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Chapter Fifteen

T yree

I tolerated about half an houra alone in my room after I left Grace’s. I’m just learning who I am, and I’m still not sure of a lot about myself now that I’m male. But I do know I’m not the type to sit around and stay idle or feel self-pity.

I’m in the ludus , practicing with the chainsticks. I know I’ll get better at fighting and sparring, although how could I compete with anyone in this vessel full of gladiators? However, I’ll never be good at these dracking sticks. Shadow chided me for not paying attention, but I was paying complete attention, and all I have to show for it is a lump on my jaw the size of an oreg egg.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go eat or watch a vid, Tyree? You’re useless here. If you don’t pay better attention, you’re going to kill yourself...or an innocent bystander,” Shadow scolds.

“I am paying attention.”

“You told me what happened with you and Grace on Emirus. She rejected you and you’re mooning over her. If you were paying full attention to your martial arts, why are you sprouting an erection?”

I look down and sheepishly see the evidence for all to see. Okay, maybe I wasn’t paying complete attention to those dracking , deadly chainsticks. What purpose are they supposed to serve anyway?

My thoughts drift to Grace. I’m not wallowing in self-pity in my room for a reason. I’m a male of action. I’m not going to sit back and wait for fate to fix things for me. I’m struck by an image of the mating behavior of the nygrin birds on Larian. I used to watch them as a child.

The males would bring the females the choicest bits of food, and the females would fly away, not even tasting the morsels. The males would just repeat this behavior for days, trying with every instinct they had to please the female. They wouldn’t give up even though as a child I couldn’t understand why they kept trying. After a while, I realized that eventually they always got rewarded.

I’m not giving up. I know what pleases Grace. I will keep approaching her with things I know she likes. I’ll persist in letting her see my love for her shining through. I have all the time in the galaxy. We’re stuck on this ship together. I’ll keep being my best self for her. She’ll have to eventually realize we’ll be amazing together.

The ludus suddenly goes silent. No sound of grunting or sparring, no loud clang of metal weights hitting the floor. Every eye in the room focuses on the door, then slides to me, and then back to the door.

I slowly swivel to see Grace in that gorgeous green dress. The eye-popping dress she said matches my eyes. The sexy dress that’s been deprived of the modest covering of black lace at her bust and shows far too much of her heaving bosom. She was correct when she complained that the dress was cut so low her breasts would spill out the top.

I want to threaten the males with death if they spend one more modicum drinking in the sight of her. But I don’t want to turn my back on her to accomplish that.

She seems unaware of my protective anger as she hurries toward me, then stands far too close for comfort. At my vantage point, I can’t help looking down into the vee of her dress. She was right, you can see a hint of the pink of her nipples peeking from beneath the threshold of the top.

“Tyree, can we talk?”

I’m a complete drack . Any male worth the air he breathes wouldn’t be stealing peeks at her breasts. I force my eyes to her face. She looks serious and...so many emotions swirling there I have no way of discerning what’s going on behind her large blue eyes.

“Certainly.” I’m still standing, paralyzed. I think my heart stopped beating in my chest. I can’t read her—don’t know what she wants.

“Tyree!” Shadow yells from the other side of the weights. “Get the drack out of here. Go with that female unless you want to mount her right here in front of every male on the ship.”

His words propel me forward; I take Grace’s elbow and escort her out the double doors into the hallway. Then I stop. Like when a machine runs out of fuel. I just stand there, as if waiting for direction.

“Could we...could we go somewhere private to talk?” Grace asks.

I’m still not moving. My brain has shut down.

“Like your room? Or my room? Or the solarium?”

I love the solarium. Even when it’s empty, to me it’s still filled with Grace’s music. I don’t release her elbow—I practically drag her there.

We’re here, surrounded on three sides and the ceiling by darkness and stars: there’s a purple-tinged nebula off to the right. Grace looks so beautiful I can’t tear my eyes from her.

“I’m an idiot—”

“Don’t talk like that about the woman I love, Grace. I won’t allow it.”

“I’m…I had a whole speech planned out, Tyree. I was going to explain myself and tell you my feelings, and beg your forgiveness for being an idi...But then you go and ruin it by being awesome and terrific and telling me you love me even though I’m a dolt.”

“You’re not a dolt, either. But I’d like to hear more.” My heart has unclenched for the first time in days. I think I’ve gotten a reprieve. I want to hear every word. I slip my hands from her elbows to her naked shoulders and pull her a step closer. I truly want to hear every word. I also want to glance down her dress and see those magnificent breasts rise and fall with every breath she takes.

“I realized I’m not going to lose myself. I can still be Grace even though I’m in a relationship with you. As a matter of fact, in some ways I’ve found myself. I’m strong. I called Gren names and was ready to go to battle with him. I protected myself on Emirus. I wasn’t intimidated by the Emperor. Even before he acted crazy I knew that ten of him wasn’t worth one of you, Tyree. You’re...magnificent.”

Her eyes dart to mine for the first time since she collected me in the ludus .

“I can love you—which I do by the way—with all my heart, and not lose myself. You’ve talked about truemates, but I don’t know what that is. Can you explain it?”

“You probably have something like it on Earth, Amara . On Larian it’s a product of biology. Between you and me it will be a commitment of our souls. I love the idea that this hasn’t happened by a simple accident of chemistry—with you and me it’s happened by choice. It will be so much more profound.

“It means we love each other and will stay together and work in tandem for what we want. We decide what’s good for us as a team and we pull together in the same direction to accomplish it. Our decisions are always mutual. We want what’s best for each other. When each of us puts the other first, things always work out.

“Truemates. Forever and always. You’ll never be alone. I’ll always be by your side.” I pierce her with a stare that I hope shows her just how serious I am.

“Oh my God. I want that, Tyree. I want to be with you forever. A team. We’ll be amazing. I want to keep sharing everything we’ve already come to share. Except sacru sheswah . That will never cross our threshold, promise me that.”

“Quite a speech, Miss Grace. But I happen to like sacru sheswah . What if that’s a deal-breaker?”

“Then fuck you, Tyree. You told me to ask for what I want. No sack of shit will come within fifty paces of me.”

“Good girl, Grace. I love it when you tell me no.” I step forward and drop my voice so low it rumbles in my chest. “If I told you to come with me to our room right now, would you tell me no?” My hands reach around her shoulders and pull her closer.

She shakes her head and looks me straight in the eyes.

“If I told you my fantasy from our room on Emirus. My fantasy about the green dress you are wearing right this very minima , would you tell me no?” My index finger trails maddeningly slowly from her jaw to her neck, then her collar bone, and finally slides along the dangerously low neckline of her dress.

A brilliant, naughty smile brightens her face as she shakes her head and leans up for my fingers to touch her more intimately. I try to ignore drackhead’s insistent kick.

“If I wanted to touch you in ways you’ve never been touched, would you tell me no?” My other hand slowly caresses down her back and rests on the swell of her delicious ass. Drackhead is pulsing with excitement.

“No.” Her voice is strong, certain, while her smile widens.

“If I were to pull your breasts up and rest them on the top of your dress, so they were on display for me, would you say no?”

“No,” her voice is a sexual groan.

I lift one breast and then the other so they are lasciviously propped on top of the material. “My Gods, Grace. Your body is so magnificent.”

I dip my head and whisper intimately in her ear. “If I were to nip and suck your pink tips would you want to say no?”

She shakes her head as she sucks in a gasp of air.

I nip the cords of her neck, bite her collarbone, then trail achingly slowly down the mound of her breast to her nipple which is standing hard and proud. I lick then graze it while my hand mimics the action on her other side. I feel her knees dip as she places all her attention on my actions, then steadies herself, her hands on my shoulders.

I switch positions, giving equal attention to the other side. My nostrils flare as I smell her arousal.

“If I were to tell you to open your legs so I could smell you better and have access to your most private places, would you deny me, Grace?”

“I never want to deny you, Tyree,” her voice is breathy, full of desire—for me.

“If I were to...” I reach under the hem of her dress and glide my thumbs up from inside her ankle to her knee, then farther to rest near the juncture of her thighs. “If I were to touch you here would you tell me no?”

Her mouth is open, her eyes closed, she’s panting. She licks her lips, “No.”

“And this,” I slip my fingers through her folds, drenching them in her cream. “Would you ask me to stop now?”

“No,” her voice is so filled with lust; the sound is barely a word.

“And if my thumb wanted to take this liberty,” I gently circle her bud, avoiding a direct touch, just surrounding the edge. “Would you tell me I’ve gone too far?”

“Never.” She shakes her head.

“And if I were to claim you, Grace. If I were to plunge my fingers into your secret place…” I dip a finger into her slick channel, pull it out and drive it in again. “If I were to claim this as mine. If I were to demand no other could trespass here, would you agree?”

“Yes.”

“Say it out loud, Amara. Tell me no one will ever touch you here. Not ever.” I kneel between her legs, then look up and spear her with a serious stare. My heart is galloping, drackhead is bucking against my loincloth.

“No one but you, Tyree.” She’s panting with desire, her pink lips open, her eyelids closed.

I smile, “That’s good, Amara . Just me...or you, if I tell you to.” Her eyes startle wide then slam closed. Her breath hitches.

“Yes, if that’s what you want.” Her cheeks pinken, making her even more beautiful in my eyes.

“And if I wanted to drive my cock into you until you scream in pleasure? If I were to take you fully in this room right now, under the stars in the sky, would you allow it?

“Yes, Tyree. I’d allow you anything.” She opens her legs wider, an invitation.

“Say it again.”

“Tyree, I’d allow you anything.”

Dear Gods, she’s so gorgeous. “Thank you, Amara , but I want to hear what you told me earlier, not about your body but about your heart.” I stand and gaze into her eyes, telling her volumes without words.

“I love you, Tyree. I want to be with you. I want to sleep in the same bed with you and share your cabin and giggle with laughter and scream in passion. I want to be happy—I deserve it. And that means I deserve you. I also want to make you happy. Forever.

“And right now, this minute, what could I do to make you happy?” her voice purrs low and sexy.

I tuck her breasts back into her dress where they belong, lift her into my arms and stalk back to her cabin. On the way, I whisper all the things I’m going to do to her in that bed tonight and tomorrow and forever.

Grace

He sets me down after we cross the threshold and he’s kicked the door closed. He looks at me with all the love and longing one person can have for another. His blazing gaze warms my blood hotter than all those sexy words in the solarium.

I reach for the loincloth at his waist but soon realize I have no idea how to untie the intricate series of twists and knots. He grabs my hands and places them on his shoulders.

“I’m in charge, Amara . First, I unwrap you.”

His lips brush mine, feather-soft, then harder while he unzips my dress. His hands slide the emerald fabric down my body and the beautiful creation whispers to the ground. I step out from the middle of the silken puddle to stand so close to him my nipples graze his chest. I wore no underwear, I’m fully naked for his inspection.

He groans as he untwines the loincloth from his body. He pulls me to him, every inch of his warm skin is pressed against mine, his cock is pulsing against my midriff.

He nips my lips with his, then his tongue slips out and slides against the seam of my mouth. How exactly does it work that touching me here creates a pull in my clit all the way down there?

My hand begins its journey to his back, to pull him closer, but I encounter the slick feel of plas-film.

“Oh, sorry. Did that hurt?”

“No. Where else would you like to touch me?” He smiles lazily and lifts an eyebrow. “I’m all yours.”

“I had lots of ideas in our room on Emirus. Many, many creative ideas. Hmmm, where should I begin?” His cock takes that moment to pulse against my belly. “Oh, I know just the right thing.”

I slowly slide to my knees, all the while looking into those luminous emerald eyes that are blazing more brightly than I’ve ever seen them.

I lick my lips, then grab his thick cock, my head now even with the object of my desire.

“I’ve wanted this in my mouth for days, Tyree. I want to taste you.” My tongue reaches out to lick his blunt tip. I can’t control the low moan that escapes me as I catch a taste of him. It’s warm and spicy and will forever be labeled in my mind as “Tyree.”

Pulling my head back, I survey his length. Hard and bronze and straight, it pulses in my hand as if in approval of my touch. I graze down to the base, then up to the tip. Noticing the thick veins running the length of him, I follow one with my index finger, then my tongue.

“Grace.” His eyes are closed, his lips slightly turned up at the edges. I can tell he’s totally focused on my touch. I slick back down and then up to the tip again. Then I swirl around the head, first one way, then the other. His hips press toward me as if to ask for more.

Sucking the head into my mouth, I taste him, feeling the texture of his skin on my tongue. I glance up his body to look at him. His head is thrown back in ecstasy. Every muscle in his body straining against his flesh.

Exploring further, I accept more of him in my mouth. I’m clamped tightly around him—feeling all of him, fully surrounding him. I suck, bobbing my head up and down his shaft. He breathes out in a gust, moaning so softly I can barely hear it.

“Gods, Grace!” He pulls out of me, his hands roaming my shoulders, my back, then lodging in my hair. Reaching under my arms, he pulls me to standing and stares at me with a potent mixture of yearning and love.

He’s breathing like a racehorse, a sheen of sweat covering his chest. His hands prowl lower, clutch my ass, graze up my sides, then grasp my cheeks, bracketing my face.

“It feels good to be alive, Amara . Especially good right this minute.”

Tyree

I’m amazed, shocked, thrilled. There were moments in the last few days where I thought I’d be dead, moments I thought Grace didn’t like me or want me, moments I thought I’d be alone forever. I’m the luckiest, happiest male in the galaxy.

“I want to make you feel good, Grace.”

“I want everything you want to give me, Tyree.” She smiles in invitation.

I know lots of things I want to give her. Drackhead has some ideas of his own, too.

I pick her up and set her in the middle of the bed like the most delicate flower. I straddle her knees, wanting to see all of her, spread out naked for me, like a buffet. Her beautiful face is flushed from exertion. Her lips are a deeper shade of red from the friction of sucking my cock. Her blonde hair is darker near her scalp because it’s damp from physical activity. Those pink-tipped breasts are hard and pointing up at me.

I move one knee between her legs. She immediately presses down and sets up a rhythm, rubbing her little bud against me. She’s drenched, sucking my cock aroused her, preparing her body for more intimacy. Knowing this turns Drackhead to stone and makes my balls tighten against my body.

All the daydreams I’ve had about Grace and what I would do to her if I ever got her into bed again involved slow ramping up, exploring, and tasting her in every way. Today is not the day for any of that. Her hands are wildly roaming my sides. Her breathing is ragged—she needs no additional foreplay.

I smile at her and try to ignore Drackhead who’s pulsing with need.

He’s rewarded with a firm clamp, her hand around his girth. She’s fisting him. Leisurely at first, then more vigorously.

“Make love to me, Tyree.”

I kiss her deeply, over and over, before I place my cock against her opening. It’s so slippery and wet—so welcoming. She presses against me, then puts her hands on my ass and pulls me toward her.

I thrust forward until I’m fully seated. This is nothing like our quick coupling the night we feared for our lives, about to be boarded by the Federation. This feeling, right now, is everything I dreamed of and more. To be thoroughly sheathed in my truemate, fully joined, truly connected. This is sexual and primal and the pleasure is exquisite—but it is so much more. The ecstasy is more emotional than physical.

I’ve seen vids of vigorous dracking , males balls deep and pistoning hard into their females. Today is not the day for that. My pace is slow, unhurried. I gaze into my Amara’s eyes, noting every expression on her lovely face. She asked me to make love to her. I am doing that. I am loving her with every fiber of my being.

I can feel her walls clench. I know she’s close. I lean my pelvis against her little button; this extra pressure pushes her right over the edge to her own orgasm. Her face squeezes in pure rapture, her walls clench me tightly, urging me to my own release. I jet into her, feeling intense pleasure as well as an intimate communion with my mate.

The feeling is so powerful, so beyond anything my own hand has ever provided me. It isn’t the physical sensations—it’s the pure intimacy. The connection with my Amara , my truemate. I love this female and she loves me. It’s more than the physical release that is fueling my bliss; it is this profound bond.

“No words, Tyree. I have no words.” She puts her arms around my neck, pulls me close and nestles her head against my chest. I roll us over so we’re on our sides, lying in each other’s embrace. The entrancing sound of her heartbeat and the knowledge she loves me are the last things I’m aware of before I fall asleep.