Precious Cargo (6 page)

Chapter Thirteen

Tannen hadn’t really intended on asking Alison outright if she’d be interested in having sex with all three of them. But he had to admit to himself that he’d been a little jealous of the time Conn and Kal had spent with her and the easy affection he’d seen as they’d all eaten together.

He knew that they’d be back on Dolak by the next morning, and once there, Alison would be at their medical center being studied by their most experienced doctors until they declared her fit to be integrated into their society. She’d be meeting some very important and high-ranking males, and he’d have no doubt that they’d all be just as fascinated with her as he and his bond mates were.

Her adorable answer along with the flush of blood under her skin that he’d noticed happened whenever she was embarrassed just charmed him even more.

“I’m happy to hear that, sweet Ali,” Tannen moved closer to her on the bed and stepped up in between her legs, “because I have to admit, I am jealous of my bond mates for getting to sample what I’ve not been able to stop thinking about since you arrived.”

He could see Alison’s breathing increase as she looked up at him in almost disbelief.

“Really?” she whispered.

“Oh yes…” he whispered back before he slowly closed the distance between them and touched his lips to hers.

Her small moan when his hands gripped her hips and pulled her closer was all he needed to delve deeper inside her mouth. He could still taste the sweet syrup from breakfast on her lips. Tannen felt her small hands move around to grip his back and he pushed further ahead, moving his hardness against her, causing them both to moan.

“You smell so good, Tannen,” she murmured between kisses. “Sandalwood and warmth, I feel like I can’t get enough.”

“And you smell good enough to eat, little Ali,” Tannen answered as he pulled away from her mouth and ran his hands along her bare legs, under the shirt she was wearing. He met her lust-filled eyes and slowly ran his hands up her torso, taking the shirt along with them. Tannen groaned when his hands cupped the perfection of her breasts, and he quickly stripped off the shirt to reveal the bounty underneath. He just stared at her for a moment, mesmerized by how utterly breathtaking she was sitting there, flushed with her desire for him.

“You’re so beautiful, Alison,” he whispered low as his finger began to caress along her skin. He was hypnotized by the contrast of his dark skin against hers. “And you glow like the moon with all this pale perfection, so soft and inviting.”

“Thank you, Tannen,” Ali whispered back, reaching for his clothes in turn. “I want to see you, too.”

He loved the look on her face as he lifted his shirt over his head and threw it to the side of the bed, and then her warm hands were instantly gliding over his chest making his head fall back with the pleasure of her touch.

“You all have such soft skin. I could touch you for days,” Ali said as her fingers trailed down Tannen’s stomach to find his aching cock beneath the material of his pants.

Tannen had to grit his teeth as she stroked and squeezed his length. He had plans for his little Ali, and she was distracting him from them. He finally pulled away and dropped to his knees, placing him at eye level with exactly where he wanted to be most.

“Gods, you smell so sweet, Ali.” Tannen moved in closer until he could feel the heat of her body against his lips. “Mmm, I’ll bet you taste even better.”

****

The first touch of Tannen’s tongue against her folds felt so incredibly good that she had a hard time not grabbing his head and moving him against her. She groaned as he moved up to flick at her sensitive clit, and when he sucked it into the warmth of his mouth, she almost came off the bed.

“More, Tannen, please more,” Ali moaned out, arching her body against him, fisting her hands in the sheets. She loved the way he held nothing back as he pleasured her, like he was enjoying it as much as she was.

“I’ll give you more, love,” he answered, as he slid two fingers into her soaking pussy and thrust into her and suckled hard on her clit.

He added one more finger, and suddenly Alison felt her climax rush up and explode inside of her.

“Tannen!” she screamed as her pussy gripped around his still moving fingers. He gave one more lingering lick all along her swollen folds before he kissed his way back up her torso and finally met her mouth once again.

Alison loved tasting herself on his tongue. She could feel him reach for the closure on his pants as his hand brushed against her flesh, and then finally the hot length of him was rubbing through her wetness. She ached to have him filling her up, and when the wet tip of his shaft found her entrance, she greedily wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled him all the way into her as they both groaned.

“It feels so good to be inside of you, Ali,” he said, as he broke from her lips and rested his forehead against hers. “I need just a moment. I don’t want this to be over too soon.”

“Mmm, I need to feel you, Tannen.” Alison moved to lick and bite at his neck, loving the shudder that ran though his muscles under her hands.

He pulled back and thrust into her in a violent motion. It was perfection. It was exactly what she needed from him, and she kissed him as he began to pump inside of her. Alison could feel the strength of his muscles as she grasped at his back, trying to somehow get him deeper. His low growl when she dug her nails into his skin only drove her arousal higher.

“Faster, Tannen, fuck me harder, please!” she panted out in between all-consuming kisses. “Oh God, I’m almost there!”

The noise of their bodies colliding was the only sound in her ears besides her own heartbeat, which was deafening.

“Alison, come for me.” Tannen roared as he thrust into her at a furious pace and brought his hand in between them to pinch hard at her swollen clit.

It was all she needed to go hurtling into oblivion as her entire body tensed and shuddered beneath him. When he pressed hard into her and yelled out her name, she pulled him closer, reveling in everything he had to give her.

Chapter Fourteen

Alison didn’t know how long they’d been lounging on the bed in the medical room, cuddling and kissing. All she did know was that she felt like she couldn’t get enough of Tannen’s caresses.

His touch was so soothing. Ali closed her eyes and soaked it up, like a flower turning towards the sun. He kissed her just like he touched her, like she was delicate and priceless. It was so sweet she could have kissed him for days, and she whimpered when he gently drew away from her.

“Alison,” he began quietly, “you told me when you first woke up that you were not mated. Why is that?”

She wasn’t quite prepared for that question.
I
mean, what do I even say to that?
Did she hit the old Earth cliché of
I just haven’t met the right guy yet
or
I have horrible taste in men
? Alison thought about using either excuse, but for some reason, she didn’t want to be flippant with Tannen about her past. Sure, her insecurities made her uncomfortable with this conversation, and she was worried about painting a picture of herself that might, in turn, change how these wonderful men looked at her. But if she was going to start her life over out here, why not choose to be brave? Why not choose to be one hundred percent herself, without any excuses or false bravado?

This man was sitting there with her in his arms, asking her to open up to him, and that was exactly what she was going to do.

“The truth is, Tannen, I have no idea why I’ve never been able to connect with anyone,” she answered quietly, not meeting his gaze. “Back where I come from, I’m not considered very desirable, I suppose. I’m just average. I’m not the kind of woman who’s ever turned any heads.”

He didn’t answer her for a moment, and Alison felt a little bit of panic bubble up in her stomach at the idea that she shouldn’t have been quite so honest with him.

“I find such a possibility highly unlikely, Alison.” Tannen gently pulled up her chin so she would look at him. “We’ve only known you for a short time, and while it’s true you are quite exotic and beautiful to us, it’s your sweet and gentle personality that calls to me like no female I’ve ever met. If the men of your planet could not see your worth, than I am all the more honored that you found your way to us.”

Alison couldn’t stop the tears from welling up in her eyes as she looked at the earnest expression on Tannen’s face. No one had ever said anything so wonderful to her before, and she had no idea what to say.

“Thank you, Tannen,” she whispered before she leaned in to kiss him.

****

“Good grief, I leave our Ali in your care for a few hours and you bring her to tears, Tannen?” Kal said, as he strode in through the med bay doors, giving the other man a dirty look once he saw Ali’s red eyes. Then he did a double take at the picture before him, and a flirty smile began to replace the frown on his face. “Hey … what have you two been up to in here?”

Ali’s laugh was exactly the response he was hoping for. Whatever the serious issue was that had brought those tears to her eyes, he hoped Tannen had fixed, because the sight of her distress did uncomfortable things to him.

“Oh you know, just a lot of tests…” she answered with a wink and a smile as Tannen kissed her quickly once more and began to get dressed.

“Oooo, I hope there was probing. Probing is my favorite! You know, Tannen, you’ve always led me to believe that your work was rather boring,” Kal teased as he ran his hand along the chiseled chest of his bond mate before hopping up onto the bed beside Ali, “but clearly you weren’t being honest. Shall I undress so you can test me as well?”

That comment had both Ali and Tannen laughing at him as he waggled his eyebrows at them.

“Oh, I’m certain you’ve been
tested
here more than anyone else, love,” Tannen said as he helped Ali find her shirt in the wrecked pile of bedding. “Now, have you come to entertain Alison while I get these tests sent off to Dolak? I got quite distracted, and now the results will barely beat us home.”

“Oh, are we that close already?” Alison asked, sounding a little nervous about reaching the planet.

Kal could understand her hesitancy. It was a rather significant leap to learn that your planet isn’t the only one with intelligent life to exist in the universe. But to be forging your way on a new world less than two days after finding out? Well, Ali was taking it all like a champ. Her bravery was to be admired, and Kal would just add it to the growing list of things about this female which held his fascination.

“We are, love. I thought I would steal you away so that we could have lunch in the observatory and that way we’ll have the best view of Dolak as we enter our solar system. Our home may be darker than what you are used to, but the other planets closer to our sun are quite striking in their colors. I thought you might like to see them all from afar.” Kal offered her his hand to help her down from the table.

“That sounds lovely, Kal.” Ali looked towards Tannen. “Are you sure you don’t want to come have some lunch, Tannen?”

“I’ve work to do, beautiful, but you two enjoy yourselves,” he answered, giving her a quick kiss and then doing the same to Kal.

“Should we stop and grab the food?” Alison asked, as they walked down the corridor towards the observatory.

“I’ve already prepared everything for us.” Kal ushered her into the room, where he’d laid out a luncheon of various finger foods they favored on Dolak.

“Oh! A picnic,” Alison squealed as she saw what Kal had set up in front of the large picture windows. “This is so nice. No one’s ever done anything like this for me before.”

He was puzzled when she stopped smiling and a small frown came over her face.

“Do you not like picnics, Ali?”

“No, it’s not that.” She gave him a small smile. “I love it, and it’s just that I think I’ve grown rather attached to the three of you, and I’m nervous about what will happen when we land, that’s all.”

“Ah, all will be well, Alison.” Kal wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “We aren’t scheduled to leave planet-side again for at least a month, and we’ll make sure you get settled just fine.”

Chapter Fifteen

Alison was excited as they came out of hyper-drive and she could finally see the beauty of space in detail out the windows. Kal had been right. The planets they were passing were all the colors of the rainbow and incredibly striking.

As they prepared to exit the ship, she admired the men in their Trade Corps uniforms. They looked very handsome in the grey and red material. Ali was so used to seeing them in plain black or grey clothes. They even managed to find her a jumpsuit to wear, so she wasn’t running around half dressed, even though they had to roll up all the legs and arms, but she felt like a schleppy mess standing next to them.

Even though she knew the space station was going to be full of people, it was still a shock when the shuttle doors opened and the docking bay was a hive of activity with personnel running around going about their jobs. Seeing all the various shades of grey- and black-skinned men really made it hit home that she was about to land on an alien planet. It did make her feel a little bit better that most of the aliens in question were dealing with seeing
her
much less smoothly. She noticed more than one of the males walk right into some fixed object as their curious gaze followed their group as they walked.

“Why are they staring?” Ali whispered to Conn once they were out of the noisy hangar bay.

“You are the first Earthling that has visited our planet. Naturally, they are curious,
and
you are quite a striking female,” Conn answered with a wink that had her blushing again.

There were two other people in the lift with them at the time, and their whispered exclamations when her cheeks turned red made her feel a little like a bug under a microscope until Kal gave them both a nasty look and they quieted down.

“Alison, when we exit the shuttle on the surface, you will be escorted straight to the med facility to see if our doctors can help with your virus side effects. We will be going to be debriefed by our superior officer, but we will come to check on you once we have been released, okay?” Tannen explained as they boarded the small shuttle, and he strapped her into the seat and made certain her restraint belt was secure.

“Okay,” she answered, trying to sound braver than she felt at the moment, which in turn just made her nerves even worse. The lovely lunch that she’d enjoyed with Kal was now an ominous pile of rocks in her stomach.

“Are you all right, Ali?” Kal asked, taking her hand once he’d strapped into his own seat.

“Just nervous.” She gave him a forced smile.

“Kal, Commander Vaughn will be waiting for us when we land,” Conn added, as he looked pointedly to where they had joined hands and then back briefly towards a small camera-like device in the ceiling.

“Everything will be fine, Alison,” Kal said, as he reluctantly released her hand and placed his own hands on his lap with a slight frown.

Thirty minutes and some turbulence later, the shuttle engines finally turned off, and Conn emerged from the controls to open the doors for them. No one said anything as they walked down the steps, Alison in between Tannen and Kal, and onto the smooth black pavement below. There was a small party of people waiting for them, and an older man in dress uniform stepped up to clasp Conn’s arm in greeting.

“Captain Drogan, I’m glad to see your safe return,” the older man said with an easy smile, as he nodded towards Tannen and Kal before turning his eyes onto Alison. “And with such interesting cargo this trip!”

“Commander Vaughn, this is Alison Baker of Earth.” Conn introduced her, right before Alison noticed the only other woman in the group push her way to the front of the crowd.

“Conn! Finally, you have come back. Now we can get this pesky contract signed and formally announce our bonding,” the woman practically yelled as she came up and kissed Conn’s cheeks in a way that Alison didn’t care for at all.

“Shara, it’s so nice to see you,” Conn said awkwardly, as he took a small step back to return an appropriate level of space between them.

Alison could tell from the looks on their faces that none of the men had expected Shara to be here. She took a closer look at the woman who, if she was honest, she’d disliked in her mind ever since she’d heard of her existence. She was exceedingly beautiful of course. Shara must have been about 5’8” tall, slim, and her dark pewter skin looked rich and supple next to the deep purple of her silk dress.

But it was her face that really was the most stunning part of her. She had a voluptuous mouth and amazing bone structure, all framed with shiny, long black hair that was braided and fell to her waist. Shara’s bright violet gaze snapped to Ali, and her pretty eyes narrowed like a hawk sighting its prey.

“Is this the poor creature you rescued from the Warg ship?” Shara asked in a nauseating voice chock full of fake concern. “Why, Father’s doctors were almost beside themselves at the thought that they’d get to study a completely undiscovered primitive species!”

Why, you little bitch!
Ali fumed to herself as the woman referred to her as pretty much on the same level as a cave-person. Clearly the older man was in charge here, and Alison didn’t want to make a bad impression in front of the men’s boss so she reluctantly bit her tongue. She was placated a little bit when she saw the looks of dislike and irritation on Kal and Tannen’s face at Shara’s comments.

“Well, Shara, now that you’ve said hello, why don’t you run along while I get your men debriefed.” Even Commander Vaughn rolled his eyes slightly as he encouraged his daughter to move on.

Alison’s instant emotional pain when he’d referred to Conn, Tannen and Kal as “Shara’s men” was concerning. She’d been afraid she was getting attached to them, even though she’d known about their pending contract with this horrible woman. But the three of them were so amazing, how could she have resisted their attention? After being alone for so long, having that kind of affection showered on her would have made any woman putty in their hands, wouldn’t it?

Clearly she’d been foolish to hope that they would also grow attached to her and perhaps want to continue their relationship. All three of them had been distant and not initiated contact with her since they’d boarded the shuttle. The only conclusion she could make was that their time together had been strictly for their convenience and to stop the side effects she’d been experiencing from the virus. Alison’s eyes began to tear up, and she couldn’t even bring herself to look at the men who had saved her as the doctors introduced themselves and ushered her away to the doors on the other side of the room.