Rebel Heat Read online

  Unable to resist the temptation, he slid his fingers in and out, imagining the clingy heat surrounding his aching cock. Soon, but not quite yet. Once he joined their bodies, he knew he’d lose control. His only hope of prolonging these pleasures was to wait as long as possible to enter her.

  His gaze returned to her breasts and lingered. The tips had tightened into deep pink knots, the vivid color a stark contrast to the full ivory mounds. He’d never seen a woman more perfectly suited to his fantasies. It was as if she’d materialized out of his mind and spread herself across his bed.

  “Gods, Morgan.” He curved his fingers around one breast and stroked the nipple with his thumb. “You’re so beautiful.”

  She shifted restlessly, the subtle undulation of her hips pulling her body nearly off his fingers. He’d been so distracted by her breasts that he’d almost forgotten his fingers were still inside her. Slowly he pulled his hand back and then thrust into her with enough force to jostle her breasts. She raised her other arm over her head, the submissive position thrilling him.

  He watched her face as he filled her with his fingers. Her eyes were closed, her lips parted, her cheeks deeply flushed. He curved his fingers, dragging the front wall of her passage until he found the spot that made her gasp. She lifted into each stroke, increasing the impact and depth. But when the faint flutters of her orgasm started, he pulled his hand out from between her legs and brought his fingers to his mouth.

  Her eyes opened and she whimpered as she watched him lick her cream from his skin. “I was almost there.” She sounded breathless and needy.

  “I know.” He lifted one of her legs and draped it over his shoulder. “You already came once. I don’t want you to get sleepy on me.”

  She laughed as he shifted her other leg over his shoulder as well. “I seriously doubt that will ever happen with you.”

  Emboldened by the praise, he inhaled deeply, absorbing her scent as he lowered his mouth to her slit. She tensed, shivered, then relaxed, accepting the caress of his lips and tongue. Exotic, yet strangely familiar, her taste spiked his hunger. The more of her he had, the more he wanted. It was a delightful contradiction.

  She cried out suddenly and pulsed against his lips, but he couldn’t make himself stop. She might not be ready to consider the possibility, but she was his. And he was hers.

  He slid his hands up her sides and covered her breasts, needing to touch as much of her as possible. His lips moved against her folds and his tongue gently teased her clit. She shook beneath him, her head tossing back and forth, as he patiently aroused her again.

  “Please.” She gasped. “I can’t take any more.”

  He lifted his head and she whimpered. “You could, and I’d make sure you enjoyed it. But I’m not sure I can right now.” After pausing to squeeze her breasts one last time, he eased his hands down her sides and lowered her legs from his shoulders. She watched every move he made, eyes wide and shining. He stood and unfastened his pants, then pushed them to his knees. But when he started to position himself to take her, she sat up and grabbed his wrist.

  “I want to see you, touch you before we…”

  Her fingers closed around his shaft and Nazerel groaned. “Next time.” He moved her hand aside then angled himself toward her entrance. “I need this now.” He pushed inside her with one smooth stroke.

  She arched, taking him deeper as her inner walls rippled around him. “Yes. Oh God, yes.”

  He wrapped his arms around her as she wrapped her legs around him. Their mouths found each other and everything else faded away. She clung to him desperately as he crawled onto the bed and then carefully lowered her back to the bunk. Then he braced his weight on his knees and his forearms so he could move his hips.

  She unhooked her ankles and pulled her legs up high on his sides. He slid in and out of her core, his strokes rhythmic and deep. He’d longed for this, dreamed of it, and still his imaginings were a pale shadow of reality. Her breasts cushioned his chest and her legs squeezed his sides as her core grasped his shaft with greedy hunger.

  He thrust faster, needing more. Her body was perfect, but the joining was incomplete. He wanted to feel what she was feeling, know beyond doubt that he was pleasing her as completely as she pleased him. Tearing his mouth away from hers, he gazed deep into her eyes. Her pupils were huge, her lids drooping. She arched and twisted, eagerly taking his entire length.

  It wasn’t enough, but he knew she would surrender nothing more.

  He pulled out and flipped her over, pulling her hips up until she folded her legs beneath her.

  “What’s wrong? Why did you—”

  He thrust back in, stealing her breath. His hands clasped her hips as he pounded out a demanding rhythm. She lowered her shoulders and moved her knees farther apart, providing more resistance for each stroke. It felt amazing, physical perfection, so he didn’t want her to see the disappointment in his eyes.

  She remained tense and resigned beneath him, willing yet distant. Unable to tolerate the compromise, he slowly adjusted the angle of his penetration until she gasped and shivered with each thrust.

  He felt savage yet confined, frustrated while still running wild. The contrast drove him harder, made him more aggressive. He wrapped her hair around his hand and drew her head to the side. “Come for me. I want to feel you tighten around my cock.”

  “I’m not sure…I can.” Before she could complete the sentence, her body obeyed his command.

  Thrilled by her surrender. He pulled her up and pressed her tightly against his body. Her back contoured to his front, her head still sharply twisted to the side. He kissed her deeply, his hand still tangled in her hair. His other hand wandered over her body, pausing to pinch her nipples or tease her clit before moving on again.

  Restless and breathless, she reached back and clasped his hips.

  He banded her waist, keeping himself buried deep inside her. “I can’t come if I can’t sense you. It’s like you’re not really here.”

  She froze, her hands still clutching his hips. “Then how did you come in the shower?”

  “I was so shocked that you wanted to touch me that it was basically spontaneous. I won’t anchor the connection, but I need to feel all of you.”

  Morgan dragged his arm away from her waist and crawled forward, separating their bodies in the process. He pulled her hair several times before he managed to disentangle his fingers. Then she turned around and sat, her legs drawn up to her chest. “I don’t want you in my mind.”

  “Why are you so afraid of mental connections?” He continued to kneel and made no effort to cover his massive erection.

  “I’m human. What goes on in my mind is private, personal.”

  He chuckled and motioned toward her. “What we’ve done so far is more personal than what I’m asking of you now. Or were you only pretending to enjoy my touch, my kiss?”

  A heated shiver ran down her body as he stressed the last word. “No one is that good at pretending.”

  “Then there is no reason for your fear.” He held out his hand, the rings in his eyes glowing like sapphires. “Share yourself with me and I’ll share myself with you.”

  “Just for tonight? You promise there will be no lasting link.”

  His disappointment was obvious, but he whispered, “Just for tonight.” She placed her hand on his and his fingers closed around her wrist. “Come here.”

  Before she could obey, he pulled her to him and separated her legs. He sat back on his heels as he wrapped her legs around his waist. She couldn’t reach the bed, could only relax and let him take her. His gaze drilled into hers as his broad tip pressed against the entrance to her body.

  “Open for me.” He whispered the words against her mouth then his lips sealed over hers. Accept me into your mind and body. Then he slowly lowered her onto his cock as his energy pushed into her mind.

  She shifted against him, taking his body deeper as she shied away from his mental touch. It felt strange, intrusive, yet undeniably int
imate. It was like losing her virginity all over again. She’d been scanned before, had even heard thoughts Mystics pushed into her mind. This was completely different. Nazerel flowed around her and cascaded through her, igniting sensations where their bodies joined.

  A moan escaped her throat as he pulled her up, nearly off his shaft, only to lower her again, filling her completely. The intensity of his desire burned away the last of her hesitation. He shared himself with her, an obvious invitation for her to do the same. But he took nothing from her. He waited for her, needing to share her emotions, yet unwilling to take anything without her permission.

  Sensations erupted all over her body. Her nipples rubbed against his chest and his thickness caressed her clit. She started there, offering him the physical sensations they created rather than the resulting emotions.

  His hands clutched her hips and he moved her faster, sliding her body up and down as their tongues swirled around each other. More. Show me more.

  His thoughts were so close to begging that she couldn’t resist. She allowed her emotions to flow into his mind, sharing her loneliness and the bone-deep ache she felt each time he touched her.

  He tore his mouth from hers and wrapped her firmly in his arms. “Never again,” he whispered. “You will never feel abandoned again.”

  Abandoned? It wasn’t a word she would have used to describe her isolation, but it was unavoidably accurate. Because of her ambition, she’d shut out anyone willing to protect or nurture her. Her brutal self-reliance might have been the reason they all gave up and left her on her own, but that didn’t change the fact that they left. No one had loved her enough to combat her stubbornness. No one had been strong enough to make her see that she didn’t need to face life’s challenges all alone.

  He carefully lowered her to the bed, keeping their pelvises locked together. His hands framed her face and he started to kiss her, but she turned away. “Tell me what it means, what it means for you and me.”

  Drawing his hips back, he momentarily separated their bodies then thrust home again. “You’re not ready to hear it.” His disappointment rippled across their connection, but tenderness soothed the emotional sting.

  She turned back to him, looking deep into his eyes as she enjoyed his demanding rhythm. She’d felt this connection, this pull almost from the moment they met. Then each kiss, each touch, had intensified the attraction. This wasn’t infatuation or even lust, but she was terrified to give it a name.

  “Tell me anyway.” She shifted her hips, taking him deeper.

  He pushed his entire length inside her then paused to stroke the side of her face. “It means chosen mate. Mate of my heart and my mind. You are not only the one my body craves, but the one I choose to love.”

  “But you’ve been calling me that for days, almost from the start.”

  Rather than argue with her, he pulled back and drove deep again. Only this time he filled her mind as completely as he filled her body. Desire, fascination, tenderness and regret twisted through her mind like an emotional kaleidoscope. His heightened senses made it impossible for him to avoid the truth. He’d recognized his mate as soon as he saw her. Then her scent, the texture of her skin and the taste of her desire confirmed what he’d already suspected. His enemy was also his mate.

  “Don’t fight it.” He caught the back of her knees and rolled her hips up, allowing him to thrust more aggressively. “We didn’t ask for this, but there is no way we can escape it.”

  He hit that sweet spot deep inside her and a cry of pleasure barreled past her objections. She refused to accept what he’d said, but she no longer denied it either. She concentrated on the thick slide of his body in and out of hers and shut out anything resembling thought.

  Hooking one of her legs over his elbow, he freed his other hand to roam while maintaining the angle of her hips. She closed her eyes, unable to bear the stark hunger in his gaze. It didn’t help. The intensity of his need surged into her mind with each forceful thrust of his hips. It was empowering to be so desired, yet frightening too.

  He pressed her nipples between his thumbs and fingers, drawing her attention back to the physical. He only lingered for a moment before descending along her ribs. She squirmed away from the ticklish sensations, but again he didn’t stay long. And then his hand eased between their bodies and his thumb covered her clit.

  “Look at me, morautu.”

  Mate. He’d called her mate. No, not just mate, chosen mate, the one he would select above all others. “Don’t,” she whispered, but she opened her eyes.

  He released her leg and caught both her hands, intertwining their fingers. Then he pressed them against the bunk to either side of her head. “You are my morautu.” He thrust deeply, an obvious claim. “Nothing and no one can change that fact.”

  The heat of his gaze burned into her as tangibly as his thickness filled her body. She was surrounded by him and filled with him, and nothing had ever felt so perfect. She drew her knees up along his sides and opened her mind, allowing him deeper than he’d gone before.

  He cried out and thrust even faster. His fingers closed around her hands and his mouth swooped down, angling over her lips. She opened to him, greeting his tongue with a sensual swirl. All the while his hips kept up their frantic pounding. He staked his claim on her body as his energy blazed through her mind. And she was just as aggressive, bucking and twisting, her fingernails digging into his hands.

  Morgan felt consumed, yet instantaneously reborn. She reveled in his frenzy as she abandoned herself to her own desire. She was beyond thought, beyond regret. She was on fire and Nazerel was the fuel that kept her flames burning. Nothing else existed; nothing else mattered.

  Suddenly she arched clear off the bed and screamed into his open mouth. Pleasure tore through her body and blasted into his. The violent throbs shook him, triggering his release before washing over her again. Her inner muscles rippled around him as pulse after pulse gripped her core.

  She recovered slowly, regaining her senses gradually. He’d released her hands, but was still inside her, still surprisingly hard. He held himself off her with his knees and one elbow while his free hand caressed her face.

  “Are you all right? I thought you blacked out there for a minute.”

  He sounded almost smug, so she punched him in the shoulder. “That was no better than average.”

  “Liar.” He leaned down and brushed his lips over hers. “I’m not taking credit for it, but that was extraordinary.”

  “If you say so.”

  He chuckled. “The link is still open, Morgan. You can’t lie to me.”

  “Well, I’m not going to feed your ego either, so change the subject.”

  “All right.” With obvious reluctance, he separated their bodies and sat up. “What would you like to talk about?”

  “Dissolve the link then we’ll talk.” Frustration and pain blasted into her mind for just a moment then the connection went dead. She understood the frustration, but why had her insistence on privacy caused him pain? “Thank you.”

  He nodded once then scooted off the bed and reached for his clothes.

  “Aren’t you going to clean up first? I thought we could take a shower.”

  “No shower for either of us. We need to make as strong a statement as possible.”

  Mortified by what he’d just suggested, she crawled off the bed and stood facing him. “You expect me to put on that dress and walk around the ship reeking of sex?”

  “Yes. Once it’s been established that you’ve been claimed, we’ll come back and take a shower.”

  “I can’t.” She covered herself as best she could with her hands. “I won’t.”

  “Suit yourself, but the utility room is locked and you’re not leaving this cabin until we establish my claim.” Then his expression softened and he took a step toward her. “I know you noticed the way my cousins reacted to you. Do you really want the entire crew undressing you with their eyes?”

  “But they’ll know what we were
just doing,” she cried.

  “That’s the point. Rodytes are extremely territorial. Another male’s scent makes a female unattractive, even one as beautiful as you.”

  Seeing no other option, she reluctantly gave in. “Then let’s get this over with so we can both relax.”

  They dressed in awkward silence. She felt his gaze on her frequently, but she wasn’t ready to share her thoughts, wasn’t sure she could express the myriad feelings assailing her mind. He opened the utility room for her, then loitered in the doorway to make sure she didn’t do more than run a comb through her hair and splash water on her face.

  Once she’d repaired her appearance, he took her by the hand and led her from the cabin. When they encountered a crewmember, Nazerel slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to his side. Morgan could tell the exact moment Nazerel’s scent reached the other man. He averted his gaze and hurried past without acknowledging Morgan in any way.

  They took an elevator up two levels then followed a corridor to a large observation deck. The area was enclosed by curved panels that created a transparent quarter dome. A huge wedge of star-dotted sky arched overhead while triple rows of smaller ships spread out before her. The ships were sleek and angular, not unlike human fighter jets. Crewmen moved among the ships without spacesuits or any form of breathing apparatus, yet the area didn’t appear to be enclosed.

  “Why aren’t they all dead or being sucked out into space?” She glanced at Nazerel and found him watching her, his expression intense yet unreadable.

  “The launch decks are surrounded by energy barriers. It keeps the oxygen in while allowing the fighters to depart without delay.”

  “‘Launch decks’? How many are there?”

  “Eight.”

  “And each deck has,” she quickly counted the ships, “thirty fighters?”