Chapter Seven
Akkadi returned to his quarters from the battle deck, satisfied with one area of his life. He could run a battle better than his father and negotiate treaties with the skill of his mother. The preparations for wiping out the Ishta on the human’s planet were going well. He’d have it cleared out by the time his mating ceremony came, though whether or not the planet was worth saving at this point was a question no one was addressing.
Deep in thought, he didn’t notice the unclad woman in his bed, until she spoke.
“The agreement has been accepted by my father.”
He stopped in place and turned to see Hichele standing near his bed, her robes on the floor around her. The skin on her body was as translucent as that on her face. Her breasts were small, and her hips and waist were the same size. She had little shape, just as her features had little distinction.
“We can make your heir, now,” Hichele said. “I have the advisors’ permission to become your consort.”
He was accustomed to the rather plain bodies of the Naki women. He sought them out as consorts while his cousins sought out those who were more human in appearance. Sex was a necessity for physical release and a duty to produce heirs. Akkadi tried to regard it as such, ignoring his cousins’ claims that there was a great deal of pleasure to be had.
Humans knew pleasure. Akkadi was Naki. Even so, there was nothing appealing about the woman before him. He found himself wishing it was Mandy naked in his quarters.
Hichele prostrated herself on her back on his bed, assuming the position every Naki woman to date had taken. Naki mating was a simple rite, one without romance or passion. He never had a problem with the process but didn’t feel up to dealing with Hichele today. Barely acquiescing to taking a mate, he was even less ready for an heir.
“I am needed on the battle deck,” he said, retreating towards the door. “I came to conduct a personal communication before returning.”
Hichele appeared surprised.
“You have no desire for me?” she asked.
“I will perform my duty as expected.” He gave a canned response. “I feel little desire for any woman, as is expected for a Naki.”
Red crossed her face, but she bowed her head.
“We will consummate our agreement some other time, Hichele,” he said. “You will have an heir in your womb before the ceremony.”
These words made her brighten. She gathered her robes.
“I can come to you tomorrow,” she said.
“Very well,” he replied.
Pleased, she dressed quickly and left him. Akkadi waited for her to go then released his breath. Chances were, she would be with child before their ceremony. It was the way of most matings of the Nakis. The agreement was often secured by an heir and thus far, Hichele was persistent in pursuing him.
He paced to the window, staring at the planet. He’d yet to hear from his father about the humans or the agreement but suspected his father wouldn’t disagree with the arrangement. He wasn’t sure why, but he almost wished his father would. He stood for a long while, mind on the upcoming treaties and battles. He wanted a mate that wouldn’t distract him; Hichele was perfect in that role. He felt neither desire for her or the need to speak to her. Their life together would be formal, leaving him with time to conduct his duties.
Yet something was dissatisfying about it.
The evening crafts head towards the planet with more weapons for Urik then returned some time later while Akkadi watched the world outside his quarters, contemplating what was bothering him about Hichele. It was possible the rumors about her family were a distraction or perhaps, it was simply the idea of having a family when he was content alone.
The sound of a familiar voice mumbling made him turn to face the door. Mandy strode in and flung off the slave’s robe, staring at her arms.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, startled.
“I don’t know. Your mother said you needed something,” she snapped. “Since I’m a slave, I guess that means I have to do it.”
“She didn’t teach you to bow or how to address the Naki royalty,” he observed, though it was hard for him to feel anger towards her. His eyes swept over her.
He had no problem feeling desire at the sight of her body.
“Not yet.” Mandy wasn’t interested in him at all but in her arms.
Curious, Akkadi approached her, pausing when he saw the welts on her arms.
“What happened?” he asked, taking one of her wrists to see the angry red markings.
“This is what happens when you’re a slave. You wouldn’t know that, would you?” Mandy replied with indignation.
“Your tone is not appropriate.”
She looked up at him then, and his focus was derailed by her large eyes and the heat of her nearness. A faint glow spread across her cheeks at his direct look, and she lowered her gaze.
“This is not appropriate either,” he said, indicating her arm.
“Apparently, this is kind compared to what’ll happen in a few months.”
“No one should hurt you here.”
Mandy said nothing. The pink flush on her face indicated she felt the same strange tension between them that he did. She moved away, tugging her hand free.
“I was talking to the other slaves yesterday,” she said. “I, um, wanted to ask you something. I don’t think you’ll agree, so I found out a little while ago that one of your cousins might. But first things first, do your cousins know I’m purebred?”
“Not yet,” he said.
She appeared pensive. “This won’t work then.”
“What won’t work?”
“Can they know? Like is it okay for them to know about me?”
He studied her, unable to figure out what exactly she wanted.
“They can,” he said. “We don’t keep many secrets from one another. I am waiting for the right time to tell them. It’s better done in person than risk being overheard over interstellar communications.”
“I’m still figuring out how to find my way around. Don’t start with interstellar stuff yet,” she replied. “The answer I’m looking for is yes, they can know but no they don’t yet, right?”
“Correct.” Akkadi hid a smile. She was annoyed. He shouldn’t be entertained, but Mandy had a way of ensnaring and keeping his attention.
She tapped her chin with one finger, brow furrowed and plump lower lip jutting out as she thought. Her grey eyes almost matched her uniform while her blonde curls were captured in a loose braid down her back. Her breasts jiggled ever so slightly with her pacing, drawing his attention to the plump mounds.
“Well, I understand this won’t appeal to you, but it might to your cousin Vekko,” she started.
“How do you know my cousin’s name?” he asked, eyeing her.
“You all are all my slave friends talk about.” She rolled her eyes at him.
He almost corrected her but didn’t, wanting to know where she was going with her line of thought.
“Can you tell him I am?” she asked.
“What is it you want with Vekko?” He crossed his arms. The closest in age to him, Vekko was also closest to Akkadi’s skill. They went on missions and made treaties together. He was protective of his cousin and uncertain he liked the enigmatic way Mandy was talking about him.
Mandy flushed and cleared her throat. “To become his consort.”
Akkadi was silent, surprised.
“I thought, maybe, I could become the consort of your cousin,” her voice fluctuated in a sign of her nervousness and she fidgeted.
“To what end?” he questioned with tried patience.
“Maybe to convince him to open the star gate for me.”
“Only three of us can, and he is not one of them,” he returned more sharply than he intended. “You need to refocus, Mandy.”
“Well, maybe … I don’t know.” She sighed. “Maybe I can find energy shards or marbles or whatever and he’ll do it for me. I mean, it sounds like it’s not hard, right? You just put the marbles in a machine and it opens a star gate?”
Akkadi stared at her. Not only did she have no concept of a star gate, but she wanted to become the consort of someone. Faced with her misguided willingness to sleep with someone, he suddenly realized he didn’t want anyone else holding her the way he had the day before, even Vekko, who was like a brother to him.
“One of you has to be able to open the star gate,” she reasoned, waiting for his response. “So, will you tell him?”
A new kind of emotion rose within him. Akkadi had never felt competitive with his cousins, for they all worked towards the same goal of maintaining and expanding his family’s influence. However, at this moment, he didn’t want to share even the existence of his human with any of them.
At his silence, she turned away with a sigh. While it was true he’d never taken a human to his bed, he found the idea of her in his bed appealing. With her perfect body and quick temper, she’d be passionate. For reasons that were completely illogical, he wanted that passion directed at him and no one else.
“What made you choose Vekko?” he asked carefully.
“The slaves said you aren’t attracted to humans, only Nakis. I assumed I didn’t have a chance with you anyway. They said Vekko just fired his current consort and there’s an opening,” she replied.
“The slaves are not as well-versed in my family’s concerns as they think,” he said.
“Meaning what?”
“Meaning, I am the only Naki, aside from my eldest sister and our father, capable of opening a star gate, even if you did somehow manage to find the shards to do it.”
She gazed at him. Her disappointment at the news angered him. For the first time in his life, he spoke without thinking.
“I will take you as my consort. You must understand up front that while I am capable of opening the star gate …” He stopped. Her unguarded, rapt attention on him was mesmerizing. It was hopeful, raw, human. “… I don’t think it a worthy expense of energy and shards.”
“If I can find the shards, then you can open the gate!” she exclaimed. “I just have to convince you.”
He had no intention of ever opening it. For some reason, he couldn’t tell her that. He found himself more interested in exploring what she was willing to do to try to convince him than he was in watching her cry or yell again. At the moment, he was enchanted by how her eyes glowed with joy at the idea of going home.
“Correct,” he lied.
“So, we have an agreement? If that’s what you call them?” she asked, excited.
“We do.”
“When do I um … start?”
Hichele. Akkadi didn’t like the reminder of his engagement or what it made him feel. His gaze swept over Mandy. He’d never know lust or desire with his mate, but he could explore the human side of him that desired those things with Mandy then forever banish the human desires from his life.
“Today,” he said.
She looked taken aback.
“Unless you’ve changed your mind,” he added.
“No, I haven’t.”
“Very well. Then I expect you to be ready to perform your duty when I return.”
Mandy stared at him and then laughed. Akkadi raised an eyebrow.
“Duty,” she said, shaking her head. “I guess that’s what this is.”
He had no idea what she found funny, but her tone was mocking.
“You have never performed such a duty?” he asked quizzically. “Am I to be your first?” He rather liked that he was the first ever to touch her.
“Nowhere near my first,” she replied.
Akkadi frowned. “You’ve had many consorts?”
“Not many, but I mean I lived with one boyfriend for three years.” She crossed her arms, hopeful look gone and replaced by a self-conscious blush. “Are you really going to interrogate me about my sex life?”
“Interrogate? No. I simply wish to establish your level of expertise,” he replied without hesitation. “If it were your first, I would provide some sort of instruction. Since it’s not, I need to know you’re not … diseased.”
“Diseased!” She gave a startled laugh.
“It is an arrangement. Nakis mate for one of two reasons: to produce an heir or to reduce physical tension.”
“I take it this isn’t your first time and you’re not diseased?” The mocking tone this time was mixed with bitterness.
“Of course not to both.” Akkadi sensed he’d angered her. He almost understood why. A purebred human that relied upon emotion before logic was likely not going to take his cold approach to lovemaking well. He began to wonder if it was a mistake.
Until his eyes slid over her body. That unrestrained emotion would be explosive in bed. He shifted, aroused by the fantasies running through his mind. He didn’t want to be attracted to her, and he certainly never fantasized about Naki women, who knew their place in bed.
One night, and maybe his curiosity about bedding a human would wear off.
“I’m not diseased,” she said finally. “Okay, so you’re going to have to tell me how exactly one of your … people performs this duty. God help me, I don’t want to disappoint you. You seem to have some really bizarre pre-conceived notions about all this.”
“Naki women are generally very uninterested in the process. They understand it’s a form of release or a means to create an heir,” he explained.
“You’re serious?” Mandy’s look at him was nothing short of incredulous. “What about for men?”
“Same.”
“You take no pleasure out of the process?”
“Only what pleasure is necessary to further one of the two goals.”
Mandy approached him, peering at him closely. “You know, I thought I should feel bad for doing this. But I feel worse for you.”
“Why?” he asked.
“You don’t understand what you’re missing.”
She reached up and touched his cheek. Warmth flared within him.
“Well, you’re not a robot,” she said. “If you take no pleasure out of the process of performing this particular duty, you’re doing it wrong.”
“Humans are the only who know how to do it correctly?” he asked coolly.
Her eyes twinkled in sudden mischief. “If you’re afraid of a woman who doesn’t just lay there and let you do your thing, you might want to back out now.”
“I’m not afraid of any such thing,” he assured her.
“Do you want me?”
“It’s not appropriate in my society to discuss such emotions.”
“But it’s okay to sleep around.”
“As a –”
“I get it,” she said and rolled her eyes.
Of all her quirks, that was the one he disliked the most. Blatantly disrespectful, a challenge to his well-established authority. It made his blood burn. She stood before him, as if waiting for him to touch her again.
Akkadi didn’t. While he didn’t want his cousins touching her, he wasn’t entirely certain he was ready to either. She was too … different. She caused him to feel emotions that stayed with him when he left her.
He started to think that he had spoken out of turn. Out of emotion. Was Mandy in his bed really what he wanted?
Yes. Even if it made no sense.
“Do you know how many men I’ve turned down?” she said. “They’d die for a chance to kiss me, let alone sleep with me. And you’re just standing here. Are you afraid?”
“Afraid?” he repeated. “I have had many consorts.”
“I have a feeling I’ll be the one instructing you.” She whirled to walk away.
Instinctively, Akkadi caught her arm. It was one spurn too many for him this day. He said nothing, surprised by how unconcerned she was for his position or hers. She seemed excited about their arrangement and instructing him.
Mandy gazed up at him quizzically, waiting for him to speak. When he didn’t, she shifted closer and rose to her tiptoes. She kissed him tentatively, her full lips pressing against his for a fraction of a second. She dropped back to the flats of her feet.
“Coward,” she said again, this time more quietly. “You’re not even going to kiss me.”
Suddenly, he wanted to do much more than kiss her. He wanted to meet her defiance in bed and watch her melt to his touch. No Naki woman ever stirred his loins like this human with her bright eyes and full lips.
“May I kiss you?” he asked.
“Um, yes.”
Akkadi didn’t wait for her to spout more fire at him. He shifted forward to kiss her, uncertain what to expect. Unwilling to let her label him as the coward he knew he wasn’t, he didn’t stop with a simple peck on her lips. He kissed her firm and deep, his tongue flickering in to taste the sweet depths of her fiery mouth. The faint scent of her skin and hair aroused him, along with the idea of stripping off her clothes to see every inch of her skin. He waited for her to back down and become submissive like Naki women, who would never permit him to kiss them like this.
Mandy leaned into him, responding to him with hunger. Not about to be outdone by a mere human, Akkadi laced an arm around her and loosened his control, wanting … needing to taste more of her, all of her. Her soft breasts were pressed against his chest, her lower belly against his arousal. Her hands did something no Naki’s ever had: they explored him, as if she was as interested in his body as he was hers. She ran fingers through his hair and down the back of his neck then over his shoulders and chest.
Her taste was intoxicating, her body molding against his in a way that made primal need rise hot and fast within him. She was eager and passionate, matching his kisses with her own. She slid her hands under his shirt, her cool hands running from his abdomen to his chest. He resisted the urge to push one of those cool, soft palms down to his bulging penis. Naki women held no interest in his body, but Mandy was beyond curious. Her sensual exploration stirred a deeper level of desire than he had ever experienced. Mandy would be a partner in bed, not just a source of release.
His normal cold, careful control began to thaw.
His hands slid down her body, and he reveled in her firm, feminine shape. He rested them on her rounded bottom. He gripped her ass and pulled her hips into his. He had the urge to slide his fingers between her legs, into the hot depths he wanted to taste, before sinking his penis deep into her.
A newfound instinct rose within him. He needed to claim her. It would be more than sex with Mandy; he wanted to make her his in every way, from tasting every inch of her skin to seeing her look at him the way his mother did his father.
He wanted to possess her and keep her. Permanently.
The new, primal sensations running through him jarred him. They weren’t logical, not when he had Hichele. They weren’t Naki.
Which meant they were human. Recoiling from the realization, he broke off the kiss.
“Akkadi,” Mandy whispered, her breath hot against his ear. “Don’t stop.”
Akkadi hesitated, lost in the scent and feel of her body. She made him feel alive and out of control, his logic giving out to emotions and crippling need. He didn’t like the reminder of his human origins at all.
With some fear, he realized the human side of him he thought he buried long ago was near the surface. He wanted to ignore his Naki duty and spend the night driving Mandy over the edge then following her to plummet into the overwhelming sensations of her body. He didn’t experience anything as wild as this sense of lust with Naki women, and the thought of giving into something he couldn’t control scared him.
Duty. It was all Mandy could ever be. Whatever he felt, it was wrong.
She reached for his face, and he pulled back. His senses were reeling, his ability to think almost gone. If he didn’t walk away now, he never would.
Akkadi withdrew and took a few steps away.
“Akkadi?” Mandy’s voice was confused. She was breathing hard, her face flushed and full limps plumper from his kisses. “What’s wrong?”
Nothing. She was the most beautiful creature he’d seen on any world.
“Perhaps later,” he replied in the coldest voice he could muster. “I am not aroused enough now.”
Mandy was stunned.
He walked away, leaving his quarters. He ached badly enough to taste her, to penetrate her slick depths, that he wasn’t certain where he went until he stood outside the battle bridge.
Akkadi stopped to regain his composure, aware of how close he’d been to losing control. He expected to feel desire but not to this extent, where he hadn’t cared about anything else in the world.
Which was a bigger mistake? Taking her on as a mistress or walking away from her? At that moment, he was pretty certain they were both two of the biggest mistakes he’d ever made in his life.
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