“Hungry today, eh, Captain?”
The tino’s teasing grin flat lined when Dax looked up and glared at him.
The remark drew Lena’s attention to his tray, though, and her eyes widened.
Dax slid a glance at her out of the corner of his eye. Dark color started at his neck and moved slowly upward until it disappeared beneath his hair line.
The blush caught Lena completely by surprise, shattering her defenses. When he flicked a glance at her, she smiled at him tentatively as she had before.
He scowled, rubbing his chest absently as he looked away again.
Rebuffed, again, Lena struggled to focus on finishing her meal so that she could leave without giving the appearance of flight. It might have been sawdust for all she noticed anything about the flavor.
There was nothing quite like being relieved of all doubts, she thought morosely, wondering why she’d allowed herself even a tiny sliver of hope that something had changed in their relationship. She should have known by the way he’d sneaked out and left her asleep that he was trying to avoid any sort of confrontation.
It was a good thing she’d gone though, she decided after a few moments, forced him to publicly snub her, because now she knew beyond any doubt where she stood with him and she could put the whole thing behind her as experience.
“I guess you didn’t manage to hail base camp?” the tino asked after several moments.
Dax glanced at him. “Still nothing. You can give it another couple of hours and try again. Next time, though, instead of trying a hail, just send the ‘package retrieved’ code. If they’re listening, but can’t broadcast, they’ll know it’s us and that the mission was a success.”
It didn’t take Lena more than a split second to figure out that cryptic remark. She was a package, Lena thought indignantly?
Finishing her meal, she got up abruptly and left the table, disposing of her tray, utensils, and her glass.
She was so hurt and angry that she didn’t realize the tread she was vaguely aware of behind her was Dax until she’d stepped into the cabin.
The door slid half closed and then popped open again, jerking her out of her abstraction. Dax caught her even as she whirled to face him.
ChapterEleven
Caught completely off guard, Lena didn’t even have time to throw up defenses before she felt the pressure of Dax’s hard, demanding mouth over hers, felt the possessive thrust of his tongue as he breached the barrier of her lips and claimed her with his touch and taste. Heat and dizziness washed through her instantly, draining her of strength, will, or even the thought of protest.
She was barely even aware that he’d caught her tightly with one arm around her shoulders until she heard the sound of her suit being wrenched open and felt the brush of his other hand along her skin and coolness as he parted the fabric.
“Never smile at me like that again--in public. I almost had a heart seizure right then and there,” he growled when he lifted his mouth from hers, shoving his hands beneath the fabric of her suit and peeling it from her body even as he explored her throat and the upper slope of her breasts.
The comment touched off a flicker of doubt, but Lena discovered she was already too far gone to be capable of anything approaching normal thought processes. It was all she could do to hold herself upright as he moved down her body, exploring her bare skin with his mouth and hands as he dragged the suit down to her ankles. When she lifted her foot to free it from the fabric, he caught her thigh, draped it over his shoulder, and burrowed his face against her mound.
Her knees wobbled and gave out as his tongue delved her cleft.
He caught her, lowering her to the floor instead of rising and carrying her to the bunk. Dragging the suit from her other foot, he hooked both of her legs over his shoulders, lifted her hips clear of the floor and fastened his mouth hungrily over her mound. Lena gasped, jerked, shuddering at the ferocity of his assault that sent her spiraling so rapidly toward culmination that she couldn’t catch her breath. Her body seized as it caught her, began to quake and convulse almost painfully as he continued to lick and suckle her clit with ravenous need.
Unable to evade the maddening tease of his tongue, Lena felt her climax jolting endlessly, until she began to think she would die if he didn’t stop. “Dax!” she cried out when she felt like she was on the verge of passing out.
She thought for several moments that he was too intent even to have heard her. Finally, he lowered her hips until they were resting on his bent knees, dragged her legs from his shoulders, planted her feet on the floor, and then grabbed her arms and jerked her upwards. She slumped weakly against him, her arms draped around his neck to keep from falling but too limp to be of much use to her.
Lifting her hips with both hands, he spread her cleft with his fingers and pressed the head of his cock into the mouth of her sex, bearing down on her hips slowly but relentlessly until she was gasping. When he’d sunk his cock inside of her to the root, he bore down on her more tightly, grinding his groin against her nether lips as if he felt the need to go deeper still, until his cock head was butting her womb almost painfully.
She groaned, dropping her cheek against the top of his head as he held her there for many moments, his arms wrapped tightly around her. Her neck felt too weak even to hold her head up. Abruptly, he released her, grabbed her hips and began to lift her and press her down again until he was slamming into her. Tremors began to run through his arms, his entire body. As suddenly as he’d begun pounding into her, he stilled, uttered a choked groan and wrapped his arms tightly, almost crushingly, around her again, his body shaking so violently with tremors that they swayed precariously.
Heaving a shuttering sigh, he loosened his grip on her and finally leaned down, supporting them with one arm and easing her to the floor with the other. When she’d settled to the floor like a puddle of melted wax, the arm he’d been using to brace both of them gave way and he slumped onto his side and then rolled onto his back, gasping for breath.
Mellow in the aftermath, Lena nevertheless began to feel as if she’d just been run over by a tank as the cold hardness of the floor began to sink in--stunned, wondering if she was going to feel pain in a few moments, wondering what had just happened.
Finally, with an obvious effort, Dax got off the floor, reached down, and lifted her up and carried her to the bed. Settling her on the mattress, he leaned over her, kissed the tip of each breast briefly, and then her lips before he straightened. She stared up at him in bemusement. Slowly, it sank into her mind that she was splayed naked and spread eagle to his gaze … and he hadn’t even taken off his clothes.
After staring at her for several moments, he moved to the lav, washed his genitals, and stuffed them back into his suit, closing the seam. He frowned when he’d finished adjusting himself. After looking around a little absently, he grabbed the towel he’d discarded by the lav earlier and dabbed at the crotch of his suit.
