At last he looked up again, his eyes half-lidded with l.u.s.t. This time he didn't even ask if she was better, just eyed the blinking ruby implant in her naval. Then he raised his eyes to hers.

"Looks like I'll have to tonguef.u.c.k you after all, blondie." His voice was a low, hoa.r.s.e growl. "How do you feel about that? Can you let me do it? Can you spread your sweet p.u.s.s.y and let me penetrate you with my tongue?"

Maggie opened her mouth but found no words. She couldn't even speak, she was in so much need. Mutely she lifted her hips, offering herself in silent submission.

"That's my good girl," Kor growled with approval. "Open your p.u.s.s.y for me, Maggie-let me get in you deep."

Biting her lip, Maggie did as he said. Kor reached under her, scooping her a.s.s into his hands, cradling her pelvis like a thirsty man with a bowl of water. G.o.d, she couldn't believe she was doing this, couldn't believe she was really spreading herself open to let him get his tongue into her as deeply as he could. But despite the unreality of the situation, the feel of his big, warm hands on her bottom and his hot breath blowing across her open p.u.s.s.y were the realest things she'd ever felt.

"Oh, and I don't mind if you want to hold on to me," Kor said, looking up at her once more, briefly. "Pull my hair, scratch my back...do what you need to do."

"But...I don't want to hurt you," Maggie protested breathlessly.

"Hurt me, sweetheart." His eyes flashed briefly red. "Hurt me. I f.u.c.king love it. Love to feel how much you need what I'm giving you." And then he pressed his face between her thighs and thrust his tongue deep into her p.u.s.s.y.

Maggie gasped at the sudden invasion, her hips bucking involuntarily at the delicious sensation. Her hands reached down for his thick hair and this time she didn't try to stop them. With a soft cry, she wove her fingers through the silky strands and bucked up again, trying to get more of his tongue inside her, trying to be as open as possible for his penetration.

She felt Kor growl in approval and then he was f.u.c.king her with his tongue, pressing into her as deeply as he could, tasting her p.u.s.s.y as though he couldn't get enough of her.

Maggie couldn't help herself-she lost herself in the intense sensations. All thoughts of her fiance or her other life on Earth were burned away. All she could think of-all she could feel-was Kor between her legs, making love to her with his mouth, worshiping her p.u.s.s.y with his tongue.

"Oh G.o.d...oh, please, Kor!" she heard herself cry. "Please, yes...please don't stop!"

She didn't have to beg him-he was obviously eager. More than eager. Ma.s.sive arms wound around her thighs, splitting her even wider even as his tongue thrust deeper and deeper, almost as though he was reaching for her heart with each stroke.

Maggie cried out again and finally felt her o.r.g.a.s.m overtaking her. It was too much-the feel of his hot mouth on her, the way his tongue thrust into her, filling her, showing her exactly how he wanted to f.u.c.k her with his c.o.c.k. The pleasure swept over her like a tidal wave and she moaned and scratched at his broad shoulders, unable to do anything but beg and cry for more, unable to do anything but come for him again and again...

Chapter Twenty-three.

At last it was over and this time she felt actual relief. Looking down, Maggie saw that the ruby implant was barely blinking. Clearly Kor had been right about what she needed.

But what if you need more in the future? What if you need- Maggie pushed the little voice away. For right now she just wanted to relax, to savor the sensation of not being balanced on a precariously sharp s.e.xual edge. She let her body go limp, her hands falling to her sides, and took a deep breath.

"Better now, isn't it?" Kor gave her one last, long lick and then got up to sit on the couch beside her. "I was right-you needed more intense pleasure."

"That was certainly, ah, intense," Maggie admitted.

"I could tell. You came so d.a.m.n hard for me." The look in his pale blue eyes was still one of unbridled l.u.s.t and Maggie became abruptly aware that she was still lying spread out on the couch with her skirt flipped up and her p.u.s.s.y on display.

"Um...I..." Blushing, she pushed down the skirt and closed her legs.

His eyes flashed red. "No point in covering up, blondie. You're going to have to be mostly naked to give me easy access from now until we get that implant out."

"What?" Maggie sat up, looking at him in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Talking about keeping your desires under control. You're going to need constant attention. Constant touching and stroking to keep your cycle from revving too high like it did just now."

"I still don't understand," Maggie said. "What are you proposing?"

"This." Kor sat up on the couch as well and pulled her into his lap. Without even asking, he cupped one mostly bare breast and began to stroke her nipple. His other large hand went straight between her legs to cup her naked p.u.s.s.y.

"Hey!" Maggie protested, squirming in his lap. "Look, Kor, I appreciate you, uh, helping me but that doesn't mean you can...can touch me like this whenever you want."

"I'm afraid that's exactly what it means, blondie," he rumbled. "Look, as far as I can see, every time you let the cycle get out of control, that d.a.m.n implant revs higher-demands more to be satisfied. Right?"

"I...guess so," Maggie said doubtfully.

"Right," Kor said. "The first time I made you come, I only had to use my fingers. The second time you needed my tongue in you to finally satisfy you. What do you think is going to happen if we let your cycle get out of control a third time?"

"I don't know," Maggie whispered, but she thought she could guess. Next time he'll have to f.u.c.k me. There will be no way around it. No other way to cool the l.u.s.t that's eating me up from the inside out.

"Exactly," Kor said as though she had spoken her thought aloud. "I'd have to f.u.c.k you. Probably come in you to. Is that what you want?"

Maggie felt a surge of guilt when she remembered her half-formed fantasy of spreading her legs and letting him do just that.

"I...no. No, that would be wrong," she whispered.

"Wrong. Of course," Kor growled. "And since you feel that way-that letting me make love to you is wrong-then we have to find a way to keep this cycle in check. And that means never letting it get out of control. So from now on, you stay by me at all times and you'd better be dressed in something with easy access-if you bother to get dressed at all."

"So you're just going to...what? Touch me all...all the time now?" Maggie asked in a small, trembling voice.

"Touch you... pet you...play with your p.u.s.s.y, taste your nipples...I'll do whatever I have to in order to keep that cycle in check."

Kor sounded so matter-of-fact she found she couldn't be mad at him. Still, she tried to protest. "I...but what if I don't want you to do that? To touch me all the time?"

"Then you can touch me, instead." Kor gave her an infuriating grin. "Didn't the slaver say that would work as well?" The hard ridge of his c.o.c.k, which was pressing right against her lower back, throbbed as though in invitation.

Maggie jumped, trying to put some distance between them. "I...I don't know, Kor. I mean, I know I need to keep the, uh, the implant's cycle from getting out of control but this is all just so..."

"Wrong?" he finished for her, squeezing her nipple lightly. "Bad? Cheating?"

"Well...yes." Maggie tried to bite back a moan as he tugged at her other nipple. "I shouldn't let you do this. Shouldn't...shouldn't want you to do it."

"Want doesn't enter into it, sweetheart. This is about need," Kor emphasized. "And right now you have needs that have to be met or you're going to be in serious pain."

"So that's it?" She couldn't keep the sarcasm from her voice. "You only want to touch me to help me?"

"I won't lie to you sweetheart, I love touching your sweet, curvy little body. Makes me hard as a rock," he murmured. "But that's not the reason I'm doing this."

"Why then?" she demanded.

"Look at me, Maggie." Kor turned her to face him. "Do you know what it does to me to see you in pain? To hear that hurt sound in your voice when you cry out because that d.a.m.n thing they put in you is torturing you?" His fingertips brushed lightly over the ruby implant, blinking very slowly in her belly b.u.t.ton.

Maggie bit her lip. "No."

"It kills me inside." Kor put a clenched fist to his chest. "It hurts me here. I can't help it, Maggie-I know I'm not the male you want-not the one you promised yourself to-but I feel very protective of you. I can't stand to see you hurting knowing there's a way I could be helping you avoid the pain. And if this is the only way..." He cupped her breast again and thumbed her nipple gently until she moaned. "Then I'll do it," he finished in a low voice. "I'll do it over and over until you don't need me to anymore. Until we can get that d.a.m.n thing out of you once and for all."

Over the next few days as they traveled to the Maw Cl.u.s.ter, Maggie got used to having his hands always on her body and to her shame, she found she didn't mind it at all. In fact, she liked it-liked it a lot.

But it wasn't just the touching she enjoyed-it was Kor's company. His sense of humor. His protectiveness and attentiveness to her every need. In fact, she was beginning to wonder about herself. Was she falling in love with him? Or was it simply the way the implant made her feel?

It must be the implant, she told herself uneasily. I love Donald-I'm engaged to him. I still haven't even known Kor a whole week-not while I was awake, anyway. It would be crazy to throw away a five year relationship for one only a few days old. And were they even in a relationship? It was more like they were on some twisted quest together, just acting as traveling companions until they could get rid of the ruby mplant.

Except traveling companions didn't usually do the things that Kor did to her. Things that Maggie was afraid to admit she was growing to crave, even to herself.

To start with, Kor kept her dressed in a long sleeved b.u.t.ton down shirt that looked a lot like a man's dress shirt from Earth. It was dark red and big enough to pull around her if she got chilly but he asked her to leave it unb.u.t.toned at all times so he could always reach her. It provided what he'd said he wanted-easy access to her body. And slowly, Maggie began to get used to opening the shirt and letting him touch her any time he wanted to...or was it any time she needed him to? It was hard to tell...the lines began to blur as they fell into a routine.

They ate every meal together and sat together during the day, reading or watching vids on the couch or simply talking-a luxury they hadn't had when they first met. Maggie learned a great deal about the man she had helped escape from the clutches of Lady Pope'nose because little by little, Kor opened up to her. She learned of his past as a slave, knowing that his life was not his own and the b.l.o.o.d.y fights to the death in the arenas of the Blood Circuit. She also heard how he had lost the only woman he knew as a mother and had seen countless others torn away from each other as well.

"That's why I left you," he said in a low voice, when they were talking late one night. "I should have waited to see that you got safely aboard that Kindred ship. But I couldn't stand it...couldn't stand to be the one saying goodbye. Especially not when you were the one going."

"Oh, Kor..." Maggie's heart swelled and she pressed herself against him, putting her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly, not caring that her naked b.r.e.a.s.t.s were pressed against his broad, bare chest. It seemed right to offer him comfort-to try and ease his pain the way he eased hers.

Kor made a soft, wordless noise and buried his face in her hair, breathing her in. He wrapped long, strong arms around her and held her to him as though he never wanted to let her go. And in that moment, Maggie didn't want him to.

Of course, Maggie opened up to him as well-physically as well as emotionally. She told him about her work and her family although they avoided talking about Donald as much as possible. Kor was a good listener, asking a lot of questions about her life on Earth which seemed to fascinate him.

Just as Kor had said, physical contact was a necessity. At any given time when they were sitting on the couch he either had an arm around her or she was nestled in his lap. And most of the time he was either stroking one of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and playing idly with her nipples or cupping her bare p.u.s.s.y.

Sometimes he was content to simply hold her in his hand-at other times he would spread her outer lips and slip one finger into her hot, inner folds. It made it hard to think when he traced her swollen c.l.i.t over and over. At first Maggie complained about it...but Kor pointed out that she needed it-needed regular, deliberate stimulation to keep the implant in check. She couldn't argue with that but she still felt unsure about letting him finger her so intimately and make her come when she didn't really need to. Hesitantly, she told him so.

"Is this better then?" Kor asked, sliding two long fingers deep inside her. "Want to just sit her like this while we talk instead of having me stroke your c.l.i.t?"

Maggie shifted in his lap, feeling exposed, feeling penetrated, and realized to her shame that she liked the sensation. There was something hot about being open and wet for him any time of the day, something intensely exciting about giving up control of her body to Kor and letting him do whatever he thought was good for her.

"I guess...guess either one is okay," she said at last, shifting again as his fingers began f.u.c.king slowly in and out of her.

"That's good, blondie," he growled. "Because I like fingering your soft little c.u.n.t. Like it a lot."

That was the end of that discussion and Maggie never tried to stop him from touching her again. Instead she was much more likely to spread her legs when he pushed his hand between them. It simply felt too good for her to keep worrying about it. And whether it was an effect of the implant or simply the way she felt about Kor, she was always hot and ready for him whenever he touched her.

After a day or two of this she got so used to it, it began to seem strange if he wasn't touching her in some way. And since it was true that the constant touching kept her implant from cycling out of control again, she told herself being naked and in his arms all the time was necessary. Something she couldn't help or control. So she might as well relax and get used to it and stop stressing about it. Stop stressing about Donald, you mean and the way you're cheating on him, whispered a little voice in her head but Maggie pushed it resolutely away.

At night they slept close together in the large, elaborate gilded bed which had a place of honor in the center of the ship's one and only bedroom. Because she needed constant intimate contact, they slept naked-a situation which had made her nervous at first, especially since the minute Kor pulled off his black leather trousers, his ma.s.sive c.o.c.k sprang free. It stood up between his thighs, thick and pulsing-clearly hard and ready for action.

"It's all right, blondie," he'd rea.s.sured her, sliding into the bed and holding open the covers for her. "Didn't I promise never to hurt you? And you know I won't take advantage-won't do anything you don't want me to."

"I...but I..." How could Maggie tell him that the reason she was hanging back wasn't because she didn't trust him...but because she didn't trust herself?

"Come on," he said patiently. "I don't bite."

Reluctantly, Maggie crept into bed with him. Kor was lying on his back and he turned her on her side and pulled her close fitting her against him like a piece of puzzle. Maggie's head rested on his chest and she fit against his side perfectly.

She couldn't help snuggling against him, rubbing her cheek against his warm, scratchy chest and breathing in his dark male spice. His arm around her shoulders made her feel safe and secure and his big body was so warm she wasn't cold at all.

Maggie had to admit to herself that she could never remember feeling this comfortable with Donald at night. For one thing, her fiance most definitely was not a snuggler-in fact, he got aggravated if she invaded his side of the bed. And for another, he was just too boney. Sleeping with Donald was like trying to sleep with an irritable skeleton who always stole the covers.

Kor's body, on the other hand, was big and hard but comfortable. It seemed to fit with hers perfectly, as though they'd been made for each other. And since they were sleeping so close, cover stealing wasn't an issue. It was actually really nice.

Kor must have felt the same way because he sighed with evident pleasure once he got her settled against him.

"G.o.ds, this feels good. Being so warm and naked and close with you. Love the feel of your soft, curvy little body pressed against me, blondie."

"It does feel nice," Maggie admitted, though she missed his big hands on her, constantly stroking her b.r.e.a.s.t.s or cupping her p.u.s.s.y. She wondered uneasily if they would be able to hold her implant induced cravings at bay while they slept. After all, he couldn't reasonably be expected to touch and caress her intimately while they were sleeping. So what were they going to do?

Kor seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Better spread your legs blondie," he murmured. "Press your p.u.s.s.y against my thigh. I think as long as we have skin-to-skin contact that way all night you'll be okay."

Maggie blushed but did as he said. Throwing one leg over his long, muscular one, she pressed her naked mound against his hard thigh, feeling the muscles contract as he reacted to her proximity.

"G.o.ds, you're wet," he muttered, his voice dropping to a low, l.u.s.tful growl. "You think this'll help keep your cycle down while we're sleeping?"

Maggie bit her lip. "I don't know...maybe." She didn't sound too certain, even in her own ears. It wasn't that the feel of his thigh against her wasn't good...it just didn't seem to be deliberate enough. She could feel the implant pulsing a little faster at the thought. What would she do if she woke up in the middle of the night with the ruby blinking like a strobe light and her desire completely out of control?

Kor was still watching her closely. "How are you feeling, sweetheart? Need me to touch you or lick your p.u.s.s.y?"

Maggie felt her cheeks get warm. "Kor..."

"I'm serious, blondie. Let me know what you need."

Maggie thought about it but finally shook her head. "Having you, uh taste me, might help to start with but I don't think the effects would last all night. And I really don't need you to right now. I'm just worried about later."

"Later. Right." He sighed and shifted. "Too bad. I love eating your sweet little p.u.s.s.y. You taste so sweet and come so hard when I bury my tongue in your soft c.u.n.t."

"Kor," she protested again, feeling herself heat up with an all-over body blush. "We...you shouldn't talk like that. We're only doing these things because we have to."

"Just because a male has to do something doesn't mean he can't love it," he murmured. "Just thinking about going down on you makes me hard as a rock."

To Maggie's discomfort, she could see the hard bulge under the covers and knew he was telling the truth. Knowing that he was hard because of her gave her severely conflicting emotions. On one hand she felt guilty because he was constantly pleasuring her and she was giving nothing in return. But on the other hand, she felt guilty because she was certain that touching Kor intimately when she didn't need to would be taking things too far-would be cheating on Donald.

Okay, so maybe her feelings weren't so conflicted after all. Basically, she just felt guilty.

"Kor..." she said, shifting against him restlessly. "I'm, uh, sorry I can't...I haven't...you know, helped you the way you've been helping me."

"Why should you?" He seemed surprised. "I'm not the one with the implant, blondie-you are. Why should you touch me?"

"Well, because...you've been touching me all day, making me feel good, helping me not to hurt. And I haven't, uh, reciprocated at all."

"You don't have to," Kor said gently. "I like touching you-h.e.l.l, I f.u.c.king love it. It's not your fault helping you out makes me hard. Besides, I'm a big boy-I can take care of myself."

He slipped one large hand under the covers and Maggie watched with wide eyes as the bedspread twitched with the movement of his stroking.