Lunar Lovers (9 page)

He didn’t say anything. Didn’t move or look up to meet her
eyes. He simply sat frozen, a humanoid statue depicting a man resigned to a
life of unhappiness.

Achelle turned and walked away.

Elbows on knees, Sam watched Achelle leave. It was like
watching his parents die all over again—his life was a vacant tomb, a mined
moon, a room full of fool’s gold. Empty. Hollow. Worthless.

He stood and pulled the streamer from his pocket. The cool
living metal seemed to freeze the blood in his veins and numb his hand, his
arm, then reach inside the cavern of his chest to ice over his heart.

Better than the pain
, he thought as he walked to his
landing spot and activated the ship to close around him so he was like an
embryo within an egg.

The flight home was an epiphany. He was utterly fearless,
flying at breakneck speeds, piloting the tiny vessel past stars and planets,
living and dead. For the first time since the day he received his learner’s
license, he flew with a casual confidence that could come only from ignorance,
arrogance or in his case, apathy. Live or die, he did not care.

At home his brothers read enough through their familial bond
to know to keep out of his way, avoiding him as he pounded down the hall to his
room. Empty. Like everything else. He stood in the center of the large, open
space that waited no more for his mate’s contribution to the decoration. Like
Sam, the room would remain incomplete.

He didn’t know how long he stood there in a stupor but what
roused his consciousness was a long ring coming from the all-know on the near
wall. On legs that felt as broken as the rest of him—he must have stood there
forever—he crossed the room and answered the ring.

Instead of a call from one of his brothers or a foreman at
the mine, a see-all popped up on the panel to show Cannan walking into the
garage in subbasement two to greet…Achelle.

Sam’s heart skipped and pounded in his chest.

Achelle stepped down from the flip ship and said something
to Cannan that was inaudible to Sam over the see-all. But he didn’t care what
she said—she could rage, scream, condemn his actions for the rest of their
natural lives—as long as she was here to stay.

Unable to bear the silent scene any longer, he left the room
at a run and didn’t skid to a stop until he was in the garage, inches from his
mate, taking in the bounty of her presence in his home.

“You’re here,” he said stupidly.

She took in a shaky breath. “I belong with you. I know that—
oomph
!”

He grabbed her and hugged her to him. Tight. His hands
roamed her body, relearning each curve and line until he couldn’t bear the
clothing separating them and pulled her dress with his house colors over her
head.

She gasped and crossed her arms over her high breasts,
glancing over Sam’s shoulder, drawing his attention to the fact that Cannan
still stood there watching them with no compunction or modesty. Sam didn’t give
a damn but since his mate was covering herself from his gaze, he turned to his
brother and said, “Leave.”

The multitude of scars on Cannan’s face twisted as he
grinned, his eyes dancing with light and laughter Sam hadn’t seen from his
brother since the mining accident that had disfigured him.

From his pocket, Cannan pulled out an unbelievably large
magenta ruby that perfectly matched Achelle’s eyes. “Welcome to the family,
mate of my brother,” he said, bowing, his arm outstretched, offering the
precious stone to her.

Achelle gasped at the offering, looking from Cannan to Sam.
He smiled and nodded, encouraging her to take the gift.

One arm still covering her breasts, she reached out with the
other and plucked the ruby from Cannan’s hand. “Thank you.”

Cannan met her eyes for a brief moment, blinking back tears,
and then fled the room.

“I didn’t want to be rude to him but, Samius, I can’t accept
this. It must be worth a fortune,” she said, worry clearly visible in her
bright, beautifully expressive eyes as she studied the stone.

“The stone belongs to you just as we all do.” Sam took the
stone from her and carelessly dropped it in the puddle her dress made on the
floor. Then, catching the side tabs of her panties, he exposed her fully to his
gaze so he could drink her in like a lost male on a desert planet falling upon
a spring and greedily gulping down fresh draughts of water.

In the first language, mortal mate meant life bringer. And
truly he never understood the meaning so well. Now that she had returned, by
her own volition, he wasn’t going to question it, afraid that if he did, she
would change her mind.

Cupping her lovely face between his hands, he kissed her,
softly planted kisses at first, then long, lingering ones, which engendered
heat that burned through his body like liquid fire, chasing the cold from his
heart, leaving in its place hope and requited love.

She moaned into his mouth and, wrapping her arms around his
neck, pressed the full length of her naked form against his body.

Damn.
He was way overdressed.

Breaking from the kiss, he kicked off his boots and stripped
at breakneck speed, tripping on his trousers and going down on his knees. After
the initial smack of his knees cracking on the hard floor, he glanced up and
kneeled there transfixed. Not a bad place to be, he decided when his gaze
leveled with the blonde triangle of curls at the junction of his mate’s thighs.

The temptation too great to overcome, he leaned in and
nuzzled her, inhaling her delectable scent. She was aroused, thank the gods.
The sweet smell of her body preparing to accept his made his mouth water in
anticipation of her taste. She shivered at his touch as he parted her
petal-soft folds and licked her most tender flesh. He delved and sucked and
flicked his tongue, holding her to him when she began to sway, looking up to
see her enraptured face as he brought her to the apex of her pleasure.

“Oh!” She threw her head back and trembled, her muscles
seizing, her body sagging. She slid down into his arms as her orgasm liquefied
her bones. He kissed her neck and pressed her into the floor, moving between
her legs, fitting himself against her body, waiting for her to open her amazing
eyes. When she did, he slid inside her, opening her until he filled her
completely.

Propped up on his forearms, he leaned down and took her
mouth, then kissed his way to first one breast then the other. Gently biting
her nipples, playing his tongue over the hard buds, he began to thrust, moving
slowly at first, glorying in the feel of her flesh fisting his cock. Tight. So
tight.

She whimpered and lifted her hips from the floor, meeting
his thrusts, welcoming his invasion, digging her heels into his flexing ass and
demanding, “Give me more.”

Nuzzling her ear, he whispered, “I give you all of me.”

And he did.

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