Inheriting War Read online

  His inclination was one that she was definitely sharing. She wove her fingers through his hair and hung on while her senses spun out of her control.

  Chapter Seven

  Remi kept control of herself until she was sure that Lekorh and Sarah were not in her quarters anymore. She didn’t often use her echolocation, but this was one of those times.

  Kromir raised his head. “What was that?”

  His hands were still firmly gripping her, and she smiled up at him. “Just making sure we are alone.”

  “But what was it?”

  “Echolocation. I can use it in short bursts.”

  “It wasn’t on your med reports.”

  “I wasn’t using it then. Using in public spaces is awkward. I don’t use it often, and it is tricky to figure out.”

  “I need to make a note of it.” He released her.

  She carefully buckled her self-control back into place with a sigh. “Fine.”

  Remi was resigned to waiting until a more suitable or, at least, focused candidate came her way. Her mind might want Kromir, but her body was going to have to wait.

  She leaned down to pick up her cup and walked back to the dispenser for a refill. She was defeated. “What would you like to know?”

  “What is the range?” He was following her slowly.

  “Three hundred metres. I can’t pull it in, so I am getting all the data whether I want it or not.” She sipped at her cocktail and turned to find him directly behind her, his body a warm wall that smelled delicious.

  “You didn’t know I was here.”

  “No, I reeled in my senses. It gets weird with people around. They keep moving, and I keep tracking them. It gives me a headache.”

  “Did you use it during the simulation?”

  “No. Projections hurt a bit.”

  “But you have the tool at your disposal.” He was frowning.

  She sipped at her cup. “Yes. It is very handy underwater.”

  He sniffed. “What are you drinking?”

  She chuckled. “Creche cocktail. Four types of juice liberally diluted with water.”

  “May I try it?”

  She was turning toward the dispenser when he simply gripped her cup and the hand that held it and lifted it to his lips.

  She swallowed when he did.

  His brows rose high. “That is... extremely pleasant.”

  She chuckled. “Can I have my hand back?”

  He smiled. “No.”

  He took another sip from the same spot she had been drinking, and then, he returned the cup and her hand to her. “I would not have thought that something so simple would taste so complex.”

  “The key is the dilution to allow the flavours to separate. Without watering it down, it is sickly sweet and very acidic.”

  He nodded with a slow smile.

  She licked her lips quickly. “Is that going in a report as well?”

  He leaned down and kissed her softly, running his tongue along the same path hers had taken. “Only if it is necessary.”

  Remi’s body was rioting. She didn’t know whether she should be on her guard or up against him.

  She leaned back. “What are you doing?”

  He stepped forward, and she moved the mug to the countertop.

  “Kromir, you seem a little easy to distract, so I would not want to get in the way with you and your pursuit of duty.”

  He paused. “Do you not want me?”

  Honesty was the best policy. “Yes, I do, but as this will be my first encounter of this nature, I need to trust that the person I am with will take appropriate care of me.”

  He cocked his head. “I agree to your terms.”

  She didn’t squeak when he picked her up. She prided herself on the fact that she didn’t squeak. He walked through her quarters and onto the balcony. His wings flared wide, and he stepped up onto the railing.

  His fingers wrapped around her bicep and knees as he dropped forward and launched them into the night.

  His wings were silent as the steady beats carried them up above the VIP quarters. She looked out over the expanse of Imrahl, and she noted something that wasn’t on any of the maps she had memorized as a child. There was another city in the distance.

  “What is that?”

  He had been banking to land on the deck, and when she asked, he changed direction. “Would you like to see it?”

  “Yes, please.”

  His wings carried them across long kilometres in only a few beats. He was fast.

  She breathed in and out through her nose as the wind restricted her lungs’ ability to get oxygen.

  Remi looked out over the landscape as the low and wide second city took shape beneath her. “Training centres, quarters, running tracks, confidence courses. This is a city for the hybrids.”

  He chuckled. “Correct. When the population is sufficient for a division to be created, they will move out from this point. There is even a direct portal for troop transport.”

  “I had no idea. My mother never mentioned it.”

  “She wouldn’t have known. Like the creche, the new city was built in a dimensional bubble. No one would have seen it rising. The construction was designed to remain flat and low so as not to be visible through the treeline.”

  “Wow. So, only the overseer is aware of it?”

  “No. The Saya was also aware of it. Lekorh has skills in temporal communication and was able to keep everyone apprised of the progress.”

  She smiled. That explained his daughter’s skill.

  “Something amuses you?”

  “Yes, but it can wait until tomorrow to share it.” She chuckled.

  He did a slow pass over the new city, and then, he beat his wings back toward the VIP building.

  “At least my brothers will have somewhere to go.”

  “Why did they hide their true natures?”

  She chuckled and spoke against his neck. “My parents warned us that our full skills might be seen as threatening if they were all revealed at once. A gradual exposure was much easier for everyone concerned.”

  “So, have I seen all your secrets?” He landed on the deck and walked with her still in his arms.

  She shrugged. “Most of them. I haven’t been keeping track.”

  Kromir chuckled. “You are exceptionally impressive, as you are no doubt aware.”

  Remi wrinkled her nose and felt a stuttering flutter in her chest as he carried her to the bedroom.

  He released her legs slowly and turned her to face him. “So, any second thoughts?”

  “I am on the ninety-fifth thought if that makes any difference.” She smiled and ran her hands up his chest, enjoying the feel of his heart beating faster.

  “At least I have been on your mind.” He smiled and kissed her, starting with light pressure before their tongues tangled.

  She leaned into him and sought out the closure on his uniform. Peeling the tough fabric away from his skin took too much concentration. She wanted to focus on the kiss, but she wanted him naked. Choices, choices.

  Remi leaned back, and she tugged at his uniform. “Clothing. Off.”

  He moved so quickly she only saw a blur of his skin, hair, and eye colour. His wings were flexed to frame his body, and she had to admire the display.

  His voice was a low rumble. “Your turn.”

  She smiled and crossed her arms, gripping her dress below her hips. She pulled the fabric up deliberately until she flipped it over her head and let it slither to the floor. Stepping out of her sandals was an afterthought.

  She stood facing him, and she cocked her head. “I can’t really match your display.”

  His eyes blazed, and his erection dipped and wept. “You don’t need to match it, you have surpassed it.”

  She didn’t glance down, but she wanted to. It was a weird feeling when you wanted to check your own skin because someone else was staring at it.

  They stood for a moment, and her nerve began to buckle. She started to turn away, but
he moved swiftly to grip her shoulders.

  Remi met his gaze warily.

  “It takes getting used to, but you are safe with me.”

  She smiled slightly. “I have found myself to be safest alone.”

  “This is not something that one can satisfactorily do alone.” He stroked her neck.

  She snickered. “I beg to differ.”

  “This will be different. Trust yourself. I give my body to you freely.”

  She blinked and nodded. “I give my body to you freely.”

  Consent was spoken, and she decided to take him at his word.

  Touching a Rrassic was not quite like caressing her own skin. Her skin was smooth with a nap so fine it was almost invisible. His skin had a velvety covering that showed the trail of her fingers as she caressed his chest.

  He didn’t remain still; Kromir stroked his hands over her back, and he cupped her hips, reducing the distance between them.

  His cock was pressed against her belly, and Remi now moved her hands slowly over his torso, caressing down to wrap one hand around his erection, slowly pumping until his shaft was slick with his own enthusiastic response.

  Kromir shuddered at her slow motions, and he cautiously removed her hand from his erection before lifting her against him and carrying her to the enormous expanse of the bed.

  He pressed her carefully to the bed, and he decided to explore. He began with the markings around her eyes, feathering kisses over them before following the darker and lighter pigmentation on her skin with intense focus.

  She had no idea that another person’s mouth could heighten the riot of her senses. When his tongue moved across her flesh, she gasped and trembled. Her breasts were especially sensitive; the jabbing heat as he sucked and nibbled sent shards of excited lightning to her clit.

  After he massaged, licked, and sucked at her breasts, he moved down her belly with long, slow strokes of his tongue.

  She shivered when he parted her legs and draped her thighs over his shoulder. The word vulnerable didn’t even begin to cover how she felt when his breath moved across her slick folds.

  His mouth blazed a trail as he lapped upward with a long drag of his tongue.

  Remi clenched the sheets with one hand and covered her mouth with the other. Keeping her sounds to herself was something she had been doing for the last decade. The walls in the creche dorms were a little thin.

  When he began to flick her clit with slow strokes of his tongue, she let out a squeak. Her thighs flexed and gripped his head. Her feet were pinned between his wings and his shoulders, and she was stuck as her body started to buck and twist with every wet stroke.

  She made a fist and bit the edge of it as his attention took her to the edge of control. When her limbs and belly were coated in a fine sheen of sweat and Kromir showed no sign of stopping, Remi couldn’t take it anymore. She stopped muffling herself and shrieked as her body bucked and shivered in his embrace.

  Light flared in her vision, her eyes went blind for just a moment, and when the fireworks faded, she was breathing heavily and Kromir had moved into a more comfortable position on top of her.

  He licked his lips slowly, and his eyes were blazing when he fitted himself into her wet and welcoming folds.

  He slid into her slowly, inch by inch, thrusting and retreating until he was inside her all the way and his body was shuddering to try and keep his own excitement under his control.

  Remi wrapped her limbs around him and moved with him, rocking and lifting her hips to meet his thrusts and calculating how long it would take her to reach the peak she had just visited. She wanted to do it again, and she wanted him with her when she vocalized her pleasure. That was one secret that she hadn’t parted with... yet.

  Chapter Eight

  Lying under him, coated with sweat, Remi sighed softly. Kromir had his head pressed into the mattress next to her, his wings were wide and giving them a private space in the huge room.

  He was still inside her and still hard. Remi chuckled and ran her fingers through his hair.

  Kromir’s expression was dazed when he lifted his head. “What did you do to me?”

  There was satisfaction in his tone, so she didn’t take offense.

  “Nothing that you didn’t do to me. It was a very satisfying first time. Thank you.” She leaned up and kissed him.

  He rose up on his elbows and continued the kiss, moving slowly inside her again.

  She smiled and wrapped her legs around him again, pulling herself up to him as he rocked in and out of her at a slow and leisurely pace.

  He slid an arm under her and shifted, pulling her up against him as he rocked his hips into her. She pressed the soles of her feet together and held onto his shoulders as she looked into his eyes.

  Kromir kissed her, holding her head with one hand while the other pulled her rhythmically against him as he thrust.

  They rose and fell together with the heat growing slowly between them until the beat of their bodies took on a savagery that left them biting at each other, nipping at lips, and Remi bit the heavy bulk of his shoulder.

  She felt the searing bite on her own shoulder, and her body bucked against him, her inner muscles stroking him and triggering his sudden shove into her as his body shuddered.

  They locked together, twitching and shaking in alternating spasms. Remi finally withdrew her teeth and waited until he did the same.

  It took a long wait of twenty seconds, but he released her, and she could smell her blood in the air. She leaned forward and pressed her forehead against his chest, unwilling to look him in the eye.

  He was slowly stroking her back, and she heard wordless murmuring against her head. It was as if he was calming a child.

  She smiled against his skin and rubbed her cheek against him.

  When he spoke, he summed it up, “That was unexpected.”

  She chuckled. “I think that is a correct assessment.”

  He simply held her for a few minutes, and she finally murmured, “I think a soak in that tub would be a good idea before I get stuck like this.”

  He growled lightly. “I like you right here.”

  “Try and walk into the council with me jammed on your cock and I will punch you.”

  She raked her nails down his chest and across his ribs. He twitched. She chuckled. It was nice that he was ticklish.

  “Well, if I am under threat, I believe that the tub has a certain appeal.”

  He moved, walking awkwardly on his knees until he was off the bed.

  “You know I can walk.”

  Kromir let out a happy sigh. “I know, but I love the feel of you wrapped around me, so I believe that I will savour that as long as I can.”

  He walked out onto the deck, and the fresh air of the evening brought her vividly awake. She couldn’t see where they were going, but when he hopped slightly, she held her breath as they dropped and the warm water closed over them.

  The water stopped at her collarbone. She smiled and separated from him, the heat from his body missed for a moment before she settled in the water and sought out a bench on the side. She quickly dipped herself to equalize her temperature, and then, she pulled her hair back and twisted it into a long knot that kept it from floating around her.

  Kromir disappeared under the water, and he came up, wings first, throwing water everywhere. His wings flapped and threw water off, and he was grinning at her expression.

  “You look perturbed.”

  She cocked her head. “I have seen images from Earth. You look like a black swan.”

  He took the seat next to her, and his wings flexed and lay flat behind him.

  She winced. “Doesn’t that hurt?”

  “I have ligament attachments for it.” He grinned. Kromir sighed. “Now, what am I going to do with you?”

  Remi blinked. “I didn’t realize that I was yours to worry about.”

  “All of the people of Imrahl are under my purview as the examiner, but you are the first of your kind. That would normally
need a change of venue.”

  “What?”

  “The alien races that we have partnered with have all given us representatives to serve the interests of their people. The hybrids have the potential to reach a population of six hundred thousand. That means they need a voice on the council to represent their interests.”

  She blinked slowly. “I am not a politician.”

  “Nor would you be expected to be. You would be a voice for the human-Rrassic hybrids and in communication with your people on Imrahl.” He had a calculating look in his eyes. “I think that might be the best plan for you.”

  Remi was surprised. “Leave Imrahl?”

  “All of the hybrids will leave eventually. You have been bred to defend two species, and from what I have already seen, you are a capable commander.”

  She blushed. “It is easy to boss my brothers around.”

  “I do not think that is the case, and you are aware of it.”

  Remi nodded. “Fine. Yes. I can control most of the hybrids, or they will follow me. Either way, it is the same effect. They do what I tell them.”

  “I guessed as much.” His lips quirked. “Once you announced you were interested in me, I knew I had to follow your order.”

  “I am sure that was your motivation.” She splashed him.

  “I am altruistic to the core.” He snagged her and pulled her into place on his lap.

  She scowled but settled. “So, why do you make these decisions?”

  “I first examine the new species, and then, I assess them. The hybrids of Imrahl have my admiration and the acceptance of the council. As a blended species, you are strong, intelligent, and aware of what is at stake in this matter.”

  Part of Remi relaxed. That was a worry off her shoulders and that of her parents. Proving the worth of the hybrids had been a stressful point.

  She yawned and settled against him as if all the stress of the last few days had just melted away.

  “Tired of me already?”

  “It has been a stressful few days. Knowing that the hybrids are suitable for their purpose is a relief.”

  He seemed surprised. “You were worried?”

  “I was. I know what we can do, but trying to prove it to someone else that we are a blend and mutation that can be more than the sum of our species. It is important to me.”