Moonbeams and magic (35 page)

"How can you shapeshift into a woman so different from your real self?"

"Yakir provided me with the chemical for transformation;

it lasts for twelve horas unless I use the antidote to return me to my form sooner. This is my true appearance," she told him as he studied her brown hair and green eyes and less voluptuous figure. "My image and voice pattern were programmed to respond only to queries about Starla Verdris in all data bases to prevent Tochar or his contacts from discovering who I am; at this time, all files on Bree-Kayah Saar are protected against retrieval by a special command cue. We didn't know a Maffeian traitor was working with him and would imperil me. After I reported my exposure to Thaine and Yakir and told them I would remain on the mission as Yana, Yakir told me an I-GAF agent had infiltrated Tochar's band, but he didn't know his chosen name or description. I took a chance—I hoped and prayed—it was you."

"You're Maffeian; that's how Acharius recognized you."

"When Acharius saw me in the cave, he must have panicked because he tried to kill me. I dealt with him the only way left open to me. I tried to bluff it out with Tochar so I could save my mission, but he didn't believe my explanation." She related the cave episode in detail and how Acharius knew her. "I wanted to disable Acharius, rather than slay him, but my weapon didn't have a setting to induce a coma to keep him silent about me."

"Is that what you did to Moig?"

"I did induce a coma after I questioned him with Thorin; that's how I learned about Syrkin and other things. But Tochar murdered him; I have the tape aboard my ship to prove it. Cypher-T logs everything I witness and he follows us on most of our treks to observe and record those crimes."

"Since you didn't know who I was until last night, how did I fit into your plans? Why did you tempt me and use me as two different women?"

"I tried to ignore and resist you, Dagan, but you made that impossible by pursuing and tempting me. I'm sorry I was forced to deceive you; I wanted to confide in you, but

I feared I was blinded by my feelings for you and couldn't make an accurate evaluation of you. How could I trust you when you kept passing Tochar's Thorin tests and you evoked raids on Sion and that medical supply ship and convinced me you were a villite? You also took me by surprise; I never expected to encounter a complication like you and I didn't know how to deal with that unfamiliar predicament; this was the first time I've allowed my emotions to sway me during a mission. After I got to know you, I was hoping to lure you away from your criminal life so we could share that future you offered. As Yana, I was appraising your true nature and character. I suppose, since you're an I-GAF agent on assignment, you were probably just using Starla to get close to Tochar and the others."

He smiled and shook his head. "You also caught me off-guard and I was wary about confiding in you, but I didn't lie to you about my feelings."

"You didn't?" she asked, afraid to trust her hearing.

"I was enduring the same agonizing dilemma you were because you were convincing as a spaceki, but I couldn't resist you. I kept trying to coax you away from Tochar and Noy so you'd be safe from harm and incrimination. Do you truly love me, Starla?"

"Yes, Dagan; with all my heart and soul. I was hoping there was some way I could save you so we could be together later, but I feared I couldn't entice Dagan Latu away from what I believed you were."

Dagan pulled her into his arms as he said, "I was right to pursue and tempt you because you are the perfect match for me. I love you with all my heart and soul, and we will have a future together after this mission is over."

Their tender gazes locked and communicated their feelings as they exchanged smiles and savored the wonder of their new relationship. Their eyes sparkled as if reflecting rays of moonbeams. They knew their fates and hearts were entwined.

Dagan secured her in a cherished embrace, as if needing to convince himself Starla was ahve and within his arms. His heart surged with love and relief. He brushed kisses over her forehead, the scent of her clean brown hair entering his nostrils. His lips traversed her exquisite cheekbones, the length of her slender nose, and the curve of her chin. He used a cleanly shaved jawline to nuzzle her face, savoring the texture of her skin. He looked into her green eyes whose gaze was filled with undeniable emotions which matched his own potent ones. More talk could come later; for now, all he wanted to do was to hold her, to kiss her, to feel her heart beating next to his, to give thanks to the Supreme Being for the radical change in their destinies. She's not out of your reach kept racing through his head at lightning speed. Despite knowing that was true, he almost feared to believe it, as if accepting that reality would cause it to vanish.

"You can't imagine how scared I was about coming here to expose the truth to you. I don't know what I would have done if I'd been wrong about you." She laughed and jested, "I would have been forced to take you captive, transport you to my ship, and hold you prisoner there. Naturally you would have been compelled to relent to my every whim." Her eyes brightened with radiant passion.

He cupped her face between his hands and noted the seductive gleam in her merry gaze. His responsive body flamed with desire. "With you as my captor, I would have made an excellent and obedient love slave."

"Would have made?" she echoed and nibbled on his cleft chin.

Dagan lifted her right hand and placed suckling kisses on each fingertip. He pressed its back to his lips for it to be covered; then swirled his tongue in her palm. His mouth trekked over her wrist, along her arm, past her shoulder, up her neck, and teased at her earlobe.

Starla swayed against him and coaxed him to continue

his sensuous course of action. Her fingers grazed his broad shoulders, the cords in his neck, and the bulges in his arms. His skin was cool to her touch, soft and supple flesh encased by a rock-hard and strong frame. She closed her eyes and let her senses absorb every enthralling facet of him. She meshed her lips to his and clung to him.

Many times Dagan's tongue delved her mouth and savored her honeyed taste. His loins throbbed with an intense need to join with hers, but he didn't want to rush this heady reunion. His shaky hands untangled the tie at her waist and removed the one-piece garment and cast it aside. They wriggled down her panties, exposing her every charm to his adoring gaze. He took off her sandals, then stood before her. He paused only a moment to allow her to peel off his stretchy shirt before he brought their bare torsos into staggering contact. His mouth dropped kisses on her neck as it journeyed to one creamy breast to nibble there teasingly until his mouth fastened to the point and suckled it to taut attention.

Starla's hands roved his neck and stroked his black hair. Her insides quivered with anticipation and her body warmed with pleasure. She craved every sensation he evoked and enjoyed every emotion she experienced. She adored everything about him. Her senses were alive, yet, dazed. She was delighted, yet, tormented. Pralu, she loved him!

"If we don't lie down soon, Dagan, I'm going to melt into the floor," she gasped. "My legs are so weak and shaky I can hardly stand."

He chuckled and said, "I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way."

Dagan halted his loving siege to remove the rest of his garments and to relocate them to the sleeper. His provocative hand inched down her body and teased over her sleek thighs with sweeping and tantalizing strokes. He summoned everything he knew about lovemaking to give her supreme

gratification. His mouth and hands explored her, evoking another hunger as soon as he fed the previous one.

Her stomach grew taut as his hands sought and found her secret haven and bUssfully invaded it. She burned and yearned, using words and movements to plead for his deft caresses to continue. She reveled in the way his hands and lips made her feel wild and greedy. She relaxed and tensed simultaneously. His searing kisses and artful caresses sent all remnants of distracting reality fleeing. His adroit hand was clever and persistent as it pervaded her delicate folds, pulsing nub, and moist receptacle. Her hand captured his rigid manhood and stroked it imaginatively from tip to base. The friction created enticed him to groan and squirm in need.

At her fervid encouragement, Dagan positioned himself between her thighs and entered her with one vital thrust. She was more beautiful than Kimon, the mythical Goddess of Love and Beauty. Her skin was as soft as majee, an expensive and luxurious material. Her taste was sweeter than corvie, an exotic and rare fruit. How he loved her!

Starla kneaded his firm buttocks. She lapped her ankles over his calves and held him in a snug grip. That marvelous tension was building within her womanhood. Sheer rapture washed over her from head to feet and she felt weightless in space, almost spinning out of control. Never had she loved anyone more than this man. Never had she wanted anything more than she wanted this magnificent Kalfan. She surrendered totally to him and to the splendor of their new beginning, the sealing of their bond.

As her hands roved the rippling muscles of his back and he penetrated her over and over, she played havoc with his control, boldly and seductively threatening to steal it. As he entered her, she moved to receive him. As he retreated, she moaned at his loss and her uplifted hips quested for him. He was driven wild by the way her tongue danced Vv^ith his and she rubbed her bosom against his chest, her nipples as

hot as two tiny suns scorching his flesh. "Starla, my love, you're driving me wild," he warned in fiery delight, "shoving me dangerously close to the edge. Kahala, this is amazing."

Starla moaned and thrashed as she climbed the beckoning spiral upward. "Take me, Dagan, my beloved, now," she begged.

He increased his lunging pace to a gentle savageness, his need and love for her so great and her responses so urgent he could barely restrain his ardor and prevent his release. "I love you, Starla. You're mine; at last you're truly mine, and I belong only to you."

His words and actions sent Starla falling over the crest of victory. Her cry of release was muffled by his mouth as she raided that delicious recess for countless kisses as ecstasy burst into full bloom.

Dagan's body shuddered from the force of a gigantic climax just as hers was ebbing. He labored with loving tenderness and waning stamina until their spasms ceased and they were slaked. Afterward, he could hardly catch his breath, and he noticed hers, too, was labored. He gazed into her flushed and damp face and saw wet strands of hair clinging to her forehead. He realized it was more than the glow of sated passion or the results of feverish exertions assailing them. The chamber was stuffy, oppressive, sultry. He was relieved they hadn't lost consciousness before he noticed the problem and resolved it. "Computer, reactivate the environmental control functions; bring them to normal as fast as possible. Sorry, my love," he said to Starla, "but in the excitement, I forgot about my previous order for the computer to shut them down in an hora unless I canceled it."

They took gulps of fresh and revitalizing air as it was sent flowing into the room. They relaxed as their bodies cooled and they reveled in the serene aftermath of the lofty experience.

"Pmlu, Dagan, I thought you had shown me all of your skills but I was wrong. Your prowess is unlimited." She nestled against him in supreme contentment.

Their ardent lovemaking had surpassed all other encounters, and they knew it was because there were no secrets or hesitations or fears this time, only total surrender and complete trust. Their faith in each other was complete. Soon, they would make plans. For now, they relaxed and savored their commitment, and napped peacefully. They were blissfully unaware of what was happening beyond his chamber.

^Lxtssn

The next morning, the slumbering couple was awakened by a commimication from their joint target.

The Kalfan left the cozy embrace of his lover with reluctance to respond to a signal from the telecom. He sat down and, to conceal the lower half of his naked body, slid the seata forward until his waist touched the table holding the unit, then pressed the initiation button. "Latu here."

"I wanted to know how you are doing this deega."

"Fine, I'm with Yana," he said, and grinned roguishly at the fiendal whose image he viewed on the two-way visual system. Dagan knew his hair was mussed, his chest was bare, and his eyes revealed he'd just awakened; his condition would evoke an advantageous assumption on the part of the villite leader. The Icarian would presume he had mentioned the female's presence to prevent Tochar from talking about Starla in Yana's presence and hopeftilly would presume that if he truly loved Starla and was aching over her betrayal, he would not be having sex with another female this soon. "Do you need me to dress and carry out a task?" he asked.

"That is unnecessary. Relax and enjoy yourself until tomorrow."

"Thanks, but if you need me for anything, I'll come immediately."

"Everything is under control, Dagan, so do not worry."

"Have you resolved your annoying problem?" Dagan asked, deciding it would be suspicious if he didn't make a

query about Starla and thinking himself clever to dupe To-char by the way he worded it for alleged privacy.

"No, but I expect it to be eradicated soon. My men are working on it. I will inform you when that matter has been handled. Tochar out."

"Latu out." He pressed the termination button and chuckled.

"What is amusing?" Starla asked. "He's trying to hunt me down to slay me. Are you eager to be rid of me so soon?" she jested.

Dagan joined her on the sleeper and cuddled her in his embrace. "Never will I tire of you, my love, and Tochar will never find you or harm you. Perhaps I forgot to tell you," he said amidst nibbles on her neck, "I am possessive and protective of my most precious treasure."

Starla laughed at the ticklish sensations. "You did, my handsome space pirate, but I'm happy to hear it belatedly; and so am I."