ARMOR [New World Book 2] Read online

  Dasks was busy aboard ship and was away from her often. His first attempt at seducing her had failed miserably and she wondered if that was part of it. Dasks seemed to have a limited knowledge of sex and women. He wanted her to explain her body parts but she had been embarrassed with his endless and intrusive questions. He informed her that he knew her sex was up inside her—like it was some kind of conspiracy need-to-know basis. That made Amy wonder even further about this race of male warriors. It appeared only recently that Dasks had learned how a male and female joined. His innocence was sweet after dealing with the lusty deranged hounds on Earth.

  Amy liked the thought of another chance at life, even if it was only for a little while. She had decided she would let Dasks mate with her. What would be the harm? He was handsome and genuinely cared for her well-being. With just a touch from him, she felt compelled to feel more. He knew when she was feeling afraid in the night and held her close. When feeling alone, he offered comfort. It was so strange how he just knew what her emotions were. Dasks had explained it was the way of his people—to sense and scent emotion. That was how they could work side-by-side without much talk—it was thought, or rather sensing the others’ needs. Dasks had awoken Amy from a few nightmares. When she couldn’t sleep at night after these horrible dreams, he spoke to her of his beloved planet. Amy learned the waters there were still poisonous and he was taking her to a planet called Dargon where he had spent some time in exile after Cobra had been briefly overthrown from the government.

  Since Cobra’s reinstatement to power, the planet Dargon had been revamped with more extraordinary holograms until they could harvest any of Earth’s creatures. Dasks was so enthusiastic and genuine. Amy had never met anyone like him and found herself growing fond of him. Amy could tell him after they mated that she was dying and the healing waters wouldn’t heal her breast cancer. The tumor had shrunk a tiny bit more today. She felt bad about the ruse of not telling him right away but after so long, she was actually feeling happy. Why not give herself a chance at fleeting love, or even fondness? What could it hurt?

  “You can’t wander because all of the females onboard have the males feeling a bit too full of themselves with female scents. It’s more than we can take and hard for us to concentrate if we enter into must every other moment. It’s a bit volatile and Cobra wants the women to be safe. We have unfortunately only found forty females so far, of which ten are too young to mate. There are two hundred warriors aboard and many more on Dargon and my home planet. Like you had been, many women are hiding in terror.”

  “Are you saying I’ll be raped if you let me out?” Amy asked, appalled.

  “What is rape?”

  Amy blinked. He looked sincere enough. “When a man or male forces a woman to accept him inside her.”

  “Cobra has only explained to his warriors who have found women to mate with what goes where. And has demanded the women must be willing.”

  “Huh? You mean to tell me these men have no idea how to have sex with a woman? They haven’t seen anything have sex before? Haven’t you?”

  “Females have been gone from our planet for centuries. Most Castians aboard this vessel are the same age as me and only just hit their sexual prowess. There are no females of any kind on our home planet where I grew up,” he stressed.

  “Not even animals?”

  “Nothing. The poisoned water killed anything female.”

  “Then why can’t I wander if the others don’t know what goes where?”

  “You wouldn’t be harmed on purpose. Castian males are a great deal heavier than human females. Your smell is like an aphrodisiac to us. You could be pinned and while a male desperately tries to figure out what goes where, you would be bitten into submission. Perhaps by more than one male.”

  “Bitten?” Her voice came out in a squeak.

  “It’s how we prepare our females to mate.”

  “I don’t understand. You mean you bite us until we hold still? That’s so cruel.”

  “A bite will make you more compliant for our mating ritual. There is a hormone our teeth secrete when aroused to make us acceptable to you. It calms women so they feel no pain. During our mating you will be marked as mine.”

  “Now wait a minute. You mean like a brand of ownership?”

  “It’s more than that. The mark connects us.”

  “Connects us how?”

  “When a Castian mates, it is for life.”

  Amy winced. “But you’re four hundred years old. I’ll be dead soon enough from old age or, uh, other stuff.”

  “If you allow me to mark you I will give you my gift—humans would call it a groom’s wedding present to his bride. As long as I live, you will live. Castians can live to be thousands of years old.”

  “But what if I die?”

  “Then I will die,” he said simply and smiled.

  Amy could feel the blood drain from her face. Dasks would die if we mated. Thank God she hadn’t let him mate with her before she found this out. She would have given him a death sentence as her ‘gift.’ Now she realized she could never mate with him. It wasn’t fair; she had been so close to a modicum of happiness only to have it stolen. She wanted to cry at the unfairness. Dasks had already come to mean a great deal to her. She liked being with him.

  Dasks held her hand. As always when she felt worried or afraid, his touch calmed her. That he just seemed to know she needed comfort was sometimes unnerving. Secretions from his skin absorbed into her own with the slightest touch. Amy groaned wanting desperately to be in his arms.

  “Don’t you want to mate with me?” he asked.

  He seemed so young for someone so old. Yet he had explained that he had only recently reached his prime. Only when a Castian could mate was he considered an adult.

  “I need time to think about it,” she said evasively. “Can a Castian have sex with a female without mating with her forever? Without marking her as his?”

  “Yes, it’s been done,” he said. “I have learned our own women would allow a male to release his seed, but if she felt he wasn’t ready for her, she would fight him off and the mating wouldn’t take place. Cobra is three thousand years old. He has a son, Rask. Cobra and Rask’s mother never mated.”

  Amy’s heart fell. “I can’t fight you off. You would hurt me.”

  “Never. A Castian warrior would never harm a female on purpose. You give us life. If our armor feels it would be dangereous to a female, it will not go up. That is when we are most vulnerable. You struck me once, remember? You were hurt. The second time you struck my armor, it only had to be reminded how vulnerable you are.”

  “Will you give me time?” Amy asked. “Will you promise not to mark me, not to mate with me?”

  “This is important to you?” Dasks said.

  “It’s very important to me.”

  “I sense you like me,” Dasks said, his face was full of confusion. “But there is something else.”

  “Do you want to have sex or not?” Amy countered.

  “Well sure,” he replied.

  Amy thought a blunt approach would work. Taking his hand she led him to a low bed. She had marveled at the size of the bed and its sturdiness. She marveled more when the bed made itself every day, the sheets rolling back and new ones replicated. Amy stretched out on the cool, clean soft sheets and lay back and waited. She looked over at Dasks who also lay back and waited.

  Moments turned into longer moments. Amy could hear his expelled breath. Dasks looked over at her. Amy frowned.

  “Um, Dasks? Normally a guy starts by touching a woman.”

  “Okay…where?”

  Amy sat up and looked down at him.

  Dasks lay prone with his hands balled by his sides, breathing rapidly.

  Amy realized he really had no idea what to do. The explanation he had received about what went where had apparently fallen short of anything else. The powerhouse was helpless. This could be interesting. Amy touched his chest. Her hand slid down and over his broad shoulde
rs. Dasks’ body was void of hair and nipples. His muscles felt like steel. He was smooth and silky and oh so hard. It felt like touching a pristine race car with all the horses revving under the hood waiting to be unleashed. Her tongue tingled wanting to lick him. Amy bent down and kissed his throat.

  Dasks jumped.

  “Are you tasting me?” he whispered.

  “Yes.” His body was sweet and he felt so good. Her mouth filled with the bouquet of an intoxicating banquet. What a delicacy.

  “Do I taste good?”

  “Yes.” His scent was exhilarating. The absolute maleness of him was arousing and the urge to sink her teeth into him was startling.

  “Can I taste you?”

  Amy’s teeth nipped at him and he jumped again before settling. Her forehead pressed against his warmth. The tip of her nose was cold and she rubbed it across his skin.

  “Sure.” Amy looked up at his face and gasped in surprise. She scooted back in a hasty retreat almost falling off the bed.

  “What?”

  Dasks sat up fast and reached for her. Amy scrambled further away from him.

  “Your teeth, your fangs are showing,” she stammered. She hadn’t seen him with fangs unless he was armored.

  Dasks lifted his finger and traced his ivory fangs. “I think they’re supposed to be out.”

  “Well put ’em back,” she demanded.

  Dasks frowned and concentrated. His face screwed into an even deeper concentration. “They won’t budge.”

  “I told you I don’t want to mate yet.”

  “Well don’t panic. I promise not to bite you.”

  “Maybe we shouldn’t do this,” Amy said.

  “Yes we should,” Dasks almost yelped.

  His hand slid over her bare arm.

  “I can smell your pheromones and they’re driving me nuts.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

  Dasks held still. “You’re not afraid of having sex with me. I can scent your arousal all over your body. You’re afraid I’ll mate with you. Am I that unacceptable as a mate? I swear I would never hurt you. I’ll take care of you and any of our offspring. Amy, you are a gift. I had never thought to mate; now I have you and a family so close within my reach. Please want me.”

  Amy slumped. He looked crestfallen at her snubbing him. This wasn’t fair to Dasks. She was better than this—to hurt him for her own purpose. It was cruel. After everything he had done for her and she teased him. Dasks deserved the truth. Amy cast a glance at the window. Once again the planet was being bombarded with flames of destructive fire. She was terrified to be sent back out into the hell before her. She saw it every day from the window, taunting her with her deceit. Nothingness was outside, emptiness. If she mated with Dasks and sentenced him to death, she would be as nothing as the Earth and she would feel as empty.

  I won’t take your life.

  “I can’t have sex with you, Dasks. And I can never mate with you. Or any other Castian.”

  “But why?”

  “Your healing water can’t cure what I have. I hoped it would, I almost thought it had. But I can’t pretend at your expense. I have cancer in my breast, Dasks. I’m dying. If you mate with me, I’ll kill you.”

  Chapter 5

  Dasks looked at Amy stunned. He knew she was telling the truth, because the scent was overwhelming. The moment she told him, the smell of deceit and lies slipped away from her like a dirty cast-off blanket. All week he had smelled those awful scents on her. It was the one thing keeping him from claiming her. That and she kept pushing him away. Something awful had been warring within her until today. Today for some reason, she had decided she wanted to mate with him—until she found out she would kill him.

  With those scents gone, the others were more prominent. Loss, she felt loss. Amy had wanted to mate with him and fully become his female. She had been eager and even happy. Her change had lessened the harsher emotions until his desire had built. But she refused to hurt him. Dasks could smell her arousal, her fear and her anger at the unfairness. Amy was thinking other thoughts that had her emotions in turmoil. She was afraid he would do something to her—something awful—and she felt she deserved it.

  “I won’t hurt you, Amy,” he said in confusion.

  When she looked up, he saw a tear trace its way down her pale cheek. It was a rarity that she let her eyes leak in front of him. When his finger scooped up the tear the moisture seeped into his skin, jolting him. Such sadness.

  “I know you would never physically hurt me, Dasks. You have no use for me now. I can’t mate with you or any other Castian. I’m useless. I would rather be dead than dumped back onto Earth all alone. It had been so nice to think my last days would be spent being in your arms.”

  That was what he had sensed. He had won her over. She had let him in and now closed the door. Dasks pulled her into his embrace. “I won’t abandon you. You are still coming to Dargon with me.”

  “But we can never mate,” she argued.

  Amy didn’t even try to pull away from him. Dasks’ skin was reacting to her emotions. Secretions flowed from his body into hers trying to calm her. Her cheek was pressed tight to his chest. His hand soothed up and down her bare skin and Dasks still wanted her no matter what. She gripped him tighter and the most wonderful feeling of being needed bombarded him.

  “What is this cancer?” he asked.

  Amy took his hand and pulled it to her left breast. She was soft and felt so good. She moved his fingers back and over one spot in particular until Dasks felt a lump. The second his fingers touched it his armor raised a warning. This was a definite threat to her life. Dasks could feel his armor straining to do something. He knew it wouldn’t close while he was this close even if it sensed the threat. Instinct not to harm a female was too strong. Dasks pulled back a small way and immediately smelled her hurt.

  “Dasks? Don’t be afraid. It isn’t contagious; I promise you. It’s a malignant tumor. Unless we mate, you are safe from the disease. You are so amazing and I want you so much. The more secretions you release into me, the more I want you. I know the more upset I am the more you respond. It’s like a war of battling emotions.

  “Please, I would like very much to make love to you if you promise not to mate with me. If you can’t promise, then I won’t. This is so unfair and I’m so sorry for both of us. I swear I would have given you all of me if we had mated.”

  Dasks felt her lips touch the side of his neck. He could smell she spoke the truth. This disease wasn’t harmful to him. He also sensed another need. The feel of her emotions was so strong he could almost taste them in his mouth. Perhaps with the secretions he could. Her arousal was so much more than just sexual pleasure, it was also wanting to be comforted. Dasks had never had sex. Was that what bonded them? Joining?

  “I want to learn how to calm your body when we join,” he said.

  Amy choked on a laugh. It was sweet.

  “I suppose there is a frenzied calm when you make love.”

  “What is making love?” Dasks asked.

  “It’s more than a Castian in must. Or even a female in lust. It’s wanting to give while taking what the other has to offer, not demanding it.”

  “I want to make love to you.”

  This making love was important. Dasks could feel it. Amy was afraid for her life, she needed his strength. Dasks knew he could offer her his power. He was a warrior and fearless. Frustrated, he knew it wasn’t the same. He couldn’t protect her from something he couldn’t battle. Dasks felt Amy’s small hands trail over his body. It felt good. He wondered if he would make her feel good if he did the same thing. Dasks’ hand rose and he began to mimic what she did. Her body was incredible and so soft. Her scent of arousal heightened with his touch. Dasks could smell heat wafting to his nostrils and they flared. His lips pulled back a ways to accommodate his fangs that seemed to grow larger. Dasks felt a low groan build in his throat. His cock jumped with life and Dasks stilled. He looked down. Dasks was amazed. His cock
was growing.

  “Amy?”

  “Mmm.”

  Her mouth was pressed against his belly.

  “I don’t want to alarm you, but it appears my fangs aren’t the only thing that grows when I’m aroused.”

  “I see that.”

  She didn’t sound afraid. That was a good sign. Dasks’ eyes widened as her lips went further down. Dasks could see his manhood. Lord of Dargon, it was huge. If he was her, he would have run. Amy didn’t run and he didn’t sense that she found anything unusual about what was happening to him. How can she be so calm? Dasks’ heart almost stopped in his chest when her mouth settled over his huge erection. He gasped in a ragged breath. His hands shook. Dasks couldn’t do the same thing to her…she had no cock! What was he supposed to do? Up and down her mouth slid back and forth over him, around him. Dasks felt the bedding bunch and tear under his fingers. Her tongue laved over him as his entire body quivered.

  It was like nothing Dasks had ever felt before. Amy’s small tongue licked round in circles at his head before she sucked him deep into her mouth again. The velvety softness of her mouth mixed with her scent of wanting to please him made him feel heady. When Amy’s hand reached up to fondle his balls, Dasks was overwhelmed. It took everything he had not to toss her over and lay on top of her.

  Amy’s rounded, beautiful, perfectly formed behind was moving slowly as she mouthed him. Dasks released his death grip on the bedding and held her hips. She pushed him back so he lay down. Her hair was just long enough to brush over him in a teasing gesture. Dasks wasn’t certain, but he guessed instinctively this wasn’t all there was to joining.

  “Amy?”

  Amy released his cock and climbed onto him. “Only if you mark me are we mated, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “If you come inside me, we won’t be mated?”