He had to break the kiss off to get her dress over her head, and she took advantage of that to shed his tunic from his skin. She watched with greedy eyes as his body came into view. Her fingers fumbled against the buttons of his trousers, and his staff sprang into her hand.
Her fingers stroked against that flesh, satin over steel. The heavy veins wrapping that shaft pulsed and his head was dusky and filled with blood. Tara went to her knees, eager to please him and equally eager to taste his skin in her mouth.
Her tongue slid over his engorged head, bringing a low moan from his lips. His hips slid forward, and her mouth opened, taking that rigid member down her throat. His scent, slightly starchy and all male, filled her nose as his hands cupped her head and brought her face even closer to his thatch of coarse hair. That hair tickled her nose as she swallowed down his cock and then struggled to bring her mouth off and away from it. His grip relaxed, and she bobbed her head, breathing hard before taking him again.
Blade’s hot rod slid past her lips again. Her tongue licked along the skin of his shaft, and a slightly salty fluid filled the back of her throat. His groan was rough and raspy, and his fingers went taut in her hair then released her head so she could back away and then suck him down her throat again.
She pursed her lips, applying more pressure. Her fingers went to his sac, and she stroked the balls within it, feeling them lift and thicken as he reached a higher peak of desire.
He said, “My God that feels so damn good, but I need you to stop now.”
She didn’t want to stop. She wanted this; she wanted to feel him spilling his seed into her mouth, but more than that she wanted to feel him inside her, his body taking and filling hers. She sat back, one hand still wrapped loosely around his shaft.
Blade reached down and hauled her to her feet, lifting her off the floor and toting her toward her pallet in an unceremonious and hasty way that took her breath away simply because at that moment she could feel his strength, that incredible strength of his, and then she was on her back on the pallet, and his mouth was on her nipples, teasing them and making her squirm against his body.
Her words were a whisper. “Please. Please, I want you so badly. I want to feel you inside me.”
She did want that. She needed that. His fingers dipped between her legs, and then he moved lower yet. His fingers moved through the hair that covered her pussy and found the wet seam of her lips before plunging inside her in one fast and unapologetic pump that made her gasp and writhe against the rough linens covering her pallet.
His tongue streaked along her clit then bore down, massaging it from left to right in a way that made every thought fade from her mind. She could not think; all she could do was press herself upward, seeking to get even closer to his tongue as his fingers plunged in and out of her body, and her oils spread and leaked across his tongue and fingers.
Friction built, and then it built again. A high keening wail rose from her mouth, and she grunted, her ass cheeks straining as she lifted higher off the bed again, her fingers gripping at his hair and her inner thighs shaking. Her juices spilled, coating his face and her inner thighs before running down the cleft between her ass cheeks.
The scent of sex filled the air of the small hut. Her breath came in and out, ragged and harsh and her belly quivered with each flick of his tongue and entry into her that his fingers made.
He moved upward, leaving her hovering on the edge of a climax. Her legs wrapped around his body and her hand found his thick and pounding staff. He was inside her in a single breath and they moved together, thrusting and yielding and taking as the heat and friction grew to a level too intense to bear and then shattered and broke, making her inner walls contract and loosen and her body go first rigid with the strain and then limp and loose with satisfaction.
Blade braced himself above her, his body shaking and taut, then he thrust forward one final time. His dick shivered and beat within her walls, sending long bursts of hot seed into her.
He gasped and fell forward, his weight all on her body, and she let her body relax even further so she could take that weight and not be smothered under it.
He muttered, “Sorry,” and moved away a bit. His hands pulled her into his body, and she lay there, still tangled into him and smiling gently.
He said, “I’m an idiot.”
She asked, “What do you mean?”
He sighed loudly and then chuckled ruefully. “I…I’ve wanted to come to you so often since we have been here but the talk of war and the prep has been hard. I had that to deal with, but more than that I had to fight myself. You see, I was in love once, long ago.”
“I know. Lauren. Your father told me about her.” She looked into his eyes. “He said that her death was what changed you, and he could not blame you. That he knew that you had seen firsthand what the Federation was capable of and unlike him and most others you didn’t look away or excuse their actions as being something that was done for the greater good. That you saw it for what it was, what they had done. Cruel and calculated and wrong. She was a spy but they made an agreement with her and they didn’t keep it, and you saw that meant that the Federation lacked honor, something he had not been willing to admit just then.”
His smile was pained. “I spent a lot of time thinking that it was her that I mourned the most, but now I know better. It was the loss of my belief in the Federation that caused me so much pain. Oh, it hurt, that loss. I loved her, and I turned that love into a catalyst for revenge and death, and I wish I could say I regret it, but I don’t because I do see the Federation for what it is. It is a cancer on the world and one we have to excise now before it kills off everything still healthy and good.”
She swallowed hard. The feel of his skin against hers was so right and so real, and she wished they did not have to talk about war, but they did.
“We go to war soon.”
“Sooner than we planned. The people of Meridia have begun firing on Fed ships this very morning. It was premature, yes, but they had the perfect advantage, and they took it. They slaughtered an entire armada because they had the element of surprise on their side. The Feds have always believed their chokehold of that planet and its outlying systems so complete that they relaxed their grip and forgot that the Meridians were once one of the most war-like planets in the entire universe.”
Dread roiled up. “So what now?”
He said, “I have to go to Meridia. The planet’s not celebrating; they are waiting for the Fed to strike back, and when they do, it will be hard. They know that, and they will need help to battle off the next wave.”
She took a deep breath. “I can help on the ground. I can help with the wounded and the supplies and so on. And…” her voice trembled, “I can count the dead so that they are remembered. That was my job, you know. To log the dead.”
His eyes stared into hers. “You’re brave, and I wish I could leave you here, but everyone is needed. All across the universe, the planets are firing on the Federation. The people of Meridia set off the chain reaction we set in motion by placing warships and armies throughout the universe.”
She was afraid. So very afraid but there was no going back now. This war had been coming for centuries, and now it was at hand. She gave him her best smile even though it shook on the corners and fear stabbed its way into her heart. “You better not die on me.”
