Chapter 5 #2
I was nearly out of range as I reached the curtains, when behind me, Iave let out this fierce snarl that made my skin break out in goosebumps.
Instinctively, I glanced over my shoulder and realized he was shoving the delicate machine away from him so he could climb from the medical nest before he was completely done healing.
He was a little sluggish as he threw himself after me, his big body making the nests look all dainty and small as he slid himself around them.
This was when I should have darted through those curtains and made a run for it, but I dallied just long enough that when I finally spun around it was too late.
Two things happened at once. Iave’s tail coiled itself around my ankle, gripping tightly and holding me in place.
At the same time, the Shaman came back through the curtains and I collided with his chest.
It must have been instinct for the Shaman to reach out to grab my shoulders so I wouldn’t fall over, but the effect that simple, impersonal touch had…
Iave’s coils snapped around me and I was yanked back so fast that for a moment the whole room spun around me.
“Don’t touch her! She’s mine!” he growled.
He reeled me in with his long body, and while I tried to push away his grip, it was inevitable that I ended up in his powerful arms.
“I know, Iave! I know that,” the Shaman responded, his hands up in the air like he was surrendering, his chin tilted up to bare his throat in submission.
“I have no desire to touch the female. Just like I had no desire to touch the last one that visited.” As abruptly as he’d appeared to surrender to Iave, he now spun around and gave the hostile Naga his back; a dismissal.
“Why do I have to deal with this influx of irrational, territorial males all of a sudden?” he muttered under his breath while he fiddled with the viewscreens next to the nearest medical nest. “This is ridiculous. Messed up my work too, and for what?”
I wholeheartedly concurred, and while a part of me was stupidly tingly for some reason, mostly I was still extremely angry.
“Put me down, Iave. You don’t own me, I am not yours, and I never will be.
So cut the crap with this territorial bullshit.
” I pounded my fist on his arm, hoping I could hit a pressure point that would make him release me.
On a human man, that would have worked, I’d done it before.
Iave’s tough scales just bit into my skin with their edges but his grip remained fierce around my middle.
“No,” he snarled, but that word was followed by a shuddering exhale against my back, his head dropping forward until his forehead rested against the top of my curls.
“You are aroused, I can taste it,” he hissed quietly.
Mortification washed over me and I squirmed harder in his grip, horrified that he knew that part of me actually liked this stupid, barbaric behavior of his.
“Artek, you need to give Kalani a check-up,” he said more loudly, “She almost succumbed to hypothermia last night.” He moved to the nest he’d just vacated and carefully laid me down on it and when I kept trying to squirm out of his grip, he pinned me down with a hand to my chest. Why the hell was he this strong?
It wasn’t right. I gripped his forearm with both hands but no matter how hard I tried to twist it off me, he didn’t budge at all.
Not even when I grabbed his pinkie finger and yanked on that.
The Shaman appeared at the side of the nest, a concerned expression on his elegant face.
“Why didn’t you say so when you came in?
Remove your hand Iave, or you’ll mess up my readings.
” Iave’s glare at my face was so fierce that I subsided beneath his hand.
Fine, a medical check couldn’t hurt, it would be wise to make sure I was in peak condition when we went back to rescue Naomi.
And if I wanted to continue to take on this Brute of a man, I needed to be at my best too.
Iave withdrew his hand but continued to glare down at me, his nubbed brows lowered over his dark gray eyes.
His midnight scales gleamed nearly black along his cheeks beneath the artificial light.
“I’m doing it!” I snapped at him. “I’m staying put.
” He was no longer touching me, so he couldn’t understand what I said, but I saw the corner of his mouth suddenly quirk up in a half-smile.
My body felt like it wasn’t my own in response to that sexy smirk, growing heated and languid beneath that look.
Damn it! As that smirk grew wider, I knew he sensed that.
The Shaman didn’t talk, just quickly worked with his graceful hands at the viewscreen to my left.
I wasn’t sure how precise this device was and how much I could move, so I froze in place and waited.
Then the arm above the bed swung out over me with a gentle whirring noise and I shivered.
Had the Shaman actually found something?
I hadn’t expected that it would, I was in good health, and I hadn’t sustained any injuries so far. What was it doing?
The two Naga exchanged a few quick words and then the Shaman was leaving once again.
I wasn’t usually the type that wanted to hide behind someone else but right at that moment, I desperately wanted the Shaman to stay.
I had a feeling that Iave was up to no good the moment the Shaman turned his back, even if his expression was the same kind of cranky look he usually wore.
His tail slithered onto the big nest I was in from below, the tip curling around my ankle just above the edge of my boots but below the hem of my pant leg.
“What did he say? What is the machine fixing?” I demanded, deciding that offense and distraction were my best defense when I couldn’t move; pinned beneath the gently whirring arm of the healing device.
Iave hissed, his tail gliding higher, twisting in coils around my left leg like he was a python or something.
“Old bone breaks, damage to your spine and your hip! Even something with your hormones. Female, what did you do to yourself?” The scolding tone of his voice felt like a slap like he was reprimanding me for not taking better care of myself.
None of the issues he named were a surprise, I just hadn’t realized this healing device was advanced enough to take care of them.
I had had to deal with my fair share of injuries during my time as a Space Marine.
Particularly, an explosion I’d survived on the Praetor that had caused some mild damage to some vertebrae, leaving me with a dull ache on cold days.
Then my mind got hung up on the hormonal thing, what was he talking about?
I was fine. I was on the five-year shot, mandatory for everyone in the service.
That was it… Oh shit, what if they thought that was the issue?
I opened my mouth to ask but Iave’s tail reached the apex of my thighs at that moment and derailed everything.
“You shouldn’t be smelling this enticing when another male can scent it!
” Iave rumbled. He’d moved until he was right next to my head, leaning in close until I could feel his breath ghost over my cheeks.
The machine’s arm was hovering above my belly, working either on my spine or my hormones.
I was tempted to shove the thing away like Iave had done and just leap out of there.
Somehow, I had a feeling that wouldn’t end the way I wanted it to.
“You think you have any say in that?” I shot back, laughing derisively.
“My body is my own, I can do whatever I feel like, including smelling good!” This was a ridiculous conversation but my pulse was pounding in my throat; I felt like I was heading into battle.
Then Iave had the nerve to flick the tip of his tail over the seam of my pants between my legs, pressure gliding along my clit that set my nerves on fire.
“Aaah,” I groaned without meaning to, and I twisted away even though I knew I shouldn’t move for the machine.
Damn it, he’d done this on purpose, because he knew I couldn’t escape him now.
It was a total asshole move, wasn’t it? But my traitorous body was practically singing for him already; wetness flooding my passage at just that simple touch.
His hands were on me in a flash, pinning me down over my breastbone with one big hand, the other at my hip.
“Tsssk, stay still, the machine isn’t done,” he warned me.
I froze, eyes wide and locked on his face.
Why was he doing this? Was I a diversion worth toying with while he had me?
Or something more? The whole chest-thumping claim from earlier was extremely intense, that’s why I was in this mess now. He knew I liked it.
His palm covered my entire upper chest, it was that big, and the heat of him seared me through my shirt and all the way down to the bone.
I was so conflicted about what was happening that I found myself freezing in place.
Did I want him to touch me? When he flicked his tail a second time I knew the answer; yes!
I wanted to know what kind of pleasure he’d bring me if I let him continue.
For the first time in my life, I felt overpowered. I wasn’t the one calling the shots, and Iave wasn’t at all intimidated when I fought back, when I snapped at him, or told him off. It was a feeling so unfamiliar that I didn’t know whether it frightened me or turned me on.
“That’s it, my Goddess,” he said, his split tongue flicking out to taste the air.
“That scent is mine, give it to me,” he added.
His tail flicked again, and then he settled into a steady rhythm, stroking me at a pace just slow enough to drive me crazy but not send me over the edge.
I wanted to squirm but the steady buzz of the machine over my belly kept me in place.
His hand was a warning on my chest that kept me from moving.
I felt tight like a coil, ready to burst apart, and hovering there for long, aching seconds.
Then Iave leaned in and his tongue flicked along the shell of my ear, “Quietly now, come for me.” He pressed against me at the command and heady pleasure exploded, my orgasm catching me like a tidal wave.
I didn’t mean to moan out loud, he’d warned me not to, but the sound escaped anyway.
His hand lifted from my chest and came down over my mouth, smothering the noise, and stealing my breath.
I shuddered with aftershocks, my eyes struggling to focus. The sound of the machine winding down and then retracting into the wall was loud. I stared at Iave, trying to figure out what to say, what to do… Did I snap at him? Thank him?
Iave wouldn’t be who he was if he didn’t turn this into another challenge, sending shocked exhilaration down my spine.
His tail remained pressed against the soaked seam between my legs, but he withdrew his hands as he rose higher on the thick base of his tail.
His expression filled with a dare, and his eyes locked on my face.
When I lowered my gaze I instantly knew why he was staring me down like that.
From his groin area, his scales had split apart to open a slit, and from it, his cock had spilled out into the open.
I couldn’t do anything but stare, my mouth growing dry at the sight while my empty channel convulsed on nothing.
Thick and dark blue, the massive erection was split at the tip, the two ends writhing in the air.
They twisted around each other, then unwound and each went a different way.
It was almost like his cock was searching for me with a mind of its own.
He hissed, his tongue flicking at the air, “I am not ashamed. You should see what you do to me.” The words were almost said as an accusation like I would be mad at seeing his dick. His very impressive, very erect dick.
He palmed his length and gave himself a long, rough stroke that made my nipples tingle and my pussy ache.
I started to rise, trying to get out of the nest I was in so I could reach him.
Not that I was entirely certain what I wanted to do when I got my hands on that thick member.
I was still mad with him, and I still wanted to refute all his macho claims, but damn it, that thing was hot, and it was such a pretty shimmering dark blue.
He cupped his large hand around the bifurcated tip, closing his fist, and then he shocked me when with a pained grunt, he started to shove the entire thing back into the hidden slit.
“No, what are you doing?” I started to say, but then I froze in place when sounds reached my ears from beyond the curtain. The Shaman was coming back.
With a final grunt, he’d managed to shove it all back in, hiding his erection.
It was obvious this was a rather painful process, but his eyes spoke volumes.
He was daring me to make a comment, daring me to say anything about it.
And then he flicked the tip of his tail again, still pressed between my legs.
I groaned out loud, my legs jerking in the grip of his coiled tail, and right at that moment the Shaman lifted the curtain and entered the room.
Mortification heated my cheeks as I tried to jerk out of Iave’s grip, but although he lowered his tail away from my thighs, he held me fast around my ankles, both of them.
“Ah, I see the healing device is done. Let me have a look.”