Chapter 7

MANDY

I won’t hurt you. Not until we are mated, that is.

I’ll never let you go.

You belong to me now.

I paid for you.

Chief Kameer’s ominous statements swirl in my mind. Disbelief surges inside me. This whole day almost seems like a dream. A nightmare. But the Darrvason engineer feels solid and so very real next to me. The warmth of his huge body somehow makes me want to snuggle closer to him, even though my rational mind screams that I ought to jump to my feet and try to escape. Problem is, I’m not certain my legs will work right now.

I wonder if Kameer knows that, until a few hours ago, I was engaged to a Founder. Did Captain Warren reveal this information during their negotiations?

But then a frightful thought strikes me, and I find myself struggling for air. What if the captain or Kameer had something to do with Ned’s death? His grandsons said it was probably a heart attack or a stroke, but a full autopsy hasn’t been completed yet.

I peer at Kameer, wondering if I’m sitting next to a cold-blooded killer, wondering if I’m about to mate with a murderous beast. I swallow hard, then try to regulate my breathing.

If I ask Kameer if he killed Ned, will he give me an honest answer? As I stare into his glowing red eyes, I think he would. I’m too afraid of his response to ask.

He continues holding my chin, and with his other hand he reaches for my hair. He strokes his long fingers through my locks. A growl resonates from his throat. His eyes darken a few shades yet remain luminous.

The feel of his hands in my hair does something to me. Something I don’t quite understand. My scalp prickles with awareness, and goosebumps erupt all over my body. Warmth quakes between my thighs, a delicious pulsating heat that makes me want to squirm and press my thighs together. My upper arms also tingle and itch the way they did when I met him coming off the elevator.

The huge Darrvason leans closer until his nose brushes along my neck. He takes a long inhale and another low growl rumbles from his chest. It’s a savage noise, one that ought to scare me more than it does. Part of me wants to hear him growl again. I like the way his deep voice and his growls vibrate through me and incite the achiness in my loins.

My heart skips a beat.

Am I experiencing sexual excitement for the first time? Is that why I feel so unsettled? I think about how Chief Kameer mentioned detecting my arousal .

I’m several months past due for a hormone suppression shot. It’s entirely possible. I think about the pro-abstinence lectures led by morality officers that I’ve attended over the years. I also think about the descriptions of intercourse I’ve read in banned books.

Okay, maybe I’ve done a little more law breaking than I realized, but to be fair, almost everyone I know sneaks a banned book now and then. It’s the same with prohibited movies and music.

To my mortification, a whimper escapes my throat as Kameer leans back slightly but continues stroking my hair. His touch is calling up urges I never expected to endure. I find myself wanting to touch him in return, to stroke my fingers through his short black locks that are streaked with white. I also long to caress his dark, textured skin.

What is happening to me?

“This is wrong,” I blurt. “You shouldn’t touch me, and we shouldn’t mate. Sexual intercourse can be very dangerous. It causes disease and injury and madness and?—”

“It’s not dangerous, pretty human. Copulation is a perfectly natural activity, one that I suspect you will find pleasurable.” A smile tugs at his lips, though I don’t get the sense that he’s mocking me. “I know about the hormone suppression shots and that it’s likely been a while since you’ve had one. That’s why you’re becoming… excited . That is why I can detect the scent of your arousal. But you needn’t be afraid. It’s your body’s way of preparing you to accept my cocks.”

My stomach does a little flip. Cock s . It would appear the rumors about Darrvason males possessing two appendages are true. Oh God. One is a daunting enough prospect, but I can’t imagine how two will work.

I glance at Kameer’s crotch and notice a massive bulge. My face promptly heats. In my embarrassment, I try to pull away from him, but he tightens his hand in my hair.

A gasp catches in my throat, and the warmth quaking between my thighs deepens. The slight pain he’s causing coalesces with my pleasure, sending warm quaking pulses straight to my core. To my utter mortification, I release a faint whimpering moan.

“So innocent,” he says in that rumbling bass voice of his, “yet so very aroused. I suspect if I reach into your pants and touch your center, pretty human, I’ll find you’re soaking wet.”

“No. You won’t.” I shake my head, even though he’s speaking the truth. Because as I clamp my thighs shut and squirm in place, I can feel the slickness gathering in my underwear. My heart races faster and I jerk my hips upward ever so slightly, as though seeking… something. His touch? Shame heats my face.

“Ah, my eager little mate.” He pushes a hand between my thighs and caresses me over my pajamas.

Again, my hips jerk upward. I’m unable to stop the movement. I’m also unable to prevent another whimpering moan. As my excitement increases, so does my embarrassment. Why can’t I stop these sensations or my reactions to them? I close my eyes and concentrate, but I find it difficult to form a rational thought. I’m too preoccupied with the exquisite pleasure of having Kameer stroke my crotch over my pajamas.

“Mm. Yes. Just as I suspected. Soaking wet. I can feel your moisture through your clothing, Mandy.” He presses more firmly to my center.

I clamp my thighs shut around his hand, grasp his arms, and gyrate my hips in a wanton manner.

“So wet and so eager, my precious mate.”

My precious mate . Why does this phrase fill me with warmth?

Tingles sweep up and down my arms, and I become lost in the quaking ecstasy of having pressure applied to my aching center.

And yet… it’s not enough.

I want more. More attention… down there.

I don’t know exactly what it is I crave, only that my instincts tell me there must be more, a blissful finality that will satiate my desires.

Unless there’s not any sort of finality. Maybe I’m only being hopeful. Perhaps this is the madness the morality officers speak of during the compulsory pro-abstinence seminars they lead. I whimper at the thought even as I continue gyrating my center against Kameer’s hand.

He lowers his face to my neck and places a soft kiss on my pulse point, then proceeds to run his lips over my flesh, leaving a tantalizing trail of heat that scorches me from head to toe.

I’m feverish with need and before I realize what I’m doing, my hand brushes over the massive bulge in the Darrvason’s pants.

Oh, God. Oh no.

I quickly retract my hand and try to scoot away from Kameer, but he increases the pressure on my crotch, effectively pinning me to the wall.

He emits a pleased growl. “You may touch me there whenever you like, my eager mate.”

“I’m not eager. It was an accident.” But we both know I’m lying. We both know I’m overwhelmed with urges I don’t quite understand, urges that are making me do things I’ve never done before.

He inhales deeply, then grins. “I beg to differ. You are exceptionally eager. Star Gods, the scent of your arousal is stealing my sanity. I fear that when the time to claim you comes, I won’t manage any gentleness.”

Though his words ought to frighten me, I quiver at the thought of him being rough as he mates with me. Will he hold me down and plunge his thick cocks into my pussy? One after the other? I swallow hard as this idea causes a lewd image to pop into my head, even though I can’t claim to know what his appendages look like.

“You’re wearing too many clothes, pretty human.” He stands with me in his arms. “So am I.”

I should struggle. I should thrash around and try to escape his hold, but instead I tremble with desire as he carries me to the bed and sets me down carefully. I watch with bated breath as he removes my slippers and fuzzy socks. His gaze fixes on my bare feet, and he touches my toes with an almost reverent gleam in his eyes.

“You have the tiniest feet and toes I’ve ever seen on a bipedal creature. I find them… pleasing to look at.” He strokes the tips of my toes, and I instinctively jerk my feet away.

“Hey, that tickles.”

He grasps my ankles and forces my legs back in place. Then he peers at the waistband of my pajamas. My pulse skitters. Is he truly about to remove my clothing?

His six-fingered hands wander up my thighs in a teasing caress, until he reaches the waistband of my pajamas. But rather than pull my pajama pants down, he slips a hand inside, ventures beneath my panties, and brushes the seam of my nether lips.

Oh God .

Sensation zings through me, and my center lurches upward.

His bare fingers touching my bare pussy feels so very right, even though there’s a little voice in the back of my head whispering that I shouldn’t so easily surrender.

His eyes darken with what I suspect is lust, and his nostrils flare. As he shifts two, or perhaps three, fingers past my intimate folds and into my molten core, his sudden growl vibrates through me.

I gasp and part my thighs wider, unable to draw in a full breath. My head spins as the waves of pulsating heat keep coming, and when his thumb brushes over an especially sensitive part of my nether area, reality momentarily fragments. I clamp my eyes shut, lift my hips, and release a keening moan.

“Just as I suspected. So very slick and nicely swollen.” He withdraws his hand from my pants, and as I try to catch my breath, I open my eyes to see what he’s planning next. Surely he won’t just leave me in this desperate state of wanting.

“ Please .” I’m so ashamed by the plea that escapes my mouth that I cringe, wishing I could take it back.

His gaze brims with victory as he rises to his feet. “Stand up, pretty female. Stand up so I can more easily undress you.” When I hesitate, he adds, “Be obedient and do as I say.”