Negative (4 page)

He switched to the other breast, and she gasped as she continued her rationalisation. It was only polite after all; she was a guest on his world.

She clutched at his shoulders, and she moaned as the heat of his mouth engulfed her. She might not be able to sense him, but she could definitely feel him.

His hands ran over her back, holding her against his mouth as he moved from her left breast to right and back again.

She was only wearing her boots. All the other leather was in a small heap to her right.

He moved his hand down her back and slid it between her buttocks, reaching forward until his middle finger touched her clit. It had to be an awkward position, but as he stroked her, she absorbed the heat from his hand and she felt his fingers grow slick from her body’s invitation.

He moved his hand against her, and she rocked her hips.

As suddenly as he had started, he stopped and rose to his feet. With smooth motions, he removed his belt, the tunic and his boots and trousers. If she had been self-conscious about her musculature, she needn’t have worried. He had her beat on every muscle group and quite a few that she was sure Terrans didn’t have.

She removed her boots and curled her toes against the stone floor.

Yodin came toward her, and his hot gold eyes burned into her own. His smile was slow, and she was equal parts thrilled and terrified.

She looked around, took in the bed, the wardrobe, the window and the chairs and discarded all of them as exits or defence mechanisms. How bad could it be? It was just sex, right?

Being pinned face down on the bed while he kissed and licked his way down her spine was a little surprising.

She had wanted to get to the act itself, but he was in no hurry. Aster clenched her fingers into the furs beneath her, but she couldn’t gain enough leverage to flip over.

When he parted her thighs with his knee, she held out hope that he would slide into her next, but instead, two fingers teased her opening with a touch far too delicate for such a large man.

She felt herself getting wet again; she squirmed against him. He kissed each of her shoulders and slowly slid his fingers into her.

Aster closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to the furs under her, rocking her hips in time to the motion of his hand.

When he removed his fingers, she hissed in frustration, pushing upward and knocking Yodin back. He was on her in an instant, pressing her back to the bed as his cock prodded at her slick entrance.

She shuddered and stilled as she waited. He eased into her, and she pushed back against him. He reached around and stroked her clit, thrusting inward on each stroke.

Her cropped hair flew around her head as she rocked into each inward slide. It wasn’t until she felt him press against the back of her thighs that she felt him fully within.

Yodin shuddered against her, and the hand not on her clit stroked down her back to cup her hip. He pulled her back and slammed into her, the pounding pressure was a hard, fast spiral from arousal to pleasure, and Aster arched in silence; her jaw clenched in a silence scream as she tried to grip him and hold him inside.

It had gone from achingly slow seduction to firestorm so quickly, she held still and gasped for air while her body twitched and shuddered under his continuing onslaught.

When he held himself inside her, his cock jerking and hips twitching, she sighed and waited.

He collapsed on her, taking her down to the bedding and wrapping her in the furs.

Yodin’s cock was still inside her, and to her surprise, he had not deflated in any appreciable manner. He stroked slowly within her, lapping waves of pleasure that teased her with every motion.

His hands pulled her back against him, cupping her breasts as his hips moved slowly and without any impatience whatsoever.

She felt him kiss her neck, nibbling and licking at her as if he enjoyed the taste of sweaty Terran.

His body curled around hers in an arch that kept his hips aligned with hers while his mouth could reach her neck. She wanted to apologize for being short, but the pleasure that was moving through her in waves made her table conversation for later.

She covered his hands on her breasts with her own, flexing her fingers against his until he increased the pressure of his grip. She moved her own hand between her thighs and circled her clit rapidly until she felt the waves of pleasure crash over her.

Sweaty, shaking and jerking with each motion inside her, he still held her in his embrace and he was still moving endlessly inside her.

Aster settled in for a very long morning.

* * * *

Yodin left his mate in an exhausted slumber. It was cruel of him to use her so on their first day, but he needed to keep her with him until evening when he was at his peak.

He left his quarters and sealed the door, a shower and a robe were enough for him to greet his guests.

The young Bo woman was incensed. “Where is she?”

Yodin waved his hand and the guards released her. “She is safe. She had an exhausting evening and a tiring morning. She is resting.”

The Presku man at her side held his bride back.

“My mate is concerned, Lord Yodin. She was taken from her companion and brought to me without any proper arrangement. Do not get me wrong, we are grateful for the linkage, but Abrieth is attached to her companion. She wishes to confirm that she is well.”

Yodin couldn’t stop his satisfied smirk. “She is very well. You two have concealment until the months of confirmation are concluded. In exchange for that, I called your companion to battle and I won. She is mine.”

Abrieth narrowed her eyes. “She knew that she was at stake going into the fight?”

“She did. Her bet was for a com line to the Alliance and a place to stay.”

“Is she going to get those things?”

“No. She lost.” He took a seat on the dais in his meeting room.

“Oh, I think I can still manage to make a call if I need to.” Aster was standing in the doorway to the stairway that led to his bedroom.

She was wearing nothing but his shirt from the evening before and her hair was wet. There was a challenging gleam in her eyes and a lot more aggression as well.

* * * *

Aster looked over at him, and he cocked his head with amused resignation.

“How did you get out?”

She snorted and walked slowly into the room. “The door opened when I kicked it. Abrieth. How good to see you. I was worried.”

Abrieth came to her and hugged her carefully. “I am so sorry that I disappeared.”

Aster smiled and returned the hug. “It is fine. Yodin explained. I mean, he let me think you were gone, but as soon as he was distracted, I could feel you nearby once again.”

“Which is how you come to be here now.”

“No, I figured if he was sneaking out, there must be something I needed to see.” She grinned. “So, you two are hiding here until he comes of age to inherit?”

Lerodan nodded, “Or until I know for certain if I am pregnant.”

Aster looked at him, and she focused on him. He was starting some kind of life form in his lower abdomen. She wasn’t sure if she should mention it.

Yodin waved his hand. “Go ahead and tell them. There is no reason to wait.”

She looked to Abrieth. “Well, you are going to be a parent. So is he. There is a second set of life signs in his body. I don’t know if it is just cellular reproduction, but he is growing something in there.”

Yodin chuckled. “Not gracefully said, but she is correct. As Presku males before you, you are now in the family way, Lerodan.”

Abrieth let Aster go so quickly that she staggered on her recovering limbs. Her thighs ached but she kept herself standing.

The happy couple clung to each other and cooed to the seed of life sprouting inside Lerodan.

She looked to Yodin, and he beckoned her to approach. She was a few steps away from him when a raven flew through the window and transformed into Arez. “Yodin, be alert, Rekfa is on the way. He is a little upset.”

Yodin sighed and sat upright, leaning forward and taking Aster’s hand, pulling her to stand next to him.

“Stay here, Aster, the Avatar can be a little unpredictable.”

Arez got Abrieth and Lerodan, shooing them out of the chamber and hopefully to somewhere where they could be private.

“What is going on, Yodin?” Aster took a step back.

A wave of power ran through the room as a being appeared in front of them. “Yes, Yodin, what is going on?”

Yodin inclined his head formally. “Avatar, welcome to my home.”

The lean and elegant young man tapped his staff on the stone. “This is my home; this whole world is my home.”

Remembering her protocol lessons, Aster bowed. “Avatar.”

The young man’s features softened. “Aster Marquis. You have become tangled with a very peculiar being.”

Yodin smiled. “She suffers from the same peculiarity, Rekfa.”

That made the young man pause. “You...how could you know?”

“It is in her file. I have been seeking one of my kind for quite a while, as you know. The signs were in her blood work, and she has already woken from a sleep—an injury—that should have killed her, yet she is stronger, faster and her mind is expanding at an alarming rate. These are signs of my kind.”

The young man moved faster than she could track, and he cupped her jaw, staring into her eyes. She felt the weight of a tremendous power on her mind and hers fought back.

His black eyes widened and his lips quirked. “She is one of yours, but she is not yours. No slaves will be held on my surface.”

He kept his face aimed at her, and she could make out the fine shimmering surface of his skin, the sharp nose and the arched dark spans of eyebrows that matched his silky black hair. When he parted his lips to speak, she saw the sharp fangs of his teeth, and she ran his description through her mind, seeking his species. It was very familiar.

Vimpyr. It came to her in a rush, but as one of that pale and UV-sensitive species, he should not be able to stand in the beam of daylight.

“How are you here?”

He smiled. “My host is Jurad; he could not survive here, but he offered himself to me in exchange for his survival. He was the last enslaved being on Rekfa. Yodin has no rights to you. You are free to leave or resume your work.”

Aster felt Yodin’s hand tighten.

“Can you help me find another place to work? If Abrieth is no longer under threat, I will need somewhere else to go, something else to do.”

“Would you not return to your people?”

She shook her head. “There is nothing for me there. My accident drew an end to myself and my family. They have mourned me, and to them, I am dead and gone.”

Rekfa cocked his head. “Would you remain here and become one of my people?”

She smiled. “Would I be tied to you?”

He chuckled. “No, I would offer you a chance to continue your education, to learn what this second life has offered to you. I sense a tremendous capacity for compassion within you. You can become a positive influence on those around you.”

Yodin snorted. “Are you calling me negative?”

Rekfa turned to glare at him. “You know what you are. God of war, death and sex. That last is your only redeeming feature, the one sprig of hope.”

Aster blinked. “God?”

Yodin shrugged. “Live long enough and you will be a goddess. It is inevitable.”

Rekfa jerked her forward, and Yodin shouted. “You are coming with me, daughter. There is much you need to learn.”

Light and wind surrounded them, and the body of the youth filled with the soul of the planet held her tight. The howl of fury followed them and echoed in the air.

An hour later, she was dressed in a pale rust gown and walking with the Avatar through his home.

“You must be wondering why I spirited you away.”

“It does seem a little odd considering that we have just met.”

Rekfa sighed. “Yodin has a powerful pull on women. I have seen them leave their husbands and families to be with him. I want you to know that your choices are yours and yours alone to make.”

She sighed and looked around at the temple-style building. “They have not been mine to make for a year. I still don’t know what is happening.”

“What is happening to you is what has already happened to our dark lord. You claim an accident, but I can tell you that you died, if only for an instant. The moment you died, your body kicked in your talent and your talent is immortality. Your cells replace themselves as soon as they are injured and your body is becoming the strongest, fastest version of itself that it can be.”

Rekfa sighed. “Yodin was one of the first colonists; the gladiators broke free of their confinement and fled here. I welcomed them, but until Jurad offered himself to me, I could not help them fight off their enemies. Yodin and I stood side by side and fought off those who had captured and imprisoned them. I recognized what he was then. I had heard of his kind, but you are extremely rare. One in a billion, and that one has to die for their genes to activate their immortality.”

“How long ago was this?”

“Nine hundred years. Arez joined him here three hundred years ago. They are both vital for the safety of Rekfa, but they are boisterous in the extreme.”

“I thought that folk called on Yodin as a spirit.”

“They do, and he takes his shadows and gives them strength and stamina for a night. He rarely comes into the towns and cities with the exception of the great night.”

“Last night.”

“Yes.”

She nodded. “So, the average citizen doesn’t know he is real?”

“They know, they just don’t believe it. There are a few that have begun a cult, but he ceases the worship before it gets too far, usually after a woman has been offered to him.”

Aster pursed her lips. “I am sensing a theme.”

“Good. I want you to know what you are getting into if you let him back into your bed.”

They walked through the gardens, and her sandals made a slight hissing noise on the stones, Rekfa made no sound at all.