Among Galactic Ruins (12 page)

He ran the sponge over her shoulder, the
surface of it rough against her skin, and the sensual scent of
Vedian jasmina combined with some woodsy fragrance followed. He
dragged the cloth down and ran it under her breasts, then his
glittering gaze locked on hers. Her lips parted.

He set to work with a determined focus,
washing her breasts, then her back and belly. As the sponge and his
hand slid lower, her breathing increased.

“You like that?”

She nodded, her voice seeming to have
deserted her. The sponge slipped between her legs. He washed her
with slow, steady strokes that made her gasp.

“Completely bare, just pretty, feminine
flesh,” he murmured. “I like it.” He kept stroking, like he was
happy to keep it up for hours.

“You have too much patience,” she said, her
voice breathy.

“A skill I’ve perfected over the years.” He
leaned down and nipped at her lips. “But you’re testing it.
Watching you—” he shook his head “—it drives me to the edge of my
control.”

She needed to even the playing field, and
she desperately wanted to touch him. “Let me touch you.” She ran
her hands over the hard planes of his chest, then leaned closer and
pressed her mouth to his flat nipple.

“Mmm.” His breathing quickened.

She let her hands drop into the water, her
nails scoring over his hard abs.

“Lexa.” A warning, a plea. “Wrap your hands
around me.”

She did, her fingers curling around his
sizable erection. He was hard, hot and smooth. She pumped him, all
the while imagining taking him inside her. She shivered.

He made a growling noise and suddenly the
sponge disappeared. Now it was only his hand exploring the folds
between her legs.

“Yes,” she hissed, her hips canting
forward.

He sank a finger inside and made a guttural
noise. “So tight.”

She was moving her hips enough that the
water lapped at the edge of the pool. His thumb slid through her
slick folds until he found her clit. Now, she cried out.

“I want you to come for me.” He put more
pressure on her clit.

She stroked his cock again. “I want this
inside of me.”

“And you’ll get it, after you come on my
fingers.” He sank another finger inside her.

She felt the pleasure growing, a liquid heat
coiling low, threatening to spill over. Stars, she fought to
control the sensation, but with another clever flick, she
shattered.

Her back arched and she heard her own cry
echo off the rock walls. Before she’d come all the way back down,
he pulled his hand away and turned her. He pushed her forward until
her stomach touched the edge of the pool.

He kept the gentle pressure until she bent
forward, her breasts touching the cool rock. She writhed, the
contrast of the cool rock, the warm water and the hot touch of
Damon as he pressed up behind her overwhelming.

He shifted her body, urging her ass up and
again his fingers were touching her where she was hot and
needy.

“God, Lexa, you are so beautiful.” His other
hand shaped her buttock. “You have a Naamah?”

The implant was a new technology that
protected from pregnancy and disease. She nodded.

“Good.” The thick head of his cock nudged
her folds, then he thrust into her with one heavy slide.

She cried out, her hands clamping onto the
edge of the pool.

“That’s it.” His mouth was at her ear, his
big body covering her and his thick cock stretching her. “You feel
that, don’t you? I’ve wanted to be deep inside you for what feels
like forever.” He pulled back and thrust again.

She moaned, the sensation of him filling her
was all-consuming.

He started moving faster, his strokes
harder, firmer. “All night, Lexa. I’m going to pleasure you every
way I know how. And you’ll still want more.”

She shoved back against him, gratified by
his groan. “I’ll give as good as I get.”

He gave a low chuckle. “I never expected
anything less.” Their bodies slapped together as he picked up his
pace. “Now just feel.”

It was all she could do. The feel of him
within her wiped out every thought of treasure hunts, temples,
desert wolves and treasures.

He powered into her, the incredible pleasure
coiling low and deep inside her, and she knew she was lost.

Damon kept pumping into Lexa’s hot, tight
body. Damn, he hadn’t felt anything this good in a long, long time.
He felt her release growing, her body gripping him tighter.

On his next thrust she came, his name ripped
from her lips and her scream echoing around their small sanctuary.
Another two thrusts and he seated himself deep, his own release
roaring through him like a blast. He groaned as he spilled inside
her, and they both collapsed, half in and half out of the bath.

When he could think again, he pulled her
back down into the water with him. Her body was lax and her head
dropped back against his shoulder. Her eyes were closed, but he
could see a faint, and very satisfied, smile on her face.

After a brief soak, he swung her into his
arms and headed for the bed. He didn’t bother to dry them off, just
parted the gauzy hangings, set one knee on the mattress, and
dropped her onto the plain white sheets. He climbed in after her
and curled around her. She scooted back, settling into him, her
fabulous ass nestled against his cock. The damn thing twitched.
Trying to kill him, no doubt.

She gave a contented sigh and he felt her
drop into an exhausted sleep.

Damon stayed there, spooned around her, the
afternoon sun casting a glow on the rock walls and a lazy fan
spinning on the ceiling above. He pressed his face against her hair
and breathed deep. Having Lexa wrapped up in his arms felt…right.
He looked at the rock above them. He’d always thought he wanted a
simple life, especially after the machinations and complexity of a
life in the GSS. A challenging, but non-stressful job, his own
place, and his own goddamn bed—not a different one every night. The
occasional casual woman when he was in the mood, but nothing too
serious. He’d imagined himself in the future as a grizzled old
bachelor who could still charm the odd lady when he needed one.

Now he wasn’t so sure.

He closed his eyes, exhaustion and the
sensual aftermath of coming inside Lexa dragging him into
sleep.

When he woke several hours later, he thought
he must be dreaming, and a damn good dream, at that.

The sun had set, and the room was wreathed
in shadows, just the glow of a small lamp giving off any light.
Warm lips were traveling down the center of his chest. As they
reached his abdomen, they took a lot of time exploring each ridge,
nails scoring his hipbones.

He looked down, mesmerized by the sight of
Lexa’s dark head against his belly. She looked up and smiled, an
expression that was full of feminine promise.

She moved lower. “I’ve been dying to explore
all these lean muscles of yours.” She nipped his hipbone.

He jerked under her touch. “They’re all
yours.”

“Good.”

God, he’d been famous for his control among
the small group he’d worked for in the GSS, and for never losing
his cool over a woman. He’d been known to delight in all kinds of
women, some he’d liked, some that had just been a job. He’d even
had the most practiced courtesans of Windassia work him over as a
gift from a grateful potentate.

They had never made him feel as close to the
edge as this.

Lexa gripped his cock and gave it a solid
pump. His hips jerked up of their own accord. He growled.

“I like driving you crazy. Mr. Malik.” Her
lips engulfed him.

Fuck
. Her mouth was warm and she used
a lot more force then he’d have guessed. Lexa looked sweet and
classy, but there was a core of steel in her. She bobbed up and
down, making small noises that told him she was enjoying herself.
She slowed down and took him deeper, and his answering groan was
long and loud.

He wanted to keep watching those pretty lips
of hers stretched around his cock, and come in her mouth. But he
wanted to be inside her even more.

He moved fast, grabbing her and yanking her
up his body.

“Hey—”

“Inside you. Now.” He couldn’t even make
full sentences anymore. He pulled her higher until she straddled
his hips. Then he was urging her up, the head of his cock nudging
between her slim thighs.

She bit her lip, their gazes locking.

She sank down, taking him in one long
slide.

“Oh, God.” She pressed her hands to his
chest and her head fell back, exposing that long neck to him, all
that smooth skin.

Unable to stop himself, he reared up,
adjusted her in his lap and forced his cock into her at a deeper
angle. She made a strangled sound, her nails biting into his skin.
He pressed his mouth to her neck, nipping where her pulse fluttered
wildly.

She rode him, her hips rising and falling.
He kissed her, pulling in the taste of her, loving that she kissed
him back with wild abandon.

Then she stiffened. “Oh, Damon, I’m going to
come.”

“Come, Lexa. Come for me.”

She did, moaning and grabbing onto him
tighter. A second later, he followed her, thrusting hard inside
her.

Then her eyes shot open. “What’s…oh God,
Damon…I’m—” Wide brown eyes clung to his as the second wave of her
orgasm hit, making her scream.

They fell back in the bed, wrecked. She was
sprawled on top of him, their legs tangled. He stroked a hand
lazily up her back.

She turned her head. “I think I like
you.”

He tugged a strand of her hair. “Good.
Because I really like you.”

“I still think this might be crazy. We could
get back to the museum and hate each other again.”

No. Everything in him revolted at the
thought. “Let’s not borrow trouble. We have a treasure hunt to
finish, first.”

She nodded, her cheek pressed to his chest.
“You have two heartbeats.”

“Yeah. I have two hearts.” It gave him extra
endurance and strength the GSS had prized.

“So, one of your parents was Amdorian or
Cyphi?” She named the two humanoid races with two hearts.

“I don’t know.”

Her brow crinkled. “What do you mean?”

“Never knew who my father was. And my mother
left for work when I was five and never came back. I have a few
memories of her, but they’re fuzzy. She never said she was Amdorian
or Cyphi, but she never knew her parents, either.”

Lexa was very still and quiet for a second.
“What happened to her?”

He shrugged. “She might have just abandoned
me, or been killed. I never found out.”

“Who raised you?”

“I’m from Ranga 9.”

She blinked. “The gang planet.”

“Yep. Gang took me in. Fed me, clothed me,
beat me, taught me to fight.”

Lexa sat up, her eyes igniting. He didn’t
think she realized she was naked, her beautiful breasts on full
display.

“They indoctrinate kids, make them feel
loyal to the gang and then use them to fight. I’ve read about
Ranga. It’s been destroyed by drugs, gang war, prostitution…”

“Don’t forget thievery and
people-trafficking.”

She pushed her hair back. “How can you joke
about it?”

“Because I got out.” Damon knew he was one
of the lucky ones. He reached out and cupped one of her breasts.
She looked down and flushed a little. When she moved to grab the
sheet, he shook his head. “Don’t.” He kept caressing her, kneading
the soft, smooth flesh.

“How did you escape?” she asked quietly, but
the flush in her cheeks now had nothing to do with her righteous
anger for the child he’d been.

“I was fifteen and well on my way to earning
my final gang membership. I was a good fighter and I’d taught
myself to be the best at slipping around unnoticed.” He smiled. “I
was also a dab hand at pickpocketing.”

She rolled her eyes. “I can only
imagine.”

“Saw this guy slinking around Ranga, trying
not to get noticed. He was good. I was the only one who’d seen
him.” Damon shrugged a shoulder. “Figured he was one of the
perverts that sometimes slipped on-planet looking to steal a kid no
one would notice missing.”

Her eyes fired again and this time he tugged
her down beside him.

“I figured he had money and tried to…relieve
him of anything of value. He busted me.” Damon shook his head. “He
was one tough guy, had this huge scar down his face. I thought he
was going to beat me senseless.”

“But he didn’t.”

“Nope. Instead, he complimented me on my
skills. He hadn’t seen me watching him or sneaking up on him.”

“He was GSS?”

Damon nodded. Roger Barax had been a damn
good spy. “He offered me a job instead of a beating. A chance to
escape Ranga 9 for good. I took it and the rest is history.”

Her hand played with his chest. “I doubt
that, but I’m glad you got away.”

He ran a hand down her side. “Me too.” Then
he slipped a hand between her thighs, was blessed with her small,
choked cry. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here, enjoying your mighty
fine body.”

He rolled on top of her, nudging her thighs
apart. “We have about an hour until the dinner starts. How about we
put it to good use?”

She smiled, moving so he could settle deeper
against her. “What did you have in mind, Mr. Malik?”

***

When they headed through the village, the
night air was still warm, the breeze ruffling Lexa’s hair. Damon
had asked her to leave it loose. While they’d lost some of their
supplies in the wolf attack, Lexa was grateful she still had her
clothes. Yet despite that, Pris had dropped off some local outfits
for them—something she’d told them was for their night in Liwa.

She fingered the soft fabric of her skirt.
It just reached her knee in a flirty fall of vivid red fabric. Her
top was an old-fashioned, peasant-style, white blouse, and simple
sandals completed the outfit. Since she’d washed all her underwear
and left it hanging to dry in their room, she was naked underneath
and acutely aware of it.