Bounty, page 12
part #1 of Barbarians of the Sand Planet Series
Danica arched her back so her nipples grazed his chest. He raised her and lowered his head so that he nuzzled her breasts through her shirt. She pushed him away for a moment as she pulled her shirt over her head and let it drop to the floor. The cool air hit her skin and her breasts tightened, aching for his touch.
She heard the deep rumble in his chest as he took one of her hard nipples in his mouth and began sucking. She gasped as his tongue flicked it gently, then nipped. He shifted to the other nipple, teasing it with his tongue while he circled the other with his finger. Danica heard her own growl escape her throat.
He dropped her back on the blankets, and the sand shifted underneath as he pulled off her pants in one quick tug. Bending over her, his long braided ponytail falling over his shoulder, he licked his way down her body. When he reached her panties, he ripped them away.
She yelped in surprise, then again when he reached up and pinned her arms up over her head. Straining her muscles, she attempted to free her arms but he held them together with one large hand.
“What are you doing?” Her heart raced. She wished it was from outrage, but it wasn’t. Being held down by him made a scorching heat throb between her legs.
“You said you wanted me.”
She wiggled in his grasp. “Yes, but. . .”
He lowered his head and sucked one nipple, then tugged it gently. “This is how Dothveks claim a mate.”
She wanted to remind him she wasn’t mate material and that she wasn’t the kind of woman to be claimed, but the heat of his mouth made it difficult to think. Her need for him washed over her with an intensity that left her panting. She didn’t care how primitive it was, she wanted this alien barbarian to claim her.
His grip on her wrists tightened as he moved from her breasts, crushing his mouth to hers and parting her lips with a dominant sweep of his tongue. Her head sank deeper into the sand beneath her from the force of his kiss, his tongue stroking hers. When he pulled away, she fought to catch her breath.
“So small,” he murmured, running his free hand down one side of her body, electric sensations skittering down her spine. Her heart hammered in her chest, as she watched the way his gaze devoured her. When he reached her hip, he teased his thumb over the thin strip of hair. She shivered.
Looking up, he met her eyes as he pushed her legs apart, dragging one finger through her folds.
She moaned at the sensation of his touch and his pupils flared. When he pushed one thick finger inside her, she tried to jerk her arms free. “Please.”
“Please what?” he asked, slipping a second finger inside her and making her gasp. “This is what you want.”
Damn empath. She did want this. Her entire body hummed as he stroked his fingers in and out, and she was powerless to do anything but struggle weakly. She was a powerful woman. She shouldn’t want him to dominate her like this, but the slickness between her thighs said otherwise.
“Let me go,” she begged.
He released his grip on her hands. “Only if you do not move them.”
She whimpered her agreement, as he lowered his head. When he dragged his tongue across her clit, she moaned, feeling his curiosity and then his pleasure as he circled it languidly. Danica bucked against him, but didn’t lower her arms. He moved his fingers faster and flicked his tongue over her sensitive nub, responding to her noises of surrender.
He continued to suck her while sliding his finger in deeper. She moved her hips in time with him, barely able to hold back anymore. He didn’t say anything, but she felt his pleasure coursing through her. He wasn’t going to let her touch him until she came.
The thought made Danica’s eyes rolled back in her head, and she hooked her legs around his back, dropping them open wider. She felt the primal growl he emitted as it vibrated across his lips and her skin. It was too much. She let out a cry as she shattered, her body quaking as each wave of ecstasy slammed into her.
Sitting back, he removed his pants, and his massive cock rose up. Even in the shadowed light, she could tell she'd been right. He had a series of circular ridges down the entire length of it. The gold skin on the crown was slightly darker than the shaft, and she knew without touching it that the skin would be just as velvety as the rest of his body, and just as rigid. She reminded herself to breathe as she stared at him. She'd never seen such a long, thick cock, and all she could think of was how much she wanted to feel those ridges inside her.
She could tell he was pleased with her reaction as it swelled even more. Alien guys weren't all that different from human men in that way, she thought.
She wrenched her gaze up from his cock to the vee of ridges below his corded stomach muscles and then to his sculpted chest. His shoulders were bunched with tension and veins on his neck pulsed. When she met his eyes, they burned molten and deadly. Danica’s stomach did a somersault. If she had any sense left, she would have been terrified.
He lowered himself and notched his throbbing cock between her legs. “Tell me.”
She hesitated, her mouth dry.
His gaze flitted to the arms that were still over her head. “Do I need to restrain you again?”
She swallowed hard, her heart hammering so loudly she was sure the entire village could hear it. “Tell you . . .?”
He pushed the crown of his cock so that it was barely inside her, but she still gasped. Even that felt impossibly huge.
His eyes flared dark and possessive. “Tell me you are mine to claim.”
Danica guessed this was where the barbarian part of him really came out, although considering how wet she was, she clearly didn’t mind.
“I’m yours.” She clutched his back and pulled him desperately toward her, arching her back and spreading her legs even wider, feeling his resolve crumble. She reached down and ran her fingertips down the length of him and caressed his cock rings. She’d been right. Hard, but velvety soft. She wrapped her hand around the base and squeezed.
His restraint gave way and he pushed himself all the way in, moving slowly and letting Danica feel each ridged ring as it entered her. The sensation of hard, bumpy flesh sent jolts through her body, even as he stretched her so far she screamed. He swallowed her cries with his mouth, kissing her deeply as he held himself inside until the discomfort faded.
The same feeling of contentment she got from his hands touching her, now buzzed through her entire body. She’d never felt such complete euphoria, and she wanted more, wrapping her legs around him as she took all of him.
“Tight.” He gazed down at her then brushed his full lips against hers before stroking into her again. He arched his back, and as he thrust into her once more, the vee of ridges below his stomach rubbed against her swollen clit. So that’s what those were for, she thought.
She clawed at his rock-hard chest muscles as her hips bucked against him, and his ridges both inside and out sent jolts of pleasure through her.
“K’alvek,” she panted, the sensations almost too much for her to handle.
“Danica.” He answered with her name, but the way he said it—forceful and dominant—made her almost whimper with desire.
Rearing up, he sat back on his knees and held her hips as he drove his cock deep. He gazed down to where their bodies joined, stroking her slick nub with one thumb. “Mine.”
She felt her release building again, the rush of scorching pleasure making her entire body spasm. As she contracted around him, K’alvek let out a roar and hammered into her, pulsing into her after a final, hard thrust.
Panting, Danica went limp on the pile of bedding. K’alvek sank down beside her and the sands shifted under his weight. His breath was ragged, and she sensed his happiness. And something else. Fear?
What could someone as fierce as him possibly be afraid of? She rolled over on her side and put a hand on his chest, feeling the heavy rise and fall.
He pulled her over so she lay half on top of him, his heart racing as she rested her cheek one of his hard chest muscles. She traced a finger around his nipple, and he grunted. Laughing, she let her fingers wander down to the ridges below his stomach.
"Now these make sense." She touched them and found them wet with her juices. "Very impressive."
Who was she kidding? It was all impressive.
He put a finger under her chin and raised her face so he could kiss her. Even though his kisses were soft, they sent tremors skating down her spine and made her nipples tingle.
"We'd better get some sleep if the rescue party leaves in the morning." She entwined one of her legs with his as he pulled a heavy fabric over her.
She was so blissed-out, she didn't remember to ask him about the whole claiming thing he’d said. She assumed it was one of those “heat of the moment” things because she wasn’t a good candidate for claiming. Not when she was on the first rescue ship off the planet.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Tori looked down at the flat ceiling panels Caro had fastened to her shoes. They looked ridiculous, but she knew they would make it easier to walk up and down the dunes. “Another one of your resistance hacks?”
Caro grinned, as she adjusted her own makeshift footwear.. “Nope. One of my bounty-hunter hacks. I just came up with it. They're like snow shoes, but for sand.”
Tori had never seen snow, but she got the idea. "At least they don't have sharp edges like the part of the hull we used as a sled last time."
Caro wrinkled her nose. "Yeah. I'm surprised you only cut your shoulder."
Tori raised her injured arm as she adjusted the pack on her back and felt a dull ache. At least the sharp pain was gone. She wouldn't be winning any hand-to-hand combat in the near future, but she had a basic range of motion. She felt the coolness of the two steel water bottles inside her backpack as they pressed against her back, and her mouth watered.
"Maybe we should all go," Holly said. "We could cover more ground that way."
Tori twisted from where she stood at the door of the bridge, her chain belt jingling. "You know we need you here working on getting the computer systems up and running. Bexli and Pog will cover plenty of ground."
“Especially as sand dragons,” Bexli said, rubbing a hand over Pog’s fluffy head and grinning.
Holly flinched as she adjusted her arm sling. "Is that even a thing?” She shuddered as Bexli laughed. “I hate the idea of you all going out onto the desert while we stay here in climate-controlled comfort."
Max cleared her throat. "It won't be climate-controlled for much longer if we don't fix the computers."
"See?" Caro waved a hand in Max's direction. "The doctor is right. What you're doing is more important. It's the only chance we've got to get off this giant sandbox of a planet."
Tori clomped the few steps over to where Holly sat in front of a console and rested a hand on her shoulder. "How about this? You get an SOS message out so we get rescued, and I never have to see sand again for as long as I live, and we'll call it even."
Holly gave Tori one of the winks she usually saved for interested men. "Deal."
"Opening the door," Caro called as the bridge door slid open and warm air filled the ship.
Even though it was early and the two suns were barely cresting the rolling dunes, the frigid, night air had already been burned away. The air still held the quiet of the night; the only sounds were those of Tori's feet slapping against the metal floor as she followed Caro outside.
Both women dropped down onto the sand, the ceiling panels tied to their feet keeping them from sinking into the powdery gold sand. Bexli and Pog followed, transforming into giant, shimmery, green lizards with wide, webbed feet before the sand could envelop their legs.
Tori watched them scamper off, skimming across the glittering sand toward the rocks while she and Caro covered the desert. She glanced back up at the ship, seeing Holly and Max leaning out. She gave them the thumbs-up. “Close it up.”
Both women gave a curt nod before the door slid shut, and Tori turned back to Caro.
"They work," Caro said, examining the makeshift shoes that were holding them up, clearly pleased with her invention.
Tori lifted her knees high and walked forward. It sure beat paddling on a metal surfboard. She adjusted the white T-shirt she'd fashioned into a bandana over her head and checked the positions of the suns. Pointing one arm at the open desert, she said to Caro, "This way."
They walked up and down several dunes in silence, sweat trickling down their faces, until Tori paused at the top of one. "There it is."
The gleaming bit of hull lay in the valley between several high sand peaks. The two women slid down the hill on their wide shoes, stopping when they reached the piece of metal.
Caro touched a finger carefully to the jagged edge. "Is this dried blood?"
Tori leaned in to appraise the dark substance splattered on one side and frowned. There was more blood than the small amount that had come from her cut. "Looks like it. Danica may have gotten cut, too."
Caro scanned the area around them. "I don't see any more blood, so she must not have stayed here long."
Tori shifted the torn hull fragment, looking underneath it for any other traces of the captain. Nothing.
Caro pulled a water bottle from her pack and took a long swig, then offered it to Tori. "So, we've determined she didn't stay here and freeze to death, or suffer heat stroke. That's a good thing."
Tori didn't say anything, but drank the lukewarm water gratefully. She knew that just because they hadn't found Danica's body here didn't mean she'd survived nearly twenty-four hours alone in the desert. And she still hadn't been able to figure out why her captain would have left her behind. She'd served with Danica long enough to know she wouldn't leave a member of her crew, but from all appearances, that was what had happened.
Danica had vanished, leaving Tori alone and injured. Now, Tori knew that Danica had also been wounded. She refused to let herself think too hard about the reasons why Danica could have disappeared—wild animals, quicksand, bloodthirsty aliens—because most of them were not happy scenarios.
“I guess we should catch up with Bexli and Pog at the rocks. If Danica isn’t out here, she must have gone there.” Caro started walking in the direction of the mountains. "Race you."
Tori allowed herself a laugh, because high-stepping across the desert with ceiling tiles strapped to their feet was hardly a speedy endeavor. "No wonder this planet looks uninhabited. Who could survive out here with nothing but sand and rocks?"
"We don't know it's uninhabited. The air may be thinner than what we're used to, but it's breathable. At least it's not frozen solid like that planet where we captured that one really ornery guy."
Tori remembered the frigid ice planet where they'd tracked a wanted criminal with a hefty price on his head. At the time it had seemed unbearable, but as the arid heat burned her throat with every shallow breath, she thought maybe it hadn't been so bad. "Ornery? That's a nice way of putting it. He didn't try to blast your head off."
"That's why you get the big bucks," Caro joked.
Tori shook her head at Caro's joke. One of the most unusual features of Danica's bounty-hunting crew, aside from it being all female, was that they spilt all the profits equally. After taking out what they needed for supplies and fueling the ship, their bounties were divided up in five shares. Not even Danica took a bigger cut than the rest of them. They were all equals, she'd said, and each one was vital to the group's survival. Tori pushed thoughts of the captain out of her mind and glanced up at the mountains.
They were covering ground more quickly than she had yesterday, when she'd trekked back to the ship, and soon, the rock face loomed over them, the rough stone almost the same color as the sand and shimmering under the relentless sun. Tori wondered what type of minerals were in the rocks, and what their captured mineral expert would make of it.
Caro pulled herself up onto a low ledge and began unhooking her homemade sand shoes. "I never thought I'd be so happy to walk on rock."
Tori slipped the flat panels off her feet, pausing as she leaned down to pick them up. Dark spots trailed from the edge of the rock into a gap in front of them. Tori wet her finger with her tongue then dabbed it to one of the nearly black splotches. She put her finger to her tongue, knowing instantly from the metallic taste that it was blood. She spit it out.
Caro's eyes grew wide. "What is it?"
"I think we found Danica's trail."
Chapter Twenty-Three
K’alvek felt Danica roll on her side away from him and curled his body around hers, wrapping one arm over her waist so that his hand cupped her breast. The first soft rays of the suns were warming the sky and entering the tent, casting a pink glow around them. He nestled his head into her thick mane of hair and breathed in her sweet scent. He'd never felt as content as he did with her beside him.
He pulled her closer. Their connection was so strong now he could almost see her dreams in his own head. Closing his eyes, he let himself sink into her mind as a series of erotic images danced through. He’d never realized how euphoric having a mind mate would be, the sensations flooding his body made him feel as if he was enveloped in warmth and light. His cock hardened when the images in her mind coalesced in his, and he realized she was dreaming about touching him.
He began gently caressing her nipple with the tip of his finger and the flesh pebbled underneath his touch. He kissed her neck as she moaned in her sleep, and wiggled her round ass against him.
He tried not to enter her head again, but the images flashing through her mind made it nearly impossible. K’alvek tightened his arms around her and slipped one hand down between her legs, parting her folds with his fingers. He remembered the delicious slick taste of her and his cock throbbed.
Dipping his fingers into the wetness of her opening, he found the nub that seemed to drive her so wild and began swirling his finger over it. Her breath became faster, and she whimpered as he slid one finger inside her and shifted his hand so his thumb could continue circling her throbbing nub.
