“Oh…oh,” she gasped as he stroked her over and over. His hands were so big but his touch was light and gentle. He seemed to know exactly how to touch her to give her maximum pleasure.
“Does that feel all right, baby?” he murmured in her ear. “Are you clean yet?”
“It feels amazing,” Kate admitted breathlessly. “I just…” She looked down at herself and nearly moaned again at the erotic sight. He was holding her open—wide open—with one hand, as he stroked and teased her inner pussy with the other. As she watched, the pad of his middle finger made a slow circle around the throbbing pink bud of her clit. God, it was hot.
“Are you clean yet?” he asked again. “Or do you need me to keep it up? Or move someplace else?”
Should tell him to stop, Kate told herself. But there was still black stuff from the pool on her. Well, if not on her exactly then in her.
You can’t stop now, the other voice told her. You have to let him keep going.
“Keep going,” she heard herself say. “Please, don’t…don’t stop yet.”
“Of course, baby.” He continued the soft, tender massage that was driving her crazy. “I’ll keep going until you say to stop. Until you’re all, uh, clean.”
“Thank you,” Kate whispered, pressing her hips up to meet his fingers. She was feeling and looking much cleaner. Still, there was one place he hadn’t washed yet… “Rone?” she whispered.
“Mm-hmm?” His voice was a deep rumble in her ear.
“Remember how you asked if I needed you to wash…wash inside me?” Kate asked softly.
“Of course,” he acknowledged. “Do you need me to?”
“I think…I think I do,” Kate admitted, her cheeks flaming. “Do…do you mind?”
“Hell no, baby. It’ll be my pleasure,” he assured her in that deep, soft voice of his. “Just tell me when you want me to stop and I will.”
“Okay, I—” But Kate couldn’t finish her sentence. Before she could, two long, strong fingers were slipping through her inner folds and finding the entrance to her pussy. She moaned and gasped as she felt him slide up inside her. God, even his fingers were big! But they felt so good, fucking slowly in and out of her and hitting bottom with each stroke.
As he stroked in and out of her with his fingers, Rone used his other hand to continue circling her clit. Soon he had a rhythm going with his long fingers sliding in and out of her while his other fingertips glided over her tender button.
Kate couldn’t help herself—she knew he was only supposed to be cleaning her but again, she had that feeling of her body opening and responding in a way it never had before. Of course, she’d had orgasms and sexual pleasure in the past—she was quite good at giving that to herself, thank you very much. But the feeling of being so expertly and gently touched by another person who knew her body as well as she did was completely new. She felt her orgasm building and knew she couldn’t stop it—didn’t even want to stop it.
“Oh,” she gasped, unable to help herself. “Oh, Rone…that feels so…so…good.”
“That’s right, baby. Love to make you feel good,” he growled softly in her ear. “Love to touch your sweet body and make you come.”
At his words, Kate felt something—some surge of power that seemed to move through her like an electrical shock.
Yes, let him make you come! the strange voice muttered in her ear. Let him do it and then give yourself to him—here and now.
Suddenly her mind was filled with a vivid picture—the big Kindred taking her against the glass wall of the shower stall, spreading her thighs wide and thrusting that huge, thick shaft of his deep into her tight, unprotected pussy. In the image, Kate was moaning and crying and scratching his back. Her legs wrapped around his lean hips as she rode him frantically, impaling herself on his long cock, like a woman who had suddenly gone crazy.
Oh my God, where is this coming from? This isn’t me! I’m not acting like myself and this weird voice…these thoughts and images…what the Hell is going on?
The thought seemed to wake something up inside her and suddenly her sixth sense—the Knowing—came abruptly to life.
Danger! it whispered in Kate’s ear. This is dangerous Kate! Be careful!
With a gasp, Kate pushed the big Kindred’s fingers out of herself and tore away, trying to put some distance between them.
“Kate? Kate, what’s going on?” Rone was left standing there, looking completely confused.
“I…I don’t know.” Kate bit her lip, not sure how to explain it without sounding crazy. How could she say that she felt she’d been manipulated by some outside force into doing something she wouldn’t normally have done?
“Why did you stop?” Rone asked in a low, harsh voice. He was breathing hard and his shaft was standing at full attention. “You were about to come, I could tell. You were trembling just the way you always do right before it hits you.”
“I…I just couldn’t.” Kate raked a hand through her dripping hair. “This isn’t me. I don’t…don’t know why I was acting like that when I feel like I barely know you. I would never let some guy I hardly know do that…let him touch me and make me come. I don’t…don’t know what came over me.”
She expected the big Kindred to be angry. And Rone did take a few deep breaths that sounded rough and frustrated. But then, to her surprise, he nodded.
“Yeah, that’s true,” he growled. “I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to take advantage. I guess I thought…I hoped…that maybe your memory was coming back and that’s why you were letting me touch you that way even after the stuff from the pool was gone.”
“Sorry—I still don’t remember anything.” Kate shivered. She was standing clear of the warm spray of water now and she was beginning to feel cold. She still didn’t understand what had happened to her and she felt weird and uncertain about it.
“You sound like your teeth are chattering,” Rone said. He ran a hand through his wet hair. “Look—let’s get out of here and dry off. Okay?”
“Sure. I think we’ve been in here about an hour.” Kate tried to laugh but it came out sounding forced.
“Yeah, something like that,” he muttered. “Uh, could you tell me when you’re covered so I can take this damn blindfold off?”
“Oh—of course.” Kate got out of the shower stall quickly and wrapped herself in a thick, puffy white towel—noting as she did so that she was completely clean and free of the awful black slime. Good. “I’m decent now,” she said to the big Kindred who had turned off the water and was standing there waiting.
“Okay, thanks,” he said shortly, taking off the blindfold. There was an air of coiled tension about him that made Kate feel jumpy. Was he still on edge because she hadn’t let him finish her off? But he’d had an orgasm himself—so why would he be tense that she hadn’t had one?
“Here—so you can dry off.” Kate held out a towel
“Thanks.” He looked at her briefly before taking the towel and rubbing himself down briskly. “All clean?” he asked.
“Yes. Um…thank you.” Kate could feel her cheeks heating as she considered the way he had cleaned her so thoroughly. Her body was still throbbing with need almost as though she was still right on the edge of coming. It was an uncomfortable sensation.
Rone sighed deeply. “No problem, baby.”
But there was a slight growl in his voice that made Kate wonder if everything was all right with him. And his eyes seemed to be glowing even more brightly than usual. What was going on? She opened her mouth to ask…and then stopped. What if it had something to do with the hunger—that mysterious problem he had refused to talk to her about when they were aboard the ship? He’d gotten really defensive when she asked about it and things were already awkward enough between them as it was. Reluctantly, she decided just to leave things as they were and hope the awkwardness would pass.
Yeah, right—like that’s a possibility after you just jerked him off in the shower and nearly let him do the same to you, whispered the sarcastic little voice in her
head. Well, at least the voice sounded like her own internal monologue. Kate still didn’t know where the outside voice had been coming from, the one that had been urging her to give in and do what she wanted with the big Kindred. She only knew it felt wrong somehow.
Deep inside, the Knowing warned her to be wary—something was going on. Something to do with Rone and the little voice that had spoken to her when he touched her. Until she found out what it was and what it wanted, she was in danger.
Chapter Seventeen
Rone sighed again as he toweled off. Despite the amazing orgasm Kate had given him in the shower—which wasn’t on purpose, he reminded himself—his entire body still ached with need. That was because of the hunger growing steadily inside him again, he was sure. Though the feel of her soft little hands on him fed it some, it had also awakened his Beast. And it wasn’t the pleasure that she could give to him that he needed to quell the fierce, driving force inside him.
It was the pleasure that he could give to her.
All Wulven Kindred had a very special bond with their mates—a relationship which helped them control the Beast that lived within. For the Beast thrived on sexual pleasure—the pleasure of the Wulven’s female. In order to keep the wild being inside him in check, a Wulven needed to make his mate come often and hard.
If only she would have let me finish her—oh, Kate! Need to feel you coming in my arms so fucking bad, baby!
But that wasn’t all he needed, Rone had to admit to himself. Giving Kate an orgasm with his hands and fingers might quench the hunger momentarily but the effects wouldn’t last for long. What he truly needed was to taste her. The sweet taste of her pussy honey, straight from the source, was the only thing that would help to keep his Beast from coming out.
And if the Beast came out, it would want to do much more than just taste Kate—it would either kill her or breed her with the rough lust of the animal it was. And there would be nothing Rone could do to stop it.
Rone shivered when he thought about it. He hadn’t had an uncontrolled change in years—not since before he’d met and joined with Kate. How well he remembered the early days they’d been together! When he had finally stopped resisting his attraction to her, they’d had an open and frank discussion of his needs, the Beast within him, and the only way he could control it. Kate had been uncertain at first but by then they had been dating for months and she’d been willing to try and give him what he needed—to be the kind of mate a Wulven had to have in order to keep the raging Beast within in check.
Now, of course, she had forgotten all of that. She had no idea how precarious their situation was. After being helped by the priestess in the Sacred Grove, Rone had felt more or less in control of himself. But now, following their intensely sexual experience in the shower, he could feel the hunger growing exponentially and the Beast moving restlessly inside him. It needed to feed…needed to taste the sweet nectar that flowed between Kate’s thighs. Or rather, Rone needed to if he wanted to keep it in check.
But I can’t, he reminded himself. It took months to convince her to let me taste her before—months before I knew we could be together because she was willing to spread her thighs for me and let me lap her sweet pussy whenever and wherever I needed to. But that’s all gone now—we’re back to square one as she puts it.
He didn’t have time to start at square one, though. Not if he wanted to keep Kate safe from his Beast. He could feel the hunger growing every minute and the closer he got to her without being able to satiate that burning drive to pleasure and taste her, the more danger she was in.
Have to try and stay away from her. Get away to keep her safe, he thought. But how? They were locked into this damn bubble together and there didn’t seem to be a way out. What in the Seven Hells was he going to do?
Calm. Be calm. He took a deep breath and tried to send calming messages to his Beast. Relax. Be at ease. Be at peace.
Within himself, he felt the Beast growl once more and then subside…for now. He wondered how long the slight reprieve would last…
“Rone?” He’d been studying the tiled floor of the fresher area as he tried to get hold of himself. Kate’s soft, high voice made him look up.
“Uh-huh?” He tried to keep his voice sounding relaxed and normal but he could hear a hint of the Beast’s growl deep in his chest as he spoke. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Yes?”
“Are you okay?” She was looking at him with a worried expression on her lovely face. “You seem…upset about something.”
For a split second Rone considered telling her the truth. Considered telling her about his Beast and what it needed—telling her how much danger she would shortly be in if she didn’t allow him to taste and pleasure her.
But he didn’t want to do that. Didn’t want Kate to feel pressured into doing anything. He loved her, damn it! He didn’t want to scare or coerce her. Just as he had in the beginning of their relationship, he wanted to woo her. To bring her to him and let her open herself to him slowly.
But back when they’d first met, they hadn’t been mated. His Beast had never tasted her honey and developed a craving for it. An addiction—that was what it amounted to. And like a hungry junky too long without a fix, the Beast was craving Kate. It had been over six solar months since Rone had held her in his arms…since he had tasted her and made her come.
It had also been six months since they had held each other and joined together in the Breeding Chair. Rone missed that too—missed it desperately—but it wasn’t as necessary as tasting Kate to keep the Beast in check. Damn it, if only she hadn’t had that bad experience in college that had turned her off being tasted! He wondered, not for the first time, exactly what had happened to her and why it had made her so shy of spreading her thighs for a male’s tongue…
“Rone?” she said again and he realized he was taking too long to answer her question.
“I’m fine,” he said shortly. “Just fine, baby. Come on—let’s see if we can find some clothes to wear. I don’t want to run around in a damp towel the whole time we’re stuck here.” Which wouldn’t be long, he hoped.
They went to the closet area Rone had found beside the sleeping platform and looked through the clothing that was hanging on the old-fashioned Earth type wire hangers.
“This really is like my apartment in college,” Kate remarked. “We had a closet just like this but it was jammed with all kinds of things because it was basically our only storage. And…” her voice trailed off as she lifted one of the hangers. “Okay, this isn’t the same,” she remarked flatly.
Rone had a look at the garment hanging from the wire hanger and had to bite back a groan when he imagined Kate in it. It was a tiny little black lace body suit with holes cut in the front where her breasts would go and a long slit down the center of the crotch. Rone could picture his mate wearing it, her plump, pink nipples poking out of the front and the soft, swollen lips of her pussy on display down below…No—can’t think like that! Have to keep control of yourself, he told himself sternly, striving to banish the image.
“Okay, not wearing that.” Kate muttered, putting the black lace body suit back quickly. She reached for another hanger and pulled out a red see-through bikini that looked to be just her size.
“What the hell?” she muttered, shoving it back into the closet too. “Who picked the stuff in here—a clerk from an X-rated lingerie shop?”
Rone cleared his throat. “Uh, I’m sure there must be something else for you, baby. When I grabbed the belt off the robe in here, I saw lots of things that looked like they were your size.”
“Well, there doesn’t seem to be much now—for either of us,” Kate pointed out. “I don’t even see the robe you were talking about.”
Actually, Rone didn’t either. In fact, the only thing hanging in the closet that seemed to be his size was a pair of long black satin sleep trousers.
“Huh,” Kate muttered as he pulled them on. “Well, they fit you all right and at least there’s no hole in the
crotch. How come you get something normal to wear while everything in here for me looks like the wardrobe department for a porno?”
“I don’t know.” Rone shrugged. “Look again—there has to be something you can wear.”
“There’s this, I guess.” Kate was looking at another outfit doubtfully. It appeared to be a short, silky white nightdress with a lacy hem. It had spaghetti straps and the material was extremely sheer but it also had a white silk robe to go with it as well as a pair of white lace panties.
“That seems nice.” Rone tried to keep his voice neutral. He hoped Kate couldn’t guess that he was imagining her in all of the sexy outfits she kept holding up. He was trying not to but he couldn’t seem to help himself.
Kate sighed. “Well, there doesn’t seem to be much of anything else that isn’t completely indecent. So I guess this is it.”
She took the outfit back into the fresher and in a moment she reemerged wearing the silky white gown and robe.
Again, Rone had to hold back a groan. The white silk of the fabric molded itself to her breasts and the material was so thin he could clearly see outlines of her pink nipples, pressing against the fabric. The white lace hem fell at her upper thighs and barely covered the little panties that went with it. The white robe covered her shoulders but when Kate tugged at it, it somehow refused to meet over her full breasts.
“Well, here I am.” She gave him a nervous smile. “It’s not as good as your basic black but I guess it’ll have to do.”
“It’s beautiful—you’re beautiful,” Rone said hoarsely. She looked so like she had on their Joining night it took his breath away. She’d been wearing an outfit very like the white lace one she had on but that one had been emerald green.
“Oh, well…” She gave a self-conscious little laugh and touched her hair which was a riot of golden red curls around her head. “I did find a blow dryer where there wasn’t one before so at least I don’t look like a drowned rat.” She frowned. “And my clothes—you know the ones I wore here? Are gone. It seems like things appear and disappear around here without warning.”