“Captain,” Frek said to the taller male sitting behind the wide timber desk. It had taken him only a few minutes to make his way from medical to Tor’Arr’s office. Most of the crew were either in medical or still on the Allorian ship guarding it and the remainder of its crew and guards.
“I thought you’d be with Alexia,” Tor’Arr said as Frek stopped in front of his desk.
“She’s fine,” Frek replied. “Artel is looking after her, and I needed to update you.”
Tor’Arr stared back at him, his silver eyes swirling in the bright light of his office. He twirled a small knife around his fingers in an absent minded way. Frek paid no attention to the knife—it was a quirk of Tor’Arr’s that he played with the small blade.
“Your father is dead, which makes you King. I saw his body in the room where they were holding Alexia and your son.” The knife in his captain’s hand went still suddenly.
Frek turned his head and looked out the long window to the right. He could just make out the top of his father’s ship. “Yes,” he replied even though Tor’Arr hadn’t really asked him a question. “It does make me King. I have to return home with my father’s body and claim my throne before the council tries to put one of their sons on it. All they would have to do is marry my sister to whoever they choose.”
This was not how Frek had envisioned it would be when he thought about going home. Oh, he’d always known his father would be dead, but not like this. Not killed by one of his own guards and not because the council had become power hungry. It was time they learned what kind of king he intended to be.
He turned away from his captain and walked over to the window, his legs brushing against the handles of the drawers that matched the timber of the desk. He raised his hand and touched the surface of the clear panel, feeling the cold that was just a few inches away. It would be one of the last times he would ever look out into the heavens from the Fallen Star. It had been his home for the last thirteen years. The males and females contained in its hull were his family.
“Lexie and I will take my father’s ship to Alloria, and I will have to find out which of the guards are loyal to my family so I can confront the council. I have a few males who were friends while I was growing up. I believe they will support me, but the sons of the councillors will not, and they may hold a lot of sway over the other less influential families.”
Frek turned back to Tor’Arr. “If you could take Alek back to Borakoy to Alita, I would greatly appreciate it. He’s been away from his mother for long enough.”
Tor’Arr moved faster than Frek had ever seen him. One second he was sitting behind his desk and the next he was standing beside Frek, with one strong hand gripping his shoulder, turning him away from the window. Frek barely controlled his gasp of surprise.
“Tiloro, do you really think I am going to let you return to Alloria without us?” Tor’Arr’s voice was quiet, but there was an underlying layer of steel running through his words.
Frek made a low sound of annoyance in his throat. “I can’t ask the crew to put their lives in danger for me. There is nothing in it for them... no recompense, no benefit. Dragging you all to Borakoy was bad enough, but it would be at least two weeks to get to Alloria from here, then we would have to get everything settled. It could be a month before you could go after a paying job.”
The hand Tor’Arr had on his shoulder squeezed painfully and Frek realised he’d pissed his captain off, but he couldn’t for the life of him figure out what he’d said that would cause such a reaction.
“Frek, how long have you been part of this crew?”
“Almost thirteen years. What does that have to do with anything?” Frek grumbled.
Tor’Arr dropped his hand and walked back to the wide amber coloured desk and settled on the corner closest to Frek. “What did I say to you when you came to ask me about going to Borakoy?”
Frek stared back at his captain, a deep frown drawing his brows down. “You said, family is important, and that you would never stand in the way of one of your crew helping their family, unless it put the crew in danger. I get that, I understand, and that’s why I know I can’t expect you to come to Alloria with me. I don’t expect the crew to put their lives at risk so I can claim my throne.”
“And are we not your family, Frek? Are we not your brothers and sisters? Why would the crew help Brylax and Devral, and Wex and Serran, but not help you? Do you really think we would abandon you when you needed it most? Have I taught you nothing in the last thirteen years about loyalty and honour?” Tor’Arr growled.
Frek had to turn away. He couldn’t hide how deeply Tor’Arr’s words affected him if he kept looking at the bigger male. It hit him exactly what he would be leaving behind when he went home. Tor’Arr was right. They were a family, the only family he’d had since he was eight who had accepted him exactly as he was, half-blood and all.
Frek leaned his head against the cool window. “That’s bullshit and you know it,” he growled back. “You taught me fucking everything. I’d be dead if it weren’t for you and the crew.” He blew out a forceful breath and straightened up. “Leaving is hard enough, but if I’m here on the ship with Lexie for the next two weeks, it’s going to be even harder. She’ll make friends and fit in like she belongs here, I know she will. How can I drag her away from this to shove her into the cess pit the palace is going to be when we get there?”
A slight noise drew his attention back to Tor’Arr who had picked up his knife again and was flicking it around his fingers. Again, the actions seemed completely absentminded.
“Leaving may be hard, Frek, but you need to be here for the time it takes to get to Alloria. Alexia needs you to be here. That girl is petrified of knives, and if she’s going to be strong enough to stand at your side for however long it takes you to be secure as the ruler of Alloria, she needs to be comfortable with them. She needs to be comfortable with you wearing them, using them, and she needs to be able to defend herself as well. You won’t be able to be by her side every hour of the day.”
The truth slashed through him like one of his fine blades, gutting him. He knew it as well. He’d seen and been in close contact with Lexie’s panic, and he knew he needed to deal with it. The safest place to do that was here on the ship, before they reached Alloria.
“Alek needs to go home,” he said, because he couldn’t refute Tor’Arr. “And I need to go to Alloria. My son has been hurt enough by this. I don’t want him hurt more by keeping him from his mother longer than he needs to be. I know he’ll be safe with Arik and the crew, but I cannot wait to go to Alloria. I can’t afford the time it will take to return to Borakoy to return him myself.”
He was being stubborn, and he didn’t really know why. What Tor’Arr said made perfect sense, but for some reason, Frek found himself unable to fathom the thought of spending the next two weeks on the ship, even though he knew it was the best thing for Alexia.
If he was going to go, he needed to go now. He needed the break to be over so he could collect himself and be prepared for what he was going to have to face once he arrived on Alloria. Two more weeks with his friends and his son and he wouldn’t want to part with any of them.
Fuck! That was what it was. For thirteen years, all he’d wanted to do was return home, and now that he had to, he didn’t want to go. Now that he was getting everything he wanted, he found the thought of dealing with the councillors and the day to day running of a planet wasn’t what he wanted at all.
Frek turned to Tor’Arr, ready to talk to the one male he’d always been able to tell everything to, but Tor’Arr beat him to it.
“Frek, the most important thing you can give your son is the chance to know you. Once he returns to Borakoy, you may never see him again. Letting him spend time with you, getting to know you, seeing the kind of male you are is the greatest gift you can give your child. Showing him that you love him even though you’ve only just met him, making him understand you didn’t stay out of his life by choice is more valuable than a quick return to his mother. And showing him your home and what could be his if he chooses to be your heir will give him an option for later in his life that he would never have if you just return him and never see him again,” Tor’Arr said, and there was something in his voice that gave Frek pause.
“You sound like you are talking from experience,” Frek replied with no expectation that his captain would answer him. Tor’Arr had never talked about his life on Torc or what he had left behind.
His captain looked away for a long minute, the small decorative silver and blue knife still in his hand. “I am,” he finally said. “I have children on Torc. I didn’t always make the right decisions, Frek, and I don’t want to see you make the same mistakes I did.”
Frek couldn’t have been more shocked if his captain had grown two heads and started breathing fire. He studied the larger male and saw something in his silver eyes he’d never seen before. Regret. Frek turned away and looked out the window again, letting his gaze travel over the smooth hull of his father’s ship.
“I’ll talk to Alexia and Arik. They know Alek far better than I do. They will be able to tell me how such a long separation from his mother will affect him. I...” Frek banged his head on the window with a low thunk. “I want to do right by family, and I know you’re right. Staying here with you is what Alexia needs, but it is not going to make leaving easier.”
A warm hand landed on his shoulder and Frek almost jumped out of his skin. “We will only ever be a communication away, Frek. Family stick by each other, and you will always be part of this family, even when you are gone.”
* * * *
I knew something was wrong the minute Frek walked into medical. I could see it written all over his face and in the tense lines of his shoulders. He was wound as tight as a coiled spring under pressure.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him from my position on the medical table.
Artel had me flat on my back with a regenerator hovering over my thighs and another one just above my face. The regenerators the Fallen Star had were far more advanced than the ones we had back on Borakoy. In fact, their equipment seemed like something from a holo vid program about the future. Artel had been nice enough to give me a sheet of fabric to cover my torso and groin, which I would be eternally grateful for.
I reached for Frek and slid my hand down his arm until I could tangle my fingers with his, and was surprised when he clamped his fingers around mine in return, squeezing so tightly it was almost painful. Something was wrong. Something had happened since he went to talk to his captain.
“I need to talk to you and Arik about Alek,” Frek replied.
Arik was lying on a medical table not far from us. Like me, he was almost naked. All he had covering him was a simple length of cloth draped mostly over his groin. Manik had threatened to cut his clothes off him if he didn’t undress. I’d had to cover my eye when he grumbled and started to pull off his top. It was far more of my brother than I wanted to see, and it made me realise they desperately needed privacy screens in their medical bay. I’d even told Artel as much and he’d explained the ship had been a mostly male crew for so long it had never been necessary.
Arik turned his head at the sound of his name, his blue eyed gaze zeroing in on us. “He was fine,” Arik said. “Manik checked him over and he had some minor bruising, and other than him being starving and tired, he was far less scared than I thought he would be. Allura came and took him to the dining room to get him something to eat.”
When the tall slim female with the deep red hair had walked in with a baby on her hip, I had been so stunned all I’d been able to do was stare. Not just because she was beautiful, but her eyes were astonishing, a vibrant sea green with little flames burning in her pupil.
The baby had taken one look at Alek and started squealing and clapping her hands. My nephew had been entranced by the little girl with bright orange eyes and had been more than happy, after a few minutes of Arik comforting him with my help, to go with the female to get something to eat.
“Good, that’s good,” Frek sighed. “I have to return to Alloria. My father is dead, and I need to return his body for it to be entombed and to take my place as King. I wanted to know if Alek will be able to cope with being away from Alita while we travel to Alloria. I don’t want to do anything that will cause him more anguish, and it could be as long as six weeks or more before the ship could return to Borakoy.”
I turned to look at Arik to find his gaze on me. We hadn’t had a chance to talk about what Alita had done. I didn’t know how Arik felt about it. I knew how I felt about it, and I was still annoyed at my sister for agreeing to Jarrel’s stupid demand. She should have told Frek as soon as Alek was born, and maybe none of this would have happened.
The door to the medical bay slid open and one of the males who had come to Borakoy with Frek stopped in the doorway when his gaze landed on us. He was... his name was... Bask, and he was the Duke of Cmorleon. I’d been so wrapped up in Frek and my Craving, I hadn’t really paid attention to the other males who were with him on Borakoy.
This male was Rifrendean, I was sure. He had the tell-tale shock of hair that stood up all over the place. I looked at him curiously. His hair hadn’t been like that on Borakoy. He must have done something to it to make it behave. His markings were obvious in the bright light of the medical bay. A slew of small spots started on his temples and ran down the sides of his face and neck into his loose fitting shirt.
His gaze raked over Arik, clear possession and scorching heat in his amber eyes before he spun on his heel and stalked out of the room. I turned to my brother with not a small amount of shock. What was that? But Arik was staring at the door with the strangest expression on his face I’d ever seen. He almost looked like he was in pain.
“Arik?” I called out to him.
He shook his head almost absently and looked back at Frek and me.
“Alek would probably be fine. Manik talked to him a lot while he was scanning him and checking him over. He seemed a little shaken, but he was more worried about Lexie and me. Alita should have told you years ago about him and given you the opportunity to be in his life. You should have the opportunity to get to know your son, Frek. Even if it is only for a few weeks. You might never see him in the flesh again.”
Frek turned to look at me. “Lexie?”
I looked back at him, meeting his golden gaze with my own. What exactly was he asking? For our permission? He was Alek’s biological father. He had every right to claim his son and take him home with him to Alloria and never return him to my sister. The Coalition wouldn’t step in, not when Alek was the heir to the throne. They didn’t mess with stuff like that.
“Frek, you don’t need to ask us what our opinion is. If you want Alek with you, then you have every right to take him.”
He shook his head at me. “I know that, Alexia. But I want what’s best for my son. If you don’t think he can handle being away from Alita for so long, then the crew and Arik will return him to Borakoy and you and I will go to Alloria on my father’s ship. It’s not the best way to do things, but I won’t do anything to hurt Alek more than he’s already been hurt.”
Frek already loved his son. If he didn’t, he would just do whatever it was he wanted and he wouldn’t care about Alek’s feelings or wellbeing. The knowledge made me fall in love with him a little more and it made me want to drag him off somewhere private and show him how much I loved him.
I shoved the regenerators out of the way and sat up with the cloth held firmly to my breasts. With a gentle tug on Frek’s hand I pulled him closer to me and he didn’t resist.
“Whatever decision you make, Frek, will be the right decision for Alek. We’re in this together, and we’ll make it work. We can get in contact with Alita so he can talk to her. We can do it every day if we have to. Seeing how other people live and being shown your planet will not harm him. It will be an education he will never forget, and he will always remember you gave it to him.”
His hand slid up across my bare shoulder, his skin warm and slightly rough, sending a delicious shiver through me, and into my hair. “Your sister is going to throw a fit when she finds out we’re taking him to Alloria. She’ll never trust me again. I promised her I wouldn’t take him away and that is exactly what I am doing.”
“But you’re not intending to keep him, Frek, and you had no control over what happened to your father. You didn’t plan any of this. Alita will just have to get over it. And anyway, she’ll be so busy with the new baby, she’ll barely have time to miss him.”
Arik made a low noise drawing my attention towards him. “That’s bullshit and you know it, Lexie. She’s going to throw an absolute fit and so is Jarrel. She’ll spend every hour of every day worrying about him, and the poor kid will be smothered when he gets home.” His eyes crinkled at the sides for a minute as if he’d been about to smile, then he added, “You never know, Alek might like it so much he wants to come back.”
Frek’s hand tensed in my hair, sending a tiny thrill through me. What would it feel like to have him do that when he was kissing me, clenching his hand in my hair and pulling with all that tightly controlled strength? Heat shot through me at the thought, burning up my insides and sending a pulse through my core. I barely managed to control the small noise that escaped me, but Frek was close enough to hear it and his gaze whipped around to stare down at me.
He studied me for a fraction of a second before his eyes started to heat. A tiny worry I’d barely had time to think about slithered away. He wanted me, even with the driving need of his rut gone. He still saw me as desirable, even though his body wasn’t swamped with hormones clamouring for release.
“Are you healed?” he demanded and his voice sounded a little hoarse.
“Enough,” I whispered. “Have you made a decision about Alek?”
“I made my decision before I came in here. I just wanted your and Arik’s opinions so I was sure I’d made the right one. If you’d told me differently, I would have reconsidered.” With that, he picked me up off the table and turned towards the door.
“Frek, wait!” Artel called from the doorway to the small office.
“Fuck off,” Frek growled as he stalked for the door. “Lexie said she was healed enough. I trust her to know. She knows what real pain feels like—she’ll tell me if she’s hurting.”
We were out the door and moving down the corridor at a quick pace. A few males grinned at us as we passed them, but Frek had us in front of a door with symbols marked on it before I knew what was happening. I didn’t even get a chance to look around the room we were in as he dropped me onto the bed and ripped the cloth from around me.
I felt his gaze run over me like a hot hand, caressing, teasing, making my legs part almost unconsciously. Heat flamed in my cheeks at the provocative movement that drew his gaze like lightening to my bare sex.
“Fuck, Lexie. Look at you. So fucking beautiful.”
His gaze came to mine as he reached for the sheaths on his forearms and started to strip them off with sharp precise movements. Then the large one he wore around his stomach came off and the ones on his thighs. Some of his knives were missing, I noted in a detached kind of way as he reached for the back of his top and pulled it off over his head. Boots were next, the muscles in his back bunching and flexing as he bent to his feet. His family’s emblem was a dark stain on his back. Then he was undoing the closure on his pants. My gaze was riveted on his face and the skin that was starting to darken over his jaw and cheekbone.
“You’re hurt,” I rasped, because my voice wasn’t working properly.
“I’m not,” he growled in response. “Arik wasn’t really trying to hurt me, just get my attention. The bruises will be gone in a few days.”
He dropped his pants and my breath caught at the sight of his long thick erection. For me. That was for me, from looking at me and seeing me naked. God, I needed him. Heat coiled through my insides, my core clenching as wetness slid from me.
Once Frek was naked, he climbed onto the bed at my feet and took an ankle in each hand. I frowned at him. This was a different Frek than the one I’d had in my room while we were at the palace. I’d expected him to pounce on me the minute we were in the door, but this Frek seemed to have all the patience in the world. This Frek was looking at me with a decidedly wicked look on his face.
“Frek,” I whispered, feeling a little unsure and out of my element.
“I did something you liked in medical, Lexie, that made you hot. I want you to tell me what it was.”
His golden gaze bored into mine, commanding me to answer him. Heat blasted across my cheeks. For all that we were taught about the mechanics of sex and what would happen during our Craving ceremonies so we would be prepared, this was different. This was my mate wanting to know what aroused me, and the thought of talking to him about my desires sent heat scorching through me, in embarrassment and not a small amount of wicked illicit desire.
He’d want me to use those words. He’d want me to tell him in explicit detail what I felt and maybe even the things I’d dreamed of him doing to me. A shudder wracked down my spine.
I licked my lips and watched his gaze track the small movement before his gaze came back to mine. “You had your hand in my hair, and when you tightened your grip, I wondered what it would be like if you did that while you were kissing me, or doing other things to me.”
“Mmm, I think my baby’s going to like it rough, but not right now. I have something else in mind.” He spread my legs with the tight but not bruising grip he had on my ankles, bending my knees so all of me was exposed to his hungry gaze. “While you were waiting for me to arrive, did you touch yourself, Lexie? Did you make yourself come to take the edge off the need?”
My heart almost stopped as my breath caught. Oh God! Why was this so hot? Him knowing I’d touched myself.
I jerk off thinking about you. He’d said that when we were in the forest. Did that mean he’d touched himself while he was in rut thinking about me, too?
I nodded at him, my breath coming in gasping pants. He hadn’t even touched me yet, and my core was tightening around nothing, little flutters sending spasms of pleasure through me and his low groan did nothing to help. An ache started deep inside me, an ache I knew only he could alleviate.
“Fuck,” he growled so low I almost couldn’t make out what he’d said.
He ran his rough hands up the insides of my thighs, pushing them wider, wider, still wider until he settled between my legs on his knees, his own legs spread wide, his thighs brushing mine. His cock jutted out, rigid and flushed a darker shade than his skin. It seemed to pulse with what I imagined was the beat of his heart.
“Give me your hand, baby.”
It was a growled command, and I didn’t hesitate to do what he wanted. I let go of the cover I’d gripped tightly in my fist and held my slightly shaking hand out to him.
Rough hot fingers closed around my hand and brought it down to my mound. He settled my hand over my sex, then released my fingers, his gaze coming back to mine.
“Show me. I want to watch you, Lexie. Show me how you touch your pussy, how you make yourself come. Make me so hard, baby, that I’ll be desperate to get inside you.”
A low whimper ghosted out of me, a barely there sound, but he heard it. I saw it in his eyes, the lightening of the gold, the molten heat that felt like it was going to burn me alive. How could he make me want him more than I’d wanted him while I was in the middle of my Craving? How could he make me crave him so much?
My gaze slid down to his erection. Wasn’t he hard enough to be inside me already? He looked hard enough. In fact, he looked good. He looked... edible. He’d put his mouth on me more than once while he was working off his rut, but I hadn’t done the same to him, and I wanted to know what it would be like to have all that hot hard flesh in my mouth.
“Frek,” I moaned, my legs tensing under his hands as more wetness seeped from me.
“Baby, I’m not going to fuck you until you give me what I want. Show me.”
The last was said in a deep commanding tone that left no room for me to say no.
I wanted him to take me, I wanted him inside me, and he was starting to make me desperate. My clit throbbed under my fingers, almost begging me to stroke, to gather my wetness and swirl my finger around the sensitive little nub. I could do this—just thinking about it and seeing him watching me had me to the point where I was about to orgasm. How much hotter was it going to be if I actually did what he wanted?
It was just a slight movement of my hand, but Frek’s fingers pressed into my thighs where his hands were resting on my legs. He liked it, I realised. He really did want to watch me touch myself, and he found it as arousing as I found just looking at him kneeling there naked with his harshly defined body bare for me to see.
A low breath eased out of me as I started to move my fingers. A slow gentle slide at first, my heart pounding at the illicit thrill of what I was doing. I reached down for the wetness that was gathering and smoothed it up with gentle strokes, covering my clit with my own juices to ease the slide of my fingers. Frek’s fingers dug in for a brief second before he relaxed them again.
The first circle around my clit made my core clench tighter, a low moan bubbling up out of my chest. Frek’s gaze was riveted to what my fingers were doing and I couldn’t take my gaze off his face. The second circle, and my thighs tensed as pleasure fizzled through me. A third circle, and I was whimpering, my other hand clenching the covers so tight it almost hurt.
I dipped down and teased my entrance, sliding just the tip of my finger in before retreating for another circle of my clit. A low growl rolled out of Frek. Oh! He liked that. I did it again, just the tip of my finger, sliding inside to the first knuckle, then out to circle my clit. His hands tensed, biting into my thighs, but the little pain just ramped up my desire higher.
Another circle, and this time I slid in to the second knuckle. I couldn’t stop the low moan. God, it felt so good. It felt better with him watching me than it had ever felt when I’d been alone. My hips pressed up as I slid my finger out and back in again. He looked so fierce, his skin drawn tight across his cheekbones. A slight darkening across his cheeks and the harsh breaths that filled the room told me how much what I was doing affected him.
“Fuck,” he growled as this time I slid my finger in all the way to my base knuckle.
I glanced down at his shaft to see the head slick with moisture. God, I was going to come from looking at him and listening to him. Another circle of my clit made my hips dance on the bed, but he pressed down on my thighs, pinning me to the mattress. Everything felt so hot and wet my core quivered, waiting for the next slow slide of my finger inside me, and my clit throbbed in time with the pounding of my heart.
Every brush of my finger, every little circle over my clit was maddening, but now that I’d started and seen Frek’s reaction, I was determined to make this good for him. This was obviously something he wanted, and I wanted him to enjoy it and remember, maybe even have me do it again, because I was enjoying it just as much as he seemed to be. I felt powerful and erotic, naughty and oh so sexy.
This time when I slid my finger into the hot wet clench of my core, I couldn’t help the small cry that ripped from my throat. So close. I was so close. Another brush over my clit, this one firmer sending a bolt of sharp pleasure through me. My body was on fire, my blood pumping through me like lava. A low keening moan went with the next slide of my finger, and just like that I realised I couldn’t hold out anymore. I couldn’t tease Frek like he teased me, I was too close, I had to come.
I stroked my clit with firmer, determined fingers, circling and pressing, rubbing across the hard nub until even the firm pressure of Frek’s hands couldn’t stop my hips from arching up off the bed as my release exploded through me with a sharp cry.
“Oh, God! Frek!”
My hand was ripped from my mound and pressed against the bed. I opened my eyes to see Frek’s white hot gaze zeroed in on my spasming core.
Knowing he was watching my core clench as the exquisite waves of my release rolled through me just made it all the more intense. Shudders wracked me, my whole body trembling as it went on and on.
“Fuck, baby, look at that sweet pussy dancing. All that cream. Gods I want to lick it all up, but I need to be in you.” Then his cock was there, pressing against my still clenching core.
He forced my legs higher, curling my lower body up so my bottom was in the air, then he thrust in. I cried out, a harsh forceful sound that came from deep inside me. I couldn’t take my focus off him. My gaze was riveted to his face, to the harsh pleasure that drew his brows low and made him bite his lower lip with strong white teeth.
A low groan came from him as he huffed out breaths, his gaze still locked on where we were joined together. Then he watched as he slid out and back in, long and slow. And another long slow stroke that felt so good I could feel tears burning my eyes as I moaned.
“I wish you could see this, Lexie. Your cunt swallowing my cock. Fuck, it looks so good, baby. All that slick cream spread over me. You’re gripping me so tight.” A low groan followed his words as he pumped his hips again.
I had never heard someone talk about sex like that before, with barely restrained passion and the throb of need in every word. It made me shake with need, with my own barely restrained passion. I never knew someone saying those sorts of things to me would ever make me feel so hot and flustered. He’d barely moved, and yet I was on the edge of release again.
“Frek, please,” I moaned. I couldn’t take any more. He had to move.
His gaze came to mine, and a wicked grin tilted his lips up. “Oh, you like that, baby? You like knowing how good it looks to see my cock sliding in and out of your tight cunt?” He followed that up with another agonizingly slow thrust, his eyes almost glowing down at me, his gaze locked on my face.
Heat flamed across my cheeks, because I did. I did like knowing how he saw me and how it felt. It was wickedly erotic and not something a good little princess should ever hear. It made me so hot I was ready to beg him. I wanted to hear more. I wanted him to tell me everything he was feeling and seeing, I wanted to hear his naughty, dirty words as he took me.
“Yes,” I breathed. “I like it. It makes me feel... hot and aroused. It feels naughty and just a little bit dirty.”
He groaned low, pumping his hips again sending sparks flying through me. “Fuck, baby. My dirty olina. You were made for me. So perfect. I’m going to make you fly, Lexie. Going to show you what it means to be mated to a pirate and all the things I’ve learned in the last thirteen years.”
The long slow slides of his shaft inside made me whimper as he tortured me with his slow pace. It felt so good, but it wasn’t enough to make me come again and he knew it. He’d already shown me so much, so what else could he possibly have to show me? I wanted to know, I wanted him to tell me, but I didn’t get the chance to ask.
A low growl was my only warning that Frek had reached the point where he was sick of teasing, sick of taking it slow. The first hard slam made me cry out in ecstasy. His glowing gaze burned down into mine as he pounded into me, making me moan and gasp with every thrust.
His hands were like brands, scorching hot brands holding my thighs high and wide. His gaze dropped back to where we were joined and God forbid, but his eyes lightened even further.
“Stroke your clit, Lexie. I want you to come on my cock,” he growled, deep and commanding and I was helpless to deny him.
I was helpless to do anything other than what he wanted, but there was something I wanted as well. He could see where we were joined, he could see where his shaft was penetrating me, but I wanted to feel it. I stroked my clit lightly, a few swirls of my fingers that tightened me around him and pushed me to the edge of release, then I slid my hand down further, sliding my fingers down one side of him and my thumb down the other.
The hot slide of his slick shaft between my thumb and fingers, the slick skin of my own ultra-sensitive flesh, it was such an improper thing to do it sent a frisson of excitement through me.
“Fuck, Lexie,” Frek moaned. “You like that, baby? Feeling my cock as it slides into you?” His gaze came back to mine as he spoke.
I nodded. I did. I liked it a lot. I liked it so much, my core clamped down on him for a tense moment before I screamed as I exploded. It was huge—the waves crashed over me and dragged me under, drowning me in Frek and everything he made me feel. My upper body curled up towards him as it swept through me, feeling like lightening in my veins.
It took him three brutal strokes and he was tipping his head back, the cords of his neck strained tight as he roared his release to the ceiling. It was glorious watching him jerk, his muscles all tense and bunched as he found the same pleasure he’d given me.
Then he was easing me down to the bed and settling his hot hard body onto mine. Gentle fingers stroked my cheek, his golden eyes looking into mine before he kissed me with a sweet gentleness that took my breath away. I clung to him, this male who gave me everything. He gave me sweet and loving, he gave me hard and fast and now he’d given me something I didn’t even know I’d wanted. He gave me his protection, his love, he’d come for me and killed the male who had hurt me and I knew he would do it again and again if I was ever taken or hurt.
I ran my hands over the smooth skin of his shoulders and back, feeling the muscles flex under my hands and the small amount of scars he had. He was so warm, hot really, and I would never be able to get enough of touching him.
He drew back, separating our lips, and smiled down at me. My heart twisted painfully in my chest. How did I get so lucky?
“Did you like watching me touch myself?” I asked even though I already knew the answer.
“Fuck, yeah. It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, Lexie. Seeing you pleasure yourself for me.”
“I... would... can you...” I had to swallow the suddenly thick feeling in my throat. “Would you do that for me, one day? Show me how you make yourself come?”
He stared down at me for a long second, his face inscrutable, then a big gorgeous grin split his lips. “You want to watch me jerk off?”
Heat crept across my cheeks and down my neck, but I nodded. A low chuckle vibrated his chest.
“My dirty little olina.” His face turned serious and I thought he was going to refuse. “I’ll tell you what, Lexie, I’ll jerk off for you as a reward for doing something for me.”
I frowned at him. That didn’t sound very fair. I’d done exactly what he asked me for without him having to do something for me first. Why did I have to do something for him? Did he not want to do it?
“Frek—”
He pressed a quick kiss against my lips halting what I was about to say. “I know I’m being an asshole. I know you touched yourself for me because I asked you to, but, baby, you’re terrified of knives, and we need to get you over it. You need to feel comfortable with me wearing them and using them and you need to be able to pick one up without having a panic attack. If you have an incentive to look forward to, it will help, and give you something to focus on when we start to work on your fear. We only have two weeks to do it.”
My heart froze as my eyes widened so far it actually hurt. A low whimper was the only sound I was capable of making. I shook my head at him. No, no. I couldn’t. I started to struggle under him, my breath coming out of me in gasping pants, but it was useless—he was pinning me to the bed with his heavy body.
“Baby, it’s all right. I won’t let anything hurt you, I promise. Lexie. Look at me!”
Frek cupped my face in his strong hands. I squeezed my eyes closed and shook my head. “Frek, please. You don’t understand. I can’t!”
His grip tightened on my face enough that my eyes popped open. “Baby, you can and you will. I’m not asking, I’m telling you. We’re going to do this, you have to. It’s necessary for your safety. I need to know you can handle a knife and I want you to learn how to use one.”
“What?” I whispered, shock making me go deathly still.
“I want you to learn how to fight with a knife. We’ll get you at least one of your own and you can have it on you at all times. I want you safe in the palace. I want you to be able to at least defend yourself for long enough for help to get to you.”
I stared into his golden eyes. They were a deep dark gold, but I didn’t think he was angry with me. He was just concerned. “I know how to defend myself, Frek. Arik and Altair taught me how to fight. I don’t need a knife.”
“Baby, I’ve had to save you from two males in the last three days. You’re not strong enough to go up against a well-trained male. You need an advantage, you need a weapon, and you need to know how to use it.”
There was no room for refusal in Frek’s tone, but he didn’t understand. It wasn’t something I could just turn on and off. But if he wanted me to try, for him, I would.
“I’ll try for you, Frek, but I don’t think it’s going to work.”
He pressed a soft sweet kiss to my quivering lips and whispered, “Leave it to me, baby. I have a plan. Now, let’s go find my son, so I can get to know him.”