Instinct (4 page)

He didn’t let her. His snarl turned into a roar as he slammed into her hard, pulling her hips up off the couch to give him room.

Over and over he pounded, fingering her clit above his thrusting flesh. He leaned forward, pulling one aching nipple into his mouth and sucking, twirling his tongue over the engorged tip. She swallowed her scream, her body tensing with pleasure. So long. So long since she had felt the body of another against her. So long since she had felt lips that hadn’t been her own touch her in such a way. He consumed her even as he would have to let her go. She knew it. He would not accept a human as his mate. No Senser would.

He was making the mistake others had before him.

“Please,” she said, tears clogging her throat. For a moment, she had hoped for, wanted, something more, but now she was lost. “Please, don’t,” she tried to tell him again, her body starting to twist away. She didn’t want him to regret this—regret her.

“Mine,” he said, eyes flashing.

She saw his Feline push toward the surface, changing his mouth to more of a muzzle, and back again with blinding speed. The near loss of power, however, spiked her desire higher. She gripped him, her body slamming against and meeting every one of his thrusts.

“Mine,” he called again, “mine, mine, mine.” He compounded every word with another thrust. She held on for dear life as he drew closer to her neck. His bite, she knew, this time would be fierce, savage, a mark of a mate, claiming her when she was trying to fight him, save him. His animal wouldn’t understand what the man would hate. The woman she was didn’t want to abide the hate, wouldn’t survive it.

“Please,” she pleaded again, but he was already lost, sinking his teeth deep in her neck as he pushed into her with blinding speed. She disappeared, and all she could do was feel. A connection brushed at her mind. She could feel the swipe, almost like a paw, opening the door between them and rushing in. She knew, without a doubt, he would see what she really was, feel repulsion at what he was helpless against now that he had started it, and they both would be lost.

Pain exploded through her mind at his denial, even as pleasure whipped through her. He couldn’t stop himself now with all his might. She no longer knew where he ended and she began. Their pleasure combined, and she could feel her pussy clenching around his cock and his helpless thrusts into her flesh. It propelled her higher and higher until she was careening into the sun and he was locked to her as jet and after jet of come bathed her.

Tears clouded her eyes in the aftermath, and she blinked quickly against them. His body trembled under her hands, and she moved them, not wanting to feel his distance when he moved them himself. His teeth slid from her neck, and he licked the ache away in an oddly soothing gesture.

“Human,” he said quietly, pulling away from her.

She felt empty without him, but didn’t let it show. She wasn’t weak or simpering. Dirk had killed that in her. She had learned under his hand how to be strong, how to survive. She would survive this.

“The droids will come soon. There is a private bathroom off to the left where you can tidy yourself. It is completely stocked with towels and a shower. If you’d like your clothes laundered, let the droids know, and they will accommodate you.”

The spiel rolled off her tongue easily. It was usually because her juice covered her client as she came to climax when the show was over. She had never slept with one, and never would again. She had let herself go with Xavier, and the bite of loss and regret ate at her. The most wonderful experience in her life felt hollow now.

Chapter Eight

“And where will you be,
mate
?” He crossed his arms across his chest and watched her.

Siren turned to look at him, eyebrow lifting. He was magnificent to look at. Taller than her five foot ten inches by a head, he seemed to fill the room. She had been too preoccupied with wanting his cock inside her to really look at him before. He carried himself, even naked, as if he ruled the world. His shoulders were broad enough to carry it alone. Even flaccid his shaft was imposing, and she had to drag her eyes away from him.

She knew he didn’t want a human mate. It was written all over his face. A Senser had taken her as a mate. Even a Senser had thought she was one of them until he had slept with her. Now he looked at her with nothing but disgust. She didn’t know what hurt more: seeing that disgust or knowing that she wasn’t wanted by human or Senser. She was a walking, breathing no-man’s-land. If the humans could cast her out and the Sensers tear her to shreds, then where did she belong?

She knew that Sensers lived much longer than humans and mates could not survive the passing of the other. Whoever her client was, he was important enough to afford a purple band with ease. That meant he came from money. He would not survive it when she died, and his people, she was sure, would miss him greatly. She had tried to save him, but he hadn’t listened. She lifted her chin, pride not allowing her to show him her pain. He may be able to smell it on her, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her beg him for a thing.

“I will be returned to my CU and await my next show. The rest will do me good,” she added, smiling seductively and giving him a pointed look. She went to breeze by him, and his arms stopped her. The flesh of his arms connected to her nipples, and the sensitive skin peaked against her wants. She sucked in a moan and looked over at him.

“You won’t be doing any more shows, unless, of course, it’s for me,” he said then, his face brooking no arguments. The tone had been light, but his face said otherwise. “Do not pretend you do not recognize what has occurred. I am sure you know what Diameter Twelve is, why it was created, and what my bite meant.”

Yeah, and he looked like shit because of it
, she thought dryly.

“I can also tell you’re not too thrilled over the idea. You are in mating season. You’ve fucked me. My sanitation nano won’t allow for pregnancy until its removal, so there is no worry. You’ve completed the ritual. Your animal soul is quieted. When it is mating season again, come find me. A human is not what you want.” She went to step around him again, but he moved, with lightning speed and no sound, to push her against the wall.

“I will not keep you like some pet when a mate’s place is by my side,” he growled. He gripped her neck, the hold loose but implying the strength it could have.

She felt herself grow wet and cursed her reactions. When his nostrils flared, scenting the air, she knew he knew as well.

“This,” he said then, smoothing his hand down over one breast, to her stomach, and then over her mound to her pussy. He fingered her clit, making her body clench and arch toward him. With deft fingers, he dipped inside her, curling his fingers on the way out. “This,” he repeated, “is what a mate is about.” He showed her his shining fingers, then licked the moisture from the tips. “This want, this need, the connection. The mating season is just the start,” he growled, and she felt his cock push up over her leg, growing as his hand disappeared to play with her again.

He pushed between her legs, and she wrapped them around him to anchor herself, unable to stop. His lips caressed her collarbone, nuzzling his mark there for all to see, before kissing and sucking his way down her breast. His tongue swiped over her nipple, laving the tip. With gentleness she didn’t realize he had, he sucked the nipple into his mouth, soothing with his tongue the ache. His fingers glided against her, playing with her. Where he had been demanding and strong before, he was gentle and passionate now.

She could fight hard. She could fight demanding. She could fight mean. This she couldn’t fight. He let go of her breast, coming up to watch her face as he caressed her. Slowly he built the fire there, running his nail over her clit lightly.

“Please. You don’t want me. You don’t want a human. Don’t—” She stopped herself from finishing with
make me want to keep you
. She didn’t want to tell him how much he had affected her, how much he was still affecting her, but the look on his face told her he’d caught the tail end of her thought through their connection.

“Just hold on,” he said then, bending his head to hers. “I’ll keep you.”

His lips touched hers, his tongue then tracing the seam, asking for entrance. She opened to him, her tongue dueling with his. His hand left her neck, going around and holding her head to him. His other hand left her clit and pushed his cock into position. Bracing against the wall, he then lowered her over him, never letting her mouth go.

He swallowed her moan and slowly moved into her. The hand that had braced the wall then moved under one knee to lift her leg up and away. He sank deeper into her, and she gripped his shoulders. She held on to him with all her might. He ended the kiss, licking at her lips for a moment before leaning back. His eyes were hooded. Siren, no matter how hard she looked, couldn’t find contempt there, couldn’t find hatred. She knew he had his struggle with humans and the issues that could come with them, knew he must have felt something, but she could see only desire there—desire and some unidentified emotion that she couldn’t read as he moved into her.

“Look, Siren. Look at us together.”

She looked down at them. The paleness of his cock disappearing into her pink then dark flesh was more erotic than anything she had ever known. His cock swelled inside her, and she knew then that he was looking as well.

“You were made for me. Made to take me. We don’t need love. We will figure it out. We only need this.”

He kissed her again, and she let him take her away, let him move against her as his animal soul demanded. She could feel his Jag reaching for her, roaring its pleasure at having found her. She felt the pleasure ripple through him as he pushed deeper, never speeding as the end drew near. When she came, he took her cry into him, riding them both through the end in a moment that was more profound and saying something more than either of them understood.

“We’ll make this work, Siren. We don’t have a choice. Our bodies took the choice from us long before either one of us could decide.”

“I don’t want you to hate me for being human.”

“Humans have done much to my kind, Siren, I cannot lie. Fanatics killed my parents because they chose to go on vacation outside of Diameter Twelve.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, truly I am. But I am no fanatic, and I have had my share of hurt. My share of hatred and fear. I don’t want any more.”

“A human hating another is nothing new, nor could it compare to what we face every day, little one. But I will promise you that what is between us, the drive that brings us together, the need in our touch will guide us through. We will make it.”

Somehow she didn’t know if he was just placating her or lying to them both.

Chapter Nine

“Well, my friend, you look much better now,” Oron said, watching Xavier come toward him in the halls off of the main Posh center.

“We need to get her out of here, Oron,” Xavier stated, leaning back against the wall. He’d found his other half. His mate, his very
human
mate. She was beautiful. She carried herself as if the moments when they melded didn’t matter, but as her mate, he knew differently. He’d seen her back go stiff, her head held uncomfortably high, and the shadow of tears. This was not what he had expected, and his head was spinning. With his hatred of humans, he never knew his other self would choose one. Irony at its best, he supposed.

Yes, if he was honest with himself, he wasn’t happy at all. Past his innate hatred of humans, there were other complications. He was the leader of the Sensers. They would not easily accept a human mate. She wouldn’t live as long as they would, and that would cause an outcry because a mate didn’t last long when one passed. At the same time, he wasn’t going to allow her to walk away from it.

After the last bout, he’d dressed and left Siren to find Oron so that they could speak with Dirk, her handler. The fact that she was human would complicate things in getting her away. He couldn’t leave her here, though, no matter his own thoughts. She was his, for bad or good. Dirk would have known, once he got her, that she was not a Senser. This meant that he could have obvious legal issues on his hands.

That would make things easier to hold over Dirk, except that, as his mate, Xavier would have no choice but to free her and find a way to silence him. If Dirk ever needed a quick buck, he could rile up some fanatics quietly and tell them the leader of the Sensers had a human from outside of Diameter Twelve who would most likely show up in missing persons. Dirk would always have that leverage over them both.

“All we have to do is pay out her contract, Xavier. That’s easy enough.”

“She’s human, O.”

Xavier watched Oron’s face go completely slack with surprise. If he weren’t so worried about the situation, he would have laughed out loud. For the first time since they had reached adulthood, Xavier saw Oron without grace.

“Dirk, that sniveling bastard. He’s going to cause us more trouble than it’s worth. If the fanatics found out he stole a human, they would have support for an all-out war.”

“Yes, Oron, I know. She is my mate. I cannot leave her here.”

“Of course not.”

Xavier released the breath he had not realized he had been holding. He and Siren would find a way to make it work. Their second time together had rocked him to the core. He felt a connection with her that he had never felt with another being before. In that moment, he had felt the pain he had caused her over his initial reaction to her being human. He never wanted to feel that pain again and know he had caused his mate to feel it. Whatever he could do now would be a start. He was glad that he had Oron’s support. As his beta, Oron would help him field any opposition they may face for bringing about a human mate.

“I think that is auspicious. There has been much hate between us, and we are truly the same at the core. Our DNA may have something extra, but we evolved from humans. Perhaps your mate being human will help begin smoothing things over,” Oron commented.