Virgin (25 page)

Ava bit him right on his tattoo and felt his knees buckle beneath him. “You have no idea what that does to me,” he whispered. “No idea…” His voice trailed off to become the merest breath against her hair. When his mouth captured hers, his purr became a growl.

“This is what I want to do with you later.” Sliding her down lower on his torso, he stopped when she felt the hard shaft of his erection pushing against the juncture of her thighs. She was already aching for him. If she had possessed the magical abilities of a Mordrial, she would have made the fabric that separated them disappear so that he could plunge his cock into her core, where it belonged.

“Hey, Captain,” Waroun said from behind her. “Either drop your pants and do her or come and eat. We’d all love to watch, of course, but your dinner would get cold.”

Ava felt her cheeks burning, and her hair swept forward as though trying to hide her embarrassment. “I take it that dinner is served?”

“Sure, but you don’t have to eat it if you don’t want to,” Waroun replied. “You two are putting on such a great show, most people aren’t eating anyway—or dancing, for that matter. They’re watching
you.”

They had been in the midst of a crowd when they began, but with the exception of Waroun, they were now alone on the floor. Dax set her on her feet. “So much for being inconspicuous,” she muttered.

“Let’s eat, then.” Dax sounded more cheerful than he looked, which led Ava to believe that Waroun’s other suggestion would have been preferable.

Unlike other meals she had eaten with Dax at her side, this one didn’t require any Sholerian cream to augment her desire. He did it all by himself. Just his large presence and the heat emanating from his body were enough to keep her passions at an all-time high. Every minute that passed brought her closer to fulfillment and, as far as she was concerned, the entire world could have gone to hell as long as the
Valorcry
was waiting to provide sanctuary for them.

Ava somehow managed to contribute to the dinner table conversation, though all she really wanted to do was make love with Dax again and, if his own lack of chit chat was any indication, Dax felt the same way. Quinn was still bemoaning the loss of the Brooklyn Bridge, and, given his dislike of magic, Threldigan’s attempts to distract him with a few simple tricks were only moderately successful. Waroun was discussing the impossibility of homosexual Norludians with Teke.

“A Norludian male couldn’t suck another guy’s tongue without his own tongue getting hard,” Waroun insisted. “They’d both choke to death!”

Diokut began flirting with their waiter out of sheer boredom when he wasn’t passing breadsticks to the puppy under the table.

“You shouldn’t lead him on like that,” Teke admonished his nephew after they’d paid the bill.

“I can’t help it if he’s got the hots for me,” Diokut protested. “I have no idea why, but—”

“Must be all that red hair,” Ava suggested. “It’s very sexy.”

“You think so?” Diokut combed his fingers through his bushy mane. “Too bad the Kitnock
girls
don’t like it.”

“You could change the color, couldn’t you?”

“Hmph,” Teke said. “If hair coloring worked on us, do you honestly think I’d let mine be gray?”

“Gray hair isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” Ava said. “I mean, I’m sure Dax would be amazingly sexy, no matter what color his hair was.”

“Possibly,” Teke conceded. “But then, he has other things going for him.”

“Yeah,” Diokut said with a nod. “He’s tall, dark, and handsome, plus he’s the captain of his own starship. Chick magnet material for sure.”

“And hung like a bull—”

Dax was in the process of sipping his wine and nearly choked.

“—moose,” Waroun finished with an impish grin. “Knew I could sneak that in somewhere.”

“Come on, Waroun,” Ava chided. “When was the last time you saw a bull moose?”

“In holographic nature documentaries,” Waroun said promptly. “I just love the parts about the mating season. They’ve got some seriously big—”

“Waroun!”

“—antlers.”

“We have
got
to get him laid,” Threldigan observed. “Tell you what, I’ll take him down to the Norludian brothel and sign him up for the night.”

“Wouldn’t do a bit of good,” said Dax. “He’d just have more to talk about.”

Waroun gasped. “Could you do that? Really?”

“I’m sure they’d love to have you,” Threldigan replied.

Waroun was already on his feet. “Can we go now?”

“I wouldn’t mind going back to that area myself,” Teke said. “I’m sure I could find someone who would interest me.”

Even before Quinn and Diokut chimed in, Ava could see her plans for the night falling to pieces. “What about you?” Dax asked.

“I was thinking about going back to the ship,” Ava replied, “but if everyone else is staying…”

“Don’t worry, Dax,” Threldigan said. “You two take the puppy and go on back to the ship. I’ll keep these guys out of trouble.”

Given what had already happened, Ava doubted that one man riding herd on those three would be enough, though she suspected that Threldigan’s powers might give him an advantage. Dax obviously trusted him, because he didn’t bother to argue but stood immediately and offered her his hand. “Ready?”

Laughing, she placed her hand in his. “Bring it on!”

***

Dax hadn’t realized how much effort it took to field comments from his other passengers and listen to Waroun’s snide remarks until he and Ava were alone again. The puppy, of course, didn’t talk at all, and Ava seemed perfectly content to stroll along in a companionable silence through one of the more picturesque shopping districts, which was designed to resemble the ancient gardens of Nokrus. Huge, leathery-leafed plants curled up the lampposts, while their fluffy purple flowers bobbed at the end of coiled stems. The storefronts were fashioned from bundles of bamboo stacked in a variety of intricate patterns, and the main street was paved in the same manner. Dax gave these and the colorful mosaic sidewalks only a cursory glance. He only had eyes for Ava. There were undoubtedly a million questions buzzing around in her head, just as there were inside his, but she seemed willing to let the answers reveal themselves in their own time—until they happened upon a pet shop.

“We have to stop here,” she said, pulling him inside. “You need puppy supplies.”

“Supplies? Don’t we just have to feed him?”

“Oh, no,” Ava said firmly. “You need all sorts of things—brushes and collars and leashes and flea repellent—stuff like that.”

“Really?”

“Yes, and he needs a name. You can’t call him ‘the puppy’ forever.”

“I suppose not. Any suggestions?”

“He’s
your
puppy, Dax. You need to be the one to name him.”

Dax had never named anything; he hadn’t even changed the name of the
Valorcry
when he acquired it; hadn’t seen the point. Holding the puppy up to his face, he studied the soft brown eyes and blond curls. “How about Jack?”

“He doesn’t look a thing like Jack.”

“How do you know Jack?”

“Everyone
knows Jack,” Ava said dryly. “And besides, she was with you in the bar when we first met. Remember?”

“Yeah, right. How could I forget? Okay, then, how about Cat?”

“No, and for the same reason.”

Dax frowned. “You’re making this very difficult. Have you ever had a dog?”

“Yeah, a couple of them. One was named Luke and the other was Chewie.”

Dax knew that puppies chewed on things, but he didn’t like the idea of encouraging a dog to do so by naming him that. “I like the name Luke.” He studied the puppy’s face again before holding him out to Ava. “See? He even looks like a Luke.”

“He’s the same color as my Luke. Is that what you want to call him?”

Dax shrugged. “Works for me, and it’s easy to say.”

“Okay, great. Luke it is, but Luke still needs a collar and a leash and puppy shampoo—”

“Kots can handle the shampoo part,” Dax said. “And probably the flea repellent too. He’s got everything.”

“True, but it would be nice to have a leash so you could put him down to walk for a while. Now’s as good a time as any to start training him. I’m pretty sure he’s old enough.”

In the end, Dax was persuaded to buy a plain brown collar and a leash and some treats. Luke devoured the treats, but was less enthusiastic about the rest of it. He finally fell in step with Dax while chewing on the leash, which, fortunately, seemed impervious to puppy teeth.

It hit Dax then that the only thing needed to complete this picture were a couple of kids trotting along with them. Better make that
three
kids, he reminded himself, which might have been one of the reasons he’d resisted fatherhood. The thought of having to deal with three babies at once—and there was no way he could expect his wife to handle them alone—was enough to make any man’s dick shrivel away to nothing. He liked children well enough, but triplets? No one would really wish for that kind of responsibility—would they?

There were plenty of Zetithian men who wouldn’t give it a second thought—after all, it was the woman who actually gave birth. But the idea of putting Ava through such an ordeal horrified Dax. She was so tiny, and he was so big. How would that work? Would she back down and refuse to be his mate just because of that? She was pretty tough, but everyone had their limits.

“What are you thinking about?” Ava asked suddenly. “How Luke is going to chew up all of your shoes?”

Caught by surprise, Dax blurted out his reply without taking time to consider. “No, I’m thinking about how hard it would be for you to have triplets.”

“Well, that’s certainly thinking ahead. But I wouldn’t dwell on it if I were you. After all, it might never happen.”

He stared at her, aghast. “You mean our species aren’t compatible?” The idea that he might not be able to produce offspring with her hadn’t occurred to him. Jack would kill him if he chose an incompatible mate.

“Well, that’s always a possibility when you start mixing people from different worlds. Zetithians may be able to cross with Terrans, but the Aquerei mix might not work.”

“I think the fact that your scent affects me is a good indicator,” Dax said after a moment’s consideration. He was pretty sure he’d heard that somewhere along the line. How true it was, he couldn’t have said, but it was a comforting thought.

“You’re probably right. I never really thought about having children. Russ and I weren’t together that long, and the more time I spent with Lars, the less sex we had and the less I wanted to have anything to do with him, much less give birth to a child of his—aside from the fact that Luxaria is no place to raise children.”

While this was good news in itself, never having broached this particular subject with any woman before, Dax wasn’t quite sure how to put it delicately. “But you’d have mine?”

“Knowing that I’d have triplets wouldn’t stop me, if that’s what you mean.”

Dax was somewhat mollified by this, but she hadn’t answered his question. “Yes, but do you
want
to have my children?”

She paused to consider this. “It’s a little early in our relationship to be worrying about that, but I can understand why it would be important to you. Do you want me to see a doctor before we go any further? I mean, if you’re looking to rule me out as a possible mate, it might be best to find out sooner rather than later.”

Dax’s jaw dropped. “I—no. I mean, I thought you might not want me because of the triplet thing.”

“Dax,” she said gently. “I knew that was a possibility going into this.”

“Maybe, but you hadn’t had time to give it much thought.”

“I’m okay with it. Really.” She looked down as though trying to hide her smile. “But thank you for your concern.”

“It’s a lot to ask of a woman. I just wanted to be sure.”

She squeezed his hand and brought it to her lips. Her kiss was quick, but Dax felt the tingle all the way to his toes. “I’m sure.”

The tingle became a warm rush of emotion that momentarily robbed him of speech. She might as well have said she loved him.

Dax was oblivious to everything else that they passed by on their way to the spaceport. Desire had won out over fear—fear that she might desert him just when he fell in love with her. It was similar to the loss of his family and homeworld. No child of that age expects everything he knows and loves to be obliterated, and yet it had happened to him. He had survived, but at what cost? It hadn’t affected all of them the same way. Most had gladly settled on Terra Minor and embraced the task of rebuilding their civilization. Dax knew he should have done the same, but the lack of a mate and the fear that he might never find one had weighed heavily in his decision. Better to spend his life roaming the galaxy, visiting all those worlds he had learned about, than growing cabbages on Terra Minor to feed the progeny of others.