Night Critters (Collection) (20 page)

Nothing could have excited Jiao more than her feistiness. Hand in hand, they took the risk of all flighted creatures without fear, and would mate on the wing for a brief moment. He pulled her tightly to him and caressed her silky thighs with his cock. If she permitted him entrance, they would finish their tryst on the ground.

She did not submit easily to her impalement, but bared her teeth to ensure he did not see her as some milk-faced weakling. Fair enough, and only proper. He did not want a pet, but rather a partner. Only when he bit back on her shoulder did she cry out and permit him entry.

He slid within her moist warmth, with only his wings spread widely keeping them from falling like stones. He was more concerned with the coupling, knowing he had but moments to claim her before they must separate or be dashed upon the rocks. Not even he could survive such an impact.

Her soft wings beat in perfect time with his, cupped backwards to the limit of their structure, aiding in their spiraling descent. Her hands convulsed in his with every quick thrust he managed, allowing the claiming of the male over the female for that moment in time.

Jiao chose not to finish, even though his rights included a quick and desperate moment of ecstasy. His body trembled with the need for release, but he would not permit such rudeness. Beside all the rules of courtesy, the risk of getting lost in the pleasure would surely result in their deaths.

Staci's eyes widened with fear, and her smooth skin whitened. She could see the side of the cliff racing past, and did not have the experience to know when they must part or die. Jiao did. He knew it and the cliffs well. He smiled reassurance at her, and removed himself from her warmth. There would be time enough shortly for a more leisurely trip past the jade gates to ecstasy. “Ready, Lotus Flower? Draw in your wings, turn, and prepare to catch the wind."

Despite her inexperience, she nodded trustingly. She lifted her chin. She was ready. With one great snap, she pulled in her wings. The rush of air increased, blinding Jiao for a moment, but the loss was unimportant. He released Staci, simultaneously throwing her to the side where she could perform her part of the maneuver safely. A moment later, his eyes cleared, and he set himself the task of executing the last movements of their mating sky dance.

The air cracked as Staci faced the ever-closer ground and opened her wings. As if she'd done this a thousand times before, she matched his dive and screamed challenge at the earth. Then, in perfect unison with him, she bent her wings at the last second, and they swept in opposite directions away from death itself.

Jiao roared with the power and exhilaration, skimming the tops of the bamboo forest. A pink flutter caught his eye, and he snatched the remains of her dress from a high branch, where it had annoyed a bird by partially covering its nest. He brought the tattered remains to his nose and inhaled, delighting his senses with the scent of female. Now was the time to finish what he'd started.

Staci landed on a clear edge of a lower cliff, laughing. Her face, flushed with thrills unknown to walkers, grinned up at him. She furled her dark wings and sat upon a rock to wait, flipping her braid behind her. Her pose was seductive enough to entice him even if he were still made of stone.

The temptation to show off was irresistible. Jiao hovered for a moment on the breeze before dropping lightly down, knowing such aerobatics would cost him sore muscles later. To hold the wind was difficult at best, even with a gale to aid him. His reward was Staci's wide-eyed, appreciative gaze. Jiao reveled he had found a female to share in his joy of flight, even if only in a dream.

She accepted the dress from him and examined it. Her pout was pretty and teasing. “Whatever will I do with it now?"

Jiao took her shoulders, spun her around gently, and pointed to a large flat rock about the size of a large chair in width. “Put it upon the rock, to cushion your body from abrasion by the stone for a beginning to our pleasures."

Having been wooed and won, she obeyed, but not without hesitation. The rock looked out over the forest, well above the treetops. She laid the dress on the edge farthest from the sky.

"No.” Jiao smiled. “On the edge overlooking the cliff."

Staci trembled and climbed on the rock, moving carefully to place the silken tatters on the far side, and lay on her stomach on the cloth where she looked out on the vista of forest, cliffs and sky.

Before she could do more than survey the open sky, Jiao knelt upon the rock, lifted her hips, and pressed his lips against her sex in the most intimate of kisses. His tongue, much longer than the average human male's, entered her and drew out the nectar to taste.

She cried out in pleasure, despite being held aloft with only her forearms for support upon the rock. Her body jerked spasmodically, unable to fight the erotic nature of this new helplessness. “Oh, God. Oh, my God. Please don't stop."

He liked the surrender of her pleas. Yes, she was his to do with as he wished, for a time. He settled back on his heels to enjoy his al fresco feast. Both sweet and tangy to the taste, no viand could satisfy more than the delicious compliance of a female in the throes of passion. He kissed again, his tongue reaching farther this time to caress the tiny fruit of her clit to bring forth more moisture.

Staci wriggled, but she was caught like a fly in honey, both by her position and her increasing need for pleasure's release. Her soft whimpers mixed with pants.

Jiao increased his licks and kisses, gradually adding in nibbles with his lips. Every drop was his to claim, and he refused to miss any. His cock twitched, reminding him it demanded a fair share, but he schooled himself to patience. When Staci was ripe, he would give her a surprise to bring her to heights she dared not attempt to fly with her wings.

She stilled for three heartbeats, and even stopped breathing. With one great gasp, she screamed his name and flooded his mouth and tongue with nectar while Jiao lapped until there was no more.

Slowly, Jiao lowered her down until her knees touched the boulder once more. He held her hips until she steadied. He smiled to himself. She was almost ready.

Trembling, Staci spread her knees and presented her still pulsing opening for entrance. “Please, Jiao! Take me!"

"Move to the edge of the rock, my Lotus Flower. Lie down on your stomach and spread yourself.” He caressed her ass, just to watch her shivers, as well as give her the incentive to obey.

Staci crawled to where her hands touched the far edge of the rock and did as he'd commanded. She looked back over her shoulder. “Like this?"

Jiao paused to enjoy the sight of her pink sex gleaming wetly in the sunshine. Her position was not quite what he had in mind, but he would aid her. He crawled on top of her, kneeling so his thighs gripped hers tightly. “Trust me.” With one swift movement, he lifted her body and pushed until her breasts and arms fell out over the cliff, exposing the upper half of her body to the sky.

She gasped, and found the smaller boulder jutting out beneath the one she lay upon, giving her a place to put her elbows for a secure grip. With her upper body dangling perilously close to the uplifted air, she was helpless unless she both dove off the cliff and prayed the breeze was strong enough to open her wings before she fell to the forest below, or Jiao pulled her to safety. “Jiao! Ohmigod!"

Jiao chuckled. He had her secured, though she could not know it. Before she slid off he could easily fall upon her and drag her away if need be, but her adrenaline would heighten her pleasure beyond ordinary encounters. He lay fully upon her and pressed the head of his cock into her well-presented entrance. “You are safe. Wrap your ankles around my feet, and use the lower boulder for balance."

Shivering with a combination of fear and sexual excitement, she complied. Staci's braid fell from her back and over her left shoulder to dangle against her cheek, swinging in the breeze. Her slippery passage pulsed and clenched, as if it hung onto his cock as another measure of safety.

Jiao permitted himself one thrill of victory and thrust deeply into her. He had wooed and won her, and now he had forced her submission. This was the sweet rush all males of his kind craved. No meek mate was worth his life and protection. Only the strong, fearless females who had to be dominated and triumphed over would rear strong offspring able to withstand the tests of life. Such females as Staci were worth the effort.

Even as his body took over and pumped within his dream prize, one word rang like a great temple bell in his mind.

Mate? What was he thinking? An American Nephylum?

"No!” A loud crack of thunder boomed, as if the gods themselves echoed his cry.

Jiao shot upright in his bed, his breathing harsh and his cock rigid as his former stone self beneath the silk. A gale rattled the windows, and his room was as dark as night, though the clock showed he had but one hour until his appointment with the woman who'd invaded his dreams.

His door boomed with the force of several hands pounding upon the carved wood. His faithful secretary's voice, muffled through the thick cherry, rang out frantically in Chinese. “Excellency! Excellency! We have a great emergency!"

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Staci's day had gone from bad to weird before she entered the embassy soaking wet and cold. Her morning had been like the night before—horrible. The only thing clean in her closet that morning had been a pair of jeans, but she'd dug a warm turtleneck out of winter storage to combat the rain's unseasonable chill, and her hair was so flat, she'd given up and braided the heavy locks to at least look neat. Her car kept acting up all the way to the appointment, and traffic was horrendous. All she could do was be glad she didn't have to fly in this weather. Anyone on the wing in this storm had to be crazier than goony birds.

She had been sitting in traffic listening to her hydrocar sputter and hoping she could get somewhere to put water additive in the fuel when the “check hydro” light winked out, and the traffic started moving at the normal ninety miles an hour despite the heavy thunderstorm dumping down on the city. Several emergency services vehicles screamed by in their special lanes, no doubt to handle the extra problems bad weather brought.

Standing in the entryway of the embassy interior, Staci weighed her chances of getting up the ornate wooden “grand entrance” double stairs in her three-inch heels without breaking her neck. They looked worse than the stairs outside she'd almost fallen down yesterday. The puddles of water on the stairs and her inherited clumsiness from Grandpa Corbin increased the risk, so she took her heels off and ran up the stairs in her bare feet. Putting her shoes back on, she opened the door to Jiao's office and stopped short.

Everybody was running from one end of the office to the other answering phones and writing things down. Compared to the serenity of the day before, the place was pure chaos. The secretary stuffed what looked like emergency medical equipment into a waterproof duffel with the distinctive Red Cross stamped on the outside.

Jiao stood to her right yelling something in Chinese into a phone. He switched to English quickly, probably realizing that the poor person on the other end couldn't understand a thing he said. He looked up, saw Staci and smiled.

Staci waited for Jiao where she was while he finished his phone call. Miraculously, the climate controls blew warm air directly over her and kept her from shivering. After a few more minutes of loud conversation, Jiao rammed his finger into the base and ended the call.

Their last meeting had left her irritated at his calm, stoic demeanor, but now he looked like he could drop his gigantic stone paw on somebody's skull. He stomped over to her, and she finally took notice that he was wearing jeans and a “hydro rules” sweatshirt.

Her heart fluttered at the sight of him so casual and flustered. Staci smacked her lips appreciatively at how he filled out the jeans and shirt. “Wow, don't you look different today?"

Jiao put his hands up and shook his head regretfully. He frowned with harried concern. “Not now, Ms. Thornburn. We have serious problems. The emergency control center has ordered all flight able creatures airborne in thirty minutes.” He turned and said something in Chinese to a young woman, who bowed and scurried off into an office.

"What's going on?” Staci was able to fly but she didn't like flying in bad weather. The thermals were unpredictable and could be fatal. Nonetheless, she dropped her purse and recorder at the feet of the implacable guard, ready to help.

Jiao stared at Staci, the dark shadows under his eyes prominent. “Have you been outside lately, Ms. Thornburn? The storm has caused mass flooding. Paranormals and humans are trapped. The ECC needs the wings because they can't get the choppers in the air."

What was wrong with the choppers? Oh, yeah, poor visibility. Staci mentally slapped herself for the lapse in intelligence. Okay, so she'd be a goony bird. “I can fly."

Jiao blinked, clearly taken aback. He scrubbed his face, and rubbed red-rimmed eyes. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who'd spent a restless night. “I thought Nephs were unable to fly in bad weather due to fragile bones."

Staci cocked a hip and crossed her arms over her chest. Her chin jerked up stubbornly. “I'm only half Nephylum, and a Michael Neph at that. My father's a were-dog. I'm just as strong as you."

"That would explain the tail.” Jiao attempted to hide his smile and accepted the duffel from his secretary with a short bow of thanks. “How are your rescue skills?"

Staci lifted her neck chain with the distinctive ECC tag. “First Responder Level One.” Her mother had nagged her to get that certification as a teen. Charm wished she were strong enough to earn the respected badge, but because she couldn't fly as acrobatically as Staci, Charm had only made Level Two, much to her regret. Staci had always loved being in the air, where her natural clumsiness vanished.

His Excellency nodded and pulled her to the balcony. Thunder boomed, and the rain slicked the surface of the block perch platform, which allowed them to take off easily instead of clambering onto the filigree railing. Jiao sniffed the wind expertly. “The flood has swamped homes west of the city. Rescue beacons have been placed strategically where we may drop the victims off for care.” He squeezed her hand, then struggled to get the wet duffel secured to his chest. “You know this city best. Lead me to where the poor reside. They will need us the most, yes?"