The Price of Pleasure (22 page)

“No,” she said quickly, trying not to look at him. The last thing she wanted was for him to realize how much he had disconcerted her. Of course, as soon as she said it she realized how silly it sounded.

“So you often wander the garden in the night?” Jax asked, his voice filled with gentle humor.

“Yes,” she said tightly. He sat down beside her on the bench. She kept her eyes fixed straight ahead, but she could sense his imposing presence next to her. His smell, masculine and slightly sweaty, filled her nose. Her body clenched, and a wave of lust swept through her. She remembered the feel of his lips against hers that afternoon. He had all but taken her in his room, would have taken her if it wasn’t for Able.

“About this afternoon…” she started, but he cut her off.

“Sarai, look at me,” he said.

Reluctantly, she turned to him, looking up at his face. The moonlight was reflected in his eyes - eyes hard and filled with desire. Without realizing what she was doing, Sarai gave a small whimper.

Jax’s arms came around her and his lips came down on hers, hard.

He thrust his tongue into her mouth, sweeping the inside of her mouth with rough determination. His arms were like bands of steel around her body. She whimpered a half-hearted protest, but he pulled her roughly across his lap, head slanting against hers.

He kissed her with a desperate energy, refusing to let her free long enough to catch her breath or consider the consequences of her actions. One hand pulled apart her robe, then reached down into the neckline of her gown. He found her breast, rolling the nipple between his fingers until it tightened with need.

It was as if there was a direct line between her breast and the sensitive area between her legs, because the need his touch created in her was almost agonizing in its intensity.

She moaned against his mouth.

He responded by standing quickly, pushing her robe off her shoulders. His mouth left hers long enough for him to pull her gown over her head, then he pulled her to the ground. Within seconds, he was on top of her. He kissed her again, one hand moving between her legs to massage her clit.

It felt like nothing she had ever experienced before. Sarai was out of control, there was a need building in her for something, but what was a mystery to her. Sex with Calvin had been nothing like this. She wanted more of Jax, and pressed herself against him. She twisted wantonly, searching for some kind of release that she knew instinctively only he could provide.

“Please,” she gasped. “Jax, please, help me.”

Jax muttered something, then his hand left her clit for a moment. She cried out in protest, but he kissed her, promising it would be better soon. She could feel him fumbling with the fastening of his pants. Then the hard, hot length of his shaft pressed against her and she gasped.

He pressed down, skewering her with his cock.

Sarai realized that Jax was much larger than Calvin, and the stretching sensation of his entrance both hurt and gave her unbearable pleasure. She twisted against him, and he stilled, resting his chin against her forehead and breathing heavily.

“Do you need me to stop,” he asked, pain etched in his words. “Because if you do, you’d better say so right now.”

“Oh, Goddess,” she whispered. “No, I need more, Jax. Fill me more.”

He growled in triumph, then thrust his entire length into her in one fierce motion.

She tried to scream, but he swallowed the sound with his mouth, slamming into her again and again. Her body felt as if it might split from the force of him, but her clit was hard with arousal and every movement sent waves of agonizing stimulation coursing through her body.

Then it hit her–the most incredible sensation she had ever experienced. It felt as if she was shattering into a thousand pieces, the world seemed to dissolve around her. Her entire body stiffened in ecstasy, every muscle spasming simultaneously. A part of her realized that Jax, too, was in the throes of orgasm. She could hear his cry, and somewhere deep in her body she could feel his seed entering her. It was too much to take in, though, so she simply let the waves of her own pleasure wash over her.

Sarai came back to herself after a few minutes, realizing she was lying naked on her back in the garden. Jax, still fully clothed, pinned her to the ground with both the weight of his body and his still-hard cock. He was gasping for breath, cradling her face against his chest with one strong arm. The other was supporting his upper body so she wouldn’t be crushed.

“Did I hurt you?” he asked. She stretched experimentally, trying to tell. She would be sore in the morning. His still felt massive within her–how had she taken it all inside?

Yet she was all right, she realized. He hadn’t injured her.

“I’m fine,” she said quietly, trying to process what had just happened between them.

“Could you get off me, please?”

He rolled to one side, and she sat up, nervously crossing her arms across her breasts. Horror filled her. She was naked, had rolled in the dirt with a strange man like a complete wanton. What had come over her?

Wordlessly, Jax handed her the discarded robe. She pulled it around her, and started to get up.

“Why don’t you lie in the grass with me for a while,” Jax said. “We’ve already had sex. I can see you’re upset how quickly it happened. Let’s take a little while to just be together and enjoy things, rather than you rushing back to your room to be angry with me.”

He pulled her back gently against him, and together they lay in tense silence, watching the stars. After a while, she felt some of that tension ease.

“Where is Saurellia?” she asked eventually.

Jax pointed to the northeast, where a patch of stars shone brightly.

“Right there,” he said. Then he pointed to another bright patch. “That’s the asteroid field where you and Calla came from.”

Sarai stiffened beside him, cold fear punching through her. “How do you know where we came from,” she whispered in horror. “I didn’t tell you that earlier. How do you know that?”

“Because Seth told me,” Jax said quietly. “He’s a good friend of mine.”

Sarai moaned wordlessly, realization rushing through her.

“Where is he?” she asked in a panicky whisper. “Is he with you? Are you here to punish us for what we did to him?” She sat up, scooting away from him as quickly as she could. She had to get the children, wake Calla. They had to escape right away, or they were finished. Where would they go this time?

Moving more quickly than she had ever seen a man move, Jax caught her and held her against him.

She struggled against him like a wild woman, lashing out with her fingernails and teeth. She had to get away! Jax was too strong for her, though. Within seconds he had her pinned to the ground. One leg was thrown across hers, and both wrists were bound firmly by his hands. He loomed over her in the moonlight, his face shadowed. Against her belly she could feel the hard length of his arousal, and she shivered with fear.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he whispered harshly. “But I’m not going to let you run up there and ruin things for Seth.”

“He’s here, at the hostel?” she asked in a tremulous voice. “Jax, I have to protect my children! They aren’t safe.”

“Of course your children are safe,” Jax said. “Seth has no interest in your children.

He’s come for Calla.”

“What is he going to do to her?” Sarai asked. “You have to make him understand, it wasn’t all her fault. I made her do it.”

Jax laughed harshly. “He isn’t going to do anything to her,” he said. “Seth loves her.

She’s his life mate. He’s going to take her to Saurellia and marry her.”

“And what are you doing here?” Sarai asked suspiciously. “Why did you check in to the hostel this morning?”

“I was scouting things out for him,” Jax replied. “He didn’t want to scare the two of you off before he had a chance to talk to Calla, so he sent me to make sure we’d found the right women.”

Sarai was filled with understanding. Jax had tried to seduce her that afternoon, and successfully completed his task at the most crucial moment, while Seth had come for Calla. She was a fool. He’d used her to get to Calla, then distracted her while her friend needed her most. To her horror, tears started welling in her eyes. This was too much, too cold-blooded. She had to get away from this man.

“Let me go,” she said. “I’m not going to do anything, I promise.”

“Why would I believe that,” Jax said. “I’m staying with you for the rest of the night, whether you like it or not. How we spend that time is up to you, but I won’t let you interrupt Seth and Calla.”

Sarai tried to think what her options were. They seemed limited. Even if she could somehow overpower him and escape, he would be able to easily catch her. She was beaten, at least for now. She hated being manipulated by a man. It was like being with Calvin all over again…

“If you let me up, we can go back to my room,” she said finally. Her voice was cold with anger. “We can’t stay out here. The children almost always play in the garden before the rest of us wake up in the morning. I can’t have them finding us like this. I won’t have sex with you again, though, so you can just keep that out of your mind.

Unless you feel like rape?”

“If I want a woman, I don’t need to rape her,” Jax said, his voice equally cold. “Next time we do this, I’ll make you beg for it. And you will.”

He rolled off her, and they stood up. Sarai led the way to her room with dignity, refusing to give him the pleasure of seeing how upset she was. As far as she was concerned, Jax could go straight to hell. She was determined that there would
not be
a next time.

Chapter 17

Calla came awake slowly. She felt wonderful, but something was different. She could smell Seth, male and slightly spicy. He was with her, his arms holding her. What had happened? Memory flooded back to her, and she realized he still in her bed. She sat up, leaning on one elbow, and examined his face.

He was smiling in his sleep, but around his eyes were new wrinkles. The night before they had been in shadow, but now she could see that on one side of his face was a fine web of newly-healed scars. A similar grouping of scars covered his shoulder, and spread across his chest. A wave of sadness and guilt swept over her as she realized that she might have been the cause of that pain. Would he have been injured if she hadn’t left him on that asteroid?

She looked back up at his face to find his eyes following her.

“Good morning,” he whispered.

“Good morning,” she replied. “I thought last night was a dream at first, but it was real, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, it was,” he said. “Now that you realize it wasn’t a dream, do you still want to go with me to Saurellia?”

“More than anything in the world,” she replied, kissing him softly. He returned the kiss, pulling her over his body and rubbing against her sensuously.

“You may already be pregnant with my child,” he said with satisfaction, once they surfaced for air. “How do you feel about that?”

“There is nothing I would love more,” she said. Her hair had fallen forward in her face, and she pushed it back impatiently with one hand. “Although right now I would definitely enjoy a shower. Care to join me?”

Seth didn’t need to be asked twice. Together, they jumped out of bed and moved into the small fresher room attached to Calla’s room. Calla flicked on the warm water and stepped in. Before she could even turn around, Seth was with her, kissing the back of her neck. He reached both hands around her body to grasp her breasts, then pulled her back against him. His erection, already fierce, pressed against her backside as she wiggled against him and giggled. She pretended to try and escape, and he growled fiercely at her.

Turning in the circle of his arms, she reached up on her toes and kissed him. He responded by gripping her butt with both hands and lifting her. Then he slid her down over his rampant sex, bracing her against the wall of the shower. She wrapped him with both arms and both legs, then their mouths met again.

Starting slowly, he thrust in and out of her warm flesh. After a minute she stopped kissing him, too enthralled in the sensations between her legs to focus. He thrust faster and faster, until both of them were panting with exertion. She grunted rhythmically, then bit at his shoulder. The slight pain seemed to set him off, because he went wild, slamming into her again and again, until she thought she would explode.

Finally she did explode, a thousand stars breaking apart inside of her aching sex.

She clawed at his back in ecstasy, and he groaned in response. Then he came too, pinning her against the wall with all of his weight as he shot load after load of hot, potent seed into her waiting flesh.

He allowed her legs to slide down his body, and she stood shakily on her own. He continued to stand above her, bracing his arms against the wall on either side of her.

Gasping, he dropped his chin against the top of her head. They both stood for several minutes, then he shoved himself back and stood, facing her.

“When can we leave?” he asked, searching her face with his eyes. “I can’t wait to start our life together. I can’t wait for you to meet my family. And I can’t wait to have our union confirmed at the temple, although we’ll have to wait until you’re pregnant for that.”

Calla looked startled, then thought.

“I don’t know that there’s any reason I can’t leave right away,” she said slowly.

“Sarai needed help getting on her feet here, but she can run the hostel alone.”

“Then let’s leave today,” Seth said, pinning her with his dark gaze.

“Can I at least have some time to pack?” Calla said, laughing. “I’d like to say goodbye to our guests, too. How about tomorrow?”

“I’ll give you until then,” Seth said. He leaned down caught her mouth in a deep, soul-searching kiss. “But no longer.”

“All right,” Calla said happily.

She smiled up at him, and his heart caught. She was finally his. What would their child look like, he wondered. All Saurellian children looked similar, but Calla was different than any other Saurellian mother had ever been. Would they have a little girl?

Would she have freckles like her mother? Only time would tell...

“If we’re going to leave tomorrow, I have a lot to get done today,” Calla said. “First, I’ll need to tell Sarai and the kids. I think it might be better if you got out of here for a couple of hours. I’d like to tell her in private.

“All right,” Seth said. “But I’m coming back this afternoon, and I’m definitely staying here tonight. You’re never going to sleep alone again.”

“That’s something I can handle,” Calla replied with a laugh. “Now finish your shower and get out of here.”

* * * * *

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Sarai asked tightly. Jax had left her room early that morning. Unsure of what to do, she had started her day as usual, waiting for Calla to appear. Her friend had come in to the kitchen looking like Sarai felt–sore and worn out from being fucked long and hard. Calla, however, had a glow about her that made Sarai realize she was a lost cause. She was in love with Seth, and Sarai was going to lose her. It was too late to do anything to change the situation. Sorrow filled her heart.

She and Calla sat at the kitchen table. The children had already eaten their breakfast and had gone outside to play. Calla had decided to take them out for treats later that morning and tell them.

“I’m sure,” she said. “I love him, Sarai. He had good reasons for behaving like he did before. If I had trusted him, none of this would have happened.”

“If he had trusted you, none of it would have happened, either,” Sarai muttered darkly.

“Well, we have a choice,” Calla said briskly. “Seth and I can spend the rest of our lives hating each other for what happened, or we can learn from our mistakes. We choose to forgive ourselves and start over. I want happiness, Sarai, and Seth and I will only find it together. It’s time to put the past behind us.”

“I’ll miss you,” Sarai said, dropping her composed facade. Losing Calla was almost too much to bear. “Oh, Calla, you’ve been like a sister to me. I don’t know what the children and I will do without you!”

“Oh, I think you’ll do just fine,” Calla said. “Sarai, you’re a new woman now. You own your own business, and your children have a future, just take life one step at a time. And remember, we can always visit.”

“I guess I just don’t want anything to change,” Sarai said with a sigh. She would save her tears for later, when Calla couldn’t see them. “Are you sure you can trust him?

A bad marriage is a terrible thing, Calla. I don’t wish this upon you. It would be better if you stayed here with us, where it’s safe.”

“I’ll be safe with him,” Calla said, tears building in her eyes. She and Sarai stood and held each other for several long minutes. Then Able burst through the door. They both jumped in surprise.

“Think about it, Calla,” Sarai whispered. “It isn’t too late to change your mind.”

“My mind’s been made up from the minute I saw him,” Calla replied, smiling happily. Sarai didn’t return the smile. Instead, she held out her arms to her son.

“Sweetheart, go get your sister,” Sarai said, giving him a quick hug. “Calla is taking you out for a treat. There’s something she needs to tell you.”

Able turned and ran out the door, and Calla followed. Sarai waited until they were gone, then sat down at the table. She lay her head down on her hands and let the tears flow. The thought of Calla leaving was too horrible. Worse yet, she was leaving so soon.

She would be alone with the children again, all by herself against the whole world.

* * * * *

“Sarai?” a male voice asked. She whipped her head up–Jax had come into the kitchen so quietly she hadn’t heard him at all. Sarai quickly wiped her face, then looked away from him. She didn’t like looking weak in front of any man, let alone this one. He was too quick to take advantage of a woman’s weakness.

“You’re upset because Calla’s leaving, aren’t you?” Jax asked softly, coming to over to her bench. He swung one leg over, settling himself in a straddling position facing her.

“It’s going to be all right. She’s his life mate–in Saurellia there is no greater bond that can exist between two people. They’ll be happy together, they’ll make each other complete.”

“I don’t care,” Sarai said, still refusing to look at him.
Bastard.
He’d used her, and now he had the nerve to try and comfort her. “I’m going to miss her, and I don’t like him.

He’s not good enough for her.”

“Seth is a good man,” Jax said softly. “I’ve known him for more than ten years, and I know that he’ll always love her.”

“You know, I’m sick and tired of men who think they need to take care of women,”

Sarai said harshly, finally looking at him. Her eyes blazed with the force of her emotions.

“I had a husband who ‘took care’ of me regularly, and I wouldn’t wish marriage on any woman. It’s a trap, and Calla’s falling into it. It’s a trap.” She repeated quietly, more to herself than to Jax.

“That’s not true,” Jess replied. “For a Saurellian-“

“Don’t give me your crap,” Sarai said, standing abruptly. She paced across the kitchen, then turned to lean against the counter with her arms folded in front of her. “Get out of my kitchen, get out of my hostel. You brought him here, you’re responsible for this. Go back to Saurellia, because I don’t ever want to see you again.”

“I can’t do that, Sarai,” Jax said with determination. The intensity of his gaze frightened her. She turned away from him, willing him to disappear. He came up behind her, she could feel his presence, just as any creature can feel the presence of a predator.

Taking a deep breath, she turned back to confront him.

“Get out,” she repeated coldly, staring at a spot in the middle of his chest. “If you don’t leave right now, I’m calling the authorities to remove you.”

It was an idle threat, they both knew it. She couldn’t move more than a few inches without running into him, and Jax was more than powerful enough to stop her. But he stepped back, raising his arms in mock surrender.

“I’ll give you some space, Sarai,” Jax said. “But I’m not ready to leave Hector Prime just yet. I’ll see you again.”

“Don’t threaten me,” Sarai gritted out between clenched teeth.

“I would never threaten you,” Jax replied with a strange smile. “And I’ll never lie, either. I’m not your ex-husband, Sarai. I’m a good man, and I won’t hurt you.”

With that, he turned on his heels and strode out of the kitchen.

* * * * *

The next day, after all the hugs were given and all the tears were shed, Calla and Seth sat alone in the cockpit of his new ship. It was bigger than the old one, with a more sophisticated design. The cockpit in particular was larger, with a small, cushioned couch behind the pilots’ seats. Calla raised one eyebrow in question when she saw it, and Seth laughed.

“I decided that we could improve on the old design a little,” he said with a shrug.

“If I remember correctly, we could have used something like that several times in the old ship.”

“It sounds like a great idea to me,” Calla replied archly. “Of course, we’ll need to do some testing, to make sure it works properly.”

“By the Goddess, woman, can’t you give me a break long enough for us to take off?”

Seth asked, groaning in mock exhaustion.

“Oh, we can wait as long as you like,” Calla replied with laughter. “Besides, if we don’t take off pretty soon we’ll miss our launch window. That could delay us for up to a day.”

As she spoke, she deliberately propped both legs up on the control panel. Then she leaned back in her chair and stretched her arms above her head, causing the fabric of her shirt to tighten across her breasts. Seth growled warningly, and she laughed, reveling in her ability to arouse him.

“You know,” she said languidly. “A good friend once told me that all men think with their cocks. Particularly Saurellian men. Is that true?”

Seth stared straight ahead, starting his checklist for take-off without replying. Calla took one toe and delicately pushed a small clip off the control panel, causing it to fall to the floor with a pinging noise.

“Oops, I dropped something,” she whispered. Then she stood up, and turned away from him before slowly and calculatedly bending from the waist to pick it up. Seth breathed heavily as he watched her, and Calla had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

Then she sat down again, turning to meet his gaze.

“It’s true,” Seth said.

Calla looked at him with surprise.

“Right now, my cock must be doing the thinking,” Seth said, giving her a slow smile. “Because I don’t give a damn if we miss our launch window. Let’s see how efficient the new cockpit design is. Come over here.”

“Why don’t you come and get me?” Calla asked. Then she scrambled off her chair and over to the low couch. Seth came after her, laughing like a child, and they rolled together like puppies. Then Seth caught her mouth with his, and they kissed long and slow.

“Can you feel how much I love you?” he asked.

“Oh, yes,” Calla replied. “But I think a demonstration is in order.”

“If the lady insists,” Seth said. He kneed her legs apart, grinding his large erection against her already-moist cunt. Calla sighed with pleasure, arching against him. “Let’s get rid of these clothes.”

They sat up, pulling at their clothes; each drinking in the sight of the other. Calla finished first, falling back against the couch.

“Come and get me, Seth,” she said. “I’m ready for you.”

Seth lowered himself over her waiting body, carefully placing his length at the mouth of her opening. Then, catching her mouth with his, he slowly pressed his rock hard cock into her. She gasped at the sensation, whimpering with pleasure as he moved within her. Then he stopped moving altogether, and raised his head.