STORY EXCERPT

Varnis pulled the trigger of his energy weapon in the Shara’s face. He expected a vaporized hole to appear, instead nothing. The Shara grinned at him in murderous delight. He could hear Laura screaming in pain and fear. He pulled a knife and sliced it along the Shara’s throat. The Shara fell to the ground, clutching his bleeding throat and wheezing as air escaped through the knife wound. More Shara appeared, too many for him to fight off with a single blade. “Laura,” he screamed in desperation. They swarmed him and he knew they were going to kill him and Laura both.

Varnis’s eyes opened. For a moment he expected to see his enemy there, but he sat in the padded chair next to the hospital bed. His heartbeat pounded in his ears, drowning out all other sounds for a moment before he calmed from the dream.

The room was small and windowless, with just enough room for the bed, chair, and equipment. To try and soften the industrial appearance of a medical facility, pictures of Dareen landscape were placed on each of the off-white walls. One was a hand-painted picture of the Dareen Ocean, with its gleaming white-sand beaches. Another was a field with blue grasses mixed in with the wildflowers that grew predominantly on Dareen. Yet another was a mountain scene with the Dareen sunset making the mountains look black and the sky a brilliant rainbow of colors as the white light hit the clouds.

The hospital room was set in the high-security area of the hospital. The human female he watched over was not a danger to Dareen, however. She had been a danger to herself. When they had arrived home to Dareen, Laura Chandler had been a mentally broken human after having been attacked by their enemy, the Shara. Their doctors had just pieced together why some females responded to medical therapy and why others, such as Laura, suffered severe mental breaks. Their enemy, the Shara, held something in their DNA that caused severe mental disturbances. Once they isolated the cause, treatment became possible.

When he had first been charged with her protection, Laura was nothing more than an assignment. He protected her and tried to assure her she was safe. None of the Shara she saw hiding in the shadows were real. He would tell her he was watching her. Sometimes, she clung to him. Other times, she cussed him and fought him to release her.

After just a moon-cycle, he had seen her move from a broken human to the Laura Chandler she was now. She had a lot of fire in her for such a small female. She had never backed down from him, even when she first woke up frightened with her new environment. She had demanded to be released and sent home to Earth. He had stoically told her no, but she never acted like a terrified female, rather, a warrior. In those first days with her, she had captivated him.

Still, knowing that the Captain of the warship was her guardian forced him to keep his distance from her. True, he was a battle-hardened soldier, but that did not mean he did not have feelings. He felt things deeply, but maintaining and emotional distance was the only way to keep his heart safe. He would be moved to his next assignment, and Captain Aster would make decisions on her behalf until she was bonded to her own warrior. Then he was promoted and sent off to another planet as the Dareen Ambassador. The Senate had taken over guardianship and placed her in Varnis’s care completely. After that day, she was no longer just an assignment. Her struggle to reclaim her own mind had impressed him more than any warriors’ battle he had studied. As Laura’s treatment progressed, he saw a little more of her every day. Within a moon cycle, she was no longer a danger to herself. She no longer saw Shara hiding in the shadows, waiting to kill her.

Without the Shara’s DNA causing her mental break, Laura was a woman he found impossible to resist. He had started watching over her as an assignment, but now he stayed because he enjoyed watching over her. He caught glimpses of her bratty nature, and it stirred his lust. He saw himself dominating her, teaching her the joy of submission. He would turn her ass a nice shade of pink whenever she disobeyed him. He had to be careful, though. She was traumatized, and even without the trauma, not all females enjoyed pain or domination.

Laura whimpered in her sleep, breaking him out of his musings. He felt the terror coming off of her. If he was a stronger empath, he would have been able to tell more about what was causing her terror. His empathic sense was weak. He only felt the emotions, not what the cause was. He wished he could boost his sense of empathy this once. If he knew what had caused her terror he could help her fight it. He was used to having an enemy he could fight with his hands. Watching this human female struggle with her trauma made him want to beat the walls in frustration. If he were a stronger empath, at least he would have a better idea of how to help her. It gave him a new appreciation for the councilors that worked with their patients. He would never again look at them as weak. It took a great strength to piece back together broken spirits.

Laura cried out in her sleep. She shoved her hands at the air. He no longer needed an empathic sense to tell him what she was dreaming. He could tell it was the recurring dream she had of her attack. He walked over to her bed and leaned over her. He rubbed his hands up and down her arms while he called to her.

ADULT EXCERPT

Laura opened her mouth, and he took that moment to take it. He pressed his lips to hers. He could not allow her to start asking questions and getting answers that would only frighten her. He was going to make her feel so much pleasure she would only think of pleasing him so she could get more. She would not ask questions about slavers. She would not wonder why a slaver had tried to grab her off of the street. He would not have to tell her that a slaver that ran a sex house had plans for her or that he’d had plans to use her body to make money. That was all Malderan ever thought about. Money, and how to make more of it. They cared nothing for others well-being or happiness. They would use whomever they chose without caring about their happiness or suffering. He would not allow that to happen. Laura had been through enough with her attack to have to spend a moment worrying about her safety. After tonight, he would be the one who saw to her every need.

He wrapped his arms around her. She was so small and delicate in his arms. He knew she was strong. She was not some fragile flower that would be crushed easily in his hands. Her determination to heal from her trauma had proven that. Even with their medication to help, she could have easily sunk into misery and let herself wallow in pity over losing her home and being forced to make a life here. Instead, he had watched her put her sadness aside. She had embraced her new life. He had watched the security transmissions from the marketplace. That was no woman wallowing in self-pity he saw walking down the walkway. That was a woman bracing for her new life. She was fascinated by everything around her. She had looked at everything with curiosity. He knew then he could love this human female.

His hands rubbed up her back, and one made its way to her head, where he grabbed her hair and pulled her head back. He wanted her at an angle where he had complete control. That was the only way he knew how to be. Instead of crying out or pushing away from him, Laura moaned in pleasure at the slight pain he gave her and the dominance he displayed. She softened against him. He used that softening to take even more control.

He sucked her lower lip into his mouth. It was smooth while he ran his tongue along it. He felt her hands moving along his chest and around to his back. He bit her ear just enough to be painful. Laura gasped, and her hands grabbed his uniform shirt. Even though he knew he gave her more pain than with the hair pulling, she did not try to push him away. She was pulling herself closer to him. Great Mother of all, this female was perfect for him. For the first time in his life, he had thoughts of retiring completely from his military service. She was all he cared about now, and he could not imagine leaving her to board a war cruiser for moon-cycles at a time.

Varnis pulled back his kiss. His lips hovered just over hers. His golden eyes stared into her blue ones. He knew he could force her to undress and shove his cock into her. That was not what he wanted. He wanted her to willingly submit to him.

Some emotion Varnis could not understand came off of Laura in a wave. She sank to her knees in front of him. “You gave me an incredible orgasm earlier. I do believe it is time I returned the favor.”

Varnis’s cock pulsed in his uniform slacks. Did she really plan to put her mouth on his cock and suck him deep? Not many Dareen females were willing to do such a thing. He watched her fumble with the latch of his weapons and restraint belt. He resisted the urge to rip it off for her. If he started, he would not stop until he buried his cock deep into her sweet mouth. He would not deny her this pleasure. It was a pleasure to her, he could feel it now. She was unsure at first, but now that she saw his reaction, she was more confident in herself.

Finally, the latch came free and she started on the seam of the pants. It easily came free and his cock came out. He watched her face when she saw it for the first time. He knew there were slight differences between his cock and human males’. They were larger and the heads were shaped slightly differently. He had never cared before, back when Laura was only a job to further his career. Now he cared as he watched Laura looking at how large it was.

Laura licked her lips while she looked at his cock. “You can do this,” he told her when he felt her uncertainty.

Her blue eyes that were full of trust looked up at him. Her smile was filled with delight. “I have been planning this and wondering how you taste,” she told him. Then, slowly, she moved her head toward his cock. His breath seized in his chest. It took every bit of his control not to grip her hair and shove himself deep down her throat, fucking her throat hard. This was not about what he wanted, though. This was about Laura giving herself to him, surrendering herself to his domination. He had walked into this room with a plan and just like had happened since the moment he met her, that plan had become completely forgotten.

Laura’s tongue came out and she licked the pearl of pre-cum that gathered on the head of his cock. He hissed at the intense pleasure of such a small movement.