Raptor's Desire (A Planet Desire novelette) (2 page)

As she didn’t have a choice, she laid her hand in his, and he drew her up. Her legs threatened to buckle beneath her from disuse after her slumber. He’d obviously been free longer for he seemed to suffer no such weakness, and he slid an arm around her waist, pulling her close.

Still coated with a thin film of suspension gel, her body aligned with his from breast to hip. Disturbingly, her mind recognized they fit together well—just as they had in her dreams. Her body seemed just as accustomed to his embrace, and she found herself instantly, embarrassingly, aroused. Would he notice how tightly her nipples puckered against his chest? She tilted back her head to gauge his reaction.

A muscle in his jaw flexed, and his nostrils flared. The heat in his golden gaze seared her. He’d worn the same expression in her dreams each time he’d seduced her. Oh God! How could she have known what he looked like when aroused, unless they really had shared those experiences? She shuddered, fear and desire warring inside her body and mind.

He reached a hand toward her face, and she flinched.

“First, we bathe.” He smoothed back the strands of hair sticking to her cheek. “Then we’ll talk.”

Even his deep, rumbling voice was the same. With her heart pounding from the realization she was at the mercy of a murderer, Andromeda’s mind raced. “The shower stall is in my quarters.” She backed away from his hold. “I’ll show you.” Turning, she led the way down a narrow passage to her small, Spartan room.

If she could get him inside the shower first and the door automatically entrapped him, she might have time to reach the weapons in the drawer beneath her bed. She couldn’t hope to overpower a warrior without armament.

Conscious of the tall, muscular body following a step behind her, she sighed with relief when she reached her room. She’d forgotten how small it was, until she realized he would have to pass between her narrow bed and the storage cabinets to reach the shower—and she blocked the way.

She stopped in front of the shower, pressed the button to open the stall, and then looked over her shoulder. “If you’ll step inside…”

“After you,” he said, his gaze boring into hers.

Andromeda pressed her lips together in frustration and nodded, then stepped inside, silently cursing. She hoped he wouldn’t poke around her things and find her cache of weapons while she bathed.

She needn’t have worried. Her breath caught on a gasp when he joined her inside the stall, and the door slid shut.

‡

K
halim enjoyed his
woman’s discomfort. Her back stiffened, almost as quickly as her nipples had when they’d grazed his chest. More intriguing, her shapely bottom quivered where his erection pressed against her. He’d conditioned her body well to accept the forced intimacy.

He reached over her shoulder and pressed the button to start the shower, having already acquainted himself with the functions of most of the conveniences and machinery aboard her ship. The nozzles erupted with a soft misting of warm water all around them.

“Is this really necessary?” she asked, her voice sounding strained.

“I can’t have you getting into mischief. For the time being, we’ll do everything together.” His lips curved when her body stiffened further and her shoulders rose and fell with her angry breaths.

“The password. You’ve been after that all along,” she snapped.

He detected an underlying hurt. Perhaps triggered by a previous betrayal…? He filed that knowledge away. “
And you
,” he replied, infusing silk and steel into his voice. “I’ve been after you, as well.” He tapped the soap dispenser, and lather joined the water jetting from all nozzles, except those aimed at their heads.

She snorted. “You planned to seduce me into changing the course of this ship, then what? Kill me?”

Khalim suppressed a smile. She was adorably, irritatingly, intense. “I’ve much more interesting things planned for you.” He braced apart his legs and grasped her hips, pulling her tightly to his groin.

Her body shivered—but not from fear. Her nipples spiked as he fitted them into the hollows of his hands.

“I won’t give my password to you.”

“You’re wrong. You’ll give me everything I want.” He dipped a hand into the shampoo well, and foam squirted onto his palm.

When he smoothed it over her head, she jerked away—or as far as she could in the cramped stall. “I can do that myself. And keep your hands—and other parts—to yourself.”

He pulled her against his body again and continued to wash her hair. He counted it a victory when she remained rigid—but pressed intimately to his belly. “You enjoy it more when I wash you. Remember?” He closed his eyes and summoned the vision of his underground keep on Qahir-Jadiid. Although aware of his hands massaging her scalp in her cramped shower, he brought Andromeda to the large, oval bathing pool in his quarters.

Instantly, her body relaxed, becoming liquidly pliable as she leaned back against his chest. In this dream-share state she always eagerly accepted his lead. He understood her subconscious refused to believe their travels were real—therefore, she could indulge in fantasy.

They reclined on the edge of the shallow pool. She was seated on his lap; her head lay upon his shoulder. Light from phosphor-pots illuminated the gold flecks swimming in the ruby-glass walls of his abode. Her body shimmered in the golden light.

He dipped a hand into the pool and scooped up water to rinse her hair, enjoying the lazy labor and admiring the sheen from the red-gold hidden among the dark strands.

“I remember this place. We were here before,” she whispered.

He fit his palm to her small breast, cupping it, and then kneading it gently. He slid an arm around her taut belly to pull her deeper into the cradle of his thighs, until his cock rested in the crevice of her buttocks. “Yes, I made love to you in the center of the pool, and afterwards—”

“You brought me to completion with your hands, although I begged you to give me your cock.” Her voice held a sulky note.

He nuzzled her cheek. When her head fell to the side exposing her creamy neck, he was satisfied she didn’t bear him a grudge. “Will you give me your password?” He tongued her earlobe, and then bit it.

“Bastard.” Her words lacked true outrage. Her body was aroused by the memory from their previous dream-share; her trembling abdomen told him so.

“Tell me what you want.” His fingers dipped between her legs to flutter the folds guarding her feminine portal. “I will give it to you.”

“Come inside me,” she begged, her voice thin and needy.

He sank a long, probing finger into the hot, quivering flesh of her pussy.

She sighed and spread her legs farther apart. Then her head rolled on his shoulder. “No…not again.” She ground her buttocks against his cock. “I want this.”

He plucked her nipple, and her knees rose, encouraging him to delve deeper. “Which is it to be?”

Her body writhed against his, caressing his belly and lap. “Your cock…
please
.”

He shifted her off his lap and rolled until her back rested against the rounded edge of the pool and her arms stretched along the rim. With his hands beneath her buttocks, he lifted her hips above the water and lowered his face between her legs. He lapped at her cunt, alternating between stabbing as deeply as he could reach and rubbing the flat of his tongue over the hard knot at the top of her opening. He tasted her warm, fragrant arousal and thought he’d explode from the pleasure. His own body answered her call—his balls drawing up in their sac, and his cock hardening further into steel.

“No…” she moaned, but her hips rose, pressing her pussy closer to his face.

His lips closed over her clitoris and sucked hard, and then he released it to flutter his tongue over the engorged pearl. Again, he sucked on her clit, and she keened loudly, her thighs trembling against his cheeks. When he moved away, he soothed her pussy with long, slow laps. More of her salty essence met his tongue, the hot musky scent filling his nostrils. A surge of raw need swept over him, and his body shook with anticipation. He groaned and lifted his head to watch her.

Andromeda’s head lolled; her eyes squeezed shut. Her lush mouth was open, her breaths coming fast and with a ragged hitch. Ripening nipples, flushed red and pointing toward the ceiling, beckoned him, issuing a siren’s call he could no longer resist.

He slid up her body, braced his arms on either side of her, and looked into her face. Her green eyes opened, blinking dreamily. He leaned down, and his mouth latched onto a nipple. He rolled it with his tongue while his hips aligned with hers.

Her legs rose, clasping him low around his waist so that his cock nudged the swollen outer lips of her pussy.

With a flex of his hips, he slipped inside. He groaned against her breast, and his teeth closed on the nipple, biting her gently.

Her back arched, plunging her hips upward, forcing him deeper inside her slick pussy.

So hot! So tight!
He gritted his teeth against the need to pound away and seek his own quick release. Her inner muscles caressed him, rippling along his cock, urging him deeper.

He rocked within the cradle of her thighs, delivering shallow thrusts, waiting for her to grow impatient and demand her satisfaction. This seduction was proving to be a battle of wills, although he was confident of the outcome. She hadn’t the experience to hold back her body or her emotions.

Most importantly, she was a woman—her heart would follow her passion.

Eventually, she would give herself completely and deliver her trust. Then he would have her password. He only hoped she’d surrender in time to avoid Dominion sentries detecting their change in course.

Andromeda’s nails dug into his shoulders, and her legs constricted. “Please,” she cried, her voice raspy. “Faster…deeper…”

Khalim resisted his body’s desire to comply with her command. Instead, he teased her with one deep thrust and followed with more shallow ones…then deep…shallow.

Her nails raked his back as she tried to wrest control of his pace, slamming her hips up and down to force him to move faster.

He tightened his grip on her buttocks and ground his pelvis into her as far as he could reach and held himself perfectly still.

Her eyes fluttered open. He read stark, desperate need in her gaze and trembling mouth.

“You must trust me,” he said, knowing his rising passion made his voice harsh.

“Damn you! Trust can’t be commanded.” Her eyes filled with tears.

He fought the need to soothe her, just as he resisted the urge to pump his hips at her hot sex. She had to surrender—for both their sakes. He brought one hand to her dark thatch and combed his fingers through the hairs that floated in the water, until he found the hard, distended button between her legs. He flicked it with his thumb once.

Her breath hitched, and she shuddered deep inside.

He rubbed it harder, and her vagina clutched his cock, squeezing exquisitely tighter.

“How can you expect me to trust you…when you use my body against me?” A tear rolled from her eye.

He followed the moisture as it trailed down her cheek. His chest expanded with a deep sigh, and he leaned forward to lick the tear from her face. “Andromeda, you were mine from the moment you first touched me. Soon, you will know this as truth.” Then he sealed his mouth over hers and kissed her, soothing her, caressing her mouth.

She sobbed against him and brought her hands to his head, gripping his hair to deepen the kiss.

Khalim slowly withdrew his cock until only the head remained in her warm well. He swirled his hips, teasing her—torturing himself.

She broke the kiss and stared at him. Khalim knew she didn’t believe his words—would she read the promise in his eyes?

He let the rush of pleasure sweep over him and slammed inside her, all the way to her womb, before withdrawing and plunging inside her again. He’d give her this pleasure…then shape her desire all over again.

Urgency built inside him as he thrust into her body. He concentrated on the feel of her warm, tight channel as it constricted tightly around his cock, pulling him inexorably deeper.

Her hands glided down his back, squeezing and kneading, urging him to move faster.

His hips pistoned, causing the water lapping at their bodies to froth. Friction heated his cock until the urge to release tightened his body, rising from his thighs and hardening his balls. Knowing he was ready to come, he sought to bring her with him and ground his hips into her pussy at the end of each long stroke, rubbing the hair of his groin against her clit.

Andromeda mewed like a kitten, her nails biting into the flesh of his ass as she slammed her hips into his.

Khalim, spurred by her frantic movements beneath him, let the first wave of his release wash over him, carrying him toward the peak. He pumped once, twice, and then groaned. Come jetted, lubricating his long, hard strokes. His arms trembled, but he continued to thrust until Andromeda gasped and tightened her cunt, arms, and legs around him.

And still he pounded into her, drawing out her orgasm until she keened long and loudly. When finally she lay spent beneath him, he gathered her close, pressing her face into the crook of his neck. Her arms wrapped loosely around his shoulders.