The Men of Anderas I: Jardan, the King Read online

  “Do you have any questions?”

  Propping her elbow against the table and resting her chin in her palm, she studied him, drawing her brows together in fierce concentration.

  “Do space men kiss like normal men?”

  When the choking across the table started again, she raced around the table to pound him on the back.

  “You should chew your food better. I don’t know the Heimlich maneuver and even if I did, I don’t think I could reach around that magnificent chest.”

  Their eyes locked when JarDan captured her hands to stop the assault on his body. His gaze darkened with some emotion she couldn’t identify before he looked away. When he turned back, his voice was as unsteady as his hand.

  “You better finish your dessert so I can get you back to your room while I’m still able.” He gently steered her back to her own chair.

  “This dessert is a great favorite on my world but it takes a little practice to learn how to eat it without getting it all over you. Here, let me show you.”

  He reached across the table and picked up one slender confection from her plate. Shaped like a melon wedge, it was dipped in chocolate and rolled in crushed nuts.

  “The outside is a crisp pastry but there’s a liquid center so when you take a bite, be sure to suck at the same time.”

  Melodie watched his hand move closer to her mouth. When he touched her lips with the strange dessert, she opened her mouth and took a bite, forgetting the juice. She watched in fascination as the golden liquid flowed down his fingers and pooled in his palm. When he would have withdrawn his hand, she grabbed his wrist, holding him captive. Seeking and finding his burning gaze, she lowered her mouth to the puddle of liquid cupped in his hand.

  “It tastes like oranges,” she whispered. When there was no longer enough liquid to drink, she used her tongue to cleanse, taking each finger into her mouth.

  With a fierce growl, JarDan shoved the table out of the way and pulled Melodie into his hot, throbbing embrace.

  Chapter Four

  The taste of oranges was strong on JarDan’s tongue as he sought the farthest reaches of Melodie’s warm mouth. She moaned softly and heat surged through his body.

  The insistent voice of reason urged him to go slow. Breaking the contact with the hot sweetness of her mouth, JarDan gently eased their bodies apart. Her response to his kiss was ripping at his self-control like the talons of the giant falcons that darkened the skies of Anderas in centuries long past.

  “This isn’t what I planned for the evening.” His ragged whisper betrayed his barely leashed passion. “I’ll take you back to your room.”

  The words came from the small portion of his brain still functioning on more than a sexual level. His hands gently stroked Melodie’s arms trying to ease the tension. His mouth dropped soft kisses on her eyes, cheeks and nose. Just one more kiss, he argued. Another taste and I’ll see her safely to her quarters.

  Melodie’s eyes darkened to deepest purple. JarDan felt her fingers tangle in the thick hair covering his chest and just before his mouth closed over hers, he heard her whisper.

  “Please don’t take me back. Kiss me. Please …”

  The flames of need roared out of control, incinerating his noble thoughts of denial. The nagging voice of reason fell silent under the white-hot heat of his desire. Needs too long denied flared to life, fanned by the aroused undulations of the woman in his arms. His mouth closed over Melodie’s, hungry and demanding. He nipped the soft curve of her bottom lip then used his tongue to soothe the sting.

  With the first tentative touch of her tongue against his, JarDan reached down and grasped Melodie’s hips, kneading the supple mounds through the silken material before slipping the concealing robe from her body, revealing the soft gown she wore. Her arms tightened around his neck pushing her even tighter against his chest. With quick flicks against the tip of her tongue and deep, plunging thrusts, he used his tongue to tease and torment, urging her to respond in kind. When she sucked his tongue back into her mouth, he lifted her more firmly against his heavy arousal, swallowing her whimper of need.

  By the Prophets! This woman with the courage to face a killer storm was on fire in his arms! Spreading his legs for balance, JarDan flexed his hips against the apex of her thighs. Melodie moaned with every brush of his arousal against the soft mound beneath her silky gown.

  “Yes,” whispered JarDan, smiling against her throat. Gripping her hips tighter against his erection, he lifted her legs higher around his thighs. Flexing hard against the thin barrier of blue silk, JarDan smiled with male satisfaction when Melodie cried out, her body convulsing in orgasmic surrender.

  “Easy, my love. Easy.” He whispered. His blood thundered with his own pending release. Holding Melodie’s trembling body, he lowered her legs until she was standing on the floor.

  “What did you do to me?”

  He grinned at the question whispered against his chest. Not even in his wildest fantasies had he ever imagined bringing a woman to pleasure with no more than a touch – and both of them fully clothed.

  Calling on two decades of discipline and training, JarDan focused his concentration on his own heartbeat. By counting the gradually slowing pulses he gained some control of his unsated lust. Placing a finger beneath her chin, he raised her head from its resting place against his chest until he could see her face.

  Her eyes were again the soft violet of an Anderan sunset, a small smile curving her lips. Using the rough pad of his thumb, JarDan traced the delicate line of her mouth, amazed when her eyes began to darken with renewed desire.

  “You exploded in my arms.” JarDan smiled at the blush that spread across her cheek. “You are the most beautifully passionate woman I’ve ever known. Destiny brought you into my world, Melodie,” he said in a voice husky with passion, “and now you’ll become part of my body.”

  Cupping her head, JarDan brought her face up for his kiss. This time he was ready when her response turned her to liquid fire.

  “Come to me, Melodie,” he whispered against her mouth, drinking deeply from the well of passion she possessed. JarDan pulled back long enough to slip the narrow straps of the gown from her shoulders. He used the silken material to stimulate her taut nipples and the sensitive skin of her abdomen and hips. He gloried in every shudder and moan as he slid the gown down. His memories of her ivory skin paled before the live woman. Not since his first trip to a pleasure station in his eighteenth year had he trembled so near the edge of his control.

  “Will you take your hair down for me?” He asked softly, encouraged by the fire that blazed in her deep-purple eyes. Her braid was as thick as his wrist and he knew the tip brushed the curved mounds of her derriere. JarDan watched, mesmerized as her trembling fingers loosened each coil until her hair fell in a waterfall of midnight satin to the backs of her knees.

  His body pulsed painfully at the sight of Melodie’s nude body. He knew he was near the limits of his endurance and he wanted her to come for him again.

  Bending quickly, he lifted her and placed her on his bed, stripping the clothes from his body before settling beside her. Brushing the cloud of hair away from her flushed skin, he began a thorough exploration of the treasures of her woman’s form.

  With the first touch of his hand against her breast, she arched against him, her hands raining fire along his chest and stomach.

  Sucking air into his lungs, he knew he would never last if she continued to touch him. Gathering her hands in one of his, he held them above her head where they could do no damage.

  Slowly, deliberately, he stroked her body from shoulder to thigh. Catching one taut nipple with his lips, he pulled the pebbled bud deep into his mouth. He palmed the soft mound of the other breast, rolling the nipple between his fingers until she moaned and writhed against him, her every movement begging fulfillment.

  “Please, JarDan,” she cried.

  He wanted to take her slowly; to savor the sensation of her warmth pulsing around his hardness; re
lish her uncontrolled response to his touch. When Melodie opened her legs in unconscious entreaty, his resolve to go slow died a quick death.

  “Next time, my love, we’ll be slow and gentle.” He promised as he moved to cover her body.

  His need was as urgent as Melodie’s, his erection rock hard and ready to explode. “I can wait no longer. Hold on to me, Melodie. Hold on.”

  Fitting himself to the wet entrance to her body, JarDan covered her mouth at the same instant he surged into her. Her sob of pain recalled the mind scan – he was her first man.

  “Forgive me, Melodie. I haven’t the strength to withdraw.”

  Holding himself as still as his aching body would allow, he waited for a sign from her -- any indication that she was ready for the next step in their dance of desire. The tightness of her silken heat was almost more than he could bear.

  “Please … don’t stop. Don’t stop.”

  He couldn’t stop. Already his body was pulsing with his impending climax. With quick, powerful lunges into the unbearable tightness of her body, JarDan sought his release. His ragged breathing and throaty growl matched the frenzied climax that arched Melodie’s body with its intensity.

  Long minutes passed before he could summon the energy to roll from the trembling body beneath him, gathering her close against his chest. Covered with sweat and still fighting for breath, he never felt better in his life.

  “Are you all right?” He asked smoothing the tangled mass of hair wrapped around them.

  Her only answer was a small movement that could have been a nod before she drifted into sleep.

  Gathering her hand against his heart, JarDan grinned at the sleeping woman. “Rest while you can, my love. This night is just beginning.”

  His grin turned to a chuckle when she moved against him even in her sleep.

  “Insatiable, beautiful and courageous. Remarkable. This will be a very interesting trip.”

  Already his body was recovering from his recent orgasm. JarDan, Prince of Tor, had no intention of wasting another minute of his night with the incomparable woman who was Melodie Smith.

  * * * *

  Between the pounding in her head and the cotton in her mouth, Melodie was reasonably sure she was dying. At least she hoped she was. No one could survive this torture for long. Slow and easy, girl. No sudden moves. Rolling to her back, she discovered that if she moved very, very slowly and very, very gently the hammers in her head only increased marginally and her stomach didn’t heave. Water. That’s what you need first. Wasn’t there a pitcher beside her bed yesterday?

  Turning her head, she saw . . . a foot? What on earth is a foot doing on my pillow? A flash of memory no longer than the blink of an eye brought her upright in the bed.

  “O-o-o-h,” she moaned, grabbing at her throbbing head. When the pounding slowed to a manageable level she opened her eyes, grateful that the sun hadn’t yet brightened the room.

  The realization that she was definitely in bed with a stranger came simultaneously with the knowledge that she wore no clothes. Grabbing the blanket, she scurried into the corner of the bed. A bed built into the wall on three sides. He was between her and the outside edge.

  The foot moved, drawing her attention. It was a very large foot attached to an equally large leg. Her gaze traveled up the long length of hair-roughened leg beside her, gasping in shock at the bare mounds of his buttock. Mercy sakes alive! He even has a tattoo on his back! She stared in amazement at the star-shaped design at the base of his spine. Images raced through her brain, each separate yet connected somehow, like watching a movie through a strobe light. Her straddling the hips so blatantly displayed before her. Him lying on top of her telling her …

  No! It’s not true! This is all a nightmare and I’m going to wake up in my own bed -- alone! Think, Melodie. There has to be an explanation for all this. You wouldn’t just sleep with a strange man. She refused to think about how long she did -- or didn’t -- sleep.

  The man picked that moment to roll onto his back, stretching his muscled arms until he settled into a comfortable position. If his back was shocking, his front was formidable! Massive shoulders tapered down a thickly muscled chest to an abdomen that gave new meaning to the term wash-board. Melodie stared in stunned silence at the proof of his virility lying passive in its nest of black curls.

  She remembered! The velvet hardness, the musky male scent, the taste! As if aware of her interest, it began to pulse and thicken, causing JarDan … that’s his name, JarDan … to stir.

  Drawing her knees to her chest, Melodie almost cried out from the pain between her legs. Shamed flooded her cheeks with brilliant color when she realized the cause of the burning pain. With the acceptance of the events of the night before came full, vivid memory.

  The storm. Dinner. Wine. That explained the headache. Space craft. Merciful Heaven, he said he’s from another planet! An advanced civilization! They take females from Earth!

  Every article about aliens from every supermarket tabloid she had ever read flashed before her eyes. All the aliens had egg-shaped bald heads and huge bulging eyes. She remembered reported cases of abduction -- scientific experimentation -- even impregnation. Please, God, not that. Even as she prayed she recalled the hot rush of liquid filling her each time JarDan climaxed.

  Who was he? What was he? She had to escape. She couldn’t just sit here and wait for him to wake up and continue what he started last night.

  Moving quietly, careful not to disturb JarDan, Melodie eased closer to the edge of the bed. Was the pounding of her heart as loud as it sounded to her own ears? Just as she slipped one leg over the side of the bed, the door to the room opened with a whoosh.

  “Here’s your morning meal, Commander. Captain Beldon has asked . . .”

  Melodie scrambled back to the corner of the bed, wishing she could disappear.

  It was about six feet tall and walked on two legs but that was as close to being human as it came. The silver skin and total absence of any hair on its head, including eyebrows and eyelashes, was strange, but nothing could have prepared Melodie for the sight of its teeth. They spread in a wide slash from one side of his head to the other. Long and sharp, the teeth clicked with every word -- only the movements didn’t match the words, like an old movie with a bad soundtrack.

  Melodie sat frozen with fear, fighting desperately against the scream she could feel battling for freedom in her throat. The creature replaced the table JarDan flipped out of his way the night before and began gathering the broken dishes and remains of their dinner. She must have made some sound that alerted the creature to her presence.

  Without warning, it turned and pinned her with its fire-ball red gaze.

  “I beg your pardon. I would not have entered had I known Commander Tor had company.”

  “Leave us, Kreisak. I rely on your discretion.” JarDan’s quiet command sent the strange creature from the room.

  Melodie huddled deeper into the corner, her breath coming in short, shallow gasps. Please, God, don’t let this be real. She could feel the tremors starting first in her hands then spreading until her entire body jerked spasmodically.

  “Melodie?” JarDan questioned softly. “You have nothing to fear from Kreisak. He’s been a member of my crew for many years. His looks …”

  Melodie jerked when he shifted closer to her on the narrow bed.

  “Don’t come any closer!” She cried. “What was that … that thing?” She forced herself to look at JarDan’s face. With his cheeks dark with his heavy morning beard and his hair in wild disarray around his shoulders he looked sinister -- more animal than man. Melodie shuddered at the memory of her fingers tangling in that mane of midnight black. “What are you?”

  “I’m a man, Melodie. You know that. If you’ll relax and let yourself calm down I can explain everything. Do you remember anything we discussed last night?”

  “You said you were from another planet.” She struggled to keep her voice steady. If it was as loud to him as it was to her
own ears, she was practically screaming. “You said things weren’t always as they seemed. Did that mean you? Are you using some … weird mind control so that I see you as a man? Do you look like that thing that just left?”

  JarDan tried to move closer to Melodie but she pushed herself tighter into the corner. He fought to keep his voice calm to reassure her that everything would be all right. She was very close to hysteria and he had no idea how to deal with it -- or what caused it.

  “Melodie, you know I’m a man -- a human man. I’m as human as you.”

  “No! I don’t believe you! You kidnapped me! You got me drunk! You raped me! I’ve got to get away!”

  She lunged over the side of the bed, but JarDan caught the thick curtain of hair that flowed around her, pulling her into his arms.

  “Enough. I’ll not harm you. You’re safe, remember?” He wanted to brush the hair from her face, but she recoiled from his touch, kicking and clawing like a crazed animal.

  “Let me go! Please! I won’t tell anyone about you, I promise! Please!”

  He deflected most of her blows until one well-placed foot caught him in his groin. He lost his grip on her when he doubled over in pain, fighting the nausea threatening to choke him. When the pain eased enough for him to move, he looked around for her. She was standing near the door frantically punching buttons on the control panel.

  JarDan pulled himself up and staggered against the wall, the pain still intense between his legs but not as intense as the anger brought on by her callous words. He could understand her confusion, but her vicious attack had hurt more than his manhood. Unwilling to admit how deeply her words wounded him, he let his temper overcome his common sense and lashed out in anger.

  “I was man enough for you last night.” She turned at the sound of his voice. “You screamed then, too, only you screamed for more. If rape occurred here, Earthling, I was the victim -- not you. You couldn’t keep your hands -- or your mouth -- off my body.”

  “No! You lie! It’s all lies!”

  “I never lie, Earthling,” he stated coldly. “Do you want me to tell you how sweet your mouth can be? Especially when it’s wrapped around the most male part of my anatomy?”