Callim's Challenge Read online

  “You should eat.” Shelly nudges me and her eyes are big as she spoons a large mouthful into her face, wiggling her eyebrows. Her antics make me smile. “You will need your strength.”

  What does he mean? “Is there some physical labor planned for after the meal?”

  Hannah snorts from across the table next to him. I turn to her for clarification. She turns red and studies her bowl, but Bren looks up and smiles.

  “I suspect Shelly's eager to complete the mating.” Shelly sputters over Bren’s voice as he continues. “Surely, you're ready to spend time alone?”

  “Damn, Bren! Thanks, but I think I’ve got this.” Anger floods her tone, but embarrassment comes through the bond. How interesting… and informative. She doesn’t need to be embarrassed. I’m just as excited to complete the bond too.

  “I’m eager to be with you alone too, Shelly. I’ve been envisioning this for days.” My smile widens as her face colors an even brighter red. I’m learning this flush in her cheeks is directly related to her embarrassment. Maybe getting to know a female and mate won’t be as hard as I imagined?

  “Are you done?” Shelly stands quickly and looks down at everyone with a sneer. Not wanting to push her, I swallow the last of my meal and stand up beside her. As soon as I do, she moves to return our dishes and I follow her over. I watch how she processes the items we used through the panels on the wall. By the time she’s done, everyone is following us over to do the same.

  I’m disoriented and lost when we arrive at the hall where our room is. I knew every garden at the Sanctuary, but these halls are identical and confusing. Even the signage with directions around the ship seems to be words I’ve never heard used before.

  Mechanical rooms, lifts, viewing rooms. There’s a lot I'll need to learn here. We’ll be on this spaceship for days before reaching the prison planet that's our destination.

  Bren tells Forohn and I about the prison planet Six Two Four. The residents that live there call it Dactyles. He’s left crew members with a leader named Selas on the planet. Some females and their mates are working with him to restructure the management. I can’t wait to see it already.

  It sounds like something from my boyhood dreams. There are wild jungles and open spaces that will need to be explored. But right now, all I want to explore is Shelly. She’s quiet as we walk the halls, and nothing dominates her feelings through our bond.

  Everyone is casual as we split up. I realize Shelly’s being left alone with me to show her our room. At least, I assume it’ll be our room.

  “Welcome to my little place.” She steps inside a large dwelling with a small living area right at the entrance. There are three chairs just inside the door, and I stop to set down her bag I’m still carrying. “Ah… as you can see, I’m not the best housekeeper.” She’s jumps to the bed further inside the room and folds a few garments she has sitting there. “Sorry about that.”

  “You don’t need to apologize about anything. I’m the one invading your space.” The food supply area is small, but I assume most of their meals are taken in the large eating area we just left.

  “Yeah, but I knew you were coming. I can’t believe I missed this stuff.” Shelly’s mumbling under her breath as she puts her clothing into a drawer that pops out of the wall.

  Stepping further into the room, I wander by the food prep area before peeking briefly into the bathing facility. Everything is clean and tidy.

  “Did you have any family you left behind on Earth?” As soon as the words leave my mouth, I realize my mistake.

  Shelly’s lips clamp shut, and I can detect her anger. “No one worth mentioning. My mother wasn’t the best, and I don’t have any brothers or sisters.” She flops onto the bed and gives me a strange look. I wish I could read her mind.

  Standing awkwardly next to the bed, we stare at each other for a few seconds before she crawls up onto her knees. Covering the distance between us, she kneels in front of me. “I hate the way I feel right now, don’t you?”

  I’m not sure what she means so I wait for her to say more.

  “Uncomfortable. I’m not good at new relationships. That’s why I’ve had so few.” She shakes her head in frustration. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounds.”

  Taking a deep breath, she drops back onto her butt and pats the bed next to her. “Sit?” As I lower myself onto the bedding, she continues. “I’ve been rehearsing this now—for weeks. My automatic reaction when I’m uncomfortable or out of my element in any way—is anger. So, I wanted to tell you about myself and a little background about me. We’ve been tied together with this mating, and at first, I was so angry!”

  Her voice has gotten louder as she talks, and I turn myself to clutch her hand. I sense how uncomfortable she is, but I consider her brave to be opening up like this. “I’ve had nothing stable in my life. My childhood was okay when I was younger because when my mom would take off, she’d leave me with my grandma. But she passed away when I was seven.”

  When she hesitates, I notice her sorrow and slowly trail my hand up her arm. Instead of letting me comfort her, she pulls away, withdrawing her hand completely. “I want to finish. I need to just get this over with.”

  I can’t help wondering what she plans to tell me that’s so serious. Is she going to tell me something bad? That there will be nothing between us?

  The thought sends a piercing pain through my chest. Just the idea she won’t want me causes pain. It scares me how attached I’ve already become. Her own hand goes to her chest as if she can feel it my worries too.

  “I can’t make any promises about my attitude getting better. After being at the mercy of the government and shuffled through foster care, I was so ready to be on my own. I was only in my second year of college and I worked so fucking hard to get the scholarship! Well, ending up married to an alien I’ve never met sounds like the worst thing that could have happened to me.” Her voice trails off and her eyes finally meet mine. “And you are… a surprise.”

  “A surprise? But you knew just as I did that we’re matched?”

  “That’s not exactly what I meant. Um, I just meant you’re really attractive. Like—really hot.” She laughs lightly while I try to determine what she is referring to.

  We end up staring into each other's eyes. I study the beautiful blue hers are. There’s a faint orange color around her pupil and as I study them, they dilate as we examine each other. My entire body tingles as we focus on one another.

  Her hand settles on my shoulder as she brings our faces together and lightly touches her soft lips to mine. These are the mouth kisses that Susan and Matthias were so enthusiastic about on the shuttle. She pulls away quickly to peer into my eyes questioningly.

  My frozen body needs to respond! I don’t wish her to assume I don’t crave her, or I’m offended by her mouth on mine.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  - Callim

  Placing a hand gently at her neck, I tug her back down to me from where she’s perched on her knees. Our lips meet, and she makes a surprised gasp, but doesn’t pull away. Instead, I do.

  Looking down, I place my hands around her waist and drag her forward. Her generous breasts press against me as she crawls over to straddle my thighs. I’m painfully aware of every inch of her against me.

  Our mouths are only separated by a tiny space when I draw her lips against mine again. This time, I’m not as gentle in my excitement and we fall together harder. Freezing, I pause to see if she wishes to stop.

  Instead, she encourages me by running her tongue along my lips until I open my mouth. Her tongue touches mine for a moment before retreating, teasingly, back into her own mouth. Another flickering touch and back again. And again.

  She’s coaxing me. Persuading me. Finally, I slip my tongue into her mouth. When I feel the answering rub of her tongue against mine, I can’t believe the sensuality of it. When she sucks on it, I can’t help the deep groan I make.

  With that one small touch, my entire body seems to come alive. Tighten
ing my arms, I rub my tongue against and around hers. It’s small and smooth and my nerve endings light up with desire. I’ve felt nothing like it. My body yearns for hers in a way I’ve never experienced before.

  “I like this,” I murmur against her lips between licks and swirls against her tongue. She only whimpers as I experiment with thrusting deeper into her mouth, exploring this connection between us.

  For long moments, I explore her enticing mouth, letting our tongues tease each other. My hands have pulled her closer. I love the way she’s melted into my body, leaning heavily on me as if she can’t support herself through her own lust.

  Her mouth is doing incredible things. I can feel my cock tingling and tightening as her small hands float up into my hair that has exploded around my head. It’s stroking down her arms as she grips it tight against my scalp. The added sensation sends a jolt through my body I never could have imagined.

  Her hands run down my chest as I inhale her enticing scent before she pulls away. She doesn’t meet my eyes, but instead begins to open the fasteners on my gray suit. If she wants to study my markings, I would like to see hers too. Her top doesn’t seem to have fasteners though, so I reach down to grab the bottom. I bring it up over her chest just as her fingers start tracing my markings.

  Shelly lifts her arms and leans back for me as I pull her shirt over her head. I’m left looking at the most unique article of clothing I’ve ever seen on a female. It only covers her breasts, and it’s a pale yellow with pink dots on it. It molds to her shape enticingly except on the top, she seems to push against the material as if it can’t hold all of her.

  I don’t realize I’m frozen until she giggles. “Never seen a bra before, huh?”

  Smiling back, my eyes flick to hers before being pulled to her chest again. “This is a bra?” My hand floats above it. At the last second, I realize I should ask before touching her here.

  “Yes. It’s just for support but can be decorative. It’s the only one I have since you guys don’t seem to have an alien version kicking around here. But you’re lucky it’s a pretty one.” She laughs again as she grasps my hand and pulls it flat against one of her breasts.

  My fingers automatically squeeze gently, enjoying the weight and fullness she has here. “Beautiful,” I whisper. I’ve only seen the Sacred Mother from a distance except that last day I was in her presence. She always wore a robe that floated around her body, but I don’t think she had quite as much weight here as Shelly does. “Our children will be blessed.”

  Snorting, she taps me the arm. “Whatever. They’re mine, so let’s enjoy them together.”

  I don’t even discover how she releases her bra. It falls forward down her arms, but I’m too distracted by what she’s revealed to me for the first time. Her full, rounded breasts are larger than they appeared in the bra. Her nipples are large and puffy with tight nipples decorating the center of each. Lightly, I stroke my fingers across one and the skin seems to tighten and lengthen into a hard point.

  Shelly whimpers before leaning in to press them against my chest. Slanting her head, she locks her lips to mine again. The gentle exploring is gone as her hot, insistent tongue rubs against mine. Little, needy moans escape her which only makes my cock throb in response.

  She keeps kissing me. Her tongue is dancing and playing against mine with dainty, teasing brushes. I’m stunned at how much I’m feeling. Her silky chest pressed against mine. Her fine fingers skating over my collarbone, up my neck and into my hair again. Over and over, we continue to kiss until we break apart, both panting heavily.

  Instead of pausing, she seems to remember what she intended before. She begins to tug my suit back over my shoulders. Instead of having her struggle, I grasp her hips and lift her easily off my lap to stand.

  I quickly remove the flight suit they gave me in the medical bay before looking at her. She’s removed her pants and slid up the bed, leaning back on the pillows. All she has on is a tiny scrap of material that matches the pale yellow of her bra. It’s transparent, and I can instantly smell her intoxicating scent. I didn’t even realize what I craved before was from her cunt but this—it’s incredible!

  Invisible strings pull me to her as I’m drawn onto the bed next to her. Laying on my side to face her, I run a hand up her leg. It’s all taut, supple skin and little bumps appear as I stroke her. Peering over her shoulder, I admire the mating marks she has. Their design is identical to mine although they don’t have the color mine do.

  I will fix that right now. I’ve never been with a woman before and never expected to, but I want to devour her now. My mouth waters as her flavor washes over my senses. Instead of kissing her lips, I want to kiss all of her now.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  - Shelly

  The mattress gives under Callim’s weight as he stretches out beside me. His eyes are serious and for once, he isn’t smiling. He looks determined and intent as he lowers his mouth to my nipple and sucks strongly.

  I arch towards him as my body clenches with pure desire between my legs. Horny has been my middle name for the last week, but it’s like he just turned the heat on full blast. My skin tightens and tingles, and I want to throw him down and ride him like a sex-starved banshee.

  He gently squeezes my other breast and worries the nipple between his fingers. “Oh, good fucking lord, Callim. That feels so good.” Relaxing my head back, I give into the sensations that are just too much. The tug of his mouth and slight scrape of his teeth make me feel faint.

  Tracing his hand over my panties, he lowers his hand down to my cleft, pressing inward. The friction of the material against me along with his unerring pressure makes my nerve endings jump in anticipation. Moaning, I wiggle to adjust his fingers perfectly. My hands clasp his neck when he pulls from my breast. But he only moves to the other side to give it the same deep, drawing attention while his fingers sink further into my wet pussy.

  Groaning in disgust that I didn’t remove my panties earlier, I shift to tug them down. His head lifts to watch as I bare myself to his gaze.

  “Oh Shelly, you’re so beautiful. Perfect.” Before I can give my classic blow-off line, he kisses me with a thoroughness that leaves my head spinning. Trailing his mouth to my chest again, he draws on each nipple while his fingers seek out my wet folds.

  He’s careful with his caresses. Lightly running his fingers through and across me as if learning my body. I bite my lip to stifle cries of desperation. Jerking when he hits my clit, he freezes, releasing my nipple to make sure I’m alright.

  Opening my eyes, I see he’s peering down at my cleft, separating the folds to swipe directly across my clit. Jumping, I squeal before educating him. “My clit… that’s my clit. It’s super, duper sensitive.”

  A harsh noise of protest escapes me when he moves his hand away and lifts onto his knees. I don’t want him to stop! My body is screaming for release, and I can feel the gush of wetness between my legs. I’ve never been this wet and turned-on in my life.

  This is what Hannah and Beth were talking about. The mating attraction that seems to hijack your libido and turn you into a nymphomaniac. But I don’t care—at all! I just want him right now.

  He drags his lips down my stomach and it isn’t until he’s past my belly button that I realize where he’s going. This is new. I’m not sure whether I’m okay with it or not. Heat burns my face as I realize I’m too late. As if he knows how close I am to stopping him, his tongue flicks out to swipe up my wetness.

  At the first touch of his tongue my mind literally goes blank. Another long, slow lick probes me. It leaves me a speechless puddle as he settles firmly between my legs. His tongue feels raspy against me, making my nipples tighten as goosebumps make me shiver. Another wet stroke and then another deeper one makes all my objections wash away in waves of pure lust.

  I realize we’re both moaning as he spreads my legs further apart. Grasping my ass, he pulls me tighter against his questing tongue. Shifting my legs until they straddle his shoulders, he con
tinues to ply and delve into my pink, sensitive flesh. I’m already so close to an orgasm that I can’t think any longer.

  Moans I don’t recognize as my own reach my ears with increasing volume. The wrenching, insistent spasms of pleasure curl and twist inside me. Writhing under his mouth, I feel him exploring every nuance of me with shocking intimacy.

  Arching helplessly, I notice an aching emptiness growing inside me with each perfect stroke of his tongue. My hips lift to help him as he pushes me to an edge I’ve never experienced before. It’s approaching faster and faster as he increases the pressure on my clit. Ratcheting up the intensity, his lips finally settle on my little button and he sucks—hard.

  Screaming, a burst of ecstasy slams through me, traveling from my pussy through my body instantly. My breath heaves as my heart thunders in my chest. His hair is going wild above us, stroking my over sensitive nerve endings. The previous urgency in my core is replaced with a euphoric sensation that has me melting into the bed beneath him.

  Callim stopped when I screamed and is watching me carefully. When our eyes finally meet, his head lowers to lick me again. “No! Wait!”

  He freezes and looks at me quizzically. When I just pant, he sits up and I realize that he thinks I’m stopping us. “I’m sensitive.” Scrubbing my hands over my face, I smile brightly. “Come lay by me.” Patting the bed next to me, I wait for him to move up.

  Holy fucking mother of god. The erection between his legs looks monstrous as he settles next to me. I’ve seen quite a few dicks in my life and his is impressive. Just looking at it makes my libido pick up in interest again.

  “Did I hurt you?” He’s searching my face as he sinks into the bed by me.

  “Not as much as I think you will with that.” I’m joking but I realize instantly he doesn’t know that. “Kidding. It was wonderful.” Leaning toward him, I push him back to lock our lips together.

  The new, salty flavor on his lips doesn’t turn me off like I thought it would. Instead, I find it provocative and inviting. Who knew?