Rhal Part 4 (3 page)

He knew she suffered now.

Unacceptable.

He prowled the small space, gaze scanning the room, hunting for a vulnerability. The only obvious weaknesses was the small door they slid his food through and the door itself as well as the air vent that not even a child could fit through. All other parts of the room were solid with no obvious seams. He should know of the cell’s impenetrability, he’d designed it. After he’d spent years escaping one prison or another, he’d created one that not even he could break free of.

His past was damning him in more ways than one.

The low murmur of voices reached him, and he figured it was another change of the guard, a new male positioning himself at the end of the long hallway. Rhal strode to the door and banged his fist on the metal, hoping to draw the male to him. “Guard! Bring me news of my mate!” The conversation continued, and he was ignored. “Guard! I desire news of my—”

“Rhal.”

His gut clenched and he knew he must be hallucinating. There was no other reason he would hear Cara’s soft voice in this impenetrable hell. Yet he still had hope. “Cara?”

“They won’t open the door unless you step back, you have to—”

His Cara. He strode to the other side of the small room, his back colliding with the wall with a low thud. “I have retreated.”

Within moments, the panel slid aside, and he was met with a vision of beauty and distress. His Cara was hunched over, fabric covering her from neck to ankles. She was exhausted, in pain, and never more beautiful to him.

“
Czira
…” He had done this to his mate. He lost control, and now his female suffered for his actions.

A single tear spilled from her eye and created a wet trail down her cheek. That was followed by a low sob, and then she was on him, face pressed to his chest and her thin arms around his waist. He embraced her without hesitation, holding her close as he lowered his head and breathed in her scent. Sweetness and pain. So much pain. She trembled, body shaking in his hold, and he immediately swept her into his arms and strode to the small raised bed against the wall. He did not care who entered behind her. His focus was on his mate.

“
Czira
, I am here.”

“Rhal, they…” she hiccupped and cried once more. She brought up one of her hands and pressed her cool, scale-covered palm to his cheek. His tension immediately settled with the touch and Cara released a soft sigh as she relaxed against him. “They wouldn’t let me see you. They wouldn’t let Faim take your blood. The king—”

He did not want her speaking of the king, not here, not now. He knew listening devices were planted throughout the space. “You are here now, my mate.” A single fingertip beneath her chin was enough to have her focusing on him. He brushed a soft kiss across her roughened lips. “Hush. It will all be okay.”

Even if he was forced to break free and retreat to the depths with his mate, he would ensure her health and safety. Keeping them separated had her scales rough and jagged as they appeared, not a soft as silk texture. He would not allow her to degenerate so far in the future.

“The king wants to make an example of you.” Her words were soft, meant for his ears alone, but he knew the devices would capture his words. “But I told Tave about Kaag and how he said those things when I was with Rina and then didn’t get Faim and—”

Rhal brushed his thumb over her lower lip. “All will be well.” Though he wondered what Kaag said in the principessa’s vicinity that intrigued Tave. But now was not the time for discussion. “Where is Faim? You cannot be left in this condition.”

“They won’t let him in here. They were able to convince him to let me in, but not Faim. No needles because they could be weapons.”

Which meant the only path to salvation was the heaven between her thighs. With cameras and listening devices surrounding them. Her sounds were for
him
. Her body was for
him
. Anger burned anew, scorching his body at the idea others would enjoy what should belong to him alone. He growled, his muscles tensing and flexing with this knowledge. Even with her soothing touch, his scales emerged, the blackness overtaking his skin.

“Shh… Calm down.” She stroked him, attempting to brush away his anger. He was not sure she could. “You have to make love to me. The guard said I can stay until the next shift change at eight. Faim will take me back to medical. Tave is working on something,
czir
.”

His heart clenched.
Czir
. Her love. “I do not wish them to see you, to hear you as you cry my name.”

“We have the sheets I dragged with me, and they’ll be jealous. Jealous that you have a mate you can drive wild while they have nothing but their hand.” She grinned at him even while pain filled her eyes. “Make love to me.”

Rhal realized he could not resist her whispered plea. Nor did he want to.

* * *

Having him so close, his body beckoning and her need riding hard, was almost more than she could bear. She padded forward until she stood before him as he sat on the room’s small bed. She clutched the thin sheets from medical around her like a cloak while she waited for his response. She didn’t just crave his possession, his closeness. She needed his genetic material as well. Okay, it was more about desiring him than genetic material.

The pain dogged her heels, reminding her she hadn’t yet completed her transition. Each movement sent another jarring, aching bolt down her spine. It attacked her from head to toe, forcing her to freeze in place for a moment while it continued its race over her nerve endings.

“Cara?” She didn’t miss the concern in his tone.

“I’m okay,” she wheezed. “Just gimme a sec.”

“You’re in that much pain?” He reached for her, his palm burrowing through the fabric until his skin was flush with hers.

That much pain? More than a little bit.

“No, I’m good.” The agony ebbed and retreated fully and she breathed a sigh of relief. His touch, his presence, did that for her. She opened her eyes, not even realizing she’d closed them at some point. A tingle of need slithered through her, his warm palm sliding up and down her arm. She wanted that hand everywhere, anywhere. Now. “I’m good. Just need you.”

He growled, gaze shifting to something over her shoulder, and she followed his gaze to the small devices that peeked through tiny holes in the metal. “I do not wish—”

She knew what upset him; she hated it just as much, but his closeness was slowly transforming her pain from that of true agony to desire. “
Czir
.” He stared at her once more, and she slowly lowered to her knees before him, taking the sheet with her. She stared at his lap, the juncture of his thighs, and what she craved most. “Let me.”

He hardened beneath her stare, length growing and thickening beneath her gaze. His cock tented his pants, showing her how much he wanted her even if he didn’t want to. “Cara…”

She focused on him. “Need you in my mouth, Rhal.” She released the sheets and let them rest on her shoulders while she slid her hands along his legs, palms traveling until they rested on the tops of his thighs. Her thumbs twitched, anxious to nudge him, feel him, and torment him. “Need to taste you.” She did as she desired, altering her touch to his cock and squeezing gently. “Lemme show them what they’re missing. Let me show them what a true mate will do for her male.” She licked her lips, mouth watering. “What a true mate will beg for.”

“Cara…” He was giving in. She knew it, and he knew it, but she appreciated the token protest.

Ignoring him, she reached for the waist of his pants and carefully tugged at the material. His breakaway pants—standard for most Ujal—parted for her to reveal the base of his cock. It was something, but not enough. She wanted all of him. Another pull exposed more of him, but he was still trapped in the fabric.

“Rhal,” she whined, anxious for him. Her pussy ached and throbbed with need, her center silently begging for him. Later. After she sated the burn that consumed her. Then she could convince him to take her, fill her, and make her scream.

He chuckled—bastard—and lifted his hips. He yanked at the pants as well and then he was bared to her. She licked her lips, mouth watering further.

He encircled his shaft, stroking himself. “Is this what you want, czira?”

She whimpered and nodded. He was so hard for her, and she reveled in that fact. “Yes,” she hissed and reached for him.

Cara brushed his hands aside, banishing his touch, and took over. She encircled his shaft with one hand while she cupped his balls with her other. He hadn’t allowed her this in the past, the feel of a sheath on her lips more familiar to her. No more sheaths. No more blockers. Nothing between their bodies.

A glistening dollop of his cum decorated the very tip of his cock, the pearly fluid calling to her, and she leaned forward. The sheets covering her slid from her shoulders and Rhal twitched, hand darting out to snatch them before they fell.

She froze in place, mouth open, tongue resting on her lower lip. “You don’t want them to see your cock? Don’t want them to see how much your mate desires you?” She flicked her tongue over the head of his cock, gathering that droplet, and she moaned with the sweet-salty taste. “Let them see, Rhal.”

When he repeated the barely-there caress and didn’t stop her, she took that as silent permission. She stroked his length, caressing him from root to tip. She gathered the new moisture that rested on the head of his shaft and used it to ease her strokes. Then she pumped him once more, gathering each new droplet. When her hand moved smoothly, she did as she’d craved from the first moment. She laved the head of his cock, circling the tip before finally capturing the head between her lips and giving him a gentle suck.

“
Czira
…”

She retreated and whispered against his damp flesh. “You’re mine.”

She swallowed him once again, taking part of his length into her mouth, sucking as more and more disappeared into her. She flicked her tongue along the underside of his hardness, giving him pleasure as she took her own. Her pussy throbbed with need, her center clenching and silently begging to be filled by him.

She retreated, sucking hard on the head, circling it quickly, before lowering once more. She set a consistent pace, taking her time as she drove him mad with pleasure. He moaned and twitched with her every move, his hips flexing gently as she took him deep. Her hand worked in time with her mouth, so his entire shaft was stimulated, teased, and tortured. His words became low pleas and soft moans, the sounds growing with each passing second.

Rhal slid his fingers through her hair, and she lifted her gaze to meet his eyes. “Czira, so good. So hot and wet, my mate.”

She remained captured by him, her attention unwavering as she took more and more of him. Each suck went straight to her core, making her tighten along with her actions. Her clit twitched and throbbed with a desperation to be caressed and stroked. Abandoning his balls, she carefully slipped her hand beneath her soft pants. She teased her sexlips, her arousal already dampening her outer labia. She enjoyed a gentle teasing, a soft caress before her fingers slipped past the seam of her pussy. Moisture greeted her touch, proof of her desire for him.

The pad of her digits skated over her clit, and she moaned around Rhal’s cock as the pleasure slid through her blood.

“Are you caressing yourself, my mate?” His voice was a low rumble that seemed to vibrate through her. Her nipples formed sharp points, firm and sensitive and the hardness merely added to the gently unfolding bliss.

Cara lifted enough to whisper her answer. “Yes.”

Then she took him once more, allowing him to go deeper, slide into her throat as her lips met the base of his shift.

“
Cara
.” There was no missing the surprise in his voice.

She moaned once more, loving his response and the way his fist tightened in her hair. The small sting added to the ecstasy slowly building in her veins.

Her rhythm continued, a firm up and down his cock, dick pulsing against her tongue as she gave him more and more. She let her fingers venture farther, the tips teasing her opening and she shuddered with the tingles from the action. Her pussy squeezed, attempting to draw the fingers into her depths, but she continued the torment. Not yet. If she slid them into her heat, she’d come, and she didn’t want to do that until Rhal’s cum bathed her taste buds.

But soon…

“Cara, soon I will…”

Come. Come in her mouth, and she’d swallow every drop.

His cock throbbed against her tongue, swelling within her mouth, and she knew his time was near. Any moment now…

Her body rode the edge, and she wanted to push herself over. Now. She shoved her fingers deep, reveling in the stretch of her pussy around her digits. Now she finger-fucked herself in time with her rhythmic sucking. She pretended Rhal fucked her, pounded in and out of her heat. The heel of her hand rubbed her clit, adding to the pleasurable sensations.

Trembles attacked her, began at the juncture of her thighs and spread to fill her body. Her toes curled with the precursor of her release, and she remained balanced on the precipice, waiting for Rhal. Waiting for…

“Czira!” His shout echoed off the walls and then he coated her tongue. His cum, his salty-sweet musk, shot into her mouth, and she immediately swallowed, gathering every bit and savoring every morsel.

At the same time, fireworks exploded behind her eyes, body shattering as pleasure overtook her body. She was hurtled over the edge by the feel of him, his taste and scent. Her pussy clenched and milked her fingers, clit swelling and pulsing as ecstasy enveloped her from head to toe. She moaned around his cock, sucking him with every tight squeeze of her pussy. She continued to suckle him, only slowing when her center finally settled into a gently pulsating rhythm.

Even as he softened, she refused to relinquish her treat. She bathed him with her tongue, capturing any hint of his genetic material—his cum—that might have escaped. It was hers and hers alone.

Rhal leaned back, fingers still tangled in her hair, but he carefully extracted them and then cradled her head. Her eyes fluttered open, and she met his happy, sated gaze. He was relaxed; all sense of worry that’d carved deep lines into his face gone. He was at ease because of her and she released him with a soft sigh. She rested her cheek against his thigh and nuzzled him, drawing his scent into her lungs.