Taken by Surprise Page 14

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and dug her fingernails into his shoulders. The sharp little sensation winged its way down his spine until he had to pull away from her mouth and blow out a hard breath to keep from coming.

  His own knees went a bit loose, and he knelt on the couch so he wouldn’t fall over. Zoe’s legs went around his waist, opening her up to him.

  He eased her against the back of the couch. Shadows hid her, but his eyesight was good enough to see just how pretty she was.

  Her labia were puffy and flushed. He reached between them and slid one finger along her skin until he felt the hot wetness of her arousal. He should have stopped and petted her more, but he was lost, needing to be inside of her, if only some small part of him.

  He eased a single finger inside. She was hot and slick enough that he knew he wasn’t rushing her. As he pulled out and pushed back again, a wet heat welled around his finger, welcoming him. She shuddered and let out a soft, quivering sigh.

  Talan added a second finger, preparing her for his cock. He watched her face as he moved, gauging her expression. Her head fell back, her eyelids fluttered. The flush crept down her chest, and a faint sheen of perspiration glittered along her brow.

  He could see every move he made—every twist and crook of his fingers—in her face. Learning what she liked was easy. Mapping her pleasure—making note of the spots that had her breath catching in her lungs—it distracted him from the grinding need of his own throbbing lust.

  Her grip on his neck tightened. Her hips began to move faster, working in time with his fingers gliding inside of her.

  He saw her impending orgasm on her face first. Her expression shifted, tightening with surprise, as if she hadn’t expected it. Her vagina fluttered around his fingers. Her stomach quivered. A high, soft cry spilled from her lips.

  Talan had been watching her closely and knew exactly what she needed from him to drive her higher. He suckled her nipple and found that one deep spot inside of her pussy that made her suck in a breath every time he hit it.

  Zoe’s climax stretched out, her voice growing raspy with each louder cry of completion. Finally, her tension drained away and she began to melt again, trusting him to hold her up.

  As the last quivering spasms faded from her body, Talan pulled his fingers free so he could replace them with his cock. He simply couldn’t hold back any longer. He needed to be inside of her, feeling that erotic fluttering of her orgasms against more than just his fingers.

  As he began stretching her flesh, she looked down in surprise. He followed her gaze and saw where their bodies joined—where the tip of his cock was barely tucked inside her body. He was thick and dark. Veins throbbed along the surface. Her legs were splayed wide to accommodate his hips, but it only served as a reminder of how much bigger he was than her.

  “Talan,” she said, and he could hear trepidation wavering in her voice. “Is this going to work?”

  “It’ll work,” he said with absolute certainty. He’d make it work, no matter how long it took him to do so.

  “I don’t know if—”

  He covered her mouth with his, cutting off her words. If she spoke her doubts aloud, they might grow and scare her. She might want to stop, and that simply wasn’t an option.

  Talan kissed her, throwing all his attention into doing just that. Slowly, the tension running through her limbs began to fade and that sweet, glorious melting thing came over her. As she relaxed, he began to move, slowly rocking against her, sliding fractionally deeper with every exhalation she gave. He reached between them and found the tight knot of nerves that made her gasp in delight whenever he touched it.

  Her body accepted him, bathing him in slick heat. Each shallow thrust earned him a little more ground and a low moan of growing arousal from Zoe.

  She was growing hotter by the second. Her hips began to move, pressing toward him in frantic little thrusts.

  He felt the telltale quivering of her impending release. Her mouth became hungry, her teeth nipping at his lips, moving down his jaw in a string of stinging bites that drove him crazy. Slender arms tightened around his shoulders, much stronger than he would have imagined. Muscles in her belly trembled, and she pulled in a deep breath as her orgasm crashed into her.

  There was no way he could ride this out and not come right along with her. He didn’t even try. Instead, he let go and gave in.

  The first spurt of his release left her slick, easing his way. His hips pushed forward, driving his cock the rest of the way inside of her. She cried out, muffling her screams against the side of his neck. Her body milked his, pulling thick, hard pulses of seed from him. Each one made her cry out and tighten around him, trembling as the rush of her climax tore through her.

  Talan held her close, pinning her hips to his so that she wouldn’t pull away yet. Not yet. He needed to be a part of her just a little while longer.

  He lifted her and laid her on the couch, keeping their bodies joined. Her hair spread out across the tan fabric in a wild, glorious mess. Her dark eyes were half open, and a relaxed, slumberous expression painted her face.

  He’d never seen anyone more beautiful in his life than she was right now, all flushed and glowing. It made him wish for things he knew could never be, so that he could stay with her like this, ignoring the demands of two entire worlds.

  A smile toyed with her mouth. “You were right. That did work. Really well, in fact.”

  “You asked for a distraction.”

  “Maybe I should ask for another.”

  His cock twitched inside her body, eager and ready to serve.

  Her eyelids fluttered and her stare zoomed out way past him, loose and unfocused.

  Suddenly, she went still beneath him, and her eyes opened wide. She started to squirm, trying to shove him away as she looked at something over his shoulder.

  Talan turned to see what it was, his body preparing for battle as he levered off of her. His vest was nearby, and he had a handful of sheengs ready to fly before he’d finished making a complete turn.

  There was no threat that he could see. “What is it?” he asked, searching the dark corners near the fireplace carefully. Maybe she’d seen sign of a Krotian moving around, hidden by his suit. Only one faint light glowed in the room, and it was not enough to drive away all the shadows where an enemy could hide.

  “The mural.” Her voice came out faint and strained.

  He looked at the mosaic hanging over the mantle. It was made from small pieces of broken glass and electronics. Little bits of mirror winked within the image of a sunrise over an ocean, making the water look like it was moving. Only a tiny glowing sliver of sun was still visible—a bright, striking yellow among the murky colors surrounding it.

  “What about it?” he asked.

  “That’s what my mind was trying to tell me earlier. He made that mural shortly after we moved here. He spent hours on it. It’s not just hanging on the wall, but part of the wall. I remember him removing a section of drywall right in the center.”

  “I’m not following you.”

  “It’s sunrise. The moment between dark and light.”

  “Whisthrala.”

  Zoe nodded slowly. “Balance.”

  She rose from the couch and slipped his borrowed flannel shirt around her like a robe. The fire had died down to a low, steady flame, and Talan was sure that the hearth would be too hot for her bare feet.

  He grabbed her arm as she passed. “Let me. I can reach it easier.”

  “I’ll turn on the light.”

  “No. We don’t want anyone to know we’re here. I can see well enough.” And he could. Now that he was close to the mural, he could see that the narrow yellow strip of glass protruded just enough for him to grip it with his fingernails. He pulled, and it slid out easily.

  Adhered to the glass was a key that extended into a hollow, recessed area that went back into the wall. Dust covered the contours of the key, but under that the metal gleamed from repeated use.

 
He handed it to Zoe, who cradled it like a precious gift. Tears pooled in her eyes, making copper and rose gold glisten in the brown depths. She blinked them away before they could fall, but he could still see the stain of grief they’d left behind.

  Talan pulled his clothes up over his hips, watching her carefully. She seemed so fragile right now—like the smallest blow would shatter her into a thousand pieces. He ached to comfort her, but he wasn’t sure how. He feared that if he so much as touched her, he’d do something wrong and make things even harder on her than they already were. Comforting was the kind of job better left to those who were gentle. The best he could offer was to distract her from her grief with pleasure, which was more selfish than helpful.

  So instead, he turned his back and gave her as much space as he could stand so that she could grieve without an audience. He couldn’t leave her side—not with Krotian out there somewhere—but Talan didn’t have to stare.

  He was fully dressed by the time she spoke. “I don’t know what this is for, but it must be where he hid the treasure.”

  “So it’s like you said. The key is its own kind of riddle.”

  “Maybe. I guess it could open the safe in his study.”

  Talan turned and frowned at her. “You haven’t looked in his safe since his death?”

  She shook her head, making her glossy hair sway over her shoulders. “No. I haven’t been able to bring myself to go in there. But all the gadgets covering your vest—he used to keep things like that in there.”

  Maybe the sphere was in there and they could get it and leave tonight. The next window would open in a few minutes, but it was too far away. They couldn’t make that one, but there was another not far behind—six or seven hours from now.

  “You should try to open it,” he told her.

  “I will. Give me a minute to clean up.” She disappeared into the bathroom, and when she came back out, the edges of her hair were wet from where she’d washed her face. His flannel shirt hung on her frame, covering her thighs.

  She looked stronger now. Less vulnerable. There were no signs of tears on her face, only determination.

  She went to the door leading to her father’s study, and came to a dead stop. Her hand was on the knob, and he could see her shaking from several feet away.

  Talan remembered the room from his initial search of the house. It was cluttered, with several tables covered in various projects left half finished. It had an air of disuse about it, and during his sweep of the house he had noticed the accumulation of dust coating the horizontal surfaces—like in the man’s bedroom—while the rest of the house was much cleaner.

  “You really haven’t been in there since your father’s death, have you?”

  Zoe’s shoulders fell as she let out a heavy breath. She was still naked beneath his shirt. He was sure she’d washed his semen from her skin, but she would still be slick inside. It would have been easy to come up behind her and lift her just enough to enter her from behind. They wouldn’t have to think about grief or duty—just revel in the sensations of the flesh for as long as they both could stand it.

  Of course everything would still be waiting for them when they were done. Zoe would still have her grief, and he would still have his duty. But for a short time, they could push all of that away.

  Talan came up behind her and pressed his body against hers. He wrapped one arm around her middle and the other around her shoulders, pinning her to his chest. She tilted her head back until it rested against his shoulder. His cock was hard again, and there wasn’t a thing he could do to make that go away. Not without release. And even then he wasn’t sure he could keep the thing down for long while she was around.

  He felt her pulse give a kick and knew his arousal wasn’t a secret.

  As much as he wanted her body again, he couldn’t stand the idea of taking advantage. She might have appeared stronger after washing away her tears, but Talan knew better. She was still vulnerable, still aching from the loss of her father. The last thing he was going to do was fuck her against the door to the dead man’s private space.

  “I’ll go in for you,” he told her. “You don’t have to do this.”

  She was quiet for so long, he wasn’t sure if she’d heard him.

  “No,” she finally said. “I do have to do this. I need to know I can. Besides, this may be the last time I ever walk through his study and see proof of his life lying all around me.”

  “Do you want me to wait here?”

  She tightened her grip on his forearm. “I don’t think I can do it alone.”

  “Then you won’t have to. I’ll be right by your side the whole time.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Zoe never would have made it past the door of her father’s study without Talan there. She hadn’t set foot in this room for months. The door had remained closed as it always was when her father was alive. Even after almost a year, she still hadn’t been able to bring herself to pass the threshold. She only did so now because not doing so would have humiliated her in front of Talan.

  She hated the idea of him seeing her so weak. Sure, she was never going to be a physical powerhouse like him, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have her own kind of strength. She’d faced everything that came at her head on. This was just one more challenge to add to the list.

  As she stepped onto the cool wooden floor, part of her expected something bad to happen—a bomb to go off, arrows to come flying out of the walls, a huge stone to drop from the ceiling. When nothing happened, she was left feeling unsettled and edgy.

  When she was a child, she hadn’t been allowed in here because some of the tools her father used were dangerous, and she was far too curious to understand the meaning of do not touch. Later, when she’d become old enough to be safe, she hadn’t wanted to spend time with her dad—not when her friends and boys were so much more interesting. It had only been during college that she’d come back here and spent time with him in this space. Not much, and not very often. She respected his need for privacy. But she could still remember him laughing with her as they worked to fix her broken computer together.

  As she stared at the things he’d left behind—at the uncompleted projects—it hit her hard that he was never coming back. All his unfinished work would remain unfinished. All his hopes and dreams of seeing Loriah again, of having grandchildren, and of finally visiting her mother’s grave—none of those things would ever be realized. His time was over, just as hers would be one day.

  In that moment she realized that she’d spent the last few months in a kind of limbo, waiting to take her place in the world. She didn’t fit here on Earth. She had no way of returning to her home world without help, nor was she sure she even wanted to. She’d been drifting, searching for something that would move her forward past this wasted, lonely time.

  But now Talan was here, ready to take her home so she could get on with her life as her father had wanted. And all she could do was tremble in fear.

  The war wasn’t over. Based on the scars covering Talan’s body, the bad guys weren’t fooling around. They were playing for keeps, and Zoe was not even close to being prepared for that kind of life. Peace was all she knew. How was she going to stand leaving that behind and diving into some big, scary war?

  She turned around and grabbed Talan’s arms. “What if I don’t want to go back?”

  “You have to.”

  “Dad said I wasn’t to leave if the war was still going on.”

  “He didn’t understand the stakes. We need you, Zoe. Without you, countless people will die. The Raide will be stronger, and Earth could be next. You have to come back and help us defeat them.

  “What if we find the sphere and I let you take it? You don’t need me.”

  “We do.” He waved toward her father’s workbench. “Look at his work. Even I can see his talent shining through, and these projects aren’t even finished. And I saw your talent in those sheengs. You are like your father. Special. Gifted. Precious.”

  Zoe
warmed at his praise, even as she squirmed with the awkward need to hide from it. She’d always felt special, but it hadn’t always been the good kind of special. But when Talan looked at her, all those years of being teased no longer mattered. When he looked at her, she felt brilliant and talented, like she could take on the Raide alone and beat their skinny asses into the dust.

  Too bad it was only an illusion brought on by the kind of sex that made her toes curl with the need for more.

  With Talan at her side, this room no longer seemed quite so scary or sad. She still felt the loss of her father’s presence, but with it was a splinter of hope that she could make him proud. Do all the things he’d left undone.

  She looked at the pile of parts laid out in the spot her father had set aside for her to work on the rare occasions when she did join him. Some of the parts were human technology, but others weren’t. As she stared at the array of pieces, her mind could picture the finished whole. Even without knowing anything about the device her father had been building, she could see its function glowing in obvious brilliance. All she needed was a couple of hours and she could finish one of the things he couldn’t.

  He would have wanted that. He hated leaving things unfinished, and if she hadn’t been so caught up in her own emotions, she would have already taken care of completing every project lying here.

  She pulled away from Talan and sat down, driven by a force so compelling, she didn’t even try to fight it.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “Finishing what Dad started.”

  “What about the safe?”

  “It’s behind the picture of the lake. Take the key. I have work to do.”

  He said something else, but the words didn’t penetrate her sense of purpose. All that mattered was finishing the task laid out before her.