“Oh?” His eyes turned smoky, and the raspiness of his reply signalled definite interest.
Erin reached out and laid her fingers along his throat, and again that warmth filled her.
Helpless to stop herself, she began releasing wafts of pheromones guaranteed to snare the male. “If you help me, Cheltam, I’ll offer you something so rare and precious you’ll be begging to give me anything I need.”
“Begging, hmm? What’s your offer?”
“Me.” She ran her fingers down his chest and held her palm over his racing heart. He was affected, no doubt, but he didn’t jump on the offer that so many others she’d encountered since leaving Eyra would have taken and run with. She’d received so many propositions in her brief sojourn to Mardu she could have made a nice living for the next few years off her ‘delectable’ and ‘delightfully carnal’ body.
“But how do I know you’re any good?”
She frowned, not having anticipated anything but a “yes”. He thought to refuse her?
Erin? Hell, she’d been genetically enhanced to appeal to all males. Why was this one so different? She could see he was anything but unaroused. His raspy breathing, dilated pupils and stiffening shaft under those trousers clearly displayed desire. The scent of need filled the air, the subtle aroma a blending of her pheromones and his.
“I don’t understand.” Not his question, or her sudden instinct to submit to this male, to offer him her subservience. Oh shit. This is not good. Stay strong. Don’t give in. The knowledge that Cheltam held some innate power over her steeled her will, and Erin resolved that should he accept her offer, no matter how physically close their association might bring them, she’d keep him mentally compartmentalised.
Already the male intrigued her, and they had yet to share intimacies. Erin needed to keep her focus on Blue Rim and her family. She had to in order to survive. Ryen and Anin depended on her. Erin had no time to spare on a criminal mastermind, no matter how attractive she found him.
He smiled, and her heartbeat stuttered, shocking her. She’d experienced a similar feeling when in that bar where the couples fornicated. Sexual desire. She didn’t have time to worry about it, however, because Cheltam leaned forward and jiggled his restraints.
“I require proof, Erin. A savvy businessman never agrees to an unknown, untested product. Show me what you can do, and I’ll think about it. Now how about you start with my cuffs, and we’ll go from there?”
She immediately shook her head. “No. But you have a point.” Logically, the male needed to know if she could stimulate him past arousal to climax. Anin had often described Synster’s quick journey to repletion and his satisfaction afterward. Perhaps if Erin brought Cheltam the same pleasure, he’d be more inclined not only to believe in her worth, but to help her as well. And if she worked him just right, she could gratify her urge to please him without him learning the truth behind her need.
She shoved him back against the seat and spread his thighs wide. Leaning closer to inspect the closure of his trousers, when she found it, she peeled the top of his pants apart.
“What are you doing?” Cheltam’s voice sounded strangled, and she glanced at him in surprise.
“I’m proving myself, as requested.” She quickly lifted him with ease as she lowered the cloth, pushing it down past his hips to his thighs.
“How strong are you?”
“As strong as I need to be.” But not strong enough to take down Blue Rim, not without your help. And, dammit all, not strong enough to resist you . Determined to prove she would be worth his help, she drew on what she’d learned from Anin’s experience and got to work.
Chapter Three
Rafe was so out of his element here it wasn’t funny. Needing to gather as much information from his kidnapper as possible, he’d done his best to ferret answers. Her name was Erin. She had an unnatural ability to enthrall males with a latent sexuality he found fascinating, as well as a beauty that captivated. She had strength and quickness in dangerous quantities, and a logical mindset to meet her objectives, no matter the obstacle.
Unfortunately for her, Rafe considered himself to be a huge obstacle. Erin needed his help to take down Blue Rim, and he knew for a fact Sernal had been investigating that very company, because he’d assigned the task to Gar. The reason behind this kidnapping was beginning to take shape, or at least, it had before she’d lifted him off his ass, as if he weighed no more than a feather, and stripped him to his knees.
Damn. The woman seemed to really want his help, but could he let her—“Oh, shit. ” He stared incredulously at her small yet strong hand wrapped around his cock. The feel of her soft palm around him aroused him unbearably, and his Xema senses warned him she possessed a dangerous quantity of pheromones adding to her allure. Not that her looks needed much help.
She distracted him by pulling on his shaft, pumping him up and down, slower then faster, and he concentrated all of his attention on holding back, when he wanted so very badly to come all over her. Control, Rafe, where’s your precious control? Gritting his teeth, he tried to dampen his arousal, and the effort made him sweat.
She wasn’t a typical beauty, in any way. Though she possessed a slender build and all the right curves in all the right places, her colouring was too foreign to be anything but stunning. That tan skin that now glittered with gold flecks. Those ripe lips and alien eyes, the colours swirling, as if expressing her emotions. Such a dark purple around the lighter blue, magnifying the pinpoint of heat in that golden pupil. Erin had an uncanny strength, but her touch right now… Rafe wondered if she might have been manipulated by Eyran scientists to bestow sexual pleasure at its finest. He could readily believe it as he watched her handling him.
“You like this.” She nodded and continued to jerk him off. “Very much.”
“Yeah.” Rafe tried to stem the arousal pooling in his blood, to maintain some command over his body. But being tied up and helpless under her touch aroused him even more. And that scent of hers wrapped around his brain as tightly as her fist around his cock. “So you’re going to prove yourself invaluable with your body, hmm?” he said thickly, willing himself to hold back.
She stilled and cocked her head. “You aren’t responding as I’d thought.” What the hell more did she want? He was ready to blow as it was.
Erin shook her head. “You’re still too aware.”
“Aware of wh— blessed Flor, ” he moaned, as she enveloped him with her mouth.
She caressed him with her tongue and took him all the way to the back of her throat.
“Oh, yeah. That’s it. Suck it, baby, swallow me.” Rafe could do nothing more than listen to his body as he fucked her incredible mouth. Jolts of electricity shot through him, and he could feel his energy seeking that elusive plain that every Xema sought: wainu—a state of utter peace on a spiritual plateau that only a perfect union might create. And it looked, amazingly, as if the union of his shaft and just her mouth would take him there.
She moaned around him, taking him deeper, her movements so attuned to his needs it was as if they’d known each other forever as opposed to having just met. Rafe lost himself to the splendour of her scent and touch, his orgasm thundering all too near.
He shouted his bliss as he came in her mouth, his climax explosive. The heat of her mouth sucked him deeper, pushing him to give her everything inside of him. The climax took him by surprise, as much as he’d expected it. Because with the physical release, he also experienced a spiritual catharsis, a remedy to the constant restlessness plaguing him. Wainu.