Eventually…she hoped.
* * * * *
Had he really heard her cry his name? Sazar turned over in bed, getting closer to the thin wall which connected their sleeping chambers.
At first he’d thought she must be in trouble and was crying out for him. He’d been halfway to the door when he heard her again…and identified the soft, husky tone in her voice.
Sarah wasn’t crying out in pain or fear…she was crying out in pleasure.
Gods, is she thinking of me? Picturing me the way I’ve been picturing her?
He lay back down on the bed and listened again.
“Oh!” he heard her moan softly. “Do you…do you really want to drink from me there?”
Immediately his shaft was almost painfully erect. Gods, was she imagining what he thought she was imagining? A picture formed in his mind—the image of his own hand pulling off the deep red shirt she’d been wearing, baring her full, lush breasts for his mouth…for his fangs.
Calling a vein to drink from such a delicate area wasn’t often done. His mate, Malinda, hadn’t liked it very much—saying it was uncomfortable and too intense—though she had loved it when he bit her neck and injected his essence during the peak of passion.
Regular Blood-Kindred were able to give pleasure with their bite when they bit at a conventional spot—like the neck or the inner thigh. That was because they were injecting their essence when they bit—a chemical compound which brought intense pleasure and marked a female as that Kindred’s own.
Pitch-Blood Kindred, however, were biting to feed, not to pleasure. Without the injection of essence, their bite could be extremely painful during the feeding process unless they were also touching a female sexually. Only during Bonding Sex were they able to inject essence because that activity was linked to claiming and bonding, not feeding. It was one reason Sazar’s own peculiar sub-set of Blood Kindred were considered to have a disability by the rest—the fact that they could not make their bite pleasurable all the time.
Pitch-Blood did have one special ability that normal Blood Kindred did not, however—the ability to give a deep sexual pleasure—the Blood Pleasure it was called—when piecing the most delicate spots on a female's body with their fangs. But this was only possible with a Fated Mate. As much as he had loved Malinda, she hadn’t been a Fated Mate—so when he’d tried drinking from her breasts, she hadn’t enjoyed it.
Now he wondered—would Sarah be able to draw pleasure from his bite in such an intimate area? And was that what she was picturing as she…what? Touched herself? Yes, it must be that—as she touched herself on the other side of that wall which separated them.
The thought set him on fire and he couldn’t help himself—he pulled down his black sleeping trousers and fisted himself in one large palm. Gods, the idea of biting her there…of drinking from one of her tender pink nipples or even the soft, sweet spot between her thighs…
He could imagine how it would be…spreading her pussy lips open to reveal her swollen, wet folds…lapping and sucking her, circling the throbbing button of her clit with his tongue and then…
“Ah…Gods!” He managed to muffle his cry in a pillow at the last instant as the pleasure arched through him like a bolt of lightning. Hot cum spurted from the tip of his cock, the shaft pulsing in his hand as he came again and again. It wet his belly with its profusion—Gods there was so much of it.
It made him realize he was hungry for more than just blood. How long had it been since he’d had any kind of sexual contact?
Since Malinda died, he thought and felt a fresh wash of sorrow. Perhaps he shouldn’t be thinking of another female this way. Was he being unfaithful to the memory of his dead mate?
Even if you aren’t, you damn sure shouldn’t be thinking of your assistant that way, he told himself sternly as the pleasure ebbed. Sexual harassment, remember? You don’t want to be guilty of that.
But Sarah had been thinking of him that way—at least, he thought she had been. How else to explain the hot little sounds coming from her side of the wall? The way she had been calling his name?
Don’t think of it—don’t think of any of it, he ordered himself. You have a mission to conduct—an important one. Just go to sleep so you can be well rested when you meet with the Alquons tomorrow.
Deliberately, he turned his back to the wall and closed his eyes. But in his mind’s eye, he continued to see himself with Sarah, baring her sweet luscious body and taking her ripe nipple deep in his mouth as he prepared to give her the Blood Pleasure again.
Chapter Seven
“Now these are the clothes I made on the replicator,” Kat said as a large pink cube was loaded into the sleek silver, long-range shuttle Commander Sazar was going to fly them to Alquon Ultrea in. “Of course, I only had a few vids to go on,” she told Sarah apologetically. “And they were almost all just a bunch of old guys talking so Commander Sazar’s clothes might be slightly more authentic than yours.”
“I’m sure it will be fine,” Sarah said warmly. “Thank you so much for taking the trouble! And I’m sure Commander Sazar will be thankful that you made some for him too.”
“Well, I did my best. And this is my friend Liv—she’s a nurse. She’s also the twin sister of Sophie, who you met yesterday,” Kat said.
“Oh, hello.” Sarah held out her hand to the pretty blonde girl with silvery gray eyes. She looked so much like Sophie in the face it was clear to see they were twins, although identical or fraternal it was impossible to tell. “It’s nice of you to come and see me off,” she said smiling.
Liv smiled back.
“Oh, I didn’t just come for the fun of it—I have something for you.”
“More clothes?” Sarah asked. “But Kat already packed me more than I’ll ever be able to wear!” She wished she could have had a look into the large pink cube Kat had packed the clothes in but there was no time—Commander Sazar had told her sternly that they needed to get going as soon as possible
“Not clothes—something that’s going to help you deal with your new boss.” Liv nodded at Sazar, who was speaking to a tall, blond Kindred he had called Commander Sylvan. Kat had informed her that this was Sophie’s husband and he was also a Blood Kindred, although apparently a different kind than Sazar.
“Really? What is it?” Sarah dropped her voice uncertainly. What in the world could Liv have for her?
“It’s something Commander Sylvan developed—he’s also a doctor in addition to being the head of the Kindred High Council,” Liv told her. “Here.”
She handed Sarah a small packet filled with blood red capsules.
“Um, thank you,” Sarah said, frowning. “But I don’t know how Commander Sazar would feel about taking medicine without going to see a doctor first.”
“Oh, it’s not for him, hon!” Liv exclaimed, laughing. “It’s for you.”
“For me? But…what are they?” Sarah frowned at the baggie of blood red capsules. “What’s in them?”
“They’re a compound Sylvan developed especially for the prospective mates of Pitch-Blood Kindred,” Liv explained. “They’re blood replenishers—the chemicals in each pill will encourage your body to make more red blood cells and more blood in general. This way Commander Sazar can bite you and feed from you as often as he needs to.” She made a face. “I mean, if you want him to. Sylvan did tell me that a Pitch-Blood Kindred’s bite can be much more painful than the bite of a regular Blood Kindred because they’re biting to feed so they’re not injecting their essence.”
Sarah thought of the intense first pain of the big Kindred’s fangs sinking into her arm…and the deep, pulling pleasure that had followed and spread throughout her body.
“It’s…not so bad,” she said in a low voice. “It hurts at first but then it gets better. But…” She cleared her throat. “I don’t really think I’ll need these. Commander Sazar took a very, uh, deep drink last night and he doesn’t anticipate needing any more for quite some time.”
“Take them anyway,
just in case,” Liv said, pressing the baggie with the pills back into her hand when Sarah would have given it back. “In fact, why don’t you take one now? You’re pale as paper.”
“She’s right, doll,” Kat said. “You look like you’re about a quart low.”
“Well…all right.” It was true, Sarah told herself—she did still feel quite weak, despite eating a good breakfast and lunch and drinking even more orange juice to replenish herself. She popped one of the capsules in her mouth and dry swallowed it. “There—now I should be all ready to go.”
“Almost.” Liv smiled and produced yet another pill—this one bright pink and considerably larger.
“What is that—to help me make more white cells or something?” Sarah asked frowning.
“Nope—translation bacteria. Take this and they’ll make sure you can understand every word spoken on the new planet you’re going to.” She shrugged. “Sorry it’s so big—I think you’ll need some water to swallow this one down.”
“Here, have some of my mango smoothie.” Kat held out a plastic cup filled with bright orange liquid and Sarah took it, along with the big pink pill.
“Just for me?” she asked, after she’d swallowed it with some difficulty. “Doesn’t Commander Sazar need one too? I don’t think he’s ever been to Alquon Ultrea before, although he told me he had been studying some of their videos and culture.”
“If he’s been studying their vids, that’s all he needs,” Liv said confidently. “Kindred are incredibly quick at learning new languages—it’s part of being genetic traders. They have to be able to communicate almost instantly with any new people that they meet.”
“Oh….all right. Well thank you.” Sarah took one more sip of the tart, sweet smoothie and handed the glass back to Kat. “Mmm, that’s really good.”
“You better keep it, doll.” Kat gave it back to her. “You never know what you’re going to end up eating on a strange new planet. This might be the last yummy thing you taste for a while.”
“But for how long?” Liv wanted to know. “Do you know if you guys will be back in time for Christmas? Sophie wanted to me to ask—she wants to have Commander Sazar’s son, Tsandor, over to her place for Christmas if not.”
“What, so he can go bobbing for tan-tans in the living slime?” Kat asked, making a face.
“What?” Sarah frowned. “What are you talking about?”
Liv laughed. “Oh, it’s a Kindred thing. See, they don’t have Christmas where they come from—I mean, obviously not, that’s an Earth thing. But they do have a Winter Solstice holiday. And some of their, er, traditions have kind of gotten mixed up with our own. It makes for a really unique holiday experience.”
“We usually have a big multi-family get together on Christmas Day in the afternoon,” Kat added. “If you do come back on time, you and Commander Sazar are totally invited. And Tsandor too of course.”
“But if you’re going to be stuck on your mission, please just see if Tsandor can at least spend Christmas morning with Sophie,” Liv said. “She’s already gotten him presents and everything.”
“I don’t know.” Sarah bit her lip. “I don’t think Commander Sazar would mind, but I don’t know if now is the time to ask him. He seems really busy.” She nodded at her new boss, who was in an apparently private and intense conversation with Commander Sylvan.
“That’s okay—you can ask him while you’re on your mission,” Kat said brightly. “That’ll give you time to soften him up. And if he’s okay with it and it looks like you guys will be spending Christmas on Alquon Ultrea, you can send a message back letting us know.”
“I’ll do my best to convince him,” Sarah promised. The idea of sweet little Tsandor spending Christmas in the constant care house without his father or any other family made a lump form in her throat.
I’ll make his Christmas special if I get back here on time, she vowed to herself.
“You’re going to do great.” Kat smiled at her. “Be sure you let me know how you like the clothes I made for you on my clothing pattern replicator.”
“I will. Thank you for everything.” Overcome by the kindness she’d been shown, Sarah reached for Kat and gave her a big hug. “You’re so kind to me,” she whispered in the other girl’s ear. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t said hello to me and helped me in the tram station.”
“We like to help the new girls out.” Kat squeezed her back affectionately. “The new brides, right, Liv?”
“But I’m not a bride—I’m just a glorified secretary,” Sarah protested.
“Really? We’ll see.” Liv gave her a mysterious smile. “You better get going—your, uh, boss is waving at you.”
“Oh!” Sarah looked up to see that indeed, Commander Sazar was beckoning her over to the sleek, silver long-range shuttle. “Okay—I’d better go.”
“Have a good time, hon,” Liv told her.
“And don’t forget to call us.” Kat smiled and blew her a kiss.
“See you later—hopefully before Christmas,” Sarah told them. With a wave, she headed for the shuttle. But she couldn’t help wondering how she would broach the subject of where Tsandor would spend the holiday when Commander Sazar’s son was obviously such a sensitive topic.
* * * * *
“So tell me about Alquon Ultrea,” Sarah said after the shuttle cleared the fold in space and entered the Triangulum Galaxy. “What do I need to know? And what should I do to fit in once we get there?”
Sazar cast her a glance. His assistant was dressed in her new black suit with a spotless white blouse and her hair was up in a bun at the back of her neck, just as it had been during their interview. Despite the fact that her glasses were gone, she somehow managed to convey the impression that she was still wearing them. She looked studious and professional—all business today—as though their interlude of the night before had never happened.
Of course, he was acting extremely businesslike himself—it was only proper. But he couldn’t help remembering the soft cries he’d heard through the wall the night before or the way she’d moaned his name…
Sazar…do you really want to bite me there?
Stop it, he told himself sternly. This is an important mission—there is absolutely no place for inappropriate thoughts or feelings here.
So then why couldn’t he stop having them?
“I’ll tell you what I can,” he said, endeavoring to push back the memory of holding her curvy body close and tasting her sweet blood the night before. “But the Alquons are an intensely private, formal, and easily offended people, from what I’ve been able to gather by speaking to their representative and studying the transmissions he sent me. Look.”
He reached forward and pressed a button on the console. The viewscreen lit up, showing one of the vids the Alquon Minister of Cultural Studies, who was his contact on that world, had sent him.
It was a somber affair—a group of Alquon males standing in a circle and speaking in deep, sonorous voices that were almost musical. They had pale green skin tones, mottled with blue or purple spots and their hair reminded Sazar of the kelp which floated in the Earth’s oceans.
The males wore long loose trousers and flowing robes which draped over the shoulders and were open at the front. Some were bare-chested beneath the robes and others had tight shirts which seemed to cling to them, as though they were wet. Dark green ridges almost like fins protruded from their elbows and ran down the length of their forearms. Gill slits creased the sides of their necks and their fingers were webbed.
“Huh,” Sarah remarked, staring at the viewscreen. “They look almost like…mermaids or something. If they had fish tails it would be perfect.”
“Excuse me?” Sazar frowned. “I have been speaking English for over a year now but I don’t understand the term ‘mermaids.’”
“Oh, it’s an Earth legend.” Sarah waved a hand in an embarrassed way. “About people who are half human and half fish. Homesick sailors used to imagine beautiful mermaids
singing to them in the ocean—that kind of thing.”
“Well, ‘that kind of thing’ is exactly what the Alquons are—so the idea of them being mermaids is an extremely astute observation.” Sazar was pleased with her quickness.
“What? They’re half fish?” Sarah frowned.
“Not exactly but they live on a planet which is completely submerged in water—an endless ocean with no dry land at all.”
“Really?” Sarah had turned suddenly pale. “Because I have to tell you, Commander Sazar—I haven’t been swimming in years. They wouldn’t let us at the Compound—it was called mixed bathing and The Prophet, I mean Father Caleb, forbid it.”
“The Prophet?” Sazar frowned. “Who—”
“Never mind.” Sarah seemed to think she had given too much information. “I shouldn’t have said all that. It’s just…the idea of being thrown in a big endless ocean…well, it makes me nervous.”
She looked so pale Sazar wished he could gather her into his arms and comfort her but he suppressed the unprofessional impulse sternly.
“I would never put you in danger,” he told her quietly. “And please don’t worry about your lack of swimming ability. We will be staying in the Alquon’s indoor facilities—they know we are not adapted to both ocean and land as they are.”
“Oh, good.” Sarah looked immensely relieved. She frowned. “But…why do they have indoor facilities at all if they’re able to live in the ocean? I mean…” She gestured at the long, boring vid which was still playing. “They seem to have some kind of gills on the sides of their necks and their hands are webbed. If their whole world is ocean, why would they ever come indoors?”
“From what I am able to gather, their world wasn’t always as it is now,” Sazar said gravely. “Many millennia ago, it had the same composition of your own Earth—with huge polar icecaps which locked much of the water away and only two thirds of the planet covered in ocean.”
“Really?” Sarah’s eyes widened. “What happened?”
“They grew too quickly and used resources which harmed their environment,” Sazar told her. “Those in power were warned but they were greedy and willfully ignorant. They refused to take heed until it was too late. Eventually their world reached a point of no return—their ice caps melted and the entire planet was submerged.”