"You feel good," he had murmured in her ear.
Riley had felt an excited shiver run down her spine. She wondered if he would kiss her. A part of her hoped that he would. She often listened to the other girls talk about what it was like when one of the boys kissed them. The lights had been dim with the flickering of a disco ball lighting up the area, making it kind of romantic. She could hear other couples talking quietly over the music the band teacher was playing.
"Thanks," Riley had replied shyly. "Uh, you do too," she added nervously.
"You know, with hips like this you were made for having babies," he whispered in her ear. "Do you want to go out back for a little while? I could show you how it's done."
Riley flushed as her Grandma Pearl's warning came back to her. "You've got big boobs and a big ass, Riley girl. Every guy between the ages of twelve and eighty are going to be wanting a piece of you. You need to decide if you are willing to give it away for nothing, and if you do, are you willing to pay the price for giving away your body to someone who only wants to use you."
Riley had pulled back and looked down into the smirking, know-it-all face with a sinking feeling. "What did they bet you to dance with the Amazon?" she asked in a deceptively quiet voice.
Todd had flushed before he glanced over to his friends along the wall. They were watching them and laughing. "Twenty bucks if I get to fuck you. Ten if I get to cop a feel of your big tits."
Riley smiled sadly down at the flushed face. "Thank you for the dance," Riley said, pulling out of his arms. "I won't humiliate you because you were honest about why you asked me. May I give you a bit of advice, though?" she asked as she stared down at his shocked face.
"Uh, sure," he said awkwardly.
"Even Amazons have feelings. Think about that the next time you want to use one of us as a whore. Now, I think your friends need to pay up. It's the least they can do for forcing you to have to dance with me," Riley said as she turned to look at the three football players lounging along the wall. Her eyes glittered with fury.
She had gotten a three-day suspension and told she wouldn't be allowed to attend any more after school functions, but it had been worth it. She had taken the punch bowl and poured it over the three guys who thought it would be fun to pick on the big girl. She had then proceeded to relate a long list of observations about the guys to the entire sophomore through senior class. She never got asked to dance again. Hell, she never even got asked out on a date. She had focused on her school work and started dual enrollment the next year. The unfortunate consequence was Tina was also punished for what Riley had done. Her little sister had been ostracized for simply being related to her.
She started and turned around when the door opened to the living quarters she had been shown to earlier. She bit her lower lip as Vox strode into the room as if he owned the place. They had been rescued earlier in the day from the old freighter and brought aboard the Horizon. There were several different alien species on board this ship-warship, Riley corrected herself. There were quite a few that looked like Adur and Cross and a few that looked like Vox, Tor, and Lodar. She hadn't seen any others that looked like Bob or Fred, though. What did surprise her was when she saw two other human males. They had been with two of the same purple creatures that had attacked the freighter, only they didn't appear to find the purple females unattractive.
"What are you doing here?" Riley asked nervously, looking at Vox as he stopped to stare at her intently. "You know it's polite to knock or something before entering someone's room."
Vox's lips curved and his eyebrows rose at the nervous wobble in her voice. "I am here because this is my living quarters, therefore there is no need for me to ask for permission to enter," he said quietly.
Riley could feel her throat moving up and down as she tried to say something smart but nothing came out. Her mind went blank as her eyes focused on Vox's fingers. He was undoing the hooks on the front of his vest. Her eyes followed the movement as he slowly pulled the black leather apart, then slid it off his broad shoulders. Her tongue came out, and she licked her suddenly dry lips as his hands moved down to the front of his pants. She groaned softly when he paused to toe off his boots. Her gaze flickered up to his briefly before moving back down to his fingers. She trembled as he slowly undid each button.
"I need you, Riley," Vox said softly. "My cat and I want you so badly we can taste your sweet cream on our lips."
"You can," Riley replied faintly. "I mean you shouldn't. I can't … I'm … This is a bad idea," she stammered, looking up into Vox's dark tawny eyes.
They were darker than before, the yellow containing more gold than before. "Why can't you? Why would you think this is a bad idea when I can smell your desire every time we are in the same room?" he asked. "I know you want me."
Riley looked up into his eyes again. "You'll just use me, like the other men wanted to. Once you get tired of me, I'll … " Her muttered words faded as he closed the distance between them and pressed his lips against hers in a savage kiss that left them both shaking.
"Does this feel like I'll just use you? I'll never get tired of you, Riley," he said, pulling back until his lips barely touched hers and ran his large hands up over the silky fabric of her robe to her shoulders, drawing her closer.
"I promised myself I wouldn't give in to a man unless he put his ring on my finger and promised me forever," Riley tried desperately to explain. "I don't want to end up raising a baby on my own."
Vox's dark groan filled the air at the thought of Riley rounded with his cubs. A fierce wave of need, stronger than anything he had ever felt before swept through him. He closed his eyes in an effort to regain control of his slipping hunger. If he didn't, he would take her hard, fast, and often. His hands slid back down along her arms, and he gripped them tightly as he tried to breathe deeply. He knew that was a mistake the moment he drew in the heady scent of their combined arousal.
"You will not raise our cubs alone, Riley. I will be there for you always," he growled out in a deep voice.
"Vox?" she choked out as her eyes widened at the dark possession reflected in his.
"You are mine, Riley. I claim you," he purred out in a rough voice as he gripped the silky fabric in his hands and tore it from her body. "I have waited too long for this. My cat and I must mark you, claim you."
"But … " Riley cried out, startled, as the fabric of her robe tore under his hands. "I can't-"
Vox's mouth descended again, blocking her words of protest. His hands caressed all thoughts of resistance out of her mind as they ran up and down her back until he pulled her against his swollen cock. Riley raised her hands shyly up, touching his stomach and feeling the muscles tighten under her fingertips. A shudder ran through him, giving Riley a heady sense of power that her touch could draw such a reaction out of so powerful a man. She opened like a flower to the sun under his skilled lips, moaning as his tongue swept into her mouth. She tentatively returned his caress with her own. Her hands moved up to his chest where she ran her thumbs over his distended nipples as she flicked her tongue along his sharp teeth. She ran the tip along one of his slightly longer canines and was rewarded with a reverberation of a purr.
"Gods, Riley," Vox pulled back and choked out in a strangled voice. "You fire my blood."
Vox was fighting a losing battle with his control. He wasn't kidding when he said she fired his blood. The feel of her soft, sweet flesh under his hands and the taste of her lips ignited his blood to a raging fury. He could feel his cat pacing back and forth, determined to mark his mate with his essence. Her hands running up over his stomach to his chest tore at him. The soft, sweet hands moved slowly, as if unsure of his response to her tentative touch. How any male could resist her was beyond comprehension. He believed Tor and Lodar when they said it had been killing them. Riley had an innocence about her that brought out the protectiveness in him and his cat, and her natural sensual nature was enough to cause both of them to want to pounce on her. The sway of her hips, the flash of humor in her baby blue eyes, and the way she nibbled at her bottom lip when she was nervous all played havoc on his system.
Vox deepened the kiss, sliding his arm down under her knees so he could pick her up. He silenced her objection with his kisses, holding her tightly against him so she would know there was no more protesting. He would take her. He carried her across to the large bed. Bending, he gently lowered her onto the soft covers, never releasing her lips. He didn't want to give her a chance to change her mind. The way his body and his cat were reacting at this point, he wouldn't have stopped anyway. It may have been wrong, but he knew she was his even if she wasn't sure. There was absolutely no doubt in his mind.