Prime Deliverance (Katieran Prime Series (Book Five)) (7 page)

“I’m really tired. I think I’ll retire early. Goodnight, everyone.”

Her aunt looked at her with concern. “Goodnight, dear.”

*****

The next day she had another run-in with TarAK. Was he stalking her now?

“What do you want?”

TarAK looked at her intently. Like he wanted to say something but was fighting to hold it back. “I don’t think you should go to Kiljor. You are too young to mate and Kiljor is not your home. Katiera is.”

She was at her breaking point with everyone. “I am no longer a young!” She didn’t say anything else but stormed away. She couldn’t take it anymore. She needed to be more independent. How was she to do that when she still lived with her aunt?

*****

Later that evening, AriELa had packed her bags and made her way to the suite that Captain Malone and Doctor Morris shared. She hoped that she would not be turned down. She needed this to work out.

She wiped a tear from her face. When she had told her aunt that she wanted to move out, they had a fight. It was the first real fight they ever had. Then they both started crying and hugged before she left. Telling her had been difficult enough, but telling her cousins was going to be even worse. She was saving that fight for another day. Maybe they would be so preoccupied that they wouldn’t notice she had moved out for at least a few months.

She stopped in front of the suite door and sat her bags down. She rang the buzzer and waited. “Please say yes, please say yes,” she whispered over and over. The door opened slowly and she put on her best pretend smile.

“What’s up?” Jaxon asked.

AriELa walked inside the suite setting her bags in the hallway. She was nervous. “I hate to impose, but would you and Dr. Morris mind if I move in with you two?”

“I don’t mind and I’m sure Doc will be fine with it, but why do you need a place to stay?”

“I’m getting tired of people treating me like a young. I am NOT a young!” AriELa exclaimed.

“Who treats you that way?” Jaxon asked.

“Aunt SandELa, my cousins, TarAK…just everyone!”

AriELa was grateful the female warrior was being so nice. She had AriELa come inside and sit on the sofa. Jaxon insisted that she be called by her first name since they would be living together.

It wasn’t too long after AriELa’s arrival that the female medic came home. Doctor Katrina Morris was a female medic from Earth. She said she was okay with AriELa moving in and insisted that she call her Kat.

Kat was in a really bad mood. She had gone on a date with one of the Lieutenants, but it didn’t turn out too well. Turned out the Lieutenant was more interested in Jaxon than Kat.
Ouch
, AriELa could understand how much that must have hurt. It still bothered her whenever she saw TarAK with Cassie. Though Cassie was completely in love with RendEL, it still hurt to be rejected for another female.

Jaxon wasn’t much for females sitting around complaining. She said she had a cure for what ailed all of them. It was a foul drink called Tequila. They all three drank and drank. They complained about men, about being treated differently just for being female. Kat was on the couch and Jaxon and AriELa were laying on the floor with a glass of tequila in their hands. That was where Cassie found them when she came to check on them.

“What the hell!” Cassie yelled at the three women. “Jaxon, what did you do?”

“Noth…not…ing,” Jaxon’s words came out slurred and only one eye opened to stare at Cassie.

“Why do I see two of Cassie?” AriELa asked.

“Oh God. Did you have to get AriELa drunk, too? Her aunt and cousins are going to be pissed at me over this.”

“I’m not a young!” AriELa yelled. She winced because it made her head hurt.

“What?” Cassie was confused.

AriELa couldn’t find her words. Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth. Jaxon answered for her, “Ever…one tinks her a kid, specly Tar…AK.”

AriELa cringed. She didn’t realize she had talked about TarAK that much. Her cheeks blushed. What must they think of her?

Cassie gave her an inquisitive look. Then she hit the Comm Link and called for assistance. Unfortunately, she called for TarAK.
Kitasa!

Forty-five minutes later her two cousins, KydEL and SydEL, showed up. KydEL picked up Jaxon to take her to her room, SydEL did the same with Kat. KydEL offered to come back for AriELa.

At that moment TarAK came walking into the living room. “No need,” he said as he picked up AriELa from the floor.

“Why are you here?” KydEL questioned him.

“I called him to help me,” Cassie explained.

TarAK glared down at the inebriated AriELa.
What was the female thinking?
“Your aunt is going to be angry seeing you like this when I take you back to her suite.”

AriELa shook her head. “I’m not going back. I live here now.”

“What?” all three men asked at the same time.

“The inquisition can take place tomorrow, when they are sober. Right now they need to go to bed and sleep this off. You can put AriELa in my old room,” Cassie told them.

All AriELa’s foggy mind could think about was how good it felt to be in TarAK’s arms. She leaned her head against his chest and took in his scent. Even as out of it as she was, she still wanted him, ached for him.

He laid her gently on her bed and then stood back up. He wasn’t sure what to do. Undress her? Leave her in her clothes? He worried that if he tried to undress her and saw her bare skin, he might be tempted to touch her. That would not be appropriate while she was not lucid. He turned to leave.

“Don’t go,” AriELa called out softly.

TarAK stopped and turned back around. Her eyes were closed. Maybe he just heard her voice as wishful thinking. “Did you say something?”

AriELa nodded her head. “Stay…please.”

TarAK knew it was a bad idea.
What was he thinking?
That foul Earth drink should be banned from Katiera. This was a mistake. He should have left, but how could he refuse her?

TarAK sat in the chair he pulled up next to AriELa’s bed. He watched over her while she slept. Even though he was tired from not getting any sleep himself, it had been one of the most peaceful nights he had had in a long time. He didn’t understand it. Being around her calmed him somehow.

He reached over to gently caress her beautiful face. She was simply the loveliest female he had ever seen. She was like a goddess, too good for the likes of mere mortals. Even as a child she was gifted with adorable features and a sweet temperament. How could any male resist her? How could
he
resist her?

His thumb brushed over her soft lips. Those sweet lips haunted him. One kiss was not enough. He wanted more. But she wasn’t meant for him. He knew he needed to leave before she woke. She wouldn’t appreciate him being there when she was in a vulnerable state. She was prideful. He leaned down and kissed her lips softly.

AriELa must be dreaming again. A male’s lips were on hers and there was only one male that she dreamed of, TarAK. She reached up a hand to curve around the back of his head to hold him in place. She opened her mouth to him. His tongue slowly but firmly invaded her. It felt so real. She moaned around his tongue.
More,
she wanted more.

She pulled him down closer to her. The feel of his weight on her was wonderful, comforting. She busied her other hand by unhooking his shirt and opening it up. His chest was warm and smooth. She had seen him many times without his shirt and it always made her feel arousal. “TarAK,” she whispered his name between kisses. He growled his response.

The kiss became more aggressive and so did the dream version of TarAK. Suddenly she found herself completely naked beneath him. His large warm hands were cupping her breasts, murmuring something she didn’t understand completely. It almost sounded like he was praying to the Gods. Her world almost caught on fire when he sucked one of her nipples inside his hot mouth. The suctioning pressure on her sensitive flesh made her see stars. “TarAK!” she shouted out her release.

Her breathing was erratic and her heartbeat was so fast she thought it might break free from her body. Nothing had ever felt that good before. No dream had felt so real. She was confused, she could feel TarAK’s lips moving down her body hovering above her wet pussy. She finally opened her eyes and realized it had not been a dream.
Oh Kitana
.

“TarAK?” She looked down her body at him. His eyes seemed glazed over with some kind of intense emotion she had never seen before.

“Mine,” he growled as he began to lower his mouth to her feminine folds.

The pounding on the door saved her from what TarAK was about to do. So why didn’t she feel grateful for the interruption?

“TarAK! We need to leave now!” Prime Commander KydEL yelled through the door.

TarAK practically leapt from the bed and ran a hand through his hair. He looked at her body with longing and then locked eyes with her. “I’m sorry.” Then he turned around and left her there.

“I’m sorry.”
What in Kitana was he sorry for? Leaving her without finishing what he started? Or for having started anything with her at all?
Damn the male for confusing her.

She stayed on the bed trying to recover fully from the world shattering release she had experienced. She should have known better. None of her dreams had been that real, or that good. How could her body respond so willingly? She was supposed to be considering a mating with the Kiljorn Prime Leader.

She lifted herself up off the bed onto shaky legs. She made her way slowly to the bathroom and turned on the water to the shower. She walked into the spray, letting it soak her head completely. Then she let the tears fall. Why did he have to make her feel things for him that she had never felt before? She didn’t know how to turn off her emotions. She sank down to the floor of the shower and sat there until she had no more tears to shed. She picked herself back up and began to wash his scent off her. At least he had not scent marked her.

Males shared sex with females, but they always pulled away before they released their seed. Katieran males scent marked females they wished to mate by releasing their seed into the female. Her Aunt SandELa explained all of this to her when she was a little younger. None of it made sense to her then. But now, she got it. Would he have scent marked her if given the chance? Or would he have pulled out without putting his seed inside her? She may never know the answer and it was probably for the best. She was leaving for Kiljor soon and may not see TarAK again. That thought left her feeling depressed again.
Damn the male
!

*****

TarAK followed Prime Commander KydEL down the hallway to the lift. Neither man spoke until they got inside. He could feel the other male’s eyes on him.

“You realize she is going to Kiljor and is considering mating Prime Leader KadEN?”

“Yes, I know.”

There was a long, uncomfortable pause. “I am trying to keep myself from knocking your head off your shoulders. What are your intentions toward my cousin?”

TarAK sighed. “I request to travel with her to Kiljor as her security liaison.”

“Why would I allow that?” the Prime Commander demanded.

“I know that I am not worthy of her. I just want to make sure that she will be happy on Kiljor and the Kiljorn Leader will treat her as she deserves,” TarAK said with humility.

KydEL sighed. “Your request is granted.” Just before the doors opened KydEL reached out and grabbed the male by the throat. “If you put your hands or any other part of you on my cousin again, you had better intend to mate her. If you don’t, I will kill you.”

All TarAK could do was slightly nod his understanding. The taller male let him go and then walked out of the lift. It took a few seconds for the oxygen to return to his brain before he realized what the Prime Commander had said.
“…you better intend to mate her.
” His heart jumped with the sliver of hope those words brought.

Chapter Eight

A few days after the last fiasco with TarAK, it was time for AriELa to travel to Kiljor. The shuttle taking them up to the Kiljorn Transport ship was full. The Kiljorn Commander, TylOR, was piloting the shuttle and Prime Leader KadEN was acting as co-pilot. The aisle in the middle of the shuttle divided the seats into sets of two. On one side of the aisle was Lindsey Carreli sitting with her cousin, Prime Commander KydEL, Captain Malone was beside Dr. Morris, and then behind them sat two more medics. On the other side of the aisle, AriELa sat beside her cousin, Prime Medic SydEL. To her disbelief and excitement, TarAK sat beside Lieutenant SilAS.

Her cousin, SydEL, was heading up a research team that was going to Kiljor to collect samples and compare the mutations caused by the virus instigated by the Morins. Her cousin believed that by studying the differences and the similarities between the two nations, solutions could be found about the fertility problems both nations faced.

AriELa did her best to ignore TarAK. He had not approached her since that morning she woke to his hands and mouth all over her. She did notice something was different in the way he looked at her. It confused and excited her. However, she made herself push her feelings for him down deep inside. This was her chance to start a new life.

She had not been off planet since the attack on her family. She was going to treat this as an adventure. She actually was excited to see a new planet.

“Is there anything specific you are looking for on Kiljor?” she asked her cousin, SydEL. He hadn’t heard her because he had been staring at Dr. Morris. She had to remember to call her Kat and Captain Malone, Jaxon. She lived with them now. It was obvious her cousin was interested in the female Medic. She hoped they mated. Kat was beautiful, smart, sweet, and would be perfect for Syd.

It didn’t take long to reach the Kiljorn Transport ship. It was larger than the landing field on Katiera. So large that it had to stay in orbit at all times. The Kiljorn Transport was similar to the Katieran Transports from what she could see.