The Hard Way (Box Set) Read online

  Smiling, I hungrily lapped at the head, swirling my tongue around its flaring base before I engulfed the whole of him in my mouth.

  “Gods, yes, Sinopee!” he breathed, and his hands once again tangled in my hair, urging me faster.

  Always ready to comply, I began the learned process of easing him to the back of my throat, gagging once as I became used to the feel of him in my mouth, then swallowing him deep.

  “Pull off now!” he hissed. “This load is not going down your throat!”

  That said, I slowly pulled him from my throat, marveling that I actually had swallowed it all. When finally only the head rested in my mouth, I gave him one final lick then sat back on my knees, waiting to see what would happen next.

  I didn’t have long to wait.

  In a flash of silver hair and pale skin, Lust pounced on me, pulling me to my feet, ripping the scant covering of my panties from my body. At last, I stood bare before his lavender gaze.

  “You are beautiful,” he breathed as he took in first the damp curls that hid my pulsing center, then my heaving breasts with their erect, berry colored nipples. Finally, his eyes met mine, and I knew that the heat brewing within him would soon be flowing through me.

  Before I could blink, his mouth slammed onto mine, sucking the air from my lungs, stabbing his tongue deep.

  I whimpered as his fingers ran down my back to cup my ass, to pull me into the long hard length of him. He ground against my curls, making me moan into his mouth.

  Those same hands slipped up to my waist, lifting me, leaving me no choice but to wrap my legs around his waist and hold on for dear life as he positioned me for the taking.

  “This is what I want,” he hissed as he pulled back, the long strands of his hair caressing my swollen nipples, making me tingle with an inner fire that he controlled. “Hot, wet, and mine.”

  I felt him free one hand to position his hard cock at the entrance to my wet pussy.

  “Please,” I whimpered, wiggling around. The large, mushroom-shaped head began to part my lower lips.

  A leering grin crossed his lips and a twinkle filled his eyes. I held my breath, anticipating his entrance, then I screamed as he drove home in one long, deep thrust.

  It had been quite some time for me, and the feel of his hot steel parting me was a painful pleasure. Almost immediately I tightened my legs around his body and began to ride his pleasure pole.

  “Tell me!” he hissed as he held my writhing body still, trying to keep control of me.

  I whimpered in response and threw my head back. I could feel his heartbeat vibrating and beating inside me through his cock.

  “Tell me!” he demanded again, refusing to move until I acknowledged him.

  “Fuck yes!” I cried out, reassuring him that I was uninjured. “Please! Ride me hard!”

  He groaned at my words, but then I felt the big muscles of his thighs contract a moment before he eased out of me, a slow delicious slide, then slam back home.

  “Lust!” I cried, tears filling my eyes as fire shot from my nipples to my clit. “Please! More!”

  He smiled. His hands returned to my waist and shifted my body. His silky pubic bush ground into my clit, making it burn with a fire of his creation. He rotated his body as he pulled out, making sure the thick shaft of his cock dragged against my clit. This was an entirely new feeling.

  By now my head was lolling back and forth on my neck, my mouth hanging open as my moans and cries filled my ears and took me to another level of excitement.

  “Faster?” he asked. I felt him shift again.

  Before I could even get my thoughts together to respond, he dropped to his knees, the jarring of his body sending another frisson of pleasure shooting through mine. Then my back was to the carpeted floor, his large body looming over me, his purple eyes dilated in pleasure as his breath hissed through those perfect lips.

  “For life,” he breathed, resting his hands on either side of my head.

  Lost in desire, I began to lick at his thick wrists, tasting the salt from his sweat, the taste of my man, while urging him silently to cover me and lead me on to the glorious explosion I only experienced in his arms.

  He grunted and shook his head, his long silver hair caressing my breasts, my neck, my chest as he began to move.

  “Take it!” he growled as the first powerful thrust nearly lifted me from the floor.

  My legs slid up until my knees were almost pressed to my chest, opening myself fully for his assault.

  Lust took advantage of my actions by pulling my legs around his torso, sliding his hands under my back to cup my shoulders and pull my body deeply into the curve of his. The race was on.

  I struggled to thrust my body toward his as he began thrusting deeply into me. The wet slap of our bodies combined with our passionate screams and gasps filled the air. The scent of our combined bodies created a heady perfume that drove my senses wild. I needed more!

  I could hardly think at all as the large, flaring head of his cock hit my every hot spot, repeatedly. Faster and faster he moved. Sweat slicked both of our bodies and the hard press of his body gave me a feeling of being dominated by the mound of muscle above me.

  Harder and harder we strained against each other, building and striving until my muscles began to tense in anticipation of a cataclysmic explosion.

  Suddenly, for a moment, the world tipped on its axis. I forgot how to breathe, to see, to think. All that mattered was the next thrust of his cock that would send me over into the next realm, shooting through the galaxy on my journey of delight.

  Explosions! Eruptions! Detonation! I was there!

  My internal muscles spasmed around the fullness of his shaft, caressed and milked and pulled until a scream exploded from his throat. I whimpered as blast after blast of his hot cream bathed my insides, soothing the muscles that he had abused, filling me with a sense of joy and peace.

  I looked up at him, my man, and saw the damp silver strands of his hair sticking to his face, the mouth slack in pleasure, his muscles rippling as they dealt with this outpouring of emotion, his dazed yet beautiful lavender eyes.

  “I love you,” I whimpered, and shuddered in his arms.

  “More than words,” he repeated. “Forever.”

  Chapter Three

  I leaned in closer to him, eager to feel the warmth of his touch again. We had so little time! I had to store up my memories, I had to hold a part of him embedded in my mind, for the time when the magic faded and I was thrust back into my own pathetic, dark existence, where I was a brain, nothing more, nothing less.

  His hands, those pale powerful hands, cupped my face gently. He understood my pain, for he shared it. I could see the knowledge in his eyes, see him damning the fates that had so cursed us, yet hoping against hope that this time would be different.

  A tear fell from my eye as his lips brushed against mine, but a loud noise, the sound of a horse’s hooves, broke us apart.

  Luster turned as the door flap was flung open. The onyx face of Glow appeared around the tent flap. Lust opened his mouth to protest, and I dove for a pillow to use as cover.

  “Titans!” Glow shouted. His knowing eyes took in my naked body cowering behind pillows and the unashamed nakedness of his leader.

  Lust was instantly all business as he reached for first his sword, then his pants. “How many and where?”

  “A group of twenty,” Glow answered, staring at the ground. “And they are headed in this direction. What magic do they possess that makes us so easy to track?”

  “Damnable luck,” Lust responded. He quickly donned his pants and attached his sword to his back.

  “But to find us here? They have never been able to track us here!”

  Glow, so named for the white-hot glimmer that exploded from his eyes at his agitation, swore softly and turned to leave the tent. “Something is not right, Luster. Glimmer feels it, I feel it, and maybe if you weren’t so involved with the Thinker, you would feel it.”

  I gasped,
staring at his retreating back. Never had Glow spoken so harshly of me. Thinker was the worst insult that could be laid on someone in this world of myth and magic.

  “Glow!” Lust shouted, anger lending his pale skin a bluish tinge. “Sinopee has nothing to do with this.”

  “Well… they left us of the forests alone until she started visiting. And she is from a place where Thinkers rule. Thinkers, just like the ones who are hunting us down and killing us slowly!”

  “It was magic that brought me my Sinopee, Glow. Do not forget that.”

  “Well, I guess that magic does not hold the answers to all problems, does it?” Glow slammed out of the tent without another word, leaving his leader panting in anger.

  “Maybe I should go,” I offered, my voice trembling in trepidation of what he would say. He alone held the final verdict. No one could force me to leave my Luster, no one but Luster. And if he willed it, I would go.

  But to never see my lover again, never to caress the ice-colored hair or the skin that seemed too delicate for a man. My heart would break, my reason for being extinguished.

  “You go nowhere,” he said, turning back to me. “My people appointed me leader for a reason, Sinopee. Glow is just flustered by the Titans being so close. They are growing more skilled. It seems that maybe this science stuff has some merit, or maybe they got lucky.”

  “Science is important, Luster. If you would let me help you, we could set up…”

  “No, Sinopee. It is science that created the Titans. It lends them their strength and is their greatest predictability. We will rely on what was gifted to us, magic and strategy.”

  “But Luster --”

  “No, Sinopee.” He smiled at me to alleviate some of the sting of his words, but they hurt nevertheless.

  “Luster,” I began again, turning away from his great beauty. “Science is my gift.”

  “But Sinopee, sweet Sinopee,” he sighed as he dropped to his knees beside me. “This is not your world, not your fight.”

  “But I was brought here!” I protested, trying to keep the frustration and fear out of my voice. If anything happened to Luster, if anything happened to my lover…

  “For me, Sinopee. You were brought here because I need you to be complete. Without you, I have no will to go on.”

  “Just maybe I was brought here so that you could utilize my gifts,” I repeated sullenly.

  Before Luster could answer, Glow returned.

  “I have brought clothing, Sinopee,” he said. “And… an apology. I was out of line. This has been our fight for years, for as long as I can remember. I let my anger get in the way of my judgment. Neither you nor anyone else will make a difference in this battle. I fear it will be eternal.”

  “Thank you, Glow,” I answered, trying desperately to think of something more to say. But what can you say to people who have known war, poverty, hunger, and desperation all their lives? I feared that if this war ever ended, the people would lapse into decline for lack of knowledge of anything else but war. “I appreciate the clothing and the apology.”

  “We had best make haste.” He nodded in my direction, then turned to exit the tent.

  Glow was a gorgeous man, as dark as Luster was pale and light. His onyx skin seemed to show off each muscle to perfection. His hair was straight and long, the black mass hanging below his waist, and he moved silently like the shadows. But it was his eyes, the pearlized white eyes with the even paler pupils that made Glow stand out. He was Luster’s right hand and the resistance would be lost without him.

  But he was so pessimistic!

  “Well, make haste, woman!” Luster laughed as he turned his purple eyes, happy once again, in my direction.

  “But go where? We always spend our day in the tent, here. Next to the ancient rowan and the crystal clear stream.” I closed my eyes and listened for a moment, hearing the roar of the waterfall that fed the stream that I hailed near in my dreams.

  “Yes, but now I will have to take you with me.”

  “Where?” I wanted to know! In all the time I had been journeying through the mirror to these foreign lands, I had always found myself in the company of Luster and his people, here. I had been nowhere else. I knew of no other places. And what if I could not make it back here before the enchantment ended?

  I shuddered, recalling the blank void of cold nothingness that separated these two places, my world and his.

  “We go to the Citadel,” he said. He held up the garment that Glow had chosen.

  It was very feminine, in a homespun kind of way. It was a long gown, in a light tan color that I knew would complement my complexion and my eyes. But I had never worn anything like it. My tunics were mass-produced by the government. Everyone wore the same shapeless thing, though the men’s tunics were a bit longer. But still, uniformity was kept. This was completely new to me.

  “Get dressed,” he urged as he plopped the thing over my head.

  It felt almost rough to the touch, but so light and… and feminine. I could almost picture myself running through the trees and picking flowers, something I had been only able to do here.

  Shrugging and struggling to hide my delight, I slipped the garment on and stood, easing it down my bare legs.

  But then I felt something else easing wet down my inner thigh. I blushed and looked up at him.

  “What?”

  “I need to use the… river,” I stammered, taking baby steps to the exit.

  Laughing and understanding my predicament, Luster nodded. He called for Glow to help take down and pack the tent.

  “Five minutes,” I heard him say as I gingerly made my way to the bushes that grew along the bank. “And then, to the Citadel.”

  I let a smile break free as I reached the river and stripped off my new garment. After all these years, Lust was taking me to his home.

  Chapter Four

  I smiled as I tromped through the tall green grasses, delighting at the feel of their dampness beneath my bare feet. I looked up, toward the heavens. Sunlight filtered down between the tall branches of stately trees. The air had never smelled so sweet, felt so fresh, been so important to me. I stifled a giggle, fighting the urge to race ahead, touching everything that I could, gathering nature to my chest, burying my face in the splendor that no one from my world had ever experienced.

  “Slow down!” laughed Luster, who followed in my wake. “It is not as if you know the way.”

  “But I am free, Lust! Free and I have never felt more alive!”

  I twirled around, getting my hem caught on the odd bush, but even that was a joy.

  “We don’t have trees where I come from. Only pictures.”

  “Where do you come from?” Glow asked. Between the two of them, Luster and Glow had broken camp and had stashed the tent and the pillows behind the waterfall. Luster said that was where they kept special things, and I agreed. That tent was indeed special. Luster still carried my ancient box of letters, and both men carefully listened for any signs from the still unseen Glimmer.

  “From the other side of the mirror,” I said as I fell back to march between the two warriors. “Where Thinkers rule and life is dull.”

  “But where is that?” Glow would have made an excellent scientist, with all of his questions and queries.

  “It is just there, Glow. And it’s so different from what is here. I mean, there is no grass and trees. Well, there is some grass at the University. They are trying to grow or create more. And the air is not as sweet. That is because of the lack of trees. There are some trees left, but the great wars killed off most of them.”

  “That sounds… ugly,” Glow said as he held back a branch from a large tree for all of us to pass.

  “It is very brown,” I decided, after a moment’s thought, and nodded my thanks as I walked past him. The land began to curve downward, and I almost slipped. “And the people, well, there are no people like you where I come from.”

  “And what does that mean?” Glow asked as he tried to picture a world bey
ond his imagination.

  “Well, we all kind of look like me.”

  “Everyone?” he asked, incredulity in his voice. “That’s not possible! We are all born with certain gifts.”

  “There is no magic where I come from, Glow,” I said, sighing in true regret. There hadn’t been magic back at home for a very long time. And for me, more so, since my parents had disappeared. “And just about everyone looks like me. There are no people with glowing eyes or translucent skin. We all are kind of… brown.”

  “Like the land.” He shook his head, as if oddities like this were abominations.

  “Like the land,” I assured him. “The land and the people are quite plain and brown.”

  “But you are not plain, Sinopee.” Luster laughed. “You are full of wonder and energy. And you are mine.”

  “As you are mine,” I agreed. “But I am plain and brown. The land is plain and brown. We kind of match.”

  “But with magic…”

  “There is no magic, Glow.” I sighed. “We have science. Only science. Science will help create a better world for our future generations. My parents died searching for a way, and I will carry out their work to find a way. Perhaps being here has inspired me, but for now, there is only science.”

  “But I have heard you mention these weapons of war that destroyed your planet, your Earth.”

  “Yes.” I sighed again as he marched onward. “We created the bombs and the chemicals that caused a lot of damage.”

  “Then did your science, the science that you depend on now, not destroy your land?”

  “People…”

  “Same with magic,” Glow interrupted. “The people who control it shape the use, be it for bad or for good. But with magic, only certain people get certain gifts. There, anyone can use this science and create disasters. It is what made the Titans so powerful. Any one of their choosing can yield it, use it, and destroy with it. Magic is scarce. Those of us who possess it regulate others. We cannot hand it down to people who will follow. It is… sacred.”

  “Good point, Glow,” I conceded as we began to leave the tree-studded forests and head for clearer land. “But look what science is doing here. Only a few have the magicians on the run. You need to even the battlefield, to regulate it.”