HeartoftheOracle Read online

  He pressed a kiss to her lips that sent another wave of heat through her, far stronger than the first touch against her cold hand. Blinking in shock, she lay staring at him. "Who are you?"

  He smiled, stroking her hair back from her cheek. "I am your destiny."

  "I have heard that many times." Her voice was so much lower than she remembered it.

  "Were you ever awake and in someone's embrace when it happened?" His smile on his firm but sensual lips sent a tremor through her.

  "No, that is a first."

  He stroked her hair back, "That is good to hear, my sleeping beauty."

  "Do you have a name, my prince?"

  His eyes widened. "How did you know that?"

  "What?"

  "That I am a prince."

  She chuckled weakly. "I didn't. My mother used to tell me a tale from one of the ancient races. It involved a sleeping princess and the prince who woke her with a kiss." Lara tried to move her head, but it was so heavy. "You are really a prince?"

  "I am. Prince Enders of the Sisithan royal family."

  She sighed, then frowned. "What does a Sisithan want with me?"

  He grinned and kissed her again. "Oh, my dearest, so many things."

  Three weeks of intensive therapy later and Lara could walk again, though not with any kind of speed. She had spent every moment not in muscular therapy working on her knowledge of current events. Her species had almost been completely eradicated by governments looking to expunge the psychic strain in her people. It was dangerous to be one of her kind in the political climate.

  Prince Enders was next to her every step of the way, literally. He seemed upset by the baggy clothing that the therapist had her in, but he accepted it as necessary while she learned how to use a body that had been unused for over a century.

  "Soon, we will have you dancing." They were walking slowly through the halls of the station.

  "I never knew how, so we will have to skip that particular torture." She smiled at a few of those that she passed. The same faces were on guard in the halls of the otherwise silent station.

  He seemed surprised at her lack of skill. "We will have to remedy that."

  They continued their walk through the silent halls. "Are all stations this quiet?"

  He chuckled. "No. This is a mobile station owned by my family. The idea is to keep the Miska from finding you until you are fit and able to defend yourself."

  She ignored the reference to the Miska trying to reclaim her. "How long do you think my recovery will take?"

  "You are almost physically capable now. Would you care for a dance lesson?" His hand moved from her arm to her waist and she froze.

  No one had touched her with interest in her entire life. She had gone from being a sick teen to a deathly ill adult. There had been no time for sex.

  "I am not sure. I haven't had any experience with any…couple activities." She tried to say it bluntly but wasn't sure if he had gotten her subtext.

  "I see."

  "No, I am not sure that you do."

  He turned her toward him and looped his arms around her, settling his hands loosely above her hips. He kissed her, slowly and leisurely, his lips parting hers.

  She had her hands flat on his chest and slowly let them caress and explore as she allowed him access to her mouth. The first touch of his tongue on hers made her jump a little at the sharp twinge that tingled the tips of her breasts and swirled low in her belly.

  He teased her tongue with his until she started to mimic his actions. The groan that came from his chest sent a surge of damp heat between her thighs. She parted their mouths with a jerk of surprise.

  It took him a moment to get his breathing back to normal, but he smiled. "Yes, I am aware that you are not practiced in couple activities. I stand ready to instruct you at any time."

  Lara tried to back out of his embrace, but he didn't let her. The heated bulge that was pressed into her body continued the pulse that her channel had taken up. The throbbing was awkward and she hoped that he didn't know about it.

  The slight brush of his hips against hers was a tease and until she included this kind of thing in her research, she was calling a halt to the exploration. "I will ask you when I have enough information on both dancing and other couple activities."

  He laughed and turned them back to where she was quartered. "That sounds like a fair compromise. Dinner tonight?"

  "That would be nice. I am back on normal foods, finally." She rolled her eyes at the endless rounds of nausea that had accompanied her relearning to eat.

  "You will dress for dinner. The exercise togs have outlived their usefulness." He smiled at her expression.

  "I am not a doll for you to play with."

  "I know that, Lara. You were the Oracle of Miska and one day, you will be a princess of the Sisithan."

  She stopped in place. "What?"

  "I promise to explain it all at dinner." He turned her toward her quarters and when she was at her door, he kissed her forehead, her nose and her lips before bowing gracefully and leaving her.

  Lara sighed, watched the muscled contours of his thighs through his trousers and when he was out of her view, she retreated into her quarters and proceeded to her education unit.

  Requested topic?

  She took a deep breath and said, "Sex."

  She spent the next two hours working on learning what she could about sex and trying to analyze the responses of her body that were generated simply by reading about the topic.

  When she had exhausted the basics and was sweating lightly while her body rioted, she decided to calm down by requesting, "Dance."

  Dance was not nearly as calming as she had anticipated, based on the previous images. Now, she was simply imagining that those dancing were engaged in foreplay. It was enough to make her close the unit down and head into the shower.

  The water in her shower was her favourite part of the station. It reminded her of her life before the plague and before her family had died around her. Her long blonde hair had always been carefully maintained by the Miska, but washing and brushing it had become part of her recuperation. When she finished with her shower, she wandered into her bedroom, her body cooled and her mind still replaying the images that she had witnessed during her research.

  The wardrobe that had been provided for her had been mostly untouched until now. She had only used the exercise clothing for her daily wear.

  The smoky blue-grey gown seemed to be her best choice. She remembered her older sisters commenting on matching their eyes and it seemed appropriate for her to do the same. The shoes that matched the gown were a challenge as well, but she remembered lessons in her home and managed to practice enough to get from one side of the room to the other without killing herself.

  When she tried it while wearing the gown, keeping her balance managed to distract her from the constant thoughts about sex. Sex with Prince Enders would be nice, she was sure he would help her introduction to the sensual arts. What happened next was a matter of conflicting thought. Either they had a good interaction and wanted to try it again, or he would be disappointed and she would be left without a home, a species and a place to call her own.

  The mystery was why a prince of the Sisithan had come all the way to Miska and incurred the expense of rehabilitating her.

  Lara checked the time and quickly ran a brush through her hair. The door chimed the moment that she put the brush down.

  Nervous, with her stomach doing a distinctive shimmy, she answered her door and gave Prince Enders a welcoming smile.

  He looked her up and down and grinned. "Lovely. Shall we?" He offered her his arm and she took it, sealing her rooms behind her.

  The dining room was well appointed. He held her chair out for her before taking the seat on her left. She knotted her fingers in her lap and tried to remember her earlier research on etiquette. For some reason, couples in the throes of passion kept intruding in her mind. It made it very hard to concentrate on her meal.

 
; Lara crossed her legs at the ankles and pressed her thighs together while she focussed on soup and course after course of exquisitely prepared food.

  She was taking a sip of water when he spoke to her.

  "You are very quiet today, Lara. What did you research this afternoon?"

  She sprayed water over the table and thanked her stars that they were between courses. "I beg your pardon?"

  "Normally you tell me what you researched during your afternoon. What was the topic today?" He was persistent and amused.

  "Uh. Dancing."

  "Really? Perhaps you could show me what you learned after dessert."

  She blushed a hot pink. "I only watched some of the demonstrations. I am not confident in my ability to complete any of those moves."

  He smiled and sipped at his own water while the dessert course appeared.

  "Now, step back as I move and take the cue from my hand on your back."

  They were standing chest to chest with only inches between them. The music in the background had a soft and steady beat.

  Lara was surprised when he moved, how easily her body followed his lead. With only a few small collisions, they managed to do sweeping turns around the room.

  "This is fun." She was smiling, having collected another experience that she was missing to check off her mental checklist.

  "It is. I can hardly wait for the wedding ball when we return home." He swung her off balance and held her in a backbend that caused blood to rush to her head.

  "The wedding ball?"

  "It's a Sisithan tradition to introduce a new member of the royal family with a ball."

  "You are getting married?"

  He grinned. "Yes, I am and so are you before we leave this ship." His eyes were intense, the bright green staring into her soul. "Do you understand what I am saying?"

  He righted her and held her tightly against him. His arousal once again clearly in evidence against her abdomen.

  She swallowed, "I think so. According to the traditions of my world, you need to be down on one or both knees."

  He grinned. "I promise to kneel before you before the night is over. Now, what else did you look up today?"

  This close to him, she couldn't dodge the question. "Sex."

  "What did you find out?"

  "It can be fun or disastrous, a bonding or separating experience, and can be done in a number of positions."

  "That covers quite a bit."

  He was going to continue talking, but she lunged up on her toes and kissed him. She tasted the dessert that they had shared and the essence that was Enders himself.

  She felt his arms come around her and they were moving, but she wasn't keeping track of where he was going. She concentrated on the kiss and nothing else.

  His hands stroked her spine and cupped her hips, pulling her tight against him, wrapping her legs around his hips. The pressure of his palms moved her hips until they were rocking against the ridge in his trousers and a tight shivering caught her by surprise.

  She cried out into his mouth as spasms spiralled from the point of connection throughout her limbs in a surge of heat that went far beyond friction. He kept working her hips against him until her shuddering stopped.

  The moment she calmed, slumping against him in boneless relief, he lowered her to a soft surface. He quickly removed his clothing and when she started to remove her gown, he stopped her by gripping her hands. "Allow me."

  Enders pulled her hands away and pressed them to the bedding. "Now, for your second dance lesson, keep your hands on the bed. There will be a penalty if you don't, so please, adhere to the rules."

  She bit her lip and watched as he opened the side tie of her gown. Lara expected him to part the cloth immediately, but instead, he lowered his head to the deep vee of her cleavage and he placed kisses along the edge of her neckline. With slow, controlled movements, he shifted the fabric from her inch by inch, kissing every bit of skin he exposed.

  Lara's eyes widened in surprise as certain portions of her skin were far more sensitive than others. Her nipples had an electric connection to the small nub between her thighs and she felt a liquid slickness emerging from her as he licked and tugged at them in turn.

  She had a thousand questions as to what he was going to do next, but nothing came out of her throat other than tiny squeaks as he ran his tongue down her torso to flick her navel. When his hands parted the gown below her waist, she shivered and tried to block him with her hands.

  "I told you, Lara, hands on the bed."

  Blushing furiously, she placed her hands to either side of her hips and gripped the bedding in desperation. He spread her thighs and without preamble, used his mouth to part the lips of her sex before he dove in and licked and sucked at her furiously.

  The tension that she had felt earlier was building again, but this time, she got to the edge of it and he pulled away. The noise that she made was a heartfelt whine, but he sat her up, removed the rest of her dress and slipped off her shoes before flipping a white cloth across the bedding and laying her down on top of it.

  She wanted to explore him, to touch that pale gold skin and wrap her hand around the pulsing cock that kept her attention, but he kept her hands next to her hips with a stern admonition for her to keep them there.

  Enders parted her thighs and settled between them, the blunt head of his erection nudging against her for entrance.

  Lara watched him go from stiffly suspending himself above her, to lowering his body along hers, the heat from his skin bled into hers and she arched to increase the contact that sent all of her nerves rioting.

  Enders kissed her, a long, deep kiss that almost succeeded in distracting her from the slow entry that he was making into her core. She felt stretched, sore, but she ached for more of that elusive tension that had faded the moment he stopped touching her earlier.

  He moved his mouth from hers and began to kiss his way down to her earlobe, stopping to lick at her left lobe an instant before he bit down sharply. There was pain in her ear and flash of pain inside her and as her ear slowly throbbed, so did her channel.

  "You distracted me."

  He kissed the wound he had left on her ear, but his body was shaking with tension. Sweat was forming on his shoulders and between them.

  "I know. I am sorry for the pain. May I continue?"

  She smiled and raised her hips to him. "Do you need to ask?"

  He smiled, kissed her deeply and started a slow retreat and withdrawal that sent her senses from irritation to pleasure. Pain and pleasure blended for several strokes until the pleasure won out and she was rocking with him, rising with every thrust.

  The rule to keep her hands on the bed was forgotten as she ran her hands over his slick back and held him tightly to her. As the tension built again, she moved with him and he responded by sliding into her harder, their bodies slapping together with every thrust.

  The release of the winding tension snapped suddenly, sending her into a shuddering, gasping moan that locked her body around his as it pulsed and twisted against him. He groaned and jerked against her, his body shaking in a parody of hers.

  Enders rested his forehead on hers as their bodies returned to a resting state. Lara smelled the coppery tang of blood, but she wasn't worried. This part of her research had been quite clear. First time, she would bleed. The hymen was destroyed and as soon as the tissue had recovered and retracted, she would be able to have sex again without the pain that he had helped to minimize.

  Softly she whispered, "Thanks for that."

  He lifted his head, "Out of all the women I have had intimate relations with that is the first time a woman has thanked me while I was still inside her."

  She wasn't a fan of the idea of him with other women, but she explained, "For helping with the pain of the first time. I knew about it, but you handled it well."

  His expression was surprised. "Um, you are welcome."

  She smiled and ran her hands through his hair.

  He sighed. "We are goi
ng to have to do something about you keeping your hands where I put them."

  "I will work on it." She placed her hands on his shoulders and placed small kisses along his chin.

  He groaned and rolled away from her. "We can't. Not until the physicians heal you and they are off duty until tomorrow."

  She sighed, suddenly bereft and cold when he left her. She sat up and looked down, gasping as she saw the smears and streaks of blood on the fabric under her. "Oh, dear."

  He cursed and quickly left the room while she jumped off the bed and tried to figure out what to do next.

  He returned with a bowl and wet clothes, "Hold still."

  "You are forever telling me to hold still. I was asleep over a century. I am tired of holding still. What are you doing?"

  "Cleaning away the evidence of my crime." He knelt in front of her and wiped the blood and traces of semen from her skin.

  She was intensely embarrassed, but she held still until he was done and then she grabbed for her gown.

  "Where are you going?"

  She swallowed and fought her way into the gown once again. "Back to my rooms. There isn't any bed for me here."

  "You will share my bed. By the laws of the Sisithan, you are now my wife." He stood in front of the door and blocked her exit.

  "What? I don't understand." She had heard him mention wedding before but had never imagined he was serious.

  He carefully folded the white cloth with the large bloodstain and set it to one side. "Come to bed, Lara. I will explain everything."

  He did, he explained everything. He explained how the Sisithan royal family had been friends with his parents and when they were murdered, he was taken in and made a prince. His Edinar blood had been hidden and the secret had remained until a Sisithan Oracle had told him that his true mate would remain waiting for him until he would rescue her.

  His true mate was an Edinar and she had been waiting for him for a very long time.

  With their heads close together in the darkness, they huddled together and shared their tales of their vastly different childhoods.

  When he whispered his full name into her ear, she smiled as a natural sleep took her over. Saber. She had her Saber and she was able to let her frozen life become a distant memory.