TAREKH

A docked ship has never seemed so far away.

By the time I carry Cat over the threshold of the Lovesick Fool, I’m pretty sure everyone on Rii Ketta has seen the enormous cockstand I’m sporting in my trou. It isn’t helped by the fact that Cat keeps rubbing my chest with her hand and murmuring naughty things in my ear. It’s like she knows how crazy she makes me and she wants to push me that much further.

Little tease. I love it.

Sentorr emerges from the bridge, a curious look on his face. He’s got his blaster in his hand. “You’re back already? What’s the problem?”

“No problem,” I tell him, and I can feel my face get hot. “We just, uh, wanted to come back early.”

Cat gives a throaty little giggle that makes my cock even harder.

Sentorr’s expression changes from confusion to mild embarrassment. “Right. Of course.” He clears his throat and continues in a stuffy voice. “If you need anything, I’ll be on the bridge. As usual.”

“Got it.” I feel just as uncomfortable as he does, I imagine.

He gives a crisp nod and then disappears.

“I think we just made Sentorr really, really uncomfortable,” I murmur to Cat.

“He’ll get over it,” she tells me, completely unconcerned. Her hand skims over my chest again. “Can I take the collar off now?”

“Yup.” I’m ashamed I didn’t think of it earlier. “I’m sorry about it.”

“Don’t be. As disguises go, it’s a good one.” She unclasps it and then tosses it down the hall. “Just glad that it’s nothing more than a disguise.”

“Me, too.” I stand in the hall with her in my arms, and for the first time since grabbing her, I’m hit with uncertainty. Maybe she doesn’t want to go forward. If she doesn’t, I’m good with that. “Where do you want to go?”

The look she gives me is achingly sweet. Her arms go around my neck. “Your bed. My room.”

I groan. Sweeter words were never spoken.

It’s a short distance to my old room—now hers—and when I automatically swipe a hand over the sensor, it lets me in. It takes me a moment to realize what that means. When she got mad at me, she locked me out and I let her. At some point between now and then, she’s reprogrammed it to let me in again…which means that all those times she was hiding behind this wall, touching herself, I could have stormed in and joined her.

Just makes my cock harder. Little tease. She’s incredible.

My old room is neat, the bed made, and yet she’s still managed to keep all my shit. Even more than that, she’s managed to make it look tidy and attractive. “You know, I never thought this room would fit one person your size, much less mine.”

“There’s plenty of room in here for two,” she tells me. “Your bed is plenty big.”

So it is. I move toward it and gently lay her down on the blankets, because she’s the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen and I’m worried my big hands are going to somehow crush her. “You’re beautiful, Cat. You know that? You deserve better than me—”

She puts her hand over my mouth, smiling up at me. “There’s no one better than you. Don’t say such things.” When I try to interrupt her again, Cat shakes her head. “When you saw me, all covered in wounds and infected out there in the tunnels of Haal Ui, do you think people were beating each other aside to come rescue me? Do you know how many people passed by me without a second look? Stepped over me? No one cared but you.” Her hand slides lower, to my heart. “No one’s as good a man as you, and that’s why I love you. That’s also why I’m terrified of fucking this up.”

“Whatever you need,” I tell her, “You’ll have it. If you’re not ready for this—if you’re never ready for this, I understand.”

“I might not be ready, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to try,” Cat tells me, and her voice is as sweet as her touch. “I’ve wanted you for weeks now, but I’ve been too scared to go forward. I’m tired of being scared. I’m tired of letting the past rule me. I want us. You and me, together.”

“I want that, too.” I’m shaking with how much I want her. I want to grab her and crush her against my chest. I want to taste her soft skin. I want to learn her body…and I’m still terrified of touching her and giving her bad memories. “Tell me where you want to begin.”

Cat gives me a thoughtful look. “We could start with a kiss.”

A kiss. I know what that is. It’s the weird, mouth-on-mouth thing that I see Fran and Kiv doing sometimes. At first I thought it was a strange human custom—even a slightly disgusting one—but now with Cat in front of me, her pretty pink lips parted, I want to try.

Kef, do I want to try.

I put my hand on her cheek, and she looks up at me with such trust in her eyes, a smile on her face. It’s as if I’m the one with the terrible past, not her. I can’t get over how perfect she is, how brave. How loving. I’m not worthy of her, but I’ll do everything I can to make her happy. Starting right now.

I lean in and press my mouth to hers gently, feeling awkward and wondering if I’m doing it right. If it’s pleasing her. I want to get this right.

Her laughter brushes over my face and she pulls back, grinning at me. “It’s a kiss, not an execution.”

“It was bad, then? Is there a trick to it that I’m missing?”

“Yeah, the trick is to have fun.” And then she flings her arms around my neck and presses her lips to mine with such intensity that I’m taken aback. A moment later, her tongue pushes into my mouth and then she’s stroking it against mine and I’ve never felt anything so amazing. Forbidden, yes, but amazing. Now I know why Kivian gleefully breaks hygiene laws with his Fran. It’s because putting a mouth atop another mouth feels like…mating, but with tongues instead of cock. She puts a hand to my jaw, her other arm looping around my neck, and continues to kiss me, her mouth slanting over mine as her tongue flicks and teases against my own. I can’t get enough, and so when she breaks away, panting, I let her catch her breath and then immediately take over the kiss. This time, I’m the one plunging my tongue against hers, mating her mouth with mine, claiming her lips.

I’m doing it right, too, because she moans and rubs her teats up against me. “Just like that,” she breathes. “You have a nice mouth.”

I want to tell her that she has a nice mouth, too. That her smooth little tongue flicking against mine is making me wild. But words mean I have to use my face for something other than pleasuring her, and there’s no time for that.

Of course, if putting my mouth on her feels this good already, I can't wait to put it on all of her. I'm too impatient to pace myself and begin to kiss my way down her jaw and neck, pressing my lips against her soft, oddly colored skin. I love the little sounds she makes, and the way she grabs on to my horns, as if she can't get enough of me, either.

This is what I've been missing in the past. This is why matings from long ago felt wrong and ugly. It was because there was no mutual want. Not like now, not when Cat is making excited little panting noises every time my tongue brushes over her skin. There is no comparison. None.

I grab the zip at the front of her delicate, frothy tunic and press the auto-control. It moves down her body, the fabric pulling apart. I hesitate, waiting to see her reaction. Is she going to panic? Stiffen?

Not my brave, fearless Cat. She grabs my horns harder and steers my head to her teats. "Put your mouth on me," she murmurs. "Lick me with that crazy tongue of yours."

My tongue is crazy? When hers is as smooth as polished glass? I chuckle but do as she tells me. I am no fool. Peeling back her clothes, I expose her teats and realize again just how large they seem to be compared to a mesakkah female's chest. I thought it would seem strange at first, but I love the sight of those rounded, pale globes. They're tipped with bright pink nipples and my mouth is automatically drawn to them. I lick one, cupping the other teat with my hand, and she arches up against me, moaning. I nip each mound, careful to avoid using my fangs against her tender skin. "Tell me if I do something you don't like."

"Talking," she pants, steering my face down against one teat. "Too much talking."

I laugh at that and devote my attention fully to her body. If she wants more touching, I will give her more. I lavish attention on her bared skin, fascinated with the way her soft teats have such firm little pink tips and how sensitive they are. Every time I rub my mouth or tongue over one, her responses grow wilder and wilder. Her hands roam over my horns and neck, then down my shoulders, and she presses her body up against me whenever I pause, as if begging for more. I am all too happy to give her more every time. I could spend hours just learning every curve of her body with my tongue.

I push her tunic further open, revealing her belly. It's gently rounded and just as pale as her teats, and the most adorable little navel in the universe is revealed before my gaze. I've seen her naked before. When I saved her, she was barely clothed and then I had to strip her down to treat her wounds. But that was her as my patient. I didn't look at her naked body with desire then, because it wouldn't have been right. Now, however, I'm free to drink in the sight of her, and I love what I'm seeing. Yes, she's small. Yes, she's fragile. But Cat is fierce and ruthless, demanding more every time I lift my head.

So I give her more. I lick her navel and then pull the tunic open further, until I can see the peek of curls between her thighs. This is a human thing, something I absently noticed when she was naked in med-bay. I'm fascinated by it and stroke my hand over the small patch exposed by her clothing. It feels different than the hair on her head, springier. "Humans are interesting."

"Are we?" She sounds breathless, needy. "How so?"

"Your bodies are different."

"I hear that's part of the appeal." Her voice is dry with amusement.

I rip at her clothing, pushing it off of her body and running the auto-zip all the way down to the hem until the entire thing falls off of her now-exposed body. I don't like the sarcasm in her voice, because I worry I'm going to remind her of things in the past, things that she wants to forget. I can show her what a mesakkah male does well, though, and I push her thighs apart, nudging them aside with my horns. Here, she is made just like any other female, soft, wet folds and lots of heat.

Cat moans as I brush my lips over her, then drag my tongue over the seam of her cunt. I push her folds apart…and am surprised to see a little button of bright pink flesh gazing back at me. "Oho, what is this? A little friend?" I ask as I touch it, surprised. "Is this your spur, my sweet human?"

"My what?" She sounds dazed, which makes me happy.

Does she not know what a spur is? I sit up, then decide it doesn't matter. I'll show her mine later. "Is this spot sensitive?" I trace a finger around it, thinking of how I like my spur to be touched. The base is sensitive, and the underside.

At my touch, she cries out and jerks against me, the breath hissing between her teeth. "Oh my god. Do that again, Tarekh, or I swear we can't be friends anymore."

"A cruel threat," I murmur, and trace my finger around it again. Her reaction is so strong right here that I decide to focus my efforts in this spot. Her cunt grows slicker with each touch, and I try different caresses to see which ones she likes the most. My fingers against the sides and underneath the little nub get the best responses, whereas direct touches and flicks only make her shift uncomfortably. Very well then. I lean down and let my breath fan over the spot, teasing her.

Cat moans and her thighs quiver visibly, her hand stroking over the stubble of my shaved head. I love just that small touch, as if she's trying to push my head toward her cunt. Greedy little human. My greedy human, craving my touch. It feels like such a gift. I vow I'm going to make this mating so good for her that it won’t matter that I’m ugly. That she won't ever feel as if she's missing out by being with such a hideous male. I'll kef her so good that she'll be wearing a blissful smile for weeks.

I drag my mouth over her soft skin again, fascinated by the heat and feel of it. I love this. I love her scent, her wetness, her taste. I think briefly of the hygienic plas-films that are made for mating, but I can’t bring myself to get up and cross the room to the sanitary dispenser in the water-closet. Not when it’s so good to be touching her like this, my mouth directly on her skin.

Kef the plas-film. She’s mine, utterly and completely, and I won’t let anything between us.

Her head goes back and she shudders as I drag my tongue over her cunt. I push the folds apart with my fingers so I can devote my mouth to pleasuring her, and I love the way her breath gasps from her with every lick. Even as I touch her, I do a bit of casual exploring with my fingers, because I thought humans were made the same as mesakkah, but now I don’t know for sure. But with a stroke of my fingertip through her wetness, I discover her core, and gently push inside her. She’s hot, slick and tight, and my body jerks in response to how good she feels.

She’s also small enough that I don’t know how I’m going to fit inside her. A cold sweat breaks out over my body. Maybe I’m too big of a male for someone like her. She’s more petite than Fran, and that worries me because I’m bigger than Kivian.

All right, I’ll work with that. This doesn’t have to be about my pleasure. I’ve got a hand. That’s all I need. As long as I can please her with my mouth, I’ll make sure she gets what she needs.

I redouble my efforts, licking and sucking at that bit of flesh that makes her so wild. She writhes against me, pushing up against my mouth and whimpering, her hands gripping my horns tightly. “Tarekh!” she cries out, so loud that I’m pretty sure Sentorr can hear her. I don’t think she cares. I know I don’t. I love the sound of her enjoying herself. I love the way she pushes her cunt up against my tongue and the way she bears down on my thick finger as if it’s my cock. I thrust into her with small motions, determined not to pierce her too hard, and when she’s wet enough, I add a second finger. Still not the size of my cock, but that doesn’t matter.

When she comes a moment later, she screams my name out and a rush of wetness graces my tongue. Greedy, I drink down her sweetness, nuzzling her as I do, determined to wring out every bit of pleasure from her. She rocks against my face, whimpering as her climax rolls through her, until she collapses on the bed, limp and sated.

I lift my head and lick my lips, looking up at her. She’s lovely, sprawled and sated, her skin dewy with sweat. Her eyes are dazed and her hand flutters over her heart, as if it’s trembling, too. I press my mouth to the inside of her thigh in a kiss. “Did you like that?”

Her chuckle is tired but pleased. “You could say that.” Her hand presses to her forehead. “Give me a moment to recover and then we’ll go on.”

I shake my head as I sit up. I’m still fully dressed, and I’ll remain that way. “That’s enough for now. Thank you for letting me touch you.” I move over her carefully, supporting my weight on my elbows, and lean in to give her a quick kiss. “Get some sleep—”

Her eyes narrow and she grabs the front of my tunic. “What the kef are you talking about, big man?”

I can’t help but laugh at her using a mesakkah curse word. It sounds adorable coming from her lovely pink lips. “I mean that we’re good. Nothing else is needed. My joy comes from yours—”

She snorts and sits up, putting a hand onto my shoulder and pushing me backward onto the bed. “You are so full of crap.”

“What?” She pushes me back onto the blankets when I try to get up. Cat’s not strong enough to hold me down, but I’m fascinated by her and how bossy she can be, so I let her.

“Why don’t you want to have sex with me? Do you think I’m dirty?” Her expression is hard, her mouth a thin line.

“What? No! Not at all.”

“But you’re done?” she asks, sarcastic. She moves her hand down to my groin and cups my length through my trou. “Because this is enormous and it doesn’t say ‘done’ to me at all.”

I groan, closing my eyes at her light touch. I’ve dreamed of this. I’ve jerked my own cock to this. The reality of it is almost overwhelming. “Cat…”

“Talk to me,” she says, and her voice lowers into a throaty murmur. She glides her fingers up and down my length, outlining it through the fabric of my trou. “Tell me why you want to be done, then. Because I didn’t think we were done at all. I thought we were just getting started. I haven’t even seen all the good stuff you’re hiding behind these clothes. And don’t try to tell me there isn’t any good stuff under here, because I like the way you look.” Her thumb flicks over the head of my cock through my trou and I almost come then and there.

Her words are sobering, though. “I’m not being shy. I’m just…a lot bigger than you. I don’t want to hurt you.”

She stares at me for a long moment and then sighs. “You’re killing me with your sweetness, Tarekh, you really are. I love that you’re this big gentle lug, but when will you realize that you don’t have to be gentle with me?” Cat shakes her head and activates the auto-zip on my trou, then guides it down with her finger. “I’m not going to break if you touch me. Fran seems plenty happy with Kivian—”

“I’m bigger than Kivian.”

“I gotta admit, that’s one of the things I like about you. I never thought I was a size queen, but how big you are turns me on.” She gives a little shiver that makes my sac tighten, and I have to hold my breath or I’m going to spill in my pants before she peels them back. She leans on one arm, and with her hand continues to stroke up and down my length. “You think I haven’t guessed that you’re packing a lot of heat right here? You think it hasn’t made my mouth water? You think I’m some simpering virgin that’s going to be terrified at the sight of a big cock rising out of your pants?”

I say nothing. My mouth is too dry for words.

Cat just gives me a knowing look. “Don’t protect me, Tarekh. When I said I wanted you, I meant you. Not some watered-down version of a relationship. If I can’t handle things, I’ll tell you to stop. You think I’ve ever held back before?”

I think of all the filthy audios she sent me in the last few weeks. I think of when I met her and she spat in my face. I think of the time she stabbed me with the needle and how mad she was that she failed. I think of her mischievous smile every day when she teases me. No, Cat’s never held back. “It would break me if I hurt you,” I tell her, my throat aching with how much I want her.

“I know,” she tells me softly, and then a little smile curves her mouth. “Trust me, like I trusted you.”

She’s got me there. I nod.

Her eyes gleam and then she leans over me, her hand sliding over my cock once more before she tugs the fabric aside and exposes my length. I’m not wearing undergarments. Never saw much need for ’em. Gotta admit I love the way Cat’s eyes widen with surprised pleasure when my cock is freed. Her lips part and I get a glimpse of pink tongue before her hand caresses my length and she gives me a thoughtful look. “Oh my. Ribbed for her pleasure.”

“What?”

“Nothing,” she murmurs. “Just a little something we humans like to say.” Her gaze moves up, just a little. “So that’s a spur.”

I nod. I don’t think I can speak.

“Good to know. Does it do anything?” Cat reaches out and touches it with one light finger.

Now I’m the one shuddering. “Does it need to do something?” I manage. I’ve never heard of a spur doing anything. It’s just…there.

“Just curious.” She wiggles her eyebrows at me in that fascinating human way and then wraps her hand around the shaft of my cock. That’s all the warning I get before she bends over and takes me in her mouth.

It takes everything I have not to thrust into her warm mouth. To push against that slick, wonderful tongue and fuck the well of her throat. I close my eyes, determined to remain still even as she makes a noise of pleasure in her throat and begins to lick my length with noisy, mind-blowing drags of her tongue.

I can do this. I can handle it.

It might be the best thing I’ve ever felt, but I can hold off. I won’t break. I won’t.

Sweat beads on my forehead even as she begins to drag her hand up and down the ridges on my shaft, squeezing and caressing as her mouth works the head of my cock. It’s incredible, but the most amazing thing is the little noises of pleasure she makes as she mouths me. I can bear it, I tell myself, even as my sac tightens and her hand slides over it in a quick caress. I can—

She touches underneath my sac, to a spot that I’ve never touched before, and it’s too much.

In the space of one moment and the next, I have her on her back and I’m over her, her legs spread, my cock ready to thrust inside her and claim her before I spill all over the blankets. I manage to catch myself just before I thrust into her, and my eyes meet hers.

Cat’s gaze is eager, her teats heaving with each breath that she pants. She puts one hand on my shoulder and the other on my cock. “Do it,” she breathes, and guides me to the entrance to her core, pushing through the folds of her cunt. “Now, Tarekh. You know I’m yours. Claim me.”

Even though every nerve in my body is screaming for me to thrust deep, I don’t. I push into her with achingly slow movements, my hips rocking with the gentle, shallow pumps I allow myself. I’m surprised at the ease with which I pierce her body. She’s still tight but wet and giving and so ready that it doesn’t take long before I’m seated completely into her, and she’s got her arms wrapped tight around my neck, and moans. Her eyes are closed, her mouth slightly open.

“Is it all right?” I ask, wanting to touch her face, to know that this mating between us is as good for her as it is for me.

Because it’s exquisite for me.

“So good,” she breathes. “You’re so deep, Tarekh. And your spur…” She moves her hand between us, feeling, and when her fingers flutter over my spur, I realize it’s rubbing against her little pink button of flesh that I thought was her spur. That light touch feels amazing, and I can’t help the involuntary jerk forward that my hips make.

Her cunt clenches tight around me and she gasps. A whimper escapes her. “Oh god, that hits me just right. Tarekh, more.” Her hand slides down my chest. “Let go. I want to see you come.”

I sink deep, loving her little cry of response and the way her nails dig into my skin. She bares her teeth as I thrust again, and then we’re both working furiously against each other. With every pounding thrust I make into her welcoming body, she raises her hips up until we’re slamming against each other furiously, unable to slow our pace. She hisses instructions at me, demanding that I go faster, harder, even as she claws at my arm plates and screams my name. I push one of her thighs back against her belly, and then I can thrust even deeper into her welcoming cunt.

The angle changes her reactions, and she goes from fierce and demanding to quivering within the space of a few thrusts. She comes so hard that she screams, and her cunt clenches around my cock so tightly that it feels like a vise. Then I’m coming, unable to stop myself from spilling into her body with a furious heat that erupts from deep inside me.

Mine.

The thought explodes through my head even as I collapse on top of her slight weight. It takes no longer than the space of a breath or two before I realize that I’m probably crushing her, and then I roll onto my side, my cock still seated deep inside her warmth.

Cat gives a contented little sigh and immediately rolls against me, pressing her cheek to my chest and locking one of her legs around my hip, even as her other leg is trapped under mine. Absently, I wrap my tail around her ankle, locking her legs around me because I like the feel of her there. “That was impressive,” she murmurs, then pats my chest. “Good job.”

I chuckle, because it seems odd to be told that, like I completed a chore to her satisfaction. “Thank you, I think.” I stroke my hand down her back, wanting to hold her tight against me and never let her go. Might make working in med-bay a bit tricky, but Kivian’d understand. “Was it…did you enjoy…”

“If you’re asking if I came, I did. Twice,” she tells me sleepily. “Those are the parts where I was screaming like a banshee.”

I love this female. I don’t know what a banshee is, but I’m amused nevertheless. “Only those parts? There was a lot of screaming.”

“There was a lot of coming,” she tells me in a blissful voice.

I’m pleased to hear that. I stroke her hair back from her sweaty face, fascinated by this lovely, fierce human. “You have my heart, little Cat. I’m afraid that I might never let you go after that.” Because that mating was incredible. Even now, I’m still feeling tremors shooting through my body, as if I’m ready to go off again at the slightest provocation. And when she chuckles, I can feel it all through my shaft, and it makes me want to roll her onto her back and pound into her again.

“I love you, too. And who says I want to be let go?” Cat asks, playful. She sobers a moment later and then gazes up at me. “Thank you for not making that weird.”

“Weird?”

She shrugs. “You know. About my past. I wasn’t sure how you would feel being with me, knowing what I’ve been through. Who I’ve been with.”

I caress her head, stroking her hair back from her face. “None of that is who you are. Who you are is this person here. The one with me now. The fierce little human who does what she must to survive and spits in the face of danger. I love her. I loved her since I met her.”

Her worried expression changes to a radiant smile. Cat’s hand slides over my hip and then she’s rubbing the base of my tail in the most obscene way I’ve ever been touched, ever.

Naughty thing. With a growl, I flip her backward and show her that I’m more than ready to claim my sweet mate again.