an instant and then understanding and determination settled in her gaze, outweighing shame or embarrassment or fear. Watching her fingers slide into her soft folds almost drove him back to his knees.
Shaking with need, his gaze locked on her hand, he worked himself inside, one slow fucking inch at a time. Her tight hole making it impossible for him to do more than thrust slowly. Her growing moans of pleasure whipping his desire into a greater frenzy. Until he was buried completely. So deep, his balls smacked against her ass. And, oh holy fuck, the feel of her was unbelievable.
He pumped harder. Faster. His hips moving at near desperate speed, chasing the kind of satisfaction he’d never thought to feel again. Driven to the brink by the hot as hell movement of her fingers circling her clit harder and faster, frantic now as her gaze grew heavy lidded and he rammed deep inside her.
Connected. With another human being. As he’d never expected to be again.
“Anything. You remember, female?” His words were a near growl. “You said anything and I want it. I want you to come for me.”
As if waiting for his command, she broke apart, her body shuddering as her fingers went wild and her cunt clenched down on his dick, milking him so hard and deep it threw him into his own orgasm, his back bowing as wave after wave of pleasure slammed through him, making it damn near impossible to stand—and still he kept thrusting, never wanting it to end—until every last bit of satisfaction was wrung from him.
Holy shit. He almost felt…at peace.
Until he remembered this was Dragath25. And here, after the pleasure, there was always pain.
*****
The man’s sudden tensing nudged Bella from her breathless stupor. The aftershocks of her orgasm were still coursing through her body, his thick cock deep inside her, her legs spread wide, her bottom still lifted off the ground.
Their gazes fused. He looked almost wary. Wasn’t that supposed to be her role?
Maybe he couldn’t see it, but the strongest emotions pulsing through her right then were gratitude and pride…and the ache of a woman well pleasured.
The way he’d looked at her…the way he’d handled her…as if she were something precious….as if simply touching her was something extraordinary…it wasn’t something she’d experienced before.
She’d seen people look at faded pictures of the lost forests like that, but other people? In a world where people like her—people without parents or Council influence—were forced to sleep stacked atop one another and crammed shoulder to shoulder in crowded eating halls for a few synthetic, flavorless scraps of condensed food, touch was taken for granted, viewed more as a necessity to be suffered than a pleasure. But with him, it hadn’t felt like that at all. She hadn’t felt like just another burden. She’d felt…she’d felt like she mattered.
This stranger—this criminal—could have hurt her. Instead, he’d demanded her pleasure and given her the tools to find her own. And she’d risen to the challenge. Taken something that could have been hell and made it heaven. Maybe it wouldn’t make sense to everyone, but she’d done what she’d had to do and ended up having the best sex of her life.
“What’s your name?” She needed to know.
He froze. It almost seemed like he flinched.
The silence stretched.
Her high vanished. “Never mind. It’s not important.”
“673.”
“That’s not a name.” She kept her tone light, unchallenging. She wasn’t a fool. She understood fucking her hadn’t suddenly made her special. But they’d made some sort of connection, damn it.
His scowl deepened. “It is here on Dragath25.”
“But you had a name back on Earth.”
His hands landed on either side of her head with a thump. His fingers steady. No tremor, no trace of vulnerability to be seen. “This isn’t Earth, fighter girl. Trying to pretend otherwise won’t help either of us.”
Her gaze searched his for any sign of the softness she was almost certain had been there before. Nothing.
Had she imagined the connection to begin with? Attributed more humanity to him than was there to make the whole exchange more palatable? “This may not be Earth, but we’re still human beings. That doesn’t change.”
“You’re wrong.” His hard body blanketed her as he drove deep, making her gasp. “On Dragath25, there are no names. No humanity.” He thrust deeper. “No selflessness.” Another thrust. “And definitely no happy ever-after.” His fingers tangled in her hair, restraining her so she couldn’t look away even if she wanted. “If you want to stay alive, you accept that now.”
She