Keen (6 page)

“Your ability to access the database is turning a five-day job into the work of hours.”

She snorted. “You are humouring me.”

He took her hand in his. “I am not. We are beginning a partnership, you and I. I may have the books, but you have read them. While I deplore the changes and implant in your body, it is a very handy thing.”

“Why do you deplore them? They were for your benefit after all.” She chuckled and took his data pad from him, setting it aside.

Jherin blinked in surprise and sat back as she insinuated herself between the desk and his body. Cautiously, she put her hands on his shoulders and kissed him.

He gripped her arms and gently pushed her back. “Are you trying to prove something to me or to yourself?”

She smiled and touched his jaw. “Neither. I have nowhere to be, nothing to do and unlimited privacy with a man I find very attractive. What is your objection?”

He blinked and a slow smile crossed his features. “No objections. I just wanted to make sure that you weren’t using me to prove a point.”

Chuckling, she let him draw her down to him once again. This time, he did not push her back, but rather, his hands shifted to hold her waist and back as he drew her across his lap with her legs together to one side.

He kissed her and sighed, “You are perfect. More than I ever dreamed of.”

She chuckled. “You are exactly what I dreamed of and a little bit extra.”

He drew his lips across hers and slipped his tongue along the seam of her mouth. She invited him in and moaned when he tasted better than she remembered.

Jherin held her close as they made out until her pulse pounded in her ears and her thighs were slick and pressed tightly together against the throbbing pressure building inside.

The kiss turned violent; he growled and she felt the prick of his teeth for the first time. Whatever he was feeling, that tiny taste of her had triggered an urge for something more. He bolted to his feet with her in his arms, and with heavy strokes of his wings, they were on the level with the bed in moments.

He continued kissing her as he took them into the bedroom. With light bathing her from all sides, he stood her on her feet and tore her gown in half with two fingers.

She blinked in surprise, but he was picking the pins out of her hair until the locks flowed down and around her shoulders.

She shook off her shock and stepped toward him, reaching behind him to stroke the base of his wings and watch his reaction.

He threw his head back and groaned. “Where did you learn that?”

“I read that book, and I am very serious about my reading.” She bit her lip and reached for the tip of his braid. She slipped the leather tie from the base and worked her way up as far as she could reach.

Jherin was running his fingers over her skin, and when she stepped back, he paused. “Did I do something wrong?”

She stepped onto the bed and beckoned him. She snickered, “No, I am just too short. Come here. Turn around.”

He was a little surprised by her taking charge, but he presented her with his heavily muscled back and wings without comment.

She unravelled his hair until her fingers were on his scalp and he groaned once again. She swept the waves of hair to one side over his chest, and she pressed small kisses to his spine, slowly kneeling until her lips caressed the area where his wings sprouted, and her hands moved between wing and body to stroke his skin.

Kee could hear the riot in her mind; the music had gone from orchestra to heady drumbeat. While she stroked him, he stripped off the Roman-style skirt and tossed it in across the room.

When she smirked and smacked his backside, he turned on her and flared his wings. She couldn’t help it; she fell backward as the mythical predator moved over her.

He pinned her between his hands and used his mouth on her.

It was clever of him. He increased her arousal without giving her a fright at the length and girth of his erection. Of course, she had seen it in the manual, but in person, it was a different matter.

Wherever he pressed his lips, his teeth grazed her and the small bit of pain added to her pleasure. It seemed that she was suited to being the mate to a Drai after all.

He worked his way down her body, and she shivered as he wedged his shoulders between her thighs and splayed them wide.

Kee wove her fingers through his hair when he pressed his mouth to her sex and lapped at the honey she was producing.

She moaned and held his head tightly as she got closer and closer to whatever was going to happen next.

Sex in the abstract was familiar to her but having a man with her was a new experience. This was definitely not like doing it herself.

Kee felt the change in her breathing that indicated she was close, but the moment didn’t come; instead, Jherin moved up her body and fitted himself to her.

Kee hadn’t had a chance to check out her reactions after her alteration, but as he pressed into her slowly and carefully, she vowed to simply feel without holding out for what she thought
should
be happening.

She put her hands around his neck and pulled him down so she could kiss him while she arched her hips against his. It was a difficult entry, and he had to rock back and forth before she was slick enough to ease him in.

He moved inside her far deeper than she thought he could until his body was pressed firmly to hers.

She was panting and trying to stay very still. His wings blotted out the light, and she was in a shadowy cave of heat and musk.

Are you all right?

She looked up at him with wide eyes. He wasn’t just in her body, he was in her mind.
I think I am.

Good. I believe we have a journey to take together.

She didn’t understand what he meant until he withdrew until he was just barely inside her, and he thrust forward.

The inward slide stroked nerves she didn’t know she had. She moaned and twisted under him and repeated the reaction when he thrust again. She was already beyond what she normally considered her pleasure threshold, and he was right, they were on a journey together.

He lifted her in his arms and knelt on the bed with his hands under her thighs. Sunlight painted them both as he kissed her while his hands kept him moving inside her.

She pressed her feet together behind his back and dug her nails into his shoulders. Heat was burning up her body, and yet, she pulled herself against him, her breasts rubbing against his chest and her clit throbbed with every motion. Touching herself would be cheating this first time, so she kept herself in the moment, enjoying the torture.

He broke the kiss and turned his teeth to her neck. He bit down sharply, and she screamed. She bucked, he thrust deep and he kept his grip on her shoulder while her body clasped his.

She shuddered as arousing heat spread out of the bite and through her recently sensitised system. Her channel clasped the width of his cock in a slow palpitation. He grunted, and his hips thrust against hers in a short jerk.

She couldn’t feel him coming, but his body flexed and twisted against hers. Finally, he let her go, kissing and lapping at the puncture wounds.

I believe that we are both satisfied with our destination.
He kissed at her neck before drawing his lips over hers.

I don’t remember getting on that bus, but I am happy with where it led me.
She sighed and pressed her forehead to his. She gave him the image of a bus and felt his acknowledgement of her reference.

What can you tell me about your life before the Alliance?

I had one. I was a librarian.

Family?

Sisters, brothers, parents. The usual.
She didn’t want to delve into the Wendersons when she was happy just being herself.

A topic for another time then.

Please.
She looked up the Drai population levels.
Can you see that?

I can see it through your eyes. Is that how information appears?

Yup. It is printed on my eyes from the inside, though I can read it with my eyes closed as well. I like it. I spent the first few days out of the tank scanning my Terran library into it, well, my favourite bits.

Which are your favourites?

She chuckled and stroked his neck.
Stories about dragons of course.

He grinned, and she felt him swelling inside her again.
Let’s see if I can’t give you a new tale.

Please. I am always looking for a new story to think of late at night.
She gasped as he shifted her to her back and began a slow, lazy rhythm that blocked out the sun and every thought in her head.

Curled in his arms with nothing between them, she felt a tingle moving up her body. She looked down and didn’t see anything, but she could feel a definite something moving along her skin.

Jherin stroked his hand down her spine. “It is the nanites. They just reached me as well.”

“They seriously clean you at night?”

“Anytime you lay still long enough. They are set for a sleep cycle, and without my dragon form to keep tidy, they are looking for something to do.”

She felt the tingle rising up her body, and when it crept inside her, she yelped. “What the hell?”

He chuckled. “They are removing dead cells, whether they are yours or mine does not matter.”

She scowled. “Why aren’t they attacking you?”

“They are, I am just used to it.” He pulled her tightly against him. “So, do you like my house?”

She chuckled, stroking her fingers along his jaw while the nanites continued their housekeeping on her person. “It is growing on me.”

He hugged her and whispered, “Good. When the AI comes back on, it is going to need a bit of reassurance.”

“AI? Your house has a consciousness?”

“It is waking up and updating with information that it has missed in the last few thousand years.”

“Is it male or female?”

He blinked, “Neither. It is Tramic. Just Tramic. Once it is up and running, it will manage obtaining supplies and preparing meals. The nanites are under its control most of the time.”

She narrowed her eyes and worked it out. “So, the computer that runs your home is a housekeeper?”

“It is.”

Kyna relaxed in his arms as the nanites continued their march. “Good. I have always wanted a housekeeper.”

He didn’t say a word, but the music in her mind rippled with amusement. She liked it. It felt like a waterfall of joy in her mind. She could get used to it.

Apparently, Jherin had done more than just shopping. The following morning, a nervous courier arrived and delivered boxes that the Drai brought inside.

When the skimmer was unloaded and the boxes all on the main floor, she asked, “What is it?”

“The complete contents of your apartment from the city. I thought you would enjoy your possessions and your wardrobe when you visited.” He crossed his arms and leaned in the open doorway.

It was nice that he was playing along with her refusal to agree to like his home.

“And what will I wear when I return to my apartment?”

He shrugged. “Not my department.”

She gasped and stomped over to smack him on the arm. She had taught him that very Terran phrase that morning when he had asked her if she could cook.

She reached out to open one of the boxes, but it dissolved in front of her. The clothing inside was her Azon dress collection, and she watched, bemused as it marched itself up the steps.

Jherin came up behind her and put his arms around her. “Tramic is awake.”

She bit her lip. “Hello, Tramic.”

“Welcome to the sandcastle, Lady Kyna. It is my pleasure to serve you.”

“Where are my clothes going?”

The masculine voice was amused. “The nanites are cleaning them and putting them in the wardrobe. There were two explosive devices in place, and the nanites have broken them down into components and disposed of them.”

Kyna swayed. “Explosives?”

“As you know, not all of the Jhenno are pleased with your being here and my regaining control of the world. Their low birthrate gave them unlimited time to do what they wanted here. They did nothing. There has been no progress, no development and no forward thinking. They are stagnant and do not want to invite others who may threaten their place. This has created an underground movement to stop you from being here, and once here, they believe that killing you will stop me.”

She turned in his arms and looked up at him. He was looking grim, but there was satisfaction in that gaze. “You killed Akenan.”

“I did. I brought your punctured suit and got him to confess in front of a group of witnesses. I then snapped his neck which was a much faster death than the one he nearly treated you to.”

She winced. “He was a good archivist.”

“He was a murderer.”

She couldn’t argue with that. Every book said that Drai were protective of their mates. This was just proof that he was committed to their relationship in a very Darwinian way.

He blinked. “What does
Darwinian
mean?”

“He was a theorist who accumulated the work of others and arranged it into a document called the
Origin of the Species
.”

She gave him the high points of the text, and he shrugged.

“Drai have known that for thousands of years. It is why we scattered to sleep. Our blood was being diluted to the point where we were losing our ability to shift to our great forms. True mates are hard to come by and less females were being born with every generation.”

“So you went to sleep and you waited until your mind felt something.”

“Until I felt you. Others of my kind have found Terran mates, and I was able to contact them to find out what to use as a protocol for getting you here. The Alliance was very helpful, so their races get first crack at a place on Jhenno.”

She snorted. “I was traded for space for colonists?”

“They are coming here from overcrowded worlds and worlds that are dying. You are worth hundreds of thousands of lives, and yet, I would trade all of them for one more day with you.”

Kee put her hand on his chest. “That is a lovely sentiment, Jherin. Creepy but lovely.”