Chapter 5

Chapter

Five

T he ride home is easier. 99 keeps a slower pace, casually moving us across the flat prairie between the settlement and back to the capital. The sky is vibrant with pink wisps, making the twigs that stick up out of the grass seem out of place.

The peacefulness makes me relax into 99, overcome with needing to be closer. He reaches down and pats the top of my hand, smoothing it like he feels the same way after the surprisingly pleasant afternoon.

The fallen monuments scatter the landscape ahead, the size of each piece greater than any of the statues on Cosima, the largest almost twice the size of the houses in the village we just came from.

99 points again, as if asking if I would like to see them.

"Yes, please!"

He says something into his wrist, likely for our guards to follow, and then banks our hover bike in that direction.

We skim down the side of each stone, close enough to reach out and touch. The surface is porous, streaky from weather damage and discolored from moss. It blooms in grey patches that creep outward in circular patterns.

"Have you seen these in the books Cosima keeps?"

"No, they are likely in some of the forbidden book sections in the Estate," I reply into the side of his helmet.

I love that he doesn't assume I do not know things, even on his own world. 99 always holds space for my expertise. Even Allister remarked on how 99 spoke of such. Thinking about it now makes me smile again, but I wonder what else he may have said, given their communication is so limited.

"I told him of your work in the Estate but also that you are beautiful and so formidable, you blew me out of August's cargo hull," 99 says, picking up on my internal ramblings.

"You didn't!"

"I did, Priestess. I hoped it would stop him from asking us to come visit, but it made it worse." His tone is affectionate and almost prideful, like he is amused that I was able to do that to him.

"Do not worry, 99th Commander, you are safe. I won't harm you again." I laugh.

He shakes his head and slows us enough for me to safely touch the stone without scraping my skin.

"These stood during the time before the war with First Son and fell when the world was broken into three," he informs, leaning his helmet to the side for me to hear him.

This simple, little detour means so much. We could have easily kept whizzing by toward our final destination, but he wanted to show me this ancient site of worship, so different from the temple I have been avoiding. Another look on how priestesses who lived here in the times of old may have worshiped or prayed to this statue.

99 takes care of me in ways I find myself almost missing if I am not paying attention to his intent. He brought us here and did not drive the point into me forcefully. A humble offering, to either see his line of thinking or just enjoy the view without any pressure.

I can feel 99 lean back into me a little like he is enjoying the ride, still alert and shoulders squared but calmer. Now that we are merely weaving between the massive stones at a walking pace, I can gently hold on, my palms flat against his stomach.

When his core muscles flex, shifting to keep us stable for a slight turn, I can picture exactly what that looks like, the memory of other times I have seen his stomach flex to adjust his angle.

I scoot my pelvis a little closer and clench my legs against him, currently running the risk of melting off the hover bike from memories that won't stop replaying.

I am even more aware of how widely spread my legs are, touching every inch possible of his thighs. The rumbling vibrations from the hover bike suddenly become more noticeable, and I roll my hips, planting myself forward to seek it out.

He glances over his shoulder, sensing the sudden shift between us and the harder grip on his legs. Sudden it may be, but when he is sweet like this and after so many days without, I need him.

In our current position, touching him the way I want to would be easy without the guards noticing, and the thrill of them being just behind makes up my mind for me.

I smoosh my breasts against his back and run my palm down the armor of his stomach.

Ugh, he smells so good.

He straightens in surprise and tries to glance back at me again, the confusion written all over his body. But then his helmet tilts down and watches my hand slip down to his pelvis, any question about my intentions answered.

The hover bike sways when I caress the inside of his thigh, seeking out the full length of him.

"I wish the guards were not with us." My fingertips brush against his already hard cock. I immediately encompass the girth and stroke him slowly through his pants.

We only travel a few more feet before he switches off a button that powers down the engine.

"Hop off," he commands.

"Are you certain?" I slowly stroke him from behind as the hover bike settles down into the grass.

"Now." He places a hand over mine, stilling it.

I reluctantly obey and dismount onto the twiggy ground.

He swings his leg over and stares down at me, the rise and fall of his chest plate so labored it almost touches my chin.

Without another word, he marches toward my guards parked just behind us. This time as he speaks to them, he looks more forceful with his instructions, his posture like he is almost angry as they nod.

When he stalks back to me, he looks so powerful, my head feels light and I sway, a little intimidated.

"Tell me why I shouldn't throw you down in the grass right now and take you for doing that while I was driving?" He takes a seat on the hover bike's bench and adjusts the obvious bulge in his pants.

"I don't think my guards would appreciate it." I laugh. "And I didn't intend for you to stop us all. I just?—"

"You just what? Thought you could tease me like that and nothing would happen?"

I give him a wicked smile and send images of stroking his cock and making him come while he drives to prove exactly what I thought would happen.

He crosses his arms with a shake of his head. "I told them you needed privacy to pray. They will be up ahead."

"Privacy to pray?"

He nods.

I watch as they start their hover bikes back up and ride off in unison, leaving me completely alone with 99.

Oh. Oh.

"That was very kind of you," I praise and slink down to my knees, with no intention of actually praying. My mind is set on other things I would rather do here.

He says nothing, just watches me a few paces away, firmly planted on the hover bike, visor trained to my movements.

"I will be just a moment." I angle myself in the rough grass, arching my back in an exaggerated curve.

"I can wait." He almost growls at the sight of my very unprayerlike pose.

I wiggle a few more times for him, teasing and watching his response. His hand runs up and down the straining fabric of his pants when I peek at him from my downward position.

"Earlier, in our room, you said you had been thinking about me all day?"

His hand stills and he slowly nods.

"Will you tell me what you thought about?"

"I thought about fucking you, Priestess," he answers bluntly.

"No, I mean, will you tell me . . . more?" I laugh and sit up with my feet tucked under me.

"I could show you."

"No. I want to hear your voice, 99," I confess.

"I thought of your mouth on me. The way you look when you take my cock between your lips."

I stare into his visor as my breathing shallows and sends a chill over my skin with each inhale. I have only taken him in my mouth a few times, and I am happy to know he likes the way my face looks when I do because his expression is also one of my favorite things to elicit. Just thinking about it now, remembering the whimpering moans I withdrew from him last time, makes heat bloom in my core.

"What else?" I say, feeling so needy I start to crawl toward him.

He observes my slow approach in silence for a long time before answering, "I thought of throwing you over my shoulder and fucking you in the council room instead of meeting with the lord general."

I bring myself right up between his widely spread legs, ignoring the little sticks poking at my knees, never taking my eyes off his visor. "I'm listening."

"I wanted to bend you over . . ." His voice is lower and breathy now as he looks down at me.

I pull at the ties of his pants, more difficult with the taut pull of fabric.

He shifts his hips as I work to free him, until his cock finally bobs out of the constraints, standing upright.

I trail a finger down the side where a predominant vein dances, then wrap my hand around the scorching base—he is thick and perfect here.

His breath hitches through gritted teeth and his hips jerk in response to my touch.

"Continue." I bite my lip to hide just how turned on it makes me to see him like this, clothed in his powerful Viathan armor, helmet slanted down to watch me. The only part of him free and exposed is his impossibly stiff cock begging for my full attention.

And that's exactly what I intend to give.

He breath hitches in a sharp inhale through his teeth as I stroke him agonizingly slow. The velvety skin of his shaft responds in a surge of heat to the firm pump of my hand.

The thought of tasting him becomes a coiling need, and even his scent here, masculine and musky, makes me wet. If I don't take him in my mouth soon, the fire that's building between my legs will overtake me.

"Let me show you," he begs.

"No, keep talking," I counter and lick a slow line from the base upward.

He jumps slightly, his hand gripping the leather of the bench on either side.

When I reach the spot I know is sensitive for him, where his shaft meets the full head, a bead of cum is already weeping from the tip. I eagerly lick it, explicitly swiping it across the surface of my tongue while looking up at him.

"I thought of exactly this," he groans.

Encouraged, I swirl my tongue around the broad head, slicking a path for my palm to stroke down to the hilt. I'm determined to make him lose control, now that I know exactly what he likes.

"Ferren." The sound he makes is guttural.

"Ferren?" I run my tongue down his shaft. "So very informal in this place of worship."

"Priestess . . . Ferren."

I tongue the underside, kissing and nipping up the length. "Yes, Commander?"

"You are undoing me." He sounds desperate, his deep voice almost pleading for me to stop teasing him. I am bowed on bent knees, as if in worship, but I am in total control of his pleasure and he knows it.

I close my lips in a tight ring and draw down, his width pulling at the corners of my mouth. I could never take him fully this way, so I use one hand to stroke down in tandem to reach the base that does not fit.

I suck my cheeks in and keep them hollow, wanting to pull him tighter. His hand goes to the back of my neck to gently guide me.

When the strain is too much, I pause and lick the tip of his head as I stroke him, watching his visor never leave its focus on me.

"Priestess . . . Stay still for a moment."

I stare up at him, trying to withdraw his cock from my mouth, thinking there is something wrong, but his hand stills on my neck, making me stay in place.

"Wider," he commands.

I obey and open my mouth with him rested inside.

"You look so pretty like that."

I can see my reflection in his visor, his thick cock sitting on my tongue, my eyes watery, face flushed and dazed with lust for him. I smile around it when I feel his small thrusts.

I don't wait for him to tell me to continue, now taking him as deep as I can go.

He slams his clenched fist into the leather of the bench, curses, and then moans my name. His head dips back involuntarily, hissing through gritted teeth, about to lose himself.

I want to tell him I like the way he looks when we do this too, his thrusts upward to meet my mouth, how he almost chokes me when I do not have my hand on him to stop the intrusion.

But I can't say those things aloud when my mouth is full of him, so I send it through our tether. He almost lifts off the bench when I send images of touching myself while I take him deep in my throat.

"Fuck, Priestess, stop, you're going to make me come."

99 has never finished in my mouth. He is far too impatient, normally stopping me just before to make me come or to sink his cock inside me to finish.

I feel him try to withdraw himself to take control, to fuck me roughly into the ground, but I steel my hand at his hip, letting him know I have no intention of relinquishing power.

I withdraw for just a moment. "Then come, Commander." I kiss his tip.

He makes a growling sound, giving into my determination as his grip on the back of my neck tightens. I know he would never force me forward, would not push me to my limits, but he is holding me firmly in place, so I do not withdraw as he fucks upward to meet my lips.

When I flutter my eyes back up to his mask, I feel his whole back quake and my mouth is flooded with the taste of his release. I try to keep my eyes on him, but they water as he thrusts in sync with my bobbing head.

I swallow around his cock, but more fills my mouth and runs out the sides, slicking the base as I continue to stroke the hard flesh.

He moans deeply one last time, an echo against the sacred monuments around us.

When his breath evens out, I lick him clean until his shoulders slump in exhaustion. The hand behind my head moves to cup my jaw, his thumb running over my swollen lips as he did when we were in our chambers this morning.

I rub my thighs together, feeling how slick I am. The moment I do, 99 notices that little movement and refocuses, snapping out of his euphoric haze. He is always so attentive to my pleasure, so I know he will not want to start traveling again until I've come at least once.

He adjusts himself, fastening his pants in silence but still locked on me like a target to devour.

"Sit." He pats his thigh and maneuvers his hips in a way that shouldn't be as sexy as it is.

When I stand and reach under the skirt of my dress, pulling my undergarments off over my boots, he groans.

"What are you doing to me, Priestess?" He sounds like he's in pain.

"I already did what I wanted to do to you, Commander." I smile and run my hand up, exposing my thigh, spreading my legs while sitting on one side of him.

His hand brushes against my hip, holding me still as he watches me.

I run my finger down the seam of my pussy, shocked at how wet I made myself doing that to 99. It's as if I've already come and am now feeling the slick aftermath of it.

My core squeezes when I run my finger down the side of my clit, and I can't stop my sudden hissing breath in response. The intense heat of it makes it feel swollen and achy, the only relief rubbing slow circles against the tender flesh. I melt into his solid form, failing at keeping my own composure.

He is perfectly still, watching me take my pleasure in front of him.

My entrance clamps down on nothing, wanting to be filled, but I need to chase a fast and quick orgasm more than anything. My whole body feels tingly as I gasp, the small hairs on my thighs standing on their own as electric shivers run across my skin.

When I moan and throw my head back into his shoulder, he shifts to remove his glove.

"You think you can show me that pretty cunt and I won't want to touch you?" His fingers travel up my thigh so slowly I want to scream.

He makes no move to stop me, seeking only to join in by circling my channel with the tips of his two fingers before he sinks them inside. They slide in with ease all the way down to the start of his palm, and when he pulls out, they are slick and shiny with evidence of how much my body wants this.

When he plunges in again, he keeps them inside, curved and hooked with smaller movements, the muscles squeezing hard around the stretching of his grip.

My breasts shake from how vigorously I am touching myself now, my nipples peaked and brushing against my dress.

My core burns and constricts, my hips thrusting on their own to steal more friction from his thick fingers. And with a final gasp, my head falls back against his strong shoulder as everything breaks in me. I moan his name and ride his fingers, trying desperately to keep the same rhythm of my own. I lose myself to the overwhelming pleasure that blooms throughout my whole body, cradled safely against 99.

I let my hand fall to my side, chasing away the lightheaded aftershocks with deep, exaggerated breaths.

I know after a moment of collecting myself that it's not enough.

99's legs are still widely spread, his cock hard and stretching the front of his pants again, and without hesitation, I turn myself, using his shoulders as a brace.

He groans in approval of my salacious desire for more and holds my waist as I straddle him, placing a bare knee on either side and pushing myself down against him in one swift movement.

"Need you, Ferren." He roughly removes his cock, lining it up with one hand between us.

I nod frantically, panting, letting him know I am ready, that I need him just as desperately.

We both moan at the quick entry, the familiar, sharp pinch not present this time.

His thick cock needs little guidance or angle adjustment to fill me perfectly in this position.

I rise, holding onto his shoulders, and sink down, rolling my hips into his lap.

"I will bring you to these monuments everyday if you wish, as long as you keep riding me like that," 99 groans.

I shimmy closer until I can rub my clit against the armor of his stomach on each descending thrust.

It's quick and rough and we are both desperate to fall apart together. When I clamp down on him, he groans low in his throat and wraps both of his arms around me in a crushing hug.

Then he is fucking up into me as my walls get tighter and tighter, pulling him in.

My breath fogs his visor where our foreheads touch, and I cling to him, trying to keep the same rhythm.

He waits until the walls of my pussy constrict with my climax before he starts bouncing me down into his lap with his caging arms around me. With a warm burst, cum surges inside, rendering me languid as the last tremors run through.

We melt into each other in a breathless, sticky mess until our heart rates steady. He is still partially inside me and grunts as another aftershock makes me clench around him briefly.

"Can we ride home like this?" I tease.

He laughs and pulls at the bottom of his helmet to kiss me. I lean in, trying to stop smiling and focus on the kiss, but he can't stop smiling either.