Lovers of the Galaxy, Book Two: Bounty Hunters of the Heart (4 page)

His mate nodded and did as suggested. “Now you know
why I returned early from my shift.”

“It is no excuse. I fulfilled my time scouting in
this harsh afternoon light.”

“I grew ill.”

“You are as strong as I.”

“How much farther?” Oshki asked as if they weren’t
even arguing.

The urge to knock his mate on his ass overwhelmed
Miln, but he restrained his temper. “Another block.”

“Block?”

He grimaced. “We will reach the museum shortly.”

By the time they arrived at the brick building, his
hair lay flat with sweat against his skull. He glanced at Oshki as
they crossed a large rectangular area with several rusting, wheeled
conveyances sitting in it. Perspiration coated his mate’s forehead,
his hair wet around his face and where it lay against his neck.
Even bathed in sweat, his face flushed with heat, he was handsome,
virile.

Despite his irritation with his partner, Miln’s sapin
stirred, but he willed it to be still and concentrated on the
shadowy areas around the buildings, where the sun didn’t reach. “It
looks safe to cross.” He motioned for Oshki to follow him. “And the
pets seem at ease.”

Instead of taking the front entrance, he strode down
a paved walkway leading around one side of the building. Halfway
down, he discovered a gray metal door but found it locked. Using
his Slicer, he sent a brief burst of energy into the knob, which
melted slightly and fell out to land on the hard path. He pulled
the door open and entered a dark, musty corridor. The pets trotted
in behind them.

“Where do we look for the things we need?” his mate
asked quietly.

“Venus said to go to the upper rooms where the Old
West exhibits are located.”

He led Oshki and the animals into a great center
chamber and up an open, winding staircase to the highest regions of
the museum. Ample windows allowed natural light to illuminate the
building, but the stale air irritated the lungs, and Ino and Ka
panted as if they still walked in the afternoon heat. He reached
the top of the stairs and strode around the semicircle balustrade
to a hall leading toward the back of the structure. They walked
past displays of what was labeled the Industrial Revolution, their
heavy boots clonking on the tile flooring, the sound bouncing from
the rafters and the large glass windowpanes. A big sign over double
swinging doors read The Old West.

Pushing through the doors, he halted just inside the
entrance and gaped at the replicas of people dressed in strange
garb and ridiculous hats. Wooden conveyances lined one wall, and
strange, four-legged creatures, some stout with long horns and
others without, pulled them.

“By the Twelve Galaxies,” he swore, “there are many
artifacts to consider and choose from.”

“Primitive,” mused Oshki.

“Not as primitive as the Dark Ages or even time
further back such as the Bronze Age.”

Oshki snorted. “Primitive, nonetheless.”

“Let us get started.” After withdrawing another
packet from his belt, he licked it. The square began to grow
larger. He moved into the center of the display and placed the
packet on the floor. He spent a lot of time choosing revolvers,
finding the appropriate ammunition, and picked out sturdy knives
for each of them. Ino and Ka panted under one of the wagons.

“If you have some extra water,” said Miln, “the pets
could use a drink.”

“I will take care of that while you find us suitable
clothing.”

Behind Miln, the sound of the animals’ lapping echoed
in the chamber. As he studied the clothes in the exhibits, he
realized it would be difficult to find garments that would fit
them. Finally, he gave up, and mentally cataloging the names of
each item, took double sets of pants, chaps, shirts, vests, and
anything else he could find that Venus had marked in the book she’d
sent with them. He pulled the boots off two pioneers and returned
to the sheet he’d laid on the floor. Kneeling, he set the clothing
and footwear on the marble tiles next to the silver square.

“What did you find?” his consort asked curiously.

“Not much that will fit our bodies. We will have to
use environites to expand the garments so we can wear them. He
removed several rubbery one-by-one-inch tiles from his tool kit.
Helping him, Oshki placed two shirts on top of each other and then
two pairs of pants in the same manner in a separate pile as Miln
prepared his items. He handed Oshki a few tiny environite squares
and kept the others. Next, he laid one on each mound of clothing
he’d prepped as his mate followed his example. Finished, Miln
reached for the boots and fastened a tile on each one.

The environites activated and began swarming over the
garments like millions of shimmering gnats. Within minutes, the
shirts and all other clothing were blended to make larger garments,
and the boots were stretched and lengthened to allow for their
larger feet. The minuscule environites winked out and fell off the
clothing, appearing as piles of gray dust.

Curious, Miln pulled off his boots and slipped out of
his tilk. He picked up a pair of brown pants, stepped into them,
and drew them up to button the front. “They fit well, so your set
should fit you, too.”

His mate turned with a beige shirt in his hands, his
attention landing on him as he finished fastening the top button.
Heat glimmered in Oshki’s eyes and his expression awakened
something fierce in Miln. He suddenly knew what he could do to be
with his mate.

“Put our armor and other things on the sheet-pack.”
He cursed the huskiness in his voice. “Trans-shift everything to
base and then return here.”

Without a word, his lover hurriedly tossed all the
clothing and boots on the enlarged silver square, leaving only
their tool kits out of the pack. He stooped and touched each corner
of the sheet. It sealed over itself and two adjustable straps
appeared on one side. He picked it up, slung it over one
shoulder.

“I’ll change out of these clothes at base and be
right back.” He smiled in delight and vanished.

Trembling, his sapin so hard it pained him, Miln
waited for his lover to return. With all their belongings save for
their tool kits back at base, they could be together for the first
time since their brief encounter. He shook his head. That had been
nearly a full Muhebu lunar cycle ago, a little over a year in Earth
time. He wondered how many humans could wait that long to be with
their mates. He paced the floor in front of Ino and Ka. He knew
that they had planned on waiting until they had time shifted, but
once he and Oshki traveled back in time after Randle, unforeseen
circumstances might prevent them from having another opportunity
like this one. He had to show his mate how much he loved him.

The air shimmered as if heat waves wafted from the
floor, and suddenly Oshki stood in front of him in nothing but inch
by glorious inch of pale skin, his manhood proud and eager as it
bumped against his navel.

Miln gulped.

He couldn’t take his gaze off Oshki’s erection. It
twitched with need, the head of it marbled with pale purple veins,
a glistening drop of his essence perched on its tip. By the Twelve
Galaxies, he wanted him.

He cleared his throat and quickly tossed some
patchwork quilts on the floor. “Come over here,” he beckoned, “and
lie with me on these blankets.”

On bare feet, his partner padded across the highly
polished floor, his soles slapping softly on the marble tile. Miln
admired the planes of his honed muscles balanced with the bulging
of others lacing his arms, thighs, and calves. The warrior was a
fine example of prime maleness. Although his coloring was
exceedingly pale, he loved his mate’s fair skin, yellow hair, and
brilliant moonshine eyes. He was not only hauntingly handsome but
also powerful. Battle scars, some thick and ropey while others were
thin and silver with time, crisscrossed his body.

Miln gulped in anticipation, his sapin so hard it
pained him. He stretched out on his left side. His member, precum
seeping from it, bumped his abdomen.

Kneeling next to him, Oshki smiled. Emotion softened
the harsh lines of his face, his eyes full of love and bright with
desire. “I have dreamed of this moment for so long.”

“So have I.” Brushing back a long lock of his mate’s
hair, he returned his smile. “Our first mating was so brief we can
barely count it.”

Oshki ran one hand over his shoulder and along his
arm. Gooseflesh erupted over Miln’s skin, and his manhood throbbed
with need. A groan slipped past his lips.

“Let me pleasure you,” he whispered. He pushed Miln
back onto the quilts and then positioned himself over his pelvis.
“I will make you cry out my name and beg to take me.”

Liquid fire raced through his veins. Miln’s breath
grew faster, ragged, and his heartbeat crashed in his ears. He
stared up at the metal rafters forming an arched pattern above
them, but as he felt his mate’s warm breath sweep over his lower
abdomen, he closed his eyes and anticipated the next moment.

“I love how the hair here and down to your root is a
deeper pink.” His partner gently kissed the spot just below Miln’s
navel. “What is it Venus calls this part of a male’s body?”

“A…a cock.” He gulped. “Sometimes she c-calls it a
rod, t-too.”

If his mate wasn’t careful, Miln would come before he
was even touched. Desire rushed through him, and every bit of it
culminated in his throbbing member. He swallowed again, waiting for
him to make his move.

His lover kissed all around his lower abdomen, each
caress leaving a damp spot behind. His long hair fanned out across
Miln’s upper belly, the sensation silky and tantalizing. Miln
moaned again, louder this time.

“Does this please you?” asked Oshki.

“Oh, yes.”

Those two words had barely passed his lips when Oshki
took him into his mouth, the head of his cock bumping the back of
his throat.

“Schizma!” he stiffened and gripped the blankets,
hips arching, lightning bolts zipping from his sapin to melt every
nerve ending throughout his body.

His partner pumped his head up and down as he kept
suction around Miln’s erection, the hot, wet sensation of his mouth
pure ecstasy and wonderful torture. Vaguely, he heard a rumble
above the museum, but was it his heartbeat or an approaching storm?
As his mate sucked again, the faint question evaporated from his
mind. The pressure, the slick and yet rough feel of his lover’s
tongue caressing his cock, and the murmured sounds of pleasure from
his mate only fueled the inferno growing at the base of his spine.
He wanted to come, but even more, he wanted to pin Oshki to the
floor and push into his hard yet pliant ass.

“Ungh!” he shouted. “You are playing with fire.”

His mate replied with a deep chuckle, the sound
buzzing his cock. Miln sighed and balled the quilt more tightly in
his fists.

Oshki moved his head up and down faster still. Every
time the tip of his erection hit the back of his lover’s throat,
the heat building in his spine filtered into his balls. The
pressure increased in them, and began shifting into the root of his
sapin. However, just as he thought Oshki would continue his
ministrations until he exploded in his mouth, he released him.

A sigh of disappointment mixed with relief burst from
him. He opened his eyes to look up at Oshki. “The things you do to
me.”

“I adore the noises that spill from your lips,” his
partner replied, breathing heavily. “You sound like a great animal
both roaring and purring.”

Miln couldn’t take any more torment. He sat up
suddenly and grabbed his mate by the upper arms. The instant he
grasped him, Oshki’s eyes widened, and he sucked in a startled
breath. He jerked him off his knees, flipped him over, and planted
him firmly on his back, where he straddled him. His mate stared up
at him, his expression stunned, but the surprise in his eyes
vanished and unbridled lust replaced it. He panted harder, his eyes
deepening to a dark, steely gray.

Thunder boomed overhead, the reverberation bleeding
into the museum’s inner structure supports. The vibration passed
into the floor, and Miln detected it through his knees planted on
either side of Oshki’s hips. The ominous sounds of the weather
poked at his senses, but his need for release overwhelmed
everything else.

“You are mine,” he said to him.

Oshki met his gaze with total abandonment. “Yes,
yours always. Let us seal our bond the way it should have been so
long ago.”

Lowering himself onto his muscled, sinewy body, he
sandwiched their cocks between them. He shut his eyes for a moment
in an attempt to rein in his desire. If he didn’t go slowly, he
might hurt his mate, and he could never live with himself if he
injured him or caused him any discomfort. He smiled at how their
cocks almost thumped in time together.

“Please, gentle warrior,” Oshki whispered. “Claim me.
Make me yours.”

Again, a roll of thunder shook the museum. Behind
them, beneath the wheeled conveyance, Ino and Ka whined, the sound
high-pitched and full of unease.

Miln glanced over one shoulder at the animals. Both
pets panted heavily, and white rimmed their dark eyes.

“Be at ease.” Oshki laced his fingers in his hair.
“It is only the weather.”

Still, it worried him that they were security for the
first Azutuan base and they were not with the Rolarai brothers and
Venus. Something didn’t bode well.

Oshki wiggled his hips beneath him. Distracted,
desire firing through him at the speed of light, Miln groaned in
pleasure. He placed three fingers to his mouth and deposited a
healthy dose of saliva on them. Lifting himself, he ran the back
sides of his cupped fingers over his lover’s balls and followed the
strip of skin between them to the crack of his ass. Gently, he
delved inside and found the puckered place he wanted so much. At
his touch, Oshki stiffened and drew in a sharp breath. He slicked
Oshki’s tight opening to aid his penetration.