The Perfect Creation

Chapter Nine

Erin kept her head down as she knelt, undone by Rafe’s selfless promise. He couldn’t really want to help her, could he? Because hope was all that had carried her this far in life, a desire for freedom and justice, and the ability to find her own happiness. Though she hadn’t had much in the way of relationships with others, she knew she’d found something special with Rafe. Her energy pulsed in time with his, and if what he said were true, then the wainu they both experienced had as much to do with one another as it did with the sexual act itself.

“You ready to finish your punishment, baby?”

She shivered, thrilled when he called her those pet names in a husky voice. And the slaps he’d given to her ass did crazy things to her insides. She’d never imagined that a rough hand could arouse her so much, as if he strummed her clit instead of smacking her flesh.

“Yes, Sir.” He palmed her butt and stroked her, sliding his thumb into the crease between her cheeks, stretching the opening of her anus. The feel of him there stirred a dark hunger, a thrilling, forbidden pleasure she’d wondered about, especially after seeing the act in one of the many bars she’d visited since her escape. “Rafe—Sir—can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

She turned her head to see him kneeling to the side of her, his shaft ruddy with desire.

“How are you ready again so soon? Your recovery seems incredibly quick, and not typical with what I’ve read about Mardu males.”

“Studious, aren’t you?” Rafe grinned. “But you’re right. Most men wouldn’t equal your stamina.” He sounded pleased with that announcement, and Erin liked the possessiveness in his tone when he spoke to her. “With you the rules don’t seem to apply. And speaking of rules…” He smacked her hard, three times successively, the strikes overly loud in the quiet around them. “It’s high time you answered for hitting me, baby. That’s twice now that you’ve knocked me out cold. There won’t be a third time,” he reinforced in a deep, gravelly voice. Rafe smoothed his hand over the fiery burn of her skin, the contrasting softness of his touch with the hardness of his slaps arousing in the extreme.

She gasped at the surprisingly erotic sensation, her mind pulling her back into a quagmire of submission as he exerted his dominance. “Wh-what are you doing to me, Sir?” His fingers trailed over her ass and between her thighs, delving into the moisture dripping down her legs, and she stared at the ground, focused on the feelings he stoked within her. Before she could answer him, he pinched her clit, and she swore she saw stars from the extreme bliss. “You like that, hmm? The pain and the pleasure.” Erin blushed, unable to control her response as she flooded his fingers with cream. She waited for more— wanting more—her skin sensitised, anticipation making her lightheaded.

When Rafe did nothing for several moments, she glanced up only to see him staring into the treeline, a look of fierce concentration on his face. Awareness penetrated and Erin used her enhanced senses, seeing the outline of a man through the leaves, his heat signature obvious now that she knew to look.

“Rafe, there’s someone up there,” she whispered as she rose slowly to her knees off her hands.

“No, get back down. Hands and knees, Erin. Now.”

His authority put her at immediate ease, and she resumed her position, puzzled but not threatened. Embarrassment, however, covered her body in one large blush as she stared hard at the tree in front of her, all too conscious of their audience above.

“I know there’s someone up there,” Rafe admitted. “He’s been there for a while, but he’s no threat.” She swore she heard humour in his voice.

“Who is it?”

“Don’t you mean, ‘Who is it, Sir?’”

She groaned.

“What’s that?”

“Who is it, Sir?”

“Does it matter? Why? Do you want him to join us?” The menace in Rafe’s tone set her on fire, and when he shoved a sudden finger deep into her pussy she clenched him tight.

“Because that’s a problem for me, Erin.”

“I…don’t…want…that.”

“I don’t share what’s mine.” He removed his finger and inched it up, pushing into her anus. “No, don’t move a muscle.” The dark command in his voice forced her to remain still, the burn of his intrusive digit soon giving way to pleasure. “It hurts so good, doesn’t it, baby?”

“No, Sir.”

He chuckled. “Liar.” He pushed harder, and she groaned, wanting him out even as she wanted him deeper. “That’s it. Now take another.” Rafe did as before, using the juices from her arousal to grease his second finger. Then he added it, stretching her virgin passage. “Your body adapts so beautifully, baby. Flor, that’s sexy.”

Erin wanted to cry out in both pain and desire. The burning sensation in her rectum hurt, yet odd tingles raced towards her sex, his probing fingers forcing an electric jolt that rushed straight through to her womb.

“I haven’t claimed you here, yet.” Rafe fairly purred the words, his breath raspy and his body giving off massive amounts of heat in the cooler air. The light of day rose over them both, streams of sunlight adding a heady joy to their lovemaking—as Erin thought to call it.

“It’s driving me crazy.” His thrusting fingers increased their speed, and Erin felt his erection brush against her ass time and time again.

Then suddenly Rafe removed his fingers and thrust his cock deeply into her pussy. He groaned her name as he slid into her heat. But all too soon he withdrew, only to replace the presence of his fingers in her ass with the tip of his cock.

“It’s too much,” she gasped as he pressed steadily deeper, her moisture easing his intrusion.

Groaning, he prodded her ass cheeks further apart and sank inch by inch inside her.

The fullness cemented their joining, turning an intimate physical encounter into so much more for Erin. She didn’t understand why, but she accepted it nonetheless, growing closer to Rafe in that moment than she’d ever been with anyone else in her life.

“Fuck, yes. This is so right. So good.” Rafe panted as he thrust the last inch home, his entire length seated inside her. “I can’t be still, Erin, I’m sorry.” Rafe pulled out slowly, the friction aggravating her tender flesh.

Yet again, the prickly sensation of desire flushed her womb, and when he shoved his length back into her she welcomed the alien fullness with pleasure.

“More,” she moaned, gripping the grass beneath her fingers.

“Yes. All of it.” Rafe surged in and out, his tempo fast, his thrusts rough. Honest lust rode them both as she took him the way an animal takes its mate. Pure possession seared her soul, and as Rafe took that last part of her yet untouched, Erin fell headlong in love.

“I’m going to come,” she whispered, shocked at how sudden her orgasm was upon her.

The energy enveloping them both sizzled along her nerves, and every time he pushed inside her, his balls slapped her clit. Filled and still teased, the dual sensations on her sexual receptors caused her passion to rise to a fevered pitch.

“Not yet. Not until I let you,” Rafe grunted as he pounded her.

“Please, Sir,” she begged, conscious she’d never in her life begged for anything with so much fervour. Not even her Creator, in the early days of her existence, had bidden such utter devotion. But Erin felt it all for Rafe. Love and tenderness, utter need and basic lust.

Everything.

Rafe slammed once more and stilled, his quiet moan incredibly erotic. Erin literally felt his hot seed as it washed her and began trickling down her thighs. She quivered with the need to come, her body one huge mass of nerves.

Breathing heavily and leaning over her, Rafe tongued the shell of her ear and reached a hand around her waist. In seconds his fingers found her clit and pinched, hard. “Come now.” Unable to hold back, Erin exploded. She cried out and seized, her walls convulsing around emptiness even while another part of her gripped Rafe, holding him tightly within her.

“Erin,” he groaned as he emptied yet again inside her. Joined, they knelt together, wainu hovering overhead if only they had the strength to reach for it. “Take it, baby. Take it in.” Rafe brought it to her, and she sighed with contentment.

He gently withdrew and left her for a brief moment, but she didn’t care. She soon felt him tending to her, but the brightness of perfection all around her bound her to that restful dreaminess she’d previously experienced. Even the smooth glide of a cloth over and between her butt cheeks didn’t bother her, when by rights she knew she should have felt some discomfort.

“Rafe?” she murmured drowsily and reached for him. When he remained out of reach, she panicked. “Rafe, where are you?”

And then she felt his arms around her, saw his face in front of her, floating in clouds of bliss.

“Sleep, baby. Sleep. You’ve had a long couple of days and you deserve it.” Erin nodded and huddled close to his warmth, free for the first time in forever as she held onto the blanket of love covering them both.

Rafe groaned when Drekk interrupted his paradise. Damn, he knew he shouldn’t have joined Erin in wainu, but the temptation to sooth and be with her, so close, was impossible to deny. With a frustrated sigh, he pulled back from euphoria, disgruntled, and glared at Drekk.

“You sure know how to pick ‘em.” Drekk ran his gaze over Erin with a thoroughness that set Rafe’s instincts on alert. Not bothering with himself, he quickly threw Erin’s jacket over her, effectively covering her from Drekk’s gaze. “She really is perfection.”

“She really is mine. And don’t forget it,” Rafe growled.

“Sure thing, Mardu.” Drekk had the temerity to chuckle. Drekk, laughing? “Course, you’d be much more effective if you weren’t standing there with yet another impressive hard-on. You going to fuck me with that thing or shoot it off again? You know you didn’t finish claiming her.”

Rafe blinked at Drekk in surprise. How the hell did Drekk know how the Xema mated?

“I know a lot more about you than you think.”

Answering Rafe’s unspoken question put Rafe on full alert, and whereas before he would have trusted Drekk implicitly, now Rafe wondered, because it wasn’t just his safety, but Erin’s on the line as well.

Again, Drekk responded without Rafe uttering a word. “Oh, relax, Rafe. I’m no telepath. I’ve worked with you for years, and I’m a great character study. Besides, I know quite a few Xema, though there aren’t all that many of you. And I know the way one Xema claims another. You still have to mark her. What the hell are you waiting for?” Rafe flushed, not wanting to share that particular facet of himself with his friend, though Flor knew he wanted to finish what he’d started with Erin. Only he hadn’t planned on going as far as he had with an audience. From the onset, he’d known Drekk watched them. The minute the man had teleported into the treeline, Rafe had sensed him. But Erin, caught up in their loveplay, had been deliciously oblivious.

His cock throbbed again, and despite his tired body, Rafe’s entire being quivered with need. I know the way one Xema claims another. Rafe blinked in astonishment. No wonder he was so taken with Erin. She had Xema traits. That strength, speed and agility wasn’t all Ragga, nor was it Zephyran. He should have known. So why the hell hadn’t he? And of all people, why had it taken Drekk to point out what should only have been obvious to another Xema warrior?

“Come on, Rafe. You owe me. I let you have her when Gar ordered me to bring you in days ago.”

“Please.” Rafe snorted. “You don’t do anything you don’t want to, orders or not. Hell, you barely did what I asked you to.”

“And that’s the difference between you and Gar. You asked. He orders.” Drekk shook his head. “Now admit you owe me one.”

Rafe couldn’t help recalling all the times he and Drekk had watched over one another.

Truth be told, on their last mission together, Drekk had pulled his ass out of the fire.

Still…Erin was his.

“If it makes you feel any better, it’s not Erin I want to watch.” Rafe started, staring hard at Drekk, who grinned slyly.

“If you could see your expression. What’s wrong, Rafe? Afraid you might want what only I can give you?”

Rafe chuckled. “Unless you’ve got a pussy between those legs and Erin’s brain, body and soul, you’re out of luck.”

“Thought I’d ask.” Drekk sighed, yet his eyes sparkled with something Rafe hadn’t seen in a while. Real joy. And to Rafe’s surprise, he realised most of what he’d missed about his job as Cheltam had been his friendship with Drekk. “Come on, man. Get to it.” Drekk cupped himself through his trousers, displaying an impressive erection. “It’s been a while for me, too. Your brother’s a stern taskmaster.”

“Don’t I know it,” Rafe muttered. He glanced from Drekk, his friend, to Erin, the woman he couldn’t help feeling so deeply for. “This is a sacred part of the claiming. We don’t usually have witnesses. It’s an intimate thing, and one you shouldn’t understand, though you obviously do.” When Drekk raised one brow and waited, Rafe sighed. “Okay, but don’t let Erin know about this. She wasn’t all that happy about you watching the last time.” Not that Rafe minded overly. Claiming her with an audience only reinforced his possession.

“Why are you really going to do it while she’s out of it?” Rafe opened his mouth and immediately closed it. “Fuck. Because you’re a pain in the ass, that’s why. Because you’re my friend and I feel like a dick because I left you to Gar.” Drekk chuckled. “And because I don’t want to give her the chance to say no.”

“Honest at last.” Drekk slowly pulled his trouser fastening apart to expose a thick cock.

Stunned, Rafe watched as Drekk began stroking himself, and to his bewilderment, a subtle, seductive scent enveloped him. It wasn’t Erin’s, yet its pull was almost as strong. As Rafe’s body hardened even more, he stared at Drekk in absolute shock. “No. No way. Not you, too? How the hell did I miss that one?”

Talk about the stunner of a lifetime. Most System inhabitants that had ever run across a Creation hadn’t lived to see their next breath, lost in a Creation’s violent madness. Yet not only had Rafe decided to mate and thus commit himself to one, he’d apparently been working with another for years.

“The first batch of us clearly didn’t take.” Drekk shrugged, the action accentuating the hard organ between his thighs. “But the scientists didn’t stop after the war.” His voice turned raspy as he watched Rafe begin to jerk off. “Fuck, Rafe. Do her and I’ll tell you anything you want to know.” The scent around them intensified, and Rafe saw a deep yearning in Drekk’s hard grey eyes that softened with need. “Please.” Rafe grunted, incapable of speech, and alternated his gaze between Erin’s beauty and Drekk’s glittering gaze, his pearling cock. The call of like to like overwhelmed him, and Rafe lost the ability to differentiate between Xema and Creation as he watched the woman he loved, knowing a man he both respected and trusted shared this moment. Rafe pulled the jacket covering Erin away. Kneeling over his woman, Rafe took himself in hand and focused on her, unable to block out Drekk’s presence entirely. Still, it was Erin’s scent that called to him. Erin’s body, the image of her deep indigo eyes with their glowing pupils that pulled him deeper under her spell.

Caught by need, Rafe raced to completion, panting as lust overtook him. Frantic with the need to come, to finally mark Erin with his seed and rub it all over her breasts, Rafe shook from the force of his primitive desire.

“By the universe, yes,” Drekk groaned, keeping pace with Rafe. “Watching you two fuck made me so damned hard. Feel her, Rafe. Love her as she was meant to be loved.”

“Erin.” Rafe could barely breathe, the intensity of his pleasure growing as Drekk suddenly spurted. Ropy bursts of come jetted from the man’s cock, and Drekk alternately cursed and prayed as he shot all over his hand and belly.

“Do it,” Drekk panted, stroking himself until he seemed utterly spent. “Mark her, Rafe.”

Rafe felt his balls tighten as a fist of pleasure centred at the base of his spine and blew through his body. Yelling Erin’s name, he came hard, covering her chest with his seed. A force greater than wainu wrapped around them, and he watched with pleasure as his seed seeped through her skin and disappeared, his essence now tied to hers for all eternity.

When he finally caught his breath, he felt Drekk’s intense stare. His friend’s eyes were no longer grey, but a complete black, no iris or white to differentiate. “Thank you,” Drekk said quietly, and Rafe sensed the peace of the moment as it affected his friend as well.

“So far so good,” Rafe breathed. “Now I just have to figure out a way to let her know we’ve mated.”

Drekk chuckled, a raspy sound that soothed Rafe even more. “I have a feeling she’s not going to mind your claiming much. Our kind don’t often experience the kind of acceptance you’ve already given her.”

Rafe stirred enough to cover Erin and clean himself, making good use of the small stream nearby. He alternated his gaze between Erin and Drekk while he donned his trousers, socks and boots, and he said the first thing that came to mind. “Tell me you’re a lot older than four.” He and Drekk had worked together five years ago, so Drekk had to be at least a year older than Erin.

Drekk looked surprised, and with that emotion his eyes returned to normal again. “Is that all she is? They must have really advanced the maturation process. Hell, I was Created over a thousand years ago. And even then it was touch and go. I think I’m the ugliest one they ever made.” He grinned, bringing attention to his scar. “But I blended in so much better than their earlier versions, the pretty ones, that they had a hard time letting go.” A thousand years ago? Yet the male didn’t look a day past thirty. Incredible. “Did they? Let you go, I mean? Because from the way Erin talks and the rewards Blue Rim is offering, I get the impression they’re very fond of their…assets.” Drekk smiled, but Rafe saw no humour it in. “I died. I simply refused to regenerate after one of the ‘tests’ they gave me. That’s how I got the scar. A near decapitation that went from one ear to the other. Just as they were about to torch my body, I found enough energy to evade my cremation and disappeared. One of my many talents, in case you haven’t noticed.”

Rafe stared, wide-eyed. “I thought you were using a micro-teleporter.”

“Nope. It’s just me. Though the teleportation was an accident. I scared the shit out of myself the first time it happened, when I suddenly caught a stray worm thread blowing by me. They’re all around us, you know. You just have to know how to tap into them.” Rafe glanced uneasily around him through the burning daylight. “I’ll take your word for it.”

“Unlike the Creations from the war and those made now, Blue Rim tinkered with real alien DNA when they made my batch. They found a rock from outside the System and cultivated samples from the life on it. I think my forbearers were spores,” Drekk joked.

“I’d believe that.”

“Drun.”

“Asshole.”

“See, now that I like. Assholes.”

Rafe laughed at Drekk, completely relaxed with the man as Drekk continued to open up about his past. At ease with his own sexuality, Rafe didn’t have a problem with those who lived alternate lifestyles. He worried more about protecting those he cared about. And he felt a connection with Drekk now that he hadn’t before.

“Weren’t you scared someone might find out?” he had to know.

“At first. Remember, I was Created right after the war, and tension was high everywhere. But because there was so much life lost, I was able to blend in with the growing population. Men and women were desperately wanted in certain sectors of the System, and I didn’t mind any job so long as it paid and kept me warm.

“It took me a while, but I eventually learned to live among those in the System. I made friends and lost them, shared women, men and loved a few of each in between. But until you, Rafe, I never felt much at home. I like this job. I like Cheltam, dammit.” Rafe chuckled. “Me, too. Never thought I’d say it, but I miss the bastard.”

“So come back. You got Gar on his feet. And I know Sernal is driving you crazy. As soon as Gar finds him, why don’t you mention how much you’d like to resume your duties?

Hell,Tekar is the perfect place to hide Erin. With you and me on guard, no one will hurt her ever again.”

Rafe stared at him. “What do you mean ‘with you and me on guard?’” Much as he didn’t like this side of himself, he couldn’t help the jealousy surging through his blood. The warrior within him began to rise.

“Easy, Mardu.” Drekk grinned, and again Rafe was taken aback at the lively features on his otherwise stoic face. “That mating instinct hits hard, doesn’t it?”

“How the hell would you know?”

Drekk looked uncomfortable and sighed. “Because like you and Erin and your entire damned family, I’ve got a bit of Xema in me as well. That and some Ragga, Zephyran, a hint of Nebite and a world of unknown coding that allows me to come and go as I please and heal those who need it.”

“You can heal, too?”

Drekk rolled his eyes. “How many times have we come back from a job with little to no wounds? I hate to break it to you, pal, but I’m not as sloppy as I seem. Most of the bloody cuts I suffer on jobs are to help you. My fluids act as a healing agent.”

“You can teleport wherever you want to, and you don’t die. A thousand years old? You are one scary fucker, you know that?”

Drekk shrugged, but Rafe thought he caught the man reddening.

“Are you blushing?” Rafe laughed long and hard, aware he’d never had a day quite like this one. “Talk about amazing. I mated with an incredible woman and scared a blush out of the infamous Disappearing Drekk. What are the odds?” Drekk scowled. “Pretty damned good I’m going to kick your ass if you keep it up. You’re not that cute, Mardu.”

“The hell I’m not. I got you off, didn’t I?” Rafe asked with real amusement. “Man, I can only imagine you having this same conversation with Gar. He’d be totally nuts by now.”

“I know.” Drekk sighed. “He’s really against Creations, Rafe. You can’t ever tell him about Erin.” Or me, went unsaid.

“I figured as much. But don’t worry. I’m not going to say one word to him about any of it.” Rafe explained the idea to use the prison ships as a cover for Erin and her family, and Drekk readily agreed.

“I know a few guys who make great identification tags.”

“Good. And while you’re at it, find us a techie to doctor Blue Rim’s files.”

“My pleasure.” The look in Drekk’s eyes made Rafe glad he and the large male were on the same side.

They talked more about Erin’s family, Rafe’s tentative plans and his missing brothers.

Then Erin shifted on the ground, distracting them. Rafe crouched down to stroke her back, wanting nothing more than to take care of her until she forgot all about her hellish upbringing. But that would have to wait.

“That’s my cue.” Drekk stood and stretched, pinning Rafe with his stare. “I’ll get you that laundry list of supplies for the mission and put out a quiet search for her family. But I don’t have to tell you we need to wait before accepting them into the fold. The sister sounds fine, but it’s Ryen that disturbs me. He sounds a lot like the trouble that started the Eryan War. But like I said, I’ll take care of the logistics on this. You have your hands full.” Rafe stared down at Erin. “Yeah, I do.” He’d never been so damned lucky in his life.

Drekk snickered, actually snickered, and Rafe wondered where this man had been hiding all these years. “Love brings another one down. First Catam, now you. A hundred beks says Sernal’s next.”

“You’re on.” Rafe shook his hand. “No way Sernal bites it before you do.”

“Me?” Drekk scoffed. “You’d have better luck turning back the moons from their orbits.

I’ll be waiting at the tower where you last bagged those rogue peacemakers. Be there in four day’s time or I’ll take on Blue Rim without you.” Rafe frowned. “Now wait a minute.”

“Four days. That’s plenty of time to fuck on the move.” Drekk shook his head. “Horny bastard. Then again, who could blame you…or her?” He grinned. “Best damned orgasm I’ve had in years, Rafe. Thanks.”

“Dick.”

“Whenever you want it, let me know.” Drekk laughed at the gesture Rafe shot him, then disappeared in an instant.

“Rafe?” Erin’s soft voice grabbed his attention. Shaking his head at Drekk’s antics, he smiled into his mate’s eyes, aware things were quickly coming to a head. But at least he had her now, and bonded for the foreseeable future.

“I’m here, baby. I’m right here.”