Rees Read online

  She stared in surprise. “Why were they afraid of you?”

  She’d never met a man as gentle as Rees. Well, okay, he hadn’t been exactly gentle, but he hadn’t hurt her, either.

  Rees gave a little shrug. “People are afraid of Sha reem.”

  The answer was evasive, but she let it go. She couldn’t imagine anyone being afraid of Rees, at least once they’d gotten to know him.

  Rio, yes. Rio had scared her in a way Rees did not. But Rio was level three, and maybe all level threes projected that edge of fear.

  “You know what, Rees?” She pressed her finger to his sculpted chest. “I think you like being special. I think you don’t want to be human.”

  He slanted her a look. “Oh, yeah?”

  “Yeah. You want to be special, to stand out from the rest of us. To be better than us. Well, you’re not. When we get home, I’ll show you your DNA. You’re no different from humans, Rees. I’ll prove it.”

  He was smiling for some reason. “You are so asking for it, Talan.”

  “Asking for what?”

  Rees growled. He hauled her up and plopped her on her hands and knees. “Say your prayers, babe. Your little ass is going to be so red.”

  She squealed. She tried to put her hands over her behind, but he shoved them away.

  The spanking was hard. He knew how to make it sting, yet make it exciting at the same time.

  “You know why women decided to get rid of Sha reem?” he asked, pausing. “Because Sha reem can make women stop talking. And women just hate that.”

  Talan couldn’t talk at all. She could only scream and laugh and beg him to stop.

  He didn’t stop. He spanked her until she was out of breath, and then he rose up behind her and slid his cock into her wet and slippery opening.

  After that, talking was out of the question.

  It was late morning before they finally got out of bed again. Rees took her home—after he went out and bought her a new tunic to replace the one he’d ripped. It wasn’t as nice as her old one, but she touched it like it was pure silk.

  They’d made love all night. Rees hadn’t thought Talan would be able to keep up with him, but she sure had enthusiasm.

  The last one had sent her to sleep again. She’d smiled at him before she drifted off, had even murmured thank you.

  At least she’d stopped going on about him being human. He couldn’t exactly explain to her why he was different not only from humans but from other Sha reem.

  If word got out that R294E8S was still alive and walking around, life could get bad for Rees. It might even get short.

  And Rees liked life. Especially this week.

  He and Talan rode the train back to Lady Petronella’s house. Talan snuggled up to him like before, and he kissed her.

  A few tight-assed women gave them looks of disapproval, but Rees figured that was because Talan was getting laid, and they weren’t.

  Talan had certainly softened from her first, stiff-necked dealings with him. She liked him now. Last night he’d messed with her mind a little, so that she’d relax and enjoy it and he wouldn’t hurt her.

  But he knew that she liked him even without his Sha reem spells. The thought warmed him.

  He liked her, more than just a little.

  Rio had gotten his heart broken by an upper-class woman. Even though he’d quickly reverted to his fun-loving ways, there was a bitter edge to him that hadn’t been there before.

  Rees had vowed never, ever to lose his heart to a woman, upper-class or otherwise.

  And now, here he was, starting to fall for a rich girl.

  Life jerked you around in weird ways.

  When they reached Lady Petronella’s house, Metri and the other servants were nowhere in sight. Neither was Lady Petronella.

  Rees told Talan to go to her room and sleep. If she slept like a good little girl, he said, he would show her some more level two fun this afternoon.

  She’s smiled, kissed him, and ran off.

  Talan was not afraid of him. Now that she’d lost her shyness, she smiled at him like they were friends.

  But she did not realize that Rees was dangerous. Last night, he’d held back because he hadn’t wanted to hurt her. He’d made her love what he did. He’d taken away the worst of the hurt.

  But it had been hard to hold back. Talan turned him on in more ways than he’d ever thought possible.

  The women at the lab who’d sacrificed themselves for the sake of science hadn’t smiled at him warmly or given him shy looks from under their lashes. They’d let him know that it was an experiment, nothing else.

  Not exactly the way to a Sha reem’s heart.

  Rees had taught them to respect him. And fear him. He’d twisted one of them up so much, she’d helped him escape.

  But even with them, Rees had never lost control. He’d always had the upper hand, always had the power, always been the master.

  He needed to regain that control with Talan, or he might regret it. Even he didn’t know what he could do if he totally let go.

  So, he needed to teach Talan to fear him. He knew exactly how to go about it. She’d get scared and send him away, and then he wouldn’t have to worry about hurting her.

  Also, he had things to do, like help Rio. He needed to talk to people, get things done.

  He needed to forget Talan’s shining hair and sweet pussy and beautiful eyes.

  Sha reem could fall in love. They did fall in love.

  But it was very stupid to.

  Chapter Eleven

  “You want to go to the holo-block?” Talan looked across the table at him in confusion.

  He and Talan dined alone. Lady Petronella had breezed in, announced she was going out, kissed Talan, and turned to depart.

  Talan had blushed rosy red, but Lady Pet hadn’t seemed to notice. She’d winked at Rees, then breezed out again.

  “Holo-blocks can be fun,” Rees said now.

  “I know, but why do you want to go back to it? You mean the one where I first saw you, right?”

  “Yes. You said you wanted more fun and games, and here’s your chance.”

  “Yes, but why go there?”

  He stared at her. He was supposed to be in control here, but Talan always made him lose it. “Why not go there?”

  “Because we can use the holo-room here.”

  He grinned. “It’s not big enough. We need something big. Like a forest, or a jungle.”

  “There’s a holo-room under the house. A big one.”

  “Big enough for a jungle?”

  She nodded. “I used to play down there all the time. I’d go on an ocean liner. That’s a huge ship that they used to use to cross the oceans on old Earth.”

  “I’ve heard of them. Big, were they?”

  “The holo-room is the size of the entire first floor of the house. Is that large enough for what you want?”

  Lady Petronella’s house took up an entire city block. Must be nice to be rich. “Yes, I think that would be big enough,” Rees said.

  “Excellent. When do you want to go?”

  He sensed her pheromones stirring. “Whenever you’re ready, babe.”

  She was ready right away. He figured she would be.

  Talan took him to a lower level of the house and locked the door behind them. She’d told no one to disturb her unless it was a dire emergency.

  Metri, obviously used to similar directives from Lady Petronella, stoically agreed.

  Talan showed Rees how to use the panel to program the block. “I haven’t been down here in ages,” she said. She looked about the huge, empty room and sighed. “Too busy, I guess.”

  Rees brushed her cheek. “You should never be too busy to play.”

  “Easy for you to say. But that’s your whole life, isn’t it? Games?”

  She didn’t know the half of it. “Yes. You could say that.”

  “So what are we going to play?”

  She was ready, eager, willing.

  Rees told t
he holo-room that he wanted a forest. Deep woods, with rustling undergrowth and cool breezes and tall trees and birds.

  With a rush of sound, the forest closed in on them. Grass crushed beneath his feet as he walked, letting out a green scent.

  The trees stretched away endlessly. The room was huge, and as they moved, the hologram shifted with them to make it seem like the woods ran on for miles.

  All to the good.

  “The game we’re going to play,” he said, his voice deepening to Sha reem tones, “is ‘you will run away from me’. Then I’ll hunt for you.”

  Talan was supposed to look at him in sudden trepidation. Instead, she grinned.

  “Hide and seek? I was good at that as a child. I warn you, I always won.”

  “We’ll see about that. Now, run along.”

  Her grin widened. She had her hair in a braid and was wearing a sleeveless tunic, good for showing off her long legs. “Count to a hundred,” she said. She loped off under the trees, then turned around and pointed at him. “And no peeking!”

  Rees turned his back. He didn’t need to peek.

  He opened his senses, stretched them behind him. He could feel the quiet trees, and the pseudo-woodsy air, and her trail winding among the holo-scents, growing fainter as she ran.

  Her trail wouldn’t fade out altogether. Just enough to make him keen to follow it.

  To humor her, he counted to a hundred.

  He turned around. He couldn’t see her through the trees, couldn’t hear her either.

  But he knew where she was.

  His heart beat faster. His skin heated. His balls started to itch. His mind began to sharpen, blotting out peripheral thoughts, and humor, and warmth.

  He sensed a woman, and he would have her.

  He started walking in the direction she’d taken. He’d find her quickly. And then she’d see. She’d understand. He started to run.

  A female programmer had volunteered to do this same simulation in the lab. When they’d pulled her out, she’d gasped, “He’s a monster. Gods, what have we done?”

  The next time they’d done a simulation—with a new volunteer—they’d locked Rees in chains first.

  That had been a big mistake.

  Rees’ skin burned and the tunic scratched him. He pulled off his clothing as he ran, casting it aside.

  Talan’s trail was fairly obvious, but at a few points, he lost her. He stood with his head bent, testing the air with his heightened senses.

  His skin was hot and his cock was tight and throbbing. He wanted her. He’d find her and throw her to the ground, spread her thighs, and enter her.

  She was his woman, and he’d show her that.

  He remembered her smirking and saying that she might ask Rio to show her a few things.

  His blood burned. No, not Rio. You are mine.

  Mine.

  He found her scent again. His excitement built. His mind dimmed to everything but tracking her.

  The grass tickled his bare legs as he ran through it, the scent of trees and rainwater buoyed him.

  This is what he was made for, to run, to hunt. To find her.

  When I find you, little girl, I’m going to make you understand what I am.

  She’d come this way. He plunged through the undergrowth. She was good at covering her trail, but not good enough.

  He’d be able to sense her, always and forever.

  He stopped in a clearing surrounded by tall trees. He wasn’t sure what kind of trees they were—some had broad leaves and others had needles. Neither grew on Bor Narga, but with a holo-room, you could have whatever you wanted.

  He turned his head from side to side, feeling the air for her. His blood pumped through him, and his skin was scorching. The black chain on his left arm felt ice-cold.

  She was near. Hiding.

  The air was silent as though the woods held its breath.

  He could scent her, waiting. He could taste his own anticipation. He’d drag her from her hiding place, make her kneel before him. His. Forever.

  He’d show her what her philosophy was worth. He’d bind her to him, and she’d be happy in her bondage.

  He knew he could enslave a woman just by touching her. He had done it before, but then he’d released his slaves.

  He would never release Talan.

  She would pay for using him, for stirring him up, for not realizing what he was.

  She was near, very near…

  The branches crackled above him, and suddenly something soft and womanly fell on his back. Talan wrapped her arms and legs around him and kissed him on the cheek.

  Adrenaline shot through him. He grabbed her, whipped around, and thumped her on her feet.

  She smiled up at him, her eyes starry, and flung her arms about his neck. “I won. You couldn’t find me.”

  His arms closed around her back. His mind whirled in confusion. Take her! Make her obey.

  She brushed a light kiss to his lips. “I told you I was good at this game.”

  Punish her. Make her beg for mercy.

  No , said a voice deep, deep inside him. Don’t hurt her.

  “I love you, Rees,” she whispered.

  He dragged in his breath. He spoke with effort, forcing his lips to move. “Don’t be stupid, Talan.”

  “I want to be stupid. I’m tired of being sensible.”

  He kissed her. His wild senses rose, blotting out his kinder self. He kissed her hard, bruising her lips.

  When he at last broke the kiss, she just smiled. “I think I know what happened to Lady Ursula.”

  Rees didn’t know, or care, who the hell Lady Ursula was. He trailed kisses to Talan’s neck, bit her flesh.

  “I think she stayed with her Sha reem. Never went home again.”

  He tasted her skin. It was salty with perspiration. He threaded his fingers through her hair, breaking open the braid.

  “I have a house on the second moon. My parents left it to me. It’s a nice house, not so large as Lady Pet’s. It’s green there.”

  The second moon of Bor Narga. A place where the rich had resorts and beautiful views. Where a Sha reem was forbidden to go.

  He pulled her head back. “I hope you have a good time, there.”

  She looked confused. “I would take you there. We could be together there.”

  “I can’t leave Bor Narga.”

  “But—”

  He kissed her, his tongue in her mouth stopping her words. “Get on your knees, little girl.”

  She was supposed to look frightened. Supposed to beg him to let her go.

  Talan smiled at him, then plopped to her knees and kissed his groin through the loincloth.

  She touched it, slanted him a wicked look. “Aren’t you going to take this off?”

  He growled at her. He unfastened the strings, nearly ripping them off, and cast the loincloth aside.

  His cock, hard and throbbing, pushed straight out.

  “How big are you?” she breathed. “Have you ever measured?”

  He knew how big he was. The lab researchers had written down every measurement.

  “Twelve inches.”

  Talan looked impressed. She reached up, grasped him with both hands. A good piece of cock still stuck out past her fingers. “It’s longer than both my fists put together.”

  She leaned forward and licked the tip.

  Rees’ mind went hazy. He groaned.

  She closed her mouth over his cock where it protruded from her fists. Her hands remained in place, tight against his balls.

  Her mouth played, her tongue dancing around his tight tip.

  He stroked her hair. He tried to mesmerize her with his mind. She was supposed to be his slave, right?

  All he could do was tilt his head back and enjoy the feel of her mouth on him.

  “Talan, baby…”

  She sucked and licked and bit—everything he’d taught her. She slid both hands around to cup his ass, and sucked him hard.

  He drove into her mouth, groan
ing. Excitement whirled through him. He wanted this woman forever.

  She sucked and sucked, her mouth hot and wet. He went hotter and hotter, and suddenly, his seed burst from him in one scalding shot.

  Talan bucked, surprised, but she held her mouth on him, took his come.

  “Sweet baby, that’s right,” he murmured. “Swallow me down.”

  She did. She swallowed it all. She licked her lips and smiled up at him.

  He hauled her to her feet. He kissed her hard, tasting himself and her all mixed up.

  “I want to fuck you so bad, Talan.”

  She kissed him back, twining languid arms around his neck. “Yes, please, Rees.”

  He could think of a hundred different ways to do her. He knew literally a hundred different ways, all of them good.

  But he knew which way he wanted her.

  He laid her down in the grass, pulled her tunic off over her head. Face to face, skin to skin, lips to lips.

  Her tight cunt pulled him into her. She laced her arms around him and held him. Her eyes were heavy with wanting.

  His skin was hot, his cock tight and hard. He wanted her with the animal mindlessness of R294E8S. At the same time, he was Rees wanting Talan. One Sha reem wanting one beautiful, stubborn, exciting woman.

  She lifted her hips, grinding against him. “Rees,” she moaned.

  He wanted to soothe her and kiss her, but he was too worked up. His body was taking over, his control eroding.

  Her face twisted in joy. She kissed him hard, then she arched back as he pumped into her. A few seconds later, she screamed her release.

  She was so damn beautiful when she did that. She said his name over and over, her voice broken. Her fingernails skimmed his back.

  Oh, gods, no. Not yet.

  “I’m coming, baby,” he groaned, and then he spilled his seed in to her.

  Talan smiled at him, her face flushed, then she pulled him down and held him close.

  * * * * *

  Lady Petronella requested that Talan come and see her later that afternoon. She sat Talan down on a chair that automatically shifted to conform to her torso. Lady Petronella took a seat facing her and smiled.

  “Well? I assume from that satisfied look on your face that you are at last a woman who knows what it’s like to be with a man.”