another time perhaps. Today, right at this moment, she didn’t want the courtesan label. Richard was the one.

“I thought we were doing experimental this time.”

“I changed my mind. A woman can change their mind, sailor. It’s written in the rules.”

Richard’s brows rose but his lazy grin didn’t alter. “I’m going to have to purchase a copy of the rules.”

“I know where you can find a copy, sailor. I might be able to get you a good price. We can talk about that later.” His gaze on her breasts made them grow heavy. He caught one turgid nipple between his fingers and squeezed until Hinekiri balanced on the slim border between pleasure and pain. A ragged breath escaped as she pressed closer. This was much better—being with only Richard.

He leaned over to take Hinekiri’s lips while he continued to tug at her nipple. The tiny sounds she made deep in her throat when he touched her in a particular way made him smile. His hand slid across her silky shoulder to sweep her hair aside and bare her neck. Bending his head, he nibbled at the tender skin where shoulder met neck. A moan spilled from her lips and she grasped his fingers, tightening his grip on her breast.

“Hinekiri.” The fingernails of her free hand dug into his butt and it felt as though every drop of blood in his veins crowded into his cock. Even though he’d been as hard as a steel rod already. “Woman, you turn me inside out. I can’t think when I’m with you.”

Hinekiri’s chuckle was soft and sultry. “I aim to please.”

She sure pleased him. He was going to miss her once she left. He shoved the thought away and nipped at her earlobe before invading her mouth. Such a smart mouth. He never tired of tasting her, touching her. Hinekiri’s scent and taste washed over him, reminding him of a crisp spring day. Groaning inwardly, he pushed her flat on the mattress and parted her legs.

She grinned at him, her violet eyes sparkling and full of flirtation. His heart lurched painfully and it wasn’t just the fact he was about to get his rocks off. He cared for her. Richard sighed and shoved that thought away too. He kissed her belly and the delicate skin of her inner thighs before moving upward again.

“I’m going to bury myself root-deep.”

“I can imagine it now, how you’ll feel inside me. Stretching me.”

Richard smiled, strumming his fingers across her slippery folds. “As much as I’d enjoy talking, it’s time for action. If you want, you can give a commentary.”

Hinekiri licked across his collarbone then sank her teeth into the top of a pectoral muscle. Richard shuddered, enjoying the bite of pain. He pumped his cock before guiding himself to her pussy. His mind warred with his body—part of him wanting to go slow and the other part needing to pound into Hinekiri, to bury himself hard and fast.

Her channel squeezed the head of his cock. Richard shuddered, the pleasure swelling, soaring through him.

“He penetrated her, holding himself at the mouth of her pussy without moving. It was enough to stretch and tease the walls of her pussy,” Hinekiri said in a throaty voice.

Desire kicked him in the gut. Despite his promise to himself to go slow, he pushed deeper, realizing it was going to end before he started if he didn’t cool his ardor.

“His cock pressed deeper, the swollen hardness of his arousal filling her to capacity.” Hinekiri paused to wink at him and her face was wreathed with the endearingly cheeky and toothy grin he’d come to love. “She loved the feel of impalement so much she clenched her inner muscles, tempting him to go faster and deeper, to stretch her to capacity.”

Hinekiri suited action to word, clamping down on his cock. Urgency thrummed, pounding in his brain. Before he knew it, he’d thrust forcefully, filling her. He wrapped his arms around her and ground his mouth against hers in carnal demand.

Richard withdrew and slammed home again, frantic for the movement, the warmth of her clinging walls. She moved with him, driving him on with sexy cries of encouragement.

“Oh god, Hinekiri.” He plunged into her heat and knew he couldn’t last much longer. Frantic to ensure she enjoyed their joining as much as him, he reached down to massage her clitoris. Another thrust sent fire through his balls. The prickle in his sac spread rapidly, surging outward.

“Just a little more of the finger action, sailor. Yeah, like that. By the goddess!”

He felt the flutters caressing his cock, clamping tight. He was close. So close. Richard pistoned his hips and froze fully seated. Semen exploded from him in long, scorching blasts, the clenching of her womb milking him to completion. Richard wrapped his arms around her tightly, biting the inside of his lip to stop from blurting out how much he cared for her. Each breath exited his lungs in a whistle. His heart raced. He buried his face in her hair, breathing in the scent of exotic flowers.

Finally, when his pulse returned to something resembling normal, he loosened his grip on her slender body and pressed a kiss on her neck.

“That was wonderful.” Well, hell. It had been friggin’ bloody fantastic. But he didn’t trust himself to talk, to explain because he was frightened he’d blurt out he loved her. They didn’t have a future since Hinekiri had to leave for her job. The best he could hope for was that she’d come back and visit.

They spent the rest of the morning and afternoon making love before gathering up several alien weapons, locking up the spaceship, turning on the camouflage unit and riding back to the lodge. They had fun but Richard felt a sense of desperation in his gut—a sick sensation he tried to hide. He didn’t want Hinekiri to think he was hurting. A man had his pride.

Killer and Harry were pacing up and down the verandah when they arrived back at their cabin.

The odd couple
. “What’s up?” Richard stared at Harry in bemusement. A prince. Who’d have guessed?

“Livingston thinks the poachers are going to hunt elephant ivory on Saturday night,” Killer barked.

“How does she know that?” Hinekiri demanded.

Richard’s gaze speared to her. Before they’d left the spaceship, Hinekiri had braided her hair. A long blonde rope flowed down her back while tiny wisps had sprung free and curled around her face. Jeez, she was beautiful.

“Some of the cheetah family were lying in the long grass above the car park near the hippo pools,” Harry enunciated in an upper-class accent. “They heard two of the drivers talking.”

“He talks,” Richard said.

“Yes,” Harry agreed, his mouth dropping open in a big hyena smile.

“Shy,” Killer barked. “How is plan coming along?”

“Hinekiri and I are working on the finer details.” In other words, he and Hinekiri hadn’t a clue what they were going to do and they had better get to it before the animals called their bluff. “Once we’ve received more reconnaissance, it will be easier to refine our plan so we’ll wait until then to give you all the details.”

“Will go report to Livingston,” Killer yapped.

“Good save,” Hinekiri said once the two creatures had trotted from sight. “We’re running out of time. We’ll have to head back to New Zealand soon.”

“I think it’s best if we stick to simple with our plan. All we need to do is terrify the poachers. If Livingston’s information is correct, we can scare them. If creatures from the spirit world made an appearance every night for the rest of our stay, that would probably be enough.”

Hinekiri nodded, her eyes narrowed in concentration. Her frown created a cute furrow between her eyebrows, and without considering it further, Richard leaned close and pressed his lips to the spot then because he couldn’t help himself, he stole a kiss on the lips as well. “What was that for?”

“You looked cute. I—” The crawl of heat started across his face and he returned to the subject at hand in a hurry. “We need to play on their natural superstition and maybe train some of the animals to keep up the pressure whenever needed.” Hell, he’d almost blurted out how much he cared for her. He didn’t want to look pushy or desperate. Man, this male-female stuff didn’t become any easier. Even with age on his side, confusion riddled him.

“Good plan,” Hinekiri said. “Meanwhile, I think we should go out on every available excursion—anything that helps us meet the locals.”

“And slyly drop a mention of local superstitions and hyena men into the conversation.” Damn, they made a great team. “You’d better show me how to operate those weapons we brought back with us. I’ll feel happier once we’re armed.” A real team who faced problems standing side by side.

“I’m a bit surprised we haven’t come across any Torgon.” Hinekiri sauntered into the bedroom. Richard followed, taking a second to admire the sway of her hips—a view he’d never tire of. She unzipped the bag they’d stashed the weapons inside and competently assembled a shiny silver gun-like thing while he watched. Sexy and intelligent despite the bimbo act she performed sometimes.

“Can I do the other one?”

“All yours, sailor.”

Richard followed suit, marveling at the lightness of the weapon. As far as he was concerned, alien races had plenty of good points going for them. They’d come a long way since the dangerous beings shown in
Lost in Space
.

“It’s the same as the gun Luke gave Janaya to use when we went to look for parts. There’s a safety there. That’s the trigger. Point and pull.”

“Seems simple enough. What’s our first tour this afternoon?”

“A Masai village. We can go for a night game drive later.”

Richard grinned. “The perfect place to put our plan into action.”

Chapter Twelve

The days slipped past so quickly that Hinekiri felt out of control. In a matter of days, they would leave Africa. She would leave Richard. A tight band formed around her chest and she had to gasp in order to breathe.

Killer nipped her on the back of the calf to get her attention. By the goddess, she would even miss the mischievous spotty creature and Killer’s faithful companion Harry. “Want beads for collar.”

“Where’s Richard?”

“He busy talking to Masai
moran
. Warriors,” the dog added. “Ask about fairytale of leopard women.”

“I know what
moran
means. I visited the Masai village too.”

“Beads,” Killer barked, her teeth flashing as she landed another sly hit.

She bent to pat Killer but actually wanted to ask more questions without drawing attention. “Has Livingston found out anything about Saturday? The poachers weren’t where we thought they’d be.”

Killer yipped in a peculiar doggy laugh. “Courting couple not go there again. Man turn white and lady scream for long, long time. Ears still ring.”

“Mine too,” Hinekiri added dryly. “That woman had a good set of lungs.”

“Livingston pleased. Ghost stories spreading. Animals not see many people at night.”

“That’s good. I hope the poachers strike in the next three days. We can’t stay any longer.”

“Livingston know we must go,” Killer said. “Harry sad when we leave.”

“Yeah, I know.” Hinekiri worked at putting on a brave smile despite the maudlin thoughts whirring around her mind. Of all the men in all the galaxies, why the fodo crap did she have to meet Richard? He’d changed her, made her feel better about being different. The male accepted her as is, courtesan tendencies and all. Not that she felt like grabbing the nearest male to ease the lonely ache inside anymore. Richard filled that spot admirably.

She gave Killer a final pat on the head, smoothing her hand over the creature’s soft fur, before standing. The daily mud roll and wash seemed to help with Killer’s purple problem. Her coat had dimmed to light mauve instead of bright purple. “Let’s mingle.”

Hinekiri squeezed between two tall Masai males. They were handsome people—tall and slender with dramatically stretched earlobes pierced with strings of colored beads. Most of the males had shaven heads and all wore cloaks in varying shades of red. Many carried slim walking sticks. Some had bare feet while others wore dusty shoes. Hinekiri grinned at a Masai wearing a red plaid cloak, white tennis shoes and a nifty straw hat.

“Beads this way,” Killer barked. She ignored the startled look from the Masai when he saw her color.

Hinekiri grinned. She’d noticed the surreptitious looks at Killer. Her color intrigued everyone. “Soon. We have work to do first.”

Killer cocked her head and wagged her tail. “Suppose you right.”

Hinekiri dodged a woman carrying a basket balanced on the top of her head and stopped to chat with a group of four ladies selling plantains, the green bananas that appeared regularly on the menu at the lodge. The closest woman smiled shyly. A huge gap showed where one of her front teeth were missing.

“You buy plantain?” A woman wearing a pristine white headscarf and a faded cotton blouse and skirt jerked her head toward a bunch of plantain.

“Not today,” Hinekiri said. “Just wanted to say hello. I believe your husband works at the lodge?”

The woman nodded. “In the kitchens. Pretty dog,” she said when she saw Killer.

“A special breed from New Zealand. Difficult to train. You wouldn’t want one. They’re a lot of trouble.” Hinekiri smothered her laughter at Killer’s indignant growl and changed the subject. “I heard your husband saw a hyena man when he checked the goats during the night.”

The woman’s face paled. Her friends started whispering together.

“I saw hyena ghost too,” one confessed.

“Oh how terrible.” A sliver of guilt wormed into Hinekiri’s mind. They were scaring innocent people. Even though it would make the animals safe, the ripples of fear would continue through the generations—if they did the job right. “Can you describe it?”