Chapter 7

The kit’s magic gel stabilized Rhakaris and stopped the bleeding. That left me looking at the giant alien king and wondering how the fuck I was meant to get him to the medbay, wherever that was.

“I have it this time,” he said as he made his third attempt to stand. He made it up on one knee before his strength gave out, dropping him back on the deck with a thump that I felt in my bones.

“Yep, I can see that.” I shook my head. “Stop that before you injure yourself again.”

The medkit’s hologram display was already complaining that its patient was moving too much and aggravating his injuries, and the ‘Next Step: Remove Patient to Medical Facility’ message was flashing more and more urgently. I looked around the cargo bay at the neatly stacked crates that took up perhaps half the space. None of them had fallen or even shifted during whatever violent maneuvers the Blackwing had taken to catch us. For that matter, aside from a faint vibration in the deck, I couldn’t feel the ship move.

It had first rate gravity manipulators, then. Which gave me an idea.

“What are you up to, human?” Rhakaris asked, watching me from the deck as I walked to the interior hatch and examined the bulkhead.

“Just looking for—aha!” As I’d expected, a section of wall opened at my touch, exposing a control station with a detachable tablet that I picked up. The display was entirely in Drachali script, but it looked straightforward enough. “Okay, yes, this will work. Pretty intuitive, too. Let’s try this...”

I swept a finger gently about the controls, guiding a golden trail of light over a map of the hold.

“Human. Eden. Put that back, I don’t know what it does.”

I grinned. I couldn’t help myself. Of course the king never found the manual controls on his ship. He’d have people for that wherever he docked. “Sure, just as soon as I’m done.”

A flick of my finger, and the gravity field took hold of Rhakaris and lifted him from the deck to dangle in the air, rotating slowly. His outraged squawk turned my grin into a laugh, and he crossed his arms, narrowed his eyes, and gave me a look.

“This,” he said with great deliberation, “is undignified and unbefitting a king.”

“I won’t tell anyone if you don’t,” I said, guiding him toward me and the hatch. “Now where’s that medbay?”

* * *

Fortunately, it wasn’t far. Once out of the hold, the gravity manipulators weren’t capable of carrying the injured Drachali, but I managed to put him down without knocking him off his feet, and he staggered onward. I helped as much as I could, but the alien was solid muscle—he weighed more than I expected even a giant like him to weigh.

There was another problem, too. With his coat cut away, I ended up with the skin of his torso pressing against me, my arm around his waist feeling the muscles move beneath his skin. His abs were a deadly temptation, perfectly defined as though a sculptor had carved them from marble.

That scultor would have thrown away his tools afterward. No one could hope to make such perfection twice.

I am not tempted, I lied to myself. He’s an asshole, and he’s injured.

Injured getting in the way of a shot meant for me, I couldn’t help adding.

Yes, aimed at me because he dragged me into his alien intrigue. Hence, asshole.

At least bickering with myself kept my mind occupied until we reached the medbay, and the autodoc pods within. Ornate stone caskets, they looked uncomfortably like coffins, but Rhakaris seemed to know what he was doing and pulled himself into one with a sigh of relief.

I watched as a white fog rose around him, filling the coffin. Then the lid swung shut, and all I could do was wait.

Half an hour later, the lid lifted with a hiss and fog tumbled out of it, spilling over the floor. Rhakaris rose easily, gracefully.

And nakedly.

The auto dock had freed him of his remaining clothes, which seemed to trouble him not at all. If I looked that good naked, maybe I wouldn’t mind either. All I could do was stare at him as he stepped out of the coffin and flexed his muscles. Testing the healing or showing off? I decided it was probably both, and I couldn’t blame him. His muscles were like steel cord under his pale skin, and every move he made seemed laser-focused on my desire.

I couldn’t even lie to myself and pretend I wasn’t interested. Not when taking my eyes off him was impossible. His black hair tumbled down over broad shoulders, his powerful arms which had kept me safe, his chest, everything about him was amazing. Unbidden, my gaze tracked lower, my face flushing as I saw his cock.

His very erect cock. It was bigger than I’d have imagined, big enough to frighten me. I hadn’t made a study, but I was pretty sure he was thicker than any human. I knew human women had Drachali lovers, but how? How would that thing even fit inside a human? Only one way to find out, I told myself, warm tingling spreading from my core.

He stepped closer with a dark chuckle that drew my eyes up to his grinning face. “Your pardon, Eden. You are standing in front of the clothes maker.”

My cheeks burned as I stood aside, mumbling some apology. I’d expected him to... I didn’t know what, exactly. And he’d promised not to push me, hadn’t he? It seemed like an age ago, but it was probably less than an hour.

I wish he hadn’t promised. The thought came unbidden as he reached past me, opening a panel and letting out a puff of air with the unmistakable smell of maker-dust. Before he could remove whatever clothes the ship had made for him, I grabbed his wrist.

It was a stupid, impulsive move. One I hadn’t planned, and had no follow up for. Rhakaris could have ignored me easily, but he stopped in place, and I felt a shudder run through him.

“Eden.” He spoke slowly, carefully, and hearing my name in that deep, gravelly voice fanned the flames of my desire into an inferno. “Eden, do not do that unless you mean it.”

Dark eyes bored into my soul, and I saw the struggle he had to control the beast within him. I considered pulling back my hand, backing away, forgetting this mad impulse. Instead, I met his gaze and nodded, a single quick motion.

Rhakaris didn’t need anything else, and the next second was a blur. One second I held his wrist, the next he held me pinned against the wall, the breath driven out of my lungs by the impact and his mouth inches from mine. He held both my wrists in one hand, pinned above my head. The other cupped my face, thumb tracing across my cheek, over my lips.

Heart racing and panting for air, I looked up at him. Perhaps I should have felt frightened of him, but the wildness in him, the predator, the monster—that was what made him irresistible. I struggled, not to get away, but wanting to touch him myself, to feel those muscles under my fingers.

Another dark and deep chuckle. “No, my mate. You will have your chance later. This is my time to play.”

Before I could ask what he meant, he showed me. In a blur, he tore my dress from my body, his claws parting the fabric like fog. I whimpered as it fell to the deck in pieces, leaving me squirming in my underwear. Rhakaris growled, a hungry animal sound, pressing himself against me and pinning me against the wall.

His body felt so damned good, and I wanted more. He was close enough, now, and I leaned forward to kiss him on the neck, his skin cool against my lips, tasting of smoke and iron and sex. Rhakaris’s growl deepened, and his already massive cock swelled between us. Hard as diamond, it pulsed as I bit down on his neck, its studded length terrifying and exhilarating.

A flick of his wrist was enough to rip off my bra, and he slid his hand under my ass, lifting me up the wall and pulling my mouth from his neck. His own teeth, needle sharp and deadly, nipped at my skin with amazing skill and control, making me moan and writhe as he explored my breasts with lips and tongue and bites.

I barely noticed when his clawed fingers slices through my panties. Only when he positioned me over his giant cock did I realize there was no more fabric between my core and him.

My slick folds parted for him as he rubbed his cockhead forward and back along them, the pulses I’d felt before speeding up, becoming a constant vibration. When it brushed against my clit, I cried out, my whole body convulsing, and the look of raw, predatory joy on my alien lover’s face almost sent me over the edge.

Releasing my wrists, he gripped my hips with both hands. Held still until I trembled with anticipation.

And thrust.

His cock slid into me, stretched me, filled me. My eager body opened for him, welcomed him, and it felt perfect. I threw back my head and cried out at the ceiling, and he seized the chance to bite my neck. Everything went white for a moment, an explosion of ecstasy rocking me.

My legs wrapped around his hips almost of their own accord, and I clutched at him, urging him on as he pounded me harder and harder. Lost in the sensation, I squeezed his magnificent cock, loving the hungry growl it won from him.

We spurred each other on, gasping moaning and crying out, and I lost count of how many climaxes he drove me to, each peak higher than the last. Finally, with a snarled triumphant roar, he thrust deep and came, taking me with him into the most powerful orgasm I could ever have imagined.

He held me there, pinned against the wall, both of us panting and dripping with sweat. Then, slowly, his legs gave out and we slid gracelessly to the deck to curl up in each other’s arms.