CaressoftheStars Read online

  As she parked the skimmer on the flat mountaintop, the sun was nearing its zenith. "Yaedo, I think now is the time."

  He didn't need a second invitation.

  She squeaked as he lifted her from the control station and carried her out to a clear and flat spot on the rocks.

  He didn't ask if she was sure, the glow of Dekkar's residual power was visible even in the bright light of day.

  Her thighs were slick with anticipatory moisture and she peeled his tunic off, letting the wind take it away. The loose trousers that he was wearing caught on his boots, but a few swift tugs and he divested himself of all fabric and leather.

  Naked, aroused and his cock dripping with precum, he was quite the sight for her deprived senses. Huana sighed as she caressed his shoulders, arms and chest. He resembled a statue with the rigidity of his posture until she went up on her toes and pulled his head down to hers.

  This kiss had none of the chastity of their first. She sighed and he used the opportunity to delve into her mouth, sharing his unique taste with her.

  His tongue stroked, caressed and awoke a whole new group of sensations under her skin while his hands caressed her spine and pressed her tightly against him.

  The world tipped around her and his hands tugged at her legs. The kiss kept her attention until there was something hot, hard and wet sliding against her clit and probing for entry beyond.

  As she broke the kiss, she noted his position on the ground and her own arrangement astride him. The light of Dekkar coated her vision as she rocked against the head of his cock, taking him inside her in tiny increments.

  Her blood sang in relief as she lifted and dropped on Yaedo, his hands cupping her breasts within their silken confines. The friction of his palms against her nipples as she worked him into her heightened her excitement until he was fully seated and she lost control.

  She raised and lowered herself on him, pounding against him as her channel tightened until she could barely move on him. As she neared orgasm, Huana met Yaedo's gaze with her own.

  Their eyes glowed as one and the energy in her skin burst forth as she screamed with her release, firing her blood and the power of Dekkar flowing out of her.

  Yaedo's shout of release joined hers and the pulse of heat inside her sparked another wave of release that sent a signal into the heart of the sun.

  How long they were frozen in their tableau, she had no idea, but her skin was warm and the sweat on her flesh was dry by the time she unlocked her limbs enough to lean forward and kiss her companion.

  Huana winced at the hoarseness of her voice as she said, "The signal is sent. Dekkar will contact us at moonrise."

  Yaedo lazily opened his eyes. His hands cupped her hips gently, caressing her through the skirt pooled across his waist. "What shall we do until then?"

  "My portion of the task is completed. What do you want to do?" It was a little late to be playing coy, but as he was still hard and occasionally throbbing inside her, she was feeling rather shy.

  Yaedo threaded his fingers in her hair and pulled her down to him. "I will think of something."

  She smiled as his kiss explored and teased, nipping at her lower lip before laving the upper with his tongue. The priests of Dekkar were well trained for the purposes of worship and Yaedo was no exception.

  He slid her wrapped top off her shoulders and down to her waist, using the rough pads of his thumbs to rub her nipples until they tightened and ached.

  Her moans were captured by his mouth, his exploration of her slow and deliberate as he moved his hands lower, each inch of her receiving intense attention.

  She had no idea that the skin under her right breast was more sensitive than her left, but as he stroked his hands over her, she found parts of her body reacting in ways she could never have anticipated.

  Her hips shoved against his in short, jerky movements and just when she was nearing her peak, he flipped their positions.

  His eyes were intense as he shifted his weight and pressed deeply into her, his slow strokes far different than her frenzied plunges.

  Huana bit her lip as Yaedo worked to bring them both to release in a patient and deliberate arc of rising pleasure. Her moans and cries matched his rhythm until a whole body shudder rocked her off her axis and sent her mind spinning into the sun.

  "Huana! Wake up." A concerned Yaedo filled her vision, his dark hair and dark eyes a welcome sight.

  "I am awake. My consciousness just went for a little walk." She smiled, but it was with a bit of confusion. "Where are we?"

  Their location was not where she had left him. Cool air from a cavern wafted over her, the light lapping of water was constant.

  "I needed to find some water for you, so I used the scanners on the skimmer to find some."

  She sat up and his arm came around her quickly to help her into a more upright posture. "I remember this place. It leads under the city. Why did you bring me so close and not back to the town?"

  "I need to ask you a few things." Yaedo had found his shirt at some point. It was dusty but intact.

  She looked down and her top and skirt were wrinkled and slightly damp, but otherwise as concealing as they would get. "I suppose that this is as much privacy as we are going to get."

  He scrubbed a hand through his hair. "I know that Dekkar said you were one of his, but did he actually mean that you are an original Hashka?"

  She mimicked him to stall for time while she thought of an answer. "I am not the first one, if that is what you mean. My memories of the time are blurred, but I was one of the first one hundred to be changed at the colony."

  "Is that why your features so closely resemble those who are recently turned here?"

  She blinked, "I suppose that they could be human originally. I haven't been concentrating on them, only the assignment that Dekkar gave us."

  "Is there a possibility for them to complete the transformation?" He seemed earnest.

  She rubbed at her forehead and tried to pull out eons-old information. "I believe so. It was a two-week process. The skin was the first stage. The other stages are further in the facility."

  "Facility?"

  "The building that they are nesting in is the transformation facility. It was the repository for all of the star's energy. It probably is running off the stored columns of power." She closed her eyes and remembered the layout. The image of a room full of glowing columns came to her as well as the security requirements to access it.

  Yaedo grabbed her hand. "How does it feel to be born something else and changed into a Hashka?"

  Huana smiled slowly. "When I was transformed, we were dying. Our colony was a disaster and all crops were rapidly failing. The planet shifted under us and it began to die.

  "The stars sent technicians, doctors and the world shuddered as the stars made it liveable again. They asked for volunteers to undergo the transformation and with extinction of our colony as the other option, we agreed to become what they wanted.

  "Our minds were blanked for a time so that we could come to grips with our new forms and strengths before our fears could take over. In groups of first five, then ten and finally a hundred, we changed from pale, frightened creatures to the Hashka progenitors."

  "You never had a family."

  "No. There was no match for me among my own people." She shrugged. "The stars chose us and split us into small villages. I was in the village chosen by Dekkar."

  He cocked his head. "It was a colony?"

  "Yes."

  "What was your occupation?"

  She laughed. "Some things never change. I was an investigative officer for the colony. I spent five years with the village before Dekkar decreed that I was to be put into cold storage. He didn't want to lose me or so he said."

  "He meant it. I have felt his affection for you. You were his first chosen Hashka and he delighted in your triumphs."

  She propped her elbow on a rock and put her chin on her fist. "So, you knew all about this?"

  "I knew the facts
but had no idea what they meant."

  "So, you thought I was simply an ugly Hashka?"

  He picked up her empty hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. "Not ugly, unique."

  "Very politic. So, why did you decide to enter the priesthood?"

  He lifted her to her feet and held her against him while her head spun. "To meet the woman of my dreams."

  Chapter Eleven

  "I think we should head back to the facility. At moonrise, if he can, Dekkar will make himself known." Being pressed against Yaedo was pleasurable, but she was filled with tension for the oncoming night.

  A gust of breath came through his lips. "Agreed. How do you think Zenik will deal with Dekkar taking over his kingdom?"

  She cackled. "I don't care. If he wants a fight, I will give it to him, gladly."

  "I didn't realize you were combat trained."

  She reached up and patted his cheek. "Hon, the things you don't know about me could fill a book."

  He looked startled. "What did you call me?"

  "Hon. It's short for honey. A term of endearment indicating that you are sweet." It was an earth term and she blinked as she realized how fast her life before she was blue was coming back.

  "Interesting. Sweet is never something I have been called before." He cupped her buttocks and pulled her high against him. "I like it."

  "Like it as much as you want, we still need to get back to the facility." She pressed on his shoulders and dodged his mouth when he tried to kiss her.

  "Spoilsport." He set her back on her feet, took her hand and led her out of the cavern.

  The fact that her body was clean did not escape her, but she would handle him bathing her while she was communing with the sun another time.

  The sun around H'skar wasn't an entity in the way that the Hashka stars were entities, but it had a maternal interest in the welfare of the planet and it was concerned at the movement on the planet.

  Huana shook her head and stood next to Yaedo as he piloted the skimmer back to the facility.

  There were several folks out on the streets, but as they returned the skimmer to the garage, they received worried looks from passersby.

  "Uh oh. Our absence has been noticed." She tried to tug her hand free of Yaedo's, but he wasn't letting go.

  "That is fine. I need to have a conversation with Zenik anyway."

  The grim tone of his voice made her blink, but she followed along in his wake. This was going to be good.

  The sunlight was turning deep purple as it sank on the horizon. Moonrise would be soon and with it, the destiny of H'skar would be revealed.

  They walked side by side into the facility, the orgy of the previous night nowhere to be seen.

  Zenik was sitting on his throne and he nodded sharply as they approached. "As high priest of Dekkar, you need to explain your whereabouts to me."

  Huana was shocked. How could he claim to be the emissary of a star he had never met?

  Yaedo answered him, "As security priest and interim avatar to Dekkar, I disagree. You have never even met our star. Your claim is words alone. Your worship is fruitless and your control over these people, groundless."

  Shock rippled through the crowd and Huana realized what she was seeing. It had happened on earth at countless points in history. A man claimed to be a prophet and gathered followers around him to bolster his own ego. They served while he lived off them, a parasite.

  "How do you know I have not met Dekkar?" His words caused a rippling of unease through his followers.

  "Dekkar has lost this world. It has been denied to him. You are not true Hashka, despite the change in your skin and physiology. Without the matching alteration to your mind, you are weak, pathetic and useless."

  Yaedo was picking a fight and Huana knew what was going to happen next. She moved to alter the course of events.

  "Gentlemen. We can solve this. If Zenik is a true Hashka, he will have no problem defeating me, a mere female, in hand-to-hand combat."

  Zenik's mouth opened and closed before he took a good look at her. Dressed in the lightweight silks, she had no doubt that she looked soft and feminine. The white-blonde hair on her head also made her look less than intelligent, a side effect she had used to her advantage countless times.

  "I agree."

  "I disagree. Males should fight males."

  Huana put her hand on Yaedo's arm. "He is smaller than you in every respect. It will not be a fair fight even if you were both Hashka. I am more than capable of dealing with him."

  Zenik looked over at the gathered assembly and stood up, approaching her without another word.

  Absently, she moved so that she wasn't confined by her companion and so that none of the followers could stop her. As she shifted position, she lifted the skirt and tied it into a shorter version of itself.

  Zenik gave a yell and charged her. She sidestepped him and raised her hands to knot her hair into a long tail.

  The followers gasped and murmured as he charged her a second time and again, she lazily dodged him while she adjusted her outfit.

  The third time, she waited for him and as he bellowed and approached, Huana grabbed his hands and twisted them until he was kneeling at her feet.

  Zenik's face went from anger to pain to astonishment and finally to fear.

  She didn't hold him tightly, but kept him on his knees with a calm expression. Yaedo had a bit of shock in his own eyes, but he kept it hidden from anyone who didn't know what to look for.

  Huana leaned down and whispered to Zenik. "Don't feel too bad. You never could have beaten the beloved of Dekkar and lived. All of us first generation Hashka had to be stronger to survive and pass it on to the next generation. The ones who were chosen by their stars were designed to live under any circumstances. You never had a chance."

  "What do you mean?"

  She smiled and released his hands, raising her voice to allow everyone nearby to hear her. "You were in the archives, you saw the files. I was Helena Marsh, colony investigator."

  "That was thousands of years ago." His skin went from blue to green as his fear sank in and took hold.

  "Yes. It was."

  Zenik huddled in a ball and began to rock.

  The crowd's confusion was obvious, so Yaedo stepped in. "Who here wishes to be a true Hashka? Who wishes to be one of a race designed by the stars?"

  Several timid hands raised and eventually the majority of the crowd was in agreement.

  "Good. At moonrise tonight, Dekkar will return to H'skar. Once we know what the outcome is, we will make plans for the transformation. The rest of you may leave or join the colony, it is your choice. The true reshaping will take two weeks or more depending on your adaptation."

  Huana saw the flash of the knife the instant before Zenik's arm started its sweep. Without thinking, she lashed out and kicked him across the jaw, snapping his neck. The blade clattered to the floor and Yaedo ran toward her, hugging her as she looked at what she had done.

  "It's all right, Yaedo. It is not the first time I have killed in self-defence or in defence of others."

  He muttered into her hair. "But if I hug you, it doesn't look like I want to strangle you for taking such a stupid risk. If I had my way, I would be paddling your ass right now."

  "You say the sweetest things."

  He sighed and straightened his arms, flexing his fingers on her biceps. "And I can't stay mad at you."

  "Good, because the moon is rising and we need to get out of this building. It won't be safe for what is coming."

  Yaedo took charge of the crowd and shepherded them out of the facility and into the courtyard to watch the moon rise.

  If nothing else, they had shown Dekkar the location of his lost world. Now Huana hoped that he could find it again and help rebuild the paradise lost to the Hashka.

  Chapter Twelve

  As the orb of the moon rose in the sky, a tingling filled Huana's limbs. The light of the moon was a pale reflection of the sun's rays, but it warmed her nonetheless.
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  Yaedo took her hand as they watched the moonrise with the rest of the inhabitants.

  The touch of energy flowed between them, getting stronger as the moon climbed higher in the sky.

  Dekkar's touch was unmistakable, but when Huana turned to watch the inhabitants, they were affected as well. Stunned surprise was on more than one face, blue or not.

  "I believe that we should strengthen the connection, hon." Yaedo's voice rumbled over her, through her.

  Taking the hint, she turned to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, climbing him. She rocked against him, her channel parted from his erection by the annoyance of fabric.

  She kissed him and he reciprocated wildly, one hand supporting her buttocks and the other working at their clothing.

  The shredding of the skirt combined with the press of his flesh against hers sent her into a tizzy. She rocked against him and groaned when he gripped her hips and pulled her down onto his cock. He flexed inside her as the energy twisted between them.

  He widened his stance as he fucked her in earnest. The moonlight caressed them, warming their skin with the heat of Dekkar's power.

  The fire of the star started to ripple across the surface of H'skar. As the glow touched the colonists, they fell to the ground in a frenzy of lust and sensual energy.

  The planet shuddered under them as they continued to pump and plunge against each other until a wave of pleasure broke over the assembled beings.

  Huana shrieked as her mind accepted the return of Dekkar. The glow from her eyes lit Yaedo's features as his approaching orgasm gave him a frightening intensity. He moved her faster and faster until the waves of energy moving over them broke the dams of their restraint.

  They froze together, locked as heat and pleasure fought for dominance.

  Thank you, Huana, Yaedo.

  She blinked as the words came to her mind. Huana could feel Yaedo's mind against hers, inside her just as his body was. You are welcome, dearest star.