Strokes Vol #3 (17 page)

“No.
New life.
That’s the name of the initiative. Their comforting spin for those who were allowed to live.”

Mary sat silent for a long moment, then dragged in a deep breath. “Do I want to know how they did it?”

“I bailed before that part was discussed. But it had to be fast, targeted.”

Flares lit the sky above them, then explosions sounded as the missiles blew apart, delivering their payload. “The fireworks,” she whispered, trying not to imagine how the governments had cleansed the Earth.

Moving slowly, Colm placed his arm around her back.

Mary sat, stiff, unyielding, then leaned close to his side, accepting his comfort. Maybe his crime had been misinformation. Maybe he was a con man. However, deep inside, she knew he’d spoken the truth.

“So, your father and brother?”

“Dead. They weren’t deemed important enough to save.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

His chin scratched the top of her head as he folded her closer. “As awful as it is, I won’t let bitterness touch you,” he said, his voice filled with gravel. “My promise. What you have here, what you might share with me, is something…hopeful. I get that.”

She tilted back her head. “This isn’t an easy life, Colm. And for most of the time, we’ll be alone out here. I’d like for us to be friends.”

One corner of his mouth curled up, and his gaze narrowed. “Could that be friends who sleep together?”

Relieved he seemed ready to change the painful subject, she arched a brow. “Are you afraid of sleeping on that little cot?” she teased, surprised she knew how.

“Terrified.” A hand cupped the back of her head, and she relaxed, giving him the weight of it, surrendering as bright starbursts of light filled the sky beyond him and he kissed her.

*

They undressed in
silence. Mary was glad he didn’t feel the need to talk. Her mouth was dry, her tongue thick. She thought she’d probably only manage a croak if she tried to enter into any bedroom talk.

However, the moment he shoved down his trousers, her mouth moistened.

His cock sprang free, tilting toward the ceiling, and all she could think was how relieved she was that there was proof of that elusive spark she’d hoped for.

He climbed onto her larger bed and lay on his side, a curled hand supporting his head, and patted the mattress. A faint smile curved his lips as his gaze swept her trim body. She noted his pause when his gaze touched on her breasts, then again when it dipped to the apex of her thighs.

His cock jerked. His legs shifted, opening as he bent one to make room for his burgeoning erection and hardening balls.

Without hesitating, she lay down beside him, rolling to her side to face him.

He cupped her chin and rubbed his thumb across her bottom lip. “Are you sure you want to settle for friends?” he asked softly.

“I hope for more. I do. But for now…”

His thumb rasped her lips again. “Yes?”

She rubbed her cheek against his large palm. “For now, I’d settle for sex. Straight up, sweaty sex.”

His smile stretched. “Yes, ma’am.”

Their second kiss wasn’t the sweet, chaste thing they’d shared on the porch. The moment his lips touched hers, his hand smoothed down to cup her bottom and pull her closer. His cock dug into her bare belly, and her body reacted, her sex swelling, excitement seeping from inside her as her hips flexed to bring their bodies closer still.

His mouth pressed against hers. His tongue darted out to push against closed lips until she opened, then swept inside to tangle with her own. She sighed into his mouth, and he rumbled back.

With a quick breathless movement, he rolled atop her body, nudging with his knees to open her. When the long, thick ridge glided between her folds, she bent her knees and cupped her hips, forming a cradle for him to rock against. Her arms encircled his strong back, and she sought handholds, squeezing his shoulders, running her fingers down the deep indention of his spine, raking her nails across his buttocks to encourage him.

When he finally rose, braced on both arms, his mouth was tight, tilted on one corner. “I could slow down…”

“I want you inside me. Don’t make me wait.” She narrowed her eyes and touched the chip—but raised her eyebrows to let him know she only teased.

The growl he gave made her giggle, but she forced her mouth into a frown until he shifted, raising his hips then dipping to spear her sex with the blunt round tip of his cock. Her vagina contracted, holding him there. He stretched her opening, circling gently, screwing into her until her pussy relaxed.

Her breaths deepened; endorphins released. Her lids drifted down as the pleasure prickled her skin and liquid flowed to ease his entry.

Colm dropped to his elbows. His body blanketed hers, warming her inside and out. His movements were small, subtle pulses, enough to keep them both excited, but not so much they rocketed toward orgasm.

“You’re stronger than you look,” he murmured. His sleepy gaze said how much her sexy inner clasps pleased him.

She gave him another squeeze, then undulated her hips. “I’m not delicate, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”

“Are you impatient?”

She shook her head, but then wrinkled her nose. “Getting there. I think.” And she was. Moisture continued to seep; friction burned inside her. Her nipples were tight needy beads that couldn’t be satisfied with the gentle scruff of the curly hair on his chest. “Colm, please,” she whispered.

“Please? You have only to command me.”

“Not here. Not now.” Her fingernails dug into his ass. “I need you to take me. Move now. Please, Colm.”

He lowered himself further, sliding his hands beneath her body to cup her ass, then began to hump her, driving deeper and deeper, while the slippery-wet sounds of their joining amplified, echoing against the hard concrete walls.

She moaned in his ear, then sucked the lobe between her lips and bit him. “More,” she whispered.

Colm withdrew abruptly, kneeling over her. Rough hands turned her and pulled up her hips. She got her knees beneath her a moment before he cupped her sex, set his thick cockhead against her plump folds and plunged inside.

Mary howled. Not from pain, but from joy. Pushing up on her arms, she rocked backward to meet his thrusts, reveling in the sensations his motions produced. Fierce heat burned inside her; her bottom warmed as his pelvis slammed against it. His fingers curved around the corners of her hips, holding her still, then jostling her forward and back so they slammed together, slick slaps that added to the percussive gusts of their breaths. Her body stiffened, her back arching, ass tilting higher to allow him as deep as he could sink.

Just as her pleasure reached its zenith, he slid two fingers into the top of her folds and swirled on her tiny, rigid clit. She exploded, emitting a warbling wail as her orgasm cascaded over her, quivering along her skin, rippling deep inside her channel.

His muffled shout followed, but he continued to rock against her. When he slowed, his body bent to blanket her back. His arms encircled her in a crushing hug.

She didn’t mind. Inside his strong embrace, she felt a sense of welcoming, of peace, of pleasure shared.

They fell to the bed, bodies still connected. With his arms around her, she snuggled her bottom into the cradle of his thighs and slept.

*

Rain pattered on
the metal roof, a soothing sound that had Mary nestling deeper against Colm’s chest. With a thigh trapped between his and an arm around his waist, it seemed she was every bit as content as he felt.

For the first time since he’d awoken aboard his transport ship after the liquids had cleared from his lungs in the stasis cell, he didn’t awaken with his chest tight with sorrow. The woman nestled so closely against him was an innocent, as much a pawn in this grand scheme as he was. There was no war to fight. No cause to herald.

All that was left was surrender.

As he lay there with his mistress wrapped around him, his body began to shake. Tears eased from his eyes and seeped into the pillow beneath his head. He closed his eyes and willed himself to lie still so as not to wake her.

“What’s wrong?”

He couldn’t answer for the lump lodged at the back of his throat.

Hands cupped his face. Thumbs swept away his tears. Then soft kisses peppered his cheeks, jaw, mouth. “Tell me.”

He opened his eyes to find her soft green gaze glittering with concern. “This will be our life.”

“And that saddens you?”

“God, no,” he blurted, shamed by the ragged texture of his voice.

Her mouth pressed against his again, then she rose beside him, kneeling. Her hand closed around the controller chip, and she lifted the chain from around her head. Without a word, she handed it to him. “I never wanted a slave. I didn’t lie when I said I wanted a partner, but more than anything, I would like for you to be my husband. I won’t be sending you back.”

Colm breathed deeply, blinking away his tears. He gave her a nod, then reached to pull her against him. “More than anything, I want to stay right here and be your husband.”

Her smile crept slowly across her face. Moisture gathered in her eyes, and she laughed and wiped it away with the backs of her hands.

Colm’s chest expanded. Happiness lifted guilt and helpless anger from his soul—borne away by the radiance of her smile. “What shall I call you?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Getting tired of ma’am?” she teased from beneath her dark lashes.

He nodded.

“Me too. I’m Mary.”

A sweet name for a woman who hid all her softness behind a facade of brisk competence. “I like it,” he murmured. “Do the fields need us, Mary?”

“Not until the rain stops.”

He narrowed his eyes and reached up to palm a small, round breast. The nipple was soft as velvet. The tip hardened beneath the press of his thumb.

Her breath caught and held. She tossed back her head, shaking her hair behind her.

“Grow it long,” he said.

“For you, I will.”

He arched a brow. “What else will you do to please me?”

She narrowed her gaze, and then slowly straddled his body. “Whatever you desire.”

“Am I now the master?”

A sexy grin stretched across her pretty face. “If it pleases you.”

Colm wondered at the trust she gave him, so quickly. They’d only just met. Perhaps she’d been lonely all those months alone as she’d waited her for her mate. The fact they seemed compatible, in at least this one thing, had to be a deep relief. It was for him.

He raised himself on his elbows and drew a turgid nipple between his lips. He nipped it, then sucked it deep into his mouth, giving it tugs and licks until she sighed and clutched his hair.

When he drew back, he lifted her, urging her down his body.

She needed no further instruction, kissing her way down his chest, teasing his belly with gentle bites and wet kisses until she knelt between his legs and took his cock into her mouth.

Colm groaned as she devoured him, sifting her hair with his fingers, pinching her ears to pull her deeper. His cock filled, his balls drew closer to his groin. Her hands surrounded his shaft, her sweet mouth locked beneath the sensitive ridge surrounding his head and suckled while her tongue lavished it with wet sliding caresses.

Joy like he hadn’t felt in years poured through his veins. He gripped her hair and pulled her from him. Then forcing her to her back, he ravaged her breasts with hot flicks of his tongue and stinging pinches which caused her to yelp and giggle.

Smiling, he worked his way downward, hands caressing her smooth belly, fingers digging into her firm ass and thighs as he opened her. Arousal, potent and spicy, filled his nose as he buried his mouth between her legs and licked and suckled her labia and clitoris until she squirmed and bucked beneath him.

When she was breathless and he was so hard he couldn’t wait a moment longer, he brought her over him, watching as she guided him inside her with her fist clutching his cock. She let go, leaned back her head and sank deep, gliding downward in a single stroke until their groins met.

She paused, swaying over him. Her inner muscles clamped around him; liquid slicked her walls. “Do you think they planned the rain for just this purpose?”