SavingAttractions (12 page)

“I’m ready, Jagger. I need to feel your cock inside me.” Her
nails sank into his shoulder as she tried to provoke him to give her what she
needed.

“Are you? You don’t want me to play with your breasts some
more?” He looked up at her, a very satisfied, smirk curved his lips.

“I’ll come if you do. A few more flicks over my clit or even
your mouth sucking at my breast and I’ll go right over the edge.” Her voice
sounded shaky even to her and tremors raced over her body. She was so close and
she wanted to feel his cock inside her pussy.

“I definitely don’t want that. I want to feel those sweet
muscles clenching around my cock.” He straightened and his hand went back to
her hip. His fingers tightened. “I’m going to lift you a little, reach between
us and guide me into your cunt.”

She was more than ready for that. As his hands lifted her,
she reached between them. Her fingers closed around his shaft. She valiantly
resisted the urge to stroke his cock, to take him as close to the edge as she
felt. His behavior seemed too relaxed, too in control. As a shudder rippled
over his large muscled body, she realized that his calm might be a cover. She
guided him to her entrance.

His cock pushed into her pussy and her inner muscles
tightened. It felt so good. She pressed down, taking more of his length. A low
rumble vibrated against her and his fingers clenched on her hips. He guided her
movements as his cock pushed up into her.

Her legs wrapped more firmly around him and she ground her
hips against his, trying to achieve that little extra that she needed. His hips
thrust against her, his cock driving deep, only to withdraw and then surge back
into her. Water splashed around them where their bodies met and the spray
landed on her heated skin, both cooling and exhilarating her.

She panted, trying to draw in a breath as the spiral of
sensation tightened low in her belly. She could feel her climax hovering just
out of reach. She met him thrust for thrust, but with his hold on her hips, she
couldn’t seem to get what she needed. Her breasts pressed to his chest and she
desperately dragged the sensitive tips across the muscled plane. Sharp little
stings shot from the contact, but it only added to the need building inside
her.

“Please, Jagger, please.” She didn’t know exactly what she
was asking for other than that sweet bliss she craved.

He thrust harder against her, the strokes becoming shorter
and faster. His lips locked to hers and his tongue thrust deep in an imitation
of the way their bodies joined. She responded and met the fierce onslaught with
a little aggression of her own. Their tongues tangled and retreated. Her teeth
nipped, catching his lower lip. He growled. His cock surged deep into her
pussy.

One particularly hard pump of his hips sent Ada over the
edge. Her head tilted back and she gazed unseeingly at the sky. She stiffened
and her breath locked in her body as the pleasure exploded. It ripped over her,
sizzling and searing her all the way down to her toes. She trembled and held on
to him as her only anchor through the mind-stealing flood of ecstasy.

Jagger’s dick drove into her. His hands pulled her body down
with each thrust of his hips. His mouth moved over her neck. His pace fast and
desperate. His groan as he came rumbled a near full growl. His semen splashed
inside her pussy.

The second climax hit her. Even though she expected it, the
intensity took her by surprised. Her inner muscles clenched, pulling at his
cock. She moaned, her body shaking as the pleasure rolled through her again.

It took her a few moments to come back down from that last
orgasm. She clung to him. Her muscles felt weak and rubbery. Satisfaction
filled her and she savored the sweet feeling.

Slowly, her thoughts returned to something close to normal.
That second orgasm when he came, whatever he had called it, almost took her
mind every time it happened. She might end up mumbling nonsense for the rest of
her life, but she was going to enjoy getting there.

Ada.
His mouth rested against her neck. She knew he
hadn’t said that, but was certain that she’d heard it.

She lifted her head. “You said my name. A moment ago, but
you didn’t speak it.”

Yes, certain Zarain can speak to each other this way.
You’ll be able to do it, too.
He smiled.

“I’m going to be such a freak.” She groaned and shook her
head. What other secrets and abilities did he have?

“Ada, you are absolutely perfect and will remain that way.”
He dropped a kiss on her forehead and then nuzzled her neck and shoulder. “We
came close to drowning. My knees nearly buckled, but I wouldn’t change a
thing.”

“But we didn’t drown.” She patted his shoulder in a mock
comforting gesture.

“Let’s get onto the riverbank before I decide that we should
try that again.” He lifted her and his cock slipped free of her pussy. “You
feel so good that it’s always hard to motivate myself to leave that sweet
heat.”

Her feet lowered to the river bottom. He grasped her hand
and tugged her toward the bank. After she stepped up onto the bank, she paused
to find a spot where she could rinse the mud off her feet without immediately
getting more of it on her.

He helped her to her feet and led her to where she’d left
her clothes. “Get dressed. We can finish talking as we walk back to camp.”

She watched him as he strolled away from him. The flex of
his ass and the smooth flow of muscle along his back and legs almost mesmerized
her. He was so gorgeous.

“Get dressed and stop staring. I can feel your eyes on me. I
don’t hear movement over there.” He didn’t even look back over his shoulder.

“Then stop flaunting that nice ass.” She called back but
picked up her still-wet shirt.

Ada held up the soaking material and looked down at it. She
really should have tried to wring a little of the water out before she’d gone
back into the water with Jagger. Her clothes might be a little drier than they
were now. She wrung what water she could out, but it was still heavy with the
liquid. Shrugging, she put the wet clothes back on and slipped into the equally
wet shoes. There was nothing she could do about it now.

The clothes clung to her skin. She’d really rather not be
wearing them, but the alternative was no clothes at all. She wasn’t walking
naked all the way back, much less into camp. Jagger came back to her, fully
dressed, his wet hair pushed back. A smile curved his lips. She knew she
probably looked like a half-drowned waif. Her hair tended to become a little
kinky when it got wet.

“Don’t think I’ve forgotten about those questions,” he said
as he urged her back toward the camp. “Did you want my shirt? You can take
yours off and at least be partially dry.”

“No, but it’s sweet that you asked. The pants would wet the
shirt and I’d still feel damp anyway. It’s a nice day and we’re not that far
away from camp.” She shook her head but smiled at him.

“Your questions, woman. I believe we were talking about you
changing.” He released her hand but curled his arm around her waist.

“You’re going to get wet.”

“Doesn’t matter. I’ll dry the same as you will.” He tugged
her closer until her hip brushed against his. “Ask me, Ada.”

“When you change, are you still you?” She wasn’t quite sure
how to phrase that. She knew what she meant, but she was fairly sure that he
wouldn’t understand right away.

“What do you mean am I still me? I don’t change into another
person.” He shook his head but smiled, showing that he wasn’t really put out
with her. He glanced at her before looking ahead once more to watch for roots
or uneven ground.

“I don’t mean that you change into another person, but when
you are the animal, are you still you or is the animal there? Does the animal
control you?” She frowned as she tried to find the right way to say it.

“No, the animal’s not in control. It’s not really two
beings. I am the Zarain and the Zarain is me. There’s an animal part of me, but
it’s not a separate being, not in the sense you mean.” He grinned. “It’s hard
to explain it, but when I change form, I can think and react much as I would as
a man, but there are also stronger animal instincts. When I’m in this form,
sometimes the animal part of me reacts to something that’s happened and the
stronger instincts rush to the fore, but I can control it. Most of the time.”

She considered that for a time. She was still confused, but
she could put that aside for now. He’d answered the most important part of her
worries that the animal would take over from her. Now she had something else to
ask.

“What did you mean I wouldn’t have had access to images of
your kind? Who would have access? Why would they have them?” She tilted her
head and glanced at him. She was confident that he wouldn’t let her fall.

“Criminals, slavers. There are those who try to take
shifters and sell them. They would have pictures for those who wanted to buy an
exotic pet.” He grimaced and shook his head.

Now she understood. The scum were everywhere. It shouldn’t
have surprised her they targeted shifters as well as humans. It did though. To
get both of their minds off the depressing subject, she decided to switch the
topic, at least temporarily.

“Have you heard from your ship? Will they arrive soon?” She
glanced at him.

“We received a message last night. The ship will be here in
about three days. I don’t want this information to pass to everyone though. The
people behind this will get desperate if they know their time is that limited.”
He stopped and looked down at her.

“I won’t tell anyone, but they’re desperate already. It
doesn’t take a genius to know that they’ll be running out of time.” She frowned
up at him. She didn’t want to precipitate an attack any more than he did. Up to
this point, those people hadn’t needed any encouragement.

Ada walked with Lauren, Keegan and Owen. They stayed to the
grassy open areas. It felt a little safer than walking through the trees.
Everyone seemed more tense and edgy in last day and a half. Her friends all
wondered when the ship was coming. They saw that arrival as a welcome relief
from the threat of being attacked.

She wanted to tell her friends that it wouldn’t be much
longer, but she resisted the urge. Jagger had a point. The danger would
increase if the men behind the attacks knew exactly how little time they had
left on this planet. So she kept the knowledge to herself and made a few
remarks about how she wished the ship would come so that it wouldn’t be obvious
that she knew something.

“You know this wouldn’t have been so bad if we didn’t still
have to worry about what the unknown attackers will do.” Lauren gestured to the
area around them.

Ada guessed that she meant the visit to this planet. “And if
it hadn’t started with pirates hijacking us and probably destroying the ship.”

“Yeah, it’s going to be hard. I don’t know if I’ll be able
to wait to see if the ship is found and repairable.” Lauren heaved a heavy
sigh.

“I hate looking for a new captain,” Owen agreed.

Ada nodded. She knew she wouldn’t be going with them. It
wasn’t so much that she’d accepted a life with Jagger. She merely acknowledged
that he wasn’t going to let her disappear. The man was determined and as
stubborn as anyone she’d ever met.

“This is almost as good as a vacation, although I usually
pick somewhere with a little more room service and where I don’t have to share
a room.”

“You typically have some of the worst luck on your vacations
and trips. I, on the other hand, usually don’t have that problem.” Lauren
laughed.

Ada shook her head but grinned. Her last two vacations had
been disasters. She’d been mugged on the first one and the last vacation, her
hotel had been flooded by a freak storm.

“I bet those bastards stole all my tech. I had my cabin
fixed just as I wanted it.” Owen scowled.

The turn of subject didn’t much surprise Ada. Owen loved his
tech.

“If they didn’t take it, they destroyed it.” Ada glanced at
him. She’d already counted the jewelry in her property box as lost.

“Damn, you know how to hurt a guy,” Owen said.

“Just facing facts. Everything on the ship is gone. Which
for me was basically everything I had.” Ada shrugged. It wasn’t easy for her.
The only clothes she had were on that ship.

“You’re not the only one. The ship was my home too.” Owen
exhaled heavily.

“Even with an apartment, almost everything that I cherished
was on that ship. All that I have in that apartment I share is extra clothing.”
Lauren gestured to the sky vaguely. “I want to kick those bastards in the
balls.”

Ada laughed. She felt the same way. And it had all been for
nothing. There wasn’t anything for the pirates to take. Not anything worth the
attack in any case.

“And then twist their shriveled little balls right off,” Ada
added.

“Hey, man in your presence, remember. You promised no
bloodthirsty talk of male genital torture in front of me.” Owen stopped and
glared at them both.

Ada stopped and turned toward him with a smile. “They
deserve it.”

An energy beam slammed into the grass in-between them,
stopping anything more that might be said. The grass charred from the blast,
emitting an acrid odor, but didn’t burst into flames. Ada spun, running away
from the direction of the blast. Owen and Lauren ran beside her. They headed
for a group of trees. Those thick trunks would make it harder for someone to
shoot at them. She hadn’t seen who’d fired that shot or even where he was
beyond the angle of the shot.

A man stepped out of the trees in front of them. He had
something over his head. The fabric looked like that of the shirts provided for
them to wear. A rectangle had been cut out where the man could see. He pointed
a laser pistol at her. She recognized it as being similar to those used by the
Zarain men. He and his friend must have stolen one.

“Stop right now.” The man’s voice was muffled but clear
enough that she had no trouble understanding him.

She stopped. Even if that was only on stun, she didn’t want
to chance it. If she was stunned, she’d be helpless. They could take her
anywhere and she wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop them. And if it was on
a higher setting, well, she didn’t want to die.

“Where is it? Tell us where the secret cargo is and we’ll
walk away. We won’t hurt you. You can go back to camp and there won’t be
anything more to worry about. Give us what we want and there will be nothing
more to worry about. We only want the location of your cargo.” The man gestured
with the weapon.

Ada’s eyes were locked on that weapon. Her mouth felt dry
and her heart pounded. She could barely think, much less figure out how to get
through to him.

“Where is what?” Owen asked. “The pirates and now you have
asked for
it
, but none of you damn idiots have said what you’re looking
for.”

“You know what we’re looking for. What you’re delivering to
the Central Command base. We know a new weapon is being sent there and it’s not
traveling the usual way.” The masked man pointed the weapon at Owen. “It isn’t
worth your life.”

“They took the supplies we were carrying for the base.” Ada
held up her hands. She wanted to get that man’s focus off Owen.

“There is more to the cargo you were carrying. Your crew has
too much access to the base. Your ship is the only regular transport aside from
the military shuttles.” The gun pointed right at her head.

Ada froze and her voice locked in her throat. Her mind
blanked. Fear poured through her.

“Where is it?” With each word, the weapon jabbed in her
direction.

“We don’t carry anything except the supplies.” Lauren threw
up her hands.

The laser pistol swept in Lauren’s direction. “Lie to me again.
There’s more.”

“How about I put it this way? There’s nothing for you.”
Jagger’s voice cut through the haze of fear holding Ada in place.

Ada’s gaze moved beyond the masked man and saw Jagger and
some of the Zarain men behind the masked man. Cort had a
traser
rifle
prodding the man’s back.

“I’ll shoot them. Back off and let me go or I’ll kill them.”
The man’s voice tightened and the weapon shook a little.

“No you won’t. If you don’t drop it now, you’ll be dead.”
Cort’s voice was flat, emotionless, and he seemed relaxed and unworried.

The man seemed to have second thoughts about what he was
doing. His hand shook and a moment later the weapon fell to the ground. Two
Zarain men immediately grabbed him and secured his hands. Ada’s eyes locked on
the man as the makeshift hood was pulled off. Who was this? She hadn’t wanted
to speculate on which of the new men might be behind the attacks.

The hood slipped off and revealed Jeff. His black hair was
mussed and his brown eyes glared at them.

“There’s another one here, Jagger. Someone shot at us and we
tried to run away, but he was here waiting for us.” Ada glanced at Jagger.
Where had that man gone? Had they already caught him? And how had they managed
to get here? Had Jagger had someone following them? If he had, she couldn’t
feel very mad about it right now, but that question would wait. She wanted to
know about the second man.

“We know there was a shot earlier. My men will look for the
second man.” He nodded. Two of his men left and began to head across the field.

“How did you know about the shot?” Ada frowned at him.

“We have a satellite above to help monitor the pirates. It
sensed the discharge.” Jagger slowly stalked over to her.

The muscles along his jaw flexed. He stared down at her as
if he was afraid she’d run from him if he looked away from her. She wondered if
he wanted to yell at her or if he was angry because somehow the man had one of
their weapons. She half expected him to start shouting.

“Did you hear? They’re after a weapon.” She didn’t know if
he’d arrived in time to hear that part of the conversation. “They know it’s
being sent and thought it would be taken by us.”

“I heard,” he said as he closed the distance between them.

The moment he stepped within reach, his arms swept around
her, pulling her into a hug. As her face pressed against his chest, she could
feel the pounding of his heart in his chest. His breath filtered through her
hair as his lips rested briefly on top of her head.

“I think my heart stopped beating when I saw you standing
there facing that weapon.” His voice sounded tight and a little hoarse.

“I was so afraid. I couldn’t even move when he pointed that
thing at me,” she admitted. Her arms tightened around him and she held him even
closer.

“You’re safe now, but don’t be surprised if I stay near you
for a while once we’re all back at camp. Could you and the others go back to
camp with Cort? I’ll return after I see if I can help with the search.” Jagger
slowly released her, stepping back.

She nodded, although she wanted to stay with him. He’d be
too busy and didn’t need to be worrying about her. She wanted him to catch that
other man. They’d probably be safe once the ship arrived, but that wasn’t
guaranteed. If they still didn’t know the identity of other man behind the
attacks, the danger would remain even when they were surrounded by other
people.