Right of Refusal (Terran Reset Book 7) Read online

  She laughed, and it was a rare and genuine laugh.

  “We are landing, caretaker. Your charges will come to collect you within the hour.”

  She exhaled, thankful that her lungs could take the thicker Ssran atmosphere that filled the ship. “Hooray.”

  Ssran chuckled. “If you don’t find what you need with the guardians, you can always return to me. I would gladly have you as a lover.”

  She jolted. “What?”

  “I was a citizen before I was the avatar, and that citizen was a male. You are an adorable and soft little stranger to our world. I want to make sure you are happy.” He stroked her cheek with his smoothly scaled finger.

  She blinked as the weight of power trailed across her skin. “Oh. Right. That’s uh... nice to know.”

  He laughed. “You are both aroused and afraid. It is a heady combination because the arousal is definitely winning.”

  “I have bad taste in males.”

  “It means you are considering me as a viable option. I am delighted and almost hoping that my brightest sons are idiots who disappoint you.”

  The shuttle came in for a landing, and camera drones flew around Ssran as he left the shuttle. She was left behind in the rising darkness. The jungle outside the landing area slowly came alive, and she waited inside the shuttle. And waited. And waited.

  Three hours after she landed, the inter-atmospheric shuttle set down, and she got up and walked to the guardians’ vessel.

  Bea used her override on the exterior hatch, and she stepped inside the vessel.

  “Good evening, Lioth, Vehn, Toln, and Breth. I am Beatrix. I will be your caretaker.”

  The men were covered with blood and damage. They grunted. The ship lifted off, and they headed to their base.

  She chuckled. Not much risk of being considered attractive. They hadn’t even looked at her.

  When they landed, Breth asked, “Do you have medical training?”

  “Yes, I was given instruction while on the ship.”

  “Good. We are all damaged. Fix us.”

  They got up, and she saw that they all had tears in their scales, and blood was oozing.

  “Show me where the equipment is and line up.”

  Breth looked down at her where they stood next to the shuttle, and he grunted. They stomped inside around her, and she looked up and took in that they were far closer to seven feet tall than six feet. She was five-seven, or she had been. With everybody taller than her on the ship, she had just gotten used to looking up. She could have been six feet tall, which would have made them over seven. Either way, each of them had about twelve inches on her.

  They opened the door to the med centre, and she darted past them, starting the equipment and washing her hands. She looked them over and took the guy with the bruised ribs and the long slice down his arm. He had the pallor of someone with internal damage. She set him in the scanner and grabbed Breth. “Peel the suit off your torso, please.”

  He peeled, she held her breath and went in with a cleaning laser and then the regen pulse.

  Lioth was out of the scanner, and she put him into the larger surgical repair unit. Vehn and Toln both had damage to their tails, and she handled them carefully. The facial damage was healed in silence. She returned to Breth and finished his repairs, then watched Lioth. The blood in his abdomen was being dealt with, his leak repaired.

  She looked at the three partially clothed males. “You can go to bed. He is going to be in here until nearly dawn. I will stay with him.”

  Breth shook his head; the crest of black feathers moved with every slight movement. “We are staying. He took a hit for us.”

  She smiled. “Fine. Take hot showers and then come back. He can spare you for fifteen minutes, and do it in shifts if you don’t trust me. There is no reason you should.”

  Breth nodded. “Toln, watch her.”

  Breth and Vehn staggered out and headed for their quarters.

  She went and washed the rich brown blood off her hands. “So, you get this fucked up every night?”

  “That word is only used for copulation.” Toln grinned. “Are you offering?”

  She blinked. “What? Oh geez.”

  He walked toward her, and he sniffed at her. “You smell really good, caretaker. I would like to thank you for your assistance, but I don’t have anything to give you but a kiss.”

  She leaned up against the exam table where they had gotten treatment. He closed in on her, and she blinked. “Uh, a kiss isn’t necessary.”

  “Oh, but it is. The flight home, your scent wrapped around me and pulled me in. I think it is only fair to investigate this alien menace and report to the others.” He smiled down, his silvery black scales and the arch of his tail rearing up behind his head, hypnotic.

  She watched the stinger sway left and right, and then his head and black-in-black eyes looking at her with a slight smile.

  “You look soft, caretaker. Are you soft?”

  He stroked her cheek and traced her lips with his thumb. “Oh, by Ssran, you are soft.”

  Bea blinked. He leaned in and kissed her with slow care. His lips were firm and smooth. She kept her eyes open as he brushed his lips across hers, but her lashes fluttered closed when the heat started low in her belly.

  He let out a groan, and his tongue teased at hers. The tip flicked into her mouth when she parted her lips, and she heard a moan, and it was definitely high-pitched and feminine. It was her own voice, and it startled her into pulling back.

  He caught her head and continued the kiss.

  “Toln!” Breth’s voice rapped out sternly.

  Toln lifted his head slightly. “I kept an eye on her. She didn’t come near Lioth.”

  He kissed her again, and she started to squirm to get away. He pulled her against him and lifted her up to sit on the edge of the exam table. He stepped between her thighs and pulled one of her legs up around his hips.

  He thrust against her slowly, and she heard Breth telling him off, but the kiss was hypnotic, and his tail was no longer facing her. The heavy bar of his erection pressed against her sex, and the slow undulations of his hips were keeping her focused on him.

  He cupped her neck with the clawed tips of his fingers, and he stroked her softly.

  Bea took in the hot scent of him, and her senses spun, but the building of tension between her thighs was out of her control. He humped her for a minute, and then, she shrieked and shuddered in his grip. He shuddered and chuckled, and he feathered her temples with kisses. “Looks like I really need a shower as well. Welcome to the base, Caretaker Bea.”

  She blushed and turned her head away. “That was inappropriate.”

  Toln grinned, showing fangs that she hadn’t felt. “Oh, I intend to persuade you to be far more inappropriate. Now I can stop threatening to use my tail on Breth.”

  A furious voice snapped, “Toln!”

  Bea blinked her eyes as Toln rubbed his scaled head along her neck. “Until later, caretaker. We are very happy that you are here.”

  He straightened and stepped away, easing her thighs closed. “Wouldn’t want that damp to catch you a cold.”

  Her skin blazed pink, and she leaned back, turning her head away from those heated black eyes.

  She swallowed, and he was pulled away with a jerk. Breth stepped forward, and he touched her cheek. “Did he injure you?”

  “Uh, no. I am fine.”

  He looked at her face, his dark scales shining. The sharp edges of his cheekbones were smooth and striking up close. His eyes were hot, the gold and orange blending around the slit pupils at close range.

  “You are small. Like a youngling.”

  She swallowed as he leaned in, and the scent of his skin and scales sank in. Oh, that’s what Ssran meant. This is not a handshake.

  “Yeah, sorry if that isn’t your thing. I am sure you can find someone more suitable.” She smiled slightly.

  He looked at her and chuc
kled. “But Ssran assured us that you were suitable. As our avatar, he is never wrong.”

  “Right, I should check on Lioth. That is part of my job, after all.” She tried to slip off the table, but she was blocked by his arms.

  He glanced at the closed unit. “He’s fine. He would kick the lid off if he wasn’t getting what he needed in there.”

  “I thought you weren’t... I mean, I just got here, and you don’t trust me.”

  He grinned. “I am in a much better mood after having jerked off in the shower.”

  Her eyes widened. That was rather... forthright. “Um, okay.”

  “Are you tired after your release?”

  She pinked again, and he chuckled. “No. I am fine.” She was ready to run five kilometres and do two dozen push-ups.

  He traced her neck with his clawed fingertips, and he cocked his head and hummed. “You are still excited.”

  “Uh, yeah. It doesn’t wear off.”

  “Have you ever been fucked until you can’t move, until your body is wrapped in bliss, and your limbs feel like warm lead?”

  She blinked. “Oddly specific, but no. I can safely say that situation has never happened.”

  “It’s a pity. Also, a goal to strive for.” He chuckled. “Perhaps we should try for that if we are not on a mission next week.”

  She squeaked. “What?” She leaned back.

  “Ssran told me something very interesting.”

  She swallowed as his fingertips caressed the opening of her suit. She squeaked. “Did he?”

  “Yes, he said that you didn’t read your contract.”

  She jolted when his forked tongue flicked in her ear.

  “I was in pain, and I was dying. I took a chance that anything was better. What did I miss?”

  “We have bots here to do just about everything; what we don’t have is someone to take care of our needs.”

  She blinked, and Vehn’s voice came from the doorway. “I couldn’t believe that you didn’t read the contract until you got here. Ssran just assured me it was true, but I have no idea why he clothed you in that.”

  “Um, he offered some lighter stuff, but I had just spent weeks, if not months, naked in a tank with medics and researchers staring at me. I just wanted something concealing for a while.” Though, if she was honest, the inseam was a torment.

  Vehn tsked. “The fabricator is working on something practical but flattering.”

  Breth looked at him. “I was in the midst of a perfectly good seduction when you came in.”

  Bea blinked. “You were? How did I miss that?”

  He looked at her, and a look of amused challenge filled his gaze. “You didn’t notice?”

  “No. But, I am still getting used to cultural differences. I am not quite used to being targeted.”

  He nodded. “I have been told some changes were made to you, but I would be delighted to inform you of our cultural mores.”

  “Uh, no, I think I will just look for some research materials. Thank you. You must be tired after your day of getting the crap kicked out of you.” She decided to go on the offense.

  “Not particularly. Just another day.” He shrugged.

  Drat. She needed to find something else to lightly irritate him. “So, is Vehn going to pin me to the table next?”

  Breth frowned. “No.”

  Vehn grinned. “Yes. Ssran said you were impervious to the fatal effects of our venom. That leaves the other option, and I really want to see what you will do once stung.”

  “Stung?” She curled against Breth with nervous fear flickering in her.

  Breth sighed. “If Ssran made you proof against the fatal effects, that will leave pleasure that heats your nerves and twists your body.”

  “That doesn’t sound great.”

  Vehn chuckled. “I will ask you your opinion once you experience it. Toln and I have different compositions, so it will never be the same sting twice.”

  “Oh. Great. Um, if you guys just got off a mission, you should be hungry. Why don’t you two go get dinner?” It was like being in a room with two hungry, patient lions.

  Breth chuckled. “Vehn, go start a meal. I will be there in a moment.”

  Vehn sighed and left, muttering, “Spoilsport.” Or the Ssran equivalent. It translated into sex wrecker.

  Why was everything on Ssran revolving around sex? This wasn’t what she signed on for, was it?

  Chapter Three

  She squeaked when Breth lifted her from the exam bed and turned to press her against the wall.

  She clutched at his shoulders, and he chuckled. “I only have a few moments until Toln returns or Vehn realizes why I sent him to the kitchen.”

  “What? Why?”

  His hips were pressing into hers, and he undulated against her. She bit her lip to stop the moan, and he hissed. “Don’t stop; I want to see you and feel you this time. Last time, Toln hid you from me.”

  “What last time? It was the first time. The only time.”

  “We will have to change that.”

  She blinked as he rolled his hips against her, and the friction pulled at her suit. Bea shifted her position, and the pressure from his erection was against her sex.

  Bea waited, and when he undulated his hips, she shuddered and gasped. He kissed her softly for someone so intent on her. The smooth slide of his lips was nice, and then, the slow buck of his hips against hers made her moan. He smiled, and his tongue flicked out, meeting her stubbier appendage.

  His tongue moved around hers and stroked it slowly. She whimpered and pressed against him as he did it again. The motion was strangely intriguing. He was literally holding her tongue.

  She gripped his shoulders and slid an arm around his neck as he rubbed against her. His scent pulled her in and held her, hot, musky, and male. A thrust put her on the edge, and another intent pressure on her clit was enough to send her off. She whined softly and held onto him while she shook and twisted against him, not sure if she wanted on or off.

  He continued to rock against her as her body sent pulse after pulse of pleasure through her system. She felt cool air on her skin and looked down to find her suit opened from shoulder to navel, spread wide.

  Another aftershock hit her, and she whimpered. “When did that happen?”

  He pressed slowly against her. “When I had my tongue wrapped around yours. Your skin is uniform, except for the tips of your breasts. They are nearly the same colour as you make when you are embarrassed.”

  “Oh, yeah. That is probably for targeting for infant vision or something.”

  “Is the rest of you this pale colour?” He stroked her neck.

  “Almost exclusively.”

  “Almost?”

  “Uh, yeah, there is a slight variation in another spot.”

  “Show me.”

  She blinked. “No.”

  He drew his finger down the centre of her chest. “Please.”

  She shook her head. He sighed and set her down on her feet.

  She staggered and braced herself against the wall.

  Vehn came back into the med bay, and he chuckled. “Damn, I wanted to watch.”

  She swallowed. “I need to check on Lioth. He’s in pain.”

  Breth frowned. “How do you know?”

  “I am familiar with pain.”

  He moved aside, and she paused the healing to see Lioth pale and rueful inside the unit. She saw the problem and blushed. “Oh, you need...”

  “If you wouldn’t mind. Breth, Vehn, I will be fine. Go grab dinner.”

  Lioth smiled. “Now, dear caretaker. Seal the door.”

  Bea knew what he was going to ask, and he—at least—was offering her privacy.

  * * * *

  Lioth joined them in the kitchen half an hour later, looking pale but relaxed. Their caretaker was nowhere to be seen.

  Breth growled. “What did you do with her?”

  Lioth snorted. “I sent
her to bed. She just arrived, and you are mauling her. She needs time to adjust.”

  Vehn chuckled. “If this is what a toy is like, imagine what a breeder will be like.”

  Toln hummed in his throat. “That will be fun. What will we do with the toy then?”

  Breth shrugged. “Ssran will take her back. He can enjoy her.”

  Lioth frowned. “You are already thinking on to the next female? She is sweet and strong. You would drop her before she has been here for a day?”

  Breth sighed. “She is soft, and I definitely want to fuck her, but she isn’t practical. She can’t be what we need.”

  * * * *

  Bea sat around the corner, her hand over her mouth, and her small bit of body confidence crushed. She was wrong. Her body was wrong, and they didn’t want her. She was a toy, a broken toy. How many times had she heard that same phrase in her life?

  Tomorrow she would go to the med centre for her first scheduled scan to verify an embryo count. Then, she would contact Ssran and ask for him to take her in. She was doing something she had never done in her life. She was quitting.

  She swallowed, and the taste of Lioth’s cum was still in her mouth. He had been the only one to stand up for her, so she had a slightly less acrimonious thought process about him.

  She would wait until they went to bed, and then, she would clean up and perform her duties as caretaker. In the morning, she would leave.

  Bea set out a meal under warmers and headed to the avatar’s personal transport pod. It lifted off and carried her into the city.

  For a minute, she had had four men who wanted her, and now, she knew it was just until something better came along.

  She kept herself calm as the pod flew over the city to the research centre. She got out of the pod under guard and was brought into the facility. Time for a buttload of scans.

  She was observed, poked, prodded, sampled, and scanned.

  When she was waiting for metabolic screening, she called Ssran. To her shock, he answered her call. “Bea, is something wrong?”

  “Yeah, sort of. I am activating my right of refusal. I am going to find another job. Somewhere.”