Knollig: A Terraneu Novel ( Book 2) Read online

  Knollig’s fingers had gone lax against her sex, his stomach clenched and Mairi knew he was going to cum. She had never been one for oral sex, and wasn’t sure if she would like the taste. With an agonized groan, Knollig went stiff and she felt warmth spurt across her tongue. She swallowed hard, and then groaned and sucked harder. He didn’t taste like anything she had ever known! It must be the body using solar energy, she didn’t mind the taste at all. After Knollig was done jerking under her, he lay there shaking from his release.

  “That…was an orgasm.” Mairi told him, swinging herself around to lay alongside him.

  “Did you feel that too?” Knollig asked

  “No, I didn’t but that’s okay. Both partners don’t always find sexual release at the same time. In fact a lot of people on Earth have to go at it by themselves, with no partner, it’s called masturbating.” Mairi told him, lazily drawing her fingertip across his nipple.

  “Why would anyone want to do sexual things alone?” Knollig asked, his voice incredulous.

  “Well, sometimes there isn’t someone to participate with you, sometimes you just need a quick release,” Mairi laughed, “I don’t know, there are a lot of reasons.” She got a wicked idea, “For example,” Mairi leaned away from him, and lifted her leg to drape against his thigh. “Maybe a female needs to feel something soft against her skin.” She drew her hand up her thigh, to trail along her hip and further up to her breast. Knollig’s eyes locked on the movement. Laughing inside at the look on his face, Mairi continued to tease, “Sometimes, there is a heaviness just here…” she cupped one breast, squeezing it like she had his balls earlier. “Maybe a tightness, here.” She used her fingers to lightly pinch her nipples. His mouth went slack, and his lids drew down. Passion flashed in his purple gaze.

  Mairi drew her fingers back down the valley of her breasts to her stomach, “Sometimes there is an ache, deep inside…” she found herself turned on by the self-exploration. She rolled to her back, Knollig taking to his side to watch her fingers.

  She rubbed circles and then dipped one finger into the wetness between her legs. Knollig licked his lips, his breath quickening.

  “Ah…” he swallowed hard, “I can see now why it might be necessary.” He leaned over to peer into her eyes. “You have me to see to those needs, sweet Mairi. Let me be a mate to you.” His mouth touched hers, and Mairi forgot all about teasing herself. With a clash of tongues, she was fully engulfed in desire again.

  Knollig suddenly rolled over her, sitting on bended knees between her spread legs. He pulled her until her butt was across his thighs. His now restored erection pressing against her. He rubbed the tip back and forth across her seam, which soaked them both.

  “Is this right…?” Knollig gritted his teeth, his fingers diving in to tease her. “You are so small.”

  “Yes.” Mairi gasped out, “That is where you fit. Just go slowly, you are larger…” Mairi groaned when Knollig replaced his fingers with his engorged arousal, pushing carefully forward.

  “Like this?” He had only gone to the tip then pulled back.

  “Yes.” Mairi was writhing on the bed. “Deeper.”

  Knollig pushed forward again, this time another inch…then pulled back again. “Are you sure this will work?” His muscles were bunching and flexing with the strain of holding himself back, “You are so tight!”

  Mairi moved her hips to encourage him, “It’s ok to push harder.”

  Knollig used his hands on her hips to pull her toward him, just as he thrust forward. He sank another few inches. Mairi bucked her hips as he pulled back.

  “I can watch us connecting…” Knollig sounded awed, “it is amazing to see…!” Knollig flexed his hips and drove even deeper still. “You are taking all of me.”

  Mairi looked down and saw his thick shaft as he pulled out, then sank deeper. He was stretching her to take all of him. Pushing and pulling back until with a groan he was buried deep. She drove her hips up to grind herself against him. He pulled back, and then held her hips to drive harder. Mairi was grabbing his thighs, trying to gain leverage. Knollig snapped and was suddenly pounding into her without restraint. He released his hold on one hip to trail his hands to her breasts and rolled one nipple in his fingers. Then he pinched and tugged at it, making her nerves light up.

  “I can’t wait…’ Mairi panted, “You feel so good.” She arched her back, Knollig came up onto his knees, holding her hips steady in his hands. Thrust hard one last time, grinding himself against her, Mairi let out a startled shriek as red-hot pleasure coursed through her. She instinctively locked her legs around his lower back to hold him against her. She was shuddering, her muscles squeezing Knollig’s shaft and with a groan, he joined her. They both collapsed back against the mattress. Knollig against her side, with her head tucked up under his chin.

  “Wow…” Mairi struggled to even her breathing. “That was incredible.” Mairi moved her mouth to place tiny kisses against Knollig’s chest.

  “Now I understand the desire for sexual contact.” Knollig laughed, “It feels amazing. You make me feel strong and weak at the same time.”

  “I will take that as a compliment.” Mairi snuggled closer.

  “You should.” Knollig was rubbing his fingers in the thick length of hair against his hand. “I want to know all about you Mairi so that I can be a good mate.”

  Mairi thought only women wanted to talk after sex! She wasn’t sure where the desire to chat was coming from, but she didn’t mind, if he wanted to know about her she would tell him. “I was raised by both of my grandparents for a few years after my mother disappeared. She left me with them and just ran away. When my grandmother died, it was just me and my grandfather.” Knollig was rubbing her back and it felt great. “When it came time to leave for school I went to a place called America. Stayed there doing the job I had trained for which was as a Radiology Technician. That is where you use medical imaging systems we had. X-rays, mammograms, ultra sounds…that kind of thing. It would be like your holographic medical system, only not as advanced. We were able to do similar types of imagery, just a bit differently.”

  Mairi leaned up on one elbow as she talked, “I had friends, but since I had moved back to Scotland to be closer to my grandfather, I hadn’t been in touch for awhile. Life seems to get in the way sometimes. You think that you will get in touch tomorrow, or the next day…before you know it months have passed.” She moved her hand on his chest.

  “When I was diagnosed with cancer I had given up hope of ever having a life like I had planned. Settling down with a husband, having kids…everything had been slipping away from my grasp.” Mairi was getting a sore neck, so moved to sit leaning against his hip. Her fingers played absently with his abs, “When I woke up here, and you told me I had hundreds of years to live…I guess I just wanted to get started with living them.” Mairi moved her fingers to tease his chest, flicking a nail against his nipples and watching them pebble. “I want to experience all that life has to offer. I know that when you say that you want to be my mate, you are talking forever. That doesn’t scare me…we do need to get to know each other better before claiming mate status. We also need to talk about things like when you want children.”

  Knollig tensed, “Would you want to have offspring with me right away?”

  Mairi thought about it for a minute, “I would like to get adjusted to life with you first, then we can talk about babies. Let’s say we talk about it again in six months when the other females are here and settled, does that sound fair?”

  Knollig just nodded, his mega watt smile proving how pleased he was at the idea of having children. “Yes my sweet Mairi, that is fair. I would wait a hundred years for offspring if it would make you happy.” He flexed his abs, and suddenly Mairi found herself in Knollig’s arms. He was kissing her, and all thoughts about babies flew from her mind. Unless the act of making them counted, she and Knollig were going to be practicing for when he had the procedure reversed. From the look of passion burning in
his eyes, they were going to be practicing a lot!

  Chapter Twelve

  Five Months Later

  Time flies on Terraneu when you are having fun. After the night of the intervention, Mairi and Knollig were as inseparable as Kniam and Amber. It was only a matter of time before they too had moved into New Haven, declaring to everyone their status as mates. Mairi had decorated her interior space with greenery, since that was her favorite color, with a few splashes of red since that was Knollig’s. He especially liked the Hu’lani flowers as they reminded him of her hair. Their space was a square of four domes, just like the rest of the units in New Haven. In the center of their private courtyard Mairi had created a mini-county garden space for Knollig to relax. He had a lot of pressure on him to get New Haven up and ready, since it was a month to go now until the port pad would be active again. They were close to the hundred units that would make up New Haven. They had about fifty more than they needed, but still Knollig worked the men to achieve more.

  Mairi moved around her living space, fluffing pillows and making sure the sectional couch had been put back into place. She and Knollig had made use of a holographic fireplace on the wall. He was very inventive when it came to making love in the spaces of their dome.

  She had a class with Amber and didn’t want to be late, Knollig was at a Council meeting and would be returning to New Haven to work. If she made it back in time, she might just surprise him. She had torn one of her dresses, and she had an idea for the strips that involved Knollig and the posts of their bed!

  With a bounce in her step she hustled out of her dome onto her personal balcony. There were men milling about in the walkways heading to the work sites deeper into New Haven. Since she had chosen a home site right next to Amber and Kniam, they were at the beginning of the residences. There was a common walkway between properties, then personal fences and more landscaping before the balconies. She met Amber in the common walkway and they headed toward the industrial area for their scheduled class.

  “How’s it going this morning?” Mairi asked Amber. This was code between the two women, Mairi was really asking if Amber had any luck in her attempts to get pregnant.

  Amber and Kniam had requested and been approved by the Council to attempt a pregnancy a few months ago. With the medical changes to their bodies, Amber and Mairi had irregular cycles. Amber experienced the cramps, the bloating, the crazy swings in hormones and mood. Then she had evened out, and she could hardly tell there was a menstrual cycle. So it wasn’t a surprise that she didn’t know if she was early or late. Mairi had been lucky. She had a very light period, every three to four weeks that lasted for a couple of days. She wasn’t bothered by any strange hormonal swings either. Maybe it was the amount of healing she had required due to the cancer but she wasn’t going to complain!

  “Nothing.” Amber huffed dejectedly, “On Earth there would be symptoms I could watch for. I don’t know what to look for here on Terraneu.”

  “I just know that you will get pregnant soon Amber. Try not to worry.” Mairi rubbed her friend on the shoulder, “With all of the men having “the procedure” we don’t know how long it will take once it’s reversed to get pregnant.”

  The “procedure” was done in the medical unit so that the males of Terraneu couldn’t inadvertently get a woman with child. That way the Earth females coming to live here would know that any sexual encounter with the males would not result in a pregnancy. To have the procedure reversed had to be requested and approved by the majority of the Council. That way no male could secretly have it reversed. Also, as long as their life cycles were, the population was going to have to be highly monitored and regulated. Whether they liked it or not, it was just something they had to learn to live with.

  “I know that to expect to get pregnant right away isn’t rational. I just want to have a baby with Kniam so badly.” Amber tried to laugh it off, “With eight hundred years to live I shouldn’t be worrying about months!”

  “You are entitled to your feelings,” Mairi tried to make Amber feel better. “If only the medical unit had been programmed to monitor women’s health!”

  They were so caught up in their conversation, and used to having males milling around. Amber and Mairi were totally unprepared for the kidnapping. One minute they were walking along the path, the next they both had covers over their faces and were being taken into the wilds of Terraneu. It had all happened in the space of thirty seconds.

  Mairi could hear the muffled screams of Amber, over her own shouts of panic. She didn’t realize her friend had such a colorful vocabulary. Amber was yelling insults that would make a sailor blush!

  Mairi was terrified that she was going to fall of the Sorrem. She knew that was what she was lying across. They had a distinct gait, and were the only things on Terraneu that could move this fast and pack a person at the same time. After what felt like forever, the Sorrem slowed and finally came to a stop. Mairi could hear water in the distance, and the earthy smells were much stronger here. She knew they had to be deep in an area similar to the oasis Knollig had taken her to a few times. She was roughly pulled from the poor animal and on unsteady legs she wobbled a little as she was pulled forward. She couldn’t see through the hood and walking fast wasn’t happening. She could still hear Amber cursing away, and it gave her some relief to know she wasn’t alone in this nightmare.

  With a yank her hood was taken off. Some of her hair went with it and she gave an involuntary yelp at the sudden pain. Then she saw stars when she was backhanded across the face.

  “Stupid Earth female…don’t make another sound.” A rough male voice snarled at her.

  Mairi tasted copper in her mouth, she had a cut lip and cheek from the impact of the male’s hand. She knew it was going to leave a hand shaped bruise. She blinked hard to clear her vision, and frantically searched the makeshift camp for Amber. She spotted her across the way, with her hood off and her eyes flashing around, she gave a sigh.

  “I want that one bound and gagged!” Another male had joined the two that had grabbed them from camp, his finger pointing at Amber. Mairi hadn’t seen him because he had been out of her line of vision. This must be the leader since the two that were holding her and Amber listened to him instantly. She struggled, but wasn’t a match for the man trying to gag her.

  “Don’t you dare…!” Amber kicked and clawed, “I will cut off your…mmmpphh...” The man had stuffed Amber’s mouth and tied a strip across her face viciously. Mairi could see from where she stood the tears of pain pool in her friend’s eyes. He proceeded to tie her hands and feet together so she was completely helpless.

  “Please, does it have to be so tight?” Mairi pleaded.

  An angry glare swung her way, “I am so sick of you females. First that one, and now you.” He stalked up to her and grabbed her face. Turning it this way and that as if to inspect her to catalog her defects. Her cheek throbbed from where she had been hit before.

  He must have found her faulty because he sneered with disgust, “I just don’t see what the other males are so worked up for. There isn’t anything that I find of interest in you.” His gaze moved over her body, and she shuddered. With a twist of his hand, he pushed her down. Her neck twisted, and she hit her hip and hands hard on the ground. Only by sheer will did she keep from crying out. She curled into a ball, making herself seem as small as possible.

  Amber was across the way, kicking and flailing, mumbling against her gag. She was sure these men didn’t want to know what she was saying.

  “Tor’el did you ensure that you weren’t followed?” The leader asked.

  “Yes Darst! We got rid of the Sacath’s just like you said.” At his words Amber stilled, and then got really loud behind the gag. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Mairi had grown attached to the two pets, and tears pooled in her eyes too.

  The leader Darst laughed and bent over Amber, his finger rubbing at the wetness on her face, “What is the matter little female? Did those two stupid Sacath’s mean something t
o you? That is what happens when you make them so domesticated they trust everyone!” He laughed harder for a moment and then turned back to his men.

  “El’aru I want you to scout ahead and make sure there isn’t anyone, or anything out there.” The male nearest to Amber moved off, and Mairi scooted a bit closer to her, keeping her eye on Darst and Tor’el. They seemed more intent on tormenting Amber than paying attention to what she was doing.

  She had a pretty good idea what was going on. Amber had talked about the time a group of males had tried to use her to kill Kniam. They were going to give her a hallucinogen and claim that females were unstable and dangerous. It was their hope that the males would vote to harvest Amber’s eggs, strip them of her DNA and use them to continue with their cloning. Then they wouldn’t need females to survive. The plan had been thwarted by her faithful pet, and she had gone everywhere with Cebat ever since. Tabec had been given to Amber as a gift from Kniam that same day in fact. It wasn’t until the move to New Haven and one of the brothers meeting her at the boundary between the two living sites that Amber had stopped bringing them everywhere. Not that they were ever to far from her side.

  So these men were the banished ones. The male that had attacked Amber in her living quarters was given the death penalty, and Kniam had seen to his punishment. These three had not been seen or heard from since that plot had failed. It would seem they had a new plan and she really didn’t want to know what it meant for Amber and herself. She figured it wasn’t going to be pleasant.

  She looked around to see if there was anything she could use as a weapon. Her eyes fell on a stack of firewood a few feet away. She ever so slowly started scooting that direction. Fortunately the men kept their attention on Amber, ignoring her.

  When she got close enough she inched her fingers along the ground, until she was able to reach out for a sizeable log. Her heart beat faster in her fear that their kidnappers would look over and see what she was doing. Keeping a wary eye on them, she pulled the branch toward herself. When she could get a good hold on it, she wrapped her hand around it and jumped to her feet as fast as she could.