He tensed, his hands clenching on her briefly. “I wish I knew what was making you do that,” he murmured.
“Mm. You taste good.” She wriggled against him more fully, twining her arms around his neck and nibbling all over his chest.
He shivered, still holding her, and growled like thunder. Far-away thunder on a warm summer night, with stars coming out and a full moon rising and crickets singing, maybe a little smoke hanging just under the smell of impending rain. Yeah. He growled just like that.
Raven closed her eyes and moved her mouth over him. Every slow bite brought a new bloom of pleasure from muscles that she knew should be sore. She began to dance lazily in place, just to feel her pierced nipples press and slide against him.
Kane growled sharply and suddenly pushed Raven to arm’s length. “We’re not playing this game again,” he said severely.
Raven put her hand over his groin and rubbed at the growing bulge he constrained. “Who’s playing?”
“You need to heal.”
“I need to fuck.” She started to touch herself, but Kane caught her wrists and held them up at shoulder height. She leaned forward and licked his chest instead. “I feel fantastic.”
“I cut that dose in half,” Kane muttered. “Maybe a little less chozo.” He bent with an air of real reluctance and grazed his teeth along her shoulder as she bit and sucked at him. “Maybe not.”
Raven leaned into him and slowly, grudgingly, he allowed her to move against him. The salt of his sweat was the greatest rush she’d ever had, the tang of blood, orgasmic. She ground her hips eagerly at his, letting his hardness act as catalyst for brilliant euphoria as her bruised sex pressed into him.
“Don’t!” he snarled, and shoved her back again. “You’re never going to get better if—”
She dropped to her knees, wrapped her arms around his waist and bit him on his inner thigh. Whatever else he was going to say vanished under a hoarse roar. His hands flew to her head, pulling her hard against him, not just encouraging her but damned near commanding her. She bit and bit at him, but the feel of the strange material of his pants wasn’t satisfying. She raised up and scored at his abdomen with her teeth, rubbing her cheek against his groin and tugging hopefully at his iron grip.
He raised her wrists over her head, but let her bite. Slyly, she slid around to grind her hips at his leg, riding him like a badly-trained bitch. He yanked her to her feet at once, and then pushed her away. The back of her knees struck the bed and she fell onto the mattress, bouncing like a little kid.
Kane approached her, smiling crookedly. “Close your eyes,” he said. “Count to ten.”
She started to obey, but she only got to three before she realized he was tying her up again. She started struggling at once, howling dismay, but Kane had her bound hand and foot in less than a minute.
She lay glaring at him, twisting ineffectively at her restraints. “You’re mean.”
“Ah, I’m just misunderstood.” He sat down beside her, his eyes running scorchingly down her body and back up again. “Look at you,” he growled. “You look like someone shot you.”
She writhed on the mattress, pulling at her bonds one at a time, her face contorting with frustration and ecstasy. “Can I fuck you, pleeeeese?” she whined.
“No.”
“Can I blow you?”
“Not a chance.”
She pouted for a second or two, still struggling. “Can I have breakfast?”
Kane glanced toward the door, his eyes narrowing. “I suppose so. Where do you keep the money?”
“I don’t know.” She grew crafty. “Why don’t you search me?” She snapped her teeth at him.
His nostrils flared and half his mouth drew up in a smile. He leaned over and put his hands on her shoulders, and then swept them down, cupping her breasts. She arched up, moaning happily, and his hands continued down over her ribs to her belly, her hips, her thighs, and finally up again to stroke and tease at her sex. Pleasure blew out and out until it enveloped her completely.
“Nope, no money.” Kane stood up and backed away as Raven surged against her restraints.
“No! Come back here! You jerk!”
He laughed as he fished through her skirt pockets. He came up with the cash and then climbed into his long coat.
“Are you leaving?” Raven asked plaintively.
“Close your eyes,” he said again. “Count to ten.”
He left as she counted four. Raven cried, got distracted by her toes, and then lay quietly and watched the ceiling.
She had completely forgotten all about Kane when he suddenly returned, holding a paper bag stained with good-smelling grease. The unexpected sight of him caused her to shout his name with giddy delight, renewing her struggles. He came and sat beside her, tolerating her snapping teeth when they closed on his forearm, and held an eggy croissant to her mouth so that she could eat.
“I love you,” she said happily, chewing.
Kane shook his head and rubbed at his eyes. “I really have to work with this formula a little more.”
“And I love eggs.”
“Good for you.”
She bit him. He smiled.
*
Another day dawned, and it dawned hot.
Tagen woke in an sticky ocean of sweat-soaked sheets. He felt out for his pack and chewed a suppressant before he even opened his eyes. He didn’t want to see how few he had remaining.
He showered under a cool spray and dressed in the tight-fitting human clothes Daria had given him, all the while feeling heat and ill humor gnawing at him. It had been another long night of little sleep, another span of restless hours he had spent wandering the dark halls of this alien house and wondering what in hell he was still doing here. And another program on the tee-vee demonstrating all the creative positions in which humans could mate, while Tagen drank iced water and thought brooding thoughts on the subject of his unwilling host.
She had wakened before him. He could hear her moving around in the back of the house, still trying to force more order into the already painfully-neat structure of her home. The air stung his nostrils; the scent of cleansers was everywhere.
There was a plate of food waiting for him on the table, although she was not in the kitchen. It was a great portion of food, too, and if it hadn’t been for the acid tang of disinfectants fumigating the room, it would have smelled divine. Unwilling though she might be, she was a very good host.
Tagen ate, listening to his human at work in the utility room. It sounded like she was scrubbing the tool shelves. He’d never heard of such a pointless pursuit. Even as a first-year recruit on a military ship, no one scrubbed the tool shelves. She was more than a little unbalanced on the subject of dirt.
No. This had nothing to do with dirt, and everything to do with avoiding whatever the real problem was. Tagen was no mind-doctor, but he knew that much. Just as he knew that his presence was serving to amplify her little habits into something much more obsessive. He no longer believed it would break her just to have him stay—she’d have done so by now, if that were true—but his being here was infecting that secret wound of hers, that much was certain.
The worst of it was, he felt guilty. He had to be here. Leaving aside the physical necessities of food and water and sleep, his understanding of human technology and N’Glish had been greatly furthered, so he knew he had no choice but to stay. All the same, he realized a little more every day that he was an invading force. Daria was enduring him, but her anxiety came through, and his remorse was inescapable.