She shivered slightly as the music halted, and they were plastered together for an eternity of enjoyment before he let her go.
Her stomach gurgled in protest, and Billie realized that it had been quite a long time since her meal on the warship.
As they parted, his lips quirked at the sound. “Hungry?”
She let out an unladylike snort. “Have you ever known me when I wasn’t?”
Captain Dlenner grinned and offered her his arm.
They passed several women who were returning to the ladies’ side of the ballroom and followed a few others who were on their way to a buffet that had escaped her notice.
“How could I have not noticed that?”
“Perhaps you found something else to gain your attention. By the way, the colours you are wearing look lovely.” His amusement was palpable.
“You picked these?”
“I have never seen you in anything other than smoke and charcoal. I confess to curiosity as to why you are wearing them without protest.”
She snickered as his step slowed them to keep them out of earshot of the other couples. “I was under the idea that I was on a diplomatic mission. With you being the man I was to negotiate with, there is no point in pretending to be something I am not. It will be uniforms from now on.”
Billie watched the men ahead of her lead the women to a selection of pastries. A few of the women laughed nervously but took the food that the men offered them with a blush.
“Okay, what is going on with the snacks?”
They stepped forward one place, each of the couples seemed to be granting plenty of room to the ones at the table.
“It is a tradition here on Chysan. We have herbs and such that are baked into pastries with traces of the scent that is from one male alone. If the woman responds favourably to the pastry, he can then move on to a more intimate courtship.”
Her mind spun as they took another step forward, and the woman took the pastry, raised it to her nose and then shook her head sadly at her companion. His shoulders slumped, but he offered her his arm and took her back to the ballroom.
“What happened there?”
“His scent is not attractive to her. He will seek another and so will she.” Captain Dlenner reached out and took a small pastry on a silvery tray.
She eyed the small confection carefully, scented it and fought the way her mouth watered as vanilla, spice, musk and cream struck her all at once. There was some chocolate in there as well, she was sure of it.
Looking up into his focused gaze, she had to ask, “Can I keep the pastry and ditch the courtship?”
He wrapped an arm around her waist, held the confection to one side and laughed as they walked out through a curtained alcove and into the house of the clan chief.
Chapter Four
Billie knew that her assignment was not as simple as what had been described to her initially. Captain Dlenner’s presence was proof of that. They had been careful not to mention that he was the man she needed to speak to. That in itself was suspicious.
“Where are we going?” She could hear giggles and soft words from dark alcoves off the hallway. It seemed that phase two was first to third base.
“Unlike the others here for the first evening, I actually live here. While the alcoves are equipped with every comfort, I prefer my own space.” Captain Dlenner smiled as they climbed stairway after stairway.
Billie sighed and lifted the hem of her dress yet again. Boots and trousers were definitely preferable to slippers and a gown. She didn’t know how ladies could stand to be this awkward and helpless most of the time.
When they finally reached the fourth floor, there was only one door at the top of the steps.
He released her arm and swung the door open, “Welcome to my home.”
Billie stepped into his personal space carefully. The feeling of entering the gates of hell rippled through her. Once she passed the threshold, she was unsure if he would let her out again. The shiver of anticipation that the thought sponsored was probably visible to him, but he didn’t say anything.
The front room seemed to be a study. There was a desk of extreme magnitude, a com unit, a chair upholstered in leather and a plain, closed box on the leather desktop. Curiosity got a hold of her, and she walked to the desk, opening the box to see a dozen Alliance commendations as well as several that had Oefric markings.
Enthralled by the intricate medals, she smiled. “I remember this one. It was the strike break of Therenor.”
He came up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “You would have earned a commendation that day as well if you hadn’t assaulted the leader of the strike.”
Billie chuckled and closed the box. “It was worth it. He was insufferable.”
The heat from his hands warmed her in places that had nothing to do with the direct contact.
“Um, Captain Dlenner…” She trailed off as his lips touched her neck, the reaction of her body was as violent as it was liquid.
“Arcros.”
“What?” Distracted by the insistent touches on the column of her throat, she fought to remember what had caused him to comment.
“My name is Arcros. Dlenner is my family name.”
His words were a distant roar in her ears. Her blood left her brain in a rush and pounded between her thighs and in her breasts. His name came out from between her lips in a whisper, “Arcros.”
He turned her in his arms and pressed his lips to hers.
In the instant before he got too close, she noted that his appearance had slipped into something more feral. His eyes had slanted, nose flattened and his ears pointed upward from beneath his dark hair.
She would have asked him about the change in his appearance, but her lips were busy. The scents that she had been tempted by in the pastry turned into tastes that swamped her senses.
His tongue had a rough texture as it worked past her teeth and explored her mouth. She gasped back a moan, surrendering to him as she had in her dreams.
He lifted her onto the desk and stepped forward, parting her knees.
She flailed back with her left hand and something clattered.
Arcros lifted from her immediately. “I am getting ahead of myself. I apologize.” He backed away, and she was left cold and confused.
Arcros quickly helped her back to her feet and led her through an ornate door. It was then that it was confirmed that his rooms covered the entire upper floor. It was large enough to pass for the ballroom below, but the bed gave the room one purpose only.
“I know it is ostentatious, but the room comes with the job.” Arcros shrugged.
She looked out at the balcony and watched lightning dance across the sky. “This is quite the view.”
“Nothing like the storms of Cerengathai, but it is fairly impressive nonetheless.” He disappeared for a moment and then approached her with the dessert in his hand.
“What is so special about this pastry?”
He thought about whether to answer her, she recognized the look on his handsome features. “It not only tests whether we are chemically compatible, but it synchs your body to mine for a time.”
“And the other women knew this?”
“Of course, it is a Chysan tradition. The herbs here act on the pheromone systems to accentuate our normal senses. Traits that we would normally subdue or try to hide are available in the scents and herbs of this cake. I made this one myself with you in mind.”
Billie brightened. “Really?”
“Really.”
Captain Dlenner’s baking skills had been legendary. He had once offered to make them a batch of cookies, and it kept her unit motivated through a hurricane. The memory of those treats made her smile.
She held out her hand for the pastry, and he handed it over with great formality. Billie tried to figure out where to start and then said, “To hell with it,” diving in with gusto.
The flakes of pastry dissolved as they touched her tongue, and sweet, heavy custard surged to the fore. She wanted to comment, but shoving another bite into her mouth was too tempting.
A surge of dizziness ran through her, and she swayed. Something was happening and it wasn’t a bad thing. Her hormones were being turned to eleven, and it was a novel experience.
A third bite demolished the last of the pastry, and she looked down at her empty hand with disappointment. “It’s gone.”
Arcros laughed in surprise. “I am amazed that you still have a hand. You really were hungry, weren’t you?”
She carefully licked her lips, ignoring his heated look. “I was. The last meal I had was on board the warship. I didn’t think to bring rations in the shuttle.”
With attention to getting every crumb, she licked the palm of her hand. He groaned, and she felt a surge of heat run through her clit.
“What did you mean when you said that it synched us?”
“I give off pheromones, and you respond.”
“Have you ever tested this on one of my species?” She was biting her lip as riots of unfamiliar sensations overwhelmed her.
He frowned. “I was assured it wouldn’t harm you.”
She looked up at him, sure that her eyes were glowing with the fire in her blood. “I wasn’t worried about it harming me.”
Billie walked up to him, slid her hands through his hair and drew his mouth down to hers in an eating kiss that let him know exactly what was going through her mind while her hips arched toward his, rubbing from side to side.
In an instant, he caught on, gripped the shoulders of her gown and tore straight down.
The closures of his shirt flew with a dozen tiny patters as she returned the favour. She drew her nails down the plane of his chest and growled happily.
This was going to be quite the evening.
Chapter Five
Billie snarled, arched and twisted against him as Arcros tackled the dual tasks of holding her down as well as caressing her with his hands and mouth.
His features shifted into a more feral form, and when he held her so that his roughened tongue could taste her, she cried out.
His fingers dug into the skin of her thighs and belly while his tongue parted her, lapped at her, then delved deep.
Billie screamed and arched against his grip when an orgasm roared through her.
Arcros moved away and flipped her to her belly before her body had ceased to spasm, and his cock prodded for entry, sliding in inch by inch.
He was inside her completely after several hard thrusts, and she mewled into the sheets when he started to move in earnest.
Arcros grabbed her waist while he moved and lifted her until she was balancing on her elbows with her knees wide, his access to her unrestricted.
With every thrust, her breasts scraped the bedding, so she cupped them in her hands to stop the delicate torture. It became awkward after only a few seconds, so she shifted and let them continue to add a level of sensation to the moment.
Arcros’s hands moved to take over, and his fingers stroked, squeezed and flicked at her sensitive nipples.
Inside her, his cock was pressing against all the right places as he surged forward and dragged back.
Billie leaned forward and lunged back as he stroked into her over and over. The hard smack of their bodies made her self-conscious, but she would deal with it after the tight spiral of pleasure broke.
It could have been minutes or hours that they moved together, but the moment that she screamed, it was echoed by his roar and the spiral of pleasure exploded behind her eyes.
Gasping and lying under the weight of his body, she smiled. The sweat on her back was slick between them, and when he groaned, a laugh squeezed out of her lungs. She could feel the muscles of her sex fluttering and clasping him followed by a slight jerk every time.
“Gods, what are you doing to me?”
She snickered, “It could be a Terran-female peculiarity, but I think that you just led a sheltered life.”
He laughed and slid a hand down her damp flank, slapping her lightly. “I believe that taking shelter within you is just the thing.”
Billie tried to push herself up, but he let more of his bodyweight rest on her. “Cheater.”
“I like you right where you are.”
She shifted slightly so that her breasts were no longer directly crushed beneath her. The feel of him inside her was strange—a fantasy made real, but the resurgence of his erection caught her by surprise.
“That’s cheating too.”
His chuckle rippled through her as he pressed a kiss to her ear. “It isn’t cheating if we both win.”
His slight shift pushed him further into her, and she grunted. To her relief and disappointment, he withdrew entirely.
Arcros pulled her up and turned her, arranging her limbs so that her arms were looped around his neck and she straddled his hips.
He slid into her again and cupped her buttocks, lifting and dropping her in a slow rhythm. Her thighs flexed and trembled as she caught onto his pattern, but when he kissed her, she forgot the minor aches and discomforts and simply concentrated on being with him.