Ojbect (6 page)

She returned to Lord Akking’s side, taking his arm and smiling up at him. “Thank you for the briefing on your history.”

“There is nowhere here to take you out on a date, so this was as close as I could manage.”

Bella stared at him in surprise. “You are serious?”

“I am. I am very serious about you, Liaison Banks. I waited two months to bring you here to save you from any whispers of inappropriate behaviour. I wanted to keep you here that first day, but that would not have allowed you to maintain your work credentials.”

Bella didn’t know what to say.

“Come, I have had dinner arranged in the private dining room.”

She said the first thing that came into her mind. “Okay.”

She was served iced sweet tea for dinner, and she grinned at Lord Akking. “Are we afraid of me giving into my dark side?”

He sipped at his wine. “I am afraid that you would not make a good decision if you were to consume wine again. When we end up having sex, I want your faculties about you.”

She sipped at her sweet tea. “You keep mentioning that, Lord Akking.”

He smiled. “When we are alone, would you call me Meiron?”

“Only if you call me Bella.”

His eyes warmed. “Bella, then. Of course, I keep mentioning it. Sex with you is very much on my mind.”

One of the kitchen staff came in with a tray and two plates. Roko set a plate in front of her and one in front of Meiron before he left the room with a quick wink to her.

“The staff seems to have taken to you.”

She shrugged. “I listened to their concerns, offered an opinion where I could and promised to look into what I couldn’t. I am not born of one of the high families, so it is easier for them to talk to me.”

Meiron sat back and nodded. “That is what I initially guessed. You are in a good place, Bella. You will blend in easily here.”

She settled in and lifted her utensils. “I think you might be right. I do feel like I blend in here, though I look forward to sleeping in my own bed one day.”

He lifted one eyebrow. “Perhaps when I am away on business.”

Bella swallowed and frowned. “Are you ordering me into your bed?”

“No, I am simply stating a fact. You want me, I want you; your hesitation is unwarranted and merely delays the inevitable.”

She continued to eat while she drummed her nails against the tablecloth. “I don’t like being bullied.”

“It isn’t bullying; I am trying to seal our fates. The High Court can still part us if we do not have a connection, and I do not wish for that to happen.” His cocky surety left him, and he ate his meal.

She stared at him in surprise. “Why not? Sex is just sex to the Kloa. If you have not bonded to a woman, there are no ties between you.”

“I want the ties, but no member of the court has taken an alien as spouse yet.”

Bella twisted her lips. “That is a task for the lower classes?”

“That is the freedom of the lower classes.”

She finished her food and set her utensils down. “So, why not find a woman of the higher class and settle down to make pretty babies with her?”

He clenched his hand, and his utensil folded in half at the pressure. “That is not what I want. It is not what I have ever wanted.”

She sat back with her hands in her lap. “What
do
you want?”

“A woman to stand at my side. A woman to converse with, to laugh with and to plan a future with.”

“My contract only lasts three years and one of them is nearly gone.”

“If you and the government of Kloa agree, you can make it permanent.” His voice was a low singsong.

Roko came in and took their plates. He returned a moment later with two bowls of soup.

When they were alone, Meiron asked her, “What do you want out of life, Bella?”

She froze. “No one has ever asked me that before.”

It was true. Certainly no man had ever wondered what her thoughts were. As soon as they realized she possessed intelligence, they discarded her for someone more pliable.

She sipped at her soup and formulated her list of needs. It really came down to one thing. “I want someone I can fight with.”

“Really?” He grinned.

“Someone I can debate, argue with, laugh with and call an idiot who still holds me in the night and wakes with me in the morning. That is pretty much it. Security will come from that, and from there, I can plan a future.” It came out in a rush, but every word was truth.

He nodded. “Interesting. Why did you choose that gown?”

“It fastens up the front.” She smiled. “After yesterday, I am taking no chances.”

He laughed and the tension of the confessions was broken.

“So, why do you have a central designer for all the clothing? If you had a local designer create something distinctive to wear, the visitors would have a reason to travel around Kloa. It would also stimulate local economies.”

Meiron leaned forward and the discussion commenced.

When dessert was over and her throat was hoarse from laughing, Meiron got to his feet and she got to hers.

“It is too late for you to walk back to your quarters. Remain here for the night. I can arrange guest quarters for you if you like.”

With a clear head and a slight smile, she looked up at him. “Or we could retire to your room and continue the discussion about front-fastening clothing on women.”

A bright glow came to his eyes, and silver sparks swam in his irises. “I would enjoy furthering that debate.”

She looped her arm through his. “As would I.”

They walked through the quiet halls and up to his private quarters. She kept her mind under control and stopped herself from panicking when she was alone with him in his bedroom and he was standing in front of her with a serious expression.

She took in a deep breath, reached out and started to unfasten the front of his tunic. “As you can see, front-opening clothing has distinct advantages. Not only is it easy for you to dress in the morning, but it is easier for a lover to open your clothing and strike skin.”

She pressed her hands to his chest as the tunic opened. Instead of meeting his intense gaze, she leaned forward and licked his skin.

Bella heard him exhale and inhale sharply.

“I can see your point, Bella, but there is a lack of true fit in ladies’ clothing when it fastens in the front. Let me give you an example.”

He waited until she leaned away from him, and then, he slid his hands into the front of her dress, unsnapping her collar. When his hands cupped her breasts, she had to admit that there was definitely more room in this gown than the one she had worn the day before.

Meiron bent his head while his hands moved to unhook her dress. He kissed her as the cool air followed the heat of his knuckles on her skin.

She stood completely still as her dress slipped loose and began to move downward. Her arms were soon trapped by the weight of the fabric and the hypnotic taste of him. It was weird, they had consumed the same meal, but the wine she tasted on his tongue was heady.

There was something arousing about being partially clothed with his hands slowly roaming over her. She felt her body heating with every slow stroke against her belly or the undersides of her breasts. She shivered in his arms, and she felt him smile against his mouth.

He pulled his hands away from her and slid her dress off her arms and over her hips. The puddle of fabric surrounded her ankles. Meiron put his hands on her waist, and he lifted her out of the gown, swinging her over to the edge of the bed. He sat her down and removed her shoes before quickly crossing the room, hanging up her gown and stripping off his own clothing.

Meiron was aroused, he was focused and he lifted her up, settling her further back on the bed before he joined her, using his mouth on her breasts and belly, and he shifted until her thighs were wide open and he was between them with his breath warming her sex.

When he used his tongue, her eyes widened. He was going deep, and she didn’t know how that was possible. The result of the reach that he managed was that nerves inside her sex were waking up, and she was getting really wet.

She gripped the blankets next to her hips, and she mewled as her orgasm approached. It spiralled inside her with every lick and stroke of his tongue. She winced and reached for her clit, cheating by rubbing it for a quick release. He grabbed her hand and pressed it to the bed, holding it next to her hips while he continued to undulate his tongue inside her. The orgasm took forever, but when she finally moaned low with her body clasping at his tongue, she was ecstatic and covered in sweat.

He continued to work at her until she relaxed, and she mewled in disappointment when he pulled his tongue from her and lifted his head.

His eyes were solid silver as he moved onto her in a slow crawl that made her shiver. He rubbed across her as he inched up her body until his chest pressed against her breasts and his cock edged into her.

Bella really wanted to laugh, but as he slid into her, she couldn’t find anything to laugh at. She wrapped her arms around him and spread her hands across his back as he moved into her with long, slow thrusts of his hips.

She tried to keep her gaze on his, but the intensity of his look was too much. She concentrated on the feeling of his length inside her, surging inward and dragging back. The friction was so sweet, she nearly cried.

Tears did eventually leak out of her eyes, and she ducked her head against his chest as release surged toward her again.

If he hadn’t been so far forward and pressing against her clit each time he thrust, she wouldn’t have lost control, but as it was, he surged and her body bucked while her mind shattered.

Bella came to in his arms, curled against his side. She opened her eyes and focused on the mark she had left in his chest. She whispered, “I am sorry.”

He was lazily stroking her back. “Why?”

“I bit you. I didn’t mean to.”

“I bit you as well.” He smiled. “I apologize.”

She frowned and pulled her hand free from between them. She went looking for the mark and found a raised crescent of skin on her collarbone. Oddly enough, the skin was numb in the area.

“It feels weird. Does it look weird?” She bit her lip.

“It looks a little swollen, but you are not in a coma, so the antibodies you were given on your flight here were successful.” He kissed the ridge lightly.

She frowned and pulled out of his embrace, rolling off the bed and heading out in search of a mirror.

A slick trail of cum snaked down her inner thigh, but she wanted to see the mark.

In the lav, she stared at herself in the mirror. The bite mark was in scale to Meiron’s jaws, but it was her own bright eyes and the flush to her skin that distracted her. She hadn’t seen herself looking that alive for quite some time.

Meiron wandered in behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He pressed a kiss to her neck. “Are you feeling all right?”

Surprisingly, she answered honestly. “Yes. I think I am. Do you want me to engage in some first aid on the mark I left on you?”

He grinned at her in their reflection. “No. I am fine. We kept our thicker skin.”

She sighed. “Speaking of skin, I think I need a shower. All I can smell is us.”

“That isn’t a bad thing, but if it keeps you from joining me, I believe a shower is in order.” He nibbled at her neck and backed her slowly toward the multi-directional shower.

When the hot water cascaded over her, she groaned happily and relaxed into Meiron’s embrace. It had been so long since she felt the touch of water on her skin, it was nearly more addicting than his touch. Nearly, but not quite. As he ran his hands over her, she felt like purring.

It was not the worst way she had ever spent an evening with the boss.

Bella spent three days in a peculiar haze. Meiron brought a good selection of gowns up from storage for her, and she didn’t see her house at all.

The arrangements were made for a business trip to the west-coast manor, and Bella knocked on Lord Akking’s door. The carved wood swung open, and she walked in with her data pad in front of her.

He saw her, smiled and got up from behind his desk and came forward to kiss her.

When he lifted his head, Bella smiled. “Are you going to do that every time I come into your office?”

Meiron looped his arms around her waist. “Yes. Now, what did you need?”

“If we are heading to the coast tomorrow, you need to authorize these payments.”

He sighed. “You are killing the mood.”

“I am here to work, oh Minister of Trade.”

He took the data pad, flicked through the charges and nodded. “Good. Done.”

Instead of giving her her data pad back, he put it on his desk and then wrapped his arms around her again.

She laughed and wrapped her arms around him, her hands on the back of his neck, holding his head to hers as he kissed her.

Work was far from done for the day, but she only had a few hours of requisitions to go over, so there was no harm in a small distraction.

Her back ached, and he was still hard inside her against the wall. The light chiffon of her skirt was rucked up around her waist, and his weight pinned her to the stone behind her.

Bella squirmed on him. “You do realize that the wall isn’t terribly comfortable.”

He chuckled and cupped her buttocks, holding her tightly to him as he walked over to his desk. Data pads went flying, and he settled her onto the polished wood. He lifted her right leg to his shoulder and then the left.

He thrust into her without any warning, and when his thighs slapped against her ass, she regretted mentioning comfort.

He got into a rhythm that took him as deep as he could, and his hands gripped her breasts, teasing and kneading her in turn.

The moment he leaned forward to kiss her, she squealed. Having never been folded in half during sex before, she was caught by surprise. The change in the slide of his cock inside her took her breath away and made her very glad that she was flexible.

She kissed him and bit at his lower lip. Meiron chuckled against her mouth, and then, she felt him jerk against her as he groaned.