“A long time” turned out to be shorter than she expected.
Neela Pharr lifted the syringe pump. With a steady hand, she held it at her carotid artery and took a deep breath. She relied on her genetic strengths and weakening one of them made her feel vulnerable, but then that was the point. Elarans could separate emotion from business as easily as deactivating an illumination unit. But it was that trait which would make the seduction of King Thrax nearly impossible.
The king had asked for one thing. Neela. She’d tried to argue that he’d been mocking them, but the Elaran government hadn’t agreed. The king had never asked for anything, until that day two weeks ago. That made her a commodity.
She could’ve declined, but the prospect of seeing the unflappable king submit to his desire for her was motivation enough. She’d win this round too.
Yet the king, like his kind, could sense emotion. If she didn’t inhibit her natural restraint, he’d know she was only acting as a loyalist to the Elaran government. Now, not only would her emotions be uninhibited, but she’d be incapable of lying. Her body for the greater good. She’d given a lot of herself in service to the republic. This was no different.
Or it wouldn’t be if she could maintain her emotional distance. Neela depressed the pump release. Her blood stream tingled following the soft hiss of anti-inhibitor disbursement. It was done.
The door to her apartment pinged. “Enter.”
The entrance shushed open, sliding easily into the walls on either side.
“We’re fueled and ready,” her pilot and friend, Tarrel Dolan said. His deep baritone rumbled pleasantly in the silent room.
He had the easy presence of a man who knew his body. The military had trained him well, and his human tendency to think on his feet had made him the best pilot she’d ever flown with. He took risks, but she liked that about him. His instincts were solid, his humor relaxed, and his intelligence showed through his clear blue eyes.
Always assessing, always on the edge of caution, he knew exactly how much space he took up in a room. He moved with a man’s grace, full of cockiness and completely confident in his ability to do whatever he set his mind to. As a pilot, he was the same. The skiff became an extension of him, and he’d squeezed in and out of flight situations other pilots would balk at.
It’s why she’d asked for him. He calmed her, and they’d grown up together. His human zest for adventure was exactly opposite of her Elaran reserve. Maybe if she paid better attention to him, being without her inner silence wouldn’t be so unnerving. After all, Tarrel managed to be on the precipice of emotion every day of his life. It couldn’t be so hard, could it?
If things with the king got bad, he’d find a way to get her safely away. She’d trusted him at eight years old when he’d stood between her and some racist humans as a child, and she trusted him now.
“Lieutenant Dolan,” she nodded by way of greeting.
His light eyes danced with just as many unspoken memories as she had. “Lieutenant Pharr.” He turned and led her through the connecting corridors directly to the flight dock.
The skiff sealed behind her, and she took the co-pilot’s seat, securing herself with shoulder restraints. Tarrel ran through his usual preflight drill.
“Skiff log,” he began, waiting for the onboard computer to chime a response. When it did, he continued. “Departure to Prill via beta route with arrival at Royal Gate Three at oh-nine-hundred hours on Tuesday. All systems ready.”
Two and a half days to think about all the ways she’d be weaker and all the ways he’d touch her. Her pussy fluttered. She hated that her body seemed to like the idea almost as much as her mind wanted to see the king kneel at her feet for her favors.
The computer chimed again, acknowledging the termination of Tarrel’s verbal log. She’d seen the pilot go through the flight motions so many times that she sometimes heard the commands in her sleep. Although at those moments, he was almost always sliding between her thighs and announcing his estimated time of arrival.
“Damn it,” she swore, slapping the armrest.
“Problem?”
Her cheeks flushed. Another sign that her emotional control wasn’t quite her own. She didn’t like this distractibility. Never once had she served with Tarrel and drifted into fantasy. Nor had her nipples puckered at the thought of the king’s hands on her body. In the privacy of her home, after her work was done and her guard was down, she could tolerate the escapism. But on the job? It was almost feral. How did humans exist like this?
“No problem,” but her voice shook, and Tarrel didn’t look convinced.
Neela turned her attention to the front viewing window. She closed her eyes, looking for the inner quiet. The one the inhibitor had stripped from her.
The engine accelerated, causing a slight vibration in the cabin. The moment of liftoff made her smile. She loved flying. The skiff pulled away from the dock at an angle. Tarrel expertly guided it higher and higher through the air until twinkling stars were visible through the thin gauze of atmosphere. A roar accompanied them as they cut through, then the cabin filled with the silence of space.
Prill’s blue green planet dotted the space-scape among the distant stars behind Elara’s moon.
“You look tense,” Tarrel said, running through the flight sequence on his console before rotating his chair toward her. His blue eyes looked deeply concerned. “It’s not like you.”
She gave a shallow laugh. “Nothing will be like me until we get back. I had to take an anti-inhibitor spray.”
He smiled warmly. “So you’re human like me. Interesting.”
“If you call enforced Attention Deficit Disorder interesting, sure.”
“Aw, c’mon. It’s not that bad, is it?”
“I’m ready to crawl out of my skin,” she admitted.
“Flying makes you nervous now? That seems hard to believe.”
“Not flying. It’s everything else. It’s like every heartbeat is dramatic. Everything I touch elicits an emotional response. The leather,” she began, trying to make herself clear. “The texture tickles my finger pads and heats under my hand. How do you function like this?”
“The leather felt that way before, didn’t it?”
“But now it’s distracting.”
Tarrel grew thoughtful. “You’re going through with this mission, aren’t you?”
She turned her head to look at him and nodded. “If I react this way about leather, what will happen to me after I seduce him?”
He reached across the distance and covered her hand with his. “You’ll be okay. And if you aren’t, I’ll make it okay. I know you think it’s a weakness, but feeling is a human strength. You’ll adjust. Maybe you’ll come to depend on it. You’ll definitely be able to understand what the king is experiencing. I think that’s going to help you.”
“I don’t see how,” she said.
“If you understand him emotionally, and he’s a man that makes decisions with both intellect and heart, don’t you think you need the same tools in your arsenal?”
“It’s a seduction. He wanted me, and he’s getting me,” she answered flatly.
“Well, now, that’s not the whole story is it? You’re giving him you because you plan to coerce a particular outcome from him. One that will benefit Elara and you.”
“Me?” Her pulse leapt as though he knew something she didn’t.
His smile widened. “I know you, Neela. You don’t do anything unless it suits you. There’s never been another time where you’ve used your body to gain information. Why do you think you’re allowing it now?”
She looked down at their hands. The heat from his seemed to spread up her wrist and she couldn’t quell the curiosity of what his hands would feel like on the rest of her. His lips. God, she’d always been attracted to him, admired him professionally, found him arresting, but now there was a deeper element she didn’t know how to qualify.
“It made sense. He doesn’t want anything in trade, except me.”
He squeezed her hand. “Admit it. You want him too.”
Her gaze had been fixed on his mouth, watching him form words like they were sex-sounds. Her thighs tingled as she made the mental leap from his mouth forming words to moving on her clit.
“If you keep looking at me like that, I might take it the wrong way,” he murmured huskily. “Especially now that you’re impaired.”
“I’m not impaired. I’m sensitized. I think all the same things I did before without being able to shut them off during working hours.”
He took a long breath. “I dunno, Pharr. I don’t remember you ever looking at me like I was dessert before. Even off the clock.”
Dessert? Yes, she could easily lick every part of him and sip from those lips until each aching neuron in her body was satisfied.
He pulled his hand away. “Yeah, and that look certainly never happened. If you hadn’t been shot up with anti-inhibitor we’d be talking about solar flares right now, or disarming techniques.”
“That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be thinking about other things later.”
Tarrel lifted an eyebrow and grinned. “Really? You have those thoughts about me?”
Was it hot in there? She could swear her skin was flushing. “Don’t pretend you haven’t had your own thoughts. I may normally maintain my distinction, but I’m not unaware of your interest.”
“You’re a beautiful woman, Neela. I’d be an idiot not to notice.”
Admissions seemed to come more easily too. She’d be kicking herself for the frankness of their discussion later. For now, it felt perfectly natural for her to tell him exactly what kind of thoughts she’d been having, because she was pretty sure they’d be reciprocated.
She’d spent a number of nights looking out her apartment windows and imagining what Tarrel was doing. He was free with himself. If he wanted a woman, he took her. She’d seen it countless times on the Elaran base cantina. He’d smile and some human would wander over. Before long, they’d leave together, and Neela would think about all the ways he’d make his woman cry out.
Moisture seeped between her pussy lips. It seemed every thought generated not only feelings, but urges too. If this was humanity, it was a wonder the human ever learned space flight between sexual encounters. Her libido swelled the longer she sat with him, dredging up all the thoughts she’d kept to herself.
Just once, she wanted to be his woman. She wanted to know.
Neela licked her lips nervously. “Fuck me.”
He blinked. “Excuse me?”
“I’m going to go insane with the things this body wants. Please, fuck me.”
“Not that I haven’t always wanted to hear you say those words, but considering this is nothing like you, I’m-can’t believe I’m gonna say this-going to have to pass on that. You’d kill me later for taking advantage.”
“No, I want this.” She got up and straddled his lap. Dragging her nails down his uniformed chest, she looked up at him under her lashes. “I’d never be so forthright, but it’s what I want. And judging from the bulge in your pants, you want it too.”
“He wants a lot of things he’s not supposed to have.” He squirmed back in his chair, but there wasn’t much room for him to go. “What about the king? You’re supposed to spread those legs for him in a few days. Don’t you think he’d care that I’d been there first?”
“I’m not a virgin,” she scoffed.
He caught her wrists. “Neela. You’re giving your body to him, for however he wants to use you. That kind of matters to me.”
“He can have me without having me.” She hoped. Neela felt comfortable with the mechanics of sex. She worked at being good at it, like it was another mastery to learn. This time though, she couldn’t stay detached. Her heart raced, and her hands shook. The real fear of rejection, something she’d never worried about before, crawled icy fingers up her spine. “Are you saying no?”
“Ask me again when we’re back home and you’re you.” He sounded confident, but his gaze raked the exposed skin at her neck.
Neela twisted her wrists to free herself, then released the hidden eyehooks down her side. She pulled open her uniform top and shrugged it from her shoulders. For a man who wasn’t convinced they should engage in sex, he had no qualms admiring her barely concealed breasts. The filmy white garment cupped the underside of each, lifting her berry-colored nipples high enough to peek over the edge of the demi-bra.
“Sure, I’ll ask when we get back,” she offered agreeably. She wished she didn’t sound so breathless, so out of control. Was it needy? Desperate? Would he laugh at her? She didn’t remember ever having these concerns before.
“Damn it, Pharr. There’s only so much a guy can take.” His hands slid up her sides.
“I recommend you take all of it. I’m not ashamed of sex. Not as I am now, nor as I usually carry myself. I want you. Either you take what I’m offering, or you watch me while I think of you. What’ll it be, Lieutenant?”
“When you put it that way,” he breathed.
One of the reasons Neela appealed to Tarrel so much was her mystique. Her race had clear lines between appropriate behavior on and off the job. They were passionate people who tempered themselves with iron control. Today her control was failing. Today was a dream come true.
Neela Pharr had been a scuff-kneed, cockeyed ponytail-wearing brat when he’d first moved to Elara colony twenty years ago. The only part of that kid remaining was the long inky hair and fearlessness.
High emotion brought a rise of color along her spine. He’d seen it only once when Neela had been playing with a neighborhood boy, and she’d gotten angry. Tarrel never forgot the burnt orange arrows of her inverted chevron spinal column, running from skull base to the waistband of her swimming gear.
What color was her spine in the heat of passion?
He needed to focus. This was Neela Pharr. She could easily kick his butt in a fight. Beyond that, she was a trusted friend and fellow ranking military presence. Fucking this up would be bad.
“You only want me because of the anti-inhibitor and years of history together. Think about this for a second. If we have sex and you wind up regretting it, we won’t be the same.”
She took his hands and pressed them to the underside of her breasts. “I never regret sex.”
“You aren’t used to combining sex and emotion, are you?”
Neela huffed. “I’m hardly a cold fish in the sack, Tarrel. But you wouldn’t know that because we’ve never gone there before.”
“Sex is about feeling,” he said, trying again. His cock complained with a thick throb. Damn if he didn’t already feel the sting of blue-balls.
“It’s about getting off,” she deadpanned. “It’s about genitalia and rushing blood vessels and pleasure centers in the brain.” She stood up and backed away with a sexy saunter. “But if you won’t participate, I’ll go it alone.”
“If that’s all you think it is, then you need some education. Human style.” He levered himself out of the chair.
“Is that a yes?” she asked, a sly smile curling her full lips.
“We’re on auto-pilot and we have a couple of days. If you think this won’t make things weird between us, then yeah, I’m in.” He grinned in afterthought. “And out. And in again as many times as it takes. I won’t quit until you have the full human experience.”
“Dedicated,” she mused.
“Yeah, I’m a tireless giver.”
Neela continued to back away. She reached behind herself and loosened the fastenings on her bra, letting the gauzy material slide off her arms to the floor. Tarrel’s stomach felt like it had made an atmospheric plunge.
“You just get right to it, don’t you?” he asked.
“Why wait?”
Tarrel unhooked his uniform flight top and unzipped the semi-attached pants portion. He pushed the clothes off his body as he hobbled out of his issue boots. He’d have been more respectful, but with Neela slithering sensuously out of her body suit, he couldn’t bring himself to look away.
Long hours of training had toned her core, but she still had a softness to her that he liked in a woman. He wasn’t fooled into thinking there wasn’t hard muscle under there. He’d seen her in combat with her lance. He knew the dedication it took to master her talents, but she was blessed with full hips and round thighs and the sweetest thatch of trim, short curls between her legs. It was like a runway to heaven that he couldn’t wait to land on.
Moisture glistened at the seam. He hadn’t even touched her yet. Neela hadn’t been kidding when she said she was ready.
She took another step back. Tarrel finally freed his legs in a stumbling trip forward. Barely catching himself on the bulkhead just inside the sleeping quarters, he laughed at his awkwardness.
“I feel like a kid who’s never gotten laid.”
“Did you pass your physical?” she asked, sitting on the very edge of the one-man wall cot.
“The doc cleared me and I stepped through the viral containment unit like I do before every work day,” he told her.
“As did I.” Neela leaned back and parted her thighs.
“I boosted my contraception dose last week,” he added for her peace of mind.
She shrugged a shoulder. “I’m not due for mine for another three months. I don’t depend on other people to protect my body.” But she did seem to relax a fraction.
“Then why are we still talking?” he asked.
“Because I’m waiting to see what I have to work with.” She looked pointedly at his tented briefs.
Tarrel tucked his thumbs in the waistband, running them back and forth teasingly before dragging the undergarment downward and off.
“Nice,” she murmured. She hooked her foot behind his thigh and pulled him closer. When he got close enough, she grabbed his arm and pulled him to the bed, neatly straddling him in one quick move.
Tarrel held her waist. “Hey now, there’s no rush.”
A funny expression crossed her face. “Who’s rushing? This has been coming for a long time.”
“So let’s take our time and enjoy it,” he finished.
She lifted her brows. Her hand wrapped his cock. She lifted, holding him steady and impaled herself on his shaft. Tarrel and Neela gasped at the sudden intimate contact in unison. She curled her shoulders forward, her lips parted as her brow furrowed slightly.
“Je-sus, woman! Slow down.”
“Don’t want to,” she protested.
He didn’t want her to either. Already the clenching heat of her body was short-circuiting his best intentions. Logically, he knew they should enjoy the first coupling, but every one of his nerve endings argued that it felt too damn good to hold back now. They were whispering, fuck her now, slow down later.
She seemed to be getting the same internal message, because she lifted in a forward rocking motion that undulated the rest of her body and the last coherent thought he had fizzled into death. He gripped her hips and slammed upward as she came down, sending a delicious shockwave straight to his balls.
There was going to be nothing slow about this round.
A thought flashed through his mind about how he’d have liked to have at least kissed her first. He’d have liked to have touched her full pert breasts. Instead, they bounced out of reach as she rode him and he fucked her just as hard in return.
Later, he thought dismissively. Later because right now orgasm tingled at the base of his spine and low in his skull.
Tarrel moved his thumb to the top of her clitoral hood. Neela cried out, threw her head back and keened as her pussy spasmed around his length. The tremors were so strong it ripped his climax from him as suddenly as hers had come on.
He was still gasping for breath as Neela collapsed on him. He brushed loose strands of hair away from her cheek where sweat had dampened them to stick. She moved her head and he settled for touching the back of it. His fingers found the clip holding her locks back and he decided that if they were going to be undressed and fucking, he wanted to see her in all her glory.
Tarrel fussed with the clip until it came free and black tendrils spilled to his shoulder and chest.
“Why did you do that?” she asked pushing up and looking a little peeved.
“Okay, here’s the deal. You want to have sex. I’m all for it, but I want to enjoy it.”
“Don’t even pretend that you didn’t enjoy what we just did,” she scoffed.
“Of course I did. But did you? I want to know that you had the full run of emotions. Might as well take advantage of the inhibitor.”
Her gaze darted away. “I felt everything.” She rolled off his body to the small space between him and the wall, her body hugging his side. She draped her arm across his chest.
“You felt what you wanted to feel. That’s not necessarily what sex is about.”
“I’m not a virgin, Tarrel.”
“Nope, you’re not that,” he agreed. “But you didn’t let go either.” He turned his head, looking intently into her eyes. “Next round is about the process you missed.”
Her eyes widened, and she seemed a little pale. “I think I’m all good there.”
Tarrel rolled up on his side. “Not even close, honey. But you will be.”