Stud (4 page)

Neris laughed. “He might just as easily wind up with a Tryosian doing
him
.”

Lucy choked. The thought of some guy nailing Tarq was all wrong. He was a ladies’ man if she’d ever seen one—and he must not be too choosy if he had, indeed, been eyeing her as a potential customer. The “I’d like a full order of
you
” line was probably the sort of thing he said to every woman he met—he’d even said it before ever laying eyes on her.

She delivered the pie to him, once again feeling a strange presence surrounding him—as though the air in his immediate vicinity was filled with some sort of sexual stimulant. His smile was like an intoxicant and she was even fascinated by the way he picked up his fork and ate a bite of the pie. His blissful expression as he tasted it was rewarding—though Lucy had seldom seen anyone who didn’t go into raptures over it. Her coconut pie was just as appealing to the rare being who didn’t like chocolate.

“You made this?” he asked.

Lucy nodded dumbly, the look on his face robbing her of speech.

He chuckled. “Would you be my mate and feed this to me for the rest of my life?”

Having fielded similar comments in the past, Lucy rediscovered her voice. “Oh, no problem. I’ll be sure to put you on my list.” He’d have been at the top of her list, if she’d actually had one. Then it struck her that he really
would
be at the top—was coming to her room that very night—and she began trembling uncontrollably. “Glad you like it,” she added before retreating to the kitchen as quickly as her wobbly knees would allow.

She stayed away from his table after that, doing her best to appear unaffected, but it was difficult. Eventually, he paid his bill and left, but the smoldering glance he gave her promised that he hadn’t forgotten their assignation, and might even have been looking forward to it.

When Lucy finally got the nerve to approach the now empty table to clear it, she bit back a cry and gripped the back of his chair with palms that were suddenly clammy with sweat.
What
have
I
gotten
myself
into?

He’d left her a five-hundred-credit tip.

***

Tarq couldn’t have said why he’d left her such a huge tip, but he’d had to restrain himself from emptying his wallet onto the table. And he wasn’t paying her for sex, either. He felt an overwhelming desire to give her everything he possessed. He knew she hadn’t taken his proposal seriously, but he almost wished she had. The situation had rendered it harmless enough—her response proved that much—but the thought of being with her forever went through him like a blade. It was ridiculous, though. You didn’t make decisions like that based on chocolate pie, or even how good a woman smelled. There was more to it than that, at least he thought there must be.

With a couple of hours to kill before he could go to her, Tarq returned to his room at the hotel. He already liked the town; it was a pleasant seaside fishing village composed of whitewashed buildings with terra-cotta tiled roofs and brightly colored awnings above the windows. Narrow cobblestone streets fanned out from a tiny harbor where quaint boats bobbed at their moorings. Tarq had never been to Earth’s Mediterranean region, but he’d seen photographs, and though there were obvious similarities, he doubted that vrelnots lived in the Grecian mountains. He’d seen the Eradic mountain range in the distance as he’d traveled up the coast, and it was every bit as forbidding as Lucy had painted it.

Selecting a bottle of the local wine from the stasis unit, he recalled the hillside vineyards and groves of olive trees he’d passed along his route. The dry, reddish soil didn’t look as though anything would grow in it, but apparently these crops weren’t fussy about where they grew as long as it was hot enough. Taking a seat on the balcony, he sipped the wine while seabirds soared above the waves until the sun slid beneath the horizon.

Chapter 3

Lucy waited breathlessly as Tarq climbed through the open window. She’d showered and dressed in the nicest nightgown she possessed, but that wasn’t saying much. Shivering, she wondered if he would let her keep it on, at least for a little while. No man had ever seen her nude body, let alone touched it.

He landed on his feet, already purring, his eyes glowing as he came toward her with the fluid grace of a mountain cat. Lucy had no idea what he would do. Would he speak to her, kiss her, or just throw her down on the bed and take her? Any of those would have been exciting, though he could have simply recited the names of all of his conquests and she wouldn’t have felt cheated.

Her questions were soon answered. Though there was only a short distance between them, Tarq somehow managed to shed all of his clothing before he closed the gap.

Lucy hadn’t expected him to be quite so forward or blatant, but when she spotted his cock, she understood why. It was already fully erect and dripping with moisture—was this the stuff that triggered orgasms? Never having seen anyone’s penis firsthand, she might have expected it to be straight, but it wasn’t. Arising from its nest of blond curls in a sinuous arch, it took a slight dip before rising up again at the apex of the scalloped head. It was thick and meaty, just begging to be touched, and his balls hung low, brushing against his heavily muscled thighs as he walked. Lucy was already beginning to wish she’d at least had sex with someone a bit less well-endowed; the thought of starting off with something that size was rather daunting.

If Tarq had noticed her reticence, he gave no sign, but took her in his arms and kissed her without preamble. His lips were soft, warm, and though not precisely demanding, they were nonetheless insistent—the way Lucy had always dreamed of being kissed. His purring filled her ears, blocking out every other sound or thought. He tasted like wine yet didn’t act as though he’d needed it for courage, but rather as a source of solace during the hours they’d been apart. Unable to explain how she knew this, Lucy returned his kiss, opening herself to him completely. He could have sucked out her soul and she wouldn’t have cared. As his hand slid through her hair to cup the back of her head, his tongue slipped past her lips, making her feel not so much invaded or plundered as savored. Groaning as his hands slid to the small of her back, he pulled her tightly against his hard cock.

Lucy’s knees threatened to give way beneath her. Noting the smoothness of his skin, she recalled having heard that Zetithian men didn’t grow beards. Some women might have preferred the roughness, but Lucy wasn’t one of them; she liked Tarq just the way he was. She raised a tentative hand to his silky hair. As her fingers threaded through his thick curls, she felt herself becoming lost, forgetting herself, her family—everything but the way he made her feel.

“I’m sure this is beautiful,” he said, tugging at her gown. “But I don’t want anything between us.”

Lucy nodded and he pulled it off over her head with practiced ease. Knowing herself to be generously built, Lucy held her breath as she waited for his reaction.

She needn’t have worried; if he didn’t like her body, it certainly didn’t show. With a low growl he scooped her up in his arms and propelled her backward onto her bed with a speed that made it feel like an attack, but it was softened by his purring and the hot swipe of his tongue across her nipple. Breathing hard, he nipped at her with his fangs until she finally got the nerve to touch him again. With a tentative hand, she smoothed the hair back from his face, combing her fingers through his long blond locks. Her passion overcame her then and her hands knotted into fists as she pulled his head toward her mouth.

As if this was the signal he’d been waiting for, Tarq let out a snarl and pounced. Their lips fused, and Lucy felt his hands everywhere—seeking, delving, caressing. If Lucy had been afraid he would find her unappealing, that fear evaporated. Whether he was giving it away or whether he was paid, he was certainly convincing. Lucy would come away from this night feeling that she’d had his undivided attention and had aroused his passions like no other before her.

He teased the tip of her tongue with his own, and, following his lead, she gave it right back to him. A slick gush wet her thighs; Lucy would never have guessed that the mere mating of tongues could cause such a reaction, but it did something even more remarkable to Tarq.

He must have felt it or smelled it because he wrestled free of her grip on his hair and dove headfirst into her core. She could feel the roughness of his tongue, the softness of his lips, and his hot breath stoking the fire that sizzled between her thighs. He seemed to have gone insane with need—growling, purring, and snarling as he licked her vaginal lips and then thrust inside. His body tightened and his movements became increasingly erratic—like a starving man licking the remnants of pudding from a bowl or a shark in the midst of a feeding frenzy. When he pulled out to suckle her clit, Lucy stifled a scream as the pressure building there reached a terrifying peak before crashing all around her. Her eyes flew open in amazement as he teased her to yet another summit.

“Lucy,” he panted. “I can’t wait anymore…”

Not even pausing for her response, Tarq took aim and pierced her with his hard, hot cock in one swift thrust. Letting out an involuntary yelp from the sharp sting of pain as he broke through, she took the full length of him inside as the pain was instantly replaced by the incredible pleasure of being filled by him.

A fist hammered on her door and tried the knob, which Lucy had thankfully thought to lock. “What the hell is going on in there?” her father demanded.

“Nothing,” Lucy gasped. “Just stubbed my toe in the dark.”

She heard him muttering something about her being stupid and clumsy, but nothing mattered as long as the door remained shut. Tarq had frozen for a moment but, hearing the sound of retreating footsteps, took up a steady rhythm, pushing as hard as he could without making the bed squeak. Afraid to make another sound, Lucy clapped one hand over her mouth, but Tarq pushed her hand away, and as his mouth came down on hers, he whispered, “My hair. Pull it again—hard.”

When she complied, he backed out completely and then drilled into her again, beginning a sweeping, rotating movement that nearly had Lucy screaming. She’d never felt anything like the sensations he elicited and was sure it could never be better, until an orgasm even stronger than the one he’d given her with his tongue detonated.

Glad that her ecstatic moans were muffled by his kisses, Lucy spread her legs as wide as she could, still not quite believing that his massive organ had somehow managed to fit inside her virgin body. She should have been writhing in agony rather than ecstasy, but there was no more pain, only an overwhelming need to take everything he had to give. That orgasm was the first of many as he rocked into her, pausing at intervals to swivel his cock, its curved shape stimulating every possible surface.

Lucy’s mind and body both dissolved into an orgasmic blur. No longer able to tell where she ended and he began, she recalled hearing sexual union being referred to as “becoming one,” but had never believed it until now. Tarq had all but stopped purring, his breath now coming in short, hard gasps. Tearing his mouth away from hers, he sank his fangs into her shoulder, but even that didn’t hurt as she felt his cock spurting his creamy semen into her.

Moments later, her womb contracted and then burst into flower as warmth raced from her core to the outer reaches of her being. Lucy felt like she was floating, as opposed to being pinned beneath the weight of his body, and was only dimly aware that he was speaking. He must’ve whispered “I’m sorry” a dozen times before she realized that he was actually apologizing.

Tarq couldn’t believe what he’d just done; he’d completely lost control—and with a virgin, no less. She was even bleeding from where he’d bitten her. He’d never drawn blood before—had never felt the need to—but Lucy’s effect on him had changed everything. He would have liked to blame the wine, but knew that to be unlikely. He’d hurt her with his cock, too—but hadn’t been able to stop what he was doing or even slow down. Her scent had hit him the instant she opened her window and, as before, had gone far beyond eliciting simple arousal to obliterate everything he’d ever learned about making a woman feel cherished. And then, when she’d responded to him in kind, yanking on his hair, demanding to be kissed, he’d just plain lost it. Even now, he wanted her again; he could feel blood surging through his groin, filling him with desire when he should have been feeling remorse.

“Holy cow!” she whispered fervently. “Is it always like that?”

“Well, no,” he admitted. “Not usually.”

“Bummer,” she said with apparent regret. “I guess it’s just the ‘first time’ thing then, huh?”

Tarq wasn’t sure what to make of that, focusing on only part of it. “You should have told me you were a virgin.”

“That’s funny, I thought I had. I mean, the whole
No, I don’t have a mate and probably never will
comment. What did you think I meant?”

“Just that you had no mate, not that you’d never been with a man.”

“Well, it meant both,” she said firmly. With a frown, she added, “Do you mean you wouldn’t have come here if you’d known?”

It was on the tip of his tongue to say that he would have been there even if she hadn’t invited him, but he caught himself at the last second. “N-no,” he replied. “But I would have tried harder.”