Page 12 of Advance and Retreat (Dark Empire #6)

He did so, and she sank on him, filling herself at her pace: slow, to enjoy every nuance of his willing surrender.

Her eyes were closed as she claimed him, the better to feel how his flesh pervaded her.

To delight in the knowledge he was hers to enjoy as she deemed best. She experienced her power, made more precious because he so readily granted it to her.

She quaked as his larger cock rubbed the front of her inner sleeve where the most exquisite sensation lived.

Her breath quickened at the thrills shivering through her from the pressure.

One of her favorite pastimes was to ride him in just this fashion to see how many climaxes she could reach before he lost control.

Her record was five, and she briefly considered seeing if she could beat it.

No, she decided. Piras, trapped in his cargo bin, would have been as worried about his clanmates as they’d been. He might be submissive, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t in as much need of relieving the tension as Kila or Lokmi had been.

Hope wouldn’t rush it, however. She rose and fell on her clanmate, finding exactly the angle she wanted for a gradual rise to orgasm.

“Play with my tits, Piras,” she said as she treated herself to the steady but leisurely fuck she deserved after serving Lokmi and Kila.

“Put those big, talented hands to work.”

Delight suffused his expression to be allowed to touch her. He rubbed her deliciously, exactly the way he’d learned she preferred, his hands hot on her flesh. He licked his thumbs and circled her flushed, taut nipples. They zinged their approval straight to her clit.

“My excellent boy.” Satisfaction purred through her as he tugged carefully, then caressed using a gentler touch. He varied his attention, providing all the different nuances she enjoyed.

He was such a very good boy. She gazed at the stunning body providing devoted service to her growing hunger. He’d get his reward sooner than she’d planned because she was hurrying to her own prize despite her attempts to make it last.

It isn’t as if I’m losing out on anything. I can have him my way whenever I wish.

Thinking it brought voluptuous pleasure closer. For Hope, dominating was as exciting as surrender, and the knowledge he was hers to fuck at a moment’s notice was arousing.

Her pace had quickened without her noticing, her pussy’s clamor for gratification goading her. Piras was gasping, his features strained. His head shook slowly from side to side, as if he were telling himself no. His restraint was no better than any of the rest.

“My poor, sweet boy,” Hope panted. “He wants it so bad, doesn’t he?”

A desperate whine slipped through his gritted teeth.

“Do it to me. Make me come, Piras. When you do, you have permission to come too.”

Excitement brightened his purple eyes. He grasped her hips, then searched her face for permission.

She dug her nails in his thighs. “Do it, boy. Fuck your mistress. Fuck her good. Give it to me, Piras!”

A cry escaped his lips. He lifted her and yanked her down frantically, the tendons standing out on his arms, shoulders, and neck as he sought to satisfy her. And he was doing so, his thick primary finding the magic spot again and again until she detonated.

Gratification swept through her. She soared into sweet release. Piras’ cries rang after hers, his passion flooding her, making her climax anew in response.

She rode him until the last delicious pulse ebbed. Slowly, she drifted onto him, feeling the strong body she commanded.

“My Matara.” Gratitude filled his voice.

“My beautiful boy. My Piras.” She kissed him, pouring all her love for him in the embrace.

* * * *

K alquor

Cassidy had been warned by her physician clanmate Degorsk not to work late during her third trimester.

Actually, the overly protective Imdiko had pestered her inclination to work too much since she could remember, but his admonitions had grown in insistence and volume since she’d gotten pregnant.

Despite her arguments that fretting about the work she wasn’t getting done caused more stress than the work itself, he refused to hear them.

Perhaps his attitude was why she took such pleasure when she checked the time and found the hour growing late. Degorsk and the rest of her clanmates were tied up with their own important positions tonight, giving her carte blanche to sit in her lab and indulge in studying her notes on the Darks.

Reading couldn’t be construed as working hard, could it? She was reasonably sure Degorsk had nothing to complain about simply because she did so in the lab rather than their quarters.

No virus or bacteria injected in the subjects have resulted in their illness or death.

Cassidy sighed to see the results printed on her holo screen.

She and Egilka had so little to show for their experiments thus far.

She loved her work, but when each day ended and they were no closer to defeating the All—

Her ruminations were cut cleanly off as the file began scrolling swiftly before her eyes. Though her hands were folded on her almost non-existent lap beneath her swollen belly, she looked at them anyway to make sure they hadn’t somehow drifted to the keyboard of their own volition.

Shocked into momentary thoughtlessness, her gaze returned to the holo screen to see it reach the end of the file.

Immediately, another came up, and it also scrolled too fast for her to follow.

A second holo screen bloomed over the lab table and an additional file was accessed.

Then a third screen shimmered. And a fourth.

When her brain reasserted itself, her first notion was her system had been hacked.

It wasn’t possible, however. Her computer, as well as Egilka’s, was a self-contained unit unconnected to other systems for security’s sake.

Any access or sharing of their files could only be accomplished by saving the information to data chips and physically plugging them into another computer.

Cassidy remembered the strange hallucination of Egilka standing behind her days ago. This wasn’t an odd offshoot of baby brain. Someone had been there. Someone or something was here now.

“Who’s doing this?” she shouted, looking around the room she seemingly was the sole occupant of.

As if startled by her cry, all but her first screen disappeared. The remaining holo went blank, registering as a shimmering black rectangle hovering over her keyboard and computer unit.

Belatedly, she remembered her handheld sitting next to the computer. “Vid record the room,” she ordered it. A green light appeared on the device, signaling it did so.

“Who are you?” she repeated, her tone challenging and unafraid. Her scientific curiosity was too roused to allow space for fear.

Words in white letters abruptly materialized on the black background of her holo screen. Cassidy’s jaw dropped as she read.

Those you call the All and Darks have wiped out every sentient being in their own dimension with the exception of one. They’ll wipe you out too.

Her heart quickened. Quickly, she sorted through her potential responses before speaking out loud. “Are you the sole survivor of the All’s dimension? Are you the entity or entities the Darks refer to as Other?”

The answer was a punch to the gut. Experience shows you can’t win against the All. Your efforts are in vain. Make your peace now. The end is coming.