Page 28 of Advance and Retreat (Dark Empire #6)

She smarts off to me to make me stop and think. She understands I respond best to thoughtful debate, which is what her jabs tend to set off. She gives Etnil hell because he gets a kick out of their back-and-forth. She speaks differently to Rihep and Kuran too, and they get along great with her.

How did I never notice this before?

Stunned, Stacy said, “I can see it. Now that I think about it, when it comes to getting things done, you always meet others on their turf, so to speak. But if you have to call them out on bullshit, you have no problem doing so.”

Toni’s worry turned hopeful. “Yeah, I’m just recognizing it too. I wasn’t aware I act the way I do depending on the person or situation I’m facing until the test pointed it out. It’s a kind of gift, I suppose.”

“An impressive gift.” Maybe there’d be a spot for Toni on Stacy’s team after all.

“It’s how Clan Imon ended up in my orbit.

I was verbally tearing apart the jerk in charge of the cargo carrier bringing in supplies for the education department.

..now that was a negotiation.” Toni barked a laugh.

“Feru says it’s important to be able to throw down the gauntlet when compromise fails.

Anyway, the scene we had brought the guys over to ask if they could help. I had it handled—”

“Of course.”

“—but them inserting themselves in my business ended up having its positive effect.” Toni grinned.

“You really like them. I’m sorry they aren’t staying close.”

“Yeah.” Her sister’s gaze dropped. “Yeah, it sucks. It sucks hard .”

––––––––

T oni did her best not to show it, but Stacy apparently figured out she was growing tired after an hour of reconnecting. “I’ll be back tomorrow morning before I go to work,” the elder Nichols promised.

“Thanks for the warning,” Toni teased.

“Yeah, well since there’s a clan catting around you, I want to make sure I don’t interrupt anything important.”

“I won’t answer the door if you do.” She stuck her tongue out.

“Brat.” Having gotten the literal last word, Stacy hugged her and left to run Earth II, her first official day on the planet as its elected rather than appointed governor, but not before poking her head out to bid goodbye to Clan Imon.

They hurried in after her departure. “How are you feeling?” Feru asked, rearranging her blanket and plumping her pillows.

“I’m okay. Just starting to fade a little,” Toni admitted. She accepted the glass of water he offered.

“How did she take your resignation and change of career?” Imon sat on the edge of the couch next to her bent knees. His arm curled around her legs.

“She was surprised, but she seemed okay. She even said she could use me in the future as an ambassador.”

Maybe Wovir, who leaned propped on the back of the sofa, picked up on the hesitation in her tone. “Negotiators and diplomats are always in demand, wherever you end up focusing your skills. You aren’t tied to Earth where such a career’s concerned.”

“He’s right. Many governments hire personnel who aren’t part of their native species. They appreciate having alien perspectives to help them work in concert with allies,” Imon concurred.

“Good to know. Is it crazy to say I feel being among my own people is too safe? Despite them trying to assassinate my sister,” she snorted.

“Safety is overrated,” Wovir smirked.

“Spoken like a true Nobek.” She drew a breath, feeling the release of the first hurdle cleared. “My next step is researching training. No doubt I can do so remotely. All Earth’s universities and colleges are shut down for in-person classes since Dark Death came to visit.”

“You could investigate tele-classes off-planet too. Kalquor’s universities have been accepting students from various worlds who can’t physically attend studies due to the war against the Darks.

” Done fussing over her for at least a couple of minutes, Feru sat on the edge of the table next to the sofa.

“You have a ton of real-world experience thanks to your administrative duties when you lived on Haven.”

“True. I can’t tell you how much negotiating and diplomacy it took to wrangle the budgets I needed from the school board, despite Haven being a lot more generous about its education funding than Mercy or New Bethlehem.”

“You could probably finish your studies in a matter of months, thanks to getting your feet wet in such a discipline.”

Toni was mostly intent on their discussion, but being surrounded by three incredibly desirable men whose focus was on her offered instances of distraction. Feru’s statement tugged a wanton smile on her lips. “Careful how you use ‘wet’ and ‘discipline’ in the same sentence.”

Her remark garnered hoots and laughter from the trio. “I thought you were tired,” Imon grinned.

“I might be waking up. Parts of me, anyway. Want to find out?”

“You have to take it easy,” Feru admonished, but she noted his eyes had darkened.

“I take it any way I can get it.”

“She’s naughty,” Wovir rumbled to Imon. “Maybe she thinks we’ll let it slide it since she’s in recovery and we have to behave.”

“ She has to behave. I don’t feel we’re held to the same standard.” Imon’s evil smile made Toni’s heart skip a beat.

“As long as we’re careful,” Feru said.

“Of course. We’ll be sure she’s careful too.”

Imon stretched his beefy torso over Toni’s much slighter frame, his weight gently pressing her into her nest of pillows. His lips were warm and tender on hers, but when she gasped, his tongue invaded in demand. He tasted her thoroughly, leaving her head spinning.

He retreated far enough to peel the blanket from her. She wore a matching sweatshirt and pants. The ensemble was loose in the wake of her illness, even with the drawstring of the pants drawn as tight as she’d been able.

Imon ignored the pants for the moment to tug her shirt up.

It had been baggy enough to allow her to forego a bra, and he growled appreciatively to see her breasts exposed.

Toni wasn’t sure they were worth a fuss, as they’d lost some of their former roundness to Dark Death.

At least they’d maintained their sweet teardrop shapes. That was something, she supposed.

All concerns about her appearance vanished as Imon hungrily mouthed each in turn. His mustache and goatee abraded her soft skin. Her sex clenched in reaction, especially when he delicately bit her already taut nipples.

She reached for him. From his position behind the low-backed couch, Wovir caught her wrists before she could grab handfuls of Imon’s wavy black hair. “Lie still,” he commanded, holding her prisoner as his clanmate licked and kissed and nipped and sucked the mounds he squeezed in his big hands.

Feru assisted by pulling her shirt over her head and up her arms. He and Wovir extricated her from the fabric, leaving her bare from the waist up.

“Such a thrilling playground,” Imon growled, doubling his efforts to drive Toni out of her skull.

Being held helpless, stripped, and carnally mauled by the trio excited her beyond reckoning. Her eager cries were drowned by Feru’s hair-raising kiss. Her pulse pounded in her ears and pussy, a drumbeat of need.

Imon relented only to pull the sweatpants’ drawstring, which she’d tied in a bow. “I smell a delicious cunt,” he whispered just loud enough for her to hear. “It’s begging to be eaten.”

The bald words brought a surge of heat to her womanhood. She gushed passion as he drew her pants down her legs, then her panties.

Feru stopped kissing her to ogle her nakedness, as Wovir and Imon did. The Dramok gripped her thighs and spread them to display her pussy. The vulnerability left Toni quivering, though she couldn’t help but notice how depleted she still was. Her hipbones and ribs jutted.

“Don’t,” she whimpered. “I look terrible.”

“Hush. You can’t be anything but beautiful,” Wovir corrected her.

“And desirable,” Feru added. “You’ll only grow more so as you continue to recover, which you’re well on your way to doing.”

“I’ll say. Look how wet this pussy is. How eager to be enjoyed.” Imon licked his lips, his gaze never moving from her sex.

“I’m so thin. So wasted looking. So...so pathetic.” Despite her ardor, she wanted to cry. How could they stand to see her in such a state?

“She’s talking nonsense. Keep her mouth busy, would you? I have the galaxy’s most incredible cunt to eat.” Imon sounded as determined as aroused.

Toni lost sight of him as Feru’s gorgeous face filled her vision. Another mind-stealing kiss erased the unshed tears.

Then a rough tongue swept her slit, and all embarrassment and grief disappeared. Imon licked her slowly, as if to savor every drop of her desire. He nestled himself between her legs, squirming until her thighs rested on his wide shoulders.

His shoulders were the last things on her mind as he lapped and lapped and lapped.

His tongue moved from her opening to her clit, each languorous lick lighting fireworks.

She writhed, and he pinned her legs so all they could manage was violent trembling.

Her wrists pinned by Wovir, upper body weighted by Feru, and hips and legs immobilized by Imon, she was helpless to budge from under their lascivious mastery.

She felt as if electricity was zapping from her skin, especially when Imon’s tongue dragged along her clit.

He abruptly sucked the swelling nub into his hungry maw, drawing on it as his tongue teased its tip.

She squalled as a jolt of pure sensation galvanized her.

It was so intense, it was nearly painful. She struggled to no avail.

Orgasm shot through her with next to no warning.

She shuddered and screamed as it ripped her to pieces.

There was no mercy to be had, however. Imon had battened on her, and he wouldn’t relinquish the vicious ecstasy that crescendoed again.

She had no choice but to be shattered by excruciating rapture.