His by Right (12 page)

            "Those close to me call me Neeveer."

            "Neeveer, I'm Meredith. My close friends call me Merry."

            "Mer-ree."

            "Am I a prisoner here?"

            "No. You may go anywhere you wish. I have left orders you are to be allowed access to all parts of the ship."

            "Like this?" She gestured to her nude body, using her left hand. Immediately, her eyes locked onto her bare wrist. The neon pink cuff was gone, leaving only faint pink ring on her skin to show it had ever been there. She looked up to see his eyes rake over her, and she would swear she saw the glint of hunger burning in his eyes.

            "I will have something delivered to you. Is there anything else before I go?"

            "Yeah. One more thing." She scooted on her knees toward the foot of the bed, then sat back on her heels. "What do you plan to do with me?"

            "To do?" He moved to face her, and she found herself staring at his fully extended erection. "I plan to fuck you."

            "But afterwards, what?"

            He appeared puzzled. "I do not understand what you are asking."

            "After we fuck, what will happen to me? What do you have planned for me?"

            "That will all rest on your decision."

            "
My
decision? What kind of decision?"

            "On whether or not you wish to remain here with me. Whether or not you accept me as your
seela.
"

            "What is a
seela
?"

            "He who was meant to be your ultimate joy. She who was meant to be mine."

            It took her a moment to absorb his words.

            "Your ultimate joy? What if I decline? Thanks, but no thanks."

            There was sadness in his eyes, even as his face remained hard. "If that is your decision, I will have no choice but to honor it."

            She shook her head in confusion. Was he offering her the chance to return to Earth? Was he willing to give her back her freedom?

            She glanced up just as Neeveer's back disappeared into the misty doorway. It was then she realized what she really wanted. Hoping she wasn't too late, she scrambled off the bed to go after him.

Chapter Nineteen

Cinnamon

            She fully expected to slam into the doorway, believing he may have locked it behind him. Instead, the opening misted a micro-second before she passed through it. Gasping, Meredith looked around and spotted Neeveer making his way down the corridor to her left.

            "Neeveer! Wait!"

            He stopped and pivoted around in surprise. She hurried over to him as he searched her face. Reaching out, she took his hand in both of hers. It was warm and dry, and the memory of it moving across her skin sent a shiver through her.

            She looked at the hand more closely. At the blunt nails, the calluses, and especially the mahogany tint that almost resembled raw cocoa.
Or root beer. Or a nice rich ale. Strong tea. And...
Lifting the hand to her face, she brushed her cheek across it. A faint scent came to her. A scent that vaguely reminded her of cinnamon.

            "You smell like cinnamon."

            "I am not familiar with that word," he rumbled. Pulling his uniform off his shoulder where he'd thrown it, he held it out to her. "Here. Put this on before someone spots you."

            "Would it make a difference if I wore anything at all?"

            "To my crew? No. But it would matter to me."

            "Why?"

            A pained expression reflected in his eyes. In orangish eyes so dark, they were nearly brown.

            She moved closer, spreading her fingers and laying a hand on his chest. Pressing her face to his flesh, she sniffed again. The cinnamony scent was unmistakable.

            "Merry." The word was a warning. His erection that had begun to flag was rising once more.

            She closed her eyes. He was warmth and caring. What did it matter that he wasn't human? He wanted her. He had paid for her many times her worth. Would serving him be so wrong?
As opposed to two years aboard that whoreship, and being screwed countless times without an orgasm?

            What about going home?
A second voice joined in.
Don't you want to go back to Earth? Eat ice cream again? Watch a movie? See the sunset? Smell the roses?

           
He tugged at his hand, as if trying to get her to release it. Meredith refused to let it go, placing it on her own chest instead. She would swear the simple touch made him shudder.

            "Come." She stepped back, making it clear what she wanted, what she intended.

            Neeveer followed her without further comment into the bedroom, letting her guide him like a pet on a leash. Once they were inside, he tossed his uniform onto the floor and swept her up into his arms to dump her onto the bed. Meredith laughed delightfully, and waited for him to swoop down on her. As soon as he crawled onto the pallet and tried to separate her thighs, she grabbed him by the wide neck muscles and shoved him hard to the side. The alien rolled onto his back, but the look on his face told her he could have easily resisted her push. He was curious to see what she was planning.

             "I've been dying to get on top of you ever since you first made me come," she confessed as she swung a leg over his hip and bent over him. Keeping her hands on his shoulders, she lowered her breasts until they hung above his face. "You don't have nipples, so how did you know to play with mine?"

            "Our females have them. They develop them when they become with child, in order to nurse the infant when it's born." He moved his head slightly to peer up at her. "Have you borne children?"

            She shook her head. "No. Among my kind, all of us have nipples. We're born with them. Even the men."

            "Your men have nipples?" A smile widened on his face, and kept widening until it became a laugh. Strangely enough, it was a nice laugh. An honest and open laugh.

            She smiled and watched in amusement. "Hey, don't knock it. Those nipples on a guy are just as erogenous as they are on us women. In fact, if you had nipples, I bet I could make you come just by using my mouth."

            To prove her point, she released his shoulders and scooted down on him, until her lower folds comfortably enveloped his erection. Giving her hips a little wiggle, she hunched over and ran her tongue up one side of his body, starting below the ribs, and ending right about where there should be an areole. She got a small thrill of satisfaction when the skin puckered in response.  "That's good to know," she purred, letting her breath flow over the wet skin, which reacted again to the sensation.

            "What is good to know?" There was no mistaking the sexual undertone in his voice.

            "That you don't need a nipple for me to get you excited."

            "Your smell is all I need to get me excited," he whispered.

            Lifting her head, she raised her eyebrows at him. "My smell? What do I smell like?"

            "
Ahvahla
blooms."

            "I take it that's a nice smell."

            "Rich and heady. I could bury my face in you and breathe you in all day."

            Sweet happiness beat in her heart. No man had ever said anything remotely beautiful or sincere to her like this. Lowering her face closer to his, she licked her lips enticingly. There was no way she would act like this with a man on Earth. No way would she say sexy things in a fuck-me voice, for fear of being teased or laughed at.

            But Neeveer wouldn't laugh at her. He wouldn't make fun of her tactics, and he wasn't about to lie to her, either. For once, she wouldn't be told things that weren't true, simply because he thought she wanted to hear them. Knowing she had carte blanche, she lightly nipped the end of his broad nose.

            "You smell like cinnamon to me. It's a spice. A very delicious spice."

            "Do I taste like it?"

            "Mmm, I don't know. I haven't had enough of you to make a decision."

            She crawled down lower on his body. His legs were spread, enabling her to sit on her knees with his erection jutting in front of her. Taking her breasts in her hands, she pressed them around the large log of flesh and began to rub herself up and down. Neeveer immediately lifted his knees and moaned. He reached for her, but she slapped away his hands the same way he'd refused her touch on the ship.

            This was the moment she had been dreaming about. Wrapping the fingers of both hands around him, she gently rolled the huge human-looking helmet around in her mouth. Her tongue lapped him. Her teeth nipped him. Then, taking in as much of him as she could, she started moving up and down in the same rhythmic way he did when he was inside her.

            He threw back his head and gasped for air. She barely had the chance to suck on him half a dozen times when he gripped her around the waist and lifted her into the air. His face was contorted; his eyes glittered with sexual frenzy. With a loud growl, he brought her down on top of him, found her entrance, and shoved her all the way over him.

            Meredith screamed as his length barreled into her. She barely had the chance to catch her breath when he began to work her, screwing her senseless with hard, pile driving movements. Pistoning her with increasingly faster jerks.

            And then, she felt it. Glancing down, she saw the little extraneous muscle at the root of his dick had thickened and lengthened, just like an erection. Except, instead of moving into her, it wriggled. Vibrated. It latched onto her clit and wouldn't let go, sending her soaring when her orgasm claimed all sense of reality.

            Neeveer continued to use her until he found his own release. Exhausted, he drew her down on top of his sweaty skin, and laid her head beneath his chin. Meredith felt his chest rise and fall with every breath. Nuzzling his neck, she licked the moistness there, expecting to find it salty. Instead, it tasted fresh, as if he'd just stepped out of a shower.

            "My one."

            The words were so faint, she couldn't swear she'd heard them.

            "Trust me, Neeveer. I'm going to make sure I'm worth every penny you paid for me."

            If he heard her, he didn't reply. Meredith dozed off, wholly satiated.

Chapter Twenty

Truth

            He woke her with slow caresses to her hair, as if he was detangling it with his fingers. Meredith realized she was on her side, either from sliding there or having been pushed off his chest, until she ended up cradled against him.

            "Neeveer?"

            "Um." It was more of a grunt than a response, but it proved she had his attention.

            "Why did you have to kill all those people on the whoreship?"

            He moved slightly, but kept his arm around her. "On the what?"

            "The whoreship. The ship you took me away from. I don't know what you called it, but why did you have to kill those people?"

            It was the number one question that had been haunting her ever since she'd awakened on his vessel. All she'd needed was the right time, the right moment, when she felt brave enough to ask him, with the belief she could survive his answer if she spurred his anger.

            "We killed no one on the ship."

            It was the last thing she expected to hear. Jerking herself up onto one elbow, she stared at him.

            "But I saw your people firing at them! You fired at
me,
you jerk!" She slapped him on the shoulder in anger, but Neeveer seemed unperturbed.

            "Yet, you awoke without harm," he calmly reminded her.

            She thought over the incident and realized she hadn't seen any blood. Then again, would alien weapons make their enemies bleed?

            "Then why were you at war with the ship?"

            "We were not at war." The hand paused, and he ran his knuckles over her cheek. "Are you unable to figure it out?"

            "I have an idea, but it's too ludicrous to believe."

            "Tell me your idea."

            "Promise you won't laugh."

            "I will make no such promise. Tell me what you believe."

            "That you attacked the ship just to get to me."

            Neeveer surprised her by rolling over, trapping her beneath his body. His flat, angular face hovered above her. "Why would I laugh at the truth?"

            Open-mouthed, she stared up at him. "Then it's true? You and your people boarded the ship and caused all that mayhem, just so you could get to me?"

            "They would not allow me to buy you. I chose the only option left."

            "But you still paid for me!" She grinned, laughing lightly. Another thought hit her, and her eyes got wider. Her hand reached for the waistlet. "Neeveer, you've spent an ungodly amount of money on me!"

            He answered her with a soft kiss to her forehead. The sides of his tusks lightly rubbed her skin with their dry warmth.

            "There's more going on here than what I'm seeing," she insisted.

            The alien grunted again, and continued to nuzzle her hairline.

            "I'm right, aren't I? Neeveer?"

            Without warning, he rolled off of her and out of the bed. Getting to his feet, he disappeared through one of those misty doors, but a different one than the one that led out of the room. She followed after him, and found herself inside a room as big as the bedroom. In the far rounded corner, the Alcatian stood underneath a fine spray of a powdery substance. He caught her watching him, and shook his huge head, sending powder flying across the room. Once he was done, he waved a hand over a sensor, and blasts of air removed the last of the cleanser before he stepped away. He ran his fingers through his black hair as he walked over to a panel and pulled another gray uniform from inside. Meredith watched him get dressed, noting there was no name, symbol, or any type of insignia on the garment to designate his rank.