Offering his arm, he led her to an unoccupied section of the room. He relished the bright stain on her cheeks, which bloomed when he pulled her close and tucked her under his shoulder.
“For all her flamboyance and bravado, Dohsan is still an adolescent, with adolescent needs and little trust in the adults about her.”
The warm weight of her curvy body summoned his desire for her. No matter how many times he tasted her, had her, he hungered and thirsted after her like a man dying in an arid desert.
“Here, light years away from our father, I am the only parent-figure she has. I know she has acted abominably, but…please…couldn’t we just allow her to stew for a while, get good and scared? I will guarantee her behavior is appropriate from now on. If I tell her I am the one who will be punished for her future misdeeds, I don’t believe she will let me down.”
A smile welled up from the depths of his soul. Still swamped with lust and now growing respect for Nnora’s compassionate heart, he could only marvel at how she lightened his world with her goodness.
The smile she awarded him in return brightened the entire room. It dimmed when he tightened his hold. “I will let your sister off the hook, but you taking her place and her punishment will be no mere verbal invention.”
Nnora’s gaze snapped to his. He caught a fleeting look of unease, quickly hidden in their tangerine depths.
He glared down at his fidgeting mate. He worked at keeping his expression fierce, finding he felt more hurt than anger. “Let us discuss spying and juvenile acts of rebellion,
Nippa
. I would dearly like to know why my bulkheads are stained with a bright smear of…
uzak.
I also want to know why I find you here when you gave me your word you would do no more adventuring without a guide?”
The silence was deafening.
“So…?”
He paused, giving her time to provide an answer. None was forthcoming. “I see. While you bargain for my leniency for your sister’s misdeeds, recall that you have earned none for yourself. Dohsan’s punishment is negotiable…yours is not.” His voice hardened as his anger rekindled.
Why did she continue to resist him? How could he get through to her? Make her see how much she had grown to mean to him? When would she stop fighting him?
“You
lied
to me,
Nippa.
I will tolerate no dishonesty between us.”
Nnora raised her stubborn chin in answer to his low-voiced challenge, her proud spine stiffening in battle readiness. Her stance declared that if he thought her cowed, he had a few surprises coming.
A fierce feeling of pride swelled through him as he realized Nnora would never allow him to see her fear.
“I didn’t lie, exactly…” Nnora’s voice was low and hesitant. Her words trailed off at his pointed glare. “Well, at least, I didn’t mean to…and the lipstick will come off easily. See?” She held up her fistful of treated Kleenex. “I brought these along to wipe off the line on my way back to my cabin. I’m sorry, Dev. I just…I was so bored waiting for you to come back.”
Her inner struggle showed on her lovely face. “I missed you, Dev. I needed something to take my mind off of what we’d shared.”
Something tight eased in his chest at her words, at the evidence she offered, proving she had not been rebelling against their growing relationship.
“You have just earned my leniency,” he whispered, lowering his head to take her lips. He never completed the move, distracted by the commotion at the front of the cabin.
When the panels of the cabin door retracted into the walls, revealing a squadron of ten muscular
Rb’qarmshi
males—GanR’dari at the fore, each warrior a prime specimen of virile maleness—Dev felt and heard Nnora’s breath catch in her chest. Her throat worked, swallowing repeatedly; her pussy gushed wetness, scenting the air. He knew she had never seen so many mature, attractive males. Still, his brows snapped together at her involuntary feminine reaction.
With a growl of angry possessiveness, he caught her up and took her lips in a hard, driven kiss. One hand swept down her back, clutched the round swell of her ass and jerked her closer, silently but graphically staking his claim. Satisfied all had gotten his message, he lifted his head. In a fierce voice almost a snarl, he rapped out specific instructions to his second-in-command.
GanR’dari, stern-faced and grim, stepped forward and took reluctant charge of Dohsan.
With a final command for his men, Dev returned his attention to Nnora, none too gently propelling her down the corridor, away from her sister and the other
fem
.
Behind her, Dohsan cupped her hands to her mouth and hollered after her sister. “Don’t let him bully you, Nnora. Remember you have the upper hand!”
“Keep up this talk of upper hands,
fem
and you’ll soon feel one on your bottom!” GanR’dari hauled her along behind him as the rest of the warriors cleared the remaining
fem
from the room.
* * * * *
Dev grinned to himself while Nnora pretended to give her surroundings her full attention. True, there was a lot to peruse, since his quarters were twice as large as her assigned cabin. As the ruling
Rb’qarmshi
Prince, he was widely traveled and his travels showed in his eclectic collection of art and artifacts. His accommodations overflowed with the bounty of a hundred worlds, more than enough to occupy one jittery
fem
. Still…
He bit his cheek, reining in his humor. Nnora deliberately ignored his presence, seeking to put off what she thought of as her coming punishment. She moved about, touching everything, ooh-ing and ahh-ing over all his exotic items.
Arms crossed as he leaned against the door of his cabin, he patiently watched her flit nervously about, her graceful, almost airy movements calling to mind the flutterbies of Novus Ten. Yet her dainty looks belied his memory of her surprisingly powerful struggles and the equally strong grip of her hands in his hair. He replayed her eager, lusty response to the numerous explosive orgasms he’d given her and reminded himself she was sturdier than she looked.
His heart thudding with heightened awareness, full arousal only a beat away, he pondered how he would take her first. She was smaller than the normal
fem
…petite, actually. Their first joining might be so painful she would find no pleasure. He wanted to make it good for her, but he feared he would lack control. Much as he ached to fuck her, he didn’t want her memory of their bonding to be one of pain and disappointment.
He wavered, desire, love and fear pulling him first one way, then another. Should he claim her now, make her his
cherzda’va
in reality or allow her request and wait the length of their journey to home-world?
His breath caught anew in his throat as he watched her, glorying in the simple fact that she existed. For twenty dry, barren years, he had worked and labored for his people…for what? For the opportunity that now lay within his grasp: the chance to claim his mate. A part of himself, joined with him, the only being who could send the life pulsing through his veins, pounding in his cock. Nnora was the culmination of his dreams, the realization of his hopes. She was the reason his heart beat. He loved her.
He wanted to lock her away and keep her totally to himself.
Dev’s eyes narrowed, jealousy kindling flame hot in his chest as he recalled Nnora’s instinctive reactions around his men.
She was his, by
Deth
! He would allow no one to come between them…not if he could help it!
That quickly, he made up his mind. The seesaw of indecisiveness slowed and stopped. He pushed away from the door and stalked over to Nnora, halting only when their bodies were almost touching.
“I’m sorry,
Nippa
, I should have told you the full truth about the marriage contracts.” He caught and held his mate’s gaze. “Perhaps we could have avoided this present situation.”
“Why didn’t you?” She maneuvered to widen the space between them without actually backing away.
He shrugged, moving a few steps forward to counteract her uneasy withdrawal. “I took one look at you, and any vestige of sense flew out my head. The only remaining thought dictated that I make you mine at any cost. I could not…” he closed his eyes, heaved a sigh “…
cannot
let you go.”
She backed up again, lips lifting in a snarl. “You called me a liar, yet
you
lied to
me
…
repeatedly
. How am I supposed to trust you?”
He advanced. “I admit to withholding information, but I did not lie.”
She retreated. “I consider it the same thing. You deceived me!”
He feinted. “I am now willing to tell you everything if you are willing to listen with an open mind. I’ll even promise not to touch you while we talk.”
She parried. “Again, I don’t know that I can trust you to do as you say…”
He retreated. Verbally, anyway.
“You are wise not to trust me.” He relaxed his facial muscles, letting her see his contriteness, his knowledge of just how guilty he appeared in her sight.
“Where you are concerned, I am not to be trusted. For when I am this close to you, all I can think of is burying your beautifully long nipples in my chest and milking you dry. This time, I won’t stop with the
seating
.” He dropped his voice to a deep rumble. “I promised to fuck you deeply enough to feel your heart beating, but I ache for the emotional closeness as well,
Nippa
. I want to
mate
you…finish the journey we started in your bedroom and built upon in your quarters—mentally as well as physically.”
Nnora swallowed audibly, her pleasure at his frank words evident in the flushed color of her cheeks. “You’re talking what I would call marriage.”
“Yes. Bonding…marrying…mating…life-sharing…mutually exclusive rights… Whatever you call it, I want it with you.”
“Sweet talk will get you nowhere.”
He deliberately sniffed the air, and then met her eyes. “Your pussy says differently.”
“My
pussy
responds as it wills.” It was well that she did not deny what they both knew. “But it is my mind that controls my actions.”
He half-raised his hand to cradle her cheek, stopped short of making the tender connection. Curling the hand into a fist, he lowered it to his side with a rueful shake of his head. “I promised not to touch you while we talked, and I will abide by my word, hard as it is. But…oh,
Nippa,
how
can you doubt the depths of my desire for you? Do you recall how hard I became in your eager hands, how heavy I grew with arousal? Remember how my body surrendered when you stroked me to completion?”
Nnora’s cheeks took on a darker hue as she searched his face. “I—I want to believe you.”
“Then listen to what I have to say. It is all I ask.”
Should she listen to him? Could anything possibly justify his actions?
Nnora worried her top lip in indecision, debating. She closed her eyes against his potent appeal. In the dark space behind her closed lids, alone in her mind’s quiet place, she realized she
wanted
him to have logical, honest reasons for the way he had behaved.
Drat!
“All right, Dev,” she heard herself say, inwardly praying her trust was not misplaced, “I’ll listen.” She had been silly enough to fall in love with him. She might as well be a total imbecile and let him have his say.
Chapter Fifteen
“I still cannot believe they would use chemical warfare against your females!” Even though Dohsan had explained, it seemed more horrifying hearing it from Dev’s lips. “How could anyone deliberately plan to destroy a people—their
own
people?”
“The
Rb’nTraqshi
felt they had no choice.” Dev heaved a despondent sounding sigh. “They no longer felt connected to us
Rb’qarmshi
. The war between us had dragged on for over two hundred years and they were losing badly, running out of replacement warriors to fuel their war-machine. Still, not all of the
Rb’nTraqshi
agreed to the plan. Unfortunately, the protesting Elders were either shouted down, voted out, or shut up…permanently. A few honorable Council members tried getting word out to us, but to no avail.” Though Dev’s voice was quiet, the air throbbed with his pain as he recalled those first, horrible days.
Nnora thought quietly, weighing the situation from all angles. “Is it true your doctors and scientists hold forth no hope? They have determined that
all
of your women were affected by the poisoning? None escaped?”
“None. As far as the scientists and doctors can tell, not one of our mature
fem
escaped the poison. They all suffer from the same symptom, namely, the inability to flower.”
From her conversation with Dohsan, she knew that meant the
Rb’qarm
and
Rb’nTraq
fem
could not produce the wetness necessary to lubricate their
pavas
, as well as trigger the male’s olfactory system.
“Haven’t your doctors been able to discover a cure, find some substitute to alleviate that problem?” It seemed a simple enough problem, just synthesize the fragrance and lubricate the
pavas
. “I find it hard to believe a race so technologically advanced as yours is stumped over a problem of this nature.”
Dev nodded. “Our technological advances do not help with a biological problem such as this. All attempts at synthesis have failed.” Well, perhaps it wasn’t so simple. “Our
fem
—our mothers, sisters, aunts and cousins—are sterile, incapable of flowering. As they cannot stimulate us males, we cannot soften our
terat
to
seat
them. Without the
seating
, we are doomed.”
He got up and began to pace, his agitation evident in his stiff posture, clenched fists and stern visage. “You wondered about the liquid you secreted into my
terat
each time you came whilst being
seated
…”
Nnora nodded, wordlessly urging him to continue, wishing there were some way she could alleviate his pain.
“There is good reason it is called ‘the gift’. Without that fluid, our sperm is lifeless. It is essential to our sexuality. It will bond me to you and, once my body has transmuted the fluid, will in turn bond you to me through the injection of my sperm. As you found out, our sperm acts as an enhancer, an aphrodisiac to our women. In fact, over time, you will become addicted to my sperm, your body needing it to survive, as I will need your
gifting
.”
She tensed, sitting up straight on the bunk. Dohsan had left this part out of her lesson. “Does this mean I will die without your sperm? If you decide not to fuck me, I’m doomed?” A slightly queasy feeling settled in her belly as she contemplated what her life might be like, so completely dependent upon another person. Then she thought of Mom and Pop Brewster, how both seemed to be extensions of other. She knew for certain that neither one would long outlast the death of their partner; they were that connected.
He stopped his agitated pacing to stare at her, his expression of mixed horror and bemusement almost comical. “No, you will not die. First, I will never refuse to fuck you. Secondly…well, let me just say…you would not be the only one affected in a situation such as that. But if I were to stop for some reason—though I am told it can be extremely painful, it doesn’t end in death.” Then he grinned wickedly. “So, little Dohsan doesn’t know everything.”
“Thank goodness.” She drooped in relief. Being ready to commit is one thing. Facing the possibility of death from lack of fucking is another!
“As for Dohsan… She knows plenty about sex but nothing about mating. My foster parents taught me that true marriage involves the bonding of two people into one. Isn’t it ironic that I had to leave Earth before I could experience that?”
Dev halted in his steps, his eyes lighting up. “Does that mean you—”
“Wait a moment!” She flung up a hand, cutting short his jubilation. “It means
nothing
until I hear the rest of the story.” On that, she would brook no argument.
His eyes dimmed and his shoulders slumped. He nodded, resuming his explanations…and his pacing.
“Our healers offer a very dim view of our race’s future. Thousands of our mated pairs have already died and our population has decreased to the point of negative birth rate. You see, they released the chemical through the nutrient chain. The poison targeted our
fem
by destroying one of their hormonal enzymes. It accomplished this by mutating the
Rb’kylla
plant, the food responsible for stimulating the growth of that enzyme. So far, our scientists have been as unable to duplicate the needed substance as they have the
flowering
. They fear there is no way to reverse the damage and we are facing a permanent, fatal situation.”
Nnora’s brow furrowed with the beginnings of a thought. An insistent, niggling, something familiar digging at her brain, trying to break through. It scattered at Dev’s next words.
“With one fell stroke, the enemy assured our demise as a people.
Rb’qarmshi
males cannot become sexually aroused without the exchange of pheromones. If our
terat
do not soften, we cannot gather the liquid that bonds us to our
cherzda’va
.”
She reached over and took Dev’s hand, her heart aching with the echo of his pain, sickened by the horrendous results of an age-long war. “What of the young girls, the babies? Do you think any of them might have escaped the chemical?”
“What young girls?” His tone was so bitter she nearly wept. “There have been no babes born for almost twenty years. Every
fem
has proven to be affected.
“There were no tests that measure whether a
fem
will enter
pava
and flower upon reaching her maturity. We waited with bated breath to see whether the children would prove to be fertile. Not one escaped the effects of the poison. As it stands now, our mature
fem
might as well be neuter, and we males with them. We may have won the war, but unless we can find a way to reverse the effects of the biological poisoning, we face extinction.” His voice was flat and dull, as though he had recited these same statistics too many times for the pain to bleed through.
“My people were desperate. The discovery of your colony has given us new hope, a way of realizing our dreams. To find
fem
—lots of mature, fertile
fem
willing to return to
Rb’qarm
as mates—has given us back our future. “
“We faced the same situation as you, only in the reverse.” How strange that seemingly random elements that brought the home-world and its lost colony to the same straights. “War is to blame for both our situations… Do you think there is a fatal flaw in our makeup…a gene on our DNA strand that prompts us to destroy ourselves?”
“I pray not.” Dev’s eyes grew bleak. He lifted his hands and then let them fall as he shrugged his shoulders. “I hope with all my heart that we have learned our lessons. I am fighting to forge a lasting peace between our two planets…and now, with your colony.”
“What happened to the perpetrators?” She hoped the retribution had been swift and painful.
Dev shook his head. A grimace, masquerading as a smile, marred his face as he came and sank down next to her. “Now that the results are known and it is too late for their sorrow to matter, our enemies—the few that are left—are appalled at the barbarism of their leaders’ action. Their punishment is to share our fate. You see, the
Rb’kylla
plant grows only upon
Rb’qarm
. In times past, before the war broke out, we imported the food to
Rb’nTraq
. During the war, their store of
Rb’kylla
diminished until they were forced to pay an exorbitant price for the smuggled goods.”
The ugly irony wasn’t lost on her. “In other words, your people were denying the
Rb’nTraqi
people the same enzyme, using it as a lever in your war. Faced with the same outcome that you now endure, they decided to make sure you shared in their fate. ‘Leveling the playing field’ is how we say it on Earth.”
Dev blinked. His face bore an arrested look. “I fear you are very much correct,
Nippa
.” His words came slow and measured as if he tested each one before speaking. “Why is it I am only seeing this, now? Why did it take your words to open my eyes to our own guilt? Our actions towards the
Rb’nTraqi
make us just as responsible for this current disaster as they are. This puts a whole new light on the negotiations and reparations talks. We have been grossly unfair to
Rb’nTraqi
. I am a fool, and unworthy to lead my people. What will become of our worlds?”
“Hey, don’t beat yourself up.” She turned and ran her hands along Dev’s shoulders, working the tightness out of the heavy muscles and tendons as she spoke. “Look, I happen to think you are the best man for the job. The fact that you are willing to admit you can make mistakes tells me you will do whatever you can to rectify the situation. Your people are lucky in having such a leader.”
Dev turned to her, easing her hands off his shoulders and keeping hold of them. His grip was warm and encompassing, firm, as if he feared to let go.
She glanced down at their joined hands and then back up at Dev.
He quickly released her, scooting away until he had placed a foot between them, mumbling half under his breath, “Hands to yourself, Dev. Remember your word.”
She smiled. He was a good man. “I’ll forgive this instance, since I started it. Now, finish your report.”
He took a deep breath, slapped his hands on his thighs and pushed up from the bed. Standing at attention, he clasped his hands behind his back, looking for all the world like a boy in the principal’s office, awaiting punishment. “You will not like what I have to say next.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Then you’d best just get it said.” What could possibly be so bad he feared telling her? Leaning back on her hands, she waited for Dev to continue.
“When first we met, I told you of a planned attack…told you we discovered and captured the rebels before that attack took place—”
“Yes, go on.” She came erect. A dark feeling of dread swamped her limbs, making her body heavy, her head light. She prepared herself for the worst.
“In obedience to your father’s orders, I lied to you about that. Your father fell captive in that attack and the leader of the rebellion demanded we deliver you to him in order to save your father’s life.”
“Oh, my god,” Nnora gasped, feeling the blood leave her head in a rush. She sagged against the pillows, glad she hadn’t been standing when she received the unsettling news. “Is he…he’s not…?” She couldn’t force the word out her mouth.
Dev rushed back over to her, sweeping her into a tight embrace. “Nnora…
Nippa
,” he crooned as he rocked her back and forth, soothing her. “Be calm and fear not. Your father lives.
“Before the attack, he and I met and made plans, determined to break the back of this rebellion, once and for all. The
Chyya
would allow none but himself into danger. Despite your stepmother’s and my arguments, your father’s stubbornness won the day. My part was to get to you before the rebels could find you, whisk you away out of danger and coordinate my men’s counter-strike on the rebel base when I received the signal from your father. That signal met us when we arrived aboard ship.”
He paused and she waited, breathless, to hear the rest of it. Her mind reeled. Her father had been in deadly danger, and she had been kept ignorant of his peril. Anger roiled through her, joining her fear in the pit of her stomach.
“I sent the men as agreed upon. They rescued your father and captured all the rebels not killed during the retrieval exercise. At that point, I had promised to return you to Mars. Then the message from home came with these new troubles. It was imperative that I head back immediately. Your father objected.”
He stopped talking and met her gaze dead on. His eyes glowed iridescently golden orange, the mixture of colors a sure sign of inner agitation.
“Taking you from your apartment was no kidnapping, since I had your
Chyya’s
permission and request to remove you from danger. The kidnapping occurred once we were underway. Your father had begun talking about mating you to the rebel leader to ensure a lasting peace. We came seeking
fem
for mates, yet I had found more than a mate. I had found my heart’s home. How could I give you up?”
She blinked, speechless. She had no idea how to respond to the bombshells he was dropping.
Dev’s crooked smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “So your father had nothing to do with you being here, really, other than seeing to your safety. I am the sole culprit in this situation,
Nippa.”
He sighed heavily. “Know that I would do it all over again, even though this trip to Earth could not have come at a worst time.”
Her insecurities rushed to the surface. “Damn you!”
Dev pinched the bridge of his nose between forefinger and thumb. “Do not be so quick to hear insults where none are intended, Nnora. I do not regret our coming together at this time. The Creator which crafted us for each other planned this in His infinite wisdom. My regrets are that you are short-changed by these current troubles. I resent the calls on my duty for your sake. I have not been fair to you, and for this I say this trip is inconvenient.”