Petr's Mate (16 page)

 
Dropping a kiss to her
lips,
he nibbled along the line of her
jaw,
then worked his way down her throat.
With a hand resting on the
bed,
he used the one under her to arch her
back
and lift her breasts to meet his descending mouth.

Her hands moved over his
shoulders and chest. Leaning into him, she lightly bit his chest. “God I love
how you taste.” Everything about him, she wanted anything and everything that
he would give her.

Rolling
them over, Petr had her on top of him soon enough, and his lips curved into a
smile. “Then you should taste more of me.” He pulled her in for a hard kiss
with a hand at her nape. Releasing
her,
he skimmed his fingertips down her spine until he landed a slap on her ass.

Samantha moved down his body.
She didn’t say a word. She didn’t have to. Not when he was looking at her like
he was. She kissed and nibbled her way down his chest. She hesitated at his nipple,
nipping it lightly with her teeth and grinning when he growled at her. “You
like that?” she asked and wiggled down just a little bit more. “Because I do.”
Her hand was on his cock now, stroking him. Slowly she worked her way to his
shaft to take him into her mouth and suck him until he came. He pushed a hand
into her hair, holding it off her face while she contemplated the hard flesh
she held in her grip.

She leaned into him and, after
giving him a wink, put her mouth on him. She began to move so that she was
between his legs finally. Giving him one more look, she began to suck his cock,
determined to give him the pleasure that he gave her all the time.

Samantha was bobbing her head up
and down on his cock. She licked as she moved and sucked when she got to the
head of his cock.

The
words that broke free from him were
rough
and were ones the translator obviously had nothing for. They were raw,
heartfelt, and made her even wetter between her legs. She’d done this to him,
pushing him beyond limits to a point where he didn’t take care with his every
word. His hand tightened in her hair when his hips jolted under her.

Sam shivered and moved so that
she had a knee on each side of his knees. She began to rub herself against his
leg, her clit being stimulated by his knee while she sucked him harder and
harder.

She
didn’t get a lot of warning. Petr let out a low growl, and suddenly she found
herself on her back. He pressed her hands up over her head while his
mouth
locked with hers.

She kissed him back with equal
fervor, needing him every bit as much as he needed her. Their tongues dueled
and their teeth clashed once from the intensity of the kiss. She wanted to
touch him but with her hands up and over her head she couldn’t. She moaned into
his mouth and lifted a leg to wrap around his ass to pull him close.

The
move had one serious upside to it. It had him settling with his cock rubbing
against her clit. He let out another of those feral growls before he tore his
mouth from hers. Hot, open-mouthed kisses were pressed down her body while his
hands stroked and squeezed her flesh. Then he had his mouth on her pussy, and
both hands at her breasts,
pinching
and twisting her nipples.

She
shuddered, her hands moving to his head to hold him where she wanted him to be.
She shouted his name when his tongue twirled around her clit. “Oh fuck.” She
sobbed when she felt her body letting go and her orgasm coming. “There,
God
yes.” She shouted again while she rode
out her orgasm.

Petr didn’t let up like he
normally did. He had her body rising for another orgasm even before the first
wave had fully swept through her. Only when she’d screamed her way through the
second one did he draw back. Then he proceeded to flip her onto her stomach,
grip her hips firmly, and yank her ass up into her air. She felt the hard edge
of his teeth when he bit one cheek just hard enough to have her body clench in
need again.

She
loved every single dominating and rough thing he did to her.
“Again,
” she begged. “Please,” was all
that she could say, because it was perfect. She loved when they made love slow
and easy, but this
…
This primal and rough
domination was everything she could ever have hoped for. “Harder. It feels so
good.” When he took control, complete and total control of her, she was in
absolute heaven.

He
was obviously in a playful mood, because he gave her what she wanted. Not
immediately, it wasn’t exactly his style, after all.
No,
he rubbed his nose lightly to the
small of her back, the warm moisture of his breath teasing her flesh while he slowly
worked over to the other ass cheek. A flick of his tongue to her flesh raised
gooseflesh everywhere. And right when she thought she might very well expire,
he sank his teeth in a second time.

“Son of a bitch.” She whimpered
those four words as if they were one single word. “You feel so freaking good.”
She clenched her hands on the bedding and pushed back against him.

His hand landed sharply on her
right buttock. Then she received another slap to her left cheek. Petr brushed
his lips over her lower back while he rubbed at the heat spreading out from the
two spots on her flesh. He didn’t say anything, but she didn’t need words. He
was there, with her in the moment, and that was all that mattered. Even if he
was playing with her.

The
teasing was what they both needed and wanted. He was driving her insane and she
loved it. She pushed back again and shuddered. “Again.”

Two more hard slaps to her ass,
some more rubbing, and he gave her a series of slaps. A few were hard, others
barely taps, but she never knew what she would get from him and it added to the
anticipation. Occasionally he would pause to rub her flesh or to stroke a hand
between her legs to tease her clit or dip into her sheath.

“You know just what to do to
make me ache.” She moaned, moving slightly under him. “You are so good to me.”
For her, he was so good for her that it made her whole being shudder and ache.

Another two slaps to her ass.
Then his body blanketed hers. His cock was hot and hard against her warmed
flesh. Petr pressed kisses to her shoulders and along her neck. “Are you ready
for me, Samantha?” He used his teeth to tug on her earlobe, shifting his hips
around at the same time so the head of his cock rubbed to her pussy. “You are
very wet, little one. But are you ready for me to give you more?”

“Yes, God yes I am.” She sobbed
his name as she pushed back against him. “I need you to give me everything.
Fuck me, Petr. Fuck me hard, please,” she begged. “Don’t hold back. I need
everything.” She was pushing hard back against him time and time again.

It must have been what he’d
wanted to hear because, finally, he didn’t make her wait a second longer. A
single thrust had his cock sliding through her slick and swollen folds to bury
deep inside of her body. He pressed one hand to the bed, near her own, and the
other flexed on her belly before sliding lower to cup her mound. They both took
a breath. Then he began to move. Gone was the patience he normally exuded. Gone
was any finesse he might have. His flesh slapped to hers in an ever-building rhythm,
quickly drawing her body taut like a wire ready to snap.

She
moved with him, her body just as desperate as his was. Her fingers tightened on
the bedding and she knew that she would never have enough of him. “More,” she
pleaded. Her movements were slightly erratic
,
but she moved with him eagerly.

A
brush of his finger over her clit was her only warning before he pinched the
tight, sensitive nub. He squeezed it while rolling it between his fingers. At
her
throat,
she felt the heat of his rapid breath followed up by the scrape of his teeth.
When she didn’t think she could take anything else, he bit down on the sweet
spot between shoulder and neck, tugging on her clit at the same
time
and thrusting harder.
Her pussy clenched his cock, and
she shuddered.

“Let
go, little one,” he said against her damp flesh. Another tug to her
clit
and everything splintered apart. Petr
thrust faster, pushing her further. Then, for a moment, they stilled. His seed
splashed into her body right when he let out a bellow.

She shook from the orgasm, her
body in perfect harmony with his. She was gasping for air, body covered in
sweat, and a smile on her face when she collapsed against the bedding. “So
good.”

Slowly
he extracted himself from
her
and shifted to lie on his back at her side. When Sam gathered up a small burst
of
energy,
she moved closer, and Petr pulled her the rest of the way until she was draped
over his chest. Both of them were hot, sweaty, and
sticky,
but it didn’t matter. With his
hand on her back, his heart thundering under her cheek, and their bodies close
they were all that really mattered.

Chapter Eleven

Pulling
more books from the
shelving,
Petr carried them to the table
he
and Samantha had appropriated for their day in the archives. They were alone
down there. Unusual, yet not surprising. When he’d put in the request for
access, an old, dear friend had made sure they would not be disturbed the best
way he could. He had put the entire archive into lockdown for a special guest.
No mention of their names would ever be found, and the moment they left Petr’s
friend would erase anything that might lead their way.

Like
himself, Petr’s contact was of the mind that the war only served one purpose.
To keep the ruling
body
and their extensions on the other planets and moon bases in business. If
Samantha really did have a lead on what had started the
war,
then there was a chance the ruling
body would not look favorably upon any who exposed their scheme.

Once
he reached the
table,
Petr set the tomes down next to
Samantha
and
retook his seat. At her
look,
he tapped the short pile. “These are the oldest records in the archives.
They’re also ones you likely will not be able to read. Do you have a better
idea of when I should be looking for our marriage that did not happen?” She had
been diligently working on narrowing down exactly when everything had occurred.
Since dating anything in the archaic manner of writing in books was nearly
unheard of he knew he would still have quite a search on his hands. But if he
knew approximately when everything happened, he could figure it out with what
he already knew of the history from school, and with a little added assistance
his friend had provided in the way of how everything in the archives was
encoded.

“Thank you for these.” Her hand
was on the books and her eyes on his, something she did that he loved. “I’m
glad you know how to read them, because I’m not so sure that I
’
d be able to get through all of
this without you.” She pushed a bottle of water his way. “Okay, so what I’m
looking for is a mention of a talk between the then rulers of the nations. When
there was a ruling family for each race instead of the council that you guys
have now. Ready to help me out here?” He saw the excitement on her face, the
thrill of looking for what she called a needle in a haystack, whatever that
was.

“I’ll
start with the first of these books, then. I doubt there will be much to it
until, or if, there is any mention of journals written by each of the families.
Some did, others did not. We can only hope that they all held to the tradition
of writing important moments.” Digging through the
pile,
he handed her one slim volume. “This
is from the time after the languages began to change into our more common
speech. There may be a few words you’ll need help with, but I think you should
be fine for the most part. I only wish I had some way of speeding this process
up for us. I don’t like having such a mystery weighing on me, Samantha.”

“Thank you.” He knew she wanted
to help and it killed her that she couldn
’
t read the old writing as well. She was making him teach
her, but it was slow going. “If we
’
re going to find something we
’
ll have to be very careful with the knowledge. We can’t let
the proof get misplaced or destroyed.” Something he had already been thinking of
as well. “Let’s just hope that
Adira
is able to find
something with
Fintan
, too.”

“I
know she’s working hard in every spare moment she can find. The
Craegin
archives are apparently much like ours. The oldest,
and likely most damning, of the records are kept only in dusty hard copies out
of reach of the public, and accessible only to those of a certain rank. I do
know that since their marshal’s office is now behind them to discover what is
happening between our worlds they are able to get to so much more. Given my
lack of trust for the ruling body, I doubt they would be so willing to let us
in here should they figure out our motives.” Petr was deeply concerned about
what might happen if the ruling body ever figured out they had been in the
archives
and ever discovered what he
and Samantha were looking for. He had the extremely bad feeling that it was the
Imara
ruling body keeping the war alive, given what
he had learned from
Fintan
in regards to the marshal.

“We
can only hope that we find what we need.
Hopefully,
the ruling body of your world
hasn’t taken the books and destroyed them.” Which was a fear of his as
well.
“Whatever we find out, we’ll figure
out a way of using it. Somehow we will make sure the truth is known and this
senseless war ends.”

“Yes, we will.” Leaning over, he
pressed a kiss to her lips when she lifted her chin expectantly. He took an
extra moment to deepen the kiss before, reluctantly, drawing away from her. “We
need to finish this up. This is our one and only chance to be in here undisturbed.
Get to work, little one.”

Samantha
grabbed the last book and he watched her as she read intently. He gave her the
words she pointed out from time to time and he noticed that she kept a running
log of the words and meanings on a tablet that she had on the table with her.
He was lost in watching her but because of that he was able to see her brows
draw together. “Wait.” She turned the pages back, then re-read the passages.
“Now this is interesting.” She looked up at him and for a moment he forgot what
they were doing. “According to this, there was a monarchy for both the
Craegin
and
Imarian
peoples.
Evidently the heirs to the thrones for both worlds met anonymously at a party
and fell for each other. They were to be
married,
but there is nothing after
that. Nothing showing that they were married, and the next latest entry is a
year later with no more mention of the monarchies. That’s very odd, wouldn’t
you say?”

“Extremely,”
he said. Taking the book from her
,
Petr flipped back and forth between the pages, then inspected the spine. “It
hasn’t been tampered with, which means either there is a separate book for that
time period or they never wrote anything down. Let me go take one more look. It
may not be a large volume, so it may have become stuck in another book or
bumped behind some.” Returning the book to
her,
he pushed
up
and headed deep into the archives once
more.

In front of the shelving where
he had found that particular volume, Petr began to move and check each of the
other books resting there. He gave them all a quick flip through in case
someone had had the foresight to write that particular section into another
volume in their effort to hide it. A good thing, too, because when he found it,
it was precisely that.

Returning
to the
table,
Petr sat down, flipped through the book, and handed it to her. “They hid it
between records of births, deaths, and marriages. It fits in
well
but is obviously not written in the
same manner. If you look at the writing on this section of
pages,
it’s different from what is
before and after it. I think they may have originally written it into a volume
that included that other information, but when the war
started,
they rewrote the books to
create two separate volumes. One with that huge gap of time, and this one with what
we need tucked away where no one would ever bother to look.”

“The
only question is if it was purposefully or accidentally placed there. I’m going
to go out on a limb and guess that it was purposefully placed there.” She was
looking at the book with him now, moving in closer to him as she did so. “Huh.”
There was that word again. He had no idea what
huh
was,
but he was assuming it was
a
utterance of a question.
“They had a child before they were married. They were, however, killed and the
monarchies disbanded. It says here that their names would be forever
stricken,
but there is no mention of the
child.”

“If their names were removed
from all records then the child was at the least given a new surname, at most a
new identity.” He ran a finger down to the date noted for the birth of the
child, then flipped to the beginning of the book. Petr went through the pages
quickly until he came across a record with the same date, time, and location.
“Here,” he said, pointing to the entry. It was a surname he was all too
familiar with.

Sam looked at the registry and
frowned. He saw the uncertainty in her face. “I don’t know this name. Is it a
name that’s still being used? Are they still around? If so, are they
Imarian
or
Craegin
?”

Petr nodded. “It happens to be
the surname of
Fintan’s
first officer, Markus. We
would have to review his lineage to be sure it is not a name he gained through
a marriage at some point. But this is a solid clue. And even if he is an
offshoot from this child, he still has a real claim to the thrones. Albeit they
are defunct thrones, but ones that have never been completely terminated. They
have merely been forgotten in the passage of time. Markus is quite possibly the
proof we need that we were united at one point. What we need to figure out is
if the monarchs were murdered, or was it merely coincidence.”

“At
least we know where they came together.” He looked up, surprised at her words.
“There’s a statement up a couple of paragraphs where they were discussing the
terms of contracts for the world that was contracted to hold the ceremony.” She
pointed it out to him. “It’s a neutral
world,
if I have the galaxy’s maps
correct in my mind?”

“You do, and it
’
s still a neutral world, part of
their draw to a lot of people looking to start their lives fresh. It would make
perfect sense to have the wedding between our worlds there. The security has
always been some of the best around. Everyone on each side of this would have
felt safe being there. Which makes it odd that they both conveniently died
there.” He pointed to a section of text. “They arrived, were shuttled down, and
met to sign the contract. There was a dinner, after which they separated to
begin their own preparations for the formal ceremony the next day. The
contract, if it still exists somewhere, is legally binding. While the ceremony
would be for everyone else, the contract is what counts, Samantha. They were
for all intents and purposes married when they died.”

“Really?
That’s very interesting. Is that still an active practice for your peoples? If
it wasn’t just the
Craegin
or
Imarians
’
contract?” He saw her confusion.
“So if
they were married and that bloodline is still alive and is still running
through someone’s veins and they find out that we are looking for a link to
them, then your brother-in-law’s first would be in danger.
Someone has to know about this. There has to be something and someone that
knows about the family. Right?”

“I
would presume so, yes. My guess would be that the ruling body has the
information. Not only was the reference tucked away, but if not for us having
an idea of what to look for we would never have found it. The contracts are
still a practice. Now, though, there are
some
different versions. Those between
influential families are like the one these two would have signed. It would
have been detailed, including division of wealth, where they would reside, how
the monarchy would have continued with them being from two worlds. My thoughts
on that particular point would be a merger. Which for anyone in power would
have been
bad.
Going with what I know of the influential family marriages, everything is
restructured so that people in positions of power are those both individuals
can fully trust. Out with the old guard.”

“Good point. No one who was in
power in any of the outlying planets of the
Craegin
and
Imarian
planetary systems would want to give up
that control. If they were to come together and merge the houses it would
restructure a great deal, I would imagine, right?” She looked back at him again
and sighed. “We need to do something with this information, something to keep
it hidden so that the man can be kept safe because I’m sure that he doesn’t
know about his lineage, does he?”

“It’s
doubtful that Markus knows anything about this part of his history. We need to
make copies of everything so we have the proof. The ruling body will do
anything to keep this information from coming out. If Markus did make a claim
to the thrones, he could remove all of them from office. The ruling body, the
governors, the chancellors. Not something any of them would permit without a
bloody battle.” Digging in the
satchel
he had brought along, Petr handed her a data pad. With a second
one
he pulled out he demonstrated how to
make a scan of the pages. “We need to get everything from the first mention
right to where everything went back to normal.”