Chapter 4 #2
“The atmosphere makes it look red from space, but on the surface, it is not so different from your own planet.”
Kim could feel him looking at her and she raised her gaze to his. “It’s incredible. You promised me a tour of my solar system. This is more than I expected.”
“You have not seen anything yet.” He grinned, flashing those long white canines. “Wait until we get to Jupiter’s moons. Then, you’ll be in for a show.”
“When will we get to see Amelia?”
“Soon. They, ah, have something to attend to before they can meet us. I’m afraid I can’t give you an exact timetable.”
“That’s okay.” She stared at the remarkable planet under her feet. “I’m looking forward to seeing my friend.”
The attendants brought in an array of dishes to sample. Kim had fun trying almost everything on the trays. There was a selection of mini hamburgers, which she assumed had been made just for her, but the unique tastes drew her—foods that she would never get to taste again once this trip was over.
When they had finished their meal and the attendants removed the trays, Kim got up from her seat and stared down at the silent, seemingly lifeless surface of Mars as it slid by.
It felt as though they were mere feet above the surface.
She could see the cracks in rocks, the frost in the gullies, the dust swells, swept by alien winds.
Klae came to stand beside her. A large hand rested tentatively on the small of her back.
That light pressure on her back sent waves of sensation rolling through her.
Her nipples hardened and her pussy moistened.
She remembered her very recent vivid fantasies.
She tried to tell her body to calm the hell down, but it wasn’t listening.
She turned to face him, wanting to see his expression, to read his mood. His eyelids lowered as his gaze dropped to her mouth. His lips parted. While holding her gaze, he lowered his head.
Oh, God, this was happening. He was going to kiss her. She tilted her face up to his, ready to taste him. Her eyes fluttered closed as his lips brushed hers.
The touch of his lips was electric. A surge of desire lit her skin on fire. His mouth was warm and firm. He eased in, deepening the kiss. Delicious shivers raced through her body. Her hands flattened on his wide chest. She slid them up and into his thick brown hair.
His arms came around her, pulling her flush to his hard body. He parted her lips with his tongue and delved inside.
Kim moaned. Kissing him was pure intoxication. Nothing in her glass of fruity wine could make her feel as upended and tipsy as the touch of this male.
His hands moved up her back, testing the dip of her spine, and then traced down, sliding over the swell of her ass.
Did she say no sex tonight? Maybe she needed to rethink that.
As she was pondering giving in to the impulses and maybe even pulling off that vest to see what was underneath it, the doors opened and attendants entered again.
This time, they carried in more trays. They were desserts, by the look of them…
by the smell of chocolate cake. Kim could sniff out cake from a mile away.
She stepped away from Klae and put a hand over her tingling lips.
“Well, I suppose we should have dessert,” he said dryly as the attendants departed.
Kim let out a sigh of her own. “I suppose we should.” The attendants had removed the tray of wines and replaced it with one covered with tiny, colorful cordials. Klae plucked two from the tray and handed one to her.
“Based on your wine choice, I think you may like this one.” He tilted his own glass to his lips. It was a thick blue substance.
Kim took a tentative sip of her green drink and found it delicious. “Yum, it tastes like melon.”
His smile brought out the dimpled grooves in his cheeks, which were entirely too sexy for his own good. “I’m glad you like it.”
She sampled desserts, with Kim forcing a bite of chocolate cake on him.
He was resistant. “I don’t like sweets.”
“You’ve got to try it. Hold still.” He did, and once she got a fork full of the rich cake in his mouth, he couldn’t hide his noise of pleasure.
“See?” she said with a grin. “Everybody likes chocolate cake. If you don’t, you must be an alien.” She smiled widely.
He let out a chuckle. “I guess we’re not so different, then.”
“Clearly not,” she said a bit flippantly. “We were supposed to make a baby together after all.” The instant the words left her mouth, she froze. That was a heavy statement, and she hadn’t intended it to be.
His eyes flickered. He knocked back the rest of his blue drink and looked down. Mars was still racing by below them. They were moving into the nighttime side of the planet.
“We were,” he said in a gravelly voice. “It deeply saddens me that we were not able to do so.”
“I’m sorry, Klae.” Her hands fiddled around the stem of her glass. “I just couldn’t bring myself to re-enter the match program. It was terrifying, being abducted like that. I wasn’t sure…”
He held up a hand. “I understand completely.”
She smiled weakly. “At least we have this. I know whatever happens in the next two weeks, I will never forget it.”
“And what will happen these next two weeks, Kim? Shall we spend it denying the attraction between us?”
“No.”
He nodded. “Good.” He met her gaze, although his smile did not meet his eyes. “I will be clear with you, Kim. I want you. I wanted you before I met you.”
Her eyes widened. “Before we met? How could you possibly…?” Her mouth went dry, ending her words before she could finish.
“You were chosen for me by a great Virilian sage who can see what others cannot.” Klae placed his glass on the table and stepped close to her. So close, she could feel the heat of him and smell his clean, refined scent. “We are matched, Kim. Nothing can change that.”
He reached inside his vest and pulled out a necklace. A silver chain with a vibrant pink-jeweled pendant hung from his fingers. “This is yours.”
It slid into her palm, still warm from his body.
It was the necklace the sage had placed around her neck at the choosing ceremony.
Or at least, it was a perfect reproduction.
When she and Amelia had been switched, her abductor had put the necklace on Amelia, who had sold it to raiders in exchange for her and Taron’s lives.
Questions crowded her throat. She felt, strangely, on the verge of tears. “What does this mean?”
“Do what you wish with this necklace.” His voice was a growl.
“Spend the time on this ship as you choose. I am at your disposal in whatever capacity you desire—as friend or lover. I will not state my desires again.” He spread his hands.
“The decision is yours, but make no mistake—I want you, in my bed and in my life. And I want you for longer than two weeks.”
This was a surprise. The Virilian did not mince words. Her heart stuttered. “For how long, then?”
“Indefinitely.”
That stole the breath right from her lungs. She placed a hand on her chest and turned partly away. “We said two weeks.”
“Then stay for two weeks,” he said. “I won’t imprison you.”
“I know you won’t.”
He reached out and gently turned her chin so she faced him. “Will you admit that you want me, too?”
“I admit it freely.” She tilted her chin. “I had already decided that if things went in that direction, I would go with it. I didn’t expect it would happen so fast.”
A small smile curved his lips. “Two weeks isn’t much time. Once I met you, I knew what I wanted and saw no reason to pretend otherwise, but the rules in our agreement stand. Tell me to back off and I will.” His teeth flashed. “Tell me to fuck you right here on the floor, and I will.”
Her pulse was a train, barreling down the tracks. She looked down at the necklace and traced her thumb over the stunning, quarter-sized gem. If not for the kidnapping, who knows where they would be now? Perhaps they’d be happy new parents. It was impossible to say.
Fate had played a nasty game with them, but now it was their turn to be in charge.
Her turn. Kim didn’t know what would happen at the end of these two weeks.
An array of possibilities fanned out before her.
She could ride this moment and enjoy the time she had here.
She knew she wanted this male, and that was enough for today.
She lifted the necklace and slid the long chain over her neck. “Yes.” She placed a hand on his chest and slid it up, feeling his heartbeat race. “But not on the floor.”
His eyes glittered. “Are you sure?”
She stepped close and breathed in his scent. “Quite sure.”
The angles of his face looked predatory in the low light. He backed up a step and held out his hand. “Come with me.”
She laid her hand in his. Tingles spiraled from her palm.
He led her from the room and to the corridor.
He said not a word as he set a determined pace back to the familiar-looking residence wing where her quarters were.
Instead of stopping at her door, he went to the one next to it.
It opened at his approach. He pulled her inside.
He immediately reached for her, drawing her body to his. He lowered his mouth, pausing a hairsbreadth away. “Kiss me, Kim.”
She leaned upwards and pressed her lips to his.
He made a sound of approval and deepened it, making her melt against him.
Her softness fit into his hard angles as though their bodies were made for each other.
According to that sage, they were. But not all Virilian matches ended in life mates.
Some women came home, happy and highly compensated.
There was no way of knowing which she and Klae would have been.