Runner's Moon Trilogy Megabook Series (11 page)

It was the soft stroking of her pubic hair that awakened her. Hannah blinked drowsily against the buttery glow of light in the cabin. She was lying on her side, facing him. He had his head propped on one hand. It was his other hand currently making little twirling motions over her womanhood, tugging gently on the satiny curls. But it was enough to get her attention. She flashed him a weary smile.

"Naughty boy."

"You fell asleep."

"You tired me out." Her statement was immediately followed by a yawn.

"After only two climaxes?" he teased.

Her eyes flew open. "Oh, geesh! That's right!"

Laughing softly, Jeb reached around her waist and scooted her closer to him. His manhood obediently nestled between her legs. "You never let me finish exploring you. Find out what turns you on, what feels good."

"And I didn't get to reciprocate," she admitted.

It felt odd, lying naked against a hulking, green-skinned but intoxicating alien—a very intimidating and turned-on alien—discussing sex. No, not sex. Love. Love the way it was meant to be between two people. Physical love that paralleled and reinforced the emotional love.

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It felt odd, but it didn't stop her from reaching down between them to grasp the thick, ridged pole that brought her so much pleasure.

"Roll over on your back," she ordered. He obeyed without hesitation.

Now she could look at all of him without embarrassment.

She could study him. Examine him. Fondle him.

The fondling part was what she really looked forward to.

The first time she had looked at him, right after he had changed, she had given him a cursory once-over. Her emotions had been in turmoil as she fought her fear. The fear was long gone now. Their feelings for each other were real and forever. And right now she could delight in learning every detail about this man to her heart's content.

She started at the top with his face and head. Jeb watched her in silence, but with a little smile turning up the corners of his unique mouth. She saw the amusement in his expression and smiled back. "What?"

"Nothing."

And then it hit her. "You did the same thing to me, didn't you?" she demanded with mock irritation.

"You were asleep. I wasn't a bit sleepy. What else was there to do?"

No wonder she woke up on her side, when the last thing she remembered was being flat on her back with him on top and inside her.

"See anything you liked?" she questioned, unable to hide her grin.

"Maybe."

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"Bastard."

The remark made him laugh out loud, but he didn't move.

Instead he seemed to enjoy her examination.

Her palm skimmed his wide chest. He wasn't a solid green as she'd first thought, but several hues. Mottled, like someone had painstakingly daubed him with camouflage.

"You feel like silk. How does a man who's built like you are with all these muscles come off feeling this wonderful?"

"Mmm, genetics?"

"Damn. You don't have nipples?"

"No, but you do. Nice ones, too."

"Yeah, but they're an erogenous area for me." Hannah glanced up into his eyes. "Are there any areas on your body that I can play with that'll turn you on?"

"Trust me, Hannah. When it comes to turning me on, my whole body is one big erogenous area for you to manipulate."

Continuing down his stomach, she noticed various little scars and marks she hadn't seen before. It pained her to see such evidence of what he had endured. And she realized for the first time that they both had been victims of others'

cruelty. Whereas her wounds would heal, and the resulting scars hidden inside, Jeb's body would forever bear the testimony of his past life.

A huge clawed hand came down gently over hers where it rested on his belly. "What's the matter?"

"How long were you a prisoner on that spaceship before you escaped?"

He paused in answering. She didn't press. If he could show patience when questioning her, so could she.

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"Oh, look! You have a belly button!" She tossed him a wicked grin, then dipped her head toward his abdomen. It was sinful to press her tongue into that puckered groove, but she was dying to know if had the same sexual cord tied between it and his erection as a human male did.

His hand touched her face and tugged slightly. "Careful."

It did! Great! She made a mental note.

Now came the interesting part. His male member wasn't flaccid, but neither was it at full alert. Still, its size started her heart pounding. Sliding her fingers around its heavily-veined girth, she heard him gasp at her touch at the same time his whole body tensed.

Damn. Her fingers could barely go all the way around it.

Looking back up at him, she could see the flecks of gold already shimmering in his eyes. He was growing warmer, and she wasn't surprised when his member swelled in her grasp.

"I didn't know aliens circumcised their young like humans do."

"What do you mean?" Jeb questioned. The brows over his eyes lowered at his confusion—noticeable in spite of not having any body or facial hair.

She gave his staff a gentle squeeze. "You weren't circumcised?"

"I am the way I've always been from the day I was born. I have not been altered or changed in any way."

"Except for the scarring," she added gently.

He nodded to answer her. "Ready for me to turn over?"

"Not yet. I'm not through checking out what I've won."

Jeb chuckled. "What you've won?"

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"Oh, yeah. You're my prize. Didn't I tell you? And you're a doozy. A lifetime of unlimited orgasms, and don't you forget it."

The resulting heat in his eyes brought a fine blush to her own cheeks, and Hannah dropped her gaze as his thick rod jerked in her palms.

She started to lay it back down when her eyes suddenly flew open. The blush went from pink to scarlet as she dropped him. "Oh, geez..." Hastily she looked at him, then back down. Jeb's soft chuckle reached her ears.

"Yeah. I know," he said. "Imagine my surprise when I had to shape-shift that part of my anatomy."

"You have, uhh ... you have three, uhh..."

"Testicles. Balls."

"Why?"

"Why?" he repeated. "I guess for the same reason I have no hair, no nipples, no anus—"

"You don't have an anus?" Hannah took a moment to absorb this new detail. "Then how do you—"

Jeb sat up, propping himself with his arms behind him. The lamplight caused his deep green skin to glisten. "Different but alike, Hannah. Just remember that. We share a multitude of commonalities. And sometimes our differences are so slight, they don't matter."

She nodded, going back to her investigation. His legs were long and muscular, just like his arms. Some more of that natural body armor padded his outer thighs and the backs of his calves. His feet looked human except for the shorter, blunter claws on the tips of his four toes.

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"The nails on our feet are more for getting better traction in the dirt. But we'll use them in battle if we're forced to," he explained.

"What did your people do on your homeworld?" She glanced up from his feet. "What was the name of your planet?"

"Barandat Vor. We were an agricultural people. We grew plants. Cultivated vast, enormous woodlands." He raised a hand. "We used our hands to plow the hard ground. We grew strong under the light of our blue sun." Jeb stared at her. "We were a proud people. Generous. Loving. Family-oriented."

"Like farmers on Earth," Hannah sighed. "That's why you enjoy hard work, isn't it?"

He nodded. "My family and I were taken from our home when I was three."

She would forever remember the pain on his face from the memory. "But you said you were forced to join with Tiron ten years ago..."

Slowly the truth began to make itself known like acid on her skin. Tears threatened to close her throat with their bitterness.

"How ... how old were you then?" she whispered huskily.

"I was fourteen. I had just reached reproductive age," he whispered.

"Oh, God." Her hands went to her mouth as she stared at him, at the sorrow and pain in his eyes. Warm tears trailed over her fingers.

He was twenty-four. The same age as she was, give or take the difference in time and the number of days in a year 147

on his world. But he seemed older. Or maybe he appeared that way because of what he had been forced to endure.

He had been three when he had been kidnapped. His ship had landed five years ago.

"You were on that ship for sixteen years?"

Jeb slowly nodded.

"But..." She sniffed. Hurriedly she went to the bathroom for some tissues to blow her nose. When she reentered the bedroom, he hadn't moved. "But you told me the Are-Arra?"

Another nod. "You said they ate your people. How did you manage to survive that long without being eaten?"

"We were sold as slave labor first. When one of my people became too old to procreate, or too weak to work, they were eaten."

"Oh, God ... I'm so sorry, Jeb."

He gave her a forgiving smile. "You have nothing to be sorry about." Holding out a hand, he gestured for her to join him. "Come. I want to make love with you. Let me show you how to turn on the Ruinos male you claim to want to spend the rest of your life with."

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"It'll be daylight soon."

Her voice was barely audible, even to his heightened sense of hearing. Running his tongue over the back of her neck where he had learned she was sensitive, Jeb smiled when she shivered lightly at his touch. "I still have a few more minutes," he leaned down to whisper in her ear.

This last time they had ended up on their sides. He readjusted his arms around her waist, keeping her perfectly fitted against him, her back to his front. His manpipe nestled in the valley of her buttocks, firmly but seductively trapped.

The sheet beneath them was slick with the product of their labors, but at the moment neither of them cared. They were tired. A good tired.

"You didn't get enough sleep," Hannah murmured.

He felt her lift his arm to examine his hand. She put one of his fingers with its thick claw into her succulent mouth and began to tease it with her tongue. His body immediately reacted, causing her to gasp in surprise when she felt the rod beneath her bottom lengthen in response. Hannah moaned as his erection tried to find its way back between her thighs. Jeb chuckled and ran a thumb over one still semi-erect nipple.

She groaned louder and arched her back. Catching her earlobe with his spiked teeth, he was careful to nibble it gently until she tilted her head against his shoulder so he could reach her mouth.

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Her kiss was moist and intoxicating. Pulling away slightly, he answered, "I've gone without sleep before. Don't worry about me, Hannah. I will spend all day today reliving last night ... and dreaming of what tonight will bring."

She started to say something but he silenced her with another kiss. When they finally pulled apart, she snuggled back into her earlier position and went back to examining the uniqueness of his hand and fingers.

Jeb closed his eyes, pressing his forehead into her wealth of sunny-yellow hair. Last night had brought him more joy and completeness than he had ever felt in his entire life.

Within Hannah's orgasms he had experienced the fusing of their two entities. She was his blood mate. His life partner. As incredible as it was to believe, he had no doubts.

"How do you file down these nails when they get too long?"

"Rock is a natural file. Limestone or sandstone works best.

Why? Do I need to tend to them?"

"They look intimidating."

"You should see our females if you want to see intimidating."

"No, thanks."

She continued to study his skin and the razor-like ridge that ran along the top of his arm from wrist to shoulder. He had similar ridges lining his spinal path and down the backs of both legs. Fortunately he could control whether they lay flat or rose upward like wicked-looking spikes.

Impulsively she kissed his palm. Hannah's scent of satiation enveloped them both with its papery smell. To Jeb 150

the entire cabin was thick with it. Drawing in a deep breath, he savored her satisfaction on his tongue.

He had to stop trying to place Ruinos restrictions upon their union. He had to cease believing that their being together was an impossibility simply because they were of different races. There was no way anyone would be able to convince him that they didn't belong together. Blood line or no blood line.

Lifting his knees, he caught the back of her thighs and raised them slightly as he readjusted their position. Behind them he could tell the sun was rising. He didn't have much longer before his body would be locked into form, his skin frozen into shape for the day.

Sighing heavily, Jeb started to move away when Hannah asked, "This is pretty. What are these little sparkly lines?"

"The what?" He felt her fingertips running down the inside of his arm. It tickled, and he grinned. "That's my blood line."

"Huh?" She leaned back slightly to look at him.

"We call it a blood line. It's our link to those we share a blood connection to."

"You mean Simon's?"

He nodded, kissing her temple before she turned back around. "Yeah. It's Simon's. If you watch, you can see his heartbeat."

There was a moment of silence. "Yeah. It's beating a little fast."

Smiling, Jeb explained, "He's moving around. Probably getting ready for the day."

"Do you have one for your parents?"

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"I had one for each of them. When they died, their blood lines were absorbed into my body."

"Okay." Her voice trailed away. He began to withdraw from the bed again when she wondered aloud, "So if this one is Simon's, and there's no one left in your family, then the other one is yours?"

Jeb froze.

Hannah felt the change in his emotion. "Jeb?" She rolled over to see his stunned expression. "Jeb, what's wrong?"

He pulled his arm from her grasp and stared at the inner side in disbelief. There, running from wrist to elbow were two thin, iridescent lines. Blood lines.

Two. Each of them pulsing with their own rhythms.

His body began trembling uncontrollably as the truth reached inside his body with warm, fragrant hands.

"Jeb?" Her voice trembled, tears coming to her eyes.

Hannah knew something was wrong. Or different. Or very, very right. She just didn't know which.

"Oh, sweetest stars," he murmured. No wonder Simon's heart was beating furiously. He would have the same identical extra line on his inner arm. Proof that his brother and the woman he claimed was his life partner were, in fact, true blood mates.

Irrefutable proof to all Ruinos.

Behind him the sun began to peek through the trees. A ray of light crawled over the window's casement.

Jumping to his feet, Jeb drew himself erect as he assumed his human guise. From the bed Hannah watched in awe, but the scent of her worry continued to powder the room.

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Their connection now would only grow. Soon Hannah would be able to sense things from him that she had never experienced. Already she was alert to his reactions. As the sun solidified his body into the features of a human, he could see a curious expression cross her face as she realized he had been locked in.

"What just happened, Jeb?" she whispered, near tears.

"That other blood line isn't mine, Hannah. It's yours."

Her eyes jerked down to his arm, but his human skin shielded the tiny thread-thin marks from view. "Mine?" She looked back up at him. "Is that a good thing? Please tell me it's a good thing."

Throwing his head back suddenly, Jeb let out a jubilant laugh and reached out to enfold her in his embrace. "It's a miracle, Hannah! Yes! Yes, it's a good thing. In fact, it's something we never believed could happen, but it did!" He kneeled on the bed and took her face between his hands. "I had prayed I would find my true life partner, my blood mate.

When Ruinos believe they are fated, they share their bodies, hoping to see a new blood line form between them. If the line doesn't form, their union was not meant to be, and they part."

"But I'm not Ruinos," she murmured. "How could I form a blood line with you?"

"I don't know, and I don't care!" he cried out, releasing her face and throwing his arms outward. Laughing, Jeb stood up and beamed at her. "It's happened. As impossible as I believed it would be, as impossible as Simolif swore it was..."

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He stopped aware of the passing time. "Hannah, I need to get ready for work."

Before he could say more, she had jumped out of bed and was heading for the kitchen as she shrugged back into the nightgown he had tossed onto the floor last night.

"Am I going to get one of those blood lines in my arm?"

she called from the other room as he pulled on his clothes.

"I don't know. I can't be sure of anything anymore," he admitted truthfully. A quick glance in the mirror told him he needed to run a comb through the tangle of black curls. He threw some cold water on his face to further brace himself, then he went into the kitchen to see what Hannah was up to.

She was buttering toast when he walked in carrying his socks and workboots. Giving him a smile, she nodded. "That unshaven look works for you."

"I didn't feel like appearing clean-shaven this morning.

Besides, you ought to see some of the other guys at the mill."

He eyed the toast and glass of orange juice.

"You can't go to work on an empty stomach. Besides, you need to keep your energy up," she chided him and grinned as he reached for a slice. She joined him by taking a piece of toast for herself. "Okay. Let's say I don't develop one of those lines. How will other Ruinos know I'm your true life partner?"

"Don't worry. They'll know." He winked at her. "You smell like me."

Hannah paused in her chewing. "Beg pardon?"

"You have my scent upon you. And it's permanent, I'm afraid."

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"Oh, great. And I guess Simon will say I stink like you, too?"

"When he finally meets you, yeah. Does it bother you?" He bent down to finish tying the laces on his boots.

"Are you going to call him with the good news you've found your life mate?"

"He already knows," Jeb sat up and smiled. "When you said you saw his blood line pumping furiously, it was probably because he had already seen yours."

She stared at him wide-eyed. "What do you mean, he had seen mine? Jeb, does he have my blood line in his arm, too?"

"Yes, because you have now become part of our family."

He leaned toward her. Hannah met him halfway across the table for his kiss. She tasted of strawberry jam, so inviting he had to swipe his tongue over her lips a second time. A soft moan vibrated between them.

Getting to his feet, he started for the front door when Hannah called out, "Will Simon know when we make love? I mean, if he can see our heartbeats..." She left the question unfinished.

Jeb paused with the front door partly open and gave her a loving smile. "Let's just say he might grow suspicious when he sees both of them racing simultaneously." Suddenly dropping the smile, he added, "There are some other qualities you may start to experience as our mating grows more frequent."

"More frequent?" A blush tinged her cheeks, but there was a sparkle of excitement in her eyes.

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He closed his eyes in a vain attempt to temper the rising heat in his blood while his manpipe grew uncomfortably cramped inside the tight confines of his jeans. Hopefully he would be able to cool both by the time he arrived at the mill.

"If you feel anything unusual, don't be afraid, Hannah.

We're both treading on ground neither one of us have traveled before. I'll be back this evening at the usual time.

Don't worry about cooking supper. I'm taking us out to celebrate." When her hand flew up to her damaged cheek, he tried to reassure her, "You're healing quickly. Don't worry.

Oh, and, Hannah?"

She stared up at him, waiting.

"I love you."

He was gone. The door closed before she could respond in kind.

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