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“Director Reyes sends his...love.” Malo sat on the edge of their bed and rubbed his Dar Eth’s bare hip. He had spent just two hours in the comm room. Gritting his teeth, he pinched the bridge of his nose before flopping down alongside her.
“Thanks.” Caro stretched, arching her back and thrusting out her breasts.
“Do not tempt me, female.” He grinned, for it was too late. Just scenting her when he approached their room was enough to rouse his interest.
Her smile was slow and sensual, implying she knew how she affected him. His chest expanded with that earlier warmth into something more intense, crushing his ability to breathe.
“You’re back so soon, my Eth.” She rolled over and rubbed his chest. Sighing, she stroked his neck where his armor ended. “New rule, no armor in the bedroom. Leave it at the door.”
He chuckled. “You want me naked.”
“Damn straight.” She thumped the release mechanism, and his armor loosened. “I love the feel of your skin.” Sliding her fingers under his armor proved her words.
He sucked in his breath when she tweaked a nipple.
“I was hoping for a meal.” He sat up in a single motion to whip off his armor before cradling her in his arms. “Thamani, perhaps fast then slow is in order?” Meeting her gaze, he tried to read her expressions, whether she was as eager as he was, or whether their damu made her unwell.
“A quickie?” She kissed his chin, then dragged her hot mouth along his throat.
He groaned, unable to nor did he want to stop the ripple of shivers she summoned across his body. His O.D.I. flickered his eyelids, and he grunted. “I like the sound of a quickie.”
“Strip.” She bounced off the bed. “I want you before the nausea realizes I’m awake.”
He rose to remove his pants, but when he faced her, she leaned against the bulkhead, cupping her stomach. “Too late.” She paled and ran, streaming her dark hair behind her.
“Operations Commander Malo.” Afax’s voice cut through the sexual tension strumming Malo’s body, leaving only concern.
“Not now, Afax.” Malo barreled after Caro, kneeling beside her while she purged into the waste receptacle. After gathering her hair into one hand, he rubbed her back with the other.
She moaned, slumping. “That feels so good, Malo.”
“My apologies, Caro. I am selfish to assume you will ease the Ethera and carry my damu.”
She wiped her mouth on the back of her hand and leaned into him. He dropped her hair and lifted her onto his lap.
“I shall have my males move the bulkheads, bringing the cleansing room closer to our bedroom.”
Her smile was weak, and the way she curled into him strengthened his resolve to be a better Eth.
“That would be wonderful.” She cupped his cheek when he urged her to her feet.
He rubbed her lower back while she brushed her teeth—a uniquely human thing to do. Not that he liked how the toothpaste dominated the taste of her. He complained to her about it daily.
Patting her mouth dry, she stretched to kiss his chin. “I changed it to something herbal. Better?”
Frowning, he rubbed his mouth across hers and caught a hint of something sharp then her, all Caro, his Dar Eth. He grumbled and grabbed her ass, lifting her off the floor for his descending kiss. Thrusting his tongue between her lips, he delved into her, unable to satiate this need to know all of her. No matter how many times he kissed her, it didn’t soothe this desperation within him.
“Operations Commander Malo, I cannot keep the king waiting.”
Sighing, he ended the kiss and held his temple to hers.
She chuckled, feathering kisses along his nose to his chin. “Speak to King Xeus. I will eat something to calm my stomach, shower, and await your attention in the bedroom.” She trailed a finger down his throat to his nipple. “With my thighs spread wide.”
He watched her bare ass sway when she headed to the rehydrator.
“And if you take too long, I’ll play with myself.”
His breath caught, and he didn’t bother to stop the shudder and flow of memories her words incited.
“I am on my way, Afax.” Malo snatched a hard kiss and bolted for the door.
“Um, Malo?” She covered her mouth, smothering a chuckle. “Clothes might be a good idea.”
He grinned at his naked body before hurrying into their room. Striding out, he snatched her close for another quick, hard kiss, then abandoned her. Staying meant offending King Xeus, and he needed the male to release him from this mission, post finding Izzy, of course.
When he entered the comm room, the display vids flickered.
“My apologies for keeping you waiting, Adviser Kanzo.”
Kanzo smiled. “As an Eth myself, Operations Commander, I assumed there might be a delay. You are on time to speak to the king. He has had an unusual morning.”
Kanzo stepped aside for King Xeus, who bounded from behind his desk. The male looked happy. The tension the void had added to his face had eased. “Malo, congratulations on finding your Dar Eth.”
“Thank you, my king. The humans believe I kidnapped her and are intent on imprisoning me for said crime.”
Xeus’s jaw tightened. “I cannot allow that.”
“It is but a diplomatic issue, King Xeus. My bigger concerns lie with my Dar Eth carrying my damu, and the impact—”
“She does? This is splendid news, Malo.” Xeus’s smile split his cheeks wide. “I have tasked Supreme Commander Nerx and Medic Aldur to secure a human and female obstetrician.”
Malo’s eyelids fluttered at the strange word. The knowledge of such a skillset eased a little of his concern. “A wise decision.”
“Attend to the final items on your task list and return to Etteria as soon as possible.”
Relief flooded Malo. To go home, to ensure Caro was safe and cared for, and with the permission of his king, it was more than he could’ve asked for.
“Let us discuss this unsavory Kayarra issue. I spoke to Queen Alllero within the hour. For her crimes and those of her operatives, Imarri ag Zennr will while away her time on Fuyra as you decreed. I need a selection of your finest males. The queen would like to test the Kayarra’s skills.”
“Oh?” Malo hadn’t expected such a solution.
“Should the Maloidian females manage an escape, we are to consider all offenses forgotten.”
Malo pinched his lips. Not much shocked him, but this had.
“Including a permanent discount on future Maloidian steel imports. With the construction of submarines and an impending war with Yithia, this is a stupendous gain.”
“Well done, King Xeus.” Diplomacy was at play, and his king thought long term. Still, Malo’s father would not have spared Imarri’s life. “I will send additional males to assist those already escorting the Kayarra to Fuyra.”
King Xeus glanced to the side, and something or someone snagged his undivided attention.
Malo grinned, assuming Queen Macera had entered the king’s office. “Will that be all, my king?”
“Yes, Operations Commander.” Kanzo dominated the display vid’s image when the king strode past him, followed by a feminine squeal of delight.
The comm ended, and Malo bolted, running pell-mell to his Dar Eth, who’d promised to start without him should he delay.
“Caro, ensa?”
A soft moan, a gasp, a sigh drove him to their bedroom. He shuddered, and his malehood pulsed, burning his nerves and setting his insides ablaze. Yet, in the doorway, he froze.
She wasn’t on the bed with her legs spread. No, she stood before him wearing an outfit he would forever remember. Transparent black fabric, serving no other purpose but to mold to her curves, thrust her breasts up, her nipples visible and hard. Something wrapped her hips, and strips clung to her gauze-like leggings that ended mid-thigh. She wore no undergarments she called panties, and his gaze snagged there for an unmeasurable moment before settling on her eyes.
“What are you wearing, Caro?” His voice was hoarse and harsh enough to hurt when he spoke. Stumbling into the room, he stripped, tossing his armor without care.
“Lingerie. You like?” Her hair cascaded over a shoulder, and bold red lipstick on her lips made his breath hitch.
“It is unwise to tempt the Ethera, thamani. I can barely keep my control around you.” He gripped her hips, drawing her closer.
With a shake of her head, she tapped him on the chest. “I want your promise, Malo.”
He jerked back, his lips moments from grazing her skin. “Anything.”
“No touching me until I say you can.”
Growling, he dipped his head to meet her gaze. “Why not? Have I offended you, my Dar Eth?”
She smiled, tracing her fingers from his neck, along his shoulders to squeeze his upper arms. “No, never. I want to try something, to see if you’ll like it.”
“Not touch you?” He trembled. Was she insane? The Ethera demanded, and if the past weeks without Caro had taught him anything, he wasn’t as strong as he believed he was.
“Surely the great Operations Commander Malo can resist touching little me?” She swirled her fingernail around his taut nipple.
He pinched his lips, wishing he could convey how the Ethera affected him, how being this close to her tossed his control to the corners of the known universe.
“Why?”
Her smile faded, and the tension in the air thickened. “It’s about trust, Malo.”
He closed his eyes. “For how long?”
She stroked his cheeks and kissed him, dodging his mouth when he made to deepen the kiss. “Give me five minutes. If you want me to stop, then I’ll release you from the promise.”
For such a short time, he could endure. “You have my vow.”
“Lie down in the center of the bed.”
He did so with his gaze fixed on her.
“Place your hands behind your head.” She climbed onto the bed and crawled across it to loop a black sash around his eyes.
“Caro.” He caught her wrist, careful not to bruise her.
“Trust me, Malo, please.”
Grunting, he obeyed, cupping the back of his head in his palms after she blindfolded him. Without his sight, his sense of smell and hearing intensified. She moved from one side of the room to the other before the warmth of her brushed his right side.
Something incredibly soft glided from his collarbone to his malehood. He gritted his teeth to swallow a moan. That wasn’t her hand. It felt like the furs of an Eiltar—a small sea creature once found on the protected shores of Durn.
“Another thing, Malo. Show me your reactions. Don’t hold back, my Eth.”
“If it pleases you, thamani.”
Something slapped across his thigh, drawing a gasp. Not a stranger to pain, he understood the fine line between that and pleasure, but when she ran the Eiltar over the unexpected sting, his breath caught. Heat spread from there to his throbbing arousal. He couldn’t soothe it, couldn’t bury it in her depths, not when he’d vowed five minutes.
She gripped his knees, spreading them wide before grazing her nails along his inner thighs, stopping before reaching his malehood. He burned for her to touch him, to run the Eiltar over his length.
She soothed the path her nails had scoured with her hot mouth, sucking and nipping.
Then her warmth was gone. He stilled, searching for her past the lust pounding his senses. A hot mouth on a nipple tore a groan from him. He was Fuyra hard, needing to end this, for her to free him from the vow.
She sucked hard, and like a blaster shot, fire scorched a path from his chest to his core, coiling and rousing something deep within him.
“Maker.” A tremble lay claim to his limbs, and he struggled to keep his hands off her.
“What’s this, Malo?” She touched the ridges running along the length of his arousal.
He growled, arching off the bed as shivers, fire, ice took turns spiraling outward. “My denit.” He hissed when she continued to stroke it. “Sensitive.”
“Remove your blindfold. You’ll want to see this.”
He whipped it off. She straddled his thigh and had undone her black lingerie so her breasts could squeeze through the deep V. He feasted on her beauty, the bright pink of her cheeks, her parted lips, and the rise and fall of her breasts.
A slow sensual smile curled across her red lips. “Not me, silly.” She dipped and ran her tongue from his balls to the head of his arousal, across his denit.
He cried out, curled his hands into fists, and fought lunging for her. Alodon’s balls, the graze of her tongue along the length of him was... He closed his eyes then blinked them open when she straddled a knee, rubbing her wet sex along his skin. She needed him as much.
But when she wrapped her mouth around the head of his malehood, sucking while rubbing his denit, the fulfillment he had barely been able to hold back rushed along his length.
“Caro,” he roared, arching off the bed. “Stop. I cannot bear more.”
A fine sheen coated his body, and he flexed his fingers, hoping to return blood to them.
“Spoilsport.” She licked her lips as if he tasted divine, but at least she was no longer tormenting him with her mouth.
Sliding up him, she wiggled her hips until the heat of her drenched his tip. Then she impaled herself inch by excruciating inch.
She is killing me.
Her mouth parted, and her eyelids fluttered shut on a breathless moan. “So good, Malo.” She angled her hips and rode him, back and forth, scraping her nails over his nipples, before dipping to kiss him. He tasted himself on her tongue, along with pure, intense lust.
He wasn’t above begging. “Please, ensa, I need—”
She shook her head, sitting up to arch her back and ride him harder. Her breasts bounced with each move she made, and deep whimpers escaped her. She was mesmerizing, exquisite, his deepest fantasy brought to life. His fulfillment aligned with hers, heat gushing from her, from him, and he arched, gritting his teeth at the painful intensity slamming into him.
Stars, like an exploding supernova, burned his eyelids, as a mountain of breathtaking pleasure rolled over him.
She didn’t stop riding him while she found her joy, one after the other, extending his fulfillment until he thought he would snap.
“I release you from the promise.” Her whisper sliced through the tension twisting his body, seconds before she collapsed across his chest.
He didn’t hesitate, bolting upright to roll her over and thrust into her again. She mewled, her eyes widening as another fulfilment crashed, drenching him in an exquisite fire he couldn’t name.
“Maker, Caro.” He didn’t know how to describe the crescendo of emotion sweeping through him.
Her blue eyes warmed, conveying something his hearts recognized, responding with an answering heat that slowed his desperate thrusting. He kissed her, capturing her lips, teasing them, slipping his tongue between them to find solace in her taste, in the welcoming depths of her mouth.
“Thamani, sweet ensa ra ensa.”
As his nerve endings caught alight once more, rubbing his arousal and denit along the walls of her channel, a sweeter, deeper fulfillment claimed him. That moment, that instance, was the purest joy he had ever experienced. He slumped beside her, content to allow the tiny ripples of her fading pleasure calm his own. She rolled onto her side, offered her back, snuggled against him, then tugged his arms across her belly.
Minutes passed while their breathing slowed, and in the silence, she tried to smother a sniff.
“Caro?” He was gentle when he tilted her onto her back, concern warring with the contentment thrumming in his veins.
Her smile was tremulous through her tears. “Damu hormones, Malo. Nothing to worry about.”
He sensed a lie and frowned, not understanding the motive behind it.
She stroked a fingertip along his jaw and kissed him. “Just hold me, my Eth.”
“As you wish, thamani.” He gathered her against him and rubbed her lower back the way she liked.
She sighed and drifted to sleep in his arms.
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