Kieran (Tales of the Shareem) by Jennifer Ashley, Allyson James

wasn’t as big as the Shareem, being only six or so feet to their six and a half and seven feet, and he didn’t have their bulk. But he was as honed, as handsome as any of them, with his sand-colored hair and blue eyes in his tanned face. Mitch was a cargo pilot, freelance—someone had something to haul, he hauled.
    His ship was small, enough for a limited run, but not enough for the Shareem who wanted off Bor Narga.
    Judith knew he’d come on business, to report to Rees, but all she wanted was to wrap herself around him. And not just for sex. Judith had experienced every sexual technique she could with Shareem—she’d been with seven at a time once. The Shareem liked her, and when all eight of them had collapsed into a tired heap, they’d taken care of her and made sure she was all right.
    With Mitch, everything was different. Sex with him was more . . . intimate. That was the only word for it.
    With Shareem, it was wild and crazy—and then nothing. When sex was over, they shut off, finished and ready for the next woman. Judith and Mitch, on the other hand, could lie together in bed all day, talking, laughing, feeding each other when they were hungry. It was so warm and loving she could drown in it.
    “You seen Rees?” Mitch asked after another kiss. “What time is it here?”
    “Four in the morning. Sun will be up soon. Rees is probably with Talan, doing whatever it is crazed Shareem do with the ladies they love.”
    Mitch could be cruel and say something like you ought to know, but he never did. He knew damn well she’d been a Shareem slut and had enjoyed sex, sex, and more sex, but Mitch never condemned her for it.
    He slid his hands to her waist. “Time to say hello, then.”
    “Seems like it.”
    Mitch pulled Judith all the way into his arms, and she lifted her leg and wrapped it around him. He planted a hand under her ass and grinned at her. “Been thinking about you all the way across the stars.” He kissed her again, his voice going low. “My girl, waiting here for me.”
    “I’ve been thinking about you too,” Judith said. “Missing you.”
    “Yeah?” Mitch nipped her nose. “How much?”
    “Want me to show you?”
    “Hell, yeah.”
    Judith unwrapped herself from him, finished closing up the doors, unzipped her coverall, and let it fall. “This much.”
    Mitch’s slow smile returned as he looked at her bare body. He shrugged off his flight jacket and let it drop to the floor. “Worth every mile,” he said.
    He lifted her, kissing her, their kisses moving from welcoming to fiercer and more demanding.
    They never made it upstairs. Mitch showed her in the next few minutes that a barstool could be the most erotic of places. Every texture of his shirt and pants on her naked skin heated Judith’s body to the breaking point.
    When Mitch finally slid inside her, bracing her on his hard cock, Judith’s climax hit her before she was ready. Mitch’s generous smile sent her over the top, as did the warmth in his eyes.
    *** *** ***
    A few streets away, Felice woke to an empty bed. Kieran wasn’t gone, though. Not like yesterday. She knew that as she rolled out of bed and snatched up the second pair of coveralls—the first ones were probably still on the floor in the living room.
    She felt Kieran’s presence, though she couldn’t say how she did. But she knew, before she opened the bedroom door to see him coming out of the kitchen, that she’d find him. He bore something on two small plates, and when he saw her, he handed her one.
    A pastry of some kind, decorated with fruit Felice had never seen before—berries, she assumed. “What is this?”
    “Breakfast.” Kieran carried his plate to the couch, plopped himself on it, put up his feet, and stuck half the pastry into his mouth.
    Felice tried one of the bright red berries, which looked a little like an Earth raspberry, but not quite. She tasted sweet, juicy flavor, and quickly ate another.
    She sat down on the sofa next to Kieran, who was