Authors: S. E. Smith
Krac’s heart twisted as her eyes filled with unshed tears. He had said something to put them in her eyes. Something that was very, very wrong. Frustration ate at him as she pushed away from the table, spilling a little of her untouched tea and turned away from him. His eyes followed her as she hurried out of the galley.
He growled out a curse and stood up. Tossing the small tablet on the table, he rounded it determined to follow her and find out what he had said wrong. He glanced down the corridor frowning when he saw that it was empty. She couldn’t have gone very far.
He started down the corridor toward the bridge rationalizing that she would have gone there since she was the Captain. Froget shook his head when he asked him if he had seen her. He spent the next hour searching from one end of the freighter to the other before finally heading back toward her cabin again. She hadn’t been in it the first time he checked.
He strode down the long corridor until he was outside her room. The door was still open and the twinkling lights hanging from the ceiling were on. His eyes moved to the open door leading to the bathroom, but only the dim emergency light glowed from it.
His eyes swept the room, pausing on the small body curled up in the bed. Violet was surrounded by small cloth animals in all different shapes and sizes. Her tiny arms were wrapped around a dark red Triterian.
He blinked several times before looking carefully around Skeeter’s bedroom. This time when he looked, he tried to see it through her eyes. As he ran his eyes over it, details that he had ignored the first time became clearer.
The walls were painted with beautiful images. The more he stared at them, the more detail emerged. Bright colors were mixed with more subtle shadows as the different worlds she had visited came to life. He looked at the wall that was filled with hundreds of small sculptures. He glanced back at Violet, who was sound asleep before walking over to the wall and picking up one of the delicate pieces.
“A Flying Sea Dragon,” he murmured as he recognized the shape of the tiny replica of the small creatures on Sallas.
He turned the piece over and over in his hand, admiring the attention to detail and the accuracy of the body in flight. He set it back on the shelf before he picked up another and then another and then another. Each piece was painstakingly carved and painted. Some had tiny jewels for eyes while others were just painted. He felt like they were staring back at him.
The last piece he picked up was of a Razor-tooth Triterian. He recognized the features of Bulldog in the miniature. He rolled it in his palm with a deep frown.
“Most people think of him as a monster,” Skeeter’s voice said softly from the doorway.
Krac slowly turned to look at her. He could see that her eyes were puffy and her lashes were still damp from her tears. He stood still as she walked toward him and gently took the sculpture out of his hand.
“But you didn’t?” He asked quietly.
Skeeter smiled at the figure of her ‘dad’. “No, never. While others saw his scary teeth and sharp claws, I saw my own personal dragon come to save and protect me. He was larger than life and the most beautiful creature I had ever seen,” she said with an uneven smile. She laughed quietly as tears filled her eyes again. “He still is. He’s my hero and he always will be,” she admitted, looking up at him.
He reached over and carefully picked the sculpture up and set it back on the shelf before turning back to her. He wasn’t sure what to do or say so he didn’t do either. He just looked down at her.
“I could really use a hug right now,” she whispered, looking at the figure on the shelf. “Daddy always knew when I needed one.”
Krac didn’t wait. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. His eyes closed as she stiffened in resistance before tentatively wrapping her arms around his waist. The heat inside him turned into an inferno. For the first time in his life, he wanted someone for himself.
“I should not have said what I did,” he admitted.
“No, you shouldn’t have,” she agreed as she rested her cheek against his chest and sighed. “Why did you?”
“Because I do not want you to think of that other male,” he grunted.
Skeeter pulled back and tilted her head back. “Why?” She asked, confused.
“Because,” Krac whispered. “Because I wanted to kiss you and I did not like that you might be thinking of him when I did.”
Skeeter shook her head. “That will never happen,” she murmured as he bent his head. “He didn’t fire me up the way you do,” she breathed as their lips touched.
Chapter 16
“What part of ‘no’ didn’t you get? Do you not have any balls? I have to tell you, I do and I’d like to keep them,” Froget’s voice growled from the doorway.
Krac hissed when Skeeter bit down on his lower lip as she jumped at the sound of Froget’s voice behind her. He released a deep, controlled breath as he pulled back. His eyes narrowed on the other male who was standing in the doorway to Skeeter’s room with his hands on his hips and impatiently tapping one large foot.
“Sorry,” Skeeter whispered, pulling back.
“You are not the one who needs to be sorry. I think I will kill him so he does not interrupt us again,” Krac growled. “I have killed for much less.”
“Fine! Threaten me all you want, but when you go to take a piss and have to sit down, think of me laughing at you from the great beyond,” Froget snapped. “Now, get your ass out of her bedroom.”
Skeeter’s giggle wasn’t the only one that echoed in the room. Three pairs of eyes turned to the bed. Violet was sitting up, the large red Triterian held tightly to her chest as she looked at them with sleepy eyes.
“Ohhhh, Frog said a bad word,” she giggled. “Mommy says she is going to wash Uncle Rorrak’s mouth out with soap when he does that. Skeeter, are you going to wash Frog’s mouth out? Why was Uncle Krac kissing you like daddy kisses mommy? Is he your Prince Charming?”
Skeeter blushed furiously as she tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. “I… He… Back to sleep, little one.”
“I’m thirsty,” Violet yawned.
“I’ll get the kid a drink. Uncle Krac will help me to make sure I do it right, won’t you Uncle Krac?” Frog replied as he looked pointedly at Krac’s larger form.
Krac waited until he was in the corridor before he turned to Froget with a fierce scowl. “I don’t like you very much.”
“Well, that certainly has me shaking in my boots,” Froget replied sarcastically, rolling his large eyes.
“It should,” Krac growled as Froget started toward the galley.
The soft giggles coming from the bedroom let him know that both females had heard his remark and Froget’s response. He shook his head. Back on Earth he was considered a monster. He was something created in a lab by scientists from horrible alien creatures from the past. Just the color of his skin was enough to send most men and all women except for Anastasia and Gracie screaming in terror. That was why he normally wore a cloak to conceal his identify.
The female in the other room had turned his carefully controlled, organized world upside down in a matter of hours. He glared at the back of the male walking away from him. His eyes narrowed as a slow, menacing smile curved his lips.
If that little amphibian piece of shit interrupts me when I’m kissing Skeeter again, I’m going to eject his green ass out the nearest disposal tube,
Krac thought as he adjusted the front of his pants.
*.*.*
The next four days were spent in a dance of frustration with Frog and Krac squaring off on either side of the Skeeter. It was so bad, even Violet was watching the two males with delight.
Frog had taken it upon himself to be Skeeter’s chaperone and protector. If he wasn’t with her, he made sure Violet was. Skeeter couldn’t help but laugh when she got up the first morning and almost tripped over her co-pilot who had made a pallet on the floor outside of her and Violet’s door.
“What are you doing sleeping on the floor?” She had exclaimed in surprise.
“Making sure that horny gray bastard isn’t sleeping in your bed and you are not in his,” Frog had replied grouchily.
“There isn’t enough room in Skeeter’s bed, silly,” Violet giggled. “And she can’t sleep in his bed because she has to sleep with me so I don’t get scared.”
“You just remember that,” Frog had muttered before he grabbed his blanket and pillow and stomped off.
Now, she sighed in regret as she stared out the front viewport of the
Lulu Belle
. The
Conqueror
had contacted them to inform them that it would be within visual in two hours. If that wasn’t bad enough, the
Raven
and the
Galaxy
would arrive shortly after. That meant her time to discover if there could be something between her and Krac was about to end.
“What is wrong?” A deep voice asked from behind her.
Skeeter turned in the Captain’s chair to see Krac standing in the doorway. She had never realized how small the bridge of the freighter was until he stepped inside it. Truthfully, there was just enough room around the Captain and co-pilot chairs to access some of the instrument panels but for her, he filled every part of it.
“I was just thinking,” she replied, gazing at his dark features and thinking he looked sexier every day. “We’ve only got a couple more hours until your friends arrive. I’m going to cry when Violet leaves. It has been fun having her around. I’ll miss her.”
“Is she the only one you will miss?” Krac asked in a husky voice as he stepped closer to her chair. “Is she?”
Skeeter leaned back as he placed his hands on the arms of the chair, caging her in. She licked her lips as he leaned forward. Desire flared hot inside her, pooling low between her legs and making her ache.
“No,” she whispered.
“Good,” Krac muttered before sealing his lips hungrily over hers.
He was very close to killing her damn co-pilot. He didn’t care that the male was just being protective of her. He didn’t care that he had spent the last four days and nights trying to rationalize what was happening to him.
There was nothing rational about the hunger burning deep inside him. His cock was in a perpetual state of hardness. Even trying to shut down so he could rest did not work. He had never dreamed before, but the last two nights had been filled with brilliant images of a soft, curvy redhead. He woke covered in sweat and shaking. He did not understand what was happening and it confused and enraged him.
He swallowed the soft groan that escaped her as she responded to him. It pulled at something deep inside him. He slid his arms around her waist, lifting her until she was pressed against his hard length. He kissed her deeper, wanting, needing something that he couldn’t put a name to. He hurt. He hurt in a way that no matter how hard he tried to turn off his nerve-endings, he still ached.
“What are you doing to me?” He asked roughly as he continued to press kisses along her jaw. “I hurt. I cannot get it to stop. I want… need….” His voice died and his eyes widened in shock when he felt a slender hand wrap around him.
“I need you too,” Skeeter whispered as she wrapped her fingers around his cock and stroked the hard length. “Ohhh, you feel so good. Please tell me you ejected Frog out into space and Violet is sound asleep.”
“Skeeter…,” Krac’s throat worked up and down in time with her hand. “Skeeter, I… what… this is….”
“I want to taste you,” she muttered impatiently, pulling at the waist of his pants. “Where is Frog and Violet?”
“I… in the… galley,” he wheezed as the front of his pants finally opened under her persistent assault. “What are you…? Oh hell….” He choked out.
*.*.*
Skeeter was on fire. She had never felt this wanton or desperate with Terry. This was completely different. Before she had been more curious than aroused. Now, now she was aching and throbbing and just plain desperate.
She sank back down into the Captain’s chair, pulling Krac forward by his cock. Her eyes widened at the long, thick length trapped in her hand. The end was rounded and a slight drop of pearly crème was beaded at the top while the rest of his length throbbed in her palm.
Skeeter leaned forward and touched the tip of her tongue to the creamy drop. A combination of sweet and salty exploded over it. She barely heard his explanation of where Frog and Violet were. She hoped they stayed busy long enough for her to convince Krac that he wanted to stay with her for a few extra years or decades.
Decades were good,
she thought as she slid her mouth over him.
“I… you… yessssss!” Krac’s deep voice echoed in her ears. “Yessss, oh yes.”
Each word fired Skeeter to explore him further. His hands rested lightly on her shoulders before curling in her hair almost as if he was afraid that she might stop.
There was no way that was going to happen. Her own body was pulsing with his. She parted her legs enough to press his knee closer to the chair so she could press her own slick clit against him in a desperate measure to relieve the pressure building inside her.
“Please,” she whispered, pulling back just far enough to let him know what she needed. “Oh Krac, please. My shirt. Take it off. Please. I need to feel your hands on me.”
*.*.*
Krac’s throat worked up and down in silent awe. He swore his eyes crossed when she wrapped her hot mouth around him. He had heard the scientists and the guards joke about sex, but he had never had any desire to experience it. It would have been another way for them to control him.
The one time they tried, he had remained unresponsive. He had not felt any pleasure or need at the female’s touch. The thought of that other female touching him the way Skeeter was would have been repulsive to him. Fortunately, once they realized that he wasn’t interested they had dismissed that part of their research much to his relief.
Even in the six years of his freedom he had not been drawn to any female, well except for maybe Gracie. She was the only female besides Anastasia that didn’t flinch when he walked into the room. Anastasia was… Anastasia. She was pleasing to look at but had never shown any physical interest in him; of course, neither had Gracie.