Page 28 of Savage Union (Brutal Universe #2)

27

JESSINA

T he close-quarters combat training was driving me crazy. Having Turk holding me from behind with his big, muscular body surrounding mine and hearing his low, gravelly voice in my ear was enough to send my body into overdrive. He smelled so good —his warm, spicy scent seemed to get inside me and open parts of me that had been locked tight up until now.

I did my best to ignore the giddy sensation in my stomach of a thousand butterflies all taking off at once every time he touched me or murmured in my ear. I told myself I had asked for this training and I needed it—especially on a ship where I still had enemies. I had to concentrate and stop thinking about his big body pressed against mine, damn it!

We practiced me getting out of a headlock for a while more and then he showed me how to get out of a choke if someone was facing me with their hands around my throat. Finally, he seemed to feel like I had mastered the techniques he was teaching me. But the lesson still wasn’t over.

“All right, so those were the best-case scenarios,” he remarked after I had gotten free of yet another chokehold. “Meaning you’re still on your feet. But what if your opponent has you pinned to the floor?”

“Pinned to the floor?” My heart, which had finally started to slow a little, began galloping in my chest again.

“It might happen and you need to know how to get out of it,” Turk told me. “So come on—down on the ground we go.”

He got to his knees on the Ready Room floor, which was covered in thick black rubber flooring. It was clean because there was a tiny robot vacuum which lived in the wall and came out to sweep and mop every so often. I had seen it twice, working around his feet as he sat at his desk.

It wasn’t there right now so we had the floor to ourselves. I got on my knees as well, but Turk shook his head.

“Lay on your back,” he rumbled, gesturing to me. “I’m going to pin you.”

He was going to get on top of me and pin me down? Goddess of the Four Faces, I couldn’t believe this was happening!

Heart pounding madly, I did as he said, laying on my back on the floor. The rubber flooring felt cool against my shoulders and I shivered.

“Good, now watch…”

Suddenly he straddled me and grabbed for my wrists. I gasped and tried to fight him, but of course he was much too strong. In no time he was leaning over me with my wrists pinned to the floor, on either side of my head.

He had never seemed as huge as he did right at that moment, looming over me, and I had never felt so small and so helpless…or so hot.

“Uh…what?” I panted, because he’d said something I hadn’t caught. My heart was pounding so loudly in my ears I could barely hear him.

“I said, this is a bad position to be in,” he rumbled, looking down at me intently. “But I can show you how to get out of it.”

“How?” I asked breathlessly. I never would have guessed that being helpless under him would affect me so much. My body was reacting to this position in ways I never could have imagined—my nipples were aching and my pussy was so wet and hot I felt molten from the waist down. Goddess, what was wrong with me?

“You have to throw me off balance,” Turk instructed. “Bridge your hips and force me forward.”

“Uh… what my hips?” I asked, frowning.

It turned out that bridging just meant lifting my butt as far off the ground as I could and thrusting upwards with my hips. This caused Turk to fall forward and lose his grip on my wrists. In order not to overbalance and face-plant on the floor, he had to free my arms and catch himself with his palms.

“Good,” he said when I had mastered the first part of the move. “But remember, you’re still under me—under your attacker. You need to get out from under to get to safety.”

“Got it.” I started to wiggle away, but he shook his head.

“No—if I fall forward, my chest is in your face and you’re still pinned so you can’t get away. You need to grab me with your arms and thighs—wrap your legs around my midsection and squeeze—keep me off balance. Then you can roll and take me over. Once you’re on top, it’s safe to scramble up and run.”

We practiced this several times and I swore I could feel something hot and hard branding my belly when I wrapped my legs around his hips and pressed against him. Was that…what I thought it was? I thought it might be, but neither of us acknowledged it.

I wondered—could his hardness be just a byproduct of the intense physical activity? Or did he feel something for me, even though he thought I was a man? Was he finally reacting to the fact that we were Fated Mates in close proximity to each other?

I pushed the thought away and kept going—what else could I do?

I can’t tell you how hard my heart was pounding during all this, but it wasn’t just from desire. Turk was a big guy—he was easily twice as heavy as I was—and probably ten times as strong. After the first few times, he didn’t just let me roll him—he made me work for it. By the time I finally got him flipped on my own, I was sweating and breathing hard.

“Good—that’s good,” he rumbled, sitting up. “But there’s one more technique I want to teach you. Back on the floor.”

I lay on my back again, waiting to see what he would do next. This time instead of straddling me, he got between my legs.

I bit back a gasp as he spread my thighs wide and pressed between them. With only inches between us, I could feel the heat of his body as he wrapped his big hands around my knees to keep me spread wide and hold me in place.

“This is pretty much the worst position you can be in,” he rumbled, looking down at me intently. “From here your attacker can choke you…” He leaned down to wrap one big hand around my throat, squeezing lightly. “Or do anything else he wants,” he added darkly, and I knew exactly what he meant.

“What…how can I get out of this?” I asked, my voice going high and squeaky.

“First, pretend to capitulate,” Turk instructed. “I know it may be hard, but act like you’re giving in—make the attacker think he doesn’t have to hold you down. Then he’s more likely to release you and you’ll have more options to get free.” He nodded down at me. “Go on—do it.”

I could feel my face getting hot, but I had to do as he said.

“Please,” I begged softly, looking up into his bronze eyes. “ Please , don’t hurt me. I…I’ll do anything you want— give you anything you want. Anything at all!”

“Gods!” His eyes blazed and he sat back for a moment, his fingers leaving my neck. I thought I felt something hot and hard brush against my crotch—was that his shaft? The light contact sent shivers down my spine and I was suddenly so hot and needy I was nearly panting.

“Turk—I mean, Captain?” I asked. “Are…are you okay?”

“Fine.” He ran a hand over his horns and shook his head. “But are you? Your cheeks are flushed and you sound out of breath.”

“I…I think I must still be feeling the effects of that alcohol we drank at dinner,” I said, trying to find a reason I was in the state I was in. “That, uh, what do you call it?”

“The punchin,” he finished for me. “What did yours taste like?”

“Well…like candied violets, of course. The same as yours, I imagine,” I said, trying to sound normal.

He shook his head, the overhead glows glinting off his bronze horns.

“No, that’s the funny thing about punchin— it tastes different to everyone who drinks it.”

“What? But how?” I asked, mystified.

“It changes according to the drinker’s body chemistry,” Turk said. “It always tastes like peppermint to me.”

“Really? That’s so strange.” I was surprised and fascinated.

“Even stranger—if you taste the punchin on someone else’s mouth, you get what it tastes like to them, because it’s already been changed by their chemistry,” he told me.

“So…if I was to…to taste your mouth, it would taste like peppermint right now?” I couldn’t believe I was saying this. I was sure I was going to make him mad. After all, males didn’t just casually talk about ‘tasting’ each other.

But Turk didn’t seem angry. In fact, he leaned over me again so that our faces were extremely close—close enough to kiss, in fact.

“Yes, you would,” he murmured. “And if I tasted your mouth, I would taste the…what did you say it was like for you?”

“Candied violets,” I breathed. “It’s an old-fashioned flavor—I had it once at an Old Earth festival. Have you ever…ever had it?”

Turk shook his head.

“Uh-uh.”

His voice was a low, sensuous rumble and his eyes were on my lips. Oh Goddess, what was happening here? Whatever it was, I didn’t want it to stop.

“Would…would you like to taste it?” I asked, hardly able to believe I was being so bold.

“Fuck, yes ,” he growled.

He leaned even closer and our mouths touched. I moaned softly as I felt his hot tongue tracing my lips and then he sucked my bottom lip into his mouth, kissing gently but eagerly. I could feel the sharp points of his fangs, but he never cut me with them—not even once.

I lost myself completely then. Reaching up, I grabbed onto his horns and dragged him closer. I opened my mouth and his tongue was there, entering me, exploring me, making me his.

His mouth did taste like peppermint—and something hotter. A dangerous spice I’d been waiting to taste all my life—or at least from the moment I first realized he was my Fated Mate.

Goddess, he was my Fated Mate! We needed to stop this—we were getting too close! Abruptly, I stopped pulling at his horns and pushed instead, trying to push him away.

But he didn’t want to stop. Instead of pulling away, he wrapped his arms around me and deepened the kiss. His fangs seemed sharper now, though he was still careful not to bite me.

As he covered me with his big body, I felt the hot ridge of his shaft pressing against my pussy. He was moving his hips—grinding against me and parting my outer lips through my uniform trousers and the underpants I wore beneath them to rub against my aching core.

Goddess, oh Goddess it was so good! But also, so dangerous.

Sparks of forbidden pleasure coursed though me but my anxiety jumped up a whole other level. Could he feel me as well as I was feeling him? What if he wondered why he wasn’t feeling a shaft between my legs? What if?—

Abruptly, Turk pulled away and sat up.

“Sorry…” He rubbed a hand over his face and shook his head. “I don’t…don’t know why I did that. I’m not a lover of other males.”

Well, at least he still thought I was male. But did he really need to?

For a moment, I thought of revealing myself and telling him everything. After all, we were out in Deep Space—it wasn’t like he could turn around and take me back.

Except, he might. We still had some worm hole jumps to make—we were only a little closer to the Triplex Cluster than we were to Rigelus Nine, our home planet.

Also, think how angry he would be with me if he found out who I really was! I shivered at the thought of revealing myself and seeing the look in the big Brute’s eyes when Turk learned I’d been lying to him.

No, I decided, I needed to keep my secret to myself. Later, after I had figured out a way to get out of my marriage for good, I could pursue him. But for now, my identity had to stay a mystery.

“Uh…” I wasn’t sure what to say but Turk was already getting to his feet.

“Come on,” he said. “It’s getting late. I think maybe we should continue this lesson later.”

“Oh…all right.” I nodded and accepted his hand, which he offered to help me up. My body was still on fire and my lips felt almost bruised from the intense kiss but somehow I managed to keep my face calm as I followed him out of the Ready Room and into his quarters.

I told myself that I had to be careful—the kiss had been going way too far—I needed to keep my distance.

I just had no idea how difficult that would be.