Mated on Hades Read online

  He reared, throwing his head back and letting out the same growling, somehow fucking erotic as hell howl that he had last night. Jules felt it vibrating through her, sending her rapture crashing in waves that threatened to drown her in sensation.

  “Tarrik!” His name was all she could get out on a breathless sob as she felt the pulse of his cock inside of her, his hot cum nearly scalding her so that she couldn’t tell if she was writhing in pleasure or pain because it all felt the same now. She was incandescent ecstasy, wallowing in the deluge of complete erotic bliss.

  ******

  The small tremors of Juliette’s body as Tarrik practically collapsed on top of her at least reassured him that she’d been just as affected as him.

  Just like last night.

  He brushed a kiss over her temple.

  Although her eyes were closed, he saw the little smile that curved her lips before he began to pull himself out of her body, which made her moan. Then all of her muscles seemed to go lax, alarming him… but her breathing was even and steady.

  Now it was his turn for a little smile, full of smugness at the evidence of how well he’d done.

  Gently, Tarrik cleaned them both up before pulling her onto his side of the bed, wrapping himself possessively around her. She cuddled up to him in her sleep, far softer and more open than she was when she was awake.

  It occurred to him that she may have used sex to distract him from the conversation he’d wanted to have with her.

  Frowning, he cradled her on his shoulder, running his fingers through her hair.

  Well if she thought he was always going to be distracted or put off that easily, she had another ‘think’ coming.

  Chapter 7

  Tarrik was frustrated.

  Not sexually, because he and Juliette were still have a rampant amount of hot-supposedly-means-nothing-sex… but the sex definitely meant something to him and he was pretty sure it meant something to her to. Getting her to admit that however…

  Actually, getting her to talk about much of anything personal in general wasn’t easy. Even simple questions.

  “What’s your favorite food?”

  “Grilled cheese and noodle soup.”

  “Is that a common favorite food on Earth?”

  She hesitated. “It’s not uncommon I guess. So, where are we going next?”

  It wasn’t that he didn’t like how she was always ready for the next adventure – he did – but he was starting to feel a little hurt at how she wouldn’t talk about anything about herself. He was starting to feel like it would be easier to pull off one of Mrik’s wings than it would be to get Juliette to open up to him. The process seemed about as painful.

  Yet every night she enthusiastically submitted to his passion. Met him thrust for thrust. Willingly experimented with him. And seemed to have a particular fondness for his tail.

  Tarrik couldn’t get enough of her. He wanted to know everything about her, wanted to be the keeper of her secrets, the pleasurer of her body, and the claimant to her heart.

  Even though she wouldn’t talk about anything personal, he admired what he did know. She’d already become a member of the crew and had made herself useful all over the place. Even Shonik had taken to asking her advice on occasion. She was garking brilliant. The clients all loved her. Tarik was making more money than ever on this run because they became so entranced watching Juliette’s joy and interest in being on a new planet and meeting new species that the didn’t bargain very well.

  Granted, he was enjoying it just as much, but he also saw her reactions every time. Had the opportunity to take her around after the buying and selling was over.

  He took her to see the Fountains of Night on Kalgiers, the Great Market on J’x, and the deep caves on Lish. She’d been fascinated by the Lishen, a limbless race who mostly dwelt underground. When Tarrik questioned her, she was happy to tell him all about the snakes of Earth, although she clammed up when he asked if she’d ever seen one before.

  “Once at the zoo, when I was a child.”

  And anything about her childhood was off-limits.

  Tarrik was starting to wonder if the situation was hopeless. So he changed tactics and began to tell her about him.

  ******

  Was it possible to become addiction to a person?

  Or, to a 'being' since he wasn't human, but Jules thought of him and the crew as people. Part of her desperately wanted them to be her people, but the rest of her balked at the idea. That desire was a surefire way to end up hurt and miserable once she was alone again.

  It was so hard not to become attached to them all.

  Even harder not to become obsessed with Tarrik.

  He was so much more than the manbaby she'd originally pegged him as. Granted, he'd still be kind of a jerk when she'd first shown up, but knowing that he'd had good reason to think she was lying about a number of things - and his apology and immediate turnaround when he'd realized she hadn't - she had forgiven him. Now... she liked him. Liked sharing a room with him. Liked fucking him and sleeping in his arms every night.

  Liked spending time on the bridge during the day and seeing how the ship worked. Hell, the male had let her take charge for a while. Only while everything was calm and routine but still... sitting the in Captain's chair had been a rush. It had also fueled a lot of fantasies about doing quite a few other things in that chair.

  Although she couldn't understand how she was still horny. She'd have thought that, being used to abstinence, having sex a couple of times should satisfy her. Instead it seemed to have awoken an insatiable craving. It was a wonder she wasn't walking funny.

  But if Tarrik hadn't been pouncing on her every chance he got, she would have been the one jumping on him. The male had licked, touched, and caressed every part of her and thoroughly explored each of her holes with either his cock or his tail. So far they hadn't had actual anal sex, but his tail had been inside of her ass multiple times. The thing seemed to have a mind of its own - a perpetually perverted one.

  She almost felt weird during the times when she wasn't around him, like there was something missing from around her ankle, because she'd become so used to have his tail casually coiled there.

  Going back to Earth was so going to suck .

  You know... you don't have to go back. You could give this mate thing a try...

  The thought was even more seductive than Tarrik. Even more tempting than the friendship of his crew. Even more enticing than the familial warmth his parents had immediately bestowed upon her.

  So of course she resisted it.

  But he made it so hard.

  "Have you ever heard of billy goats?" she asked him, when he was telling her yet another story from his childhood while they walked through the ship, after his shift on the bridge.

  "No," he said looking at her curiously.

  "They're a kind of animal on earth, but they like to head butt each other too," she teased. "They eat pretty much anything and everything, and they spend a lot of their time just knocking into each other. Sounds like you to me."

  Tarrik gave her a mock-angry scowl. "It wasn't head-butting exactly."

  "Sounds like it to me."

  He reached for her and she squealed playfully, dancing just out of his arms length and away from his tail. "I'll show you what it was like, little tease, now come here."

  "Eek! The Billy-Goat-Gruff is out to get me!"

  "What the gark is a Billy-Goat-Gruff?!" His arm fell uselessly through the air as he tried to snatch at her, his tail lashing behind him. The edges of his wings opened slightly, a sure sign that he was enjoying her teasing as much as she was.

  "An old Earth story my mom told me," she said, still giggling, before she practically stumbled as she realized she'd just told him something personal, a treasured memory of her mother before her father left and when her mom still told her bedtime stories.

  But she couldn't become sad, couldn't wallow in the memory - she didn't have time before Tarrik got his hands on her
and had her pressed up against the wall. There was no room for anything but arousal as the heat of his body practically seared her, the reddish glow that she loved so much becoming bright enough to see even under full light.

  "And did your Billy-Goat-Gruff do anything like this?" he asked, lifting her so that she had to wrap her legs around his waist and he could rub his hard cock against her pussy, separated only by the millimeters of fabric between them. Jules' could feel how slick she already was just from that one little movement.

  His wings had unfurled, hiding them from the view of the hall, creating an illusion of privacy. It was, however, just an illusion.

  "Woo-hoo! Captain's putting on a show!"

  "Oh no," Jules groaned, her blush heating her face as she recognized Korik's voice, followed by Lessys' hiss of laughter. Immediately she pushed Tarrik away so that she was no longer trapped between him and the wall.

  "Like you and Sasslys haven't done worse," Tarrik shouted back down the hallway, turning towards the pair as he backed up. He kept one arm wrapped around Jules' waist though, unwilling to relinquish his hold entirely.

  Later, back in the privacy of his cabin, Jules requested he put her back up against the wall and do everything he'd had in mind earlier... and fifteen minutes later she was impaled on his cock and his tail, writhing between him and the wall as he fucked her to screaming orgasm.

  ******

  "What's this?"

  "Vegem fruit. It's actually from Hades," Tarrik said, amused as he watched Juliette examine the spiky bulb with interest. The planet Alime was known for having produce and treats from all over the galaxy, and Juliette seemed interested in all of it.

  "And it's edible?"

  "Yes."

  "What does it taste like?"

  "Fire."

  She shot him a look. "No, really."

  "Really." He shook his head at the stubborn expression forming on her face. The same one he'd seen when she'd been unable to beat Davik in a race to the top of the climbing wall in the rec room. Although having her limp and too tired to move afterwards had been fun, he rather liked her mouth in working condition. "It's an acquired taste, and by acquired I mean through determination and pain."

  "Have you acquired it?"

  Tarrik groaned and turned to the shopkeeper, an amused looking Iridian who had been listening to their byplay with interest. "Please tell her."

  The Iridian trilled in amusement, clacking her short beak, feathers ruffling as she shrugged her shoulders. "Your male is correct. Is a painful food. You would like tras or vellen better, yes? But..."

  "But?" Juliette asked before he could stop her.

  "I do have free sample, if you like to try."

  Immediately Juliette's dark eyes lit up with interest.

  "Don't do it," Tarrik said immediately, his tail tightening where it was currently entwined around Juliette's ankle. It was half-plea, half-warning.

  She turned her head, narrowing her eyes at him as the Iridian rustled behind her in the booth, getting the promised sample. "You've tried it. You don't think I can handle it?"

  "Iridians have an odd sense of humor. You aren't going to like it and I think you are going to regret it, unless human taste buds differ vastly from the rest of the universe."

  Her lips firmed and Tarrik bit back a groan. Stubborn human. Too stubborn for her own good and determined to prove... something. He wasn't sure what.

  "If I can handle your cum, I think I've proven that heat doesn't necessary bother my taste buds," she retorted back, just as the Iridian turned around with a tray of dried Vegem. At least it was dried, so it wouldn't be quite as strongly flavored. Before he could continue to argue with her, Jules quickly snatched up a piece off the tray and popped it into her mouth.

  Don't laugh. Do not laugh, do not laugh, do not laugh...

  If he'd thought he'd seen her face turn red before, that was nothing compared to what she looked like now. Her skin nearly matched the color of his and her eyes immediately started watering as she spat the fruit out into her hand while the Iridian cackled madly.

  “Burning! It tastes like burning!” She gasped for air, her hands going to her tongue and running over it as if she could scrape the sensation away.

  Tarrik gestured to the Iridian who immediately handed over some Korillian milk, which it already had ready. Iridians liked a good practical joke but they didn’t enjoy needless suffering.

  “Drink, this will help.”

  Juliette grabbed the glass before he’d even finished speaking – a measure of either her trust or her desperation, he wasn’t sure which. She made an odd noise in the back of her throat as she swallowed the cooling liquid, but she didn’t stop drinking.

  Feeling his mouth twitch, Tarrik pushed his smile back down. Don’t laugh. Don’t say ‘I told you so.’

  The temptation to do both was great, but he managed. When Juliette finally had finished the last of the glass, she glared at him through squinted, teary eyes, her voice a croak.

  “Why didn’t you stop me?!”

  He gave her a hard look.

  She looked away.

  The Iridian cackled again and Juliette turned her glare on her. “That was mean.”

  “It was your choice,” the female answered with a careless shrug. “You were warned. And it was quite amusing.”

  “Glad to have been of service,” Juliette said sarcastically.

  Cackling again, the Iridian reached under the counter. “Here. My payment for the amusement you gave me. Real earth chocolate.”

  Immediately Juliette’s expression changed to one of almost reverence, and Tarrik’s attention was riveted. He’d never heard of this food before, but obviously it meant something to Juliette.

  “Chocolate? Really?” She held her hands outstretched and the Iridian dropped a small, shiny bar of something into them. It was about the size of Juliette’s palm and didn’t look very impressive to him, but Juliette crushed it to her chest like it was more precious than Netherian crystals.

  He made a mental note. Chocolate.

  ******

  She was on the planet of Chrysili for the famed Festival of Stars.

  Jules was so in awe she pinched herself more than once before Tarrik caught her at it and asked in completely bewildered tones what she was doing. Too embarrassed to explain, she’d just told him she was itchy and immediately changed the subject.

  They weren’t even supposed to be here. Tarrik’s lead pilot, Davik, had mentioned that they’d be passing by and would probably be able to see some of the famed celestial bursts (basically fireworks in space was how Jules thought of them) as they went past during the week-long celebration, and Jules’ attention had immediately been caught. Seeing her interest, Tarrik had decided to divert the ship so they could make an impromptu day trip.

  The rest of the crew had agreed eagerly, even Shonik once Davik had assured him that they would still make the next scheduled stop without a problem as they were actually running ahead of schedule thanks to the work Jules had done on the ship. The crystals had them speeding through their route at a much faster pace than usual.

  After the Vegem incident, however, she was a lot more careful about what kind of exotic food she put into her mouth. She definitely didn't feel the need to prove anything anymore when Tarrik cautioned her about something, she just believed him. Especially since she now knew he was perfectly willing to watch her make her own mistakes.

  She really liked that about him.

  Stop thinking like that!

  "Look," Tarrik said, grabbing her hand and pulling her along the avenue towards a large array of colorful stalls. "We should get you a souvenir. They've got a bunch."

  With her hand enclosed in his hot embrace - since he didn't let go even when she was walking beside him - Jules felt the strangest emotion stirring in her chest. It almost felt like she wanted to cry but she didn't know why that would be so when she felt so very... happy.

  "What do you think?" Tarrik said, coming to a halt in fron
t of the first stall and looking over the offerings. His tail immediately began winding around its usual spot on her ankle."A holovid? Something to wear? Artwork? We could have something framed to put up in our cabin."

  The casual way he said 'our cabin' was like a punch to the chest. The awful fucker known as hope was clawing at her insides, telling her this was real, begging her to believe. And she wanted to. Because maybe, just maybe, Tarrik and his crew were there to make up for everything she'd lost back on Earth. Maybe Celestial Mates had put her exactly where she was supposed to be, where something good was finally going to happen in her life.

  Where she was finally going to have a place to belong.

  "Um... I don't know yet," she said, looking up at him and smiling almost shyly. "Can we look around and see what's here?"

  "Of course."

  Hands still firmly clasped together, they ambled through the stalls and Jules saw a lot of things she wanted to have but nothing that seemed quite right. Nothing that really summed up the way she was feeling right now. Anything would help remind her of it, but there was nothing that really captured the monumental emotions rolling through her.

  At least, not until...

  "Holodecks! Get your holo taken with the Celestial Bursts behind you!" The hawker was at the end of the street, calling out his advertisement and holding up a camera.

  "There! That! I want that!" Jules exclaimed, practically tripping as she jumped forward. Since they'd been standing still, Tarrik's tail had already wrapped around her ankle again, although it quickly unwound. Fortunately he had no problem catching her - and she barely noticed as she hurried over.

  They were just in time too. The next Bursts were due to start in just five minutes, which they spend finding the perfect spot on one of the balconies just as people starting to line them, waiting for the spectacular galactic display. The Chrysili used their yearly meteor shower to enhance the bursts they set off themselves and the results were spectacular. Tarrik and Jules had already watched two of the shows and even though she definitely wanted to see as much of this one as possible, she wanted the holopic even more.