She’d taken him to wainu.
Erin, Flor grant her, swallowed all of his seed before she released him and put his clothes once again to rights. Rafe could only sit there, staring at her in a daze as his spirit dwelled in the perfection of the moment. Erin seemed content to wait.
Moments later, Rafe took a deep breath. “That was…how did you…”
“You liked it.” She smiled, pleased, and Rafe noted the flush staining her cheeks, her heavy breathing just now settling down.
“Yeah, you could say that.” He took another deep breath, wondering what the hell to do now. He’d violated Sernal’s strict policy against fraternization between peacekeepers and the criminal class. He still needed to know more about Blue Rim and Erin’s part in the labs.
And hell, if what she said were true, then prison ships were illegally selling their human cargo as slaves to science. An unlawful, not to mention immoral, dealing. Sernal would definitely want that stopped.
Yet it was Erin herself that gave him pause. Rafe wanted her, badly. Aside from this mission, aside from her problems, he wanted to sink deep into the intriguing female and cement the connection he could all but feel as he wavered on wainu’s edge. He’d had plenty of sex before, but not every orgasm could take him to utter bliss, and especially not from contact with a virtual stranger. One touch of Erin’s mouth, in this damned uncomfortable vehicle, while tied up, and he’d shot his load like a pubescent youth. Yet for all that, he’d seen ecstasy made real.
The responsible side of Rafe told him to take the case and use Erin’s information, and only Erin’s information. But the male, the Xema within, demanded he heed his instincts to challenge the female and gauge her innate worth. That he see what lay beneath the surface of her beauty to find the heat within in a test as old as the Xema line. Shit. Though he knew he had to help her, he only hoped he could get to the point where he could focus on the case and not her delectable body.
“Okay, I’ll help you.”
Her grin widened. “My body for a techie, your ammunitions and a ship to take us there?”
Hell, yes, his body shouted. But his damned conscience just had to intervene. No, Rafe.
She’s desperate. Your job is to help people, not to take advantage of them. Then again, he wasn’t Rafe right now. He was Cheltam. “There are conditions.” Her grin faltered. “I don’t ever go into a situation without knowing the facts. I want details, Erin. I want to know everything you know about Blue Rim. And I want to know what rotten peacemakers are laying in bed with the lab. Those guys will be the first to go,” he said roughly, his aversion to corrupt lawmen both in keeping with Cheltam’s image and adhering to his own principles.
“Agreed. And in return, I shall pleasure you whenever you like.” He narrowed his gaze, curious at the innocence in her gaze that contradicted the skill she’d just shown with both her hand and mouth. His interest in the woman was growing in leaps and bounds.
“So long as you’re willing. I’m not a rapist.”
She studied him curiously. “How very odd for a criminal of your calibre. Morals, Cheltam?” Her lips quirked.
“You have a problem with that?” He hoped he wasn’t giving anything away, but even when he played Cheltam, Rafe treated females with respect. They adored him; they didn’t fear him. He couldn’t help that notion of chivalry when it came to the fairer sex.
Protectiveness had been bred into his bones.
Erin shook her head. “I don’t think rape would ever be necessary with you. The rumours are that you’ve never begged for female companionship, but rather your women beg for you.”
Rafe grinned. “You going to beg, baby?”
“I’m not one of your women. And my name is not ‘baby’.” He lost his grin, needing to remind her, and himself, who was in charge, no matter his current state. “You want my help, you’re whatever I say you are. Now get rid of the cuffs.” Her hands moved and she grimaced, shoving them behind her back. “I’ll take them off, just as soon as we seal the deal.”
A typical Mardu custom, one even thieves and smugglers observed, and one he couldn’t argue. The woman had done her homework.
Glancing at him, she sighed. “I supposed a handshake won’t work.”
“A kiss.” Rafe steeled himself against a return of the lust he’d previously felt, but he refused to let this opportunity pass. For one thing, he needed to show her he was in charge.
And for another, it bothered him on a fundamental level that he’d received pleasure when she had not.
“Fine.” She leaned close, but he shook his head.
“No. Straddle me with your thighs, then kiss me. And do exactly as I say.”
“Just to seal the deal?”
“Do you want my help or not?” he asked coolly, and her resistance disappeared. Erin quickly straddled him, waiting. “Good girl. I like submissive.” The glare she flashed him made him chuckle. “Now slip one hand down your trousers.”
“What? ”
“You heard me. Do it.” His stare brooked no refusal. And though she looked confused, she almost eagerly put her hand down her pants. “Now kiss me, and as your lips touch mine, I want you to take one finger and stroke those lower lips, the ones hiding that wet core of yours.”
A rosy flush caused the sparkle in her cheeks to glow brighter. The rover surprised them both by coming to a complete stop, but Rafe continued, needing to make his point.
“But, we’re here and I—”
“I’m not going to tell you again. You want my help, you do it my way. Yes or no?” Erin swallowed, but lust soon consumed the confusion in her gaze. He felt her hand moving between them, saw the excitement she tried to hide, and nodded.
“Now kiss me, and when you do, I want you to rub that tight little nub between your legs.”
She audibly swallowed, licked her lips, and made him wish he had the strength to fuck her again right now. But the wainu had taken a chunk out of his already low energy reserves, and he needed time to refuel. Watching her take her pleasure would surely help.
Erin’s kiss, when it came, had a hesitancy he wouldn’t have expected. Her soft lips melted under his, allowing him all the control he thought he’d have to fight for. She gave no protest when his tongue slowly pierced her mouth. If anything, her fingers moved faster over her clit, and her tongue shyly met his as she offered a small moan.
Rafe explored her mouth thoroughly, addicted to her honeyed taste that was like nothing he’d ever sensed before. The scent, flavour and feel of her taunted him as he fought the restraints at his back. He had half a mind to call upon his inner strength, but knew exposing his Xema abilities wasn’t necessary, not now. Though he felt like he’d die if he couldn’t touch her, he made do with her mouth.
After kissing her until he could no longer breathe, he pulled away to trail his mouth down her neck. Kissing her delicious skin up and down, he returned to the shell of her ear and whispered his commands while alternately teasing her sensitive lobe.
“So sexy,” he murmured and pressed his teeth against her soft flesh. Pleased at her shiver, he continued. “How does it feel, touching yourself against me?”
“Good,” she breathed, shuddering when he shoved his tongue in her ear, deliberately simulating what he wanted to do with his cock.