Swept Off Her Feet (15 page)

He’d stripped off his clothes to join her in the shower, tenderly holding her as the rejuvenating unit cleansed her inside and out.

She blushed anew, recalling the way she’d yelped when he’d inserted the dual-headed sinuous auto-bidet first into her vagina for a thorough cleaning and then up her rectum for more of the same. She’d reacted shamelessly, ravenous desire rising in her sharp and fierce, surprising her with its power.

She’d begged him to fuck her. Frustration stark on his face, he had roped one muscular forearm about her waist and used the flexible bidet hose in a most innovative way, thrusting the pulsating hose in and out of her clasping sphincter and pussy as he alternately pinched and tugged on her hard, thick nipples.

He’d made them even harder, readying them for insertion into his
terat
and when her crests had stood proudly erect, distended to their full length, he had turned her and
seated
her, keeping the cleansing hose inserted in her rectum. The stream of warm water mixed with gentle cleansing agents had flowed gently between her buttocks as the powerful muscles in his chest had surged against her tender breasts. One hand spread wide on her back, pressed her flush against his hungry mouths.

His
terat
had greedily
engulfed her straining nipples and surrounding areolas in a rippling, suctioning vise-grip and he had surprised her with his pleas.

I love the feel of your hard nipples stabbing in me! Please take me, Nippa…fuck my terat…come in me!

She couldn’t believe how hot his pleas had made her. Her orgasms had hit her with the impact of a speeding train. Three in quick succession, the first derailed her thought processes and weakened her inhibitions. Her second had her taking control, leaping up on the ledge of the tub to slam her breasts against him, taking his
terat
with a mindless ferocity that had them both shaking. The bliss of the third orgasm threw her into oblivion.

When she’d come to, she’d found herself cleaned, dried and splayed spread-eagle on the bed, Devtorvas’ mouth and teeth greedily eating at her cunt while two thick fingers stretched the entrance to her rectum.

“I didn’t mean for the shower to be anything but relaxing,” he’d admitted ruefully after two more muscle-grinding climaxes. “But the sight of you coming is so beautiful; it twists my heart—and my cock—in knots. I had to have you again.”

Thank goodness for her Rb’qarmshi stamina.
Because he’d had her, all right…gloriously, repeatedly, magnificently, seemingly intent upon making up for all the orgasms she’d missed during her first
pava
…

Drifting back to the present, she closed her eyes on a longing sigh. The weary muscles in her thighs fluttered in a futile attempt at tightening as his parting words replayed in her mind.

I want so badly to be inside you, Nippa, but I won’t fuck you with my cock until you willingly sign the marriage papers. When I finally have you, I’ll bury my cock so deeply in your pussy, we will both feel your heart beating.

“Oh, Dev, I want that, too,” she whispered despairingly to the empty room. “Right now, I need some cock so badly, I could scream. And I don’t want just anyone’s…I want yours. I think…no, I
know
I’m falling in love with you.”

Alone in her cabin, she could admit she had fallen hard and fast for the alien Prince. But how could she forgive him for taking her choices away? How could they build a life together if they were unequal partners? What information was he withholding from her? And what was her father’s role in this situation?

She paced the narrow confines of her room, wanting activity, needing something to take her mind off the dilemma of loving a man she was afraid to trust totally.

Despite the repeated, exhaustive orgasms, she’d never felt so wide-awake and antsy. Her blood sparked through her system, and she couldn’t sit still. She’d promised not to do any more exploring in her quarters, to leave the gadgets alone until a tutor could instruct her on their proper usage. She waited as patiently as she could for the promised tutor.

When another hour had passed and no one had come around to check on her, she decided to explore the ship.

I made no promises about curtailing my explorations regarding the spaceship, only my quarters,
she defended her plans, even though knowing Dev believed he had caged her by her given word, trusting her to abide by her promise.
She felt a momentary shaft of guilt over her tactics, knowing her reasoning was self-serving and downright rebellious. She shook off the uncomfortable feelings.

She told herself semantic trickery was acceptable when dealing with the enemy
After all
,
no matter how sex with him curls my toes, until we resolve our situation, he remains my enemy.

Sticking her head around the edge of her door, ready to pull it back at a moment’s notice, she glanced left and right, furtively scanning the deserted steel aisles. To be safe, she waited a few minutes more before she easing out of her cabin and tiptoeing away. Picking a direction at random, she started walking.

Not wanting to get lost while traipsing about the featureless walkways, and having always thought Hansel and Gretel the stupidest characters trapped between the covers of a fairytale—who marked a trail with food, for God’s sake?—she uncapped the tube of Cherries Jubilee lipstick she’d grabbed from her luggage. Armed with her inedible trailblazer, Nnora felt ready to explore.

As she walked, she lightly scored the bulkheads with a brilliant red line, blazoning her path back to her cabin. She brought along her tube of make-up remover and some tissues for cleanup on the return trip. After all, she wouldn’t want to leave lipstick smeared on Dev’s pristine walls. Knowing men, Dev would be as enamored of this spaceship as human men were of their trucks.

The ship was even bigger than she’d realized. She stood staring down an empty corridor in indecisive silence. She had worn her once new lipstick down to a nub and she had yet to wend her way through even half the ship.

She sighed. She wasn’t ready to return to her lonely quarters. Nevertheless, she was contemplating turning back when she heard a voice that sounded familiar, raised in uncontrolled anger. The shrill altercation came from up ahead and she quickened her steps, anxious to see if her suspicions were correct.

Chapter Twelve

Nnora rounded the corner and skidded to an abrupt halt, only to come face-to-face with the owner of that familiar voice. Her younger sib, Dohsan, appeared to be in the middle of a rowdy brawl. Two patently unhappy guards were attempting—with little success—to restrain Dohsan while she mauled them, inflicting bites, kicks, scratches and all manner of mayhem upon their hapless bodies.

Dressed in a skimpy hot orange short-set that showed off entirely too much of her amply curved body, Dohsan screamed at the top of her lungs, her usually lovely features distorted by the force of her anger. Her iridescent red hair flew wildly about her agitated face as she spat out some of the most disgustingly vile curses Nnora had ever had the privilege of hearing.

Nnora stood a few moments, just watching and listening in awe. Dohsan, with her typically bold impudence, spewed insults indiscriminately, casting scathing aspersions on the soldiers’ lineage, their bodily functions and their abnormal sexual inclinations. As far as she could tell, her sibling was having a wonderful time.

Her little sister had a real talent for stirring up trouble wherever she went and this location was obviously proving to be no exception. Yet much as she was enjoying the show, the time had come to intervene. From their brooding looks, the guards had grown fed up with Dohsan’s antics. Their responses to her attacks were growing more physical; their fingerprints were beginning to mar her pale skin.

Chances were, her sister deserved her present treatment. Even so, she couldn’t stand by while big men manhandled her sib.

“Guys, I think that’s enough rough-housing. You should release my sister.”

When they hesitated, she prayed Dev hadn’t been exaggerating when he’d said her word was law to his warriors. “Stop. Right now.”

She breathed a sigh of relief when the two men released Dohsan at once.

“
Chyya’va!
” They obviously recognized her. Both faces wearing twin looks of shocked dismay, the men bowed from the waist, rushing into speech. In their agitation, the men’s explanations and excuses tumbled over each other’s, colliding and crashing.

“We didn’t…!”

“We would not…!”

“Our orders are to hold this
fem
in her cabin, but she will not remain within.”

“Really, fellas, this is a
girl
you are talking about. Are you telling me two trained warriors can’t find a way to subdue one female without getting physical with her?”

Both of the men stopped and turned comically dismayed faces toward Nnora. Almost in unison, the two warriors heaved a heavy sigh. They looked so pathetic, she found herself pitying them even as their reactions sparked barely controlled hilarity. She glanced at her sister’s fierce scowl and had to cover her grin with a strategic hand.

“We are at a loss what to do.” Guard number one shook his head.

“Our additional orders are to inflict no physical harm upon her,” guard number two chimed in.

Nnora smiled. “I’m glad to hear that.”

“But,
Chyya’va
, she will not obey our commands!” Guard number two’s voice held a plaintive note. His consternation at having to deal with a
fem
like Dohsan was plainly obvious.

“I commiserate with you, guys, I really do. Trust me, I know
just
how much of a handful she can be.” She cut a fulminating glare at Dohsan, who bared her teeth in an evil grin, flung back her riotous mane of hair and triumphantly flipped the double bird at her two erstwhile guards.

Another universal symbol, judging by the instant ire it produced in its targets.
She sighed, muttered to herself and shook her head at the Dohsan’s juvenile clowning. “Get over here. And stop that!” Nnora pointed to the deck by her feet. Her little sister responded obediently to her summons, coming to tower over her.

“As I said, gentlemen, I understand your dilemma, however, Dohsan
is
my sister
and
a royal princess.” She narrowed her eyes in threat and warning. “You have to outweigh her by at least two hundred pounds between you. I’d better never see you lay rough hands on her again.”

The guards fell over themselves offering their assurances.

She waved them away and while they didn’t go far, just down the corridor, she figured they’d allowed enough space for private conversation. She took the opportunity to confront her hellion of a sister. “Dohsan, what the hell are you up to now? What are you
doing
here? Hell’s bells, don’t tell me they kidnapped you, too!”

“
Kidnapped
? Of course not, Nnora.” Dohsan hugged her, having to lean down to do it. “But I am so glad you came. I bet Kardenez and Puorgkrow you would. Our brothers thought you would defy Father again. I told them, no way. I knew you had learned your lesson with that Grunt basketball player. I told them—”

“Dohsan!” She reached up to grab her young sister by the shoulders, emphasizing each word with a sharp jerk. “What. Are. You. Doing. On. This. Ship?”

Dohsan twisted her body in a supple move, easily slipping out of Nnora’s hold. “I’m here for the same reason you are, sister dear. Oh, Nnora, I am so
glad
you decided to come. I don’t mind making some lucky
Rb’qarmshi
a beautiful bride while cementing our father’s political aspirations, but I didn’t want to have to marry your prince—he is not my type. Besides, ruling is too much work and not enough fun!”

Nnora pressed a hand to her aching head. “What is your father thinking of? You can’t be a bride. You aren’t even old enough to vote!”

“
Our
father is thinking he can regain a kingdom through our marriages. He plans to take this opportunity to right the wrong done to our family a thousand years ago. Anyway, I don’t intend to marry right away. I will choose my life-mate once we arrive on
Rb’qarm
.”

“Just how long does it take to get
Rb’qarm
?” Reeling under all the new information, she cursed Dev anew for keeping her in the dark. “Where is it situated, in relationship to Earth?”

“You had better ask your prince that question if you want a decent answer. I suck at galactic geography. But with ships like this one, journeys between there and Earth shouldn’t take more than a week. Look, let’s go inside and get comfortable.” Dohsan rolled her head on her neck. “I’m getting a crick in my neck looking down at you.”

Nnora accompanied her sister a short way down the hall, quickening her steps to keep up with the younger girl’s long-legged stride.

“Here is my home away from home.” Dohsan opened her cabin door. “As the grown-ups say, ‘Come in and be welcome.’”

Nnora stepped into the utilitarian cabin, peripherally noting the two guards exchanging relieved glances as they took up their assigned positions at the door.

“You are not far from being a ‘grown-up’, yourself. On Earth, they count you as an adult when you reach age eighteen. You only have one more year to go.”

The door whooshed closed behind them, giving them some privacy from the listening guards.

“I wish!” Dohsan grimaced. “Traditionally, no unmated male or
fem
is an adult. I think that is one of the reasons your prince is only the Regent. His father wants to quit, but he can’t hand off to a non-adult.”

“But why come here looking for a mate, why not seek one among the
fem
on the home worlds?”

Dohsan looked at her sister. “He didn’t tell you? All their women are neuter, poisoned by the enemy during the last days of the war. It backfired on the losers, because their women became neuter, too. If they can’t find breeders, their race will die out.”

Nnora gasped. No wonder the prince was so desperate…and her giant got hard so fast.
Poor Dev
. She understood some of his desperation, now. Hell, all the men had her sympathy. But…what about the poor women who were suffering through no fault of their own? Why hadn’t he simply told her?

Nnora felt the beginning of tears as she said, “Dohsan, my heart bleeds for those women. Imagine
knowing
you can never have a child…”

She didn’t understand the look that came over her sister’s face. Dohsan shook her head, yellow-bright eyes glowing with the unaccustomed sheen of tears.

“It is worse than that, Nnora. Way worse. They don’t flower, and they can’t make their mates’
terat
soften. Can you imagine never being
seated
again, once you’ve experienced it, grown accustomed to it?”

Nnora’s cunt pulsed at the memory of the intense pleasure she had experienced in the grip of Dev’s
terat
. Just the thought of never having those wondrous muscles working her nipples brought sympathetic tears to her eyes. She could just imagine how devastated the
fem
were, how they suffered.

“All right, Dohsan.” She made herself comfortable on the couch. “I obviously need bringing up to speed, so start talking. I want the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so-help-you-god. Begin with why father sent this prince to me, if indeed he did any such thing.”

Dohsan threw herself down on the low couch, facing Nnora, arranging her lithe body in an instinctively sexy pose. “Oh,
Chyya
Glendevtorvas is an essential player in Father’s game.” She chuckled, tossing back her sunburst of curls. “Though I suppose you couldn’t say Father sent him, per se. I’m sure the prince is capable of playing his own games as well as Father ever could.

“By the way, sis…” Dohsan winked at her, licking her lips suggestively. “Your future husband is quite a piece of work!”

Dohsan cocked her head at a considering angle, as if deliberating just how much she wanted her sister to know. “I had a long talk with your prospective beau when he first arrived…”

“And? Go on.” She wanted to learn everything she could about him. The sex between them was volcanic and mind-blowing and just thinking about him could make her wet, yet, there were other things more important to her than sex. There were a few things she needed to find out about Devtorvas before she could make up her mind one way or the other.

“Now, don’t take this wrong, Nnora, but personally, I found him way too formal, stiff and arrogant. For my tastes. But those same traits are the ones which makes him just what you need.”

“Oh! I guess that means I’m formal, stiff and arrogant myself, huh, sis?” To resist strangling her aggravating sibling, she sat on her hands.

“See! I told you not to take me wrong. You make me wonder if I should tell you anything else.”

“I’m sorry, hon, my nerves are on edge. Please, go on. Tell me why you think the prince is right for me because I desperately need convincing.” She dared not tell Dohsan how her gut twisted with need whenever Dev walked into the room, or glanced at her with the glittering light of want shining in his eyes. Or how her heart melted when he stood towering over her, firm muscled body between her and the rest of the world, protecting her, guarding her, making her feel safe and wanted.

“Well, he’s taller than you, for one. That means there’s no need for you to dust off that age-old height anxiety of yours.” Dohsan enumerated her points on the tips of her fingers. “In the second place, he is a first-born royal as are you, so you wouldn’t be marrying down. Also, being equivalent in blood and rank means he cannot dictate the terms of your bonding. You stand on equal ground.” Dohsan broke off with a laugh. “Too bad things have changed since the colony split off a thousand years ago. You’d be sitting pretty about now.”

This was getting interesting. She sat forward. “Why?”

“
Rb’qarm
used to be a matriarchal society. When our ancestors left home a thousand years ago, the
fem
were in
charge
.”

“Get out of here!” When she considered the benefits of being in charge of Devtorvas for a change, her lips kicked up into a wide smile. She chuckled. “I’d sure like the chance to turn the tables on a certain cocky Prince.”

“I kid you not. You never had a chance to learn our history, but haven’t you ever realized all us
fem
are bigger than the males?”

“You are not
that
big, Dohsan.”

“I’m way bigger than you, Nnora, and I haven’t even started my second growth spurt yet. You are the runt of our litter. Course, it isn’t your fault. Our hydroponics team specially preserves and cultivates some of the food brought from the home planet. We got it added to our diets on a regular basis while you, being stranded on Earth, never got any.”

“Okay.” Nnora held up her hand. “And your point is…?”

“A thousand years ago, upon your marriage, you would have taken the throne with the prince as your consort—not the other way around.”

“While I find this fascinating, it is way off the subject of Dev’s suitability as a husband. Could we get back to that?” Before the words were totally out of her mouth, she regretted having used the diminutive of the prince’s name. She just knew her audacious sib would pounce on her mistake. She could almost see Dohsan’s teasing radar pop up.

“Dev?” Dohsan purred, coming to a state of alertness. She straightened out of her slouched position. “Have we gotten intimate enough to use short names?”

Her cheeks heated, but she refused to rise to Dohsan’s teasing. “You were about to tell me your other reasons…?”

“All right, already. He is devoted to his subjects and he fights for causes. Which is right up your alley—you being such a sucker for lost causes.”

She bristled, but before she could comment, Dohsan had already resumed. “No arguments. You really can’t deny that only a crusader would be teaching in that low-income Grunt school of yours, Nnora.

“But my main reason for thinking you two made for each other is—and this one is a doozy—he is as bossy as you are. I predict a lot of fireworks between you two.”

She gritted her teeth. “Those don’t sound like marrying reasons to me!”

“I wasn’t finished!” A stubborn expression hardened Dohsan’s pretty face. “But I could be, if you want to keep interrupting…”