Branded By Kesh (6 page)

“Kesh.” I clung to him, my fingers digging into the hard muscle of his shoulders. I couldn’t do anything else as he played with my back and pushed me closer and closer to orgasm.

“You are full of surprises, Magnolia.”

Kesh’s husky voice, filled with desire, washed over me, his fingers skating along the ridges of my spine, little brushes up and down, soft circles around the protrusion of each of the disks in my spine.

Every muscle in my body slowly went taut as he pushed me towards the precipice. The skin over my spine was becoming more and more sensitive until every stroke felt like he was fucking me with his cock, my core throbbing almost painfully.

My fingers tightened on his shoulders, my nails digging into him as I came perilously close to the edge, but I wanted him inside me when I came. I wanted to feel him driving into me. I wanted to share the pleasure with him. To know that he was receiving as well as giving.

“Fuck me, Kesh. I want to feel you inside me. I want to come around you,” I moaned up at him.

“You’re going to come first, Magnolia, then I’m going to make you come again with my cock.”

I whimpered in protest, but he had me at the point where I couldn’t talk, I was so close to the edge. All I could do was hang on to him and feel the pleasure he was causing in my body. All I could do was cry out as he pushed me over the edge, my core spasming and clenching, the pleasure of my orgasm rippling through my body, leaving me limp and sated.

Sharp, jerky movements had my skirt pushed up, my hips pulled right to the edge of the counter, and then Kesh was pushing inside me. I moaned as he slid inside in one long, slow movement, filling me, stretching me to capacity. Stars, he felt good, and he hadn’t even moved yet.

He pulled out slowly, only to push back in just as slowly. Again, he thrust just as slowly, letting me feel every inch of him slowly filling me, caressing parts of me that had never been touched before. I wrapped my legs around him and pulled him down for a kiss as he continued the slow thrusts that were building me back up towards another peak.

He kissed me just as slowly as he fucked me, his hot hands grasping my hips to hold me in place, his tongue stroking against mine as his cock stroked inside me.

Every particle of my being focused on him and what he was making me feel, at the strength of his muscles under my hands, his heat seeping into me and of course the pleasure radiating out from my core.

Kesh’s slow pace was driving me crazy, the sensation of him slowly thrusting inside me exquisite beyond compare. I’d never had a man take me over so completely, make me forget myself so thoroughly, until the only thing that mattered to me at that moment was what he was making me feel, the pleasure we were sharing.

I dragged my mouth from his and moaned, “Harder, Kesh.”

His black eyed gaze bored into mine, holding me captive with the heat, the fire in them.

“I don’t think so, Magnolia. I think I’m going to drive you crazy by having you soft and pliable in my arms, and when you can’t take anymore, then I’ll fuck you harder.”

He did exactly what he said. He drove me crazy with his slow thrusts until every stroke felt like I was going to fly apart. Until every stroke forced endless pleasure on me, every thrust pulling little noises from the back of my throat. He had me so close to the edge, ready to fall, but I couldn’t quite make it.

“Kesh, please,” I whimpered, almost undone by the pleasure he was forcing on me.

His hold on my hips tightened, his fingers digging into the soft flesh as he thrust hard, pulling a little cry from me.

Stars, yes. That was what I needed.

I clung to him, my legs wrapped around his hips, my fingers digging into his hard shoulders as he sent me hurtling over the edge into bliss, into the most intense orgasm I’d ever had, the waves rolling over me, drowning me in pleasure. His hard thrusts prolonged the exquisite torture until I couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything but feel as he forced another orgasm to crush me under the weight of its onslaught.

It was too much, the pleasure too intense as his hard thrusts continued to pull little cries from me, little noises of pleasure. Teeth closed around the muscle of my shoulder, a small bite of pain that only pushed the pleasure higher.

A deep growl came from Kesh, a sound so low, if he hadn’t had his mouth so close to my ear, I would have missed it before he thrust in and stayed, a shudder wracking his body as he found his own piece of bliss.

His teeth slowly released my shoulder and he looked at me, the fire in his eyes, a soft warmth.

“Tell me now that we don’t belong together, Magnolia. That we aren’t perfect together.”

I couldn’t tell him that—as I looked up at him I realised it would be an outright lie.

Morning, or what passed for morning on the ship, came all too soon. I had no problem waking up in time to get to the kitchen and start breakfast, but I was tired after a restless night filled with thoughts of Kesh.

I rubbed the back of my hand absently after putting a tray in the oven. Everything was ready, it just had to cook for a short while. The crew wouldn’t turn up for at least half an hour, but by then, the food would be cooked and all Penta and I would have to do was serve it up.

I felt more confused about Kesh than I had the day before. The sex we’d shared the night before had been amazing, and his demand that I couldn’t tell him we didn’t belong together and my realisation that it would be a lie to say so were at the forefront of my thoughts as I rubbed the back of my hands and waited for the food to cook.

I stared at the spot where we’d had sex, memories of what he’d made me feel heating me up until my clothes felt too warm and a flush was heating my cheeks. He was right. What we had between us was something special, something I’d never felt with another man, something I might never find again. However, Kesh’s claim that I’d belong only to him scared me. He took me over so completely, filling my thoughts, heating my body until everything was focused on him. I was scared of the intensity of my feelings after just a few days.

I had to come to some sort of decision, I realised as I stood leaning up against the counter, and I had to do it soon. I couldn’t leave Kesh hanging, and I had to choose what I was going to do about Jaxxon. It was unfair to him to let the relationship continue if he wasn’t happy with being in an open relationship with me.

I rubbed my hands again, frowning down at them. They burned a little, as if I’d had them too close to the flames on the stove, but there was nothing there.

Penta arrived, and we started to ready the kitchen for the crew and my family, who would come after the crew had eaten. As we served the crew, the burning in my hands steadily grew more and more painful until I couldn’t ignore the searing pain. The backs of my hands had started to redden, the skin rising up into ridges that hurt when I touched them.

By the time the crew had eaten and most had left, I was at the sink running cold fluid over my hands trying to stop the burning. I didn’t know what was happening or why, but I couldn’t remember burning myself. It was the only thing that would have made any sense.

Tears started to gather in my eyes at the searing pain, the fluid from the tap doing nothing to alleviate it. The ridges were forming into a beautiful swirling design, raised in my skin almost like a scar but coloured shades darker than my skin tone. A whimper slipped from my throat as the pain only seemed to intensify.

“Are you all right, Magnolia?” Penta’s raspy voice came from behind me.

“Yes, I’m okay,” I reassured him. “I can finish up if you have other duties to get to.”

Tears rolled down my face, which I kept faced towards the sink, not wanting Penta to see.

“As long as you’re sure you’re all right?”

I nodded, hoping he’d just go.

His retreating footsteps on the tiled kitchen floor had my shoulders slumping in relief. I glanced over my shoulder only to see Kesh’s big form walking towards me around the end of the kitchen counter. I turned away, not wanting him to see my tears, not wanting him to see my pain.

I felt him behind me, a huge presence against my much smaller frame, his heat seeping into me where he pressed himself up against my back. Strong hands skated down the bare skin of my arms, into the fluid running from the tap and pulled my hands from the stream of blue tinted fluid.

Kesh didn’t say anything as he spread my hands out with his to show the backs of my hands, the red, raised, swirling patterns visible in the bright overhead lights of the kitchen. He didn’t touch the swirling design, just held my hands in his. I wanted to see his face, I wanted to know what he was thinking. His silence was making me nervous and a little fearful.

What did it mean? Did he know? Why wouldn’t he talk to me?

“Kesh?” I finally had to say something, my voice wavered over his name.

“Does it hurt Magnolia?”

I nodded, tears still running down my face.

“I still remember like it was yesterday the pain of being branded. If I could save you from it I would, little flower, but I cannot. All I can say is from the look of your brands, they’re almost complete.”

I stared down at my hands, not comprehending. “What are you saying, Kesh?”

“You cannot deny it any longer Magnolia, to yourself or to me. You are mine—the brands on your hands prove it. They show my claim over you. They show you belong to me, will always belong to me.”

Chapter Seven

Kesh was beyond pleased as he made his way to the bridge. He felt like puffing his chest out and shouting to the ship that Magnolia was his. She couldn’t deny it now, she couldn’t hide from the fact that she carried his brand on her hands. A tactile, visual sign that she was his.

The pressure lift doors slid open and he stepped out onto the bridge. He had every intention of heading back to the kitchen as quickly as he could to spend time with her. To watch the sway of her hips as she moved about, the sure movements of her hands as she cooked for him and the crew. He wanted to feel those hands on his body, touching and stroking, learning him as he learned her. The ridges of her spine had been a surprise, the fact that she was so sensitive there more of a surprise, one he intended to take advantage of the next time he had her naked under him.

She’d felt superb wrapped around his cock, so tight and wet. He’d wanted to take her to his quarters and spend all night fucking her. He’d wanted to spread her legs and taste her, drink her nectar as she came down his throat. She smelled divine, and he knew she’d taste exquisite. But he’d let her go back to the cargo bay and her family, let her think about the connection they had. He’d satisfied himself with her scent left on his body, the perfume of her passion painted on his flesh keeping him hard long into the night.

The bridge was quiet, everyone at their posts. Kesh stepped up to the console, which was his station when he was on the bridge. He had an overview of everything that was happening on the ship right there at his fingertips.

“What has that look on your face, my friend?” Tor’Arr asked him from his seat to the right of his station.

Kesh looked at his captain and long-time friend and couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face.

“Magnolia has my brands. She’s the one I’ve been waiting for,” he said.

The other men around the bridge turned to look at him, smiles on some faces, curiosity on others.

Tor’Arr grinned back at him, understanding perfectly what he was feeling, as he too had found the woman Destiny said was his and would be reunited with her when they arrived at her space station in less than two weeks.

A beep had Kesh looking down at his console, the shiny metal and glass of its surface reflecting the bright overhead lights. An indicator on the plexi glass screen told him a ship was coming in, and coming in fast.

“We have a ship coming in on the port side. She’s hot!” he called out.

The ship shuddered as they took weapons fire.

“We’re under fire,” he called out.

The red alert alarm started to blare through the bridge, the red warning lights tinting the metal an odd shade of red-grey.

Magnolia would be in the kitchen by herself. She’d be frightened by what was happening. Kesh wanted desperately to go to her and make sure she was safe.

“Evasive manoeuvres,” Tor’Arr called out from his seat in the centre of the room. “Bring her around, Bask, and let’s see who we’re dealing with.”

“Yes, Captain,” their pilot replied.

The view of space changed as Bask turned the ship and the great hulking blue-grey form of the Delarian’s ship came into view.

Kesh exploded. “I told you we should have killed them all when we escaped.”

“Fuck it all. Well, now you’re going to get the chance. Open ship wide communication.”

“Communication open,” Kesh said as he flicked a switch on his console.

“This is Captain Tor’Arr. The ship firing on us is of Delarian origin. We will not be taken captive again, we will not go down without a fight. All crew are to take out any Delarians found aboard our ship. We will take no prisoners, kill on sight.”

Kesh ended the communications broadcast by flicking the switch again.

Another series of deep shudders rocked the ship. Kesh gripped the console tightly to stop himself from being knocked off his feet.

Damn it! He wanted to get to Magnolia, but he stayed put, well aware of his duties.

Tor’Arr ran his hand through his thick, dark hair. He’d taken to spending most of his time in his human form, joking that Tarnee preferred him that way. He wouldn’t stay that way for long—it was a closely guarded secret that he was a shape shifter and the Delarians expected to see him as an Abractdarian, so that would be what they would find.

“Bask, evade them for as long as you can. Hoss, fire at will. Do as much damage as you can,” Tor’Arr commanded from his chair.

“Yes, Captain,” came from both Bask and Hoss the lieutenant at the weapons station.

A jolt sent Kesh stumbling away from the console.