“Khalim,” she said, her voice raspy, “I can’t give you what you ask.”
The sound of his name on her lips filled his soul with warmth. “Why do you believe that?” he asked softly.
She hugged him. “You’re wanted for high crimes against the Dominion. I’ve already promised to deliver you. And I’d be a fool to believe you are anything other than what the governor told me.”
Khalim kissed the top of her head and rubbed his chin there. “If I tell you that I committed no crimes and my only sin is my race, would you believe me?”
“But why would the Dominion do that?” Her hands lazily kneaded the muscles along his spine. “They’re tolerant of many races and species.”
“My planet and my people hold secrets deep within themselves. Some inside the Dominion would punish us for not sharing those secrets.”
Her mouth skimmed his collarbone. “Are they so valuable?”
With his heart pounding from her tender kisses, he whispered, “Priceless.”
She leaned away from him and looked into his face. Her somber expression was softened by her kiss-swollen lips and rosy cheeks. “Is this dream-making part of your treasure?”
“Do you now believe I brought you here?” he asked, squeezing her ass as he ground his reawakening cock into her.
Her lips opened around a soundless gasp, but she nodded. “I should be furious. You manipulated me when I thought I was safe inside a dream.”
With a small rueful smile, he replied, “I only meant to bring you to Qahir-Jadiid to speak with you.”
“Then why did you seduce me?” Her moss-colored eyes looked troubled.
“You appeared lonely.” His smile stretched. “And you were naked. I didn’t envision that—you wanted us without clothing.”
Her blush deepened. “I don’t have the power to shape the outcome of our shared dreams. You created the fantasy.”
“You’re wrong. And this isn’t really a dream.” He flexed his hips and withdrew partway, before sliding back inside her.
Her fingers clutched his back as tightly as her inner muscles gloved his cock. “While we’re here, our bodies are still aboard the ship, right?” she asked breathlessly.
He wondered how she held the trail of their conversation. Her hot channel squeezed and caressed his rigid flesh, stealing his thoughts. He could only manage a nod and circled his hips.
“Then it’s a dream—this isn’t real.” She sounded relieved, and her hips answered with a delicate thrust.
Frustration over her stubborn denial of what they shared cleared his brain. “It’s more than a dream,” he ground out. “Has any dream of yours ever been this vivid?” He held her hips still and stared into her eyes. “What we experience here together is mutually remembered—and therefore real. If I were merely forming a vision for you to experience, you would have no choice.”
Her eyes widened. “You could do that?”
“Yes. But I prefer to meld our vision to form events we both want to pass.”
“Therefore we’re naked?” Red suffused her cheeks. “It’s what my mind wants?”
He nodded, satisfied she finally understood.
Her teeth nibbled the bottom lip of her lush mouth for a moment, and then her gaze narrowed. “But you didn’t have to encourage me.”
He arched one eyebrow.
“Once you realized I thought you were part of a dream, you didn’t have to seduce me. You weren’t being gentlemanly when you took advantage of the fact that—”
“That you were lonely? That your body ached for loving?” He pumped his hips to emphasize his point. “I couldn’t resist becoming your fantasy. What man could?”
Her hands moved to the tops of his shoulders, and she lifted herself up then ground her body down on his cock. Her eyes closed for a moment, and her head fell back. “Don’t flatter me. I won’t believe you—I know what I am.”
His hands assisted her movement, and they quickly established a rhythm. “Tell me.” His lips skimmed her jaw. “What are you?”
“Only average looking.” She gasped as his teeth closed on her earlobe. Her back arched, pressing her pointed breasts into his chest. “Under other circumstances, you wouldn’t give me a second glance.”
He tongued the tender lobe his teeth had worried. “It’s true. Of late, I haven’t had time to pursue my pleasure. I’ve only known the purchased favors of professional pleasure-givers. But you are beautiful.” He thrust faster, pushing her hips downward to increase the friction between their opposing fleshes. “Would you believe me if I said that your inexpertise is enchanting?”
Her breaths panted. “Still, you should…have told me…before you took me the first time.”
“Would you have refused me?” he asked, his voice roughening with passion.