Rebel (9 page)

A
month? A year?

She never wanted to stop searching until she discovered the truth.

Maybe he was right. If she had more money and a home of her own, she would be better able to enlist the aid of the proper authorities to find them. Maybe after a few fruitless months, she could go to Terra Minor and then return to Damenk to resume her quest.

But what if the girls weren’t there anymore? What if she had to go to another world to find them?

Somewhere in the midst of her conundrum, she fell asleep. However, she didn’t dream about her lost friends. Her dreams were scattered and incoherent. One minute she was with Onca in his speeder, and the next, she was swimming in a lake with small children and giant turtles. Large, glossy animals with long noses nibbled on the grass nearby. Snowcapped mountains reared up beyond the lake. Kim didn’t have to be awake to know she had never seen such a place with her own eyes. Then she realized she
was
awake, and her stomach was growling.

How many times had she simply ignored that gnawing ache and gone back to sleep? She had no idea, but this didn’t have to be one of those times.

Tossing back the covers, she sat up on the side of the bed. The room was dark, but her night vision was sufficient for her to see the silky tunic Onca had given her lying at the foot of the bed. Strange she hadn’t noticed it before.

Getting up from the bed, she donned the tunic and padded across the room in her bare feet. The door slid back, hardly making a sound. She crept out into the dark hallway toward the stairs, noticing a light blinking above another door just beyond the stairwell. As she approached, the door seemed to part in the center.

A
lift.
Of course a house as big as this would have one. She walked onto it and the doors closed with a barely audible
snick
. The dimly lit interior had no obvious buttons to push.

“Down,” she whispered.

“Acknowledged,” Captain whispered back. “Hungry?”

She replied with a nod, which he apparently saw.

“There is fruit, cheese, and bread in the stasis unit. The stew, alas, is all gone. With three more mouths to feed, Onca clearly needs to go to the market.”

Kim hated knowing how much it would cost Onca to look after her and Jatki, and she fully intended to pay him back as soon as she got her money from the trust fund. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” The doors opened out onto an area between the kitchen and a room she hadn’t seen before. Empty except for a large table and chairs, even her breathing seemed to echo as she peered into it. Moving soundlessly into the kitchen, she saw she wasn’t the only one who’d gotten hungry. Onca was there ahead of her.

Not only that, he was naked.

Onca had just sunk his fangs into a cookie or he probably would have screamed. As it was, he nearly choked on the crumbs.

“Captain didn’t say anything about cookies,” Kim said as she came toward him in the darkness. “He only told me about the bread, fruit, and cheese.”

“Maybe he doesn’t think you should be eating sweet stuff in the middle of the night.” Holding his breath, he waited for Captain’s inevitable retort, but for once, the meddling computer held his peace. He held out the bag. “Want one? They’re from the Twilanan bakery on Sixth Street.”

She reached into the bag and took two. “I’m really hungry.”

“I’ll bet you are. We sort of missed dinner tonight.”

What
a
stupid
thing
to
say.
She probably missed more meals in a typical week than he had in his entire life. “Want some milk?”

“Yes, please.”

He got another glass out of the cabinet and filled it from the jug on the table, thankful he hadn’t bothered to turn on the light—which might have made a difference with any other woman. However, being Zetithian, Kim’s night vision was undoubtedly as good as his.

Great.

At least one of them was dressed—sort of. Unfortunately, her shimmering garment only heightened his awareness of what she might or might not have on underneath it.

He handed her the glass, not trusting himself to speak.

She took a bite of her cookie and chewed it slowly before swallowing in a manner that was simultaneously innocent and sensuous. “These are really good. What kind are they?”

“Um…pumpkin spice.”

Obviously she could ignore his nudity. Either that or she was punishing him for hurting her.

No, that wasn’t it. She hadn’t come downstairs with any motive beyond finding something to eat. She couldn’t have known he would be down here stuffing cookies in his face trying to stifle his—his
what
?

Lust?

No.
It wasn’t that simple. If it had been, he could’ve ignored it—could have tamped down the urge quite easily. She’d done something to him. He could defy the attraction to other females if he put his mind to it. Kim, however, was impossible to resist.

She glanced at the cookie he had all but forgotten he held in his hand. “Aren’t you going to eat that?”

“What? Oh…yeah.”

Taking a bite, he fought the urge to stuff the whole thing in his mouth so he couldn’t kiss her.

She had said she wouldn’t kiss him again—which meant he probably
should
wolf down his midnight snack and get his ass back in bed. In the morning, he would head over to the Palace to see if there were any likely clients hanging around. Maybe after he’d fucked eight or nine of them, he might be able to look at Kim without wanting to tear off that tunic he had so thoughtfully given her and fuck her until she screamed.

But of course, he couldn’t do any of those things. Not now. He closed his eyes, as if that action might banish the image of her lying naked in his arms.

It didn’t. If anything, the vision was even clearer with his eyes shut.

Then he remembered something—something highly significant. She said she wouldn’t
ask
him to kiss her again. She never said she wouldn’t kiss him or that he couldn’t kiss
her
.

There was a difference.

She wasn’t the one resisting.

I
am.

The rules governing the behavior of Zetithian females didn’t seem to apply to Kim. Onca should have had to purr and tease and do everything in his power to seduce her. She wasn’t playing by the rules, and if her scent meant anything at all, she was the one doing the enticing. The only problem was, she didn’t seem to know how.

Thank
the
gods
for
that
.

He ate another cookie while mentally reviewing the reasons why he couldn’t let any of that happen. Onca had already fathered a bajillion kids. Jack’s sons hadn’t found mates yet, and they were only half-breeds. Crossing any of them with a pure Zetithian female would strengthen that bloodline—would strengthen any of the hybrids, for that matter. In the interest of continuing the species, she should have several litters by several different men.

She
isn’t a broodmare
. She wasn’t that strong. She was tiny and fragile, and he needed to stop thinking about all this before he went insane.

After gulping down the last of his milk, he stuck his hand in the bag of cookies only to discover it was empty. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to be such a pig.”

“No problem. Thanks for sharing.”

My, she’s a forgiving soul…
“Think you can go back to sleep now?”

Her gaze drifted to his groin. “Maybe.”

Oh, no…

One swift, downward glance was enough to assure him that while his brain had been occupied with all the reasons why he shouldn’t fuck her, his dick had found enough of her scent to remind him why he
should
. It wasn’t in full bloom yet, but it was getting there.

“Tell me something.” She pointed at his cock. “Why does seeing
that
make me want to bite you?”

Onca couldn’t find the words to reply. He sucked in a breath so laden with her scent, his cock reacted instantly, and he exhaled with a purr.

“Wow.” She took a step toward him and then another. She wasn’t touching him, but as close as she was, she might as well have grabbed him by the balls.

Her intoxicating aroma rooted his feet to the floor, eliminating the possibility of putting more space between them. As he drew in another deep, purring breath, blood surged into his groin, forcing orgasmic secretions to flow from the coronal ridge of his penis.

Kim’s eyes were like two glowing embers, her voice a hoarse whisper. “I
really
need to bite you now.”

“Kim…
please
…”

Onca caught a glimpse of her gleaming fangs just before she launched herself at him, gripping his shoulders and wrapping her legs around his waist. A snarl exploded from his throat as her teeth sank into the muscle at the base of his neck.

She was already in his arms, and within a few swift strides, she was on her back in his bed. A voice inside his head told him to be careful, to take it slow. But as her nails raked the length of his arms, he lost any semblance of control and plunged his cock into her.

Nothing in all his years at the brothel could have prepared him for this. Being with Kim went so far beyond mere sex, he didn’t even know how to think about it, let alone know what to call it. She felt like no one else ever had. Hot and wet, yes, but there was more to it than that. She…fit him. Perfectly. He held nothing back, and she took it all, urging him for more.

When her first orgasm sucked him in even farther, her eyes rolled back in her head. “Holy Maloney, this is good.”

A laugh spilled out of him. “Just good?”

“Oh, maybe better than that. I can’t…think right now.”

Onca wanted to do things she would use even more superlatives to describe, but at the moment, he couldn’t think very well himself. All he could manage was a straight in and out, stretch-her-to-the-limit fuck. He couldn’t even make himself slow down. The longer he went, the more climaxes she reached and the closer together they came. By the time his balls clenched and his
snard
shot into her, her pussy gripped his dick in one continuous orgasm.

Her pupils dilated, and the glow from within surged then ebbed as her lips formed a soundless O.

Unblinking, his enraptured gaze held hers like a lifeline.

Beautiful.

Her body relaxed beneath him, her soft, purring sighs playing in his heart like a song. He might regret this later, but at that moment, regret and Kim didn’t belong in the same thought.

A deep breath expanded her lungs, pressing her chest tightly against his, the fabric of her tunic the only thing between them. “I’m actually purring.
Way
cool…” Her eyelids drifted downward as though she savored the vibrations. “Is it always like that with Zetithian guys?”

“Well…yeah. I guess.” To be honest, he wasn’t sure. Onca had given joy to hundreds of women, but none of them had ever lit up quite the way she had. Perhaps it was always that good for Zetithian women. Never having been with one, he didn’t know.

Her slow nod was almost as mesmerizing as her eyes. “I figured it had to be pretty awesome to arouse so much jealousy.” She frowned. “It’s funny, but I can feel something moving inside me, even though you’re holding still.”

“It’s that, um, ruffle thing. It sort of…waves afterward.”

“Feels fabulous.” Her yawn increased the contact between them again, making Onca wish he’d taken the time to yank off her tunic.

At
least
I
know
she
isn’t wearing anything underneath it.

“I think I could probably sleep for a week.”

“That’s the
snard
effect,” he said. “Causes what we Zetithians call
laetralance.
”

“I’m guessing
snard
is the Zetithian word for semen?”

He nodded. “
Laetralance
doesn’t translate into Stantongue—or any other language for that matter.”

“Yeah. I can see why.” She smiled briefly, then her eyes narrowed as her expression grew thoughtful. “Which explains why Ganyn was so glad to see you.”

He grinned. “Our coronal secretions don’t have any effect on Darconians, but the
snard
seems to work just fine.”

“I’m surprised
any
of it works,” she said. “I mean, I can see how it would affect other mammals, but a lizard?” She paused, frowning. “I’m trying to imagine you doing this with her. I can’t picture it.”

“Yeah, well, it wasn’t what you’d call pretty. She nearly squashed me with her tail. Jerden used to do Darconians all the time. Dunno how he survived.”

Kim pressed her fingers to her lips as though trying to stifle her giggles and failed miserably. Her whole body shook with laughter, giving his cock little squeezes that made him want to purr again.

He was pleased she could appreciate the humor—lightening the mood when it could have gotten uncomfortably deep. That whole mating thing he’d thought about earlier…he was probably wrong about that. Sex with Kim was better than it had ever been with anyone else, but that didn’t mean they had to be mates. He hadn’t mated with any of his clients. She could still wind up with one of Jack’s boys.

Onca was simply her instructor—a coach to teach her the procedure. Plenty of cultures did that. In a way, he’d had that experience himself. His first client had been older, and she’d taught him quite a bit. He wasn’t doing anything wrong by being here with Kim. He could stand back and proudly watch her marry someone closer to her own age.

He should have been able to do that. But why was it so hard? Why couldn’t he picture her standing beside anyone but himself?

Infatuation. Lust. Proximity.
Any of those things could explain what happened tonight. Hell, exhaustion could even justify it.

That’s right. I was too tired to think straight.
The previous day’s events were enough to wear anyone to the bone, making him less wary, more susceptible to her intoxicating aroma. Besides, her scent
should
affect him more than those of other alien females. They were the same species. Oh, yes. It all made perfect sense.

But when she fisted her hands in his hair and pulled him down for a toe-curling, heart-stopping kiss, those arguments lost most of their impact—perhaps all of it.

***

I’m keeping him.

As she kissed her way from his lips to his cheek, Kim knew the best way to do that wasn’t to beg or cling. He had to
want
to stay with her. She wasn’t sure how she knew that.

Or maybe she
did
know the reason. Cassie’s
trelink
had stayed, not because it was caged or leashed, but because it was treated with kindness, affection, and respect.

And
love.

Perhaps the most frightening emotion of all. Cassie had cried for days after those boys had stolen her pet—which she wouldn’t have done if she hadn’t loved the furry little beast. Kim’s reaction to the disappearance of her friends was similar, but Cassie had at least known what happened to the
trelink
. The fate of the three girls remained a mystery—one Kim had to solve before she could give any thought to her own happiness.

Unfortunately, at that precise moment, she didn’t even want to move, let alone set out on a quest of such magnitude.

Still, it probably behooved her to get back to her own bed. The trick would be to strengthen her resolve enough to ask Onca to let her up. Succumbing to the desire to kiss his lips off probably wasn’t the best way to do that.

Biting him had been a satisfying event in and of itself. He was still bleeding from the place she’d bitten him. She kissed him there, then licked the wound, surprised that it seemed to close up almost immediately.

That was probably normal too. His wound, her saliva… Probably some time-honored method of healing among Zetithians.

Clearing her throat only made her purr louder. “Guess I should go back upstairs now.”

“Yeah. Right.” With a quick nod, he rose up on his hands and knees and rolled over onto his back, taking his body heat with him.

The loss of contact was shocking—like some vital organ had been ripped out of her. How long would it be before she got it back? A day, a month? She was ignorant of so many things. But she could learn.

Despite the protests of every part of her body, she was able to sit up on the side of the bed. Breathing harder than normal, she noted she was still purring, though the vibrations had grown very faint.

“Do you need me to help you?”

He didn’t sound anxious or solicitous. He was simply offering his help—something he probably knew she would need.