Emma

EMMA

I stared in numb disbelief at the carnage surrounding me. Bodies littered the alley, some groaning in pain, others laying ominously still. My stomach churned at the grisly sight.

And at the center of it all stood Tazhr, chest heaving, fists and clothes splattered with blood. His eyes were wild, lost in some feral haze. I scarcely recognized him as the alluring lover who pleasured me just days before.

This was a beast unleashed. I awakened a monster.

Blind panic seized me. I turned and fled down the alleyway, sharp breaths tearing from my lungs. The pound of pursuing footsteps drove me faster. I darted around rusty bins and slippery piles of rubbish, desperate to escape the fearsome wrath bearing down upon me.

I careened around a corner into a narrow side passage. Dead end. Rough brick halted my flight, scraping my palms as I braced against it. Nowhere left to run.

An instant later, Tazhr's solid form crashed into me, pinning me to the wall with the bulk of his body. I shuddered, anticipating cruel retribution for trying to escape him.

"Why were you out here?" he demanded, voice a harsh rasp. "What are you doing outside the compound?"

My teeth chattered as I stammered out an answer. "I-I was locked out. Missed curfew."

His blazing eyes raked over me. "You're shaking," he accused. "Why?" His tone was suspicious, dangerous.

I squeezed my eyes shut, willing myself not to weep. "You scared me," I confessed in a whisper. "Seeing you like that, I didn't know you."

He made a small, pained sound. I felt the press of his body ease slightly, though he still kept me pinned.

"Don't run from me." His lips grazed my ear, breath stirring my hair. "It only makes me want to chase you."

Despite everything, desire kindled low in my belly at his closeness, his warm solidity enveloping me. I sagged back against him as his fingers trailed down my neck, gentle now.

"I would never hurt you, Emma," he murmured, his lips so near. "Never." He nuzzled into my hair, inhaling deeply. "You are mine to protect now."

I trembled still, though now more from his intoxicating nearness than fear. "Tazhr," I breathed, tilting my head back against his shoulder. An open invitation should he choose to accept it.

He made a small, hungry sound low in his throat. Then he spun me, his mouth falling on mine, devouring me in a searing kiss. My knees went weak, sensations overwhelming. I clung to him lest I melted completely.

When we finally broke for air, I gazed up at him dazedly. "Do you want me as much as I burn for you?" I asked boldly.

His eyes smoldered. "More than you could possibly know," he rasped. "You fill my mind completely."

Joy surged through me at this confirmation of our shared desire. I reached up to trace the alluring curve of his full lips. "Then why don't you let me know."

With a growl, Tazhr grasped my thighs, lifting me effortlessly. I wrapped my legs around his waist, lips finding his hungrily. Still trapped against the unforgiving brick, our bodies fused together.

My slender fingers urgently worked at the fastenings of his tunic, desperate to feel his bare skin against mine. I needed to erase any lingering barriers between us, physical or emotional.

At last his muscular chest was revealed. I splayed my hands across the plane of etched muscle, tracing each scar and contour, the golden glow of his sigils. Tazhr's breath grew ragged, his self-restraint fraying.

"Emma," he ground out in warning, even as his hips canted urgently against me. "We shouldn't...not here..."

"I don't care," I breathed, punctuating it with a nip at his sculpted jawline. My recklessness emboldened me. "Make me yours, Tazhr. Please."

That was all it took to break him. With a feral snarl, he pulled my flimsy shirt open, baring me to his hungry gaze. I gasped as the cool air hit my fevered skin.

Then his hands and mouth were worshiping every newly exposed inch as I did to him moments before. We were lost to anything but raw passion and blistering need.

Right and wrong ceased to matter. There were only his powerful hands pinning me in place, his hips nestled between my eager thighs, his pulse hammering against my lips as he ground against my core, his hard length pressed against me, sending sparks even through the fabric that still separated us.

"We should leave this place," Tazhr decided, reluctantly withdrawing from my embrace. I mourned the loss of contact. "It isn't safe for you on the streets after curfew."

I nodded. "I can't go back to the compound tonight." Uncertainty tinged my voice. Where would I go now?

Sensing my distress, Tazhr enfolded me against his chest once more. "You'll come with me," he soothed. "I have hidden quarters where you can stay until it's safe."

I stumbled down the debris-strewn passageway, but Tazhr hoisted me onto his waist and kissed me ferociously. I wrapped my legs tightly around him, feeling his thick erection against my legs, and rubbing it. All I wanted was to give him pleasure.

He parted my lips with his tongue and sucked. He explored my mouth like a conqueror, taking control. He nibbled on my lower lip and dug his fangs in just slightly, a sharp piercing sensation that quickly tingled, like candy entering my veins. I could taste blood on my tongue.

"You're so distracting to me, Emma. We need to get downstairs before I fuck you right here on the stairwell," he said.

We stole through the shadows, avoiding detection. Before long, we reached a nondescript hab-unit.

Tazhr keyed in a complex code and the door slid open soundlessly. He drew me inside to a small, dimly lit living space, securing the entrance behind us before tossing the tiny blaster he took from the Ewani onto a rickety table.

"Make yourself comfortable." He gestured to a bed along one wall. "No one will find you here."

I sank gratefully onto the mattress. My body ached, but I was too keyed up to rest. Glancing around, my curiosity got the better of me. "How did you find this place? It's quite cozy."

One corner of his mouth quirked up. "It's amazing what falls through the cracks on a station this size. The previous occupants abandoned it quickly when they ran into...trouble. The space now suits my purposes nicely."

The atmosphere between us quickened my blood and sent my pulse racing down below. At the end of the bed were leg irons, and next to the wall were ropes and manacles.

"I hope you're not thinking of keeping me here," I said, only half worried.

"You never know." He came to the bed, pushing me back, kneeling over me. "But first, I want to know why you were upset before."

"What?" my brain blanked, still dizzy from his touch. We talked about that, right?

"Back at the Fallen Star. I sent you extra credits, a gift. But you looked like I hit you."

Oh. The lump in my stomach threatened to return. "It felt like you paid me off," I whispered. "Like I didn't mean anything to you. Like just another whore."

His fingers gripped my shoulders. "Never. You're not just another anything…." Carefully, he rained kisses down my neck, pushing aside the fabric of my shirt as he moved down my shoulder.

"I can't stop thinking about you. Worrying about you. Wanting you."

I could only groan, swept away by his touch.

"You're the only one I've ever met that does this to me. Even that taste I had of your nectar only left me hungrier."

He leaned over me and kissed me again, his soft lips cleaving to mine, practically gulping with desire. I felt him grow even harder, his cock reaching up, and a second later, he knelt over me and tore off the rest of my clothing, hovering above me.

He licked my breasts with his long velvety tongue, dabbing my nipples, his saliva leaving tracks of pleasure across my skin.

His breath grew shallow and he tilted his head back to get a better look and massaged them with his hands.

"God, you're fucking beautiful, Emma," he said, his eyes slitted with desire.

He stood up above me, touching my breast one more time, and quickly took off his shirt, then shoved his pants onto the floor.

My desire for Tazhr consumed me, setting my blood aflame. Never before had I craved another being so intensely.

As we came together in a fiery kiss, my hands roamed greedily over his muscular form. He groaned into my mouth but did not stop me.

At last, his clothing fell away, baring him fully. I drew in a shaky breath, eyes riveted to his magnificence. His cock stood rigid, far larger than any human's. The gray shaft was striped with pulsing veins, the broad head tapering to smooth points.

But what drew my rapt attention were the rows of slender, flexible flanges lining the sides. They rippled gracefully with each throb, an entrancing, alien beauty. Tentatively, I reached out to brush one. Tazhr's sharp hiss was all the encouragement I needed.

I explored him reverently, caressing each velvety ridge. They flexed under my fingertips, guiding me to the most sensitive areas. When I wrapped my hand around his heated length, the flanges embraced me snugly.

"Emma." My name was a plea torn from his throat. I was thrilled at how completely I unraveled this powerful male with just a touch. Yet despite his obvious need, he let me set the pace.

At last, I could wait no longer. I guided him to my slick entrance, shivering in anticipation. Ever so slowly, he filled me, each ridge stroking an exquisite sensation throughout my core. I cried out at the delectable fullness as he stretched and molded me perfectly to him.

Our bodies moved as one, the rhythmic glide of his flanges intensifying each glorious pulse of pleasure. He cradled me close, murmuring fervent words I could barely understand as I clung to him, awash in ecstasy.

"Shatter for me, sweet Emma," he crooned into my hair as his gold tracery glowed electric, and the gold of his eyes burned with fire as he pounded into me, grunting and moaning with every thrust. I felt the electricity from it, on my skin and inside of me, crashing upward to fill me as far as he could go.

His muscles rippled above me as he used every atom of physical power to bury himself inside me over and over again.

He pressed his thumb against my neck and his mouth followed, as he sank his fangs in gently, scratching rather than biting.

Pounding me with fierce strokes, the muscles inside me pulsing in circular waves, and his teeth on my neck, biting gently and sucking, pushed me over the edge.

"Tazhr," I begged. "Please, please."

With a roar, whatever was left of his control broke, his hips bucking into mine as I came undone, desperately clinging to him, needing him to keep going, never wanting to stop.

Until finally he slowed, pulling my limp body into his arms, cradling me gently.

And all I could think about was how much I wanted to do it again as soon as possible.