Cathian Read online

  He hesitated. “It’s an ache that never stops.”

  She returned her focus back to his face. “You’ve never asked to enter me after that first day.”

  “There is no release for me yet, but soon it will be possible. I’m almost ready. I’m grateful the ship will dock with us soon. I’ve been afraid since last night that I’d hit the last cycle of my heat before they arrived.”

  “What happens when those women from your planet get here?”

  “I will sniff them, decide by instinct which one will do, and then she will be restrained in here.” A frown marred his lips. “Don’t worry. You’ll be put on a shuttle to be flown to a space port immediately after they arrive. You will be safe from me.”

  “Safe?”

  He dropped his gaze to the bedspread. “Yes.”

  “Cathian? Please look at me.”

  He had a grim expression when he stared at her. “I’m going to want you. You’re inside my blood, Nara. When the urge to release comes, it’s your body I’m going to want under me.”

  His answer stunned her, but then she warmed inside at the omission. “I could―”

  “No,” he cut her off. “You can’t.”

  “You don’t know what I was about to say.”

  “Were you going to offer to stay here with me to complete the cycle?”

  “Yes.”

  He moved on the bed, scooted off the end, and stood to his full height of six-foot-four. His muscles tensed as he faced her, the lines of them down his stomach rolling as he breathed. He took steps to close the distance between them. Nara tilted her chin up to keep their gazes connected.

  “Do you see how much bigger I am than you?”

  He was two of her, at least in body mass. “Yes.”

  “I will lose all control once I’m inside a female body, when I’m ready to release my seed. It’s the heat. I’ll…” He cleared his throat. “Do you know why they restrain the women? It must be that way for her safety. Males become aggressive if the females attempt to escape from them. Some have died by accident at the hands of a male if she tried to get away. I’ll fuck until my knees collapse and every drop of the seed my body has stored has been released inside a female.”

  Nara had no words. It sounded as barbaric as he’d once mentioned.

  His hand slowly reached up and cupped her cheek gently. “I’m afraid I’ll hurt you. Tryleskian females enjoy the rough sex, and there is a chemical inside male sperm that creates an aphrodisiac, one that makes the shot my crew gave you feel tame in comparison. That’s assuming your body reacts in the right way. It’s never been tested with humans. I checked.”

  She let that sink in. “You did? Why?”

  He glanced away before peering deeply into her eyes. “I wanted to know if it would be safe.”

  “You thought about asking me to finish your heat, didn’t you?”

  “Yes. I had hoped to discover success stories. That’s not what I found. It’s too dangerous, Nara. I won’t risk your life. Males never remember the height of their heat or what they do. The pain is too intense and the instincts too great. You’ll be dealing with…” Ae swallowed. “An out-of-control male bent on taking a woman until he collapses. It would be fucking, Nara. Not making love.”

  Just hearing Cathian saying that graphic word gave her a mental image of him entering her from behind, Nara tied down, and her body responded to that erotic image.

  She saw his nostrils flare and he softly purred.

  “You’re starting to torture me, Nara. I smell you—and I want.” He licked his lips. “Climb on the bed now.”

  Nara took off the towel and inched around the sexy male. She turned and sat on the edge of the mattress, spreading her thighs. Five days before, she’d have never done something so wantonly, but now she eagerly exposed her pussy to his view.

  Cathian dropped to his knees and reached for her thighs. She loved when he purred, the way he did as he lowered his face to inhale her turned-on scent.

  “Cathian?”

  He glanced up. “What, Nara?”

  “Can you enter me? I mean, just once? I want to feel you inside me.”

  He gaped at her. She could clearly identify his shock at her request.

  “I know you can’t come yet; I just want to know how it would feel.”

  He shook his head and straightened, staring into her eyes. “No. It will bring on the last cycle faster. I’m too close. The urge to be inside you grows stronger every day, and I wouldn’t trust myself this close to the end of my heat.”

  It hurt that he denied her. Instead, some faceless woman would know the sensation of Cathian fully taking her body.

  She lowered her chin, breaking eye contact, and lay back. She turned her head away to stare at the wall across the room, to make it impossible for her to see him.

  “I understand,” she whispered.

  He didn’t touch her. Seconds ticked by, the room unusually quiet.

  “Nara?”

  “What?”

  “I want to. If you knew how strong the urge is to bury my shaft deep inside you, you wouldn’t be disappointed.”

  It wasn’t sexual disappointment she felt. It was the pain of rejection. But she’d never admit that to him. “It’s okay.”

  Time passed and still she waited, but he didn’t touch her. Curiosity finally forced her to look at him.

  Cathian remained on his knees, watching her with an intense stare. He gripped her thighs, spread them wider—and then, to her surprise, moved his hips between her parted knees.

  His cock brushed her pussy and his hands curled around the backs of her thighs, lifting them up his body to his ribs. He tugged until her ass hung off the edge of the bed.

  “Just once, briefly,” he rasped. “For us both. I long to feel you with more than my tongue and fingers.”

  He shifted his hips into position and the blunt tip of his thick cock bumped against the slick entrance of her pussy. He pressed against her more, slowly stretching her vaginal walls as he entered. Nara gripped his wrists just for something to cling to as he slid into her deeper. Pleasure at feeling his cock rubbing sensitive nerves had her biting her lip hard to keep her from asking for more.

  Cathian’s beautiful eyes closed and his head tipped back as he fully seated himself inside her welcoming body. It was a very snug fit. Nara couldn’t look away from the pained expression that twisted his handsome features. Her hold on him tightened.

  “Are you all right?”

  “You’re very tight, so hot and wet,” he groaned. “I need to get out of you before I lose control.”

  She wiggled her ass, moving him inside her, and both of them moaned. His entire body tensed, his hold on her thighs tightened to near bruising, and then Nara did it again. She rolled her hips, loving the full, sensual feel of having his cock buried deep inside her pussy. She continued to move, fucking him slowly with the few inches his hold gave her to move against his strong body.

  Sweat beaded his brow and his eyes squeezed shut as he started to growl and pant. Nara bucked on his cock, moaning at the ecstasy even the limited motion gave her.

  “Nara, stop,” he rasped.

  “Please,” she whispered. “Just fuck me a little. Move.”

  He lowered his head and his exotic golden eyes opened. “You want to know what it would really be like? I could lose control—it could bring on the end of my heat.”

  “Please? I’m willing to risk it, Cathian.”

  “You don’t understand how rough I’ll get. I’m being extremely gentle with you right now…”

  “Please!” She held his stare, not looking away.

  He snarled and yanked his hips back, withdrawing from her body abruptly.

  Nara cried out in protest, ready to orgasm at that point. She didn’t have time to voice her feelings because his hands slid to her hips. Nara gasped as the strong male flipped her onto her stomach and pushed her forward against the edge of the bed, bending her over it.

  “You want me?”<
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  She turned her head to stare at Cathian. Inches separated their bodies where he knelt behind her. “Yes.”

  “I’m sorry if this goes wrong.”

  “I’m sure it will be fi―”

  Cathian entered her from behind, his cock driving into her pussy with one powerful thrust of his hips that pressed tight to her ass and pinned her firmly against the edge of the mattress. His hands left her body to grip her wrists, jerking them over her head and shoving them together. He adjusted his hold until his fingers shackled both wrists together, and then his free hand gripped her hip.

  “I will try to remain in control.”

  She opened her mouth to tell him she believed he wouldn’t hurt her, but then he started to fuck her, fast and deep.

  Nara cried out in rapture as his thick, hard cock hammered her. Pleasure turned into pure bliss as she climaxed.

  Cathian panted and stilled as her vaginal muscles clamped around his cock and she convulsed around him. He slowly withdrew from her pussy, and then collapsed over her. His hold on her wrist eased but he didn’t let her go. Nara lay there trying to catch her breath, enjoying the feel of him pinning her down.

  “Imagine hours of that,” he rasped.

  “I could take it.”

  He growled then released her as he straightened, backing away. “That was me being gentle. Roll over now and spread open for me. I need to feed.”

  She had to force her relaxed, limp body to move. It took a lot of effort, but she eventually ended up on her back. His strong hands lifted her legs and he hooked them over his shoulders before his face lowered. Nara smiled when he licked her, avoiding her clit.

  He finally homed in on her clit, teasing her with his tongue to turn her on until she wanted to beg him to fuck her again. Instead, his lips sealed over the bundle of nerves and he sucked until an orgasm gripped her.

  He released her with his mouth as he lapped up her release.

  Time blurred as he fed from her, giving her ecstasy until he’d finally had enough. He shifted her legs, bent them up to her chest, and then collapsed on the bed next to her, rolling her onto her side. His muscular body curled around her. She loved it when he spooned her inside his tight embrace.

  “The Tryleskian transport shuttle will arrive at the end of the sleep rotation. It will be goodbye.” His arms tightened. “I will miss you very much.”

  Pain started in her chest and radiated outward. She clung to him. “It doesn’t have to be that way.”

  “It does. You have told me about your shuttle on Frodder Planet, and you need to retrieve it before it’s sold. Your crew members will meet you there if they were able to escape, and you will once again be free to be a trader.”

  Reality could be a horrible thing, but Nara knew he was right. She had a life she needed to get back to. She’d worked hard for a year and a half to make a career that earned her a decent living. It could be dangerous though, too, and she had already been arrested once. Of course, she’d learned to double-check to make sure her mechanic did as told, to prevent that from happening again in the future.

  “Perhaps we’ll meet again.”

  She doubted it. Cathian traveled great distances at times. She couldn’t exactly chase after him in her smaller shuttle and find jobs at the same time to pay her crew.

  “I hope so.” She fought tears, not sure how someone could mean so much to her in five short days. But it happened. She lived and breathed the man behind her. He’d become everything to her. “I want to see you again.”

  “It was a bad time to go into heat, but I’m glad it happened. I never would have met you otherwise.”

  “I could stay until you’re out of heat.” She turned her head to peer into his exotic eyes. She could stare into them all day. “You’re not going to hurt me.”

  “I won’t risk it, Nara.”

  “It’s my body, and I’m the one offering to be tied down.” She smiled to soften her words. “That was pretty amazing while you were inside me. The idea of you doing that to me for hours doesn’t sound bad.”

  “I would never forgive myself if I hurt you. I won’t be in control. I know you don’t understand, since humans are always in command of their bodies, but I’m not of your race. The urge overcomes everything when it begins. I’m an adult male, and I’ve survived many heat cycles. I remember being led to a female and the next thing I knew, I wake a day later in bed.”

  “Really?” She couldn’t imagine.

  He nodded. “Exhaustion afterward can last for up to twenty-four hours. I hear it is worse for the females. I’m not life-locked with one, obviously. I don’t see the females afterward, since we’re only together for the heat. If it could wipe me out, it must be extreme for them.”

  “Tell me more about being life-locked.”

  He frowned.

  “Please?”

  “It is a lifelong binding, when a couple joins together. Some alien races call it mating. They are inseparable until one dies, and usually the other follows closely behind. It is rare for a long-term couple to part and survive. I told you my parents are miserable. They can’t get away from each other or they risk death.”

  “That could really kill them?”

  He nodded. “It would be as though half your soul has left you, half your body ground to a halt. They lose their appetite, the ability to feel pleasure, since the only one they can get aroused for is no longer there, and there is no reason to live any longer.”

  “That sounds beautiful.”

  He snorted, shook his head, but then grinned. “Humans are strange.”

  “I mean the bond in general. Being the other half of someone’s soul and being that dependent on each other.”

  “Are you forgetting what I’ve said about my parents? They aren’t happy. They exist in two healthy bodies. They live to make each other miserable unless they are in bed. That’s the only time they get alone. During sex.”

  “They don’t love each other though. You said it was a political thing, right?”

  “Yes. They are very different and share no common interests beyond my father wanting her to be the mother of his children, and her enjoying the status.”

  “What about love matches? I bet those relationships are spectacular when they life-lock.”

  “I’ve never met a Tryleskian pair that life-locked for love.”

  “Never?” That surprised her.

  He shook his head. “I told you what my planet is like. The males deem beauty and the ability to bear children as top priorities. The females are looking for comfortable, pampered lives where others envy their statuses.”

  “You’re telling me no men and women meet and fall in love? That’s hard to believe.”

  He hesitated. “Our women don’t work. They are pampered in homes with the children. Their lives revolve around shopping, buying comfort items they enjoy, and raising children. Once the female children reach adulthood, it’s about finding a male with whom to life-lock. They are kept away from all males otherwise. A female who has sex outside of a life-lock would be less appealing to potential males of high status. There’s no opportunity for the couples to meet until life-lock arrangements have been made.”

  “Wow.”

  It was the best thing she could think to say. Did Tryleskians not allow women to work? It sounded like a very male-dominated planet. The fact that women remained virgins while the men probably didn’t offended her a little. Then again, maybe they were virgins too, since women weren’t allowed to have sex until they life-locked.

  “Imagine if your parents had liked each other though and got along.”

  He seemed to think about it. “My childhood would have been much happier. Speaking about childhoods, you don’t talk of yours. What are your parents like?”

  “They were happy together but they passed away.”

  “I’m sorry. Were you a child or an adult?”

  “I lost them when I was eighteen. I’d moved out to live on my own and they began traveling. They wanted to see
more of the planet. There was a train accident. Dad died instantly but mom lasted two days in the hospital before she succumbed to her injuries.”

  “That must have been difficult, but at least you weren’t alone. I can’t imagine the grief you must have felt.”

  “I was alone. And it was very difficult.”

  “Where are your littermates?”

  “My what?”

  He cleared his throat. “Siblings. I apologize. I read that humans don’t give birth to litters. Just single births. You must have many.”

  “No. It’s just me.”

  “That’s impossible!”

  “Earth is overpopulated, and you need permission to have a child. They usually only allow one per couple.”

  “On Tryleskian, I have many littermates.”

  “How many babies are born at once from a woman?”

  “Two to five,” he stated matter-of-factly. “Every three years, more of us were born, until my mother reached the age she could no longer conceive and my father’s heat faded.”

  “Every three years…as in when your father went into heat?”

  He chuckled. “Yes. Our planet thrives on life. It is the only time the male sperm is able to bring forth life inside a female.”

  “How many were born with you?”

  “We were large male infants, so only three.”

  “Do they resemble you?”

  He nodded. “We all look very similar.”

  “Right.” She grew silent, thinking about how big his family must be.

  “But you’re alone.” He gave her a sad look.

  “I have my crewmates.”

  “One of whom lied to you by not fixing a broken part, and it resulted in your arrest.” He nuzzled her head with his cheek. “I’ll be in the Votor section in four months. That’s close to Earth. I’d like to meet you there, Nara. I don’t want our parting to be the end.”

  She grinned. He wanted to see her again. That meant goodbye wouldn’t be forever. It made her feel a lot better; she felt heartsick about having to leave him. “I’d love that.”

  “Good. I have thought a lot about it,” he softly admitted. “I just didn’t feel right asking you because we’d have no future if you had to return to your family on Earth at some point. None of my travels take me there.”