Talon's Trophy (9 page)

“Would you really trade me?” Chanah didn’t much care for either the question or the hurt coating her voice as she asked it. She didn’t even know why she voiced the emotional inquiry. Talon was her captor, she shouldn’t be so foolish as to think he had tender feelings for her, but in moments like this, when he touched her so softly, she felt…cherished. The few males who had tried their hand at seducing her had struck her as clumsy and their hands greedy when they handled her breasts.

Talon’s eyes returned to hers and what she saw burning there stunned her. Fury looked right back at her as he caught her chin in a hard grip. “You are mine, Chanah.”

Talon continued to soothe her nipples with a devotion that amazed him. He could have left it for Chanah to do, but needed to know it was done to her satisfaction. His emotions were tender as he listened to her sigh. Contentment had never been something he craved, yet Talon was discovering that it was very much something he yearned for. Right then, it flowed between them, wrapping them in a moment where each was content to linger in the afterglow of their rapture. For Talon it was humbling once again because Chanah wasn’t trying to wiggle away now that his hunger was sated. She trailed her fingers over his hip as another sigh escaped her lips.

He had never been so glad to find his plans unraveling.

Chapter Seven

“You will always be mine.”

Their embrace had to end and it died as Chanah regained her thoughts and her cheeks brightened with a blush. She rolled over and Talon let her go as he sat up and frowned.

He had the right to sound possessive. Talon tried to make himself believe that as the day wore on and Chanah found little ways to avoid looking him straight in the eye. Dealing with hurt feelings had never entered any of his plans for the time when he would have a trophy cohabitating with him. Ruthar wouldn’t have cared but there were a whole lot of things Ruthar thought about females that Talon discovered he detested.

Chanah enjoyed his touch. He was certain of that fact. Yet it wasn’t enough to know she would crave his body as he yearned for hers. Talon wanted something more, and trying to decide what that thing was ate at him as he tried to work. The terminal in their living space served as his workstation now—once you captured a trophy you were immediately reassigned to make way for the hunters waiting for their turn. A new duty rotation would take another day or so to be sorted onto his service number, so until then he was pushing reports. He could hear Chanah moving around in the bedroom and had to force his body to stay in place. Talon eyed the time meter and forced his mind back to reports. He was going to give her time to think, even if his damn cock didn’t want to.

But doing that gave him far too much to time to think about Chanah.

“What do males in your old sphere do to convince females to have sex with them?”

As blunt as the question was, Chanah was more shocked by the fact that Talon was interested in her expectations of a male than his assumption that all interaction was aimed at having sex. She frowned at her own thoughts—maybe she was the one being unrealistic now. The socializing events and flirting done back in her sphere were aimed at helping the single members of the population find compatible mates. Talon just cut through the nice labels and went for the core of the issue—sex. She looked at the wide shoulders and sculpted muscles once again and understood how hunters might be more direct in everything they did. It wasn’t vulgar, it was just their way of life.

“We eat together and sometimes play games, we talk a lot to determine if we share common opinions.”

Talon’s forehead creased as he considered her words. “What do you talk about?”

He was trying to please her. Chanah found it impossible to remain unhappy in the face of his attempts to understand her needs. Maybe he had captured her, but today he wasn’t acting like her jailer. “Well, a lot of things—what we each do to earn a living and what we enjoy doing to relax.”

“I am a hunter, my duty is to protect this sphere and the planet. Duty rotation will be assigned to me shortly now that I have obtained a trophy.”

His words were blunt once again but it was more than she had known. Talon was looking at her with anticipation on his face and it stunned her to recognize that he wanted approval from her for his attempt to please her. “So what will I do? I mean, here, in this sphere?”

Talon unfolded his arms as he began to relax. They were conversing quite well. “If you are willing, I will take you to the resource center. You must perform the required testing in order to be matched with a duty that you have the knowledge to perform well. It is your choice to serve but it is greatly encouraged. By joining the workforce you will earn a placement in this sphere after your childbearing ability has passed.”

So, if Chanah didn’t work, she would be sent to the work colonies when she was past being a sex toy. Harsh, but Chanah could see the effectiveness of that system. Nonproductive members of the population were not tolerated in her sphere either. If they could not feed themselves, they could report for work-duty assignment. Each family was evaluated annually to ensure that there were no nonproductive members who would turn to stealing because they had no means of feeding themselves.

“I will serve, my father raised me to respect the laws of resource sharing.”

“And the female you were with when I captured you? Why was her father not sent to the work colonies for failing to instruct her?”

Tears shimmered in her eyes as Chanah thought about Mia… Young, impulsive little Mia. Maybe it was just that she was here because of her sister’s crime. The entire family had babied their youngest child and Mia was spoilt because of their soft handling. “Mia is my little sister. I think we all failed her, so it’s fitting that I am here. If I had been a better sister, she might have never crossed the border.”

Talon moved across the carpet in that whisper-soft way again, covering the space in a heartbeat as he captured her chin. “That is untrue. She was fully grown and responsible for her own actions.” Talon hated his words because they were true. But he didn’t want Mia cohabitating with him, nor did he want her influence anywhere near his offspring. The image of Chanah with his babe suckling one of her nipples almost buckled his knees it was so powerful. “Do you wish to change places with her?” Talon could have bitten his tongue in half for even suggesting it, but the look that filled Chanah’s eyes told him he had struck upon what ate at them both. This was what he had been trying to figure out that he lacked—Chanah’s willing embrace and her desire to cohabitate with him without her lawbreaker status imprisoning her.

Chanah couldn’t speak. Her throat closed off until she couldn’t even draw breath. Leave Talon? That should have been pathetically simple for her to answer and yet it wasn’t. There was part of her that rose up in bitter denial of any female, even Mia, placing her hands on Talon. This male was hers because she had proven that she could pleasure him as deeply as he did her. A wave of despair followed on the heels of her anger as she considered being parted forever from Talon and his touch. Beyond his harsh edges she had found tender touches that words could never explain. In his embrace Chanah had finally understood what cherished meant. Their encounters were more than sex, they were intimate. His multicolored eyes were watching her every emotion as he stared at her face. Lurking in those eyes was uncertainty and Chanah recognized it as the same emotion that refused to allow her to say the words that she desired to be parted from him. “I…do not want to leave, Talon.”

Her honesty pleased him almost as much as her words. Talon drew a deep breath into his lungs as he savored the fact that Chanah had not rejected him. The law might allow him to keep her but her willingness was sweeter than any capture had ever been.

Talon held his hand out to her and Chanah placed hers into it without any further thought. She didn’t want to consider facts and harsh edges of reality, she wanted to turn the lights out and cling to Talon’s body. Right or wrong didn’t matter as her nose caught the warm male scent of his skin and her pussy gently began to warm and moisten. He closed his fingers around her hand and pulled her up from her chair. His opposite arm moved around her waist as he stepped into contact with her body. Chanah shivered as she felt how large he was compared to her. His embrace was firm but not biting as he tipped her head back.

“Then let us go and discover some more things that we might enjoy doing together, Chanah. Because I do not find the idea of trading your for your sister appealing.” She shivered in his embrace and Talon felt a surge of emotion in response. Affecting her, beyond commanding her obedience, was more rewarding than he ever guessed it might be.

“Let’s walk.” Talon held his hand out to her and waited to see what she would do. Chanah looked at his invitation before she moved forward and laid her palm against his. Fragile trust flickered across her face and Talon felt his ego swell with it. That was another gift that he very much doubted Ruthar would ever see in one of his trophies.

The outer sphere was very much like her own and Talon proudly showed off his favorite walking trail to her. It was warm and there wasn’t another soul in sight. It felt like they were like a pair of children running loose for their playtime.

“I often come here at the end of my duty rotation.” Talon pointed to a ledge that overlooked the valley that the main sphere was built in. The wind blew past her and picked up loose strands of her hair as Chanah moved towards the edge to look. Talon’s face was a study in relaxation. This was his sanctuary and it was a privilege to be brought there. He turned a boyish grin towards her and reached into a pocket on his uniform. He held up a package of betting disks.

“Care to see if hunter games are to your liking?”

Chanah laughed. Talon really had been paying attention to her. The man was still every inch a hunter but it was possible they just might be able to find some middle ground to carve out a life that pleased them both.

That single idea placed a smile on her face as the afternoon wore on.

Talon kissed her the second they cleared the entrance to their living space. Chanah lifted onto her toes for it. She wanted to taste his mouth and feel his tongue licking along her lower lip. Once again he took his time to linger over her mouth, investigating the far corners where her lips met before slipping his tongue inside her mouth to find her tongue. Her hands spread out over his chest as she sighed with delight. Her fingertips found the ridges of muscles that made her body tremble with need as her clit began to throb with the same beat as her heart.

Talon lifted his mouth from hers and bent to hook an arm beneath her knees. He swung her up against his chest as he turned and walked towards their bedroom. The light had faded into darkness and the room was cast into shadows. Chanah did not mind, it fit her mood as Talon lowered her to the surface of the bed. He pressed a kiss onto her mouth as he stood back up and swiftly discarded his uniform. His cock jutted out from his body and Chanah reached for the swollen proof of his interest in her. He sucked his breath in as she curled her fingers around the stiff length and pressed her hand all the way to the base. Leaning forward, Chanah let her tongue lick through the slit on the head.

“This is something I enjoy doing with you.” Talon’s words were husky and that delighted her. Chanah licked around the head of his cock before she opened her mouth and sucked on the head. Talon’s hands threaded through her hair as his hips made little thrusting motions and she sucked more of the staff into her mouth. Her pussy filled with need as she let him fill her mouth with his cock. Chanah enjoyed the moments that she controlled him with her touch, but it was deeper than that, there was something very erotic about being able to pleasure Talon’s stronger body with her touch. His breath rasped between clenched teeth as she took more of his cock into her mouth then his hands tightened on her hair as he pulled her away from it. He was close to climax, Chanah knew. She raised her eyes to find his filled with the flicker of need once again. This time that need wasn’t tempered with the desire to command her. Right then Talon wanted to mate with her, hard and deep. Climaxing in her mouth would not be sufficient.

Chanah’s body agreed completely. Her clit pulsed with need as she felt her juices coat her thighs. She stood up in the center of the bed and pulled her robe up and over her head. Talon growled approval as his hands cupped her breasts.

“Are you too sore?” He raised his eyes from her nipples to look at her face. Her pussy said no but Chanah knew she would pay for the indulgence later—the flesh did have its limits. Talon stroked a hand over her belly to her mons and sent it between her folds. He rubbed her clit as she moaned and a smug grin covered his mouth. He thrust his finger up into her pussy and growled softly.

“Your body is already wet for my cock, isn’t it?” His finger thrust into her pussy again before he moved to the front of her slit and rubbed her clit. Need burned through her as her legs trembled and her nipples drew tighter.

“Yes.” Her answer pleased him. Chanah saw approval light his eyes before Talon knelt on the bed and pulled her towards his body. Her knees bent on either side of his hard thighs and the tip of his cock nudged the folds of her slit. She was so wet, his cock slipped right into her pussy. Talon’s hands grasped her hips and controlled the thrust as he pulled her all the way onto his lap with his cock imbedded in her pussy.

“We’ll fuck easy, Chanah, I grant you my word, but I need to be inside you once more.”

She needed it too. It was a stunning revelation and one that shook her emotions, but Chanah felt cherished in his embrace and no words of discontentment could shake the tenderness filling her heart.

“Make love to me.” Chanah stared into Talon’s face as she twisted her hands around his shoulders and pressed her pussy down onto his cock. “Please.”

His cock jerked inside her as his mouth captured hers for a deep kiss. He held her hips still as he stroked her tongue with his, lingering over the kiss instead of urging her to ride his cock. One of his arms clasped around her body and held her tightly to his torso before he moved forward and her back landed on the bed surface.

“Yes, ma’am.” Talon drawled the words out in a husky tone as his hips began to move. His cock didn’t slam into her body, instead his thrusts were deep and slow, rubbing against her clit and driving her slowly insane. The crisp hair covering his chest teased her nipples as his cock filled her pussy and Talon did not increase the pace. Need and pleasure built slowly until it twisted her tighter with each thrust, and climax crashed over her like a bucket of honey, slow and incredibly sweet. It coated her in a thick blanket of delight, slipping over every inch of her body to coat her in rapture.

Talon felt her pussy contract and begin to milk his cock. He let his seed flood her womb as a small snarl escaped his lips. Pleasure radiated through his cock and into the sacs beneath his staff. It was a deeper delight than the hard climaxes they’d shared to date. This time there was a simple need that drove them both, they both craved intimacy, and right then Talon would have sworn they shared the same heartbeat. There was no division between them, only one united pair of opposite sides that fit together perfectly.

Talon rolled onto his back and gathered her body against his as Chanah sighed. She found a contentment in his embrace that she had been yearning for, and all the facts surrounding their meeting did not matter. Sometimes it was best to enjoy what fate handed you without quibbling over how fate decided to deliver its gift.