Chapter 10
Warning growls and snarls startled Jaron enough to shake off the experience with The Collector. Sasha’s green eyes glowed, their luminescence at odds with their dark cell area. Her upper lip peeled back to reveal deadly fangs as she voiced her demand.
“What did he do to you?”
His gaze dropped to the grooves her claws gouged into the solid floor of his cage. As much as he wanted to dwell and evaluate what Dr. Kirkem and the Marenian female did to him, Sasha looked seconds away from losing control.
“Tell me, Jaron.” More snarls accompanied the command as she pounded at the ground with a tight fist.
Her spine hunched and she raked her back legs. Considering all the work he put into keeping attention off of her, Jaron hastened to her side of the cell and dropped to his knees. Seated next to her, Jaron observed the changes including how she vibrated all over. Tiny white hairs sprouted from her skin.
“I’m fine, Sasha.” He gripped her wrists and thumbed the rapidly beating pulse. Slow and steady he rubbed back and forth, waiting for her to settle.
He slid his one hand up past her elbow, stroking all the way and curled an arm around her shoulder while retaining his hold on her other wrist to track her pulse. Minute by minute, she eased and her sharp claws retracted on a mournful whimper.
Grooves remained where her animal side had ripped at the floor. Soft curls brushed his chin as she tilted her head over and nuzzled the curve of his shoulder and throat.
She disarmed him with the telling gesture. “No, you’re not.”
Purrs tumbled forth and wrapped around his heart, banishing the last of Jaron’s anger. Words failed, emotions surging as their closeness soothed both of them. Trusting she was back in control, he let go of her wrist and cupped her face to turn it toward him. Green eyes flickered from the reminder of her cat’s presence.
She rolled to her knees and mimicked his posture. “Jaron.”
“Shh.” Her lips parted in confusion as he pressed his face directly against the bars and kissed her.
Sasha gasped then clutched him to her on a growl, but the rough sound was softer and nothing like the earlier grumbles. He deepened the kiss, hands caressing her shoulders to hold her steady. Feminine moans joined his groans, desperation adding its own unique flavor to their first kiss. She palmed the back of his head, twisting about, her bare breasts and pointed nipples bumping his chest.
Long used to their enforced nudity, he didn’t expect the erection springing up. Arousal and desire beat at him, her tongue teasing with sure strokes. It wasn’t enough. Jaron wished he could get closer as he ran his hands down Sasha’s back, feeling the softness, the womanly curves. All of it familiar after their nights of practically sleeping together.
He sought to pull back from the passion igniting between them unsure if it was the drug, but Sasha’s hold firmed in denial. “More.”
Not complying wasn’t an option. Refusal never entered his mind. Cold metal and solid bars frustrated. Jaron eased his hands to loosely enclose her neck, thumbs rubbing up the slender column. Another trigger point for Argorans which she didn’t resist. Sasha allowed the telling hold, her acceptance acting as a balm to his emotional wounds.
The hair on her nape was softer than the rest and he toyed with the curls. She lowered her lids, the gesture implying a level of trust that struck Jaron anew.
Lust lashed at him, his body hot and wanting. Every slide of her breasts, nipples stabbing sent zings of pleasure through him. Jaron blew out a breath and muttered, “You’re a danger to my piece of mind, Sasha.”
And then he heard it again. The trill of Sasha’s melodious purr. His arms tightened reflexively as she shifted about. The pads of her fingers pushed and prodded at his shoulders, kneading him like the cat she was.
“No more than you are to me.” Her husky whisper brushed along his jaw. Jaron tipped his head to the side as she nipped and kissed her way toward his ear. Soft flicks from her tongue left him trembling. When she worked her way down his throat, Jaron groaned.
Sasha’s hands dragged down the outside of his arms, the light scrape of her claws sensitizing his skin. He nudged her face back up, wanting the touch of her mouth back on his. The bars pressed at his temple. Sasha bit his bottom lip and licked away the sting. Blood rushed to his extremities. They twisted about both fighting, needing to be closer.
Then one of Sasha’s hands trailed down his thigh and gripped his shaft firmly. Instantly Jaron was transported back into the room with the female Marenian as she pushed him toward a climax he didn’t want. Jaron shoved Sasha aside and jumped to his feet. He moved far away. As far as the limited space in their cages allowed. Back pressed to the bars, he sought to calm down.
Instead his anger bounced and flowed in an uncontrollable surge. “Fuuuck!”
“Careful,” Sasha murmured.
Panting, Jaron spared a glance to the side. He glimpsed her crouched where he’d left her. The same spot where they’d tried to climb onto one another. Delicate brows creased to form a V, the mouth he’d kissed wet and dewy. Fisting his hands, he banged his head on the bars behind him. “Fuck! Fuck!”
Sasha stood in one lithe move, drawing his gaze to her body. At least her time here hadn’t wasted her away. She suffered a loss of muscle tone but still moved with sinuous grace and her figure maintained its lush curves. It took conscious effort, but slow and even breaths helped Jaron gain control.
“Talk about it or ignore?” she asked.
The same question he’d asked her. It seemed so long ago. In the beginning, before he managed to draw Dr. Kirkem’s attention on him, Jaron had held her as much as possible and rubbed her hair after her sessions. The one thing he’d learned during this time was how much she enjoyed being petted. A quirk she hated for him to discover if her blush at the time was any indication.
“Talk about it.”
No matter what he wanted, what Jaron had to impart couldn’t be ignored. He exhaled and straightened. Just thinking about sharing what happened to him made Jaron nauseas. Quick steps brought him back to her side. “Dr. Kirkem injected me with something new. He talked about Argoran muata.”
Sasha flinched, then placed a hand on his chest. “Are you certain?”
The tender touch distracted. Typically, Jaron initiated touch. For Sasha to do it warmed the cold places left by his experience. Focusing on her question, he thought long and hard if he was mistaken. The conclusion was obvious. No doubt in his mind the arousal and subsequent orgasm were induced by a chemical reaction to whatever the good doctor stuffed in his blood stream. “Yes.”
“He’s trying to recreate the mating heat of my people.”
For what purpose was the big question? Arak never suffered muata to Jaron’s recollection since he was half-Enotian. “The heat is for the males of your race only, if my memory serves.”
“This is true. At first, I think he wanted to stimulate the same response in a female. He kept taking my blood, testing, changing. Then on one occasion he knocked over a shelf full of vials and samples then ranted about needing it to work.”
Rage erupted, bringing back Jaron’s heated hatred. Because The Collector wanted Sasha to be the one driven to lust. Would he have asked the male guard to stimulate her beyond control? Imagining Sasha experiencing the same torture appalled Jaron and he slammed his fists into the bars, uncaring of the subsequent spasm of pain and scrape to his knuckles.
Now that he’d reached some form of success with Jaron, he’d be more motivated. If Dr. Kirkem kept up at this pace he’d escalate and turn the drugs on her and the others.
Terror whipped through him. “I think he may have figured it out. Or an approximation of whatever he’s been working toward.”
***
Sasha shivered. Jaron’s last statement let her know all she needed. The Collector had used her blood to recreate a drug to stimulate arousal. He must have used it to force a response from Jaron. Killing the doctor was too good. She wanted to bathe in his blood and rip out his innards. Her cat agreed.
She rubbed her hand one last time on Jaron’s chest then reluctantly dropped it. He seemed calmer. “Everything I’ve heard about him is proving true.”
“The Collector is very, very bad. I have to find a way to stop what he’s trying to do.”
On that they were of a like mind. “Agreed.”
Time was of the essence. This last session with Jaron had to have been intense. All of them were starting to show it. At some point things would blow up and not in a pretty way. It made Sasha worry. She hoped Orland rotted somewhere right now. Nothing she imagined would be good enough for how she wanted him to suffer after her experience. Had he known what The Collector would do to her? How could he have consigned a former lover to a fate of continuous torture?
“We’ll get through this.”
Sasha tried to shake off the eerie feeling Jaron’s words caused. She liked his use of we too much. After all they’d been through, she knew how awful Dr. Kirkem was.
“Count me in for whatever plan you come up with.”
His face lost some of the heat their conversation brought about. “Trust me that much?”
Sasha didn’t need to think. “Yes, Jaron.” She narrowed her eyes and added, “Don’t ever make me regret it.”
The intensity of her demand darkened his eyes. No way could she handle another betrayal. Not one from this man who pierced through the armor she used to keep others away.
“I won’t. I promise.”
Although she shouldn’t, Sasha hoarded his promises in the recesses of her heart. Against her will, she stepped back from the bars, needing the distance.