"To save me?" She looked at him uncertainly. "What are you saying?"

"That your nectar must flow one way or another," he rumbled. "If not, it will become a poison inside you. Emily..." He cupped her chin firmly and looked earnestly into her eyes. "It must be allowed to flow."

"Well...all right. But are you sure you don't mind? I mean...you don't think it's kind of, well, gross?"

"To taste the nectar of a Khalla? To taste your nectar?" He looked at her as if he couldn't believe she'd even asked such a question. "How could tasting the fullness of your b.r.e.a.s.t.s be anything but bliss?"

"Um...okay then. If you really don't mind."

"Emily," he said seriously, catching her eyes. "What I am about to do is a forbidden fantasy. Sucking the nectar from the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of a Khalla is something every Beast Kindred male dreams of...yet knows he must never do. I will be committing sacrilege and yet it will be so sweet even d.a.m.ning my soul to the Seven h.e.l.ls will be more than worth it."

"Wow...all right then. But you really feel like it's going to d.a.m.n you? I mean, it's that bad?"

He nodded slowly. "But do not concern yourself with that. I was d.a.m.ned long before I met you-d.a.m.ned by the sins of my past. It doesn't bother me to add one more to my long list of transgressions, especially if it helps you survive."

"In that case I guess we'd better get started," Emily said as lightly as she could.

She didn't share his conviction that allowing him to suck her nipples was deeply wrong so that part didn't bother her. What did bother her was how much she wanted to feel his mouth on her again. As well as the fact that she didn't want to flow like a freaking fountain, as he had described earlier. Still, there didn't seem to be much choice about that. The aching fullness of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s was driving her crazy-she had to get it fixed even if it meant watering the lawn everywhere she went from now on-or at least until this stage of the Tenrah was over.

"Come then." Tragar looked relieved that she was agreeing to this so easily. "Come back to the bed with me and let me try to ease your pain."

"Okay." Emily allowed him to take her hand and lead her back into the bedroom with its big flower covered bed. She expected him to sit her on the side of the bed and get down on his knees before her, as he had earlier. Instead, to her surprise, he toed off his high black boots and removed his vest. Then, wearing only his black leather trousers, he climbed into the middle of the bed and settled against the headboard, which was made of flowering vines.

"Come here," he said and patted his lap. "Come to me, Emily."

"Um...really? You want me to sit in your lap?" Because that seemed to be his meaning.

"It will be easier to reach you in this way," Tragar said reasonably.

Easier for him to reach her but a h.e.l.l of a lot harder for her to disguise what she was feeling when he put his mouth on her sensitive nipples...and to hide the star-silver shaft that was still lodged firmly inside her p.u.s.s.y.

He must not see it! whispered an insistent little voice in the back of her brain that sounded strangely familiar. He must not see it or he will want to take it out-and that must not happen!

Still, there didn't seem to be much else she could do. Tragar was looking at her expectantly and she didn't know how to say no.

I'll just pull the hem of the nighty as low as it will go over my thighs, she told herself uneasily as she climbed onto the bed beside him. Which would solve the problem of hiding the shaft, but not of hiding the inevitable o.r.g.a.s.ms that were sure to wrack her body the moment he started sucking her sensitive nipples.

Emily knew she shouldn't care anymore-after all, by this time the big Kindred had given her more o.r.g.a.s.ms than she could count. But still, he'd always been touching her from behind while he tugged and pinched her nipples. The idea of facing him and showing him her "O face" while he made her come made Emily feel intensely vulnerable and uncertain. But again, she didn't see a way around it.

"Okay," she said, climbing carefully onto the bed. She scooted next to him.

"Come here." Tragar patted his lap again. "Straddle me. I need you close, Khalla."

Emily had given up on trying to get him not to call her that-after all, there was no disputing what she was and what her body was going through. Biting her lip, she tugged the hem of the periwinkle blue nighty as low as she could and threw one leg over his lean hips. The movement jostled her full b.r.e.a.s.t.s and she gave a little moan of pain.

"All right. It's going to be all right, my Khalla," Tragar murmured, reaching out to cradle her full globes gently. His touch made her feel instantly better and Emily felt a little of the tension leaving her body.

"Thank you," she said softly, settling into his lap. She could feel the big muscles of his thighs tense under her bare bottom as well as the familiar hard ridge of his c.o.c.k. She didn't move away from it though it made her cheeks burn to know she was the cause of his erection. "Um...how do we get started?" she asked, feeling awkward just sitting there.

"Sit forward a little and bring your breast to my mouth." His deep voice was slightly hoa.r.s.e and Emily couldn't help noticing his golden eyes were half-lidded with l.u.s.t. She started to raise up a little, to put her right breast to the level of his lips...but then she stopped.

"Why do you want to do this?" she blurted, unable to hold the question back. "I mean...why do you want to help me? Is it just because you're a guy and you like b.o.o.bs or what?"

"b.o.o.bs?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Um, b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Sorry." Emily shook her head. "Forget I asked."

"No, it's a fair question," he said unexpectedly. "One you deserve an answer to. I..." He cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. "Earlier I told you that I was only helping you because of my reaction to your scent."

"Because of biology," Emily whispered. Her heart was pounding for some reason but she didn't know why.

"Exactly." He nodded. "I think that must have given you the idea that I didn't care about you as a person."

"Well, you didn't know me as a person," Emily pointed out.

"True." He nodded again. "But even from the first-even before I smelled your sweet, hot scent-I knew something was different about you." He frowned. "I watched you for over ten of your Earth days, you know, trying to understand what it was...why I was so reluctant to kill you."

"You...you did?" She'd known he was hunting her...stalking like a predator stalks prey. But she'd had no idea that he had spent so long just watching and wondering about her.

"I did." Gravely, he nodded. "I saw how patient and tender you were with the young ones in your care. And it made me think of..."

"Of...?" Emily urged gently, because the big Kindred had paused and seemed to be having a hard time continuing.

"Of my mate," he said at last, heavily. "My mate and my son."

"You're married?" Emily drew back from him. "Or what do the Kindred call it-joined? You're joined?"

"No longer." His deep voice was harsh and there was a pain in his golden eyes that made her heart ache.

"Tragar..." she began but he shook his head.

"No more. I do not wish...I cannot speak of them."

"Okay," Emily said softly. Clearly something really bad had happened. Maybe he and his wife had gone through a bitter divorce and she'd taken his son away to someplace Tragar couldn't see him?

"The past is irrelevant," he said and cleared his throat. "The only reason I bring it up is to say that I saw a gentleness in you-a beauty I could not bear to wipe out of existence. And since then, since I have come to know you, I..." He cleared his throat again, clearly having difficulty choosing his words. "What I'm trying to say is that while the biological imperative to protect a Khalla is incredibly strong, it is not the only reason I am helping you." He met her eyes. "I also...care for you. Far more than I ever expected I would."

"Well...thank you. I, um, care for you too. When we're not shouting at each other." Emily smiled, finding herself unexpectedly touched by his stilted little speech. Clearly he wasn't a guy used to dealing with emotions so making himself open enough to talk to her about what he was feeling-even a little bit-was a significant effort on his part.

"You are welcome." He gave her a small sardonic smile. "Also, being a male, I do like b.o.o.bs.'"

"Tragar!" She slapped him on one broad shoulder but the sudden motion jiggled her overfull b.r.e.a.s.t.s and she gasped.

"Let us turn our attention to getting your nectar flowing." He was suddenly serious. "I would not see you in pain, my Khalla."

"All right." Emily wished her voice didn't sound quite so breathy. "Do...do what you have to do."

"I shall. Though the Elders of the Holy Council would consider it blasphemy, I must attempt to suck the nectar from your b.r.e.a.s.t.s."

Lifting her right breast to his mouth, he drew her swollen nipple between his lips and began to suck.

Emily gasped at the hot, wet sensation of being enveloped in his mouth. Just as she'd expected, she felt the pleasure building inside her almost at once. Her p.u.s.s.y was suddenly slippery and swollen and her c.l.i.t was throbbing.

But to her surprise, the intense pleasure didn't reach a peak. In the past, every time the big Kindred had touched or played with her nipples, she'd had a series of short, sharp o.r.g.a.s.ms almost like electric shocks running through her body. This time it was as though an electrical charge was building up inside her but it couldn't find a way out. After a moment, she moaned in frustration-G.o.d, why couldn't she come?

Tragar pulled back, a worried look on his face. "Am I hurting you?"

"No, not exactly." Emily bit her lip, unwilling to say what the real problem was. After all, she shouldn't want to come in his arms, should she? Hadn't she just been thinking about how embarra.s.sing it was going to be?

Ought to be glad it didn't happen, she told herself sternly. But she couldn't help feeling put on edge, like the pleasure or the charge or whatever it was, was building up inside her with no outlet...nowhere to go. She wondered if Tragar was going to go on but he was looking at her full breast and frowning.

"Nothing," he muttered. "Not a drop. What can be the problem?"

Emily shifted uncomfortably in his lap. She knew exactly what the problem was-what was keeping her b.r.e.a.s.t.s from releasing their amber nectar. But the voice in the back of her head, the voice that sounded like Grandy See-er, wouldn't let her tell him.

It must remain a secret, little Mistress! No one must know, especially not him! You must not tell, hissed the voice and Emily found she was powerless to disobey it, even though she was beginning to want to.

"I'll try the other one," Tragar decided. He looked at Emily. "With your permission, Khalla?"

"Oh, um...sure, go ahead." Emily nodded, feeling her heart speed up again. She wondered if she would come this time, if the building s.e.xual tension would finally be released.

But though Tragar took her pink nipple deep in his mouth and sucked as hard as he could, nothing happened. Well, not exactly nothing, Emily thought. The s.e.xual pleasure continued to grow until she was writhing all over his lap, almost unable to sit still anymore. But still she couldn't come, though her c.l.i.t was throbbing and she felt like she was right on the edge. And still her nectar didn't flow.

At last the big Kindred released her nipple and sat back, panting a little and looking worried.

"Nothing," he growled. "I cannot taste even a hint of your nectar but I know it is there-your b.r.e.a.s.t.s are so full of it they must ache."

"They do," Emily admitted. In fact, the longer this went on, the worse her b.r.e.a.s.t.s hurt. Even the feel of his big, warm hands on her swollen globes wasn't helping her much now. "What are we going to do?" she asked, feeling desperate. "Is there any kind of medicine or surgery..."

"No, nothing like that." Tragar looked at her, frowning. "There is one more thing I can try but I do not know how you will feel about it."

"About what?" Emily looked at him uncertainly.

"Pleasure." He took a deep breath. "I believe that if I could bring you pleasure-bring you to s.e.xual release-that might free your nectar and allow it to flow."

"Oh, uh..." Emily could feel her cheeks getting red. "I mean, how would you...how do you want to do that? I mean, most of the time when you just, you know, pinch and squeeze my nipples, I, uh, come just from that. But this time..."

"This time nipple play isn't bringing you to the peak," he said, nodding. "I know."

"You can tell?" Emily demanded.

"Of course I can, my Khalla," Tragar rumbled. "The soft noises of pleasure you make when you come are unmistakable."

"They...they are?"

He nodded. "There is also the way your pale skin flushes a rosy pink, your rapid breathing, and most of all, your scent. It gets so sweet and hot when you come I can barely resist dropping to my knees to taste your desire right from the source."

"You mean...you want to...Oh, but I couldn't let you do that. I mean, I don't..."

"Peace, my Khalla." Tragar stroked her hot cheek gently, as though to soothe her. "I never meant to say that is how I would bring you to the peak of pleasure now."

"No? You wouldn't? I mean you won't?" Emily tried to still her pounding heart. Just the thought of him between her legs, kissing and tasting her there, made her feel breathless and frightened and uncertain all at once.

"No," he shook his head. "All I want to do is to touch you...to stroke and caress your soft little p.u.s.s.y until you come for me...come on my fingers as I trace your swollen c.l.i.t and explore your secret depths."

His golden eyes were half-lidded and his voice dropped to a soft, deep murmur that sent a hot rush of need and desire sparking through Emily's entire body. G.o.d, hearing him talk like that...it made her ache inside her, made the building charge of pleasure with no outlet, even harder to bear. He was right-she needed to come.

"Yes," she whispered, without thinking about it. "Yes, do...do that. I want you to." Then she realized how shameless she sounded. "I...I mean, I think it would help."

"I hope it will." Lifting the hem of her nighty, he started to reach between her legs. But then he stopped, frowning. "What's this?"

"What's what?" Emily had been so caught up in the rush of pleasure and need she'd completely forgotten about the secret of the star-silver shaft inside her. Now she suddenly remembered and a spike of shame and fear nearly stopped her heart. She started to close her legs but Tragar was holding them open, looking between her thighs with a stern frown growing on his face.

"Emily," he said in a quiet, dangerous voice. "Is this what I think it is?"

"I don't know-what do you think it is?" The minute the words left her mouth she wished she hadn't been quite so flippant. The look on the big Kindred's face was now terrible to behold and his grip on her thighs was so tight she feared he might leave marks there. She wished she could move but there was no way to get free of him.

"That's star-silver, isn't it?" he demanded, his voice a low growl as he examined the round silver disk which covered her entrance and half her p.u.s.s.y.

Emily knew she couldn't lie.

"Yes," she said in a small voice.

"That f.u.c.king poisonous metal I took off your nipples because of what it did to you? And now I see you've got more of it inside you? In your sacred channel?"

"Well, I've never heard lady parts called a sacred channel' but-"

"You know what I mean." His golden eyes were blazing. "You are a Khalla-a G.o.ddess in mortal form. How can you defile and poison yourself with this filth?"

"Because I don't want to be a G.o.ddess in mortal form, okay?" Emily flared at him. "And I don't want the other taking over my body. I just want to go back to being plain old Emily the kindergarten teacher from Tampa."

He looked at her steadily.

"Even at the cost of your life? For that is the price you will pay if you keep the star-silver inside you."

"Don't be ridiculous. I won't really die just from stopping the Tenrah." She looked at him uncertainly. "Will I?"

The big Kindred just looked at her until Emily finally dropped her eyes, unable to bear the intensity of his golden gaze.

"All right, fine," she muttered. "I'll take it out." She got off his lap and turned her back, not wanting him to see her groping between her legs. This was embarra.s.sing enough as it was-she didn't need an audience. Don't do it, whispered Grandy See-er's voice in the back of her head. I have to, she argued. I have no choice.

But when she grasped the star-silver disk at the base of the shaft, she found she couldn't pull it out. In fact, it hurt to even try.

"Ouch!" she gasped involuntarily.

"What is it? Are you unable to get it out?" Tragar sounded concerned but Emily wasn't willing to admit defeat.

"It's fine. I'll be...fine," she said. But her voice came out high and tight and the metal rod inside her refused to budge. Her p.u.s.s.y felt horribly sensitive-even painful. And every time she touched it, it hurt even more but she didn't feel like she had a choice. She had to get this d.a.m.n thing out of her, no matter what the little voice in the back of her head was saying.