Feral Series V: Feral Foretaste Read online

  "Just what do you want me to accept?” I'll save lovely terms of endearment like asshole for when I don't care if I get an answer.

  He locked his purple eyes on my gaze and cocked his head slightly. “Once you look deeply inside yourself you'll know."

  Just when I think I'm free of Goro's philosophical crap it slings around to smack me upside the head like a boomerang. I have such a stupid little lab rat brain for not seeing that one coming.

  "He blames himself for the genetic changes to the !Dakos,” Olwan added.

  Who? “What are you talking about?"

  "Vult, our geneticist. Without his specifications for nanite function, the !Dakos might be extinct by now. We praise him for what he refuses to believe."

  And I'm supposed to do what with that revelation?

  "It is only fitting Vult be awarded the first mate given his sacrifice."

  Geesh. Pour on the sap. And do I have to ask? “What sacrifice?"

  One of Olwan's ebony eyebrows arched. “It's hard to explain what happens when a sage becomes a warrior. But that is the way things went for each of the Five Fathers. All of us were scientists. All became warriors when our peers bio-engineered a crop to feed the hungry !Dakos on our home world. The genetic changes created an allergy and more mutations. Now we struggle to keep our !Dako genes as pure as possible. Without Vult, we would have lost more than what we have. His hope is to conserve whatever possible of our genome. We appreciate all he does. He is our greatest hero. To most of us. Dissension begins to quake our warrior ranks. Younger generations balk at waiting to mate. Balk at preserving what makes us !Dako."

  Now there's an interesting thought. “So, you're telling me !Dakos really don't want to be cyborgs?” Weird thought after they scoured the universe searching for whatever they wanted. Taking whatever they chose.

  Olwan wagged his stoic Classical features. “We're surviving. Nothing more. Not until you arrived. And with your arrival, Anwa awarded you the most worthy !Dako as a mate. I don't know what else to say to express our joy that Vult will at long last find some solace in his duty."

  His stare could have slice through me. Left me feeling a chill bleed from my body. But what could I do? Jump for joy over meeting some fate I had no control over? Just letting go to Goro's Destiny only meant I was destined for blindness.

  But Vult said he wouldn't permit me to lose my vision.

  Maybe I've been wrong about him.

  Maybe.

  "Is the problem you don't find Vult attractive?"

  Oh. My. God. This was worse than having a birds-and-the-bees discussion with my father. I mustered an eye roll and tried to act perturbed. But there was no way around denying the truth. “On my planet, males of his coloring are extremely popular.” The hair color and musculature alone could make me keel over. Did.

  "Then why do you fight what is obvious attraction between you both?"

  Hell, I don't know. Was it true attraction? Or pheromones? Either way, I could burn my bra if someone gave me a match. “I'm from a culture where men and women choose their mates. Both are in agreement to the match. Neither are told who they can mate. I suppose that is the underlying issue.” Admitting my fear of being blinded only seemed like whining. And wasn't it an obvious fear? Hell, they'd all heard that one anyway.

  His brow creased with thought. “His bonding with you is more sacred than his vows to the !Dako people. I urge you to discuss this with him. He is my closest friend. And I want nothing more than his happiness. He is deserving, Goddess.” The towering black-haired warrior stepped away in a blur of blackness. Like the dense swath of darkness beyond the cool glassy barrier protecting me from death in the cold harshness of space.

  But the damned title Goddess whirled around me like a heckling shadow. I don't want to be a goddess. I want to be a biologist. One who felt safe. Not because she had a crazy power she just learned about. No. Because a whacked out upside-down world landed in her lap. Throw in her enormous guard dog with the body that could drop an entire population's females to their knees just upon sight alone and nothing made sense. Would anything ever make sense again?

  The space station rotated enough to allow a sliver of orange-red sun to peek beyond the edge of the station's center.

  Was Vult as honorable as Olwan claimed? He saved his people from extinction just like I wanted to save Earth's wildlife. He protected me. He even tried to push me away when his pheromones turned me on to him. Embarrassingly or not. I suppose I'd never know until his word was put on the line. Until he found a way to change my future and revealed a plan to save his people aside from cleansing the !Dako home world.

  I could believe him then.

  I could believe Olwan's assertions then too.

  What felt like a day passed with little or no interaction with Olwan. Anwa materialized in her sparkling light form. Apparently to see if speaking to me might alleviate some of my anxiety. But who could talk to the force behind the squeaky rat wheel? Mate. Mate. Mate was all she spoke of. If not mating, the discussion turned to cleansing. Thankfully, my clipped replies sent the computer's spirit back to wherever it lurked.

  Spirit? Computers didn't have spirits.

  But cyborgs might. Too bad I didn't feel big honking muscles and enormous cock was going to save my ass in the end. It might make getting there all the more easier. Yes. God. What would sleeping next to Vult feel like?

  Damn pheromones. Or nanites. Or whatever made me fantasize about every last bad-ass inch of his bad-boy muscled length, hot, hard, wrapped around me. I was so in trouble.

  And then I was free to return to my quarters.

  Right across from my bad-ass’ silver door.

  Was he inside? Ranting? Pacing? Absolutely at peace in his realm? Just what I'd expect. No qualms with life. Unlike me and my situation.

  His door hissed, sliding.

  Holy shit. He laid on his bed in his birthday suit, on his gut, the soles of those big feet of his thrust toward me, his legs parted. Totally relaxed. With the most divine bulge tucked beneath the base of the mounds of his iron ass. Those had to be the softest balls in the universe.

  The smoky smell of bacon hit my olfactory nerves.

  My mouth salivated.

  My fingers itched to test my theory by touching the red flesh of his sac.

  His body snapped. He shoved up into a cobra curl and glared over his shoulder at me.

  Only for an instant. Just long enough to make me wish I'd never been born.

  He reached behind himself, yanking a silver blanket over his ass, and twisted until he sat upright with his feet on the bare silver floor. “Cassie,” he asked more than stated.

  And what was this new leafy twig of a tattoo climbing up his chest and down his arms? Amazing. Beautiful. Like bamboo. Life, sprawled across his broad chiseled form.

  His biceps strained as if he struggled to hold the blanket in place.

  Was he embarrassed? I needed to say something. Anything to skirt the guilt from being caught in my little bout of voyeurism. Although, Anwa was guilty of opening his door. “I thought you wanted to chew me a new asshole?"

  His brow pinched. “Would a new orifice assist in your happiness aboard our vessel?"

  Lovely concern. So damned funny I had to gulp down a laugh. Or three. Might as well talk to him. After all, I'd pretty much made him look bad with that red extraterrestrial. “No. It's a saying on my planet. It's what happens when you're punished."

  He nodded slightly. “Come in, little one. You are in need of a new asshole."

  Maybe we needed to talk this out. Find a happy common ground. He was gorgeous. And when he kissed me... “Now, I take offense to the whole size and age thing. I'm pretty damned smart and anything but a spring chicken."

  One of his blond eyebrows arched.

  Oops. Another foreign metaphor. “I'm too old to be called young, Vult.” I stepped into his room enough so the door swooshed shut like a steel trap catching the lab rat.

  "You behaved carelessly today." />
  Okay. Maybe I did. Even if I could protect myself. I had no idea what I was walking into. “Yes. But I'm being treated like an idiot. I can think as much as you. Have you ever wondered if that's why I'm here? Maybe my non-!Dako thought process is what will change things for your people."

  "Come here, my huv'ria. I'm going to teach you about mates."

  His stoic mask melted into hunger.

  And my pounding heart didn't allow me to overlook his change in attitude. “What's a huv'ria?"

  "Come here, and I'll tell you.” He pointed at the floor before his feet.

  Not a smidgen of threat darkened the deep timbre of his voice. Just insistence. I could work with insistence. After all, Olwan insisted Vult was noble. And Vult damned sure topped the category of gorgeous. Mates. He called us mates. Fine. I took the five steps between us in good stride.

  He didn't have to look up very far to stare into my eyes with those silver orbs. “Do not touch me. It is important that you listen."

  Yes. No touch. This moment was significant. Monumental.

  "Do you see this picture crawling across my body?"

  "Tattoo.” I nodded.

  "You've done this to me."

  How? “But I don't own the tools to mark bodies."

  He sucked in a breath. “My nanites did this because of you."

  Me? “How so?"

  "We have mated. Now I carry your mark."

  What kind of mark equated to a winding scroll-like vine? “I don't understand. It's little more than a stylistic design. How does that relate to me?"

  "!Dako warriors are marked by their nanites in a way conveying a message through symbolism of their mates. This begins once a female is injected with a !Dako's sperm. I am yours now, Cassie. And you are my huv'ria."

  Okay. Just a little eye-opening information. Not so bad for the ass-reaming. “I'm listening. You were going to define that word for me."

  He exhaled until there was obviously nothing left for his lungs to squeeze out. “Huv'ria means soul. You are my soul."

  My heart sank in one fateful dive.

  His soul. What did that mean?

  "A warrior who loses his soul is worthless, Cassie. And I must insist you trust me to make decisions for you."

  Here comes the ass-reaming. “I understand."

  He just sat there, looking up at me.

  Waiting.

  "No more games, Cassie. I will be marked a failure if I lose you."

  If I could just touch his cheek. Just soothe the serious edge in his features.

  "No touching,” he warned without looking at my damned hand reaching for his jawline.

  "Well, what do you want me to do then?"

  He cocked his head slightly and flicked his gaze around a bit.

  Ignoring the issue.

  "We'll speak about this in the morning."

  Oh no we won't. Not after I got to see that perky ass and sexy scrotum. All cloaked in the scent of a delectable bacon haze. He said something simply beautiful. Along the line of I'm his soul. Well, time to tend to the soul. Maybe nurture a votive offering's flame. Tend to a soul's fire. I jerked off a boot.

  "What are you doing, huv'ria?"

  "If we're going to postpone our little discussion until morning, we can get to it more quickly if we sleep.” Side by side. Skin to skin. I tossed my other boot aside.

  "Cassie, I said no touching."

  Right. Nope. Not after Anwa opened the door onto a scene of mouthwatering perfection. I pulled my shirt over my head.

  Cold air kissed my skin.

  His fiery gaze promised I wouldn't be cold for long.

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  Chapter Seven

  Vult's throbbing arousal thrust into cool air as he released the blanket. Frigid air that sucked away the heat of a warrior. Yet, she mesmerized me beyond losing the erection. Breaking my no-touch rule would be bad. But I was reaching, brushing my fingertips along my huv'ria's hard ribs until I could slide my palms around the sleek velvet of her arching lower back.

  She hissed, her back bowing toward me.

  The sound of life-giving air in the vacuum of space. Was she the source? And what would life be if a warrior's soul bent to a his will? A soul was meant to teach a warrior patience. Respect. How to nurture life.

  Blood pounded in my veins as if to fill every cell with air in a desperate struggle to survive.

  Gods jest! To spend the rest of my life soul searching. To live each moment while she stared down at me, watching me search for every spot of my soul that made her hiss and moan. The hiss bringing me to life. Ensouling me. I leaned toward one pebbled burgundy nipple, pulling the sacred puckered mound to my lips.

  This was the blessed fountain from which our children would drink.

  Mine.

  Her feet gave, stepping her exquisite warm velvety nakedness between my knees, rubbing her soft firm thigh muscles against my inner thighs.

  Mine. I sucked the bead between my teeth.

  She gasped.

  The taut nub only brought my soul to its knees on my bed almost-straddling my lap where her moist heat dampened my legs.

  Her fingers thrust into my hair.

  She threw her head back, groaning.

  A soul should seem so pleased, thrusting into a warrior. Seeking to meld with his essence. Vying for dominance of his body.

  So sweet. I nibbled the delicate knot of flesh until she ground her hips into my ribs.

  "Vult!"

  If all !Dakos heard their souls speak with such demand, they'd never leave home. Never wander the universe searching for something to fill the void threatening to rip reason from their lives. But what would life be without aspirations? A quest? Purpose never descended upon me in such a rush of crazed desire. Now to show her how much I'd treasure my soul. I encircled her tiny waist with both hands and tossed her onto the bed.

  "Oh,” she barely gasped, looking up at me with warm brown eyes, reaching with those hands that could conjure life from the darkest places duty had driven my soul to hide inside. “I want to touch that perfect body, Vult."

  Oh yes. Sacred Seed. I'd plant seed inside my soul's fertile womb and leave it to sprout in the warm moist darkness. And in the not-so-distant future, I'd have a child to hold. A symbol of my wholeness, once again.

  How could I have earned such joy?

  "Vult!"

  Her thighs parted.

  Invitingly.

  She slid her palms down her ribs. Down to that vee formed by her splayed thighs. And slowly traced the juncture of her legs to her soul's entrance. Her gaze locked onto mine. “I want you here."

  My heart jolted into a gallop.

  My erection throbbed.

  If I touched her, I'd lose it all. Explode before I could gulp down one calming breath.

  "Vult,” she whined.

  "Let me calm myself first."

  Understanding flashed across her beautiful features. She rose, climbing behind me, pressing the heat of her curvaceous breasts against my back, sliding an arm beneath one of mine until her fingers covered my heart.

  Her soft lips fell upon my ear. “Kiss me."

  A chill skittered through every cell of my body.

  For a warrior to quiver with so much need! Gods, for just one kiss. I drew my mouth to her massaging lips, opened to the damp heat concealing the thrusts of her wandering tongue.

  Her fingernails clawed into my scalp.

  Held me where she demanded my attention. Our tongues scraped in a joining dance. Uniting our essences into one cohesive mating mass.

  My groin throbbed, pulsing, pleading for her.

  To sink inside her tight heat. The clinging dampness. To pump my hips until the ache in my loins died.

  She must have sensed my need.

  Her hand slid from my heart in one murderous dip down to the wisp of curls of hair covering my aching balls.

  Those ridiculously full treasures would erupt any moment. Or implode and spare me future agony with their de
manding presence by sucking me into nothingness.

  Sacred Seed was about to fly.

  Her fingers encircle the base of my iron rod, squeezing, rubbing up the long curved length.

  "This is what I want inside me,” she whispered and cupped the head of my shaft. “Pumping, Vult. You, pumping into me.” She kissed the bend in my neck then planted her chin into my shoulder and ran the choking tightness of her fingers slowly back down to the base of my member.

  "Yum. You taste like Keylime Pie. I want to kiss your delicious skin while you unload every last drop of your hot seed inside me."

  No more teasing. I hopped to my feet to face my soul's conspiratorial stare.

  Need played upon her features.

  She leaned back onto her sweet backside, spreading her knees once again, trailing those fingers across the juncture of her thighs. “I want your mouth here."

  Oh, I could appease her. Learn to pleasure her. Merge our souls.

  The tip of his tongue sent a jolt through me, making me shudder where I leaned back upon my palms, tilting my tender sex up to his gentle mouth.

  He withdrew his tender touch and gaped up at me. “Did I hurt you?"

  The only thing causing me pain was the lack of his tongue on my clit. I raked a handful of fingers into his warm hair and pushed his mouth back to work, nibbling and sucking. “Uhm. That's it."

  My body jerked against hard teeth.

  This man definitely was perfection. I moaned, throwing my head back, sinking into the sensation building into more than enjoyable thrilling pulses. Plowing through me. Consuming me. Making my body jerk uncontrollably.

  Everything inside me melted in one hot wave rolling to wet the my inner channel for him. My needy clinching inner channel. God, to feel his thickness inside me. “Vult,” I moaned.

  He pulled his face back and met my gaze where my head hung to one side.

  My arms were stiff. Too sore to move. “Come here."

  A little twinkle sparkled in his eye.

  Like light or life burst into him.

  He rose, planting his hands beside my hips, leaning the hot skin of his iron-clad chest against me, staring me in the eye. His steely cock lurched against my belly.

  Oh to feel his iron shaft do so inside me. I loosed one handhold and snaked the hand up his bulging muscled arms to his equally amazing shoulder. “Help me lie back."