Nikol's Surrender (A World Beyond, #10) Page 12

  Tossing her hair from side to side, she whined in pain or torment, he couldn’t tell.

  “Can you take more of me, Earth woman?” he found himself asking.

  “God, yes,” she blurted.

  Nikol took her at her word and lunged again. Breaching her wasn’t easy. She was tight, smaller than he was used to. He pushed forward insistently, her inner muscles giving way to his gradual invasion. Nikol didn’t stop until the front of his thighs met the back of hers.

  He paused and drew a deep breath to steady his erratic pulse. When he glanced down, his chest constricted. She’d taken all of him. He felt the rings on his shaft jump and she moaned. Nikol rocked once and she moaned again. He’d never taken a female from Earth before. Never been tempted. Yet now, he wanted to revel in the full experience. Discover if rumors held true.

  Experimentally, he gave a few quick and hard thrusts. Darcy cried out, her fingers knotting on the sheets. “More. I need more.”

  Yes. Savage hunger exploded. There were so many things he wanted to do. Heart pounding, he reached up and grasped her shoulders. He held on and pumped hard and furious. Darcy backed against him violently, matching him thrust for thrust. Sweat built on his chest, dripping onto her back until they were both slick.

  The sound of flesh smacking flesh filled his alcove. His deep groans mixed with her shouts of pleasure. She babbled nonsensical phrases and knowing he brought about that depth of passion from her had his lower rings swelling to the point of discomfort.

  “What is that? What are you doing?” she asked in a breathless voice.

  He parted her cheeks and slid his finger between the cleft to touch the puckered hole winking at him. She tensed. Nikol stopped. He would not injure her as Lothar did with his tutanis. There was a difference in the rough play he desired and the brutality his father practiced.

  When the subtle line of her back eased, he pressed his thumb deep. She squirmed and arched, her shocked breath encouraging him. He leaned over her, giving her more of his weight and pressed his lips to the top of her spine. Nikol trailed kisses from one curved shoulder to the other then nipped his way down the center of her back, leaving a path of red blemishes. She tasted of fragrant oils and their combined essence.

  “I want your release,” he whispered. “Give it to me now, Darcy.”

  And to his delight and utter amazement, she shuddered beneath him with a scream, her internal muscles squeezing tight and then bathing his cock in a rush of fluid.

  It was more than he expected and Nikol shot his seed into her on a fierce roar.

  Chapter 14

  Sleep clinging to her, Darcy rolled in the sheets and groaned. Her body felt more satiated than it had ever been. She twisted to the side and winced when her nipples brushed the sheets. Wow, her body was sore and tender in all the right places.

  Sore?!

  Her eyes popped open and she lurched up in bed. Her thighs twinged as the sheets fell about her waist. She stared at walls in a muted shade of gold and unfamiliar clothing folded on a shelf. That must have been one hell of a dream. Where was she?

  Her brain scrambled for answers and the memories slammed back one after another. Abducted, sold, bought.

  Nikol.

  She searched the room frantically and came face to face with his tall figure watching her. He leaned against the wall beside the closed curtain of the alcove. He wore the same pants from the previous evening, a sheer white material a little worse for wear judging by their wrinkled state. The cock that she’d savored in her mouth so briefly the night before twitched.

  Darcy wanted to sing in remembrance. Nikol’s hair was smoothed back from his broad forehead and horns, no visible reminders of the way she’d dragged her fingers through it. His flat nostrils flared, but other than that, there was no revealing emotion on his face to hint at the night they’d shared.

  “Why are you watching me?” Screaming the night before had left her voice hoarse.

  “You’re not as much trouble when you’re asleep,” he answered with a careless shrug.

  Darcy wasn’t sure how she felt about that. “It’s creepy.”

  He didn’t answer. Darcy slid her legs to the side and winced again from the ache in muscles that hadn’t been used in a while. Three years to be exact. She glanced down, taking note of the marks running up her inner thighs. Bite marks. There were more across her midsection and all around the areoles of her breasts. She touched her neck, feeling the tender skin he’d sucked throughout the night.

  “You sure did mark me well enough.” Darcy had never had a lover direct such thorough attention to loving her body the way Nikol had.

  His mouth formed a grim line and his features took on a harsh cast. Now that she looked, he didn’t seem pleased or relaxed. Her good feelings dissolved. “What’s wrong?”

  “You need to get dressed. I’ll take you to Medic Crox.” He pushed away from the wall as if to leave.

  “Hey! Stop!”

  To her surprise, he did. Darcy snatched the covers up over her bare breasts and stood. Why was he behaving this way? What they’d share had been hot. Decadent. Darcy had let herself go in a way she never had before. “You owe me an explanation.”

  It was the wrong thing to say. He stormed around the bed toward her and grabbed her forearm. “I don’t owe you anything. You are subject to my will and should act accordingly. Now get dressed in order to get the marks healed before they bruise.”

  He let her go with a slight shove. She couldn’t believe this was the same man who’d kissed her, stroked her so passionately. They’d been all over one another. Then again, he had taken her from behind both times. Fucking. He’d given her a fucking and she needed to remember that and not confuse it with making love.

  Darcy waited until he crossed the room to open the connecting door to his cleansing room to call out, “I’m not the only one in need of the medic.”

  Thin stripes from her nails graced the back of his left shoulder, not to mention the very vivid bruise above his belly where she had responded to his dare to bite him. Darcy had the pleasure of seeing him stiffen. He turned and his eyes heated with a carnal gaze she’d learned to appreciate last night.

  “You’re right. You were every bit the animal you accused me of being. I’m...impressed.”

  The pause spoke volumes. Darcy flushed. If she reflected too long on the things she’d done last night, her face would be in flames all day.

  “Perhaps it’s better not to visit the medic today. I think I want to hold on a little longer to the memories your marks engender.”

  His words were not said kindly.

  ***

  Avoiding the medic would enable Nikol to hide his indiscretion with the Earth woman longer. Crox would report to Lothar immediately that Nikol had sex shared with her. The marks themselves weren’t much to mention. Marenian males were known to be rough with their bed partners and their females were built to handle their brute strength. Unless one crossed the line as Lothar often did by implementing sexual tools of pain in the bedroom.

  It would stand to reason that the human with her smaller stature would suffer bruising to some extent after he rode her hard.

  But the placement of the marks he’d left on Darcy’s body revealed the level of possessiveness he felt toward her. Each bite was a declaration, a warning for others to stay away.

  He’d made a mistake. A critical one. If Lothar indeed had sent her, Nikol had fallen cock first into their trap.

  No, there’d be no medic treatment for either of them. Nikol offered her a mocking bow. “Until later, astéri.”

  A star whose light shone so bright he was sure she’d burn him alive if she managed to catch him. He strode into the cleansing room attached to his sleeping space and shut the door firmly. On the other side, Nikol collapsed against the wall and released a shaky breath. Hopefully, she would be gone and returned to her own alcove when he came out.

  Last night he’d lowered his guard and given release to his true self. That wasn�
�t supposed to happen. How had he let an Earth woman dig her claws into him? Figuratively and literally. He clenched his teeth in frustration. The timing of her arrival in his life couldn’t be worse. She represented more danger to him than he needed to deal with under his current circumstances.

  Early this morning, he’d received an urgent notice on his private secured comm from Lothar stating his presence was required to navigate the sale on a cargo of weapons for two groups on Antila Lothar favored. He had to leave in a week. Refusal wasn’t an option.

  The urgent ding of the comm was why he’d had time to wake and then observe Darcy sleeping. She was beautiful but last night had showed him more. She was stubborn. Defiant. Her fighting spirit amusing as she tried to gain the upper hand during their sex sharing by taking the top. Each time, Nikol had flipped her back and she’d laughed. It was a lighthearted sound he wasn’t used to hearing in his bed space.

  He shook his head and pushed off the wall. At least leaving under Lothar’s orders would give him the necessary cover to meet with his contacts. It was time to set the next phase in motion for the downfall of his father. It would also give him significant space away from his astéri.

  Removing his pants, Nikol stepped beneath the spray of soapy water in the enclosure and washed quickly. The combined sex smell of him and the Earth woman saturated the air in seconds, the scent rising in the midst of the steaming water. His cock flexed against his thigh and the strength of his arousal caused him to drop his head forward on a ragged groan. Water soaked his hair in clumps, the thick strands clinging to his shoulders.

  Nikol banged a fist on the fabricated wall and muttered a harsh curse. This had to stop. He grabbed his cock and squeezed hard enough to cause even him to wince. Nikol set his resolve and closed off every delicious memory battering at his mind until ice flowed through his veins.

  Shuddering in relief, he let his cock go, pleased at its flaccid state. He would not be controlled by his sexual desires.

  ***

  Darcy showered in her private alcove after Nikol’s rude dismissal. She dressed in a shellam of deep orange covered in large blossoms made of red thread and had to admit to herself that she was getting used to the flowing garment. The added sun she was getting from her outdoor time had turned her skin a muted gold. Thank God she wasn’t one to burn.

  Darcy wouldn’t exactly go on the streets like this with her bare breasts out for everyone to ogle but the other women’s carefree attitude and the admiration in Nikol’s eyes whenever he saw her was starting to make her feel proud about her body. More confident in it being on display

  She paused before exiting her alcove. Well, he had made her feel that way before. Now that he’d gotten what he wanted, the seduction was obviously over. She straightened her shoulders and shoved the privacy curtain back with a fierce pull. It squeaked on the rings and Amia and Tashire turned from their crafting on the floor to eye her curiously.

  Darcy marched out with her chin up and spine straight.

  “Morning to you, Darcy,” Amia chirped, continuing to thread whatever she was working on with absentminded skill.

  Tashire narrowed her eyes, taking in the red marks all over Darcy’s body. Her voice was hesitant but equally pleasant. “You overslept morning meal. Nikol said to let you rest as you were overtired.”

  Darcy wasn’t sure her face could get any hotter. “Yes. I was overtired.”

  They both knew why. It was obvious she’d spent the night with Nikol in his bed and the bastard had branded her so no one could miss the fact. Cecilee and Stasia strolled in from another section of the suite, their arms loaded with long stem flowers. Stasia stumbled upon catching sight of Darcy but Cecilee merely smiled.

  “Good morning to you, Darcy.”

  Snapping her arms across her chest to hide the bulk of Nikol’s work, Darcy nodded. “Right. It’s a good morning.”

  Cecilee came to her side and looped an arm through Darcy’s elbow. She considered resisting but it would make her look petulant.

  “I think I’d like to walk with you in the sun while its early.”

  Darcy rolled her eyes. Cecilee wasn’t subtle at all. Stasia joined Tashire and Amia and opened a basket to pull out a piece of silk and thread. Darcy blew out an exasperated breath. “Fine.”

  “Are you hurt? Do you need medical attention?” Cecilee asked immediately once they were out from earshot of the others.

  “Um..no...I...it’s fine,” Darcy stammered.

  Cecilee stopped her beside a towering tree of pink and purple flowers. “Tell me, was Nikol good to you?”

  Good to her? Not exactly. What they’d done was very, very bad and she had no regrets. “Nikol didn’t do anything I didn’t want.”

  That was the honest truth. He was just a jerk after the fact but she didn’t share that with Cecilee. The other woman was definitely Team Nikol.

  Cecilee smiled. “I knew that. I had to be certain. Seeing the marks brought back memories.”

  Darcy did a double take and was awash in a blaze of white hot betrayal that seared her senses. “So you what—wanted to compare notes?”

  Cecilee’s pleasant expression fell. Her lashes fluttered and she stepped back from Darcy. Then her brown eyes widened in understanding and her shoulders slumped. “That was unworthy of you, Darcy. I would never ask you for intimate details to how did you say—compare notes.”

  The reprimand was mild but Darcy felt it to the bottom of her sandal covered feet. “I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve that.”

  Cecilee smiled gently. “You have feelings for our young master. Possessiveness is the first sign of accepting your destiny.”

  “Um...sorry to break it to you but my destiny is not to be a sex slave. No offense.”

  “You think that’s all we are?!” Cecilee snapped, losing her gentile demeanor. “A tutanis can have the ear of the most powerful man and enact change. The Majad listens to his First Placement and loves her. His other tutanis are equally adored.”

  “Then which one of you is Nikol’s favorite? Maybe she should tell him it’s not proper etiquette to blow a woman off after he’s slept with her.”

  “None of us,” Cecilee said calmly, folding to her knees on the grass in a slow, graceful slide Darcy would never be able to duplicate.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Nikol has not sex shared with us.”

  At least Nikol hadn’t lied to trick her into sex. Darcy was relieved to know she hadn’t been wrong about that.

  Cecilee patted the ground beside her. “Join me and I will share something I think you should know.”

  Sitting beside Cecilee while her mind whirled with this knowledge was bizarre.

  Cecilee lowered her tone and glanced around anxiously though there was no around to hear her. “We all once belonged to Lothar’s kitse. He is known for wanting only the most beautiful and exotic tutanis to grace his bed.”

  Cecilee gripped Darcy’s hand suddenly and squeezed. “It was...Lothar...he is evil. The things he enjoyed were often humiliating and beyond that painful.”

  Darcy tried to wrap her mind around the nightmare Cecilee was sharing and fervently squeezed her friend’s fingers back to let her know she was here and had her support.

  “Many things went on in that kitse that I won’t go into detail about but when Lothar decided our luster had waned, he decided we weren’t good enough any more.” Cecilee took a deep breath and tipped her face up to the sky to inhale deeply. “It ended up being the best thing to happen though I didn’t know it at the time.”

  She refocused on Darcy. “He was going to kill us or sell us. Both fates I feared. In the end, he decided to gift us to his son, who had yet to start his own kitse.”

  Darcy was confused. “His son? Nikol is Lothar’s son?”

  The corner of Cecilee’s mouth ticked up. “Yes. He could have refused and condemned us to a living nightmare but he chose to welcome us with the understanding that we would not be used to meet his sexual needs. He promised us a li
fe of peace and rest much earned.”

  Darcy blinked and gazed around, trying to take all of this in. If Nikol was the son to the one who took her from Brax, was this all a plan? A trick of some sort?

  “Think, Darcy. Think what would have happened if Lothar decided to keep you for himself.”

  Vivid images of Brax hitting her in the face flashed. The medic ignoring her. Then her night with Nikol. Was Cecilee saying the ecstasy she’d experienced would have been totally different if she’d been left to either of those other men? Brax obviously had no intention of taking it easy with her if he got her in his bed.

  She’d flat out called Lothar evil. The little Darcy had learned from Cecilee assured that the woman wouldn’t have used the word lightly.

  Lothar may have rescued her from Brax but that didn’t make him a hero in this scenario. He’d dumped his harem on Nikol, planned to potentially kill the women who’d befriended her.

  Darcy’s stomach suddenly rose and heaved. Cecilee curved an arm around her shoulder and pressed her face to the top of Darcy’s hair as she struggled to make sense of it all.

  “I do not believe Nikol means you harm. Please don’t let what I’ve told you about his father change the feelings I see you have for him.”

  What feelings? Lust? She lusted after the son of the alien who bought and sold women. Apparently killed them too when he got tired of them.

  “They’re all monsters,” she gasped after her stomach stopped twisting inside.

  Cecilee sat back. “Nikol is so much more than what you are thinking. I can still remember him as a small child coming into Lothar’s suite. Lost and lonely without his mother. Mirim was the only one who was kind to him. She loved him and wasn’t afraid to show it. I will forever regret my part in ignoring a child who did nothing to me simply because I hated his father.”

  “Mirim?” Darcy asked quietly, fearful of the answer.

  “A tutanis that was beautiful inside and out. She had a baby and wanted more than for him to grow in Lothar’s shadow. It’s believed that she planned to take the child and run, but someone vindictive in the kitse found out and told. Betrayed her and Lothar—” Cecilee stopped. “I’ve said too much.”