Sacrifice to the Stars Read online

  She arched against him, her body craving his heat more than the feel of the cold stone under her. She curved her arms around him and flattened her palms against his shoulders, pulling them together as he moved. He shuddered and took her mouth in a kiss that mimicked his cock inside her.

  The stimulation started to warm her more quickly than his hands on her had before. She clawed her hands and held him more tightly. His groan was hot silk to her ears, her womb clenched and she wrapped her thighs around him tightly, widening until he could fully seat himself inside her with a satisfying grind as he pressed into her.

  Her clit was impacted with every thrust, her body flared into raging need and as he continued, she screamed into his mouth, giving him the sound of her pleasure as his due.

  His groan was given back to her as his hips jerked hard against her own. Tia smiled at the continuing sensation in her body, just from the sound of his voice.

  They lay together on the marble, catching their breath. Tia smelled the scent of their joining and smiled wistfully. She had enjoyed the press of his flesh into and against hers, but she was not from his world and would not be able to stay once the priesthood found her.

  Slowly, she stroked her fingers across his forehead. "I am getting

  cold, Jenner."

  He removed himself from her and she flinched. It had been years since she had a lover. His first thrust had stretched her and every subsequent one had been a deliciously stimulating torture. She felt so swollen, she was sure that not even his little finger would fit inside her.

  Jenner smiled, he draped his tunic over her, putting her arms into the sleeves and doing up a few buttons. It covered her from neck to mid-calf. "Thank you."

  He had tucked his appendage back into his trousers and replaced the buttons. "You are welcome. What comes next, you may not enjoy so much."

  That was all the warning she received. In a move so rapid it made her dizzy, he lifted her and flipped her over one naked shoulder. His cum and hers mingled and snaked down the interior of her thighs as he strode back toward the main house.

  All she could see was the green of the grass and the tight fabric of his trousers shifting across his buttocks, as well as her knotted hair. A few times, she tried to speak, but he bounced her lightly and the air flowed out of her lungs.

  "Jenner, what is the meaning of this?" Aida's voice had risen to an almost panicked shriek.

  "Mother, I have successfully captured this woman and by tradition, that means she is mine until the end of her heat." He stopped and bowed, making her clutch at his rain-slick back for balance.

  "Your distraction is now clear. I see that your impromptu hunt was successful, grandson."

  "Yes, Clan Leader. Very. If you will excuse me?"

  "Of course. I expect to see you both at dinner." The masculine voice was heartily amused and though she was a little disoriented by her position, she blushed when he added, "And I will expect to see less of her."

  Jenner chuckled and strode down the hall with her still struggling to get her wits together.

  Chapter Six

  "Jenner, where are you taking me?" She got the words out in a hiss.

  "To my quarters. We need more privacy than the general rooms can afford, unless you wanted to put on more of a display than your naked curves already have?"

  She yelped in dismay as his hand came down on her ass. She braced her hands on his spine and said, "I would have been concealed if you hadn't hauled me in here."

  He bounced her on his shoulder again and she only managed a squeak as the air rushed out of her lungs. "Hush. There will be time for arguments later."

  Later? What could he possibly be planning?

  They entered a room and he closed and locked the door behind them. He took several long strides before she found herself falling to a yielding surface. She barely had time to take in her location when the first manacle snicked into place.

  "Who has chains built into their bed?" She was tugging at the first one when he grabbed her second wrist and treated it the same.

  "Obviously I do. Many men of the clan have them as well. Our choice in women can be a little wild." With her hands confined, he fastened her legs—the chains kept them inches apart, but had plenty of play to widen the gap. "Comfortable?"

  "How can you ask that?" Tia jangled one arm.

  "Simple, I just open my mouth and the words come out. Stay put."

  He ignored the sarcastic look she gave him and crossed the room to delve in a cupboard. He lifted something out of the drawers and chests and then stripped off his clothing before returning to her.

  "You have not had a man in some time." It wasn't a question. She thought her body had been sated, but a writhing heat spread under her skin as he spoke.

  "No. Not for a few years." She squirmed under his regard.

  He was taking in her body from head to toe. Absently, he tugged her hair out from behind her and draped the column down across her breast to her toes. Jenner tugged at it until he loosed the entire mass into a shimmering curtain.

  "I have dreamed of feeling your hair across my flesh on a few occasions. It seems my dreams will now meet reality." Jenner climbed onto the bed and knelt between her thighs. He opened a small jar and coated his jutting cock with smooth motions of his hand.

  His light caress between her thighs made her legs jerk in reflex. She hissed as he moved the blunt head of his cock against her. With deliberation, he eased into her, his gaze locked to hers as he joined their bodies.

  With her back arched and her hips pulled up to meet his, she was helpless as he ran a hand between her breasts, down her belly and then trailed back up. She bit her lip to stifle her moan as she twisted to gain more of his touch and impaled herself more fully at the same time.

  He stroked her again, starting a slow massage with both hands that led to a very slow coupling and a series of sensations that Tia never could have imagined. In her early life, the teenage groping and sex had been furtive. After the priests began watching her, opportunities for recreational sex had gone out the window.

  This was so beyond her experience that when her release struck, it caught her by surprise. Her wrists pulled tightly to the chains, her legs jerked and she screamed as her channel clenched around his erection, milking him with a strong rhythm.

  Jenner groaned. His hips jerking forward as he jetted into her in an insistent pulse. His fingers dug into her hips until he was spent and leaned back on his heels.

  Sweat made his skin gleam and sparkle. He sat with his eyes closed and she counted the ridges of muscle on his abdomen while he caught his breath.

  Her wrists and ankles ached as she twisted them to check her range of motion. It took her three tries to clear her throat. "Can you untie me? This isn't very comfortable."

  He sighed and released her ankles, then reached forward and released her wrists. He pulled her up until his hands were flat on her shoulder blades, holding her tightly against him.

  Because it felt right, she bent her knees until she could use them to lever herself up and then back down on him. His grip on her let her neck relax and Tia locked her hands on his shoulders, lifting and falling on him in a slow, lazy wave. It was a wonderful way to spend a rainy day.

  His voice ruptured the pleasured haze that she was in. "If we don't go now, our clan leader will come looking for us. We need to get you showered and ready for dinner."

  She grumbled, but let Jenner haul her from the bed to let her body bask in the soothing warmth of the shower. Oritia grinned as she soaped up and rinsed off. To avoid temptation, Jenner was waiting his turn out in the bedroom, so she made quick work of removing the outward signs of their coupling.

  The towels were large and plush. She wrapped one around the soggy mess of her hair and the other around her body. Tia left the bathroom and after one long wistful look at her enrobed body, Jenner went into the bathroom with a parting comment, "There is a gown for you on the table. My mother brought it."

  Tia felt her face he
at with a blush. She dried off and slipped into the gown before untying her hair. It seemed like hours, but she got her hair loose and a quick search brought her a comb that she used to tease it into an even cloak down her back.

  Her fingers braided the hair at her temples to keep it out of her face and by the time Jenner emerged from the bathroom, she was ready for more than dinner.

  Her heat filled her bloodstream in a rush as he emerged with only a loosely draped towel around his hips.

  He must have scented her or seen her pupils dilate, because his did the same thing. "Don't tempt me."

  She shivered at the resonance of his voice and cleared her throat. "Dinner?"

  "Right. Give me a moment." He dropped his towel and reached into the wardrobe for pants, socks and a shirt.

  He was dressed with his hair tousled dry in three minutes. Tia smiled and made sure that her hair wasn't underfoot and stood to accompany him to the dining hall.

  The whole family was there and watching as she took the chair that Jenner held out for her. She swept her hair up and draped it across her lap to keep it from jerking on her neck and smiled at the clan leader with as cheerful a face as she could manage. "Clan Leader, thank you for allowing me your hospitality."

  "You are a lovely guest, Tia. Aida has mentioned your love of learning and we need more intellect in our clan."

  She swallowed and smiled weakly. "Thank you, but I do not know how long I will be allowed to stay on your world. I seem to have exhausted my work permit."

  Jenner coughed and squeezed her hand. "I will get you a visitor's permit as soon as I get to a terminal."

  Laughter rippled through the gathered family as her companion blushed and conversation turned to the harvest and how the younger clan members were doing in school. Food was eaten as conversation flowed and it felt so much like home that Oritia's mind spun to her family.

  Tears pricked her eyes as she thought of her own younger siblings so far away. Aida noted her expression. "What is it, Tia?"

  "Nothing." She cleared her throat and took a long drink of water.

  The clan leader scowled. "If something is upsetting you, please, let us know."

  Tia smiled weakly. "Just thinking about my brothers and sisters back home. It is time for the new school year on Morvigeth and I am hoping that they are all well and that my disappearance did not cause any problem for them."

  Starla looked worried from four places down on the opposite end of the table. "Do you think…"

  "It's possible. The priesthood was not happy with my sudden departure. I am fairly certain of it." Her plate was empty and a serving woman removed it and all others on the table with quiet efficiency.

  "What are the odds that they would track you here?" Aida looked worried as well.

  "I really don't know. I didn't fly straight here. I took as many detours as I could to throw them off. Lassing seems to come calling at the same time no matter which planet is involved."

  No one had a response to that. After an uncomfortable silence fell, conversation returned to lighter topics and Oritia joined in when she could.

  When the clan leader dismissed them, Jenner had her halfway to

  the door when Morrer blocked their path.

  "Morrer, what are you doing here?"

  "There are guests at the temple and I need to make sure that our guest of honour is safe." He smiled and when he spoke, Oritia felt a stirring of her body that was a pale echo of what happened when Jenner talked to her.

  It was a peculiar thing when she had felt it so strongly before. She moved closer to Jenner out of instinct and his arm around her waist drew a light scowl from Morrer.

  "Clan Leader, I need to speak with you, Jenner and Oritia. Privately."

  He nodded and they followed him to a private office. Morrer pulled chairs out and Tia was getting worried as she took a seat.

  "There is no easy way to say this, there are Morvigeth priests of Lassing here on Emicar and they want you back."

  Her stomach flipped and she fought to keep the meal she had just eaten where it was. "And as you are a priest as well, you will hand me over."

  Two voices shouted, "No!"

  She blinked and looked to the clan leader for assistance. "I don't understand."

  "They have another idea. Let them share it. For my part, I will offer you the hospitality of the clan for your entire time here. That includes protection from those who would injure you."

  Morrer and Jenner were having a staring contest that Tia was curious about, but didn't want to interrupt. Their private communication was their own business.

  "Thank you."

  "Call me, Alion."

  "Thank you, Alion." She grinned and didn't wince at the very masculine assessment he was engaged in.

  Jenner sighed. "Oritia, I need you to return to the women's quarters for the next two days."

  She blinked, "I thought…"

  "You have to be in heat during the ritual or it won't work." He ran one hand through his hair in irritation. "So, no more time in my chambers until afterward."

  The mention of the ritual sent a thrill of panic through her and she ruthlessly suppressed it. "That's too bad. I was just getting ideas for

  the manacles."

  Morrer held Jenner back as Alion escorted her to Aida's custody. She looked back at her lover and stifled a smile as his gaze smouldered with intensity. As soon as he was out of her field of vision, she allowed the clan leader and his daughter-in-law to take her back to her rooms.

  "Morrer would not have come if it wasn't important." Aida was trying to sooth her.

  "It's all right, Aida. Jenner and I will have our time another day." She swallowed around the lump in her throat and smiled as they left Alion at the gateway to the women's quarters.

  "It isn't right that you are still expected to be the sacrifice when you have found your mate."

  "Psychics are special cases, Aida. We do not come around that often." She smiled and walked into the rooms that she had left what seemed a lifetime ago. Her gown was still crumpled near the window.

  "And if you are pregnant? What will they do then?"

  A flare of hope ran through Tia until she checked her body and found no unusual traces of life. "I do not think Lassing will let me go that easily."

  Aida wrapped her arms around Tia and gave her a motherly hug. "Jenner won't let you go either."

  On that comforting thought, Oritia got a selection of books and settled in for a long and tense evening.

  Chapter Seven

  The ride into the city was tense, but it was a relief after the tearful goodbyes that Tia had endured from Aida and Starla.

  Morrer and another priest were driving and Jenner held her hand during the entire drive. Her hormones were in high gear with her pulse pounding in her ears. Two days after his touch, her body was craving his with a ferocity that she had never before reached.

  "So, we will go straight into the temple, get ready and the ritual will start?" She swallowed and tried to ignore the slow stroke of Jenner's thumb on the inside of her wrist.

  Morrer nodded. "There are servants waiting to prepare you and then you will be escorted to the sacrifice space and the ritual will begin. I swear, you will be unharmed and the priests of your planet will not be allowed near you."

  She touched his mind for confirmation and was a little relieved when he seemed to be completely sincere.

  Jenner's mind was a riot of lust, so she touched him lightly and backed away before her own interest caught fire.

  The priest who was driving was young, nervous about being around the other males and horribly interested in the scent of her heat. With his primary focus on keeping them on the road, the city soon loomed in the forward screen of the vehicle.

  Her pulse started to pound with fear, images of the dead and dying psychics were swirling through her thoughts and it shook her to the centre of her soul.

  Her muscles were taut as they exited the vehicle to enter the temple. Six shy women took pos
session of her the moment they entered the premises.

  They worked in respectful silence, removing her gown and shoes, leading her into a deep bath and scrubbing every inch of her, some inches were scrubbed twice. Her hair was lathered and rinsed, then conditioned and combed until it was snarl free and shining gold

  with rainbow strands.

  "Lay on the table please." The woman waited and started a slow rub with lotions that relaxed and invigorated each inch of skin.