All or Nothing (2 page)

“The next time I’ll make it better for you,” he whispered against her ear. His moves turned frantic. The base of his cock hit her clit just right on every downward thrust.

The sensations flowing across her feminine walls had her clawing his shoulders. “Harder,” she cried. So close to her orgasm she could almost taste it, she gasped when he swirled his hips on his next thrust.
I’m nearly there. So close. Damn it. Almost.
“Give it to me harder.”

He obliged her with a soft grunt. Lifting his head, he stared at her. “Look at me,” he demanded.

She lifted her eyes to the strong planes of his face.
By the Goddess.

“Come for me.”

She screamed his name in the same instant her climax shot through her. His hot jism soaked her. Strong contractions jolted down her frame. Raking her nails down his back, she shook her head to and fro. The climax wouldn’t let off.

“The next time I’ll make it better for you.”

“How…do…you propose to do that?” she asked haltingly.

“Longer…hotter…harder,” he said between gasping breaths. He collapsed on top of her but had the wherewithal to prop his weight on his elbows.

“If it gets any better, you might just kill me.”

He chuckled and rolled them over. He eased her off his cock but held her to him when she moved to curl up against his side. “This is where you belong.”

“On top?”

“In my arms.”

She liked his answer very much.

* * * * *

The sound of her personal communicator ringing woke him up. “Don’t answer it.”

“I’m no different than you are.” She leaned up and kissed his cheek. “I might not be in the call center, but I’m still on duty.” She slipped from the bed and padded into the living area of the loft. “Communications Worker Ta’Sha Valor. How may I assist you?”

Reaching over, he snatched the vidi-remote from the end table. He clicked on the huge vidi-screen affixed to the wall and brought up the chart for recent sporting events. Hitting the mute button so as not to disturb Ta’Sha, he rested his head on his bent arm and scrolled through the channels until he found a fresh USPN sports broadcast for the Omega quadrant.

“Maternal unit, it is impossible for me to take time off from work.” Ta’Sha appeared in the doorway. One hand was propped on her naked hip, her other was holding the communicator to her ear in a white-knuckled grip. “I cannot simply resign from my employment.”

Her anger and frustration was palpable. She held the communicator at arm’s length from her ear. Waggling her head back and forth, she gazed at him. She returned the device to the side of her head when silence came from the other end. “Maternal unit…”

He rose and strode to where she stood. “All or nothing,” he whispered. Part of him hoped her bitch of a mother heard. Another part of him, the alpha male who possessed a steamroller mentality, nearly snatched the communicator from her hand just so he could tell the old bat to buzz off. He stopped from following his gut instinct of telling the bitch to leave her daughter alone.

You have to make this decision on your own.

“Maternal unit, I am not being difficult.” Ta’Sha strode around him and began to pace in front of the floor to ceiling Iridium windows. “I know they wish to interview me, and I’m more than aware that I am not getting any younger.” She heaved a sigh. “What do you want from me? A miracle? I cannot and will not leave my employment. Period. End of discussion.”

She took a stumbling step. “What did you just ask me?”

Uh oh.
Jadon called her to him with the crook of a finger. He walked to her when she ignored him. “What?” he mouthed. He cupped her chin in his palm when tears filled her eyes.

“I understand, and the truth is that it is what it is,” she muttered. “I cannot and will not mate with a male unit I do not love.”

A gasp rang across the com-link. A series of expletives followed her statement. “Maternal unit, calm down.” Tears traced down her cheeks. “I have found the man I love.” She held the device away from her ear as another long string of curses shouted out of the receiver. She leaned her head against his chest. “If neither you nor the Reproduction Council can accept him, then I willingly and freely resign my status as a Trollian.”

“You will regret this, daughter unit.” Her mother’s words lashed out. “I will make you rue the day you ever dared walk outside my house with the intent of rejecting our ways.”

“Mother unit, it is over. I have nothing left to say.” Ta’Sha didn’t wait to say good-bye; instead she ended the conversation by disconnecting the com-link.

Jadon gently pulled the communicator from her hand and tossed it on the floor. He brushed the tears from her cheeks. “What happened?”

“I pushed, how you say, the envelope too far.” She sniffed back tears. “The Reproduction Council issued an order that I either appear with the mating counselor or go into exile.”

“Did you make the right decision?” he wondered aloud. He knew for certain that if her mother launched an attack on her then she’d meet him face-to-face and toe to toe. He almost pitied the woman if she made the mistake of taking him on.

“I did. What you said was true. Our relationship must be complete or not exist at all.” She hugged him tight. “I just never expected to be able to make the decision. I’m not known for my bravery.”

“What you just did took great courage.” He kissed the top of her head.

“They forced my hand.” Nuzzling him, she sniffed back more tears.

So did I.
He wasn’t going to force her to face the truth regarding his ultimatum—at least not yet.

“Anyway, you did follow the mating ritual down to the last detail, so even if they wanted to fight our mating, they could not. Well, they could say it is a lie since there was no witness to it. Still…”

“Karen, do not record over the vidi-report,” he ordered his coworker, knowing she was keeping an eye on them from the Defense Center. “Answer me, Karen.”

“No problem, Jadon. Hell, if I wasn’t so ethical, I might sell copies of it to Circe Ten for the masses entertainment. You two set the sheets on fire.” He could hear the blush in his counterpart’s voice.

“She wouldn’t.” Ta’Sha tilted her gaze to his face. An endearing blush tinted her cheeks. “I would die of mortification if I…we…our mating…”

“Don’t worry,” he said on a chuckle. “Thanks, Karen. You can turn off the view screen now.”

“Aw, damn.” The voice coming from the speakers imbedded in the ceiling gave a snort before going quiet.

“I take all the fun out of her life,” Jadon teased. He dipped his head and kissed Ta’Sha. He sobered at the naked emotions teeming in her almost translucent eyes. “I won’t let anybody hurt you.”

“Do you promise,” she whispered. Brushing her lips over his skin, she nipped it next.

“I promise.” Ready for another go with his woman, Jadon lifted her in his arms. Without preamble he lowered her down on his erection. “I want you in my bed and in my life forever.” He held her still. Though the tiny wiggles of her hips might actually make him explode. The woman was a firecracker spitting sparks and had an amazing power over him. She could turn him on with a mere glance.

“That sounds surprisingly like a proposal for life partnership.” A soft, breathy sigh escaped her lips. She tried to pull herself up but it was useless against his superior strength.

Her use of the term coined by the Intergalactic Committee on Interspecies Relationships for marriage jerked a laugh from him. “It was meant to be.” He began a slow ride, wanting to revel in the feeling of her body sliding up and down his. “This is Valentine’s Day. A holiday on Earth when we celebrate love.”

“Ah.” She was trying to get him to move faster. Fuck her harder.

He wouldn’t be deterred from his explanation. “It is also a day when many couples exchange vows to wed or get married.”

“Fuck me, Jadon.”

“Not until you agree to marry me.”

“Yes.”

He kissed her hard. Gripping her thighs, he pulled her up, then down onto his shaft until he was mindless to everything save the woman in his arms, clutching his shoulders.

“Ah. Ah. Ah.” She bit his shoulder. “Yes. Yes. Yes.”

“Come for me, sweetheart,” he whispered. “Now.”

She did. Her climax milking the cum right from his cock.
Thank you, God.

Holding her close, he refused to put her down. “It’s a good thing you said yes.”

“Really? Why is that?”

“Because I’ve already applied for the special license. Once the incidental of the ceremony is taken care of, we’ll be able to get a larger room here at the New Eden.” The quirk in the whole “no dating” policy. Sentient staff members couldn’t date, but if they were married, they were welcome.

“What would you have done if I had said no?”

“I would have hunted your cute little ass across the cosmos.”

“I love you, Jadon.”

“I love you, too.”

The End