TICEES (13 page)

Fremma moaned at her response to him, and his tongue continued to explore every moist fold, every delicate peak, and every soft valley. She tasted like pure ecstasy, her scent pure sex. As more of her cream flowed, he immersed himself deeper into her, drinking all that was given.

Chelan felt dazed. In all that had gone on between them over the many months, nothing came close to his oral caress. He had always been able to read her body perfectly, but now he was strumming her very soul with the unwritten music of his body. She was going to burst.

Fremma could hear her breathing escalate, and her legs trembled. He withdrew and looked at her succulent femininity, her tight opening pulsating spontaneously. He swallowed hard and parted her wider. Slowly, he inserted his finger into her pink depths and languished in her moist heat. Carefully, he began adding fingers, noticing that the unreal tightness he had briefly encountered months ago was gone, and once again he found himself hoping that Korba had been gentle.

He inserted three of his fingers and watched as her hips rose to meet him. Then, with his fingers still within her, he teased her small, hard nodule with his tongue. She instantly arched to him, begging to be filled further, deeper, tighter.

Chelan exhaled sharply, and her hands shot out, entangling themselves in his mane of thick, black hair. She cried out his name as he began working her to her peak, his tongue feathering over her. Within moments, her muscles contracted, squeezing his fingers tight, and her upper body lifted off the bed.

Fremma rose off of her slightly, allowing her the freedom to move as her muscles undulated. He kept his tongue pressed to her, forcing more contractions. Then he smiled as she began to relax. Only after all the spasms had subsided did he dare to gently remove his fingers from her now overflowing depths. He took the time to savor her juices, consuming all that coated her before licking his fingers, her taste and scent nearly driving him mad.

When he had finished, he rose and looked up at her; her full breasts rose and fell to her rapid breathing, and her eyes were wide with love. She grasped his shoulders and pulled him to her, kissing him passionately. He kneaded each supple breast as her tongue explored his lips and mouth.

Finally, she released him. “Come inside me,” she pleaded in a strained whisper.

Fremma became instantly conscious of his aching penis, and he moved to mount her. She parted her legs for him as he moved over her, his eyes watching her carefully. Slowly, he approached her, his passion seizing him as the tip of his manhood kissed her moist well.

“Oh, Chelan,” he gasped as his head dropped in a frantic effort to remain in control.

Chelan immediately froze, misinterpreting his utterance. “Are you hurt?” she cried, her eyes anxiously scanning his chest.

Fremma looked at her, a smile donning his lips. “No,” he moaned. “Believe me, Chelan. Nothing hurts.” And with that, he felt her relax.

He took a deep breath and began his long-sought-after entry. His penetration was slow yet powerful, one long, gentle stroke. And with each centimeter, he cautiously felt for the limit of her passage. But soon, his eyes widened, and he groaned, realizing she had taken his entire shaft within her small body, her inherent tightness nearly sending him over his threshold.

Fully engulfed, he let his head rest on her shoulder, his body unmoving as he assimilated all the beautiful sensations he was experiencing. “Oh god, woman. You’ll never truly know what you do to me.”

Chelan stroked his hair, her heart brimming with love. But she could not see his features, as his face was hidden from her.

The realization that her alien heart belonged to his Commander and that she would never truly be his seared through Fremma’s chest just as brutally as Korba’s knife had.

He was near the point of becoming overwrought with emotion when Chelan sensed his sadness and its source. She hugged him close and moved her hips gently, stroking him internally. She heard him take a sudden breath of revitalization, and she raised her legs, surrounding his waist.

Fremma moved, still unable to look into her eyes. Instead, he took her nipple in his mouth, savoring it with all his soul. He squeezed his eyes tight as he heard her moan, and then he began his slow pelvic movements.

Chelan’s hand immediately went to his steel-hard buttocks, pressing him down into her. “Oh, Fremma, I want you so deep inside of me,” she uttered, and he responded instantly, shifting his weight for maximum penetration.

Chelan rose to meet his increasingly powerful thrusts, but then he stopped. Rising up quickly, he lifted her hips off the bed as he knelt before her. Chelan looked at him, his massive arms holding her firmly as though she were weightless. Again he began his entries, his organ rubbing her internal center of delight, and Chelan immediately arched, lost in wondrous abandonment.

Fremma watched her every motion, a wave of happiness consuming him for the pleasure he was finally able to give to her. Quickly, he brought her to her peak, her outcry sending a lance through his own loins, and he came.

He fell forward onto her as they were both immersed in harmonious spasms of joy. Then Fremma rolled from her, afraid of crushing her with his weight, but Chelan clung to him, rolling with him as he moved to his back.

Suddenly, Chelan was devoured by an outpouring of emotion that shocked them both. She pressed herself tightly to him. “Oh, Fremma,” she cried. “Oh, my gentle Fremma, I love you so much.”

Fremma clutched her close, stroking her hair and face as he struggled with his own emotions, a strange combination of undying love and adoration coupled with a deep and all-consuming grief. “Oh, Chelan, I, too, love you so much.”

Fremma nuzzled under her hair to her slender neck and sought to dilute his troublesome, conflicted emotions by drowning himself in his sexual desire. He needed their physical bonding above all else. He rolled to his side and faced her, kissing her mouth firmly. His hand traced up her silky thigh as he raised her leg and placed it high over his waist. Without hesitation, he tilted his pelvis forward, and drove upward, penetrating her soft flesh again with unhindered ease. “Cover me with dreams,” he whispered, and he kissed her hard. Then he surged into her and through her, possessing every part of her with an abandon and a need so primal that he felt he could detonate at any moment. And he did not let up, their consummation of love occurring again and again. And it did not end until evening, when both were too exhausted to move.

Chelan lay across his body, her fingers playing lightly over his chest. His rhythmic breathing began tranquilizing her into drowsiness, and she was nearly lulled to sleep by the sound of his strong heartbeat.

But Fremma’s mind was far from idle as he sifted through the options open to him in a bid to keep his fair Lady by his side, his throat constricting at the meager outlook.

He did not know what Korba’s full intentions for Chelan were, but Fremma knew that for an Imperial Warlord to officially Let an alien was beyond the realm of possibility. He even doubted if Ticees would allow it much less condone it. And if Korba defied all, he would put her directly in the sights of the Breeders. Fremma hoped with all his being that the Warlord would never take that risk.

It was now clear that he had Chelan as a lover, but he wanted more, so much more. He wanted her heart forever. He needed some sort of assurance that he would not lose her over the coming years, and that dream depended on the values that Chelan chose to hold true to her heart. Fremma knew that with time she could bond to Korba exclusively, and deep inside he felt that outcome was assured if she ever agreed to bear Korba’s child. Since there was no Let to challenge, that would tear her from him permanently, for he felt within his soul that Chelan would never bear the child of more than one man. It was not that Fremma had an all-consuming desire for Chelan to have his child. It was the fact that he knew that she would remain exclusively bonded to the man who fathered her child, and if that man was Korba, Fremma could lose her as a lover, and as so much more. That realization unleashed a storm within him that threatened to crush all that he was.

Fremma momentarily closed his eyes against his throbbing heart. He had to know the true situation now, for the uncertainty was killing him. He looked down at her powdery white body, and his muscles knotted. “Chelan,” he called softly.

“Hmm,” she responded dreamily, pressing into him.

Fremma felt his resolve about to falter, but he had to speak. “Chelan, do you know about the Let?”

Chelan’s eyes shot open, and every muscle in her body stiffened. “Yes,” she replied warily. She clenched her jaw.

Fremma held her tightly. “Do you know about the Letting ceremony?”

Chelan held her breath. She nodded her head slowly, staying pressed into him, unable to look into his eyes. She was not sure why, but her very soul was riddled with dread.

Fremma reached for her and raised her face to his.

Chelan saw the pain and the determination set in his eyes, and her heart sank.

“Chelan,” he breathed. “Will you be Letted to me?”

Chelan immediately recoiled and lurched away from him almost violently. Her sudden motion startled him, and he pushed himself up into a sitting position.

“No,” she whispered. “No,” she repeated louder. “Don’t ever ask that of me, Fremma.” Korba’s warning about not telling anyone of their commitment stilled her tongue. She raised her trembling hands to her lips when she witnessed the rejection register on his face. Then she was hit by another revelation, this one spawning deep-seated sorrow.

“No,” she beseeched mournfully as she reached for his face. “No, Fremma. It is not that I turn you down. Don’t ever think that.” Her hands went to his shoulders and her nails dug forcefully into his flesh. “I love you, Fremma. You are the harmony in my soul, and I could never live without you.”

Chelan struggled for words, her thoughts disseminating, her helplessness and confusion mounting. “Fremma, if I agreed to the Let with you”—she looked at him through tear-threatened eyes—”Korba would kill you.”

Fremma shook his head as his hands cupped her trembling jaw. “Chelan, I want you by my side always. I would never leave you. I would quit the Imperial service.”

“No,” she groaned in agony. “You don’t understand. He would challenge you.”

Fremma shook his head again. “That’s a chance I would take, Chelan. And if he did, I would gladly die by his hand if it would afford me the time with you alone, even for a short while.”

Chelan’s jaw dropped as her sense of panic rose. She shook her head slowly as she attempted to swim through the mire of anarchy that closed in on her. “Is that what you want, a monogamous relationship with me? You know that’s not going to happen.”

“If you bind with me, you will never be left alone.”

“No!” she shouted, pulling away from him, her face suddenly white with fear. “Fremma, you are not going to lose me. And, god, I could never fathom losing you. Listen to me. We would not even get to the ceremony. You don’t understand the situation between Korba and me.”

Fremma reached for her. “Then enlighten me, Chelan. Tell me how to keep you by my side.”

“What makes you think I will leave you? I don’t understand where this is coming from. Look at what has happened today. Do you think I made love to you lightly, just for a one-day fling?”

“I would never think that. I know you too well. But I fear for the future.”

Chelan shook her head at him grimly. “I still don’t understand. There is no reason to Let me. There is no reason for confrontation. Why would you wish to force one?”

“I don’t want to force one. I simply want an enduring commitment, one that will last throughout the years, one that will endure our separations, the Empire’s battles, and anything you promise to Korba.”

But Chelan was beside herself with anxiety. She felt like her world had just capsized and she was sinking. Then her emotions hardened and her thoughts cleared. She looked at him defiantly, her voice almost scathing. “You have my word, and that should be enough. If either of you challenges the other for any reason,” she hissed, “you will both lose, for I would take my own life willingly before I would watch either of you die over me by the other’s hand!”

Fremma’s eyes grew wide. “Chelan,” he gasped.

“No!” she shouted vehemently. “Fremma, I need you. I want you, and you must be there for me on Iceanea when Korba is not, and even when he is. You know that my heart goes to him first, but I may share myself with you out of love also; that is your people’s way. You will not lose me, Fremma. There is no reason for the Let. Please. It would only force unnecessary combat. And we would all lose. There would be no winners from such a fray.”

Fremma grabbed her roughly by the arms, his mind reeling as he fought for words, his thoughts lost in a jumble of emotions. Risking all, he held her stock-still, his eyes piercing her. “But I want you to have my child, Chelan.”

Chelan felt her body sag in defeat. All her bravado disappeared in an instant. “I can’t have your child, Fremma,” she whimpered. He released her, and she hugged herself desperately. She began rocking herself in an effort to soothe her battered spirits. “I’m sorry, Fremma.” she choked. “Please don’t abandon me. Please accept that we will always be the deepest of friends and that I will always be your willing lover. Please, Fremma. You know I will always be true to my word, to my heart, and to you.”

Fremma finally shook himself from the devastating downward spiral his thoughts were taking. He drew in a deep breath, called on his Imperial training, and banked the violence that threatened to unleash. Finally, his common sense rallied. He commanded his muscles to relax. Maybe it was possible that she would stay with him regardless of her relationship with Korba. For the time, it seemed that was all that was open to him. He reached for her and rubbed his powerful hands down her arms and took her small hands within his. “I will not pressure you, Chelan. It’s just that I couldn’t stand to lose you.” He looked deep into her eyes. “You are the potion that binds me to life.”