Gren stared at Temis, caught in a wave of lust and tenderness so intense it shook him. Her white-gold hair lay in waves around her, framing her heavy-lidded eyes and passion-kissed lips.
He quickly undressed her, eager to see all of her again, this time in reality. His breath caught at the sight of her pale white breasts flushed with desire, and he bent to taste their perfection, unable to help himself.
She arched into his mouth and groaned his name, and his cock hardened as if he hadn’t just come inside her talented mouth. Energy swirled around them, a drugging haze that threatened his promise to himself.
Coming inside Temis’ mouth had been akin to dying and being reborn in wainu. The warmth of her lips and giving spirit that brought him such ecstasy called forth his need to truly join with her, to bond them together.
Certain if he did indeed make love to her he’d be forever changed, he determined to give her every pleasure without spilling inside her womb, the very core of feminine power. Yet seeing her naked and aware of her virginity, temptation threatened his will to stay strong.
Her nipple hardened in his mouth, and that quickly he wanted her again. He reached down to tuck himself behind his trousers again and knew the effort to be a pitiful one.
Nevertheless, he felt a fraction more secure in his resolve not to fuck her with more than his mouth and hands.
“Take them off,” she urged in a throaty growl, tugging at his waistband. She slithered under him, her curves tantalising. Despite being a virgin, Temis’ warrior instincts made her decidedly aggressive.
He could smell her need, could feel her climax surging closer and fought to slow down her pleasure, to draw it out.
“No, sura, lie back and enjoy.”
She withdrew her hands with protest but did as he ordered.
He leant over her, straining as he pressed against her. Her eyes were slanted, a bright violet ringed by silver.
“I want you,” she said boldly, letting her gaze settle on his lips. “And I don’t care about anything else right now but having you.”
Her words stirred his blood, and he didn’t even try to stop himself. He kissed her with the passion seething within. They both moaned at the contact, the heat between them blazing with raw desire and energy. Power flickered around them, shooting blue sparks in the dimly lit room.
Gren thrust his tongue into her mouth, needing to taste all of her. She followed quickly, learning through imitation what he liked, and pleasured herself in the bargain.
Her nipples rubbed against his chest, arousing him until he had to fight not to rip free of his trousers and sink deep inside her.
He withdrew from her mouth, needing the respite, and focused on Temis’ pleasure. Running his tongue along her neck, biting her pulse point with a savage desire to possess her, he felt her climax build as she coaxed him for more.
He nipped at her collarbone and continued down to her breasts. Licking her nipples until she cried out, he sucked and drew on the tips, pressing the ridge of his covered cock against her clit. He bit down on her nipples and rode her until she cried out in climax.
Her orgasm lasted as he continued to lave her breasts, and her energy washed over him like pounding rain.
He couldn’t stop touching her, learning her strength through soft, womanly skin. The contrast excited him, and he brought her to orgasm again with the touch of his mind and body in Theshan bliss.
She cried out his name and came in a gush that had him aching to taste her and take her essence into his body.
Her energy wound around him tightly, making him doubt his ability to resist joining her. Already he felt near to bursting, his trousers wet with both his and her arousal.
“I’m going to lick you, toeat you up, Temis,” he whispered in a raw voice. She tilted her head to stare down at him. The passion clouding her eyes was a heady aphrodisiac he could no longer resist.
“Do it,” she breathed and spread her legs, her sweet scent drifting on the air like a drug.
He needed no further urging and buried his face between her thighs. He opened his mouth wide and lapped her cream, licking and teasing her clit with a tongue as needy as his cock.
His shaft swelled as he devoured her. He couldn’t get enough, and he consumed her through another orgasm.
She gripped him hard and cried out his name.
“So fucking sexy,” he rasped. Unable to withstand the pressure on his erection, he reached down with one hand and freed his member, sighing at the feel of silken sheets against his skin.
“Love me,” Temis moaned as he thrust a finger inside her sheath while his tongue continued to caress her clit. “I need you inside me,” she begged.
He shook his head, shaking at the conflict within him. Everything in him urged him to do as she asked, yet a part of him knew it would change his very existence.
Hurting, so hard he could barely think, he stripped his trousers off and swiftly juxtaposed his body so that his mouth remained between her thighs while his lower body straddled her head.
“Even better,” she whispered and closed her mouth around his cock.
He groaned and resumed eating her, thrusting two fingers inside her as he imagined fucking her, shooting deep within her womb.
He nipped at her clitoris, excited anew when in response she sucked harder on his shaft.
Power swirled and shimmered in the air. He could feel the end coming, so close, so near.
“Yes, yes,” she mentally screamed as she came, arching into his mouth. Her lips clamped around him, and he could no longer hold back.
The taste of her as she shuddered pushed him over the edge. He jetted into her mouth, surging deep as she swallowed his seed.
Stunned at the ferocity of their lovemaking, Gren could only close his eyes as wainu overtook him. Great waves of energy flowed through his body, a healing peace that lingered in his blood.
Gradually, the drugging ecstasy of the moment faded. He gently withdrew from Temis’ grasp and turned to gather her in his arms.
He had no explanation for what he felt. Nothing had ever felt so right as this moment, yet he still felt a niggling emptiness, a part of Temis he had yet to reach that beckoned him closer.
“Gren.” She kissed him on his chest. The tenderness of her action, so at odds with the warrior woman he normally interacted with, stunned him, and he hugged her closer, not wanting to let her go.
She hummed her contentment and soon fell into an exhausted slumber, her hands pressed trustingly over the steady beating of his heart.
Gren waited until she eased into slumber. Reluctantly sliding out from under her, he donned his trousers, not trusting himself to lie naked with her in his arms. He joined her in bed once more and followed her into sleep, needing to relax and accept the large amounts of healing power now surging through his body. His last thoughts were of how he planned to resist the tempting fate lying in his arms, and if he should even try.
* * * *
“I can’t believe you let him get away,” Sernal growled in a low voice and glared at his brother. “Do you realise how precarious our position is?”
Rafe growled back, “I told you, it wasn’t like I had a choice. Gren always was a hothead, and he didn’t exactly appreciate sitting in a cell after being beaten by Rorn’s men.”
Sernal let out a heavy breath and began pacing his room, running his fingers through his hair. “You told him what I told you to tell him?”
Rafe nodded.
“And gave him the disk?”
Another nod.
“Then why the hell did he take Temis hostage when he could have left the ship in one piece undetected?”
Rafe wondered just how much to tell his brother. Sernal normally had an even temper and open mind. But when the safety of his people was involved, he’d been known to explode in a fierce temper.
“Well?” Sernal’s eyes blazed, definitely not a good sign.
Then again, Rafe wasn’t too pleased with the position he’d been placed in either. “It was your idea to use Gren, not mine. I was happy playing an anonymous information broker on Mardu.” He grimaced, wishing again he’d refused to become part of Sernal’s team. He loved his brother, but honestly, the man thought too much of rules and regulations.
“My patience is wearing.”
“Fine. You want to know why Gren took her? He wants her, plain and simple. She was the one who knocked me out, per his orders. And she wasn’t herself, if you know what I mean.” At Sernal’s blank look, he sighed. “She was enthralled.”
“You mean to tell me Gren’s controlling my peacemaker?” Sernal glowered, his rage an intimidating and impressive sight, one Rafe could have done without. “That son of a—”
“But to his credit, I think Gren is onto something.” He ignored his brother’s cursing and waited for him to regain his temper. “You said it yesterday. Rorn has an appetite when it comes to women, and it’s obvious he’s hungry for Temis. Imagine how intense his search will now be looking for Gren and Temis, which gives us more time to build a case against him.”
Sernal remained silent.
“I’m not Gren’s biggest fan, by any stretch,” Rafe continued, remembering the large man’s attack. “But he’s unable to harm Temis and you know it.”
“Not without severe repercussions.”
“I thought he couldn’t harm a woman, ever. Theshan skills don’t work that way.”
Sernal shook his head. “They’re not supposed to work that way, but occasionally a Thesha strays. Of course, for Gren to harm Temis, he’d do at least twice as much damage to himself.” He swore. “Dammit. I’m just aggravated the bastard never does anything the easy way. I know Gren won’t hurt Temis. He’s male. No doubt he’ll want to fuck the hell out of her.” Sernal grimaced. “That’s all we need. Another complication.”
“I don’t know. Temis seemed like she could use a little relaxation, and it’s unheard of for a woman to complain after being visited by one of his kind.” Rafe grinned at his brother’s exasperation.
“I’m so glad you’re amused.” Sernal huffed. “But I’m beginning to think Gren’s plan might have some merit. By taking Temis hostage and escaping unaided, he’s taken the suspicion off of us. And with Temis at his side, an irresistible lure Rorn will follow, he should have no trouble locating the missing women. Our last report put them somewhere in the fifth quadrant. But as soon as we track our intel, they move. Fuck me.”
Sernal sounded tired, so Rafe tried to buoy his spirits. “Look at it this way. At least Temis is no longer your immediate problem. She’ll be safer with Gren than she’d be here near Rorn. And you never know. Gren always manages to annoy the hell out of me when we work together. Who knows what Temis is really feeling right now?”
* * * *
Temis woke with a stretch and yawn, feeling more rested than she had in months. Her body felt as if she’d exercised hard, sore in places yet limber enough to engage in anything at the moment.
Turning her head, she gazed at Gren’s profile and her heartbeat accelerated.
He slept peacefully, his lashes dark and thick against his weathered face. Even in sleep he looked hard, a warrior one second from waking into full readiness. His strength awed her, his control impressed her, and his lovemaking overpowered her.
She blushed furiously, recalling the pleasure he’d given her. That he’d touched her so intimately, been so gracious fulfilling her desire didn’t quite fit with the savage mercenary of legend.
He’d been truly angry on the shuttle when she’d accused him, perhaps unfairly, she admitted now, of criminal activity. But he’d scared her, somehow seeing beneath the defensive shield she’d worked so hard to build. A warrior’s mindset had earned her way into the peacemaker corps, not womanly softness.
Only Gren had come so close to her woman’s heart. Gren, a mercenary, supposed criminal. A man she didn’t dare trust, and a man she was beginning to like a lot.
Her previous limited experience with the opposite sex had left her ill-prepared for a man like him. She still couldn’t believe how bold she’d been. She stared at his chiselled lips, at his straight nose and uncompromising jaw line. She, Temis Freya, a virgin, had brought Gren to climax with her mouth, not once but twice.
The memory made her wet, and she strove to contain her breathing. Sharing such intimacies with a man had never before occurred to her. Oh, she knew eventually she would marry and raise children, like her mother. But Temis had yet to meet a man she both respected and made her heart race, her blood pulse with desire.
Until Gren.
He stirred, and she placed her hand on his chest to calm him. At her touch he resumed his slumber, mumbling low under his breath in a language she’d never before heard spoken.
She petted him gently, stroking his impressive muscles as she wondered about him.
Gren was a mystery. No one knew of his origins, and most of what she’d read or been told about him came from rumour and pirate gossip. For a man who’d supposedly killed hundreds without blinking an eye, he’d treated her with an affection and care surprising for one so hard-hearted.
They’d burned together. He’d come in her mouth and she’d come in his. Yet he hadn’t entered her. She puzzled over his refusal to mate with her fully. Perhaps he worried about getting her with child? He shouldn’t have. She was only fertile in the summer months on Zeyr. But he would have no way of knowing that.
Thoughts of a child with Gren caused her womb to flutter, and she hurriedly turned from that line of thinking. Her hand froze on Gren’s chest, and he frowned in his sleep.
She resumed petting him and chastised herself. Just because Gren had given her pleasure she’d never before experienced did not mean emotion need be attached. So he’d been an extraordinary lover, so he’d brought her to peak time and time again unselfishly. That meant nothing.
She had given him ecstasy as well. In fact, she’d started it. Temis idly stroked Gren’s nipples, curious when the little buds hardened under her touch.
She glanced down his body and noted the bulge growing beneath his trousers. Then she realised she wore nothing at all and flushed.
Never before had any man seen her naked. She’d of course seen her share of nude bodies during her early days of training at home. Females, however, retained a certain amount of mystique on Zeyr.
She glanced again at Gren, a man with a mystique all his own. As she studied his powerful musculature, it hit her.
No scars or bruises marred his flesh save the scar on his left forearm. He’d recently suffered severe trauma at the hands of Rorn’s men, yet he wore no mark to record the event. She frowned. He’d looked perfectly fine to her in his cell, now that she thought about it. Then he’d done something to her, something that made her head swim trying to recall the exact memory.
She leaned up on an elbow to better study Gren. Temis knew her own mind, but she had no explanation for Gren’s impact on her senses. It had been like this since she’d first laid eyes on him.
He held some odd sway over her. One that interfered with memory? Odd holes in time, in the sequence between arriving on Lady Justice and leaving suddenly dawned on her. She recalled Gren ordering her to do something… To knock Rafe unconscious? To strap into the ship without argument, and all because Gren had ordered her to do so. What might that mean?
It took her a moment before the answer loomed. He had to be telepathic to control her mentally.
He must have wormed his way beneath the mental guards she’d been taught to use during her peacemaker training.
A telepath.
Her strange behaviour now made sense. Never would she desert her ship and leave without Lead Sernal’s permission. Nor would she hurt her partner trying to escape with a criminal. His nature as a telepath explained much.
But his apparent lack of injuries mystified her, and she resolved to get some answers once he woke. She surprised herself at her willingness to let him rest when her mind demanded the truth. Gren’s lovemaking had definitely softened her, and though she loved what he’d done to her body, she didn’t like what he’d done to her mind.
After the tumult of events from Lady Justice to Mornio and after leaving behind her world of order and discipline only to discover the erotic side of herself, Temis should have been more on edge. The warrior within her clamoured to know the why’s and how’s of her adventure.
But her body refused to rise. The calm lethargy in the man beside her seemed to steal through her very pores, leaving her mind free to roam while her body rested.
And though thoughts of Gren confused and aggravated her, the emotional connection she felt with him soothed when it should have worried her.
His large palm suddenly covered her hand on his chest. He slept on, but a small smile lingered over his lips.
She could only imagine what dreams pleasured Gren’s sleep. Treasure? Battle? More likely, naked women, a lot of them, doing whatever he commanded.
The thought annoyed her, and she instinctively shied from the reasons why. Tired of such puzzling thoughts, she laid her head on his shoulder and curled into his warmth, dreamlessly accepting the comfort he unknowingly provided.