Astonish (4 page)

“I can imagine what those requests were.”

Rimeer stiffened. “You shall not imagine her in any way, shape or form. She is not yours to question.”

The Ambassador flinched and when Ceelie looked, Rimeer’s eyes were glowing hot. Hassoi was not impressed.

“Ambassador Keeln, you are invited to leave immediately. Should you choose not to leave, you will be left to wander the towns and villages of Hassoi, none giving you shelter.” Hassoi was firm.

“What about the trees I came for?”

“Your forfeited the trees when you laid hands on our avatar.”

Keeln was in shock. “What? I never even got near him.”

“Not Rimeer. Ceelie. She was destined to be ours and you laid hands on her. Those actions are unforgivable and you will leave now or watch your ship destroyed.”

Ambassador Keeln stuttered and held out a hand to Ceelie. “You won’t let him do this, will you?”

Ceelie smiled and had a peculiar sensation. Hassoi was taking over. “You will not speak to her. I am in charge of this world and all those upon it. You may send an alternate delegate to negotiate, but you, Ambassador Keeln, are no longer welcome here.”

He looked as if he wanted to argue, but at the last moment, he stood straight, jerked his head in a perfunctory nod and stalked to his shuttle.

The folk of Hassoi watched the man leave, his shuttle lifting off with a distinct wobble that eventually straightened out. Ceelie felt a lightening of her soul as the dark cloud that was Keeln disappeared into the atmosphere.

“I can’t believe that he simply went away.” Ceelie voiced her thought.

“Hassoi did not give him a choice. Now, we have a luncheon date in the village. Your people want to meet you.”

She smiled up at him and stroked her hand through his hair. “This is a start then.”

He grinned and swept her into his arms once again. “It is a start.”

Chapter Six

“To our new avatar and the joy she will bring to Hassoi and Rimeer.” Warcoth stood and raised his glass.

Ceelie was still drinking the water of Hassoi, but everyone else had a cup of wine.

When everyone had drunk, she smiled and inclined her head. “Thank you. It is an honour to be welcomed in such an open and friendly manner. I hope to fulfill your wish for your planet and avatar.”

Smiling, Rimeer lifted his cup to his lips, but his other hand was slowly dragging her skirt up her thighs under the table.

She tried to keep up a conversation with Gilla, but it became distracting when either Hassoi or Rimeer began pouring power against the lips of her sex.

Ceelie could feel the energy of the planet climbing in her skin and with a twitching shudder, she gasped and came, scattering the power throughout those assembled.

Rimeer pressed his lips to her neck and whispered, “Bravo. Well done.”

She followed her instincts and punched him in the arm. “You could have warned me that you were going to engage in something publicly.”

He slowly sucked the fingers that had just been inside her. “Where would the fun be in that? We have just blessed every adult in the vicinity with the power of Hassoi.”

She sighed and leaned against him. “Is that what that was? I thought you were just copping a feel under the table.”

He laughed. Across the village, a fruit tree bloomed at the sound. “There was a little bit of that as well.”

She smiled and watched as couples held hands and slowly disappeared throughout the village. “They are all sneaking away for sex?”

“Many of them.”

“What else do you do as avatar?” She bit her lip.

“Meditate, go for walks. Discuss crop rotations. Visit the villages once a year, that sort of thing. Why?”

“I am sort of used to filling my days. Keeping busy.”

“Give yourself time to relax before you put pressure on yourself. You are still changing, so allow yourself time to complete your adaptation.”

She flexed her hands on the table and noted her pale green nails. “What other alterations can I expect?”

“They will all be very minor. I like the way that you look very much. I don’t wish for any changes to your body.” There was an intensity to his tone that sent shivers down her spine.

“I thank you for your consideration. I have heard of other avatars being completely rewritten by their planets or stars.” She bit her lip.

“It isn’t necessary for Hassoi. There are no environmental factors that your body will encounter that need special alterations. You are ideal just the way you are.”

She blushed. “I am hardly ideal. Even as a Volunteer, I barely made the grade. My talent is to simply give people the impression that something is more impressive than it is. Nothing astonishing. Back home, I worked in advertising. I wasn’t good at it, but I could always sell the pitch even if the product couldn’t deliver.”

“It sounds unsatisfying.”

She snorted. “Oh, it was. I was only too happy to apply to leave my world, but I had no idea that I would be trading one dead-end job for another.”

He chuckled. “Well, this particular job won’t end any time soon. In fact, it has some challenges that I would like to introduce you to at your earliest convenience.”

Ceelie opened her mouth to speak, but he was already moving, lifting her and draping her over one shoulder.

She squealed and kicked, but he merely slapped one hand on her ass and held her in place. A few of the Hassoi saw them leaving, but they merely waved happily on their way to their own assignation.

Rimeer carried her into the forest and as he flipped her to the moss, a hedge of brambles sprang up around them.

She watched the intensity of his expression as he slid her skirt up and tugged the top of her dress down. Ceelie quickly asked the question that had been buzzing in the back of her mind. “Can I contact the Alliance and verify the update in my status?”

He chuckled. “Ceelie, at this moment, there is no blood in my brain. Ask me later.”

His dazed expression as he stared at her left her in no doubt that it was partially true. With light around them she could watch the nuances on his features. His face went from dazed to intense as he took in the swell of her breasts with their hard peaks aching for his touch.

Her body was reacting violently to being stared at. Her sex swelled and the hot honey seeping from her made her blush furiously. Rimeer knelt between her thighs and stroked his fingers through the honey before bringing them to his mouth.

She was wordless, but a thought came to her mind.
Love sap.
That was the Hassoi word for the slick seepage from her channel. Her sap was certainly flowing and when he leaned forward to cover the hole with his mouth, it flowed to greet every stroke of his tongue.

He rubbed at her clit gently with his fingers as he delved into her with his tongue, lapping deeper than she imagined he could go. Her channel was caressed, scraped and her g-spot teased until she arched against him, groaning as her body shuddered.

He drank from her until she drooped back on the mossy forest floor. Once she was limp and sated, he moved up and laved at her breasts, cupping them with his hands and licking, biting and sucking at her nipples in turn.

She slowly started to twist against him again, her hips seeking more than the teasing touches that were driving her mad.

“More, please.”

Ceelie’s fingers were holding his head to her, but she draped one leg around him to pull him into her. He resisted and she whimpered. “Rimeer, please.”

His voice against her skin was almost enough to push her over. “Tell me exactly what you want.”

“I want you inside me.”

“You want me to fuck you.”

“I want you to fuck me. I want you to press your cock into me and slide so deep you are buried to the hilt and then I want you to pound into me hard and fast until you come. I feel so empty, please.”

He lifted his head and his eyes glowed brightly. He opened his trousers and as his cock sprang free she groaned and arched against him.

“Please, Rimeer. Please.”

Her body was hungry, desperate and empty. Ceelie didn’t know if it was the planet in her mind or the effect of Rimeer on her senses, but she had never been this frenzied to feel a man inside her before.

As he fitted himself to her he threaded a hand in her hair. “Look at us, Ceelie. Watch me become part of you.”

She watched the dark green of his skin as her pink lips parted and yielded to his pressure. She closed her eyes and he stopped.

“I am only going to give you what you want as long as you are watching, Ceelie. Watch us.”

He was holding her head comfortably and as he thrust into her with slow deliberation the ground rose up and arched her back so that she could watch every second of their joining.

The duality of feeling and seeing him enter her at the same time made her head spin, but it paled in comparison to the feeling of Hassoi joining them.

While Rimeer slid and rocked into her body, Hassoi thrust and pulsed in her mind. The sun climbed high in the sky as they pumped and twisted inside her and she watched every second of it.

Her pleasure rose, peaked and rose again. Their strange triad blended, mixed and she didn’t know where she ended and Hassoi began.

Memories that weren’t hers filled her mind. She saw the people of Hassoi at war, dead and dying on battle fields, felt the frustration and the desperation to heal the people and bring an end to the fighting that had become less of a purpose and more of a reflex.

She saw a young Rimeer reflected in the spring of Hassoi, his image shattered and returned to him in a thousand pieces as he drank the water and begged for wisdom.

Hassoi had offered the solution and Rimeer had accepted him into his mind and body.

Rimeer stood as the new avatar on the eve of battle in the centre of the field where men were destined to die. He remained there all night with the bond between the man and the planet growing stronger.

When the opposing sides tried to rush each other at dawn, a hedge of thorns separated them. As the armies started to retreat, a hedge blocked them. With the two armies cordoned off, Rimeer-Hassoi spoke to each leader, giving them the water from the Spring of Hassoi.

The planet needed to make the connection to its people and so it did. Over the course of ten years, Rimeer visited every battle, every village and every outpost, bringing the water of Hassoi and putting the planet back in touch with his people.

She saw centuries of shepherding the people of Hassoi. Endless sexual encounters with willing women also traipsed across her thoughts. The sex had ceased when fear began to appear in the eyes of his lovers. He could deal with anticipation, intimidation, but outright fear killed his lust and left him feeling like a freak amongst his own kind.

The rest of the memories were waiting and loneliness until the images of Ceelie started. It had been a mention by another world and the moment that he had seen her, she had been the only woman in his thoughts. All of his past encounters blurred and became faceless leaving only Ceelie as his focus.

She snapped back into her own skin as another wave of pleasure broke over her and Rimeer flashed his bright fangs and snapped at the air. Hassoi filled in the significance and she quickly got over her initial fear. “Bite me, Rimeer.”

His eyes widened as if he hadn’t heard her correctly.

“Bite me, please. Sink your teeth into me while you grind your cock into me.” Her fevered whispers came out of the words Hassoi gave her in her thoughts.

Her skin was bright pink with her blush but she knew it was what he needed and Hassoi assured her that she would heal.

She reached up and ran her thumb over his lips and the point of his teeth. “Bite. Me. Rimeer.”

Her hands tugged his head toward her shoulder and when he lunged she inhaled sharply. It was too late to panic, his teeth set in her shoulder and she felt a surge of pain a moment before Hassoi filled in the spaces with pleasure.

Rimeer’s teeth pumped something into her and he came, his cock pulsing within her while his mouth provided her with a peculiar feeling.

Ceelie giggled. Whatever was in his teeth was making her feel a little drunk.

He relaxed his jaws and lapped at the wounds he had made. “You will wear these marks for our lifetime.”

His words confirmed what she imagined had happened when Hassoi told her it was what Rimeer needed. He needed to bite her and with the peculiar euphoria running through her she had no objection to the biting again.

Rimeer nuzzled at her neck and she could feel his smile as he worked his lips against her skin. “I had no idea that having a bonded mate would be so…satisfying.”

“I think Hassoi built that in just to keep your people happy.” She stretched under him against the support that Hassoi had provided. “It certainly worked on me.”

She giggled again and stroked his hair.

“You don’t mind the bite?” there was a flicker of insecurity in his eyes.

She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I don’t know. We will have to try it again just to make sure.”

Chapter Seven

Dinner at the village was sparsely populated. Ceelie smiled sheepishly at the exhausted couples that did manage to attend. Warcoth and Gilla were sitting side by side, occasionally holding hands as they passed food to the avatars that were, themselves, a little tired.

The curious gazes that focussed on Ceelie’s bite were intense and constant. She finally had to ask Rimeer, “I am guessing that the biting is no longer a common thing.”

He wove his fingers through hers. His hair gleamed from their bath. “It is not. Drinking of the water brought them closer to the planet, so a bond is formed on a sub-network of senses now. They do not need the more aggressive bond that my people formed.”

“You bonded by blood.”

“It proved compatibility. The women bit the men, the men the women and if either suffered from any side effects beyond the euphoria, the match was negated.”

She leaned forward. “You would enjoy being bitten yourself?”

He sighed. “You are not equipped to engage in that sort of bite.”

Ceelie twisted her lips and contacted Hassoi.
Would he truly want me to be able to bite him?